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

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:48:27 -0600

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

Ten Types of Landing Page Goals for PPC Campaigns

A blog post from Search Engine Journal about how to get results from your PPC campaigns.

Many real estate professionals ask about the effectiveness of PPC campaigns. Effective PPC campaigns start with good landing pages. The blog post gives you ten ways to meet your prospecting/conversion goals.

Not to be missed are #2 Leads, #3 Up-sell or Cross Sells, and #4 Video Views.

5 Steps to Successful Facebook Advertising

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.

#Spon, #Paid, and #Samp: New Tags for Shilling on Twitter

Good article from ReadWriteWeb with a link to WOMMA's Social Media Marketing Disclosure Guide and the tags you should use when tweeting about a company/product that you are receiving something from in return.

Paid sponsorhip guidelines are important to pay attention to and keep up with online. This article is a good resource and at the very least should be bookmarked for near future reading, especially if you do any affililiate marketing or have sponsors on your blog/website or promote through your social marketing and microblogging efforts.

6 Approaches to Your Company Blog

A blog post from ReadWriteWeb for their ReadWriteStart channel (for entrepreuners and first time start-ups). The post breaks company blogs into 6 different category types. The Operations category would be relevant to real estate brokers as would elements of the Research category.

Make sure to check out the diagram in Figure 1. Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2009. The diagram anticipates that corporate blogging is two years away from mainstream adoption.

Creating a theme for your blog is an important exercise and will keep your efforts on target and your readers loyal and true blue.

Longtail Keywords: Using Keyword Phrases that Make Sales

A good article from ClickTalez about creating longtail keyword copy that makes sales rather than emphasizes giving away free information. There is a time and balance for both in online marketing and if you always advertise free, you are running from push sales. A balance of push and pull should be in all of your online marketing efforts in order to grow your revenue and not become a philanthropist in the process.

Terry explains how to balance out your keywords by defining and giving examples between commercal longtail keywords and informational longtail keywords. She also provides the use and relevance of both.

In this post there is a gem in the comments section where a commentor recommends using a free tool for keyword research thats sits alongside your blog editing screen by Wordtracker called SEO blogger.

The tool will help you to define your commercial and informational longtail keywords as you edit your blog post. Very cool.

Subscribe to BloggingInTheRain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

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

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience servicing 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.

1/24/2010-2/05/2010 RealSkillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:11:08 -0600

1/24/2010-2/05/2010 RealSkillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

How to Create An Incentive for Visitors To Fan Your Facebook Page

A blog post, day 17 in a series from John Haydon on how to optimize your blog with social media, that concentrates on Facebook Fan Pages. Haydon's tips are easy to follow and involve creating content for Facebook Fans that visitors

can't see using the static FBML application.

This content should be useful to your Facebook Fans.

Haydon mentions his own Facebook Fan Video that are not available elsewhere. I would suggest reminding your fans that

if they have Facebook friends who could use this information then to please recommend they become a Fan of the page

after they have received the special content.

Bill Gassett's post,Agent Applause Real Estate Marketing Ideas,

is also recommended reading. The tip on thanking fans for joining

is a traditional technique that makes common sense.

How to Recruit a Guest Blogger

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.

I strongly recommend you visit the full article on guest bloggers and check out the bonus section which includes a tool you can use to find a guest blogger.

Using guest bloggers can really help to lighten your load and make your blog even more valuable to readers. Creating an Editorial Calendar will further help recruit and retain guest bloggers and generate traffic to your blog.

10 Free Online Sales Tools for 2010

An article on BNet from Geoffrey James about online sales tools to help sales professionals. The entire article is extremely useful and cleverly organized. The list is broken down into what each tool does, how it helps you sell, if it has any drawbacks,

why it's free (really clever section IMO), the name of the vendor, and where to get it. Very nicely done.

Of all ten tools noted in the article I found these three to be especially useful for real estate professionals:

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.

These sales tools should pack some power to your sales calls and marketing efforts to help rev up your effectiveness and seal your deals.

Email + Social Bookmarking=Instant Rankings

An article from Dr. Ralph Wilson of Web Marketing Today that gives really simple steps to a good link strategy using your blog readers and email marketing database. The article gives good concrete steps to follow and emphasizes that there is no magic formula, these steps involve dedication and hard work. The article also includes a real life example of a successful campaign and emphasizes the need to ask your readers for a social bookmark by creating a call to action in your email newsletters and website landing pages.

These links back to your online newsletter and landing pages will help increase not only your link popularity but get your voice spread virally among your subscribers friends creating additional opportunity to increase your database.

Integrate SMS and Social Marketing

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.

If you think about the stand alone rule for offline marketing, for example running a mailing campaign like postcards, where you need at least eight impressions before the customer recognizes the brand it makes sense that adding multiple online channels to your marketing campaign would increase the effectiveness.

It also makes sense that while some prospects might not immediately sign up for your SMS, a prompt on a Facebook fan page and an email campaign outlining the value and he WIIFM if they take the action might prompt them to do so.

Subscribe to BloggingInTheRain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

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

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.

5 Audience Approved and Participant Friendly Tips for Public Speaking

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:33:16 -0500

5 Audience Approved and Participant Friendly Tips for Public Speaking

I started speaking in public just last November. Prior to that I was used to cozy, individual,one on one consultations with clients. What I have learned along the way is that the same give and take benefits that I've had through individual consultations I am also getting through presentations to rooms of 50-250 people.

I wanted to pause a moment to reflect and share on this topic of give and take because something resonated with me yesterday. I was invited to be one of two speakers at the WCR Madison Metro Chapter to discuss blogging. The presentation was short, 25 minutes including questions, so I wanted to make sure I highlighted the benefits of blogging as well as some of the distractions and fear busters.

A few of the real estate professionals in the room who approached me after this session thanked me for breaking things down in common speak not tech speak and now wanted to begin blogging. I was really warmed because that kind of specific feedback let me know I hit my goal.

