Being a Virtual Assistant for real estate professionals is a great job! We provide website, marketing, search engine optimization, online listing service, Blogs, ghostwriting, contact management and a lot more.
A couple of months ago, I spoke about the pros and cons of Google Place pages. It appears that Yahoo has taken notice of Google Place Pages and is now doing something similar to its local business pages. There are now new local business page features on Google and Yahoo. Google recently announced that they will be allowing more details for reviews on businesses as well as letting people rate individual aspects of a business listed on Google Place pages. They also started to show when a business has been verified with a large checkmark at the top of the page that says “Owner Verified Listing”. If the business has not been verified by the owner, it can be edited by users. So, you will want to verify your listing as soon as possible so that you can stop anyone from writing harmful things about your business on your page.
Yahoo! has also made some changes to its local pages. Users can now search businesses in an area without being too specific in the details. For example, if I search “doctors in Kingman”, it will bring up the doctors listed on Yahoo! in Kingman, Bullhead City, Needles, Golden Valley, Fort Mohave, Lauglin and Mohave Valley (the areas closest to Kingman AZ). You can narrow your results by clicking on one of the links of the cities to find more specific information.
Make sure that your Google Place page is up to date and validated so that you can have complete control over what is put on your page and when. If not, you may not like what you see.
Like waistlines, websites can get soft if you don’t keep working on them. Here are a few tips on how to whip your website into shape for the new year and beyond:
Control Your Movements – You need to have a website that has a user-friendly back office. This means that you can add pages, videos, customize forms and feel comfortable working with it. You don’t need to have a total knowledge of exactly how a website works. But, you need to feel comfortable knowing that you have the ability to “get your hands dirty” if you need to instead of relying completely on an I.T. person to get the job done. Virtual assistants are great in helping with these things as well. Another thing to look for is that the company you are getting your website from has a real live person you can speak to about any customer service-related issues.
Pump up the SEO – Make sure your meta tags, keywords and descriptions for all your pages are optimized to their fullest effect so that search engines and, in turn, potential clients will be able to find your site when looking for their real estate professional.
Create the Image You Want and Work It – You can work traditional advertising to fit in with your online marketing by creating a consistent look and brand to both.
Become a Social Butterfly – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and even Trulia are just a few of the great social media outlets that you should become a member of. They also allow you to add links to your website and blogs. You should also add links from your website to your different social media profiles to help create “stickiness” (capturing a reader’s attention and keeping them interested).
Just Breathe – As you and your business evolve, so should your website. At least every six months or so, you should go through your site and look at it from a fresh perspective. The real estate market can change dramatically in six months. What was the focus then may have shifted to something else now. Make sure all links work properly and that your images still appear correctly. Add new information and delete outdated stuff.
Why wait until the new year to start working on your site’s image? Contact me now to see how I can help you get your website in the best shape it can be so you can hit the ground running in 2010.
Have you ever wondered how you can create a superb email campaign? It’s not as easy as just sending an email blast out to all your contacts every other day and hope for the best. Today’s customers are much more savvy than in the past and need to be treated as such. With that in mind, here are just a few ways you can create a superb email campaign to capture leads and keep them coming back:
Allow the Reader a Choice – Don’t use sly “tricks” to try to capture leads, like automatically checking a box on the registration forms on your site. If someone is filling out a form and doesn’t see that this box has been checked, the emails you send them might be considered an invasion of their privacy, turning them off of using your services. When a subscriber reaches the 12 month mark, send them a quick email to ask if they wish to continue receiving your emails as a courtesy.
High Email Volume = SPAM - An ISP sees a high amount of email as possible SPAM and can penalize you for such by marking them as possible SPAM to the recipient or even blocking your email from being sent altogether. To avoid looking like SPAM, make sure any “unsubscribe” requests are followed within the 10-day window required by law, monitor any SPAM complaints you may receive and resolve them, use a unique IP address when possible and create a double-opt process for your forms (after someone clicks on the submit button, have a pop-up window ask them to confirm that this is what they really wanted to do).
Keep Mailing Lists Up-to-Date – They say that “cleanliness is next to godliness”. The same is true for mailing lists. A “dirty list” is one that has several bad, duplicate or out-of-date email addresses on it. Go through your list at least every few months to clean up your list. If you send a monthly newsletter, some services will send you a list of emails that were bounced back. You can use this list to clean up your address book. This will keep your email campaigns running efficiently.
It’s the Quality, Not the Quantity – It doesn’t matter if you have 1,000 names or 100 names on your email list. If the contacts aren’t of any quality, those 1,000 names don’t mean much. Focus on who your core demographic is and add those people to your contact list.
Respect a Reader’s Privacy – Make sure to include a privacy statement with your opt-in form. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. But, a few words can go a long way in reassuring someone that their information will not be shared or sold to anyone, creating a sense of security.
Format the Email for the Recipients Inbox – If the reader can’t find the information they want quickly, they will delete. So, make sure that you put your company name in the “from” line so the reader can easily recognize it, create a quick subject line that grabs the reader’s attention and gives a quick description of what the email is about in no more than 50 characters, use text and html colors/layout instead of lots of images in the email in case the images are disabled and put all important things at the top of the email instead of at the bottom (such as a call to action or newsletter contents).
