Real Estate Marketing Drips

2/06/2010-2/28/2010 RealSkillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

A blog post from DuctTape Marketing with simple tips and how to's on creating good advertising for Facebook.  A few great take aways include:

• Choose the CPC (Cost per Click) Model yields a better ROI.
• Create multiple ad versions and test for effectiveness.
• Use the Facebook Insights Tool to monitor interaction.
• Create your ad sponsoring free content or an event is a more effective way to draw people to your pge than using traditional push marketing ads. 

 

An article from Website Magazine on a topic that I see real estate professionals desire to enter into yet many struggle to carry through- adding guest bloggers to the mix.  The article gives solid tips on recruiting guest bloggers includes:

• Offer a link with keyword anchor text at top of post and body of post to guest blogger's website.
• Give stats on number of blog subscribers and newsletter subscribers.
• Post bio and photo of guest blogger.

• Xobni- A  plug-in for Microsoft Outlookthat displays a live stream of social information about your contacts inside Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010 by pulling information, including photos, from the web, LinkedIn, Facebook, Hoovers, Twitter, and Salesforce.
• The Ultimate Cold Calling Tool from BNet- Categories of objections that you can click open and use one of the responses in your cold calls. They also have The Ultimate Prospect Qualification Tool.  Nice two-fer for real estate professionals.
• DemandBase-Desktop widget that lets you know what businesses are visiting your website, what search terms they use to find your site, and which pages they visit.

 

A post on the MarketingSherpa Blog from Adam Sutton discussing the importance of considering multiple channels to reach customers to grow your database.  The article discusses the fact that social and mobile marketing are effective when they are coupled with email marketing.  As stand alone efforts SMS and social maketing are currently less effective than email marketing. 

 

Subscribe to BloggingInTheRain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

 

If you need assistance with online marketing, offline marketing, social networking, or blogging contact Rebecca D. Levinson at #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@bloggingintherain.com.

 

 

An article from Website Magazine on the different ways to strengthen your content in

order to build your contact database.  The article breaks down persuasive content into

three categories:  logical content, credible content, and emotional content and cites general

examples of what type of content satisfies these categories.  After reading the article I would

keep a cheat sheet handy that outlines each category and a brief summary of what it means. 

When you write your blog posts start marking them Logical, Credible, and Emotional.  Keep a

notice of which type of posts you lean more heavily toward.

If most of your posts, for example, lean toward the emotional category and you are blogging

for business, you need to revisit your blogging strategy and mix in more posts under the

categories of logical and credible to draw business.  If none of your blog posts have an

emotional bent, you need to create a strategy to create blog content that has an emotional value

so new readers and subscribers can connect with you.

Balancing your content is a winning real estate marketing strategy.

            Unique Ads get the most attention. The Geiko commercials illustrate this point.

            Present old information/messaging in a new package for a powerful message resonates                      with readers.-Stir up your blog and create remixes of your posts that are classics.

 

            Read the whole post for all eight elements of contagious ideas.

         

 

• Ten Ways to Make Wordpress More Useful

 

          AN article from Jon Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing on Wordpress Plug-Ins.  While I found 

          that most of these plug-ins made sense, here are four that I think are especially worth a look

          from real estate professionals:

 

          Wishlist Member- A paid membership site or course site.  Think about training for real estate                       professionals or even course training
        on real estate topics for real estate consumers.
         Sociable- Adds links to social networking sites to consumers can share your content online.
         Related Content- Displays posts that are contextually related to your blog post.
          MoFuse- Creates a mobile friendly version of your blog.

      
       There are many plug-ins for Wordpress so it's nice when a simple blog post can make the cream

       rise to the top.

• YouTube Basics for SEO
  

 

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Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate professionals.  Real estate marketing services include

 

• Blogging- See my Blogging Tune-Up Website for Details
• Social Networking
• Niche Marketing
• Marketing Strategy
• Branding- See my Branding Sanity Website for Details
• Offline Marketing
• Online Marketing
• Special Events Promotion and Marketing
• Holiday Marketing
• Marketing Campaigns
• Email Marketing (Content and Design)
• Reputation Management

 

If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

61 Top Marketing Reads, Tools, Resources and Research of 2009 for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

I have taken a time traveling trip through Real Skillz Facebook and Twitter accounts in search of the top 61 marketing reads, tools, resources and research of 2009 for real estate agents and real estate companies as tweeted and noted by Real Skillz real estate marketing.