I am sharing this because I've been doing some thinking about public speaking, both from my own speaking experiences, as well as attending speaker sessions. I have been thinking about some things that I believe make the experience of public speaking a better win/win situation for both parties. I think most of these are basic but they are the little details that get overlooked with even the most experience and sought after speakers.

1. Know and Help Communicate the Mission

Before you agree to participate in a speaking engagement get details...down to the micro level from the organizer about the goals they are trying to reach with your speaking session. Make sure that the organization/the company will be clearly communicating the goals of the session to the participants in their communications when they announce the event to prospective participants. Offer to help prepare copy for the session announcement so you can partner with the organization/company to communicate the mission. Clearly stating the goals prior to the event will lead to realistic expectations of the participants.

2. Consider Your Knowledge, Your Practical Experience, AND your Audience

Before you sign-up to be a speaker at an event, consider your knowlege, your practical experience, and your audience before you agree to a speaking engagement. The first two seem to be no brainers, but the third is a critical yet often overlooked factor. Let's face it, some speakers don't have the patience to sit in a room full of beginners and teach a 101 Topic. Their frustation with the audience will be transparent in the way they glaze over participant's questions or rush through concepts to get to the how to's or the "more interesting" material.

3. Survey Your Audience Before the Engagement

When you contract or agree to participate in a speaking engagement try get information about your demographics and the level of experience the participants have on the topic you will be presenting. If the organization or the company you are presenting to does not have this information ask if you can prepare a survey to be distributed to participants to complete and return well in advance of the event.

This will allow you to prepare your material FOR your audience.

4. Set the Expectations from the Get Go

Before you start up your slideshow, take a few moments to engage your audience. An introduction is customary and necessary but go beyond your bio and experience. Let the participants know what they should expect to LEARN FROM YOU in the session.

Communicating your expectations will help the participants know if they are understanding the concepts or if they need more information from you.

5. Encourage Discussion from Participants

Don't give up when participants do not speak up immediately and automatically when you ask, "Does anyone have any questions?". Read their body language and their faces. If they seem quizzical, if there is a glaze over the eyes, of if you have just discussed a rather complex concept probe your participants. Ask your participants questions, offer suggestions or even real life examples of your hang-ups when you first learned the material. Continue to probe the audience and pause and encourage questioning throughout your presentation.

Set aside your agenda and your powerpoint because at the end of the day what matters is that your audience is getting what you have to say.

Have you done any public speaking? Please open up your speaker's toolbox and share your tips by commenting below. Your feedback is appreciated.

Have you attended public speaking engagements? What impressed you the most? What did you feel was lacking and could've been better?

Please open up and share your view by commenting below. Your feedback is appreciated.

If you enjoyed this post please enjoy more by subscribing to Blogging In The Rain- Real Estate Marketing Blog

Real Estate Associations, Brokerages, and Franchises: If you are seeking Blogging and Social Networking workshops and seminars for your members contact Rebecca D. Levinson, dba Real Skillz, Real Estate Marketing Consultant. Phone #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com

Five Tips to Create Emotional Value in Your Real Estate Blog Posts

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:34:16 -0600

How do bloggers maintain loyal readership and gain new followers? Most bloggers discover over time that the way to do this is to blog consistently and satisfy your readers by giving them what they want. In business, this is information, given freely and regularly, about products and services. Timely news, how to's, and real life real estate stories are all blog fan favorites, but they need to be intermingled with a special seasoning to make an impact.

That special seasoning is emotion. PPC Advertising, online marketing, and sales all use emotional triggers because they are proven winners. You can create emotional value in your blog posts to wow readers into referral sources and direct buyers of your real estate services.

Here are five tips to create emotional value in your real estate blog posts

Research-Mix up Your Blog with High Traffic Trending Topics

Check trending topics on Google and Twitter. View a few of the blog posts and articles that are written based on these trending topics. What triggers your emotions in these online works? Record the phrases that stand out when you read them and draw an emotional response from you. Keep these notes on hand when you write your blog posts and need to find way to draw a similar response.

Analyze-Craft a Great Headline

Provide a balance of good SEO strategy and emotional value in your blog posts at the onset by creating a headline that makes use of longtail keywords and hits an emotional trigger. Use a copywriting tool for your headlines called the Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer. Use this tool to set your blog posts on target from the get go. The headline analyzing tool helps bloggers makes sure their headlines will make the right impact for their readers. This tool also helps you stay on track with the theme of your blog posts by sorting it into one of three categories: spiritual, empathetic, or spiritual which will help you make sure you are on track with the theme of your blog posts.

Create- Write First. Edit Second

Allow the words that come to your mind to flow freely without thought to spelling, grammar or allowing your inner self criticizing writing demon to stop you in your tracks. Limit your distractions from IM and Email by using the WriteRoom application for Google Docs.

When you are done writing the words exactly as they come to mind without any censoring then you can go back and edit your blog posts. If you edit as you write you are, without a doubt, editing the emotional potential of your posts before it has the chance to hit your computer screen.

Enhance-
Add Graphics that Invoke Emotion

Read this blog post from Cathy Moore, "How to add emotional impact with evocative images". Great images can evoke emotion in your readers beyond the prose of your post. Moore's post breaks down the use of graphics into these five categories with specific details and how to's,

Choose your stock site carefully
Search the site for the concept
Think of opposing similes
Avoid culturally specific images
Manage your images locally

After you read this post you will have a whole new view on the impact of images. It is seriously that good.

Learn- Get A Clue from Creative Works

Watch some film footage, and more specifically, watch footage from animated movies. One of my favorite inspirational resources to draw from are Pixar films. Pixar's movie "Up" manages to portray a whole lifetime in five minutes. It is utterly amazing and a craft of genius. It is a high caliber example of how to create and hold the end user's attention through eliciting an emotional response within a short time frame. If you want to really observe how to create an impact I recommend watching this film.

