Blogs: Quick and Easy Tips to Increase Readership

Writing and publishing a blog is a lot of fun. It allows the author,using articles photos, and videos, to creatively  develop their online personality. Many bloggers develop an intricate and detailed online personality only to be disappointed at the lack of interaction with their online community.

Here are a few words of encouragement. Whatever you do, don't give up! Try these easy steps to develop a long term group of faithful followers who interact with you through your blog.

• Post - Quit waiting for the perfect article. Take the idea you have and express it. You can always go back later and expand your idea by posting more detailed information. Just Post it!
• Distribute - Make sure your blog posts are shared throughout your online media sources. Remember to use your blog as the hub and sources like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and others as the spokes. These  other social media communities will help you draw in more readers to your blog.
• Engage - Ask questions in your posts. When your readers comment, it is important that you respond. Listen so you can interact. Do this by setting up notifications to your phone or email (or both) so that you are immediately notified when someone comments on your post. By  responding to their comment quickly, you can create a real time conversation.
• Adjust - Analyze and tweak as you go. Watch your statistics and and analytics so you understand what interests your readers most. Post on subjects that have high interest and comments. Stop posting on subjects that have little to now interest.

Enjoy developing your blog and your online community. Keep your blog fresh by updating it frequently. You'll be glad you did!

Use Social Network Sites to Research New Prospects

Social sites aren’t just for talking but for listening. Social networks provide excellent opportunities for real estate agents to search for people who are talking about making a move. Searching this way enables agents to make contact with people they may not yet know who are planning a move. Spend a few minutes (that’s all) each day searching your social media sites looking for people who are planning a move.

Think about who may be moving…

Anyone who has had a life event may be considering a move. Someone who has just graduated, had a baby, landed a new job, had children move out, etc. are all excellent prospects.

Searching is quick and easy when you know how to do it.

Start with the largest social media site, Facebook. At the top of the page is the search box. Type

what you are looking for in quotation marks. Here’s an example, let’s look for “moving to Houston” It’s important that you click on the magnifying glass to start the search instead of just hitting enter. Next decide what group to target. On the left side of the page are Search Filters. Start with Posts by Friends to check your friends. Move to Public Posts to check for people you don’t yet know.

Twitter also has great search capabilities. Just like Facebook,

type the search parameters into

the search box. Use quotation marks to narrow the results. The gear to the right of the search box has advance search tools. Add a location to your search to help target a certain area. Adding a target group of people is possible in the advanced search section of Twitter as well.

Searching for potential clients this way and reaching out to them on their social media site is the newest form of warm calling possible. The difference is though the potential prospects have already expressed an interest or need to make a move.

Just like any prospecting these potential customers may still require follow up before they are actually ready to buy. If possible, add them to your following or friends. Send them a message or comment on their post to help them notice you. Here's to your Success!

The Home Showing Process Simplified

Real estate agents should help buyers in the home buying process. The agent's job isn't to make the decision for the buyer but to facilitate the process by properly preparing to show homes and to show homes correctly. Following these few simple steps will help the buyers come to the best decision for them.

Pull the weeds - Preview homes before taking a buyer to see them. Some houses look much better in the photographs than in person. Others may be next to undesirable items like high tension power lines. Previewing eliminates wasted showings and deminstrates professionalism.

Do your homework - Once the choice homes are selected spend time researching each property. Know the listing history, the date it last sold, the value, and other pertinent information the buyer will need to make a decision. Add disclosure notices to the showing packet for the buyer's convenience. Be prepared with market analyses.

Know where to go first - David Knox in his Mentor Series II series talks about what order to show homes. In David's tongue-in-cheek manner, he calls it The Theory of Relativity. Buyer's don't understand how good a home is until they compare it to other homes. For example, have you ever jumped into a swimming pool straight from the jacuzzi? Freezing cold, right? What if you just jumped into the pool first without going into the jacuzzi? The pool won't feel as cold because you didn't come from as hot an environment. David Knox recommends that after choosing the best four or five homes for your buyer client, put them in an order to help them reach a buying decision. Show them from good to better to best to good again. This gets them excited to move from house to house but shuts down the showing process in the end. Don't manipulate the process by adding a dog into the mix. These are the best homes available for your buyer.

