Posts tagged: marketing in real estate

People rely more and more on the internet for shopping. It’s a fact that the percentage of people who have bought something on the internet is growing. Even those wary of the internet are beginning to test the waters.

But what is really amazing is that the internet is being used more and more for large and expensive items. Automobiles, large appliances and even airplanes are for sale in cyberspace.

So does it make sense that realtors can use the internet for their business? Of course it makes sense! It not only makes sense, it gives realtors a leading edge on the market.

Where My Thoughts Linger

People are using the internet to list their houses for sale. They are not professional realtors and don’t know how to maximize their selling price. And yet online real estate sales are successful. If in doubt, you can visit any online auction site and find thousands of listings by owner.

So if a private individual can successfully use the internet to sell a house, imagine the possibilities for selling real estate if you are a professional with an understanding of the market.

– Get potential leads on people planning to move to the area – those who thoughts are already on their new home

– Make your commercial listings known to potential investors around the world

– Create a unique real estate identity that people can trust

– Search engine optimize your website so you come out ahead of the pack on the browsers

– Take advantage of online marketing opportunities to get your listings noticed

– Become known as the local professional who has all the necessary information about the area

– Include stories and references that potential leads can use to verify honesty and integrity

When people are moving to a realtors area from a distance place, one of their major concerns is finding a real estate agent who is

1) knowledgeable,

2) interested in their goals and

3) will work to find the right properties.

Many wait until they actually move to even begin looking, renting in the meantime. If they could get the information they need before moving, a realtor could potentially ease their fears and show them housing long before the actual move.

This benefits the realtor and the buyers. Renting while looking for a house is disruptive to a family because it means moving twice. A realtor can carve out a niche in the online real estate market that will increase leads and sales.

Follow The Leader

The tools available for building a website expand all the time. A Realtor can use these tools to develop a website that enhances the professional reputation while building leads.

– Auto-responders make sure you don’t miss a potential customer by logging visits to the realtor’s website and responding to inquiries immediately

– Audio on the website can add a personal touch so that the customer feels as if they meet the realtor which raises trust level

– Online newsletters can advertise successful sales and offer useful information to potential buyers

– Pictures can present the properties in any detail desired – room by room if the realtor chooses

– Streaming video can offer tours of the homes and the surrounding area

– Online forms collect important information about the buyer and their housing requirements

A well-designed realtor website will generate targeted traffic. If you are not qualified to create the website you need, there are webmasters who can help you design a site that will build business.

Done correctly, the website will pre-sell many of the properties before you even talk to the potential buyers. Be a leader in the real estate cyber world and you will have plenty of followers called leads.

Catchy taglines are everywhere in advertising. Whether they rhyme, or they inspire, or they create a memorable image, taglines are something every advertising agency works hard to craft. How many of us know, “Like a good neighbor” or “Just do it”? While you might not create a slogan as memorable as those, you should be able to come up with something that your local clients will always think of. Need a little inspiration to get started? Here are some suggestions for slogans and ways to get the creativity rolling.

When you do come up with a slogan, you need to use it throughout your advertising and on your website. That way, people will be faced with the association frequently and they will be better able to keep your name and the slogan together.

Your slogan should be short and sweet. Try your best to keep it under eight words. Anything longer will just deter people instead of drawing them in. It should also make sense for the brand you are creating.

One thing you can do is come up with a rhyming slogan. Case in point – a Realtor named Scott Geller tagged “The Home Seller” after his name and because it rolls off the tongue so smoothly, it has become all one phrase. And, that makes it easy to advertise. His word of mouth campaign keeps his advertising costs low.

Your slogan should make a tug on the heartstrings, too. You are taking part in one of the most important events in a person’s life. By letting your customers know what you can do in terms of customer service, your slogan will help quickly convey what you can do. Consider something like, “Jane Smith – Helping Your Family Make the Right Move”.

Avoid any slogans that are bland or generic. They won’t work to set you apart from your competition, and they might even work against you. If your slogan is generic, your potential clients might think you are, too, and that you won’t be the best agent they can find. Think about something like, “I’ll take the stress out of your home buying experience”, or “Call the Carson City condo specialist”.

You can also consider your location for your slogan. When you add in your place, it not only helps make you the personal expert for someone, you also boost your search engine ranking.