Here's another example of Pixar's ability to create emotion through creative work. View this short scene from Toy Story 2 and notice how it triggers emotion.

You can recreate this same effect by using multimedia in your blog posts. Adding video and audio is good way enhance your blog post topics. Another method is to publish Speechless Sunday and Wordless Wednesday blog posts.

Use these five tips to create emotional value in your real estate blog posts. Remember thought, that these tips will mean nothing unless you do the ground work. Take a step back to breathe, live, laugh, and love. This is where the best inspiration comes from.

The rest are just meaningless methods without this foundation.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
—
Maya Angelou

Subscribe to BloggingintheRain, 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.

The Top Top Three Tips to Become A Blog Originator and Build your Brand Identity Online

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:40:52 -0600

The Top Three Tips to Become a Blog Originator and Build Your Brand Identity Online

Is blogging dead? This is the question that seems to resurface every time a micro-blogging platform gains more visibility, new features, and higher traction. To me it is like a comparison between a quick bite to eat and a great home cooked meal or an elegant dinner with fireside dining.

Sometimes I need information and conversation that is quick and fast, other times I might want to opine and banter back and forth soaking up the prose along the way and digesting an idea to let it permeate my thought patterns and hopefully create something great as a result.

....Or just be satisfied with a belly full of good conversation among people I respect.

What might just be dead, though, is the regurgitation of tired topics. As bloggers we need to create content that matters to our readers. As business bloggers we have the tools at our disposal to see what is relevant to our readers and write about new topics and old topics with a brand new bent.

Blogging for business is about establishing your brand, your presence, and your authority on a topic and owning it in your own unique way.

Blogging for business is one of the greatest tools available for real estate professionals to brand their business online.

Here are the Top Three Ways to Become a Blog Originator and Build Your Brand Identity Online

Create a theme focused blog

Create a theme for your blog and stick to it. Start tracking categories on your blog so you can be mindful of the topics you are blogging about and if those topics are staying consistent with your blog's theme or if they are starting to run off track. It's easy to meander on your blog and if you do this consistently you are shooting your brand in your foot and run the risk of losing readership and business in the process.

Need help finding a theme? Use this blogging workbook designed to help real estate professionals decide on a focus for their real estate blogs and create a strategy for blogging and micro-blogging.

Develop your Blogging Voice

The stronger the dialog, the stronger the brand; the weaker the dialog, the weaker the brand.

~ Larry Webber

Content is big business online. How do you create and maintain originality while still remaining a water fountain of information that your readers thirst for and pass on to their friends and family? The answer is to develop your blogging voice. You can do this by working on traditional writing exercises that will help tone and strengthen your blogging muscles and allow you to feel more at ease letting your personality seep through your blog prose. Here are 36 resources to create blog content that blossoms online.

Developing your writing skills will allow your blogging voice to seep through your blog posts and up the emotional value in your real estate blog posts.

Use and Protect Your Blog's Property Wisely

Once you have developed a readership and gained traction in the blogosphere for your niche market make sure to use and protect your blog property wisely. There are many widgets and applications designed to make blogging easier and at the same time pull your readership to those companies internet property and away from yours.

You will also find that if you make a big impact online by working your blog with dedication there will be other professionals eager to have you open up your blog to their services and products. Choose your affiliations wisely and keep your reader's needs in mind FIRST before you recommend other professionals products or services whether it be in a blog post or by an ad on your blog.

Your association by link, blog prose, widget, or ad will be attached to your brand and your name for all to see.

Consider your blog as a primary Internet storefrontto showcase your products, services, and unique selling proposition BEFORE considering outside resources for your readership.

Consider all these components of your blog as branding opportunities,

Blog Header
Call to Action in the Footers
Blog Post Headlines
Blog prose in each post
Outbound links
Interlinking
Tags
Photos
Images
Blog Margin/Side Bar
Groups you join to Promote Blog Posts in a Community
Name of Your Blog
Blog Post Topics
Blog Archives
Blog Categories
Alt Tags

Don't miss another opportunity to build your brand identity online through your blog. Use the top three tips and become a blog originator.

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 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.

Week of 01/18/10- 01/23/10 Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:26:36 -0600

Week of 01/18/10- 01/23/10 Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real

Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Developing Perusasive Content for List Building

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.

Use Chrome, Stay Focused: New Plug-In Limits Frivolous Browsing

An article from Jodie O'Dell of ReadWriteWeb that discusses two plug-ins to help keep

you focused and manage how you spend your time online. One plug-In noted is

LeechBlock for Firefox and the other is StayFocsd for Google Chrome. Time

management is a fundamental business necessity and online time can seemingly evaporate

if you don't track, monitor and stay disciplined with your activities.

These two plug-ins help you get the job done online by cutting out any wandering you may have

along the way.

The Eight Elements of Contagious Ideas

A blog post from Dan Zarella that breaks down eight tactics you can use to help make your

online marketing campaigns spread virally. Zarella is known as a viral marketing scientist and

the tactics explained are done so in an analytical fashion. The post is worth your time and if you

like crunching historical marketing with a new media twist it will be worth your read. Some take

aways include:

Influential users share content more frequently than average social media users

Twitter proves this to be true.

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

A blog post from Wil Reynolds of SEER Interactive with excellent video marketing tips.

The full post is power packed with some easy how to's and ah ha moments. Some great

take aways include:

1. Put your URL as the first part of the description for every video you post.

2. Thank webmasters/bloggers who embed your video and ask for feedback and a link to your website.

3. Post your videos and a text description on your website not just YouTube.
 
 This is a really easy to follow SEO post and well worth the entire read.  Reynolds not only explains 

the how but the why in practical terms that are more real people speak then tech speak.  
 
 Get to know me on Facebook as a friend and if you like what I'm doing I'd be honored for

you to become a RealSkillz Real Estate Marketing Fan.

