Customize Your WordPress Site for FREE!
Published January 12, 2012 | 
Creating an interesting, interactive website used to cost thousands of dollars a year. Even if you went the “do-it-yourself” route, you ran the risk of looking like many other real estate sites out there by using the same old limited freebie themes. However, websites have come a long way, baby. Most real estate professionals are ditching their old expensive websites for a hosted WordPress site. They are much more affordable, offer a wide variety of plugins and widgets to completely customize your site, and, most importantly, they are completely user-friendly. Even computer novices can look like geniuses with WordPress.
Theme Shock is a great program I have found to help my real estate clients create a truly impressive WordPress site. Through Theme Shock, you can download your own free bundle of WordPress themes to use on your hosted site. Each free bundle includes your choice of 99 different WordPress themes (you can use 10 different ones at a time for free), 750 free high quality icons and more. For a fee, you can download the premium Shock Bundle. This includes 102 Premium WordPress themes, icons for Android and iPhone, credit card icons, social media icons, logo templates and so much more. The following are just a few examples of Word Press sites using Theme Shock my clients are currently using:
Don’t delay. Stop spending thousands of dollars on your real estate website. Get Theme Shock now and make a true impression on future clients. Just let me know if you need any help getting started.
Creating an Interesting Interactive QR Campaign
Published November 18, 2011 | 
QR codes have been popping up everywhere. I’ve seen them on real estate signs, Facebook pages, mobile websites, blogs, entertainment magazines and even food items. It seems that many people were quick to join this revolutionary way to pass information in a quick, concise way. However, if not used properly, QR codes may go the way of the pet rock and be banished to the “graveyard of fads from yesteryear”. How do you avoid this? By creating an interesting interactive QR campaign.
First of all, you need to decide exactly what message you want your QR code to convey to potential real estate clients. Are you trying to sell one specific property? Do you want them to view all listings in a specific county, city or neighborhood? Or do you simply want to market yourself? Narrowing your focus for each QR code you can showcase your knowledge in a niche market.
Encourage your potential real estate clients to actively participate by creating a call to action. Adding a simple phrase that describes what info they will get by scanning the code gives a higher scan rate than just inserting the code with no explanation. If your listing is offering a buyer incentive, add a “scan here for $5000 cash back at closing” or something similar. Give a customer a reason to scan the code.
The design of your website, blog and marketing materials can make an impact on the success or failure of a real estate marketing campaign. The same can be said for a QR code. Simple black and white codes do work. But a colorful, uniquely designed code can make a bigger impact and still scans the same on QR readers. Many times, this is enough to catch a potential client’s eye so that they scan it to find out what it means. I’d still suggest adding a tag line of some sort, though. Also, you need to make sure that where you send your customers is easily viewed on a mobile phone. Sending them to your regular website may not be user-friendly on a cell phone, even with today’s smart phone technology. Many times, regular websites look distorted or are too hard to navigate on a mobile phone, causing visitors to abandon the site altogether. Second Self can help you set up a mobi site if you don’t already have one.
How do you know if your QR code campaign is working or not? The amount of scans isn’t necessarily an indicator of a campaign’s success or failure (however, no scans is a definite problem). What you really want to look at is the amount of time a visitor spends on the link. If a visitor is spending several minutes on the link, it’s a good campaign. If they are clicking off quickly, it could mean that you need to tweak it a little because they didn’t find the link helpful or it may mean that there is an issue with the scan itself. Also, place your QR code in an area that is sure to be seen, such as high up on your web page, blog or other advertising materials.
Another way to measure the success of a QR campaign is to look at how it has affected other areas of your business. Have you seen more hits on your website after using a particular QR code? Have your Facebook fans increased? How many more Twitter followers or LinkedIn connections have you seen?
The use of QR codes is only limited by your imagination. Creating an interesting interactive QR campaign can help shoot your real estate business into the stratosphere. Let us know if there is anything we can help you with to get you started.
Communication is Key with Clients
Published November 3, 2011 | 
Every successful real estate agent knows that communication is key with clients. This is true whether your client is a buyer or seller. With sellers, in particular, there are a few specific ways you can keep your clients “in the loop” on what’s happening with their listing. An informed client is a happy client. Happy clients refer you to other potential clients and everybody wins.
Follow-up After a Showing – This may seem obvious, but it shouldn’t be overlooked. Whether via email or a personal phone call (whichever your client prefers), informing them of how the showing went in a timely manner helps alleviate some of the stress they are feeling during this important time in their life. Take lots of notes during the showing and ask important questions, such as what the buyer/agent liked most/least about the home, what they think needs to be improved on, how many other homes have they looked at and how does this home rank in comparison to the other homes they’ve seen. When you take this feedback to your client, they can get a more realistic picture of how their home looks to potential buyers. This can help both you and your client tweak your marketing plan to accommodate.