Creating an image in your potential client’s mind is an effective slogan, too. Assuring your client you can solve the mystery of home buying or be their personal navigator makes that slogan unique and memorable at the same time.

If creativity is still escaping you, you can contract this process out and hire a professional. Some will even blend the slogan into your total advertising plan, and not charge you too much for it.

Now, if you come up with a slogan and you test it on your friends and family but you receive a negative reaction, be ready to set that slogan aside and pick something else. You should also not take it personally. Try out another one and keep going until you do find one that is well received.

Online and automated real estate lead generation services are provided by companies that do the bulk of your lead generation work for you. In return for payment, they provide you with targeted leads of prospective clients who are investigating the sale of their home, thinking about buying a home or actively searching for a real estate agent.

But who are these companies, how do they work, what information can you expect to derive from their services, and what do they charge? For a breakdown of some of the industry’s most popular real estate lead generation companies, keep reading.

Realty Generator

Realty Generator syncs your local MLS listings with your website, manages search engine advertising spending, offers cell phone alerts, and includes CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software.

House Values

House Values is a website that lets homeowners type in their zip code and real estate property info in exchange for a home evaluation, provided by you. In turn, they collect the visitor’s contact info and pass it on to you for a nominal fee.

House By Mouse

Through a variety of websites and MLS listings, House by Mouse collects visitor information and passes it on to you. You get email updates, including those local prospects’ contact info and, in turn, pay per lead generated. They charge about $12.95 per lead.

Realtor Exposure

Realtor Exposure works by providing you with a personal website that is designed to capture leads from buyers and sellers who are searching for home information in your area. Those leads are delivered to your cell phone or email. They also guarantee that your site will appear on the first page of search engine results, but this isn’t confirmed.

1to1Red

1to1Red allows you to set your monthly budget and then creates a personalized lead generation program based on that budget. They can manage advertising, online campaigns and pass on potential leads right to your inbox. Their focus is on quality leads and providing you with all the tracking information you need to stay on top of your marketing.

For an average of 5-15 quality leads per month with 1to1Red.com, you can expect to pay approximately $500.

HomeGain

HomeGain’s biggest selling feature is that you only pay a referral fee if you close a deal. They offer customized coverage areas for a low monthly subscription rate and, in turn, provide you with the contact information of web searchers looking for a home evaluation or realtor.

To take a business on top, it is important to have a clean and professional website. To succeed on an online platform, every company should have a website. People have become active on the internet and spend most of their time on computers and mobile. With an effective website development, it becomes easy to catch the potential customer and drive a heavy traffic to the website. A website shows the nature of your business along with the services offered by any company. With the help of a site, it becomes easy for the customers to understand a business. For a fruitful online presence and website design, a business can get the services of website development companies to create a professional and attractive site.

What types of services are offered for a web design?

• Latest customized website designs are offered

Many companies offer the latest site designs to boost a business. Stunning website designs have been created for the clients to make it more attractive. Design, content, images and graphics, everything is a job for web developers. Customized designs have been created with additional features according to the needs of the clients.

• SEO friendly websites

For the purpose of internet marketing, it has become a trend to develop SEO friendly designs. The designs have been created with added features of SEO and compatible with other browsers.

• Can create a new design for your old website

If you want something new for your site, it is the perfect time to change the old design and try new and customised designs for your site. The services have been offered according to the recent technology standards.

• Websites for different businesses

They are designed according to the nature of the business. Mobile friendly websites have been created for E-commerce businesses. Website development companies offer reliable and solutions for the different demands of the customers.

• Hosting services for a website

Many companies provide hosting services to manage the website on a single server by the third party. These services are provided to keep the website updated and visible for the customers. Appropriate plans have been offered for website hosting services.

• Website maintenance services

Apart from the website creation, maintenance services are provided on the website. The web design companies keep updating new features on the website to make it visible. Support and guidance have been provided to manage the website by the business owners. All the website related issues are handled by the professionals.

There are a lot of services offered by a web designing company. To get the first class services for website, you can contact popular web designing companies and hire them for updating or creating a new website with fresh content and graphics. A website gives strength to business and a chance to connect with the customers through an online platform. These companies provide services at very affordable prices. The website’s designs are created by the professionals having creative ideas and technical skills in developing a user-friendly website. Hire a professional company today for website development.