*******************************************************************************
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.

68 Forums for Real Estate Agents to Connect with Consumers

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:51:05 -0600

Scouring the Internet I have chosen 70 Forums and discussion groups that have had active participation within the past thirty days and have a real estate theme or topic of local information and are geared toward interactivity with consumer rather than real estate professionals only.

Using these websites a real estate agent can,

Get involved directly in discussions.
Observe and gather topics of consumer interest to blog about.
Find topics of consumer interest for guest blogger post topics.
Use to build a successful marketing campaign (See the last item on this post for more information on how to).
Combine with Question and Answer Websites for a powerful online internet real estate prospecting plan= Free Lead Generation.

Pick and choose forums and dicussions based on your niche, area(s) of expertise, and locality.

Here are 68 Forums for Real Estate Agents to Connect with Consumers

Buying/Selling Real Estate- General Forums

Bigger Pockets- Selling Real Estate
Bigger Pockets-Buying Real Estate
City-Data.com- Real Estate
HGTV.com-Buying and Selling Homes
HGTV.com-RealEstate
HGTV.com-Get It Sold
IQRealEstate.com-Ask an Expert
RealEstateForum.com-Ask a Realtor
Redfin- Buying Your Home
Redfin- Selling Your Home
Thefinanceforums.com- Real Estate
Topix.com-Real Estate
Zillow.com Discussion- Housing Markets
Zillow.com Discussion- HomeBuying
Zillow.com Discussion- HomeSelling

Financing Forums

Bigger Pockets- Creative Real Estate Financing
Bigger Pockets- Bankruptcy
Bigger Pockets- Housing Bubble, Credit Crunch, Subprime Meltdown and Real Estate Market
Loansafe.org-Loan safe lounge
Loansafe.org-Foreclosure Process
Loansafe.org-Loan Modification
Loansafe.org-Foreclosure Laws
Loansafe.org-Refinance
Loansafe.org- FHA Loan Requirements and Rates
Redfin- Mortgages
REIClub.com-Financing, Hard Money Lenders, Credit, Qualifying
REIClub.com- Commercial,Mobile Homes, Self Storage, Notes, Land Forum
Zillow.com Discussion- Mortgage

Foreclosure and REOs Forums

All-Foreclosure.com-Foreclosure Discussion
Bigger Pockets- Get Forclosure Help. Help Stop Foreclosure Forum
Bigger Pockets- REOs
Bigger Pockets- General Foreclosure and Pre-Foreclosure
ForeclosureUniversity.com-Foreclosure Forum
IQRealEstate.com-REO/Foreclosures
REI Club.com- Foreclosures,Short Sales,Tax Forelcosures,Tax Liens Forum

Home Ownership Forums

Loansafe.org- Homeowner Party. Homeowner's Unite to Fight Back
Zillow.com Discussion- Home Ownership
Zillow.com Discussion- Home Improvement

Location Based Forums

Bigger Pockets-Canadian Real Estate Forums
Redfin- Bay Area
Redfin- Boston
Redfin- Chicago
Redfin- Inland Empire
Redfin- Los Angeles
Redfin- New York
Redfin- Orange County
Redfin- Sacramento
Redfin- San Diego
Redfin- Seattle
Redfin- Washington D.C. Baltimore
Wired New York- Questions and Answers About NYC
WiredNewYork-Moving to New York
WiredNewYork-New York City Guide for New Yorkers
WiredNewYork-Events, Groups, and Meetups
WiredNewYork-New YorK Metro
WiredNewYork-New York Real Estate
WiredNework-Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and SI Real Estate
Zillow.com Discussion- Local Topics

Niche Real Estate Market Forums

Bigger Pockets- Real Estate Deal Analysis and Advice
Bigger Pockets- Land and Farm Investing Forum
Bigger Pockets- Trailers and Mobile Home Investing
Bigger Pockets-HUD, VA's, and Tax Sales
Bigger Pockets- Short Sales
Bigger Pockets- Pre-Construction and New Home Construction
Bigger Pockets-Rehabbing and Flipping Forum
Bigger Pockets- Foreigners Buying in the USA
EscapeHomes.com- General Second Home Owner Forum
REI Club.com- Bird Dogs, Wholesaling, Flipping Properties Forum
REIClub.com- Sub2, Lease Options
REIClub.com- Rehabbing, Landlording

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 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.

Week of 12/07/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:58:25 -0600

Week of 12/07/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

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

An article from Marketing Sherpa that discusses how a cruise agency integrates their email marketing and website offerings to consumers to create a winning proposition for their sales agents. There are noticeable similarities between this cruise agency's marketing campaign and a real estate franchise/company's marketing campaign and a few noticeable improvements that could be integrated into a real estate company/franchise's marketing campaign.

The article reviews the cruise agency's 5 step strategy,

Customize website on the fly
Send customized emails from sales agents
Automatically route leads to sales agents
Use internal emails to notify agents of leads actions
Send automated follow-up email to solicit trip reviews

This article is well worth the read. I found items #4 and 5 of particular interest. Reviews are particularly important to future prospects and customers and to tweaking and fine tuning your sales and service process.

Aardvark

I learned about this tool from ReadWriteWeb's Top 10 Consumer Web Apps of 2009. It's free and simple. Sign up, connect with your social circle via Facebook

Connect, and choose which topics you are willing to answer questions about. This tool will find people to route your question to and you receive any answers directly in your inbox. According to ReadWriteWeb's blog post the website has a 85% response rate.

I signed up this morning. Answered one question and asked a question to which I received two answers to in 3-5 minutes.

Think about social search here and this tool makes absolute sense by using the power of your extended network to gather information that you want/need to know.

Even better, here is the opportunity to answer questions you have knowledge and expertise in from those who are seeking it proactively.

