10 Must-Haves for Your Real Estate Web Site

By Jonathan Nicholas

RISMEDIA, Nov. 30, 2007-Today’s most successful agents no longer play games with customers to get their business. There is no such thing anymore as too much information. These days, withholding information makes us less valuable to potential clients, not more.

The good news is that you can harness the vast amount of data and information your clients - and potential clients - need and want all in one place. From new buyers to empty nesters, your Web site should be a one-stop resource that answers every possible question a customer might have. How much information should you provide to the consumer? The only answer is “all.” When the time comes to buy or sell, or that person has a question specific to their situation, your phone will start ringing.

The following 10 concepts capitalize on that idea and will do wonders to not only drive traffic to your Web site but to convert that traffic into clients and future referrals. You will see quite a bit of overlap among these 10 items. Integrated well with one another, these tools will make you stand out from the crowded field of agents looking to get new business.

1. Offer an exhaustive search capability.
The days of having an Internet brochure or holding 24-hour Internet open houses are well over. Although exclusively displaying your listings, highlighting how much real estate you’ve sold in the past and posting pictures of your expensive car or family and pets might be interesting to look at, they do little to generate leads, provide timely information or educate a prospective client.

Consumers want access to all listings all the time and have the ability to search in numerous ways. Your Web site should have an IDX (Internet Data Exchange) search that provides numerous criteria to search with, at the minimum, the capacity to search by ZIP code, subdivision name, city, county, school district, street name and street number - or any combination of those. It should also have an automated new listings report so that it’s always up to date.

2. Construct pre-defined searches.
If you live in a metropolitan area that has popular places buyers tend to ask for by name - the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago or a large, well-known subdivision or high-rise, for example - prominently feature a heading on your search page that says, “Search these popular areas now.” Then individually list the areas as buttons or hyperlinks. The customer can then click on the button and go straight to a predefined MLS query and pull a blanket search for every property in that in-demand area. Prospective buyers can then drill down and filter their results by whichever criteria they want because you already offer an exhaustive search capability (see No. 1).

Some agents have made a lucrative specialty of seeking leads for a narrowly tailored pre-defined search such as homes with swimming pools, lake homes, golf-course homes and vacation properties. Some even dedicate a separate Web site to them.

If there aren’t a lot of standout neighborhoods, sections of town or buildings in your listing area, pre-define your searches in other creative ways, such as by:

• Style of home (ranch, split-level, two-story, bungalow, multifamily, etc.)
• Build date
• Architectural style
• Homes that only have a first-floor master bedroom

You can also create specialty links that feature these types of properties within certain geographical areas. By offering pre-defined searches, you’re providing the consumer the wherewithal to do the best-defined search possible for their individual needs. As any buyer will tell you, there’s nothing worse than click-click-clicking through scores of properties just to find a few decent listings. Instead, you’re giving prospective clients a fast, efficient, targeted search, which they will appreciate.

3. Employ interactive mapping.
For the buyers from out of town who don’t know the area they’re moving to, interactive mapping is an invaluable tool. While friends, co-workers and other real estate agents might suggest cross streets to begin a buyer’s search, such word-of-mouth informality only goes so far.

However, when armed with those cross streets and the right technology, visitors to your site can now draw a boundary, and the MLS can then hone in on that exact predefined area. To make your information even more robust, add satellite, street or aerial views, topography or a combination of any of the four. Included with these views should be demographic information such as average age, income, education levels and nearby services and attractions.

An interactive mapping search is the easiest kind to conduct for most people. Once the visitor has an area to look at, they can filter the search further by number of bedrooms and bathrooms, price or other criteria, yet another way to deepen your predefined search offerings.

4. Provide compelling and relevant visual content.
Prospective buyers want the most visual content they can get their hands on: multiple still photos, panoramic 360-degree views, virtual tours and video. Most recent reports and association studies have proven beyond a doubt that the more pictures an agent puts into a listing, the more traffic and views that property will generate - which translates to more and better leads. In general, a property with six or more pictures will generate up to six times the traffic of a listing that has just one.

There’s nothing more irritating to a buyer than clicking on a listing and seeing just one photo - a bad one at that - of the home’s backyard. There are no interior shots to give an idea of the home’s condition, floor plan or amenities. The frustrated prospective buyer or her agent will simply say, “Next!” and move on to the next Web site immediately. The ability to look at, say, a virtual tour, allows buyers to eliminate or choose a property quickly. Out of 100 listings, they can quickly identify their top five or 10.

Instead of wasting time driving to appointments, a buyer can drill down within a matter of a few hours to establish a short list of highly desirable properties. Ideally, the buyer goes online, conducts all the research on his own, calls an agent - hopefully you! - looks at the five houses on his short list and buys one of them. By anyone’s math, that approach is far more efficient than taking five different days driving around after work or on the weekend looking at a laundry list of “sort of right” houses. As an agent, you save money because you’re now more productive and your return on investment is much greater - all because you passively provided an abundance of information to a complete stranger.

One note of caution: When it comes to visual content, leave it to a professional. Using low-quality photography and video will cancel out any advantage putting photos, tours or video into the listing might have otherwise provided.

5. Make your site the local authority on community and lifestyle information.
When buyers are actively searching, they not only imagine themselves living in the house itself but being part of the community in which it’s located. What will my neighbors be like? Where is the grocery store? Are there a lot of children in the neighborhood? How many renters live in the vicinity? Is the neighborhood governed by a homeowner association? On many levels, the decision to buy a house frequently boils down to emotion over logic. To accommodate those considerations, an agent’s Web site must provide information that answers all of those questions.

Weaving this concept back into interactive mapping, perhaps include a panoramic virtual tour of the neighborhood; an interactive map that highlights points of interest such as hospitals, schools, places of worship and shopping. Couple these map points with a neighborhood history and biography that gives buyers a feel for its personality. Is it a younger, more active area with a vibrant night life? Or is it a bedroom community where young families move to raise their kids? Try including testimonials from select neighbors and offering suggestions for the top 10 shops or restaurants.

Right now, few agents - less than 1%- are doing this. By integrating information, photography and mapping, you’ve given this buyer an initial tour of the neighborhood and a feel for its residents and their lifestyles; everything they would do if they were visiting in person. This kind of informational depth is especially valuable to the buyer moving from out of state. The more interest you create, the more psychological ownership buyers will take, which will make earning their business a little easier.

6. Give your site’s visitors an Ivy League real estate education.
The old agent model was to be light on information and detail and heavy on direct response. Today, the opposite is true. To be successful, agents must have comprehensive information about the home buying and selling processes. What is preapproval? Is that the same as prequalifying? What is a home inspection? Is that the same as an appraisal? Inexperienced buyers want an extremely broad A-to-Z overview of what it takes to buy or sell a home. Remove the mystery.

As you educate prospective buyers, you’re building loyalty without even having a relationship. If your Web site can be the first place they think to go to when they want information, chances are pretty good that you’re going to get their business.

A healthy percentage of buyers are first-timers. They are going through an education process that might start 12 months before they are ready to ask for an agent’s assistance. And they’re not just finding areas they like and eliminating homes but also learning the actual process of buying a home from offer to closing. Why not be the one who teaches them? The ability to pull down detailed information that educates them about this sometimes intimidating process can be extremely reassuring and helpful.