Did you know that you can sell your home and save commission using the latest ‘for sale by owner’ methods which are available? This means that you can profit and profit in a very big way by seeking out the services of a company that’s designed to help you sell your home so that you can skip using an agent all together. Pretty great, don’t you agree?

Nobody is crazy about the idea of using a realtor and for good reason. The typical real estate agent can be a rather arrogant person and somewhat pushy. He may insist that you follow his set of rules. He might tell you that you have to re-arrange your furniture multiple times or do something like buy new curtains so that your home ‘looks right’ in his eyes. Plus, he will undoubtedly give you all types of other directives which you may not appreciate too much. To add insult to injury, you will be told (often at the drop of a hat) to leave your home whenever a prospective buyer is coming for a walk-through. This can be very inconvenient as you can imagine – especially if you have small children and pets.

You may think that you don’t have what it takes to conduct a private real estate deal. But if you think about it, who knows your home better than you do? You purchased your home because of it’s unique character, charm, building style, features, etc. This makes you the perfect DIY real estate agent because you can tell interested buyers all the great things about your home and why you bought it in the first place.

You can literally save thousands of dollars in commission fees by using a service which provides you with everything you need to sell your home. For a nominal fee, your property will be advertised on many of the largest existing real estate websites for several months. You also will typically be given a ‘for sale by owner’ sign, a ‘sold’ sticker as well as a simple guide which walks you through the entire process of how to properly conduct private home sales.

An increasing number of consumers are choosing to use this type of service which makes it very easy to sell a no agent property. If you choose to go with a service which helps you sell your home the DIY way, you can expect to be given access to no-cost, ongoing professional advice and assistance from a licensed real estate agent who can guide you in the right direction so that you will not have that ‘for sale by owner’ sign in your yard for long.

Due to the less-than-optimal economic conditions we have been forced to live with during past few years most of us these days are watching our money and are ‘tightening our purse strings’ so to speak. Many people are drawing up household budgets, are becoming coupon-clippers and are watching for discounts and sales on everything from clothing to food – all in the attempt to save money. Consumers are also looking for ways to save money whilst selling their homes so it should come as no surprise that many sellers are choosing the DIY route.

Private homes sales are now routinely being done each and every day and are quickly becoming the norm in the real estate world. This is because an increasing number of home owners are realizing that selling their own properties is far easier than they had previously thought. And, because no agent is involved in a private home sale, all of the commission money is pocketed by the seller.

By taking the ‘for sale by owner’ path, not only can you save thousands of dollars in commission, but you also will have 100% control over the price you are willing to accept for your home. When you are using an agent, it is very likely that he will allow a buyer to ‘talk him down’ a few thousand dollars just because he is eager to close the deal. Don’t let an agent walk all over you – sell your home yourself and save a bundle as well as a ton of headaches.

When building customer-base for real estate, success is not an overnight feat. It will involve a lot of hard work. Letting other people know of your business or about the property you sell does not totally mean that you have to place lots of text-based ads all over. You have to be creative to excite your potential buyers. Here are some tips for your next real estate advertising goal.

1. Create a video walk through of the house. Take advantage of the technology offered by smartphones and drones. Using them plus your creativity, you can shoot at different parts of the house to present realistic view of what you are selling.
2. Build free offers to collect email addresses. If you are observant, you probably can see that a lot of websites and blogs have pop-ups offering free trials, free newsletters, pdf downloads of articles, and a lot more. By simply filling out the electronic forms, users can give you email addresses which you can later use to send out your offers of real estate properties being sold.
3. Be a resource person for local TV networks and radio stations. By being an expert person on real estate, you can actually gain the attention of local TV networks and radio stations. It’s like applying for a job but if you’re able to hook with them, you will have a great venue to advertise the properties in your portfolio. You can email them to send either a letter stating your endeavor or a short video presenting yourself as an expert and willing to be their resource person on subjects related to real estate.
4. Take advantage of the trending internet memes. Admit it or not, you are also among the bunch of internet users who are enthused with the trending memes we see. They carry a range of graphics ranging from animation characters, Hollywood stars, animals, and a lot more. Depending on the graphics and the texts that go with them, they become instruments to send-off messages to those who see them. With this said, then you can have memes that actually persuade people to buy the property you are selling or call them to action to avail your services as a real estate agent.
5. Have video testimonials done by previous clients. Go beyond the usual testimonials which are fully textual and placed on specific sections of the website or blog. Instead, ask for video testimonials from your past clients. Aside from presenting their real experiences, you present real people to potential customers.