Exclusive: Writing Better Copy for the Web 2.0 Landscape

An article from Bryan Eisenberg of Website Magazine with good copy writing tips for writing online. A few of these tips include,

Kill the jargon,fluff and hype.
Speak to customers in an authentic, human voice.
Format your copy for reading online.
Create multiple versions of headlines and sub headlines to find the ones that work the best.
Be as short as possible.
Be relevant.
Be credible.

It's important when you are writing a blog post or website copy to adopt a different style than a magazine or hard copy marketing collateral so your readership and usability remain intact and viable.

SCORE.org's "Create An Online Presence"

A valuable online workshop sponsored and presented by CoCentric for Score.org. Register online and gain free access to this on demand video about having a website built. This is a great video to watch before having a website built or even if you are considering revamping your old website. It lends tips that include what to budget for when having a website built that include,

What is the cost of the design?
What is the cost of the hosting per year?
What is the cost of the domain name per year?
What will it cost for maintenance and updates per year?

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.

Landing Page Optimization Silver Bullets

A blog post from Tim Nash on Web Marketing Today about how to optimize landing pages. Each set of

tips is broken into three categories,

Less is More
Personalize It
Test the Offer

I really liked this tip under test the offer, "Repetition of the call-to-action in multiple screen locations and formats".

In fact, I think these categories- Less, Personal, Test, could be applied to many types of actions in online marketing when you break it down simply.

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.

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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.

How Deep Does Your Blog Content Go? 36 Resources to Help You Write Better and Create Blog Content that Blossoms Online

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:27:54 -0600

How Deep Does Your Blog Content Go? 73 Resources to Help You Write Better and Create Blog Content that Blossoms Online

I have chosen these resources to help you dig into your blog deeper and create content that will expand your current skill set. Writers are constantly honing their skills and perfecting their efforts, digging deep into the bowels of their works and often their mind and souls in the process. Given that blogging is a form of writing, and both writers and journalists have been exercising the skills of their trades before blogging came to be I have taken care to comprise this list mainly of writing and journalism resources that are relevant to blogging.

Here are 36 Resources to Help You Write Better and Create Blog Content that Blossoms Online

A/B MULTI-VARIATE/SPLIT RATE TESTING

How The Huffington Post uses real-time testing to write better headlines » Nieman Journalism- Article on A/B Testing
Mulitvariate Testing and A/B Split Testing- who provides it?- List of service provides for A/B split testing. Yes Google is on the list.

ACCURACY

44 Tips to Accuracy- Excellent tips to make sure your writing is accurate. Makes a great checklist.
Accuracy Checklist: Detroit Free Press | Committee of Concerned Journalists- It's funny but as a blogger almost all of the eight checklists will apply to the blogger as a one (wo)man writer.
The Journalism School- Columbia University- Event Archive- Three sessions that make sense to listen to: HuffPo's Ken Lerer's Nothing's Off the Record, Helping Writer's Write, Beat Reporting with Sig Gissler

BLOGGING BASICS

News University: Journalism Training. What Makes A Great Blog: Principles for Success: A Poynter/NewsU Webinar Replay- Free recorded webinar on creating a great blog.
Online Media Law: The Basics for Bloggers and Other Online Publishers- Free online course for publishing content online.

COPYRIGHT AND CITATION

Documenting Electronic Sources: Online Guides to Citing Electronic Sources- The OWL at Purdue-Citation and Style Guides
U.S. Copyright office- Copyright basics.
Copyright and Attribution- Reference list from J-Learning

FOCUS ON LOCAL

News University. Localism Training. Build and Engage Local Audiences Online- Free E-Course- How to build and maintain a local online community.
Targeting New Audiences: Finding Your Niche- Creating content for a specific audience.

HEADLINES

Headline Writing for Google, Social Media and Profit : Condomunity.com-Gigantic bullet list blog post of headline do's, why's and how to's.Gigantic bullet list blog post of headline do's, why's and how to's.
How to Write Headlines That Work | Copyblogger- Eight types of headlines.
Advanced Marketing Institute- Headline Analyzer- Gives you the emotional value of your headline. Very cool.

PROOFREADING

Proofreading Your Writing - The OWL at Purdue- Easy to follow tips for proofreading.
Wordiness, Wordiness, Wordiness List- Big list to help you declutter your blog posts.
The Communications Network- Jargon Finder- A list to help you keep your blog jargon free.

TYPES OF WRITING

Online Storytelling Forms - CyberJournalist.net - Online News Association - Tips and Tools- Article about the types of storytelling online.
News University: Journalism Training. The Interview-Free E-Course on effective interviewing.
News University: Journalism Training. Beyond the Inverted Pyramid: Creating Alternative Story- Free E-course on different methods of writing.
How to Write a Comparative Analysis- Good thorough exercise to help you write posts that focus on comparing programs, tools, etc.

WRITER'S BLOCK

Writer's Block/Writer's Anxiety-The OWL at Purdue- Overcoming Writer's Block
Stuck in a Rut? The Top 5 Ways to Change Up the Ambiance and Get in the Mood To Blog- 5 ways to break your blogger's block

WRITING COMMUNITIES AND GROUPS

Writing.com- Online community for writers and readers.
Groups and Associations for Writers/Poe War- Groups and associations across the country for writers.

WRITING EXERCISES

Writing Exercises | PoeWar-Great list of writing exercises that makes sense for bloggers to do.

WRITING TIPS

Writer Resources.com- 10 Tips for Better Writing
Get Me Rewrite- The Craft of Revision- Free E-Course on editing and revising content.
The Lead Lab- Free E-Course on what to lead with in your content.

WRITING TOOLS

Word Spy- Learn new words.
News University: Journalism Training- The Writer's Workbench: 50 Tools You Can Use- Free E-Course to help sharpen and create good writing skills.
Strunk,William,Jr.-1918. The Elements of Style- Writer's Style Book.
Skrbl- Online whiteboard.
Xmind- Mindmapping.
WriteRoom for Google Docs- Distraction Free Writing

How Deep Does your Blog Content Go?

