Real Estate Marketing U

So What Exactly Are The Advantages of Having a Podcast?

Now that you know what a podcast and a vidoecast are and what equipment you need to get one started, you are probably asking yourself: what are the advantages, to my real estate business, of having a podcast or a videocast?

A very good question indeed. Below are just a few really good reasons to start a podcast:

• Having a podcast is like having your own radio channel. Your clients and potential clients can automatically receive your valuable broadcasts.
• Videocasts or video podcasts enable you to send virtual tours of your listings to clients and potential clients.
• Podcasts, as long as you produce them frequently, will keep you in front of your target market and can easily establish you as an “expert” with your valuable content.
• RSS technology enables your subscribers to automatically receive your new podcasts as you make them available.
• With your mobile device you will be able to show your virtual tours to prospects.
• Showing potential clients your audio podcasts and video podcasts can be the differentiation that gets you the listing. When the prospect sees the additional ways you will promote their property they can’t help but be impressed.

There is still so much more to learn, why not check out my book, 101 Ways to Promote Your Real Estate Web Site, it has a whole chapter on Podcasting and Videocasting.

written by, Susan Sweeney, CA, CSP, HoF

Choosing a Web Analytics Solution

Real estate companies effectively using Web analytics know that marketing plans are just paperweights unless you can measure performance. If you do not measure your performance, you increase your risks.

By measuring your performance, it helps you make informed business decisions that result in a better return on investment, more client satisfaction, and in turn more customer loyalty.

When searching for the right analytics software keep in mind what your capabilities are. That is. You must determine if the analytics package is easy for you…
1. To set up
2. To maintain
3. To customize for a unique situation
4. To use

Many Web analytic packages offer evaluation copies for you to try out. Take advantage of it!

It’s also a good idea to look beyond the technology and the functionality of the Web analytics package and look at the vendor. Does the vendor keep on top of changes in Web analytics and how often are offerings upgraded or improved? This will give an indication of how current the vendor is and what is invested in research and development.

There are many traffic analysis solutions to choose from ranging in price from absolutely free to thousands of dollars per year. Web analytic packages come in a few different forms, ASP-based (hosted or on-demand) or stand-alones (software). Each offers its own approach to Web analytics, so it is up to you to determine what analytics make sense for your business and marketing objectives and then select a tool that is compatible with your budget.

The following is a list of 10 recognized Web analytics vendors:
• WebSideStory (http://www.websidestory.com/)
• CoreMetrics (http://www.coremetrics.com/)
• Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics/)
• Omniture (SiteCatalist) (http://www.omniture.com/)
• WebTrends (http://www.webtrends.com/)
• OneStat.com (http://www.onestat.com/)
• DeepMetrix (http://www.deepmetrix.com/)
• MyComputer.com (http://www.mycomputer.com/)
• IndexTools.com (http://www.indextools.com/)
• ClickTracks (http://www.clicktracks.com/)

Interested in reading more on web traffic analytics? Pick up a copy of my book 101 Ways to Promote Your Real Estate Web Site, there is a whole chapter dedicated to it!

Written by Susan Sweeney, CA, CSP, HoF

Spreading the Word with Viral Marketing: Using Video

One of the most effective tools that you will discover when you are looking to spread the word about your real estate web site is viral marketing. Of course, to know that you’re taking advantage of the full benefits of spreading the word with viral marketing, you are going to want to be sure that you are creating content that users will want to share.

One option that will help you to market your real estate web site on a number of different levels is to focus on creating video content. Whether the video that you distribute includes tours of properties that you have listed or you’re looking for the chance to show sellers the merits of staging their homes, you will find that you are able to market yourself effectively - especially if you include the video on your web site and then distribute it to sites like YouTube where you will be able to do more to market the video.

Then, by adding “share” links to the video that make it easy for your site visitors - especially those who are interested buyers or who know interested buyers. The more that you are able to encourage the sharing of your videos, the better able you will be to take advantage of viral marketing. By doing so, you’ll find that it’s a lot easier to get the word out about your real estate web site.