Shhhh! - This is the hardest part! If the agents has done his or her job correctly, picking the best homes for the buyer, then all the homes should have practically all the same amenities. These are the perfect homes for the buyer. Why not let the homes show themselves and let the buyers experience them without agent commentary. Use the time to observe the buyers as they explore and enjoy the homes they are viewing. Listen for their comments as they enter and leave rooms. Write down their reactions to add to their feedback at the end of each home showing.

Following these easy steps will simplify the buying process for the buyers. Enjoy!

Real Estate Reading List for 2012

With a new year comes a challenge and an endeavor to improve both in knowledge and in skill. My reading list never seems to shrink. As i finish one book I seem to add another two to the pile. What is on your list for 2012?

• Linchpin Seth Godin
• Raving Fans Ken Blanchard
• Trust Agents Chris Brogan
• Tribes Seth Godin
• The Real Book of Real Estate Robert Kiyosaki
• The Millionaire Real Estate Agent Gary Keller
• Unselling: Sell Less to Win More Peter Bourke
• The Law of Success Napoleon Hill
• Google + for Business Chris Brogan
• The Thank You Economy Gary Vaynerchuk

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Ready, Set, JUMP!

Being cautious and looking at a problem from all sides is a great business practice. Business plans should include intricate details about marketing and product development. After careful analysis, however, sometimes you just have to take a running start and jump in! Don't forget to make as big of a splash as you can!

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Content Marketing for Social Media Sites

Many new Facebookers have true concerns about what and when to post material. Instead of creating a page and then trying to determine what information to provide, do it in reverse. Decide what content to provide and then create a page designed to deliver the information.
Before creating your Facebook page decide what kind of content or information to provide. This will depend completely on who the targeted audience is for the page. This allows the page to focus completely on consumer needs and delivers enough content for the first thirty to sixty days.
Three good questions to ask before creating a Facebook page are:

1. What kind of information does my targeted audience mostly likely need?
2. Why do I love selling real estate?
3. Why do I love this community?

The answers to these three questions are the beginning of a cntent grid. Use the following chart to help create a content grid.

Post several times a day in order to maximize exposure. Some recommend even posting the same material more than once to increase readership. Though this may look a bit like spam to frequent Facebook visitors, allows for the greatest exposure.

With all this great consumer centered information being produced, length of article or post is a concern. Facebook users are accustomed to short bits of information which is why Facebook is not in the center of the social media hub. Facebook allows the consumer to readily find topics and shorts posts of information. The true source of the information is the blog. Facebook just directs the consumer to it Even so, some bits of information may come from other sites like
governmental agencies, Realtor ssociations, school websites, news organizations to name a few. Create a link tothis information and post it directly on Facebook. Add the URL to longer articles or helpful link lists posted on the blog.

Each blog post has its own distinct URL or web address. By clicking on the title of the blog article, the URL will appear in the address bar. Copy and paste the URL for the article to Facebook. This gives the blog article greater exposure. The back link helps in placement in Google searches as well.

Content on blogs and Facebook is not limited to written articles. Content can be as simple as a picture with a title posted from Flick’r onto Facebook and the blog. Use the hub to create a network of sites whenever possible! Content can be shared as a video as well. Imagine, for example, keeping the community informed about a local construction project by posting
frequent and short videos. These videos are stored on YouTube and linked or embedded into the blog and Facebook. Creatively, client testimonials can be video as well. Ask satisfied clients to make a short 30-45 second video instead of writing a letter. These are great show instead of tells for blogs and Facebook.

Now that the social media hub is in place and beginning to work, refocus on the content grid to deliver quality and enjoyable information to your targeted group of consumers. This is the fun part!

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How do we interact in 2011?