Here are the results,

Favorite Marketing Reads of 2009

1. 2009 Tribalization of Business Study- Deloitte- Study on use of Social Media by businesses.
2. IBM Study- The End of Advertising As We Know It- Social Media Today's summary of the IBM Study- The End of Advertising As We Know It.
3. EBay Generated $400M in business from iPhone App: CEO- How one mobile app. increased EBay's profit margins.
4. Peanut Butter Plan to Feed the Homeless Spreads- Social Networking for a Charitable Cause
5. Google Does Not Use the Keywords Meta Tag In Web Ranking- Confirmation of meta tag non ranking attribute.
6. Committee to Protect Bloggers:  An Interview- Take a look at the CommitteetoProtectbloggers.org and learn about lending your voice to help bloggers around the world.
7. Search Engine Optimization Tips for Commercial Real Estate Professionals- Easy to follow post on some simple SEO tips. Blogged for Commercial r.e. agents, but residential can easily follow these tips also.
8. Mobile WiFi Consumption on the Rise- JWire- "Thirty-eight percent of mobile users employing WiFi in cafés are making purchases via mobile."
9. Location, Location, Location- Twitter Blog- Hyper-local isn't just hype, it's common sense.
10. Ask Miz Ginevra-Using Your Own Domain with Your Blog- You can use domain mapping option on typepad blogging platform and integrate your blog into your website.
11. Lending Tree Casts Consumers as Superheros-The Rebranding of Lending Tree.
12. 10 Worst Countries to Be A Blogger- Persecution of bloggers in some countries exists beyond monetary injury.
13. Linked In Profiles More Accurate than Resumes- (Sad But True)- How thorough is your profile on LinkedIn? May be time for an update.
14. Web Key for Autos-Brandfreak- Consumers want video experience when car shopping and autodealers are responding.
15. Social Media Press Releases- How to use multiple types of press releases for an effective marketing reach.
16. The Answer Factory: Demand Media and the Fast, Disposable, and Profitable as Hell Media Model- Quality vs. Quantity- Speed vs. Durability.....Ways to ponder and think about the current and future use and marketing of online content. Some food for thought.
17. Live from DMA09:  Got Content? Get a Content Strategy- Plan to create and execute a content based strategy this year.  Here are some ideas around content strategy to get the creative juices flowing.
18. Search engines will be able to find documents created and published using Google Apps- If you want more of your internet property to be indexed on Google (branding), just another reason to use Google Docs.
19. U.S. Weekly Breaks the Facebook Advertising Mold- U.S. Weekly takes on State Farm as an official sponsor on its Facebook Fan Page.  Really Smart Marketin

Favorite Marketing Tools of 2009

1. Thankfulfor.com- A gratitude journal to list what you are thankful for everyday
2. Daftdoggy.com- Daft Doggy might be a good tool to use to see how your clients are browsing for listings online and how you can help them. I know my mom often shares with me her real estate website searches, where she is searching, what she is finding, and what is lacking.  Why not track the same things for your clients to help give them a better home buying experience.
3. Zoho.com- For the individual professional zoho has apps from doc managers to collaboration and oh yeah, mobile access.
4. Switch Audio Converter Software-If you record a note to yourself on your blackberry, you can use this software to convert it into a MP3. Awesome.Why would you do this? For mobile podcasting I would use Utterli, but if I were on the go and wanted to record a private message for someone to hear or for my online journal- so I didn't want it to show up in a public timeline....ta da....Easy Breezy.
5. Backpackkit.com- Manage your documents, discussions, schedules, checklists in one place and share with your team.
6. Archive.org-If you are looking for old copy or layout that you had on your website but did not save, try searching on the wayback machine.... a trip thru internet time.  I have used this tool for years and it has come in handy for soooo many things.
7. 2D or not 2D that is the bar code question- I would love to see 2D bar codes used in the house hunting process.
8. Dailylit.com- How cool is this? Time Management for reading. Subscribe for free and get installments of books sent to you by email or EVEN BETTER RSS Feed.
9. Picapp.com-  Free images for your blog.
10. Bubbletweet.com- Add video messages to your tweets.
11. Digsby- Manage your social networks, email, and chat.
12. Dropsend-  Send large files from your desktop.
13. Urlfanx.com-This site shows how popular websites are in the blogosphere in Real Time. Awesome. Check out your site, the sites you enjoy visiting, and your competitors.
14. Docstoc-Real Estate peeps I would upload my documents to this site....good PR and has a very visible real estate category on the homepage.
15. Topseos.com- Identifies, categorizes and ranks top seo companies. Great presentation and resource.
16. Metroblogging- City specific blogs worldwide; This could be part of your hyperlocal marketing strategy.
17. Prezi- Online Presentation Tool.