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 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.

12/22/09-12/31/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:23:06 -0600

12/22/09-12/31/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

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.

The executive report discuss social media maturation by organizations and the levels of maturation. Forty percent of companies are moving toward the transition phase where the emphasis is on planning a social media strategy.

Don't skip past the chart on Aligning Social Marketing Objectives with Corresponding Metrics. This chart is useful to help you determine the metrics you want to achieve in your social media marketing efforts.

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.

DeClutter

At the end of each week I use Twitter Karma to help me follow and unfollow in bulk and clean up my Twitter account. This one tool saves me hours of time. It's like hiring a housekeeper to scrub the bathroom, clean the kitchen, and scrub the walls and ceilings. You will be left with a mere 15-30 minutes of work after Twitter Karma gets its job done.

Upgrade

Want to search conversations by keywords and receive results only from your follower base? Sign-up for flocking.me and it will dig thru your followers tweets to retrieve search results for your keywords. It will also map search results based only on your followers. You can use this tool to more effectively join conversations AND to keep up, over, and beyond competitively speaking.

Real Skillz wishes everyone a Happy New Year. I am grateful to have such loyal subscribers, readers, friends, followers and fans. It is an increasing motivation to find the most practical and useful marketing tools and ideas online because of you.

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

A Simple Twitter Cheat Sheet for Real Estate Professionals to Generate Leads, Brand Your Business, Create Referral Partners, and Manage Your Reputation

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:10:22 -0600

A Simple Twitter Cheat Sheet for Real Estate Professionals to Generate Leads, Brand Your Business, Create Referral Partners, and Manage Your Reputation

Why Twitter? The news is in....Twitter users will now have an added advantage of their conversations appearing on the search engine results pages of Google and Bing. I have seen the indexing of tweets on Google as well as on Bing firsthand. Twitter can be used to brand your business, lead generation, to create referral partners, and even retain business through responsive reputation management. If you haven't started adding Twitter into your online marketing, it's time to engage.

When to Tweet

You can tweet everyday of the week. Make sure to to tweet on Wednesdays and Thursdays for maximum effect as they are the most active days of tweets and retweets as found by HubSpot's State of the Twittersphere June 2009.

Where to Find Local Peeps on Twitter

There are many directories and Apps for Twitter to help you find locals. Submit your twitter handle(s) and follow locals. Become engaged in local conversations on Twitter.

1. Twellow- Twitter Yellow Pages.
2. GeoFollow- Location based Twitter Directory.
3. Local Tweeps- Zipcode level Twitter directory.
4. twvite- Find and attend a local tweetup(locals who twitter meeting together offline.
5. Twitter Local- Gives you a feed of tweets based on location.
6. Nearby Tweets- Find twitter users in locations near to where you live.
7. Happn.in- Tracks local twitter users near to where you live.

How to Customize Your Background On Twitter

First impressions are important for branding and your background page on Twitter is no exception. Your Twitter background is a great opportunity to brand your business.

Here are 7 free applications you can use to customize your background:

1. Twitter Patterns- Abstract twitter patters you can use for free for your Twitter background.
2. Twitbacks- Free customized twitter background with full about section.
3. Twitpaper- Free Twitter themes.
4. Prettytweet- Customize your twitter background. You can add images, change color and change text.
5. TwitterImage- Free backgrounds grouped in various categories.
6. Freetwitterdesigner-Create custom twitter backgrounds.
7. Twitrounds- Free Twitter backgrounds.

What to Tweet

Twitter is a great way to prospect for business and engage in conversations.

Here are a few ways to find some useful things to tweet about and get people's interest.

You can join Twitter here.

1. Twitter Lights-Application that lets you highlight information you find interesting and send as a Tiny URL to Twitter.

2. WhatTheHashTag- Tracks trending hashtags and other hashtags on Twitter.

3. Tweetag-Search for topics on Twitter and setup alerts to get notified when your keywords are being talked about on Twitter.

4. Twitlink-What links are being shared and what is being tweeted on Twitter.

5. StufftoTweet- Popular topics on the worldwide web.

6.PlusPlusBot- Karma on Twitter.

7. Twitter Answers- Ask questions and get answers on Twitter.

How to Monitor Tweets to Generate Leads and Retain Business

Monitor Keywords Topics, and Links on Twitter...Then Engage. These 6 applications will help you track keywords and topics on Twitter allowing you to monitor your brand and generate leads.

1. Tweetbeep- Set up alerts that will be sent to your email when your topics/keywords are tweeted.
2. Tweetscan-Do a search for keywords and get results sorted by most recent tweets.
3. Samepoint- Tracks conversations across the web based on your keywords. A must use tool for prospecting and marketing.
4. Tweetmeme- Tracks the most popular links on Twitter.
nces.
5. Monitter- Allows you to monitor multiple keywords in a grid in real time on Twitter.
6.Twitscoop- Robust application for tracking keywords, topics, and conferences.

Best CRM for Twitter-Hootsuite- Manage your contacts by grouping, manage multiple twitter handles (user accounts), keep searches running, synch up with your Wordpress blog, analyze your twitter traffic and so much more.

These tools are recommended twitter tools to create an effective strategy for lead generation, reputation management and branding for real estate professionals. Do not use all the tools. Choose one or two from each list that will get the job done for you. I have whittled down the Twitter applications from the worldwide web and there are probably a half dozen new Twitter applications born for every one that already exists every week. Don't concentrate on that.

Concentrate on the tools that will make your Twittering effective and then just do it. Stop by and make sure to say hi to me while you tweet.

If you enjoyed these tips then sign-up for the weekly Real Skillz Real Estate Marketing Newsletter which has a static Twitter column with Tips to make your twittering efforts effective. It's delivered to your Inbox every Tuesday.