To reach consumers it is necessary to understand how people interact today. More than likely, people meet online with 1 in 5 marriages originating from an online introduction. With the likelihood of personal interaction initiating online, a strong, widespread, dynamic, and planned online presence is a must for a real estate professional to grow a successful and productive business.
An online prospecting campaign must include a substantial amount of Facebook. Successful campaigns that create a measureable return on time and dollar investment usually include use of both the personal profile and a business page along with facebook ads.

Recently Facebook incorporated Facebook generated lists to help organize friends into manageable groups. Lists allow individuals to post status updates to specific groups of people allowing a great opportunity to target market. It would be beneficial to post an open house for friends in a specific geographic area. But it may be considered spam to others who live far away from the open house. Lists also allow facebookers to review or watch posts from specific groups of people. Many people today have more Facebook friends than they can interact with. Lists allow people to streamline friends into smaller lists. The smaller groups let posts move slower down the wall so it is easier to pay attention and interact with friends.

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Questioning techniques can simplify the buying process

How did their real estate agent know that they all wanted their own shrub?

Helping people buy requires learning about the buyer's motivations and needs. Some of these have nothing to do with the number of bedrooms and square footage.

Learning to ask the right questions will help the buyers get what they are looking for. Open-ended questions allow the consumer to explain and describe more. The real estate agent can learn alot from open-ended questions.
Open-ended questions that start with

• How
• What
• Why
• When
• Who
• Where
• Describe
  

Closed questions have their place too. Use closed question to get definitive postions from buyers. Closed questions may lead specifically to a yes or no answer and include words like:

• Do
• Are
• Is
• Have
• Could
• Would
• Will
• Can
• Did

When qualifying buyers and sellers, it never hurts to SLOB them!

• S How soon do you want to move?
• L How long have you been looking?
• O Have you made any offers?
• B If you found the right house today, would you buy it?

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Setting goals gives you a roadmap to success

The second part of Jim Rohn's discussion with Vic Johnson of Goals 2 Go about goal setting is below. Jim hits home with explaining why listing goals, both short term and long term, is necessary. Simply put, crossing something off your list everyday makes you feel good.

Having daily goals and clearly understanding what you will do each day helps you become effective in both your business and personal life. Don't go to bed without tomorrow's list done!

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Just a few choice words

Just a few words from Jim Rohn to start the day:

Skills: Don't wish it were easier; wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems; wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenges; wish for more wisdom.

Growth: Don't join an easy crowd. You won't grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform and achieve are high.

Change: We generally change ourselves for one of two reasons: inspiration or desperation.

Activity: The few who do are the envy of the many who watch.

Success: Success is what you attract by the person you become.

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Prospect to Urgent Consumers

The key to prospect identification is URGENCY:

• TIME is the key criteria for determining who is a prospect
  
• Categorize your prospects by WHEN they want to move
  
• Question for motivation using time based questions:

1. How soon do you plan on moving?
2. How much longer will your home meet your needs?
3. At what point would you consider seeking the services of a sales person?
   

Bring information to customers who you know want to move. Focus on using active propsecting methods attracting those with an urgency in the buying or selling desires.

FSBOS

Expired Listings

Open House attendees

Referrals

Good News Bads News

Cold calling this group can be more difficult because they don't know who you are. - Bad News

Cold calling this group can be lucrative because they are ready to make a move. - Good News

Key Concept - If you need business right now then you’ll need to take the initiative to actively prospect the groups that are urgent now and develop relationships by making cold calls and make them warm.
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Prospecting is a Contact Sport

Reaching out to consumers comes in many forms. Some methods require agents to actually make active contact with people. These active prospecting methods have face to face contact, phone or email contact, or other contact methods that allow for conversation. Other prospecting methods are inactive. They place prospecting materials in front of consumers with the hope of the prospect then to reach out for the real estate agent. Real estate agents’ prospecting plans need to include a balance of active and inactive prospecting methods.

Belly to Belly, Nose to Nose, and Toes to Toes

If I can hand you a business card then I am involved in an active prospecting activity.