Favorite Marketing Resources of 2009

1. B.B. Geeks- Reviews on Blackberry applications, news, and information.
2. 29 Ways to Carry Out Random Acts of Kindness Everyday- A friend sent me this article and even though it's from 2008 acts of kindness have a way of transcending time.
3. AdAge Power150- A Daily Ranking of Marketing Blogs.
4. Chris Harrison- Internet Map- Beautiful internet maps showing how connected we truly are....u know, these might make a nice edition if you are tech savvy in your listing presentations- Sometimes Seeing IS Believing.  Email the creator if you do this for permissions....make sure to give appropriate credits as well.
5. Web For Design Patterns:  Sign-up Forms- An article from 2008 that I shared in 2009. Very relevant if you are strategically planning your website.
6. World's Best Presentation Contest 2009 from Adobe and Slideshare- See what makes up a winning presentation and incorporate the winning elements into your presentations.
7. Guide to Single Serving Websites- Solid article. Real Estate professionals read this and think about your open houses, buyer's seminars, micro-niche markets.
8. Free E-Course-Finding Information in Technology- Excellent Free E-Learning Course- Finding Information in Technology....also reviews Copyright fyi.
9. 29 Ways to Collect Email Addresses for Your Business- A blog post that lists the 29 best ways to collect email addresses. All salespeople know the power is in your list and the strength of those connections. Check out this free list of ideas for ideas on how to capture those email addresses and grow your list.
10. Forbes 21 Top Twitter Tips- 21 Ways you can use Twitter for your business that make sense.
11. Facebook Developer Roadmap- Developer roadmap for Facebook to have a better idea of what changes will happen on Facebook and when those will occur.
12. Landing Page Optimization Silver Bullets-Web Marketing Today- Really nice list of landing page optimization tips, would be nice to see some on Real Estate websites.
13. 100 Ways to Measure Social Media- Awesome no fluff list to measure social media.
14. MarketingTerms.com- Marketing reference guide that helps cut through the lingo.
15. Makeareferralweek.com- Experiment in March of '09 for one week to record how many referrals could be made.  I participated by making two referrals and recording them.  Good idea for a campaign for real estate franchises/brokerages.
16. SCORE Online- Free and valuable online courses for small business owners.

Favorite Marketing Research of 2009

1. Marketshare.hitslink.com- Has your site been checked in different browsers? IE (Internet Explorer) still leads marketshare.
2. 2009 Women and Social Media Study by BlogHer, IVillage and Compass Partners-  This study give you one more reason to blog:) Women trust them more than social networks according to 2009 Women and Social Media Study by BlogHer, iVillage and Compass Partners.
3. The World's Most Valuable Brands.  Who's Most Engaged? Engagement DB Ranking the Top 100 Global Brands- Ranked on the breadth and depth of engagement.
4. 50 Best Websites 2009- Great list to learn about usability and engagement.
5. Facebook: Who You Know; Twitter: What You Know- Study finds video viewed longer when posted to Twitter than posted to Facebook.
6. 52 Percent of Americans use mobile for non-voice activities:  Study- Huge mobile stats here. Ignoring mobile is ignorant.
7. Mobile Internet User Experience is Miserable:  Study- " 59% success rate for users to complete mobile tasks vs. 80% success rate from their pc"= Lots of work to be done here.
8. Consumers More Negative Now About Economy- Why it's important to think about the value of your brand as it directly correlates to the REAL value of your service.
9. More women using social networks preferring Facebook- It's really important to keep on top of these trends and tweak your marketing accordingly.

This is the condensed version.  Throughout the year I have tweeted and reported from my Facebook accounts of useful tools, research, resources and great reads pertinent to the real estate industry.  I will continue to do so in 2010.  Make sure you don't miss any...we are now 5 days into 2010 and Real Skillz has been Tweeting and Facebooking away.  It's really simple not to miss a beat...you just need a computer mouse and three clicks.