For All Real Estate Professionals

For Email Marketing you can trust

For Real Estate Professionals Who Are RealSkillz Clients

If you're a current RealSkillz client look in your inbox for the debut of the RealSkillz Real Estate Marketing newsletter for clients with tips on how to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and new how to's. This newsletter is only for clients and will debut on Tuesday, January 12, 2010.

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

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.

Week of 01/10/10- 01/18/10 Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:22:46 -0600

Week of 01/10/10- 01/18/10 Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

What's Motivating the Social Relationship Between Consumers and Companies?

A new chart from Marketing Sherpa exploring how consumers interact with companies who use social media. The report follows Max Connectors (people with more than 500 social connections), Daily Users and All Respondents. The reason most consumers friend/follow companies is because they want to learn about special sales followed closely by wanting to learn about new products/features/services.

Keep this in mind when marketing reduced listings, posting new inventory, and discussing new housing bills.

SEO CHALLENGES FOR 2010 WITH AMANDA WATTLINGTON

An insightful interview with Amanda Wattlington, SEO expert, on three SEO challenges for 2010 which include Google page loading speed, localization, and personalization.

What Wattlington has to say about localization and personalization is especially important. Remember that your offering should be as full as possible on your social media profiles because not all visitors will go to your website. Make sure to claim your business in online local directories.

Which Is Worse for Your Brain: Texting or Pot?(Hint: Pass the Pipe)

An article from Richard Young of BNet that cuts into the stress of the real time web and gives some no nonsense advise on how to deal with it.

A few stellar tips include,

Set a time to check for messages in the afternoon and use your brain for more important tasks; Turn off any alarms that notify you of email as it comes into your inbox.

Organize your thinking visually.

Break down complex information into sub-groups

Delegate more often.

Working online makes it difficult not to fall into the trap of 24/7 availablity. This article helps provide tips

on being less robotic and more human. Just as important it emphasizes that your effectiveness increases

when you are less tapped into a wired environment.

Ten Musts for Marketing to Women on Facebook

This article from Brette Burrow on Mashable discusses how to market to women online. Women account for over 56 million Facebook users and are the purchasing decision makers in most households.

Here is a Summary of the Top 10 Tips:

Create an emotional connection with your fans.

Design a post series that readers can rely on and is useful to them.

Share new products/services with your fans and help them take advantage of new offers online.

Quit being redundant. If you repost news to your Fan Page offer additional value.

Consider widgets that allow a transaction to occur right from your fan page (For real estate this could be a free home evaluation or access to listings; For mortgage professionals this could be rate quotes or daily rate summaries).

Respond to feedback and criticism.

Share the positive and address the negative.

Let your customers know about supply shortages or website problems.

Provide quality information in your Facebook posts and on your Facebook Fan Page. Stay away from spammy advertising.

Answer questions on your Facebook Fan Page.

Women are in the majority when it comes to making financial purchases and decisions. This is a helpful list to keep in mind as you are creating a

Facebook Fan Page Strategy. Also check out this summary notes report- "Marketing to Women".

The Mad Scientist of Cold Calling

An excerpt from an interview with Geoffrey James of BNet and Dr. James Oldroyd on the science of cold calling. There are some really fantastic metrics in this post which include,

The best times and day to qualify leads are between 8a.m.-9 a.m. and 4-5 p.m. on Thursdays.

Sales leads in the financial industries remain live or 24 hours.

Your focus shoud be on the newest leads first.

The full Lead Response Management study by Kellogg can be downloaded here and includes information on getting people to your website, creating effective lead capture website forms, contacting web leads and great stats and tactics on lead generation.

The report is worth the read and the timing strategy tip are excellent.

Use it in conjunction with these five tips on choosing the right day to market your real estate services online to create an effective prospecting schedule for your real estate business.

Real Skillz is grateful to have such loyal subscribers, readers, friends, followers and fans. For more practical tips and how subscribe to the Real to's Skillz Real Estate Marketing Newsletter.

Get to know me on Facebook as a friend and if you like what you're reading then please do me the honor of becoming a fan.

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

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:16:49 -0600

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

2009 Tribalization of Business Study- Deloitte- Study on use of Social Media by businesses.
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.
EBay Generated $400M in business from iPhone App: CEO- How one mobile app. increased EBay's profit margins.
Peanut Butter Plan to Feed the Homeless Spreads- Social Networking for a Charitable Cause
Google Does Not Use the Keywords Meta Tag In Web Ranking- Confirmation of meta tag non ranking attribute.
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.
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.
Mobile WiFi Consumption on the Rise- JWire- "Thirty-eight percent of mobile users employing WiFi in cafés are making purchases via mobile."
Location, Location, Location- Twitter Blog- Hyper-local isn't just hype, it's common sense.
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.
Lending Tree Casts Consumers as Superheros-The Rebranding of Lending Tree.
10 Worst Countries to Be A Blogger- Persecution of bloggers in some countries exists beyond monetary injury.
Linked In Profiles More Accurate than Resumes- (Sad But True)- How thorough is your profile on LinkedIn? May be time for an update.
Web Key for Autos-Brandfreak- Consumers want video experience when car shopping and autodealers are responding.
Social Media Press Releases- How to use multiple types of press releases for an effective marketing reach.
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.
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.
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.
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

Thankfulfor.com- A gratitude journal to list what you are thankful for everyday
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.
Zoho.com- For the individual professional zoho has apps from doc managers to collaboration and oh yeah, mobile access.
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.
Backpackkit.com- Manage your documents, discussions, schedules, checklists in one place and share with your team.
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.
2D or not 2D that is the bar code question- I would love to see 2D bar codes used in the house hunting process.
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.
Picapp.com- Free images for your blog.
Bubbletweet.com- Add video messages to your tweets.
Digsby- Manage your social networks, email, and chat.
Dropsend- Send large files from your desktop.
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.
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.
Topseos.com- Identifies, categorizes and ranks top seo companies. Great presentation and resource.
Metroblogging- City specific blogs worldwide; This could be part of your hyperlocal marketing strategy.
Prezi- Online Presentation Tool.