– Steve Barnes, Coldwell Banker United, Realtors®

Active Prospecting includes activities that allow engagement in conversation such as face to face meetings, phone callings, emailing, and some social media posting. Real estate agents who are handing out business cards in a networking meeting, talking to their friends in social settings,calling friends and family member or neighbors to discuss market conditions, homes on the market, open houses, and other real estate activities are conducting active prospecting activities.

Active Prospecting Methods
Phone calling
Handing out business cards
Networking at social settings
Emailing friends and family members

Passive Prospecting creates opportunities for consumers to see, hear, or read about you, your company, and your services. The marketing piece gives the consumer enough information to be able to reach out to the agent. Passive marketing pieces usually have a call to action and a valuestatement along with the contact information of the real estate agent.

Passive Prospecting Methods
Billboards
Direct Mail postcards, etc.
Print Ads
Internet Ads
Websites
Flier boxes
Door hangers
Television Ads
Agent Intro Videos
Calendars and other giveaways

To be successful in real este, agents must use a combination of both active and passive prospecting methods. What are you using to insure success in your business?

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Filling the Funnel

Real estate opportunities are in each relationship we have. Whether in a first encounter with a consumer or with a long time friend, all people need a place to live. Not only do all people need a place to live, many people invest in real estate. Some invest in residential rental properties, while others purchase residential properties to rehab and then sell for profit. Both of these residential transactions, in addition to the lease opportunity, may include at least one real estate agent. This limited approach in real estate does not include any commercial transactions or development though each is attractive income generation options.

The question that comes in mind when considering all the opportunities to generate an income helping people buy, sell, lease, or develop
real estate is, “How do I find people who have a need in real estate?”

The word used to find people to work with is called prospecting. It is how real estate agents come into contact with consumers who have an interest in buying, selling, or leasing real estate.
The goal in prospecting is to find as many consumers as possible who are interested in transacting real estate. Reaching out to friends, acquaintances, neighbors, and others is like filling a funnel. The more prospects that are placed in the funnel through prospecting, the more likely a steady stream of income flows out the bottom of the funnel. The income level is dependent upon the volume of the flow and usually the dollar amount of the transaction. Assuming though a constant dollar amount of the transactions, the only way to increase income then is by increasing the number of transaction which is dependent on the amount of prospects reached. Reaching more people to make more money sounds simple. Yet many real estate agents fail at an alarmingly high rate. To have success, real estate agents need to have a plan about how to make contact with consumers and then follow their plan.

There are many ways to reach consumers to fill an agent's prospecting funnel. When creating their plan, agents can choose their prospecting methods by determining which are their favorites and their own strengths.
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Four Sales to SUCCESS

I was trained to look at each contact with a prospective client as a SALES opportunity. Don't try to do one sale before you have completed the sale before it.

The first sale is the initial phone contact with the prospective client . . . Sell the Appointment. Don't let them make you do your presentation over the phone. Give them enough info that they want to hear more. You want to give your presentation face-to-face.

The second sale is your Presentation . . . Sell the Sizzle, not the Steak. If you want to meet them in their home or office, ask for a specific amount of meeting time . . . I usually ask for 30 minutes because it is not too much time out of their schedule and yet it is enough time to make a quick evaluation of their interest in your presentation.
• first 10 minutes is the "ice breaker"
- If you know them already, talk about something you have in common
- If they are new to you, look around the room quickly to see what they are interested in . . . pictures, trophies, golf clubs in the corner, fish tank, etc. . . . and ask about that. They will want to talk about their passion and that will loosen them up.
• next 20 minutes - your presentation
• last 10 minutes - wrap it up and set up next appt. . . . when you reach the end of the 30 minutes, look at your watch and tap it with your finger and say, "Well, our time is up, so I will . . . (reaffirm what you agreed to for the next meeting). Many times, if the client is really interested in what you are saying, they will say, "No, you don't have to leave yet . . . I want to hear more about . . ." (or something like that)

The third sale is the Close . . . this may take more than one meeting.