Go unique. Go beyond the usual. Exhaust your creative juice to excite your clients. Real estate marketing is tasking and will need you to work your way to become a brand and an authority.

You’ve undoubtedly heard somewhere – television, the newspaper, online – that there is a whole lot of unclaimed property out there being held by the government. Maybe you even went to a state’s unclaimed property website and looked around and found some nice sums of money that were owed to people. If you poke around in your state right now, you’ll probably find at least a few people who are owed a few thousand dollars. The next logical step is to wonder how to collect finders fees for unclaimed property, by letting these people know about their money.

When learning how to collect finders fees, the first thing you need to do is to read up in your state’s unclaimed property code, and find out what the limit is for what a person can charge as a finder fee. In most states it is around 10%. Next, you’ll need to try to locate the owner of the funds. Often, they no longer live at the address the state has on file, and that’s why they aren’t getting notifications of their unclaimed funds.

Finally, once you find them, you’ll need to try to get them to sign a contract agreeing to pay you your 10%, before you divulge where you found the record of the money. Unfortunately, since most states have an unclaimed property website, if these people are smart, before they sign anything with you, they’ll go search the website themselves and collect without paying you anything.

Sounds pretty bleak, right?

This is where most people give up on learning how to collect finders fees altogether… and that’s why there are a few secret sources of unclaimed property still left out there that are making the few money finders that know about them rich. These funds are held outside the state level, and thus aren’t subject to finder’s fee limits. They are generally created from real estate transactions, and thus are often in the five figures, or higher. And best of all, they are never shown on the state’s unclaimed property websites, and their owners are almost always unaware of their existence.

If you can locate records of these funds (and there are a lot of them), and locate their owners, it’s fairly easy to get them under contract, process their claim, and get paid 30-50% per transaction. This is by far the best and easiest way to collect finders fees for unclaimed property. It’s a very simple process: find records, find owners, get signed contracts, process the claim, and get paid.

Are you running out of creative juice for your needed daily or weekly blog? Are you having some sort of repetitions just after two months or so? If you are in this situation, you’re probably thinking of how you can possibly sustain readership with writing ideas or topics that are sure to entice readers to follow you. Here are some topics you can write about for the next days.

Local activities which kids and teenagers would probably ask permission from their parents to join. Every community conducts activities for children and teenagers. These activities are geared to enrich the knowledge and skills of the participants. Most of them are conducted during summer months. But there are also some activities conducted during the other months of the year. These activities can range from art workshops, sports clinics, dance competitions, talent shows, and a whole lot more.

Current news in your local community and even important events of the nation. News affects all. Whatever is happening in the community and in the nation has impact to everybody. Discuss how these events can affect the families and individuals in the community. Assert your point. Give insights on how these events can shape the local real estate industry.

Present places of interests to your readers. Make your real estate blog a reference for readers to familiarize themselves with the community’s various interesting places. Let your writings take them to the vest restaurants, entertainment hubs, museums, shopping destinations, and even tourist spots. These local crowd-drawers deserve to have their spotlights on your blog. It will also help if you’ll notify merchants, establishments or entities which you’ll mention in your writing. Through this, you are getting them fueled to share your writings in their respective platforms. This will eventually increase redirects from their spaces to yours.

Dissect local market studies. Different studies present various insights. They send signals to buyers and sellers alike. Present statistics, data, and other information which will be valuable and influential to the decisions of your readers. Will this month be good to buy a house? Will next month see home prices increasing at least for your market?

Give tips, suggestions, and advises. Your blog can also serve as a communication line between you and your readers. Engage them in your posts through tips about home staging. Suggest ways on how they can better rearrange the room of their sons or daughters. Give advise on how to deal with noisy neighbors. There are plenty of topics in which your expert opinion and advise are warranted.

