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Dear Diary…I am Blogging

by Josh Galvan

in Blogging

It’s Not A Diary, It’s A Window Of Opportunity

True story, there are real estate agents out there that still hold the false belief that a blog is like an online diary.  Although it can be and probably is being used by some as an online diary, for businesses, (particularly real estate agents) it’s so much more.

You’re right to think that nobody cares to read about what you did today at work.  However, people do care to read about how a piece of legislation or a new loan program can benefit (or hurt) their situation.

Blogging has become more than an online diary; it’s become a platform to show (directly or indirectly) that you know your stuff.  It acts as window for an anonymous person to see what you are like by reading what and how you write.

If you think you can close a deal better or know more about real estate issues than the agent down the street, your blog can aid you in letting the world know.  Is there something a buyer should know when buying a property in 123 District?  How would a seller know that they’re home is over priced?  Write about that.

When you demonstrate your knowledge with consistent blog posting you gain credibility and you become a resource.  And it’s resources that people use when they want to get things done.

Why this matters to you?

As a real estate agent you make a living by helping people buy or sell homes.  In order to have this you must generate and convert leads or prospective clients.  If a majority of people that are looking to buy or sell are going online for information (and they will get it either from you or your competitor) shouldn’t you position yourself to be the person they find that can help them? “Why, yes of course Tizish guy.”

The amount of people using the internet for real estate information is undoubtedly growing.  This means there are people in your city or neighborhood that are looking for information about various topics.  As an agent looking to generate more business it’s a no brainer–if people are asking or searching for things related to real estate in your area be the one that provide answers.  In other words, go where the business flows.

Have a great day!

picture source:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/91314889@N00/3723699858

Many Hits To Your Website and Still…Nothing. Why?

by Josh Galvan

in Lead Generation

One of the most common questions we receive is, “my website is great I have so many hits but none of them are filling out my form.”  There are numerous reasons why they may not be converting or filling out your form. Bad IDX, too many clicks before they get what they want, asking for too much information, etc.

Make It Easy

For now, I’ll focus on the Ease-of-Use factor.  If I’m somebody looking for buy real estate online is it easy to find the “Search For Homes” tab? Or is it hidden somewhere? What you want to do is highlight the feature you are offering.  So if you want generate homebuyer leads be sure that your “Search Homes” icon is easily found and noticeable.  In other words, if I land on your site and can’t find what I’m looking for (let’s say listings) within a couple of seconds then I’m out of there and you’ve just lost a lead.

Things You Can Do For Better Conversion

  1. Clutter Free Your Site. If you have bells and whistles that distract or take attention away from what you want the person to do get rid of them.
  2. Separate your conversion or lead capture pages.  Maybe the reason why people are clicking away from your site is that you’re sending mixed messages.  For example, you may be saying “view all properties here” while at the same time asking them to sign up for a home analysis.  These double messages decrease conversion.  Instead, have one page for a buyer, providing what they want (homes) and an added benefit for providing their information (such as listings alerts).   Basically, if you want to capture a lead be precise with the message you want to convey and what you want them to do.  Stealthsites are perfect examples of single conversion pages.
  3. Emphasize the benefit of what they receive. When you highlight what they will receive before they provide information you are more likely to gain their trust. Think about it, why would I give you any information if I don’t know what I’m doing it for? What if I don’t want what you may be offering?

Those are a few things you can do immediately that may help with your lead capture and conversion. Hec, if you’re getting loads of hits to your site and aren’t capturing leads it has to be the message your website is sending out. Try it out.

Good luck.

Are You A Gatekeeper?

by Josh Galvan

in Lead Generation

As I surfed the net today through various agent websites I noticed that many agents are still pulling the Gatekeeper card before I could view homes.

The Gate Keeper Real Estate Agent

What I mean by gate keeper is an agent who requires a name and phone number before the person searching is given what they are looking for. There are exceptions (such as a custom analysis) but today I am referring to home buyers and listings.

An example of a gate keeper in action would play out like this:
A person searching for real estate lands on your stealth site sees they can view homes, but before they can view the properties they must fill out information. This information then goes to an agent who will then provide access to homes. Way too long in internet time.

Remember, if it takes longer than a click or two they’re over you.

Don’t Be A Gatekeeper: Gatekeepers Lose

When you’re a gatekeeper more people will click away from your real estate website and look for one where they will get what they are looking for. Simply put, you miss opportunities for new business.

How To Capture Leads: Add a Benefit

Agents often ask, “how do you capture leads if you’re giving the homes for free?” The answer is to provide people with an added incentive or benefit so that they do provide their name and email.