There are many convenient delivery methods for your information. PDF reports allow buyers to download the information to their computer and read or print it at their convenience. You can make the home-buying process a “class” where you offer a different “lecture” every week via a pod cast buyers can download and listen to, again at their convenience. Or you can teach the process using a combination of video, audio and PowerPoint slides. You can also very inexpensively use any number of Flash video software to do 15-minute vignettes on buying and selling. The possibilities are limited only by what you can imagine. You can also use the education process as a lead-generation device by offering signups for your weekly or monthly “classes” on buying and selling.

7. Offer nonintrusive lead-generation forms.
Requiring an upfront lead-generation form as an information exchange tool is an outdated tactic. Instead, think of these forms as offering the buyer a chance to raise his hand and ask you for help. You are showering perfect strangers with the gift of robust, abundant information all throughout your site. When prospects have questions, they won’t be afraid to ask you for assistance because you’ve already been helping them. With so much information on your site, you’re giving them reason to interact with you.

Though you’re providing information, you still need to have the ability to interact and know who’s coming to your Web site. Your Web site is a sales tool, so use it that way. Throughout your site, offer - but don’t force - prospective buyers to ask you for more information. Though you’ve likely answered a majority of their questions with the wealth of information you’ve already provided, they may still have questions or requests.

Scatter information request forms throughout your interactive Web site. To make it easier to decide what to ask for; the most common questions and requests often include:

• How much is my home worth?
• Will you send me more in-depth information on a particular property?
• Will you conduct a comparative market analysis (i.e. a home evaluation)?
• Will you sign me up for new listings reports via e-mail?
• Will you alert me when podcasts or other educational materials become available?
• Will you send me a relocation package?
• Can you set up a viewing appointment for a particular property?
• Can you prequalify me?
• I have a home to sell before I buy. Help!

When a user is ready to make those kinds of requests, you will often be the first person they think of. Why? Because you’ve spent months planting seeds with them through your Web site’s content instead of wasting time cold-calling a pile of low-quality leads. Offering several ways for visitors to transition from passively looking at your site to actively seeking your expertise for even the smallest question can quickly turn into new business. They’ve now come to you instead of you going to them.

8. Use objective data and third-party testimonials.
Real estate ranks in the bottom five of all industries for trustworthiness - right alongside attorneys and used-car salesmen. We’re also a very egotistical industry. Avoid the temptation of having 10 pages on your Web site devoted to telling visitors how fabulous you are, how many homes you’ve sold and the number of dollars you’ve generated. When you build yourself up like that, many prospective buyers will think, “That agent’s too busy for me. I’m not going to call.”

Over hyping yourself drives as much business away as it might bring in. Remember: It’s not about you, it’s about the property. Instead, illustrate your value with objective data and testimonials from happy clients.

It’s good to talk about the value of a Realtor® - how using one can save or make money for buyers and sellers. The approach you choose, however, will make all the difference. Instead of saying, “I sold $2 million worth of real estate last year,” it’s much more compelling to say:

• “On average, buyers who worked with me in 2006 saved $6,472.”
• “I worked with 26 sellers in the past year and, on average, got them 98 percent of their asking price.”
• “Last year, I worked with 32 buyers. Of those, I averaged a savings of 12 percent off the listing price.”

You’re showing customers in a powerful, concrete, provable way that you have real value and that your services can often pay for themselves. No one can argue with that.

In addition to using data, put genuine, heartfelt third-party testimonials on your site. Every time you have a happy client at the closing table, put them on camera. Visit the family of first-time buyers on their moving day. Make an emotional connection with future buyers and sellers. Allow them to imagine themselves sitting at the same closing table or loading the moving truck. In a relationship business like ours, there’s nothing more powerful.

9. Learn and implement Internet syndication.
Your Web site should feed, or propagate, your listing information to numerous other sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, Trulia, Google Base, Craig’s List, Oodle and Live Deal. With live feeds, every time you put a listing on your site, it automatically syndicates to these other sites. Such movement will amplify each listing’s impact, increasing the number and quality of your leads substantially. For those agents who are less technologically inclined, syndication is easy to set up through a good Internet developer. With many vendors, syndication comes as part of a whole Web site package.

Now that you’re syndicating your listings, you can accurately quantify and qualify where your traffic is coming from. This is especially helpful for those agents who have a limited marketing budget. With metrics in place, you can spend more money on sites that get more traffic and cut back on others that don’t.

10. Build a robust administrative/back-page area for your site.
No lead-generation Web site would be complete without an exhaustive backsite that:

• Houses all incoming leads
• Has a contact management capability where you can search by last name, ZIP code, price range and MLS number
• Has listing management functions for all of your individual listings including adding and deleting photos and banners, changing descriptions and price, managing virtual tours, etc.
• Has a lead follow-up system that allows you to create campaigns, track online viewing habits and develops a profile for each visitor
• Can automatically send select clients information about events in a neighborhood, such as a new restaurant opening
• Can send automated e-mails asking how a client’s search is going or offering more educational information such as, “10 things you need to do before writing an offer”
• Houses your monthly newsletter

Look at everything on your back-page area with an eye toward touching base, educating, assisting with searches and providing neighborhood and lifestyle information for each of your clients.

Jonathan D. Nicholas, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Ob?o, is a real estate professional with more than 23 years of experience. Most recently, Nicholas served as regional director for RE/MAX of Indiana. In his time there, he helped bridge the generational gap between baby boomers and the Gen Y generation by moving the organization forward in technological savvy, skills and early adoption. His success has put him in the position of a much-sought-after speaker, industry strategist and futurist for his trade. Nicholas provides insight to many organizations by giving more than 100 presentations a year. He is also a frequent contributor to the national and local media and industry publications. Nicholas currently serves as the president-elect of the CRB Council, the brokerage management council for the National Association of REALTORS®.

He also serves both the Indiana and National Association of Realtors® on various committees ranging from public policy to business issues. He is a licensed and certified real estate continuing education instructor in Indiana who is actively involved in training at both the agent and brokerage management level. In his spare time, Nicholas provides information on developing trends through his industry blog.

For more information, visit www.obeo.com.

Until They Buy Or Die!

by Rory Wilfong

I am consistently amazed at the number of real estate professionals that blame the "market" for the fact that they're not making any money. At GetMyHomesValue.com we're constantly working to keep our agents focused because, as impossible as it may sound, many leads get ignored by agents.

If you ever find yourself not wanting to follow up with a lead you receive, from whatever source, just remember … someone else closes each lead you ignore. My mindset from day one in real estate has been to follow up -- until they buy or die.

You must work every single lead that you receive from every lead generation source until they buy or die. Period. If you can adopt this concept into your everyday way of life you will be successful in every type of market conditions. I have had leads that I have contacted one time and had the appointment. And I have had leads that I have contacted 20 times before I got the appointment -- either way I got the appointment.

What I mean by die: If they literally die (which has happened to me) or they have become contractually obligated to another real estate agent, they may as well be dead, because they are dead to me.