The fourth sale is to get Referrals . . . if they liked what you did for them they will give you 2 or 3 referrals. If they cannot think of anyone, don't tell them that you will call them back. Have something to prompt them with. You can interchange the questions or come up with new ones.
• Friends - Do you have any friends who have outgrown there current house and are talking about buying or building another one?
• Neighbors - Have you heard any of your neighbors talking about getting transferred?
• Relatives - Do you know any of your relatives here in Houston or Texas or other states that are thinking of selling their house or buying/building a new one?

Guest Blogger David B. Atkins is a Sales Associate with Coldwell Banker United, Realtors in Houston, Texas and owner of Bulldog Shipping

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Video Blog for Authentic Marketing

Video in blog posts can take many forms. From fun and whimsical to informative and serious, video creates authentic marketing opportnities for those who use it. Youtube is the second largest search engine in the US with millions of minutes of video posted everyday. Use this to your advantage. Create a youtube channel and link back to it as often as possible from your blog. Embed video into your blog when possible as well. Here are a few helpful video blgging tips to get you started.

• List topics you wish to explore


• Research to find others who have created videos of the same topic to help gather ideas


• Share links to others' videos


• Make your own videos


• Create a small studio using ample lighting

Here is an example of a fun video from Realtors in Canada

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What’s your Social Marketing Plan?

I’ve got a Facebook account with two different business pages, a Twitter account that I use every day, a LinkedIn account that with a network that is growing in size literally every day, my own Youtube channel, two blogs, and a Flick’r account. How am I using this amass of social media sites to make money? Does any of this sound familiar?

I talk to a lot of people who were told they could generate income for their business if they had a Facebook account. Now, granted they have had a bunch of fun playing games and getting caught up with people they have talked to since college but the only thing they really have to show for it is a lot of nostalgia. Friends are great, don’t get me wrong, but most of the people I’ve talked to about this say the same thing, “I haven’t gained any business from all this. In fact, I’ve used a lot of time with nothing to show for it.”

Emily Soares Proctor in Social Media Examiner gives 5 easy steps to a winning social media plan including Find your Audience. Let's look at how to create a social media marketing plan strating with finding our audience.

Find Your Target Audience
Before venturing any further into social media marketing, you’ll have to identify your brand. Jeremiah Owyang details two types of brand: personal brand and career brand. Emily Soares Proctor asks, in personal branding, “what unique aspect of your product or service attracts your target population?” She follows up with a great career branding question too. “What do your readers want from you?” Emily recommends writing out a basic profile of your most common customer.
Specifically, look at the geographic or spherical group from which you want to draw business. What are the characteristics of that group? Include income level, education, hobbies, and even their ability to navigate the internet.

Become a Trusted Advisor
Use your social media sites to help people learn about their shared concerns. For example, one of my blogs is titled Quail Valley Real Estate. I have recently written several articles about the Quail Valley Golf Course. In the past year I have included reports on the Turtle Creek Drive construction project. Currently I am reporting on the road construction project on FM 1092. These are items that concern all the residents I Quail Valley. Brainstorm a list of topics that are of interest to all your readers. Research the topics and start writing. By writing on shared concerns and providing current information, your readers will begin to rely on your site for the information they need. You’ll become their “go to” person.

Mix it Up
Write on a variety of topics and in a variety of forms. Do lists, post videos, interview local experts, write personal interest stories, and include controversial topics. Don’t forget to have fun and let your personality to shine through. To get someone to reach out to you first you have to get them to know, like, and trust you.
Post Consistently
To me, this point is the toughest part, consistently providing information so the reader will know when to expect information from you. I know, for example, if I turn the television on at 7:00 in the morning on weekdays I can watch Good Morning America on ABC. It’s always there. I can count on it. Get the point?
In order to have that consistency I have to schedule a lot of my posts to go out at times different than when I write them. I can’t seem to write everyday and produce quality information. Instead, I write a lot on the weekends or at night. I can then break my articles into smaller pieces to be posted at regularly scheduled times. Some blogs allow for posts to be published at scheduled times. There are also sites that can automatically publish posts at scheduled times. Check out SocialOomph, HootSuite, and even to some extent TweetDeck. There are others as well.