Sign Up for Google Alerts – Most of today’s homebuyers begin their home search online. So, it makes sense to follow what is being said about your clients’ property and where it is being seen. Setting up a Google alert for the property’s address takes only a couple of minutes. You can receive the alert as often as you want, but you may only want to share this information every other week or so with your client. You don’t want to overwhelm them with too many alerts. This will show them that you are always keeping an eye on their listing because they are very important to you.
Analyze Online Listing Performance - Smart real estate agents understand the importance of posting your clients’ listings online. But, it’s not enough to just post and syndicate these listings. You need to know how these listings rank in search engines, who is viewing them and which portals they are viewing them most (ie, Trulia, Zillow, Craigslist, etc). Most listing sites provide an in-house report that will allow you to track how your listing is doing on that particular site. Do a weekly update to see where your clients’ listing is getting the most viewings so you can, again, tweak your marketing plan to take advantage of the traffic. When you present your findings to your client, they will see for themselves that their listing is never far from your mind.
When you deal in a customer service-oriented business like real estate, you quickly find that communication is key with clients. Word-of-mouth is still a very powerful and effective advertising tool. Keep your clients informed and they will be more than happy to pass along your name to their friends, families and coworkers. Then, they’ll tell two friends and they’ll tell two friends and so on and so on…
What I Won’t Be Posting on Facebook
Published October 20, 2011 | 
Social media has become commonplace in today’s tech-savvy culture. I just read recently that even regular featured phones are predicted to go the way of the do-do bird in the next 10 years thanks to the portability, availability and user-friendliness of the smartphone. Places like Facebook and Twitter can be used to stay in touch with long-distance family and friends, promote your real estate business, find long lost high school buddies or to keep up with your favorite TV shows, personalities and brands you love.
The down side of all this “sharing” is that some people tend to “overshare”. While the words you write on social media sites may not be set in literal stone, they are out there for all the world to see and read. This includes your mother, your boss, your co-workers and would-be thieves. So, dear readers, here is a list of what I won’t be posting on Facebook and I encourage you not to as well:
Location – Call me paranoid, but I keep thinking “Big Brother” when Facebook asks me if I want to verify my location when posting a status update. If I want you to know where I am so you can join me, fine. But, no one other than my husband really needs to know where I am at all times. Besides, shouting that you have finally realized your dream of a 10-day European vacation is advertising to Facebook-trolling thieves that the contents of your household are open for the taking and no one will notice for a week and a half. Yikes!
My New Toy – Yes, I am so happy that your new 52″ LCD TV has a picture so clear it makes looking out the window seem grainy in comparison and that brand new $1200 Sony VAIO has really changed your life (apparently). I repeat, however, that you’re just giving thieves something to check off their “must-have” lists. Don’t invite thieves to do their early Christmas shopping in your home.
Party Pics – Now, I like to have a good time like anyone else. But my idea of a good time doesn’t include getting blitzed out of my mind on Yaeger bombs. That doesn’t always hold true for others. So, before you post that photo of feeling “free” on the nude beaches of Europe or how sloppy drunk you were at the company Christmas party, consider that these photos can be viewed by anyone in your circle and whomever they choose to share them with in their circle (who then tell their friends, who then tell their friends and so on and so on). This means they can eventually get back to your boss, your preacher or your mother (…children). Is that the impression you want to make? I know it’s not the one I want people to remember me by.
Those are just a few of the things I will not be posting to Facebook anytime soon. I strongly encourage you to consider not posting them as well. A good rule of thumb to follow when posting anything on Facebook is what my daughter told my grandson when he started his Facebook account: “Don’t post anything that you would be too embarrassed for Mom to see…cause she WILL.”
Five Essential Twitter Tools
Published October 13, 2011 | Unless you have been living under a rock…in the middle of Siberia…by yourself, you are well aware of Twitter. Many commercials show a “follow me @” somewhere in their 15-30 second spots. Entertainment shows feature segments on celebrity tweets. Even legitimate news outlets feature news stories broke via Twitter. As a business person, it’s crazy not to consider using Twitter to enhance your real estate business. But, as your followers and list of people you follow grows, it can be difficult to manage all the information. So, I’ve done the research for you and found five essential Twitter tools that you absolutely must have to manage your tweets.
Mention Mapp – This is an interesting tool that is also pretty cool to look at. Mention Mapp creates a visual chart that maps out who you’re following, what hashtags they use most, where they’ve mentioned you or the subject you’re interested in and how often. This is a great resource to use your current Twitter followers to find new, pertinent people to follow.
Brand Chirp – Perfect for managing your brand on Twitter, Brand Chirp allows you to find out what followers are saying about your business in real time. Using specific keywords and a map-based feature, you can even find out which Twitter users are tweeting using those terms. This can help you create a larger real estate database of potential clients.