Let's look at Online Lead Generation which is an incredible way to get leads early before they have been tainted by another Realtor, Loan Officer or other influences. Because of this early stage you have an incredible opportunity to be the only one to build the relationship with that lead, you can control whether that lead looks for help from others or just you.

I remember an online lead I received one time who put his name in as "Matt" with no last name and a wrong phone number but the correct address. So I used the whitepages.com to check for the phone number and it appeared the name Matt was correct but the phone number was not listed. So I ventured to the home, knocked on the door and nobody was home, so I left my business card and a note card with some type of message telling them to call me.

They did not return my call -- so I continued visiting daily for about a week and a half (leaving something different each time) until one night I found Matt working in his garage, so I went up and introduced myself to him. He informed me that they were just looking to refinance. I said, "Great, my Loan Officer Steve and I can help you with that. Would you like to get together here tomorrow at 4:00 or Thursday at 7:00?"

He told me that they met with their bank earlier that day and were proceeding with them and were not really interested. I spoke up and said, "Do you not feel you deserve to at least get a second opinion before you commit to your bank?" After all, I am pretty sure Steve and I can get you a better rate." After some convincing and picking their brains a little more about their needs, I was able to schedule a meeting with them.

To make a long story short, Steve and I went into the meeting and found out that there were a lot of things they did not like about their existing home and we showed them how they could sell and buy and get what they wanted. By the next day I had their home listed, they were under Buyer Agency with me and Steve had begun their Pre-Approval.

Remember, this was a lead where the only thing accurate was the first name and the street address! Many real estate agents (maybe you?!?) call this a bogus lead. Please send me all of your bogus leads.

Another example comes to mind from an online lead who put her name as Queen Latifah, but the phone number and address were correct. When I called I found out that the Queen was a King and there actually was no Queen. He began to explain that he did not put his name down so he would not be harassed by real estate agents. I began to explain that he needs an agent in order to get the most money for his home in the shortest period of time.

He hung up on me. So I did the most logical thing and called back. Of course, I got the answering machine and I left a very detailed message. Over the course of the next month I called and visited the King at least 20 times and on that final time he asked me "Why are you so persistent when I do nothing but blow you off?" I told him "Because it is my job to prove to you how aggressive I am going to be in my efforts to sell your home for the most money possible."

The next day I had the listing, which went UA in 45 days -- and he was moving to Florida, so I received 25 percent for referring him to an agent in Florida. Again, many of you would view this lead as bogus.

Adopt the Buy or Die attitude with every single lead in your Pipeline and even though some will Die most of them will Buy.

Published: October 31, 2007

Nearly Half of Realtors’ Business Originates From Internet

RISMEDIA, Oct. 11, 2007- Realtors® said that nearly half - 44% - of their business originates from Internet, according to the California Association of Realtors® (C.A.R.) “2007 Use of Technology Survey.” In 2003, the first year C.A.R. conducted the “Use of Technology Survey,” REALTORS® said that only 19% of their business originated from the Internet.

The annual survey, conducted in the third quarter, tracks current trends in technology used by the Association’s members. Realtors are queried on topics ranging from computer and technology adoption to Internet usage and trends.

C.A.R. Executive Vice President Joel Singer presented the survey results at “REALTOR® 2.0: The Next Big Thing,” the general session kickoff to Tech Tuesday at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Tech Tuesday offered a full day of technology training and information preceding the California Realtor® EXPO 2007.

“Realtors are striving to meet the demands of their clientele by delivering an unmatched customer experience as well as stay on the cutting edge in terms of Web 2.0-the “mash-ups” of data and second-generation Internet resources and software tools,” said C.A.R. President Colleen Badagliacco. “As Realtors move toward becoming more ‘2.0,’ it will offer an opportunity for greater productivity and efficiency in the real estate transaction as well as contributing to the value Realtors add to the real estate transaction.”

Realtors also are turning to high-tech instruments such as handheld Internet devices, e-mail, and Web sites to communicate with their clients. With 25% of Realtors using their handheld wireless Internet device “all the time,” 28% of respondents said they answered clients’ e-mails instantly and another 36% within 30 minutes to one hour.

Additional survey highlights include:

- 97% of REALTORS® have a high-speed Internet connection at home.
- 27% use a laptop or tablet computer in the field primarily to conduct listing presentations.
- 20% indicated that a new computer was their most important business upgrade in the last 12 months, followed by a hands-free phone at 19% and handheld Internet device at 13%.
- 87% find the Internet extremely or very important in the marketing and promotion of their business, up from 69% one year earlier.
- 9% of REALTORS® say they participate in online real estate forums or blogs.

For more information, visit www.car.org.

How to Handle a Google Penalty - And, an Example from the Field of Real Estate

Last week, I interviewed the head of Google's spam team, Matt Cutts, about a lot of different issues. One of the most intriguing to webmasters appears to have been the discussion in the 2nd video (around 6:00) where we go into a chat about the real estate industry online, where thousands of websites have recently lost rankings due to participation in egregious manipulation through reciprocal link campaigns.

During the chat, I referred to this thread at RealEstateWebmasters (14 pages and 132 replies) discussing the "shot across the bow" that Matt's team fired in mid-May. Obviously, that site has long recommended link exchanges as a way to get ranks, and honestly, it's hard to find fault with their advice since until just recently, the tactics were very effective. Here's how it usually works in the real estate website world:

• A new realtor launches her site and finds that Google traffic is the best thing since sliced bread
• Naturally, wanting more, she starts reading online about how to get Google rankings to real estate websites
• Many of the popular forums & guides suggest forming relationships with other site owners in the real estate world and trading links
• Our realtor takes the hint - she works in Bend, Oregon, so she contacts site owners from Poughkeepsie to Puyallup seeking link exchanges
• Each site places a link to the other on a "links" page (a good example would be this one from a Missouri real estate agent)
• Our realtor gets a bit in rankings from the link love and she's thrilled
• Matt comes in and ruins her day :)

Seriously, though, what's taking place is clearly in violation of Google's guidelines (the old ones and the new ones). Google has no interest in ranking a site higher because they've traded links with realtors around the country anonymously and primarily for the purpose of rankings. Now, granted, there is a tough line to draw here because there may, in fact, be realtors who do have some relationships in other cities or states and genuinely want to endorse one another's services. In the SEO world, this happens naturally all the time - I might meet an SEO from Delaware and link to them because of their great services and they, in kind, might link to SEOmoz, recommending our work in Seattle. That's pretty kosher, and Matt & Co. probably do want to respect those links.

The problem is - how do they tell the two apart?

One method might be sheer volume. It's not a huge deal to link to 5, 10 or maybe even 20 of your friends from the industry. But, push that to 50, 100 or more and things start looking pretty suspicious. If you're linking out to 10 dozen sites and they all link back to you and all of these outbound links appear on one page (particularly when that pages is named links.html - 38,000 results or links.htm - 26,000 results), Matt's spam busters are going to get mighty suspicious.