Use Yourself as a Test Subject - Always make sure to send yourself a test email before you send out the entire campaign. This will allow you to fix any errors that may arise.
These are only a few tips on how to create a superb email campaign. There are several more. If you have any questions about your email campaign, please contact me.
Yes, Google is the dominant force in search engines at the moment. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore Yahoo and Bing altogether in your link building efforts. While Yahoo’s share of searches is declining, Bing’s is continually on the rise. And, if Microsoft’s deal with Yahoo goes through, Bing will pretty much take over Yahoo anyway. Here are some tips to create effective link building on Bing:
Branding – Create your brand and market it everywhere: website, blog, forums, social media, etc.
Network – Seek out “professionals” in your field, industry experts, bloggers, etc., and build a rapport with them so they are well aware of who you and your brand are. That can go a long way in upping your “expert” quotient with search engines.
Press Releases – Don’t underestimate the power of a press release. Places like prlog.org allow you to create and distribute a press release for free to places like Google News and creates an RSS feed for distribution.
Article Submissions – Creating and submitting articles about your areas of expertise to article directories, like ezinearticles.com, both increases your online presence and makes you appear to be an expert; two things search engines value most.
Interact on Blogs and Forums – Blog posts and forum discussions are great ways to interact with other professionals and possible clients as well as give advice and show your “smarts”.
Social Networking – I can’t stress this enough! Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter, Trulia, Zillow, etc. You can create a link back to your site in your profile on all of these places. Make sure you connect with “experts” in your field on all of these sites.
Newsletters – Create an email newsletter to let your contacts know about new and important information. Use your sphere of influence to create a larger internet presence.
When considering your search engine optimization, concentrating only on Google may not be as effective as you want. Don’t forget to use effective link building on Bing as well. It’s definitely an “up and comer”. Remember: If you need help with any of this, your real estate virtual assistant can help!
By now, I’m sure you’ve heard all about Twitter. Even Oprah has hopped on the Twitter bandwagon and tweets regularly. Thousands upon thousands of businesses have found major benefits in Twitter as well. Here are a few simple and easy ways to increase your traffic from Twitter:
1. Include a link to your Twitter account on your blogs, website or any other internet materials you use. There are several online resources that provide cute, free Twitter buttons to use for this.
2. Don’t use up ALL 140 characters in a tweet. You need to leave a few spaces for people to retweet your tweet if they find it retweetable. A good rule of thumb is to leave enough additional space to accommodate your username plus 5 spaces. Otherwise, someone who retweets your tweet will have to modify your original tweet to make it fit.
3. Make sure your Twitter presence is visible throughout your website. Don’t just set it in one place and forget it. Adding it to your nav bar will make it eye-catching no matter what page a web visitor is on.
4. Add your Twitter username and web address to all marketing materials: business cards, signatures on emails and blogs, etc.
5. Use your own content for Tweets. Simply retweeting will not get people to notice you. You have something to say, so say it.
6. Tweet, tweet and tweet some more. Actively engage with others on Twitter. Just setting up a Twitter account is not enough. You need to tweet with others to get a nice network going.
The bottom line is that you just can’t pass up an opportunity to promote yourself. And Twitter is a great way to do that. By implementing these simple tips, you should see an increase in your traffic from Twitter in no time.
Have you ever thought about how YouTube can promote you as well as your business? It’s really quite easy and the YouTube account is free. With millions of people accessing and sharing videos via YouTube every month, you would be crazy not to consider using YouTube for promotional purposes. Here are only a few of the ways you can use YouTube to promote you and your business:
1. Personal Virtual Tours – While a “professional” virtual tour is really not much more than a bunch of still photos put together and set to music, you can be your own virtual tour director by doing your own walkthrough of a listing, providing your own narration and pointing out the most interesting features of the property. You can make the video as long as you want. But, try to keep it under 10 minutes for the best impact.
2. Promotional Videos – If you have hired a “professional” to create a promotional video of you, your business or your community or you create one yourself, YouTube allows you to upload it to your account, where it will provide an embed code for you to use this video on your blog or website.
3. Company-Sponsored Events – Is your company sponsoring a local event? You can create a video to promote the event before it happens and also use footage from the event to show website visitors or blog readers what your company is involved with.
4. Testimonials – When you have helped another family purchase their dream home, whip out that camera and make a video testimonial of the happy homeowners in front of their new home discussing how they feel about using your services.
Using video is a great way to capture the attention of your website or blog visitor, keeping them on your site longer to encourage them to check other parts of your site or blog out. You can also promote your video on several directories to get even more exposure. There are countless ways you can use YouTube to promote you and your business. You are only limited by your imagination. If you have any questions, please contact me. I’m happy to help.
Studies have found that web-based tools drive business growth. Even through the economic turmoil lately, small businesses are starting to see a turnaround and looking forward to a stronger period of growth in 2010. Traditional marketing methods are still commonplace. But, businesspeople who are expecting to grow their business in the next year are focusing more of their attention to online marketing. What are the best web-based tools to use? Email marketing, social media/networking and search engine marketing.
