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The $5.1 Million Mistake…That Could’ve Been Prevented!

by Josh Galvan

in Search Engine Optimization

Long Term Internet Success Requires Planning

When you’re going to use the internet as a marketing tool for your real estate business do not go the way of Toys ‘R’ Us.

The toy company bought the domain name Toys.com for $5.1 million. Problem is, they did not do their research properly since the new domain name had been de-indexed by Google! With Google if you’re not indexed you will not be found in a search.

Apparently they forwarded their domain name rather than transferred it and the site was re-indexed which caused it to lose it’s top ranking for the search team “toys”. Ouch. Bad for a business that wants to be found by the millions of people online for the product they sell!

Lesson: They should have asked an SEO consultant for help before jumping into that decision.

Real Estate Agents And Toys R Us

Lots of agents are like Toys ‘R’ Us in that the internet is a back-burner thought. Many agents in real estate will begin blogging without doing keyword research or without having an overall business plan for their internet marketing. As you’ve read the people at Toys ‘R’ Us obviously didn’t think it was important and it cost them big time.

The internet is overlooked by businesses and *ahem* real estate agents. The fact that even Toys ‘R’ Us – who has the financial resources to hire an SEO consultant – can make a mistake shows that even something as simple as forwarding a domain name over transferring it can have a huge impact on your business. Of course the toy store has the resources and holds a large enough market share that they’ll bounce back from it. You can’t say the same for real estate agents.

Before you do anything on the internet have your game plan ready. Do your research and have a purpose for the site.

Have a great day!

The Demon Of Marketing

by Orlando G

in Blogging

Changes In Real Estate Marketing Have Long Been Underway

…and the demon of marketing has something to say! I found this a while back, it’s a fun eight page satire piece you’ll get a kick out of. The piece emphasizes how the internet is the place to be when it comes to the real estate industry, not because it’s the latest technology but because it is what the market is demanding.

“The Market Has Changed, But You Have Not. If You’re Not Smart, You’ll Lose All You’ve Got”. Man, I can’t tell you how much I laugh when I read this thing, it’s hilarious! The message, illustrations, and how it was written as a children’s book in nursery rhyme fashion easily drives the point home! Just take a look at the sample below and see what I mean.

demonofmarketingpagesample The Demon Of Marketing

Click To Enlarge Image: It's worth it!

What The Demon Of Marketing Is

The demon of marketing personifies the idea that consumers in a free market eventually drift to services or products that are the most beneficial to them. Many people in the real estate industry still think the internet is a waste of time and continue to ignore the statistics, trends, and future reality. It’s a scary reality just like the scary demon in the picture above.

Moral of the story:

themarket1 The Demon Of Marketing

Click To Enlarge

Those who dismiss, deny, or ignore that the internet is where the market is heading with real estate are doomed to failure in the future.

As The Demon of Marketing says,

“Oh, my dear broker life is not fair; I’m the demon of marketing, and really don’t care”

Have Fun With It And Make Somebody Smile!

First off, download The Demon of Marketing here it’s a quick 2 minute read.

Read it and then send it to anybody who needs to have a laugh–it’ll bring a smile to most people, I promise. The beauty of comedy is that it has a way of making a point that people can remember.

Let me know your thoughts on it. Dislike it or love it? Let your opinion be heard, go ahead and comment!

if you missed the link the first time Download The Demon of Marketing here!

Have a great day!

P.S. Any real estate agent looking for a way to promote their listings take a look at the last pages. After the story there are two pages explaining a service called the UniversalMLS.com. I haven’t looked at the service in detail or anything but you can find an explanation of it’s services on the site, just a thought.

* The pictures above are from The Demon of Marketing by Creed Smith and Rob Doe from the UniversalMLS.com

Building Digital Rapport With Your Email Follow-up

by Josh Galvan

in Email Marketing, Featured

Email Follow-up Is The Key

Email lead follow-up is a real estate agents doorway to making money. On the flip side it’s also where agents can miss out and lose money! It is through proper email follow up that will determine your success in converting leads from the internet.

Think about it in terms of when you hold an open house. The basic idea is you get in your car, drive to the home and show it for a couple hours.

The tricky part when you’re there is getting a phone number when you’re face-to-face with a person who you know is interested in getting a new home. Think of email follow-up in this manner.

When you get emails from leads with questions or other inquiries that’s like having a buyer at your open house. You know there is interest if they went out of their way to write to you. Just like you know there is interest when people are attending your open house. However, just like the open house, you have to be skilled in your approach. Say the wrong thing and you’re crossed off their list.

Email is the same. Say the respond incorrectly and you won’t ever get an email from them again. Reply the right way and you are on your way to establishing a relationship and closing a deal.

The question is if can’t see them online what rapport building techniques do you use?

How To Create Rapport Online

Since you can’t physically see your prospect and therefore use your normal techniques of addressing their objections, you must learn to copy their writing style.

To do this if they USE ALL CAPS, you USE ALL CAPS. If they, use emoticons icon smile Building Digital Rapport With Your Email Follow up , you use emoticons icon smile Building Digital Rapport With Your Email Follow up ! You’re essentially copying their writing style when you respond to them.

This creates a subtle psychological connection with the person on the other end on the email (next week I’ll post the reasoning behind why this is so, for you curious cats).

Examples Of Good Email Follow-up Responses

Here are a couple of examples of what successful digital rapport Looks Like. Also, this applies to any online medium where you cannot see the person face-to-face and are trying to build rapport through writing.

Sample 1

sample1 Building Digital Rapport With Your Email Follow up

*Notice the use of capital letters, line spacing, lack of punctuation, no salutation and signature.

Sample 2

sample2 Building Digital Rapport With Your Email Follow up

*Notice the use of line spacing, question marks, exclamation points, periods, and the appearance of the salutation and signature.

In both of the above samples, you can see how to mimic their writing style.

Don’t Hesitate…Do It!

The principle of using these techniques not only apply to email follow up but also in other areas of real estate marketing such as blog responses. It may seem odd or uncomfortable for some but it works so go and do it. It’s digital rapport, it’s real, and it will increase your response rate.

Good luck!

Is It Politically Incorrect To Call A Lead “A Lead”?

by Josh Galvan

in Lead Generation

It’s Just A Word

This will be short and sweet. I’ve run across some people (I teasingly call them bleeding hearts) who don’t like it when we use the word “lead” when referring to, well…a lead. They sometimes tell me “they are people” or “they’re not a number”. The implication being that real estate agents view people as numbers or “leads” as opposed to human beings. Give me a break. Agents know not to treat their clients as numbers; their business depends on it!

A Lead Is A Lead

The word “lead” is an industry term and concept that refers to people who may be interested in doing business sooner or later. They could easily be called a prospect, potential client, or future client. It’s just so much easier to say “lead”–It’s one syllable!

On a serious note, sometimes people are just looking for ways to make real estate agents look bad, this is one of them. It’s just a word get over it.

Am I the only one who’s come across this “lead” thing or are there any agents out there who know what I’m talking about?

Have a great day!

(told you it would be short!)