Here's the reason I feel empathy for these webmasters - many of them are just small business owners who want to get some leads on the Internet. They've probably never read Google's guidelines or even thought about the "algorithm" or a "spam team." By and large, they know about selling houses in good neighborhoods and covering up the flaws in a fixer-upper. They went online, got themselves a website, stumbled across the first way to market it they found and listened to the general consensus of advice. It's tough to blame them the same way you might blame a site that's trying to rank for "buy viagra" use link injections and cloaking.

So, on to the meat of the post... What should these thousands of real estate webmasters do? And, what should you do if you find yourself similarly penalized. Well, luckily I've made one of my patented, late-night flowcharts:
_

_

This flowchart isn't going to solve all your problems, but it's definitely a good starting point. And perhaps, if Matt swings by (or the next time I interview him), we can chat a bit more about whether this system fits with what he'd recommend.

Just to help out, I'm going to walk through a quick example from someone in the RealEstateWebmasters.com forum's thread:

• We'll start with Hgrealtor's site - www.oaklandhomespecialist.com
• The site's still indexed - it has 94 pages in Google
• It ranks #1 on a search for the brand name - oaklandhomespecialist - that tells me we're not dealing with a "sandbox"-like effect
• It's ranking #67 on a search of the home page's full title tag - Oakland Real Estate | Oakland California Homes for Sale | Realtor - that's definitely a bad sign
• On the plus side, they rank #7 for - crocker highlands homes - so they're not as badly buried as others I've seen
• And, they're #3 for temescal homes
• This leads me to believe that while they might have had some of their links de-valued, the site isn't in grave danger, or even necessarily in need of a re-inclusion request

The Power of a Case Study

Most average newsletters and websites have several testimonials sharing the greatness of the product or service offered. That’s all well and good, but the way to really capitalize on your superior offering is to highlight a detailed example of a job well done through a case study.

A case study is a mini-article that is two to three short paragraphs long and includes two or three pictures. The pictures may be the before and after comparisons and a photo of the person. The text can describe the problem in the first paragraph, the solution you provided in the second paragraph and a quote from the satisfied customer in the third paragraph.

Case studies tell the story of your business brilliance. They are a much more effective way of saying how great you are because someone else is saying it. Including a single case study in each newsletter is a savvy way to keep people interested in your product and offering satisfied customers a way to show off their wisdom in choosing your product or service.

Please Do Not Disturb

Sometimes the hardest thing about working at home is getting uninterrupted time in which to take care of business. Here are some five tips for setting up some boundaries to increase your productivity.

Make your office your office only. Donbt take your work into your home or bring your home into your office. Set yourself up for a block of time by preparing your coffee, water and snacks prior to going to the office.

Schedule your office hours and stick to them. Publishing them on your website and advertisements keeps you on track. Make sure your friends and family know these hours and encourage them to support your success by honoring them. A bDo Not Disturbb sign for your office doorknob can be helpful as well.

Do not allow yourself to be interrupted by a doorbell. Pretend that you are not at home when a solicitor rings the bell and do not even check to see who it is unless you are expecting someone.

Make a communication space at your front door so people can leave messages. A small box with a notepad and pen can work just fine.

Resist the temptation to take calls when the phone rings. Screen your calls on both your land line and cell phone if you use either for both personal and business purposes.

CopyrightB) 2007, FrogPond. All rights reserved . FrogPond offers you More Royalty-Free Reprintable Articles at FrogPond.com

Widget Me That!

by Jason Heller, Tuesday, Sep 25, 2007 6:00 AM ET

CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN WIDGET! IN MERELY a matter of months you went from a buzzword towards a tipping point, if not there already. It's time to do it right this time around. As I wrote last month in "Widget Me This: A Buzzword in Perspective", widgets may be a major buzzword in the current digital marketing lexicon, however the term achieved that status based on merit. The Web experience is evolving as we enter a more interoperable and platform-agnostic era. Content and experiences becoming portable databased assets with easy connections to any platform or channel will create another major shift in media consumption, and with it will come a world of new marketing and advertising opportunities. Amazon last week announced its official entry into widget-world. Of course, Amazon has offered API's to developers for several years now, but never had offered widgets in such a manner. I think the angle is pretty slick. The original king of the affiliate program, rolled out these widgets for its affiliates. Some of the widgets are quite clever ways of extending Amazon's product catalog and opportunity for relevant placement. An example of one of the more clever ideas is the Slide-show Widget, which "Makes elegant slide-show widgets out of images chosen from products across the entire Amazon catalog -- CD cover art, DVD's, books, anything!" They also have rolled out widgets that add contextual links inside blog or site content. As a major player in the ecommerce world, Amazon will most likely incite a bandwagon of commerce related widgets to follow...and a bandwagon is not necessarily a bad thing when it progresses the market. Like I've mentioned before, buzzwords are like folklore, they almost always have some firm root in reality. The trend of increasing demand for and supply of content and utility across digital boundaries, so to speak, is driving a lot of innovation and providing consumers with better experiences and features than ever before. Welcome to the brave new web. Go Go Google Gadget Another big announcement last week -- Google Gadgets are officially being integrated into the Ad Words program, which now combines the power and breadth of their massive market place of publishers and consumers, with an incredibly engaging and flexible means of reaching targeted audiences with relevant communication and commerce experiences. Previous forays into graphical ads were not as successful, this may fuel some change in that regard. The concept of digital media mobility, which I rant about regularly, is approaching a tipping point, or maybe we're there already. The ability to provide consumers with the experiences they want, and some they didn't realize they wanted, on-demand, anywhere, on any platform, is going to spawn another spurt of growth for digital media and marketing consumption in the near future. I'm psyched! This is great news! In the spirit of Facebook opening up their back end to developers earlier this year, and Yahoo recently following suit, Google (in pure Google fashion) is one-upping the rest of the industry by going one step further and actually providing funding to start ups to help develop revenue-generating widgets for the Gadgets product. Plenty of VC's are also eyeing this space and betting on the future being an interoperable one. Investments in Web 2.0 and widget development projects seem to be at a crescendo. The interesting part for me personally, is how excited about these developments I am as a consumer, as well as a marketing strategist. Usually the scale tips in one direction or another. The "open source ecosystem" we are evolving towards is ripe for innovation and growth, and the future's bright for both consumers and marketers alike. Let the next marketing renaissance begin. Jason Heller is an independent digital media consultant. Most recently he held the position of Managing Director of Horizon Interactive, the digital arm of the largest independent media buying agency in the U.S. In 2005 Horizon acquired Mass Transit Interactive, a successful digital media agency that Heller co-founded in 1998.