Email Marketing – This includes newsletters, ezines and contact management. It is important to use email to try to tap those potential clients. But, it’s equally important not to lose sight of those past clients who have brought you to the point you are today. Contact management is key for this. Providing up-to-the-minute information about the local real estate market through newsletters and ezines gives past, present and future clients a glimpse of your knowledge and experience.
Social Media/Networking – Gone are the days where the only people you meet and interact with are the people in your local community. Social media has redefined “networking” on a global scale. Networking with others on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc. allows you to reach out with other colleagues as well as current and potential clients. This is especially important when you consider that the three major search engines (Yahoo!, Google and Bing) have determined that social media is so important, they need to crawl Twitter to keep up-to-date on the latest news. Social media is not a fad…it’s here to stay.
Search Engine Marketing – With more and more buyers turning to the internet to find their next home, you want your website to be the one they see. Marketing your site to the search engines will help you rise in the searches for your relevant keywords and help drive traffic to your site and you.
In today’s economic climate, it’s important to use web-based tools to drive your business growth. If you need help with your email, search engine or social media marketing, please contact me today. We make it our business to make your business shine.
In a continuing effort to keep my real estate clients and others “in the know” with the latest and greatest, I have stumbled upon a fantastic tool that Google has created to help make your website and blog even more visually appealing and engage your reader. Have you ever wondered how you could use Google Maps on your website or blog? Google has made it easy as pie to add a street map, satellite map or even a street view map of single and multiple addresses to your website or blog. You can even create a widget that allows people to get detailed directions right to your office.
Specify which type of map you want: Street Map or Satellite Map. If you want the street view map, you can click on the Pegman icon above the map scale and drag it over to the address you want the street view of.
Click on the “link” tab in the upper right corner of the map.
If you would like to customize the size, you can click the “Customize and preview embedded map” link located directly below the html code.
Copy/paste html code into blog or website.
To create a map with multiple locations (great for pointing out sites of local community interest):
Login to your Google account. If you don’t have a Google account, you can create one for free.
Type in the end address (either your office address or the address of the open house) in the Gadget Settings area.
Customize display settings if necessary.
Click “Preview Changes” button to make sure it looks alright.
Click “Get the Code” button to get the html code for your blog or website.
Copy/paste html code into your blog or website.
Any of these maps can be used in a variety of ways for so many different things on your website. Use the multiple location map to show where ALL your listings are located, create a walking tour of local attractions or even list the best dining/shopping, etc. in the area so that you REALLY look like a local expert. The directions widget will help anyone be able to find your office or open house without any trouble at all. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with. Google Maps can be of great use on your website or blog.
Can you hear it? “Bing!” That’s the sound of the lightbulb going off over Microsoft’s head. Microsoft has recognized the power of social networking. This computer software giant just announced that it will start adding status updates from both Facebook and Twitter in real-time to its own search site Bing. Google has already responded by announcing that they, too, have signed a deal with Twitter to index updates in real time on their search site.
Twitter has begun to gain a valuable reputation for its use of real-time information. Many times, news breaks first on Twitter before it even hits the major news sources, which is well ahead of search engines chiming in. Yahoo! has seen the value in Twitter updates. It created TweetNews, which ranks its news stories based on real-time posts on Twitter.
It’s nice to see that the search engines are beginning to understand the importance of social networking. I’m still baffled by those in the real estate industry that don’t see what a valuable tool this is. Don’t be left behind. Let this be your “lightbulb moment”. Get onboard the Twitter train today.
RealBird offers real results for real estate listings. Really! This wonderful program allows Realtors® to create a listing post complete with slideshow, maps and Realtor® contact info and photo so you can post it to your blogs, website and other social networks on the internet, including Active Rain. RealBird allows you to market up to 3 listings for free. If you wish to use this great service to market more than 3 listings at a time, you need to upgrade to a RealBird PRO account for either $11.95/month or $99/year. You can even add a link to your website, blog URL and feed, Active Rain, Twitter, Facebook and MyBlogLog accounts on every listing. After you have created your listing, you will be able to generate the html code to add it directly to your Active Rain account or easily share the listing on Craigslist, Kijiji.com, Backpage, Ping.fm or your social networks, such as LinkedIn, Google, Digg, StumpleUpon and more. Have you given RealBird a chance? If not, you really need to try it out. We recently created RealBird listings for a client of ours and, by the time we were done posting the 5th listing, her first listing on RealBird had already received over 60 views and she even got a lead from the Active Rain post the very next morning. That’s why I say that RealBird offers real results for real estate listings…really!
Studies have found that web-based tools drive business growth. Even through the economic turmoil lately, small businesses are starting to see a turnaround and looking forward to a stronger period of growth in 2010. Traditional marketing methods are still commonplace. But, businesspeople who are expecting to grow their business in the next year are focusing more of their attention to online marketing. What are the best web-based tools to use? Email marketing, social media/networking and search engine marketing. 
Can you hear it? “Bing!” That’s the sound of the lightbulb going off over Microsoft’s head. Microsoft has recognized the power of social networking. This computer software giant just announced that it will start adding status updates from both 