Join me on Twitter
Friend me on Facebook
Become a Fan of Real Skillz on Facebook

• 15 Online Press Release Distribution Sites

A blog post from Alyssa Gregory, owner of a full time virutal assistance firm, about where to find the best sites to create and distribute your press releases.  Make sure not to miss the comments to this blog post because in them you will pick up some additional resources and tips for sending press releases.

 

Press releases are an important part of marketing and if you haven't already started adding them into your repetoire it's time to begin.  For more on this topic I recommend reading the New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meersman Scott. The information about creating a media room on your website is invaluable.

• The Executive Summary for Marketing Sherpa's 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report 

You can download Marketing Sherpa's Executive Summary on Social Media Marketing for free without filling out a form on their website. 

The summary is worth the read and provides valuable insights to help you plan your social media marketing strategy.  Some significant observations noted in the report include:

• Lack of an effective social media marketing strategy is one of the most significant challenges facing marketers. 
• The human factor will account for nearly 60% of social media marketing expenditures next year including staff salaries for blogging, content development, social monitoring, etc.  

• Don't forget to use some very simple and proven sales techniques on your online sales pages

An article from Nick Usborn on Web Today on simple but proven sales strategies and triggers.  Three important take-aways are: 

•  
  • Can you add a sense of scarcity?
  • Can you offer something free?
  • Can you reduce the perceived risk of taking action?

Review your website and see which of these questions you are answering. 

 

• Twitter Productivity

Organize

I am a fan of any application that reduces the noise on Twitter and increases the productivity.  About six months ago I swtiched from Tweetdeck to Hootsuite and haven't looked back.  Hootsuite is my CRM for Twitter. 

 

 

•  Free Keyword Tools from Wordstream
  

      These free tools are very smart keyword prospecting tools-the essential start for your online marketing. 
      Very useful tools for real estate marketing with savvy keywords to effectively catch and win the long tail strategy.

We are heading into the homestretch of 2009.  Hopefully you have been working on your business plan for 2010 or already have that nailed down.  Before you throw in the towel on 2009, unless you're on vacation, consider seeking out the most of these last days by marketing the best deals from your local real estate inventory.

You've got 15 Days of Selling Before 2010.

Real estate discounts and returns are the products you should be marketing for after Christmas sales

.

Take a page from a retailer's playbook.  Emphasize the discounts and returns in your market.   Highlighting the real estate inventory clearance on your blog or website.  Use the WOM (Word-Of-Mouth)factor through informing your social networks about your clearance sale.

Talk about your real estate inventory clearance by getting out of the house and getting your meet and greet on (fondly referred to as belly to belly).  Advertise in your local paper IF IT MAKES sense and the readership is still there.

Take a listen,

 

Rewind and Replay of the REO Example on Slow Mo'

• Write about how returned houses make good deals for buyers
• Describe the process of buying REOs.
• Give local stats on REOs.
• Provide links to REO listings on your website/blog

Ta Da- A real estate marketing strategy for consumers who like to capitalize on real estate discounts and returns.

(Break into song)

 

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way

Oh What Fun It is To Ride

Surfing on an Internet wave

Hey

 

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All the Way

Oh What Fun It is to Ride

The Momentum of a Clearance Tide

 

6 Days of Selling Before 2009.  Real estate discounts and returns are the products you should be marketing.

Happy Holidays

 

Quick Thought:  If you are in snowbird land right now, you could reach out and cross promote a real estate associate whose got some great warm weather specials for local consumers who are crying the winter blues (vacation homes, retirement homes).  Your net gain is when those prospects call you, you qualify them, and place an outbound referral.

Subscribe to Blogging In The Rain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

 

************************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate professionals.  Real estate marketing services include

 

• Blogging- See my Blogging Tune-Up Website for Details
• Social Networking
• Niche Marketing
• Marketing Strategy
• Branding- See my Branding Sanity Website for Details
• Offline Marketing
• Online Marketing
• Special Events Promotion and Marketing
• Holiday Marketing
• Marketing Campaigns
• Email Marketing (Content and Design)
• Reputation Management

If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

 

 

• 25 Essentials for Exceptional Email Campaigns
  

There are a total of 25 tips and each tip gives solid examples and how to's.  It's a solid no fluff guide for email marketing and a good read for any real estate professional who sends email campaigns and newsletters.

 

• Barclaycard Waterslide Ad Campaign

 

Watch this Barclaycard Waterslide Ad Campaign that aired and keep in mind that Barclay Card is a financial Services Company.