To Score A Home Sale In This Market, Step Up To The Plate

Develop A Competitive Edge

BY KATHLEEN DOLER FOR INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Price with carrying costs in mind, now that it's taking months to move a property

The residential real estate market's showing a cruel twist to the maxim that time is money.
Real estate agents warn that now a seller may have to pay more directly or indirectly to get a property sold in a timely fashion. So many homes are for sale that finding a buyer amid the competition can take extra effort and strategy.
U.S. median home prices have been falling and the inventory of existing unsold residences rising. About 4.6 million homes are available. That's nearly a third more than a year ago and it would take 9.6 months at the current sales pace to sell them all, the National Association of Realtors says.
Homes stay stuck on the market longer. While last year a NAR consumer survey put the average at six weeks, homes now tend to remain unsold at least a couple months.
"Based on the historic relationship between this (annual) survey and our monthly read on supply, the current national time on market is in the range of eight to 10 weeks," said Walter Molony, a spokesman for the group.
Those figures may underestimate how tough it is to sell now as they don't include sellers who've given up, says Brock Harris, owner of Brock Real Estate in Los Angeles.
"Sellers are pulling their homes off the market," he said.
What's a seller to do? One recommendation from housing industry specialists is to get the most experienced Realtor available, someone who's been in the business more than five or even 10 years and has sold before in a down market.
How do you find the right real estate agent? Some online sites such as HomeGain .com offer referrals and agent comparisons, but wordof-mouth referrals are a tried-andtrue approach. An alternative is to look for the most active Realtors in your area. Who has had the listings that you've seen sell?
Once you've got some names, interview at least three agents and ask tough questions about how they're going to get your house sold.
"It really is a job," Harris said. "And you want someone who will be straight with you — absolute candor."
Price For Now, Not Yesterday
The agent needs to be able to advise you on how to price your property and say what upgrades are needed to make it marketable in the slow sales environment, he says.
"We're seeing a lot more overpriced listings than we ever have," Harris said.
He thinks sellers and agents are putting too much emphasis on dated comparables. A home that sold a month ago isn't necessarily a good comparable for pricing a listing now, he says, because that home was probably put on the market five or six months ago.
"Sellers need to be very, very realistic," Harris said. "They have to under-price their home. Buyers have so much choice they're only going to look at the cheap ones."
It's a particularly poor time for premium pricing and real estate agent commission discounts, according to specialists, who say sellers should expect to pay for expertise, experience and aggressive marketing.
"Real estate is a competitive, cutthroat business, and Realtors are always hungry," Harris said. "If anything, now's the time to pay an extra commission, especially to buyers' agents. We're seeing like 4% to the buyer's agent. In this market, it takes two good agents to pull a deal through."
Getting through a deal usually involves financing. So you want a real estate agent who's knowledgeable about home financing and who has very good contacts with mortgage brokers. Sure, the buyer's agent will probably steer a potential buyer toward a mortgage broker, but more names can't hurt.
Survive Tighter Financing
Buyers may have a tougher time getting a good mortgage, given the recent tightening of credit standards. So sellers may consider financing part of the deal themselves, a tactic used to close deals in other real estate downturns.
"You'll want a Realtor who has the experience to help you through this," said Bradley Inman, founder of Emeryville, Calif.-based Inman News, which runs a real estate investing Web site (inman .com).
Getting an offer, and thus to the financing step, requires "PEA — price, maximum exposure through advertising and accessibility," said broker George Stephens, at ERA Stephens Properties in Houston.
Make your property shine for its showing, and take care of repairs so it compares well, Stephens says. He recommends having some properties pre-inspected, before an escrow, so a seller can identify and fix problems that might quash a sale.
Spur The Sale
Be diligent about using traditional sales tactics, too.
Make sure the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) entry that describes your home to Realtors and househunters is detailed and includes great photos. Ask your agent to ensure that the property gets as much exposure on Web sites — the broker's, your Realtor's and other spots — as possible.
A great flyer is a must. The flyer box needs to be stocked regularly.
Invite neighbors to view the property — maybe they have friends interested in moving to the area. Your agent should hold a broker's open house as well as several buyer open houses.
Beyond open houses, Stephens says sellers need to make their properties accessible for showing "seven days a week between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m."
He cautions sellers that if they limit one or more of the PEA factors, they're placing barriers to their objective of achieving a timely sale under current market conditions.

Open house signs fill a corner in Altadena, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2007. Sales of existing homes have dropped to the slowest pace in nearly five years and are 9% below a year ago. Amid that, the median home price has slipped. AP

Trulia Ranks Among Top Three Traffic Drivers...

Posted By admin On September 20, 2007 @ 1:17 pm In Technology | Comments Disabled

RISMEDIA, Sept. 21, 2007-Trulia.com, one of the Internet’s leading real estate search engines, announced that the company now ranks alongside Google and Yahoo! search engines as one of the top three contributors of traffic to real estate companies nationwide.According to the latest data released by online competitive intelligence service company
Hitwise, Trulia was a top three traffic contributor to 12 of the largest residential real estate franchisors and brokerages nationwide in the past month (August 18 — September 15, 2007).

Consistently outpacing fellow online real estate marketing sites Google Base, Craigslist, HomeGain, Realtor.com and Zillow, Trulia referred, on average, 11% of the traffic being directed to a diverse group of franchisors, regional franchisee firms and independent brokerage firms in the past month, including: Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, Century 21 Real Estate LLC, ERA Franchise Systems LLC, Keller Williams Realty, Intero Real Estate Services, Weichert, Realtors, Alain Pinel Realtors, Watson Realty Corp., among others.

Trulia can attribute its traffic gains to a continued focus on delivering a great consumer experience, including unique neighborhood information and viral community building through Trulia Voices. This has enabled Trulia to continue its trend of double-digit monthly growth to the site, and even higher increases to partner Web sites, which now average three million user visits per month.

“As one of the early adopters of Trulia’s model in September 2005, we have increasingly relied upon Trulia.com to deliver high quality traffic to InteroRealEstate.com. Outside of the Google and Yahoo! search engines, Trulia has consistently been our number one online referral source since January 2007,” said Derek Overbey, vice president of marketing, Intero Real Estate Services.

“In today’s uncertain market, real estate companies need to be able to tap into a huge audience of qualified consumers,” said Sami Inkinen, Trulia’s co-founder and chief operating officer. “We know that 70 percent of Trulia.com visitors are looking to buy a home within 12 months, and the Hitwise data confirms that the Trulia model works to connect these consumers with robust real estate information and agents.”

For more information, visit http://www.trulia.com.

The Pitfalls of Email Marketing

by Patrick Valtin

Email marketing gets a bad rap. The controversy about email marketing is a quagmire that leaves many business owners in confusion in its wake.

According to a new study by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing delivers the highest return on investment of all media available to marketers. The study also projects that email driven sales in the United States will show a compound annual growth rate of 14.9% between 2006 and 2011. But, statistics like that only bring about real understanding when the outcome of email marketing impacting long term customer-relationship-based revenue streams is fully known.

Patrick Valtin, sales & marketing expert, President of M2-TEC USA, INC. and founder of one of the largest consulting company in Europe called U-MAN BELGIUM claims email marketing is highly profitable if done correctly. The main mistake is trying to convert a prospect when embarking on email marketing, he says. The direction one should take is instead is trying to attract a qualified prospect.

Attract first, don't try to convert. It's actually common sense if you think about it. What if some one came up to you and said BUY THIS with no enticement as to what it was and what it could do for you? Would you buy (convert)? Probably not. However, say a girl scout comes to your door with a tray of cookies for you to pick one to sample. Did she entice you and attract your attention first? Yep, mostly likely, and how many boxes did you buy? How many will you buy year after year after year on a regular basis?