Favorite Marketing Resources of 2009

B.B. Geeks- Reviews on Blackberry applications, news, and information.
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.
AdAge Power150- A Daily Ranking of Marketing Blogs.
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.
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.
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.
Guide to Single Serving Websites- Solid article. Real Estate professionals read this and think about your open houses, buyer's seminars, micro-niche markets.
Free E-Course-Finding Information in Technology- Excellent Free E-Learning Course- Finding Information in Technology....also reviews Copyright fyi.
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.
Forbes 21 Top Twitter Tips- 21 Ways you can use Twitter for your business that make sense.
Facebook Developer Roadmap- Developer roadmap for Facebook to have a better idea of what changes will happen on Facebook and when those will occur.
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.
100 Ways to Measure Social Media- Awesome no fluff list to measure social media.
MarketingTerms.com- Marketing reference guide that helps cut through the lingo.
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.
SCORE Online- Free and valuable online courses for small business owners.

Favorite Marketing Research of 2009

Marketshare.hitslink.com- Has your site been checked in different browsers? IE (Internet Explorer) still leads marketshare.
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.
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.
50 Best Websites 2009- Great list to learn about usability and engagement.
Facebook: Who You Know; Twitter: What You Know- Study finds video viewed longer when posted to Twitter than posted to Facebook.
52 Percent of Americans use mobile for non-voice activities: Study- Huge mobile stats here. Ignoring mobile is ignorant.
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.
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.
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

01/01/10-01/09/10- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:27:59 -0600

01/01/10-01/09/10- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Clear Hyperlinks Increase Conversions

A blog post from Todd Follansbee on how not to confuse your visitors with hyperlinks and how to make sure sure your hyperlinks are getting the most mileage. Take his hyperlink text quiz and make sure to check out the tips under "Make Text Hyperlinks Do More". The first one is discusses "Call to Action".

"Call to Action" are my three favorite words in marketing. Good marketing does nothing for sales without a clear call to action.

Tweetpsych

Tweetpsych is a Twitter application created by Dan Zarella. Tweet Psych provides Twitter psychological profiling for both users and lists. Each factor is represented in a bar graph as a percentage over/under the median of Twitter users with a description listed in the results section under the bar graph.

I learned that most of my tweeting is about work and I tweet the least about media.

Tweet Psych used in tandem with Twittergrader's tweet cloud really lends a clear perspective to your tweeting efforts and could keep you in check and on track.

The 2010 Social Media Marketing Ecosystem

A blog post from Dave Fleet on Social Media Today of the vast ecosystem of social media marketing and what to look ahead to in 2010.

As you start to read it you may want to shy away because of the intricacies in detail (even in the diagrams) and the layers of marketing butplug through. What I would like you to take note of is the first chart which lists the type of media and then the elements mentioned under the "ideal corporate social media system".

Note that the diagram has a corporate website and social media hub as the center of all other Internet marketing activities: Facebook,Twitter, YouTube.

I recommend that you map out your own current social media initiatives and see if they put your corporate website and social media hub at the center. You can use a simple pen and paper or a mind mapping software to help in this task.

Are all of your activities on social media marketing venues directed toward your corporate website and social media hub or do they not have a clear path home and a call to action?

If there's no clear direction home, time to get to work and work on creating an effective social media marketing strategy.

High Performance Analytics

A Feature article from the February 2010 edition of Website Magazine. This article is well worth the read as it emphasizes the importance of analytics in your online marketing activities. The author discusses KPI (Key Performance Indicators) that include Visitors per Conversion, Lead or Order, Cost per Lead, and Stickiness. It also gives four key tools for measuring website speed and load times.

The website also discusses Video Analytics, social analytics, and CRM analytics. I would bookmark, print, highlight and use this post when planning your analytics and looking at factors that you should be measuring and the tools that can help you with those measurements.

It will be very clear after reading this article that measurement should be part and parcel of all of your marketing endeavors.

Real Skillz is grateful to have such loyal subscribers, readers, friends, followers and fans. For more practical tips and how subscribe to the Real to'sSkillz Real Estate Marketing Newsletter.

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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.

Planning for an Effective Social Media Marketing Strategy IS the Shift in 2010. How Does Your Real Estate business stack Up?

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:38:40 -0600

Planning for An Effective Social Media Marketing Strategy IS the shift in 2010. How does your real estate business stack up?

Marketing Sherpa has just released the 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.

All Business Sectors will be increasing their budgets significantly for social marketing in 2010. The average hovering around 50% while some sectors will be increasing their budgets for social media marketing by nearly 80%.

Lack of an effective social media marketing strategy is one of the most significant challenges facing marketers.

The executive report discuss social media maturation by organizations and the levels of maturation. It cites that Forty percent of companies are moving toward the transition phase where the emphasis is on planning a social media strategy.

Don't skip past the chart on Aligning Social Marketing Objectives with Corresponding Metrics. This chart is useful to help you determine the metrics you want to achieve in your social media marketing efforts.

So how can you achieve this experience? Start by not throwing spaghetti up against the wall and seeing if it sticks. You need to look at your business goals and your current marketing strategy and see where you can add social media marketing methods to achieve an optimized, competitive, leadership strategy in your marketplace. You need to become consumer friendly 'cause the consumers are already out and they are talking, with or without your presence or your voice.

Make a decision to commit to consumers and the consumer experience. Take a look inside your organization....is there someone who can help your company or solo business take these steps, now? Develop a plan, now? Transplanting current employees or contractors from one position to another unsuited one to forage into social media marketing might allow you a lucky strike or it could be the pitch that strikes you out.

Just remember, for every 30-60-90-120 days it takes to get it done, your customers are 30-60-90-120 days ahead of you.

Some will just be gone.

If you enjoyed this post learn more about creating an efficient social media marketing strategy by reading,

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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.