Along with the video there was an interactive multimedia application that allowed people to play a "water game".  The Iphone app for the Barclaycard Waterslide Game in July of 2009 was the #1 free app. in 57 countries.

The results discussed in Eyeblaster's Case Study:  BarclayCard Challenges Finanacial  Advertising Conventions were: 

1. 13.7 million impressions
2. 4.6 million unique users
3. Total interaction rate was 58%.

All that traffic from a K.I.S.S. Concept of fun in the form of a silly water slide and a water game.

 

• The EConsultancy's Innovation Awards 200:  The Winners

       An awesome round up of the who, what and why of EConsultancy's 2009 Innovation Awards winners.

       I have picked a few of the worthy winners that stood out in categories that I felt relevant to real estate:

1.  Innovation in Affiliate Marketing- EBay Partner Network-rewards affiliates based on number of transactions and length of customer's value.

In other words: Click to-transaction to-repeat transaction. Good study for any real estate professional considering advertisers on their blog/website.

2.  Innovation in ECommerce-Glasses Direct- Has an Augmented Reality Video Mirror that allows customers to "try on eyeglasses" with views from different angles. 

I can't wait for the day that this type of app. creeps into the real estate industry and moves virtual tours to a different level allowing prospective home buyers to walk thru houses as they are and truly get a feel before they go out in the field.  This type of app. could save a lot of time and heartache but the key would also be to enable the buyer to walk the neighborhood, similar to roving about with Google Earth.

3.  Innovation in Lead Generation Online- Eurpoean Directories and Skype- Online search conversion into phone calls with tracking.  This is a real measure for the ROI of online marketing and where it's moving to and in fact some of these systems have been around for awhile.

 

• Official Google Blog:  Relevance Meets the Real Time Web

Google's official announcement of launching real time search to Google's SERP and their partnerships with Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed, Jaiku, and Identi.ca.  Twitter had been announced earlier.

These are just a few of the checklist of considerations this video breaks down for solopreuners and business owners who want a solid online offering.

This is not without concern from the online webmaster and SEO communities who are concerned that social media may be dwarfing the static web and the credibility of information may become even more watered down in the process.

This type of search itself is a disruption to the older search methods but emphasizes the importance of getting your brand disbursed in many places online and creating full profiles and syndicating your blog to those profiles. It also further emphasizes and re-defines the importance of a content powered strategy.  Content is text, audio, video, micro blogging and conversations across platforms on the worldwide web.

Are you actively engaged and involved?

Real Skillz appreciates its fans and is showing an attitude of gratitude.  Every day in December look for a freebie tool/site posted through the Real Skillz real estate marketing fan page on Facebook.  I'll tell you where to find it and how it is useful to your business.

Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies is a weekly online newsletter provided by Rebecca D. Levinson, Real Estate Marketing Consultant.

 

****************************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate professionals. If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

 

• Personalized emails, Website for sales agents boost response:  5 Strategies to Lift CTR 23%
  

 

****************************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate industry professionals.

 

If you need assistance with online marketing, offline marketing, social networking, or blogging contact Rebecca D. Levinson at #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@bloggingintherain.com.

 

• The 7 Laws for Buying B2B

1. LAW #2. DON’T hire a vendor just because they’ve helped you in the past.
2. LAW #3. DON’T hire a vendor just because you’re impressed by their CEO.

 

As you create/finish your real estate marketing budget for 2010 here are six tips to keep your business finances lean and mean.

•  Research Shows How Much We Love A Blame Storm

1. Learning from your mistakes- "embrace failures and mistakes as something to move on from"
2. Positive affirmation- "people who affirmed their ’self-worth’, were less likely to point fingers."

I know.  I practice it regularly.

 

•  Stockpiling Blog Articles Gets You Ahead of the Game

"Publishing this text in a blog gives you a sense of accomplishment.  And having a permanence of legacy gives you a taste of eternity". 

 

In my seminars I say something similar, "When you blog you now have a brand that is archived on the Internet and will remain part of your legacy" and even professionals who don't blog yet get that.

I often see their heads nodding up and down as they take notes.

• Build Brand Through Online Forums:  Giveaway offer Receives 83%

1. Create a high quality freebie
2. Build landing pages to accept requests
3. Identify appropriate forums
4. Write customized post content
5. Post content to forums

 

Important take away- Get involved where consumers are active.  Question and Answer websites and forum are fertile ground for marketing campaigns and new business.