Those emails that do attract your attention and entice you by putting that cookie in front of you to nibble on - those are the successful approaches.

That begs the question if they already are opt-in prospects, do you still have to attract? Aren't they already qualified prospects if they are in your database?

Not always, according to Patrick. Patrick points out the best ROI approach to email marketing is to promote to inactive prospects and sleeping customers in your data base with the purpose to get them active and to turn them into (entice them to be) regular, loyal customers. Sleeping customers are prospects. Old, inactive prospects were curious enough to inquire into your company to begin with. That is the crucial point as Valtin explains. "The biggest false data out there is the saying 'they were just curious' as to the reason a prospect didn't close. Look up curious in the dictionary - it is interest." So curiosity IS interest. It is up to you to entice them even further so they become "sold". Sold equates to being a repeat customer.

Valtin goes on to say that the ways to first attract prospects are done with classical marketing techniques before email marketing comes into the picture: pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization with your website, direct mail marketing - the "more traditional" forms are the channels used to attract. Then once you get a prospect or even a first-time customer you can start email marketing to them.

Once your prospects are on your opt-in list, you have to entice. Just on a different level. You have their interest - now hook them.

Three common mistakes in email marketing are:

• Trying to sell through the marketing email. You have to cut the gradient to attract and then convert. The question is: what will motivate them to join your list?
• Making the subject line too ambiguous; using trite phrases that are actually considered SPAM. What you have to watch, Valtin also warns, is "too hot or too juicy is looked upon as SPAM by search engine spiders."
• Not being consistent with "From" address line. From very beginning, the "From" line should be consistent. Even here there is a need to have instant recognition.

With customers receiving an average 400 emails per week and checking their email an average of 4 times per day, it is no wonder that email marketing has taken off. But don't fall in the trap of using it incorrectly. According to Valtin, when you screw up on email marketing lines with prospects or customers, you are cut off and most likely don't get another chance. It's too easy to junk your email address and be shut off from further communication.

Three Valtin tips for being successful in email marketing are:

• Make the subject line personalized. "How would you like a free weekend in Acapulco" compared with "Dear Jane, how would you...." increases by 200-300% your chances it will be opened. (Note: opened not converted ...but attracted.)
• Make one-time customers into repeat customers. Offer an exclusive newsletter only for customers with highly valuable content.
• Have an option for people who subscribe to your newsletter to systematically send it to a friend, which acts as a referral and consequently per Valtin, makes it viral. SPAM legislation still requires those friends to opt-in before you can start emailing to them, but the referral raises your credibility and will give you more bang for your buck!

Valtin says there are many more principles to learn about email marketing. Having studied marketing and sales trends for the last 35 years, he packs a lot of lore under his Belgian skull. Understanding the outcome of email marketing impacting long term customer-relationship-based revenue streams is his forte. He teaches email marketing at marketing boot camps organized by Joy Gendusa, CEO of PostcardMania, and Marsha Friedman, CEO of Event Management Services, Inc. to business professionals nationwide.

"Permission-based email communications can solidify existing relationships, initiate new ones and convert one-time clients into long-term customers," Valtin advises. "Relationship-building emails leverage the investment you are making in all other forms of marketing, allowing you to grow your business more efficiently."

First Response Is Key

Hi Jane,

Thanks for stopping by my site at http://www.thephilife.com.
You will find the information you requested attached for your review.

In the meantime, I realize that you are currently in the information gathering stage, and may not be ready to "open up" about who you are, or what your needs are at this time. Be assured this is perfectly okay, and that my staff and I will completely respect your online privacy.

Also, keep in mind that my ability to help you is dependent upon understanding your particular needs and wants with respect to finding a home. So when you are ready to explore your real estate needs further, I will be happy to assist you.

Have a great day, and I look forward to hearing from you.

(examples of "opt-out" campaigns)

Philip
PS: As a way of saying "Thanks!" I've given you a complementary
subscription to my information-packed monthly newsletter, ”Welcome to the Philife”. Each issue packed with valuable information about buying your first home. You may stop receiving it at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of any issue.

(or, use the alternative for a targeted campaign)

PS: As a first time buyer you probably could appreciate any additional information that will help you make the right choices. With this in mind I have given you a complementary subscription to my e-Course: 15 Secrets to Getting The Home of Your Dreams (and avoiding the nightmares!)These valuable tips will come to you periodically via e-mail. You may stop receiving them at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of any message.

Sample "First Response" E-mail Message With Phone Number

Hi Jane,

Thanks for stopping by my site at http://www.thephilife.com.
You will find the information you requested attached for your review.

In the meantime, I realize that you may currently be in the information gathering stage. Be assured this is perfectly okay, and that my staff and I will completely respect your online privacy.

Since you have provided a phone number in your original message, it appears that you are ready to discuss your home buying needs. If this is not the case, please let me know via a reply e-mail. Otherwise we can discuss your needs in detail over the phone.

Have a great day --looking forward to speaking with you soon.

Philip
PS: subscribe to my information-packed free monthly newsletter,

“Welcome to the Philife”by sending a blank e-mail to…

Your Very Own Pond of Prospects

You may know what you’re supposed to be doing to convert online leads into new business, but are you actually doing it? Get pointers on streamlining your conversion process.

BY MICHAEL RUSSER

In the pre-Internet days, it used to be hard work to get good leads. It would sometimes require months of door knocking, cold-calling, and cultivating stay-in-touch programs. And, if the general market slowed down, like it recently has done in many parts of the country, your flow of leads would tend to slow down, too.

The Internet, however, never slows down and it never gets tired. It continues to deliver qualified leads regardless of current market conditions. This makes it the most prolific and reliable source of new business in the industry — period. You may think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. As long as you know how to speak the language of your online leads, and you know what to do with them until they’re really ready to buy or sell, you’ll never have a shortage of clients.

Third-Party Lead Generation

There are two primary sources of Internet leads: your own Web site and third-party services. Generating leads from your Web site is a topic I have covered extensively in this column, so for now I’m going to focus on third-party lead generation. The following are several different categories of these kinds of services:

• Franchise-Based. Examples include RE/MAX’s LeadStreet, Coldwell Banker’s LeadRouter, and Prudential’s affiliation with Yahoo! These are programs that franchise real estate brokerages offer for the benefit of affiliated agents.
• Fee-Based. This includes HomeGain, Reply!, HouseValues.com, and many more. These companies spend a great deal of money to capture online real estate consumers and then sell them back to you as leads.
• Free Services. This is a relatively new hybrid lead generation model in which the lead generation company makes money on advertising and provides leads free to agents. The most recent of these is Zillow's Home Q&A feature. This allows any agent to answer consumer questions about any property (even if another agent has it listed) and therefore become the area “expert.” This service costs nothing to the consumer or participating agents.

Clearly, with these types of services (and, of course, a targeted Web site), online lead generation is not a problem. Instead, a much bigger problem — some would even call it a headache — is knowing what to do with the leads once you have them.

Can You Speak the Langauge?

Have you ever been trained to work with the Internet Empowered Consumer (IEC)? Many agents haven’t been, which puts them at a big disadvantage when it comes to turning those often-anonymous e-mails from online consumers into real business. Here's what you need to know.