All this writing, researching, planning, and posting takes time. It's just like any active marketing activity. You've got to schedule the time and do the work. The greatest reason I can see for including a good dose of social media in my marketing plan is that most real estate customers are beginning their buying and selling experience online. If they have already made a connection with a real estate, their trusted advisor, they will turn to that agent for help.

Setting up a Google Analytics Account

Setting up a Google Analytics account should only take a few minutes. Like most things when you are working on your own on the internet, nothing is as easy as everyone else says. I have used the Google Analytics help site more than once not only to set up my account but also in making it find my blogs and websites. One of the most benficial help pieces I have found, however, has not been on Google at all. It was on Youtube. This video shows step by step how to set up a Google Analytics account. Googgle Analytics for Dummies? I think so. I watched it more than once. Though the audio is not so hot, the content is great. Wrttnrd, the maker of the video, has several Google Analytics "How to" videos. I think all of them are "should watch" level videos.

Have You Ever Used Google Analytics?

Google Analytics has given me the ability to accumulate statistics about my blogs and websites in one place. I can view statistics of hits on particular posts on any given day. I can also see average time on sites and bounce rates. Google Analytics helps me set up goals and track benchmarks completed toward the goals I've set.

For real estate agents using internet marketing as a part of their overall marketing plan, Google Analytics helps determine the effectiveness of reaching my target group of consumers. Google helps Analytic users by holding seminars throughout the country. The seminars range in levels of knowledge to help best meet the participants' needs. The schedule of seminars is on the Google Analytcs site. They're called Seminars for Success. The Analytics site also has a help menu to guide first time users through setting up accounts and a trouble shooting section for those of us who never seem to get things right the first or second or third times.

Google Analytics has helped me formalize my internet marketing campaigns from a haphazard shotgun approach of marketing to a specific set of actions designed to reach specific consumer groups. I can watch and analyze the effectiveness of the implementation of my marketing plan, making changes to continually improve online marketing and time use.

Prospecting Requires Tool-kit

Sitting here reviewing the latest Facebook statistics, I am amazed at the fervor of activity and growth of social media sites. Facebook is now over 300 million users worldwide with over half of those logging on daily. Facebookers, spending ore than 6 billion minutes daily, post more than 2 billion pieces (including web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, events, and videos) weekly! Facebook is a growing, thriving country of intricately woven relationships.

It is astounding to me that we now have the ability to reach so many people simultaneously. It is no wonder why such a large number of marketers are focusing their attention on Facebook and other social media sites. We can create connections, establish relationships helping other people. Through a process of educational marketing we authentically develop these relationships with our friends as they begin to know, like, and eventually trust us, proving again Jim Weichert’s age-old adage, “People by people before they will buy a product or service.”

These social media marketing platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, and the rest, have given real estate agents and other prospectors the ability to reach more people and further develop their sphere of influence. With the web 2.0 explosion, however, we have begun to lose sight of a very important piece of the prospecting system: good old eyeball to eyeball, belly to belly as the cronies call it, contact.

Yes, we can electronically and conveniently, send documents to be signed literally anywhere in the world. Relationships however still have to be developed and grown. Take the time to meet with people. It’s the relationship that really makes the service industry fun! Cherish the true richness of the personal face to face contact that or customers truly deserve.

Prospecting and marketing methods have changed. They include a new tool, social media. In the end, it’s still just a tool. You can’t hammer with it. You need a hammer for that.

Success is Showing Up

Phillies' second baseman ends the game with an unassisted TRIPLE play. Not too many people can say they've ever been part of a triple play or even seen a triple play. Eric Bruntlett recorded all three outs of one! That's a play for the record books.

With the Mets creeping back into the game, Bruntlett's play ended the game. That's only the second time in Major League Baseball history that a game has ended on an unassisted triple play. Bruntlett, having a dismal season, was given a rare start in order to rest the regular second baseman Chase Utley. Eric Bruntlett showed up having a near career day at bat getting three hits in his first three at bats.

Success starts with showing up! Our hat's off to you, Eric Bruntlett.

Click on the title "Success is Showing Up" to watch the video clip.