For example, you let them know that they can have “new listings alerts to their email” or you can say something like “have the latest homes that match your criteria   sent straight to your inbox the instant they hit the market”.

There are many ways you can do this, I’m sure you’ve thought of a few as well.

As the internet grows and more people head online, real estate agents must be careful to not get caught in the gatekeeper trap. Do not shoot yourself in the foot or put up barriers that will work against you. Give home searchers what they want and then give them an incentive.

Video Blog Post From The Tom Ferry Success Summit

by Josh Galvan

in Blogging

Hey Everyone! This is the first video blog post I am doing recording from the second day of the Tom Ferry Success Summit.  Stay tuned because your are going to see a lot more video updates coming to this blog. I’m shooting for a trillion posts (haha!).

Let me know your thoughts and observations ladies and gents!

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 Josh Galvan

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!)

The Credit Crisis For The Layman

by Josh Galvan

in Blogging

A Blog Post Idea

So I stumbled upon this video last night and thought it would be a great thing for real estate agents, who are blogging, to use as a blog post. You can either make comments about the video or write about the topic itself. For those who are visual learners you’ll definitely be able to appreciate the design and video.

Remember, when you post on your blog you always want to give the reader something that they can use or take in. Use this video as an example to get a conversation started.

Watch it below.


The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Avoid The Craigslist Trap!

by Josh Galvan

in Craigslist

Do Not Let Craigslist Become Your Vice.

Relying solely on posting listings on Craigslist can become a trap if you lose perspective. It sometimes reminds me of the Sirens from Homer’s Epic: The Odyssey.

sirens1 Avoid The Craigslist Trap!

In the Odyssey, there were creatures called Sirens that seduced men with their song and eventually killed them. One of the obstacles the main character Odysseus and his sailors had to conquer included traveling past the Sirens island. To do this successfully Odysseus ordered his men to plug their ears with wax and to tie him to the mast of their ship so that he would not be seduced, yet still be able to listen to the Sirens sing thereby killing them.

How does this relate to Craigslist and you?

Many agents seem to be getting seduced by the easy lead generation from posting listings on craigslist.org to their own disadvantage. In some instances craigslist has become a Siren for real estate agents because it works, it’s easy, and they get immediate results. Results that can lull your overall business to death much like the sirens seduced men to their own.

The Allure of Quick Leads

I know, it can be sooo gratifying to see your efforts pay off quickly. I mean, you post a listing, it gets people to your stealth site or lead generation website and you get a lead. You want more. It’s so easy. Like the Sirens singing their song one cannot help but fall victim to something so pleasant.

Why This Temptation Is Bad

The reasons for relying on Craigslist as your only lead generation source include the following.

1. Tunnel vision. Other sources to find clients are not looked at.
2. You become to dependent on one source. What happens if you don’t have it anymore?
3. You’re missing out on other leads (maybe more) from places like Trulia/voices and others.
4. They are only quick leads (like expireds) it doesn’t add to the overall longevity of your business.
5. Too many eggs in one basket. you may become too reliant on this as THE answer to your business growth (tempting) and you neglect your other avenues (i.e. making calls) thinking “one of these leads will become a sale soon”.

When You Know You’ve Been Seduced

  • If you find yourself posting on Craigslist about 20 or more times per day every single day (yes this happens). You’ve been seduced by the craigslist Siren.
  • If you neglect making phone calls, your sphere of influence, or your other real estate activities–the Craigslist Siren has sung you its lullaby.
  • If you have been blocked by Craigslist (usually happens if you’re suspected of being a spammer). Yup, you have tunnel vision.

If you find yourself constantly doing the above mentioned, take a step back and re-evaluate.

How To Prevent Craigslist Tunnel Vision

Don’t get me wrong, this is not to say that you shouldn’t be posting. Do it, it works.

What I am saying is do not focus on Craigslist as your only source of generating leads from the internet. The best way way to prevent this from happening to you is to think of it as just another tool and not the only tool for generating prospective clients. How?

You need to find your own wax.

This can be achieved in many different ways. If you think you’re relying too much on Craigslist as your online lead source take a break for a few days and take this time to go through the leads you have and filter out those who have given you fake information. You can also post less listings or updates per day. Or you can post every other day or two and vary how many you post per day. These are some ideas I’m sure you can think of more. Got any?

After your comfortable with posting on Craigslist and it’s working for you, then you’re ready to move on to adding another lead generation tool such as blogging or building an email campaign to your current sphere of influence.

Like Odysseus’ sailors make sure your wax is firmly placed so that you’re not seduced by the Craigslist Siren or any other vice.

Have a good one!

Picture source: Women in Classical Mythology at Princeton


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