To successfully convert these leads requires an understanding of human behavior within the online context. Here are some of the fundamental principles of that behavior:

• IECs want control, so give it to them. Because of their anonymity, the online consumer is in control and likes it that way. The more you try to take control (as you might do in a typical sales situation), the more you will push them away.
• IECs value their privacy. Take every opportunity to reassure your online prospects that their privacy will be absolutely protected by you and your staff.
• Few are ready to buy or sell. I estimate that 19 out of 20 online leads are from consumers in the information-gathering stage, and are not ready to explicitly declare their needs. These folks are easily converted to transactions, but only if you know how to nurture them to the point at which they are ready to move.

First Response Is Key

How you first respond to an online inquiry, regardless of its source, can make or break your chances of ever converting that lead into new business. Frankly, this is where most agents typically blow it. To provide some guidance, I created two e-mail scripts that I call “critical first response” e-mails. These are designed to be totally consistent with the wants, needs, and behavior of the IEC. There are two versions of this script, one for instances in which no phone number is provided in the inquiry, the other if there is a phone number provided. Below I’ve provided some excerpts, but you can click on the links if you have time to read the full e-mail script.

• Phone Number Isn’t Provided: “I realize that you’re in the information gathering stage, and may not be ready to open up about who you are or what your needs are at this time. When you are ready to explore your real estate needs further, I will be happy to assist you. PS: As a way of saying 'Thanks!' I've given you a complementary subscription to my information-packed monthly newsletter, FIRST HOME News." Read full script>
• Phone Number Is Provided. “Since you provided a phone number in your original message, it appears that you are ready to discuss your home buying needs. If this is not the case, please let me know via a reply e-mail. Otherwise, we can discuss your needs in detail over the phone." Read full script>

These scripts can do wonders, but they’re really just the first step. That’s because most of your online leads are not ready to do something now — they’re 3, 6, maybe even 12 months away from being ready to take action. Here’s how to make sure you don’t lose them between now and then.

Your Private Pond of Prospects

If you’ve ever done any fishing you know that unless the fish you caught is at least a certain minimum size, it must be thrown back into the water. Now think about your chances of ever catching that same fish again once it has grown to legal size. Not very good odds is it?

Yet, that is what the vast majority of agents do when they get an online lead that isn’t ready to move. They simply throw it back — or worse, ignore it. Now imagine that you have your very own private fish pond. And every time you caught a fish that was not quite ready, instead of throwing it back, you put it in your special pond. There, you have someone tending to the fish all the time, feeding and nurturing them until they were ready. This would mean you are practically guaranteed to convert all the “fish” you catch into business, at some time or other.

The most effective way to accomplish this is to hire an assistant or a virtual assistant who is adept at managing online leads. They will continue to “feed” your leads with appropriate drip e-mail until they are ready to be taken over by you. This strategy allows you to focus on listing, selling, and negotiating, yet guarantees a high online-lead conversion rate. In essence, you get to enjoy the best of both worlds, without being stuck in front of a computer.

Invaluable Skills

Online leads are a dime a dozen. Lead management and conversion skills are far more valuable. If you can learn to be a great online-lead farmer, you’ll reap more business than you ever thought possible — no matter what is happening to the general market.

How to Direct Customers to Your Web Site

How to Direct Customers to Your Web Site

by Kim Morlan

1.	List your site with Internet search engines and in legitimate directories.
2.	Link your site to as many complementary sites as you can, but avoid linking only with other real estate agents (as this can cause you to be de-listed by the search engines). Instead, link to contractors, mortgage brokers, home stagers, handymen, and anyone else that you have developed a referral business network with.
3.	Start your own e-mail newsletter or blog. Build the content around the interests of your customers and feature items specifically related to what's happening at your site.
4.	Make sure your Web site address is on all of your company's stationery, forms and business cards. A company vehicle and promotional items such as coffee mugs and pens are also great places to advertise your online venture. Don’t forget to put your site in your voice mail message and email signature too!
5.	Consider purchasing a small banner ad on a popular Web site or placing an advertisement in a blog with high circulation. These venues offer maximum exposure for a small cash outlay.
6.	Invest in your online marketing! Advertise in the search engines through Pay-Per-Click campaigns such as Google Adwords, or save time and use traffic generation programs such as Buyerlink to drive targeted buyers to your site. As your budget permits, hire a respectable SEO company to boost your ranking in the Search Engines to increase your exposure.
	Tips:
	Publishing a quality e-mail newsletter or blog on a regular basis is time-consuming. Be prepared to spend time maintaining your contact database and developing content.
	Be sure to track visitors to your site. Find out where they heard about your site so that you can evaluate which methods of promoting your site work best.
	Warnings:
	Don't send unsolicited e-mail advertisements, better known as spam. Besides being extremely irritating to the recipients, your Internet service provider can cancel your account if people start filing complaints. Make sure that anyone on your email list has contacted you first.
	Newsgroups and comment boards aren't the place to post advertisements. These are forums for open discussion, not for unwanted ads. (That said, they can be a great and subtle way to get exposure for your site, so make sure you are linking back to your website when posting comments on other people’s blogs!)

Win Your Share of Online Consumers

According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), more homebuyers find their agent on the Internet than in all traditional marketing channels (newspaper ads, direct mail, refrigerator magnets, phone directories, etc.) combined. In fact, the Internet has forever changed the way people buy and sell homes, making “the way it used to be” unlikely to ever be again.

As a group, online consumers have higher incomes, spend more money on their homes, do much of their own research and take up less of your time before initiating a transaction. Another study suggests that most Internet-savvy prospects also prefer to work with Internet-savvy agents. So if you want to capture your share of today’s home buyers and sellers, here’s how to put the power of online marketing to work for you:

1. Create a business Web site that reflects your practice, area, specialties and current listings—including a number of different pictures of each property. Include some photos of yourself and enough personal information to help prospects get to know you, but don’t overload your business site with too much detail about hobbies, pets, celebrations, etc.

2. Keep your site organized so visitors can easily find what they’re looking for. Information that isn’t organized clearly and logically will cause many prospects to quickly lose patience and move on to another agent’s site.

3. Make it easy to reach you by clearly posting your email address, office phone, mobile phone, pager and/or fax number on your site. Include your office address, directions and hours if walk-ins are welcome. And always add your Web address to business cards, emails, signage, newspaper ads, etc.

4. Keep information up-to-date to avoid misleading prospects and missing opportunities to win their business. If an offer is pending, the asking price or other key information has changed, make sure the new information is reflected on your Web site right away.

5. Let your system do the work so you have more time to spend with actual clients. With 74% of homeowners listing with the first agent they talk to, you need to be the first point of contact and then stay in regular touch with prospects until they’re ready to make a move. The most successful agents use a Web-based contact management system to build long-term prospect relationships and automatically send out new listings by email to increase their chances of winning more clients.