Proxlet – Sometimes Twitter chatter can be a bit overwhelming. If you find that your Tweet stream is filled with tweets from oversharing friends or an endless line of comments about a real estate conference you don’t happen to be attending, you can “mute” them for a period of time. Proxlet also allows you to block apps and filter tags to keep the relevant information you want and get rid of the “junk tweets”.
SocialOomph – Just like the name implies, this is just the “oomph” you need to get a handle on your Twitter followers. You can set your account to automatically follow anyone who follows you (totally optional, of course),
send a “thank you” message to anyone who follows you (which you can use to direct them to your blog, website, company site or social media), view mentions and retweets, create an extended Twitter profile and even track keywords.
Twaitter – Much like Tweet Later, Twaitter allows you to create recurring tweets and set tweets up to post at specific times. But, it can also translate tweets and allows for multi-users on the account (great for businesses). Keep track of which Tweets are occurring, when they will be posted and where they are posting to using your own Tweet calendar. That way you don’t overload your followers with too many tweets at a time, possibly making them block you completely.
Next to Facebook, Twitter has become one of the top services that smart real estate professionals use to grow their business. These five essential Twitter tools will help you manage your Twitter account and use it more effectively to interact with current clients and find new business. Let me know if you need any assistance.
Don’t Forget Anything Ever Again With Evernote
Published September 15, 2011 | 
Everyone seems to living a “hurry up and GO” lifestyle. Multi-tasking has become a common way to get through our daily lives. That is especially true when it comes to the life of a real estate professional like yourself. But, when you multi-task, you run the risk of forgetting some important information that you really wish you had later. There is a new real estate tool I have found that I believe can help you remember every idea, snapshot, memo and more for retrieval at any time. Don’t forget anything ever again with Evernote.
Evernote was created for any busy person living the on-the-go lifestyle. With Evernote, users can save notes, clip interesting web pages, store photos and even keep pdfs on file. It is easily accessible through your desktop, laptop or smart phone as well, making it totally portable and user-friendly anywhere you need it. If you have tons of paperwork and want to keep it organized, you can take a photo with your smart phone or scan it into your Evernote account at your home or office.
With your free Evernote account, you can create as many files (or “notebooks”) as you want. Add as many notes, photos, web page links, scanned documents and pdfs as you want to any notebook as often as you want. You can add tags to each file for easy reference. With their Web Clipper download, you can even “clip” parts of different web pages and send them to your Evernote notebook whether you use Windows, Firefox or any other web browser. It’s also available as an app on your iPhone, iPad or Android smart phone for your convenience.
Make a separate notebook for buyers, one for sellers, one for foreclosures and short sales, etc. You can include a checklist of information each new real estate client will need to have on hand that fits their particular profile (maybe a checklist of information a buyer will need to have on hand, what a seller needs to do to get their home ready before listing it or what a homeowner can expect when buying a short sale). Voila! You have an instant marketing package to send to any client.
Create an individual notebook for each client that includes their wants/needs listed to help you stay organized. When you do a broker’s open or caravan, take photos and upload them to specific clients’ notebooks so that you can share them with your clients later. You can also save any emails sent back and forth between you and your client in one area.
Evernote makes it easy to share with anybody and everybody, too. Simply go to the notebook you wish to share, click the “Share” button and choose whether you want to post it on Facebook, Twitter, send it through an email or get a link to share in another way. You won’t ever forget anything ever again with Evernote!
I Have Talent, Yes I Do!
Published September 8, 2011 | I have talent, yes I do. I have talent, how ’bout you? One of my talents is helping real estate professionals increase their online presence as well as assisting them in their day-to-day business dealings so they can go out and get more business. I am a success when you are a success! Social networking has quickly become a driving force in getting name and brand recognition. Now, you can show off your talents on Facebook by using the Talent.Me app.
The Talent.Me app is a professional networking app available on Facebook that organizes your friends’ professional lives into a quick, easy-to-follow snapshot. Knowing who works where and what they do can help you harness the power of social networking much more succinctly, creating a focused networking strategy for your real estate business.
All you have to do to use the Talent.Me app is to click on the Talent.Me link here, log in to your Facebook account and follow the prompts. Create a profile of your professional accomplishments, add your specific areas of expertise so everyone will know and connect with your friends to add them to your network. Grow your network by inviting your friends to join in. The more the merrier. Using the information you provide in your profile, Talent.Me will put together a listing of jobs that fit your qualifications. It’s also a great place for you to connect a relocating client to a real estate agent in the area they are moving to. Or, a way for you to connect with real estate agents around the country for possible future clients relocating to your area.
If you have talent (and I know you do), try the Talent.Me app to grow your real estate network. Feel free to contact me and grill me about my many Real Estate Virtual Assistant talents. I think you’ll be impressed.
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