Turnkey websites are hot sellers on the Internet. They’re so popular, in fact, that they’ve given rise to a whole new business genre: the turnkey website reseller. This form of virtual real estate selling can be a lucrative online business to run.

Turnkey sites are, essentially, pre-built websites. They are the virtual equivalent of the “modular home”. These sites are ready-made to be uploaded to the Internet within minutes. The purchaser need only input his own information and text into the designated areas within the site’s pages. These sites are so-named because the purchaser can simply “turn the key”, so to speak, to get the site up and running.

Turnkey websites are popular because most Internet entrepreneurs are not expert Web designers. Internet developers who create new sites don’t necessarily have the budget to hire a designer to create a custom website from scratch. Turnkey sites eliminate the need for an expensive designer and cut down considerably on the entrepreneur’s costs.

Ironically, the demand for turnkey sites has spawned a new kind of online retailer and entrepreneur: the turnkey website reseller. These entrepreneurs open up their own virtual stores and sell site templates, plus hosting and many other features associated with this type of business.

The turnkey website reseller doesn’t need his own server in order to make money this way. Instead, he purchases server space at wholesale prices from a hosting company. He then resells that space at retail prices.

This kind of business is similar to the idea of buying a franchise business. The purchaser does not have to start a business from scratch. Instead, he purchases not only the business, but all of the equipment needed to run the business, including the product to sell.

The purchaser owns the business outright and is completely independent from the parent company. However, he has access to all of the products, equipment and support needed to run his business.

Turnkey website reselling works similarly. Resellers pay for a specified amount of server space. They also receive a certain number of turnkey website templates, which they can also resell to the public for a profit.

Depending on the parent company, the reseller may also be able to offer other features and services to its customers. Some of these include:

* Domain names

* Commissions on parked domains

* Bonuses, like Google AdWords gift certificates/credits

* Supplemental software and/or templates

* Ongoing access to new templates

Most turnkey website resellers also have access to ongoing support from the parent company.

A purchaser can set up his own website with his own domain name for his business. He is then free to market his turnkey websites in his own way. His customers need not even know that they are purchasing hosting from a secondary source.

The cost for running a turnkey website reseller business varies and depends on the kinds of features desired. Packages are available from as little as one hundred dollars per year to 50 dollars or more per month. The more features an owner wants to offer or have access to, the more he will pay.

Admit it or not, finding clients on the vast real estate market is very challenging. It is challenged by the existence of big real estate firms which employ hundreds of experienced real estate agents on their teams. If you are a newbie, you could easily be swallowed by the efforts exerted by the established firms. But have you ever think that they also started out as rookies in the field? If you are in this situation, here are some tips to at least give you a leverage on finding the right clients for you.

Create your own circle of offline connections and influences. As much as the online world is essential to widen your connections, the offline connections and influences is equally essential. Start with your family and friends. Then add your past classmates even those from your elementary days whom you still remember. Your teachers can be great additions. Move on to those whom you are tapping services as professionals such as your doctors, dentists, hair stylists, pet groomers and fitness coaches. The parents of your children’s classmates and friends can also expand your offline connections. If you have business contacts, add them as well. Don’t forget your neighbors. They can be great sources of referrals.

Build a better online network of friends. Through social media, you, as a real estate agent is bestowed greater power to enhance online connections. Your network can be a greater web of interconnected persons starting with your family members down to their own friends, acquaintances, friend of friends, and so on. Before you notice it, your network has expanded to include professionals of diverse titles not only in your locality but also in adjacent towns and nearby cities. If you think they are not relevant, you may be wrong with the impression. Anyone in your online network of friends can always be a great source of referral even those who you seldom see to be adding activities in their social media accounts.

Send mailers, both online and offline. Now that you have established both your online and offline connections, it is time to introduce yourself as the rookie real estate agent. For offline mailers, be sure to have a formal tone. Give your full name, license number, the firm you are connected too, its address, and contact numbers of you and the firm. Inform them of the services you are offering.

For online mailers, the same can be followed. But since it is an electronic form, you may want to add some enhanced graphics and video.

Create your own website. For personal branding, having an own website is an essential. This is where you can provide listings, value added services, frequently asked questions, and even informational articles that can help spark the interest of your potential clients. Support it with a blog, and connect it with your social media accounts in different real estate online platforms.