Why it pays to market your business online

• 77% of homebuyers consider detailed property information to be “extremely valuable.”
• Baby boomers and seniors are the fastest growing segments of the Internet population.
• As a result of using an Internet site, 72% of buyers drove by and viewed a home
• Buyers who use the internet work with an agent only two weeks on average to purchase their home, compared with six weeks for traditional homebuyers.
• NAR confirms that 70% of homebuyers now use the Internet to shop for homes.
• A 2003 California Real Estate magazine survey noted that the volume of Internet homebuyers jumped 61% in only one year.
• The wealthiest Americans ($100K or higher annual incomes) are the largest group of online users.
• Nearly three out of four people surveyed reported that convenience and being able to research properties before talking to an agent were the top reasons to search for a new home online.

6 Powerful Prospecting Tips

6 Powerful Prospecting Tips
by Philip Jordan

Sales is a contact sport and prospecting for new business is the name of the game!

You will never meet a salesperson that failed because they had too many prospects to talk to. For the majority of salespeople, finding new customers is without a doubt the most difficult and stressful aspect of the profession.

Prospecting should be viewed more as a mindset rather than merely as an activity. It is something you need to be constantly aware of because you never know where your next prospect will be coming from. It really doesn't matter how competent you are or how well you know your product line, if you don't have a qualified prospect in front of you, you don't have a sale.

1. Prospecting for new business is similar to working out. You know it is good for you and it will produce positive results if you do it routinely. Professional salespeople prospect daily. It is important to block-off specific time on your calendar for prospecting activities such as phone calling and emailing. Treat your prospecting time with the same respect as you would any other important appointment, otherwise, there is a tendency that it will slip through the cracks. This is not the time to check your emails, play solitaire on the computer, make a personal phone call or chat with your associates. Stay focused and take your prospecting seriously. Set the tone by closing your office door and have your incoming calls held unless it is a call from a client or a prospect.


2. Be prepared, get organized and take good notes. It is critical to have a computerized contact system to record remarks and suspense future contacts or appointments.


3. Use a script - don't shoot from the hip. There is only one thing worse than listening to a salesperson read a script over the phone and that is to listen to a salesperson without a script. Obviously, it is important to not only have a script but to practice it until it sounds smooth and natural. Set aside time to role-play with an associate over the phone. By taking turns presenting and critiquing you will gain confidence, polish your script and be more effective. When prospecting, avoid the temptation to sell over the phone. Your objective is to gather information and make the appointment.


4. Strike while the iron is hot! When working with a new prospect, it is important to make contact quickly. Prospects are perishable. No matter how interested a prospect may appear, don't wait for them to call you. You are only one of many competing interests for your prospect's time and money.


5. Keep the high ground and avoid the temptation to badmouth your competition. While it is fair to make head-to-head comparisons, you should avoid personal attacks. Attacking your competition makes you look unprofessional and petty. Emphasize the benefits of your product or service by guiding your prospect through a comparison of quality and price. Play to your strengths and not the weakness of your competition. Let your prospect draw their own conclusions from a well-presented comparison.


6. Rejection is a natural aspect of the sales process so don't take it personally. Learn from rejection, use it as a feedback mechanism and look for ways to improve your presentation. Salespeople who take rejection personally lack perseverance and seldom make the sale. Sales is a numbers game pure and simple. As a professional baseball player, if you can average four hits out of ten times at bat you are heading for the Hall of Fame. Research indicates that in sales you can expect your prospect to say no five times before they buy. With this in mind, realize that with every sales rejection you receive, you are one step closer to making the sale!

Creating a Good Bio

The most important reason a personalized bio should be taken seriously, is because your visitors are showing to have an equitable interest in who they do business with. By reviewing your visitors click habits, you can see that your bio page is often in the top 5 most clicked/viewed pages.

With that in mind, it makes it easier to also understand the logic of getting good search engine placement by simply creating a personalized website. The goal of a search engines is to keep their visitors coming back by placing the best, most informative, and unique websites at the top. The more common your website's information, the less likely people want to learn or buy from it. The less likely people are to learn or buy from your website, the less likely search engines will consider your website as a valuable resource.

Here are a series of questions that will help you create a unique and informative bio. By creating your bio, you can expect better search engine placement, as well as a better customer experience for you clients. By answering the questions below, you will be able to create a powerful bio that helps you build trust and excitement with your visitors. Be specific, sincere, and most importantly...unique!

INFORMATION REGARDING:
Architecture Arts Business Dining Growth History Landmarks
Nature Nightlife Recreation Sports Shopping Tourist Attractions

Architecture:
Describe to me what makes the style of homes and property in your area unique.
Arts & History:
What is your favorite landmark in the area ? What is the history behind it?
What museum or park do you recommend I visit first?
Describe things I may see and/or do there.
What type of, and where can I go, to enjoy the performing arts?
How would you describe the landscape of the land?
What seasons of the year do you enjoy most?
Business:
What type of Industry and Business fuel the local economy?
Dining:
What are some of your favorite places to go if casually dining out?
What are some of your favorite places to go if celebrating a special occasion?
What is a common fast food that I may not find in other areas of the country?
Growth:
How would you describe the growth of your community?
History:
Does your area have a unique history?
Landmarks:
What are your favorite "natural" landmarks in your area?
What are your favorite "manmade" landmarks in your area?
Nature:
What type of wildlife thrives in your area?
What type of foliage thrives in your area?
Nightlife:
Where can I enjoy your area's nightlife?
Recreation:
What are some of the outdoor activities people in your area typically enjoy?
Sports:
What professional and college sports teams can I cheer for?
A) Professional:

B) College:
Shopping:
Where do you recommend I do my department store shopping?
Where do you recommend I do my home shopping?
Are there any unique villages or strip malls for me to spend my Sunday?
Where would you buy a new pair of shoes?
Tourist Attractions:
Parks?
Shopping?
Etc…?
If your area had *blank*, how would you describe it?
A) Flavor:

B) Style:

C) Feeling:

D) Scent:

E) Pace/Speed:

F) Sound:

Below are some questions that will help your visitors learn about "who" you are. Here's what I'm looking for:

INFORMATION REGARDING:
Availability Community Involvement Experience Family
Hobbies Passion for RE Language Travel

1)Availability:
Are there times and/or days you find yourself unavailable?

Is there a certain type of client you're looking for?
(first-time, investor, luxury, HUD, VA, FSBO, expired, etc.) Please be specific

What do you feel you offer that's different from everybody else (avoid "customer service")?

2)Community Involvement:
Are you a member of any local clubs/boards?
(Chamber, Rotary, Women's Council of Realtors, etc.)

Have you ever done anything that's made a big impact on the community?

3)Experience:
When did you first get into real estate?

Do you have any credentials?

What work did you do before real estate?

Did it have an influence on you when choosing to get into real estate?

4)Family:
Are you married? (if yes, please describe your significant other)

Do you have any children? (if yes, please describe your children)

5)Hobbies:
Other than real estate, what else interest you?

Where do you go to enjoy your personal activities?

What was something you are tremendously proud to have done?

6)Passion for RE:
What do you specifically love about real estate?

Describe your best transaction and that customer?

What was the nicest thing a customer every said to you?

7)Language:
Do you speak any other languages?

8)Travel:
Where have you traveled in the past?

If you had to move to another city anywhere in the nation, where would it be?

Why?

If you had to move to another city anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Why?