Blogs and Wikis: Promote Your Blog

Just like your web site, once you have a blog you want to maximize its exposure; you want to have as much of your target market reading or reviewing your blog on a regular basis as possible.

There are many ways to get your blog noticed. The most obvious place to start is your own web site. However, there are many other ways to promote your blog:

• Generate links to your blog from other, related sites
• Promote your blog in your email signature file
• Submit your blog to all the major search engines
• Send out press release and media alerts about your blog

Another way to promote your blog is to register it with all of the major blog directories such as Yahoo! and Blogarama. These blog directories profile blogs by category, where you can usually search by keyword. Great portals like Blogcatalog would be great starting points. Add your blog to the Inman Wiki real estate encyclopedia. If your blog gets approval to be added to the Inman Wiki, it will have its own page; any time you add a post to your blog, the page automatically gets updated.

Get your blog listed and high in the search results for your important key word phrases in the Blog Search Engine, Bloogz and other popular blog search engines.

For more information as far as blogs go, why not take a peek at my Blog and Wiki webinar?

-Written by Susan Sweeney 

Choosing the Right Landing Pages

When you take to the web to market your real estate business and the products and services that you offer, knowing that you’re working with the right landing pages. Unlike the home page of your real estate web site, the landing pages that you direct your clients and prospects to should provide specific information; if they don’t, those who go to the site are unlikely to stay and they are even less likely to keep looking through your site.

Your real estate web site landing pages are geared towards the marketing campaign, you will find that there are a number of advantages. If, for example, you are working on a marketing campaign that is focused on the importance of home staging, you’re going to want to be sure that you direct those who see the ad to a page about home staging. When you do, you can be sure that they learn more about the service and why it’s important - and that makes them more likely to want the service.

On the other hand, if you are launching a marketing campaign that is focused on the importance of home staging and your landing page says nothing about home staging, how likely do you think that those who come to the site are going to be to act on the information?

Your landing page is important; it’s the way that you show your prospects that you recognize that their time is valuable and that you are ready to give them the information that they are looking for. When you are able to focus on your customers and on your real estate web site, you will find that your chances of success increase exponentially.

For more information on landing pages, take a look my brand new book, 101 Ways to Promote Your Real Estate Web Site!

-Written by Susan Sweeney 

Really Simple Syndication: Getting the Most Out of Your RSS

As with everything in internet marketing for your real estate business, you need to develop content after giving consideration to:

• Your objectives with this internet marketing technique
• Your target market(s) for this technique
• The specific products and services you want to promote with this technique
• The terms of use for your content. Do you want to limit the content to noncommercial use on others’ sites, or is it okay if they use it for commercial purposes?

Always make sure that you have mandatory source identification. When others use your content and want to publish or distribute it, you will want a resource box identifying you as the provider and, more importantly, a link to your web site.

For the content that will bring you the most business, you want to publish it on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Tuesday is the most active day for RSS readership. The time of day is important as well. Morning scanners view the most content whereas the midnight cowboys tend to have a higher click through rate.

For more information on RSS, try picking up a copy of my newest book! 101 Ways to Promote Your Real Estate Web Site is here!

-Written by Susan Sweeney

Planning Your Web Site: What Are Your Goals?

When you’re planning your real estate web site, one of the things that you need to take the time to do is to look at your goals. Simply put, when you’re looking into getting your site ranked for a specific keyword, you are going to want to be sure that you know about using that keyword effectively; if you’re looking to build your permission based mailing list, you are going to want to be sure that you are focusing on the opportunity to have site visitors opt in.

By taking the time to identify your goals, one of the things that you’re going to quickly discover is that you have the opportunity to set a clear plan for reaching those goals. When you have a plan in place, you’ll find that planning your web site becomes a bit easier. You will be able to choose the content that your visitors will be looking for, and you will be able to ensure that you also include a call to action that gets them motivated. You will also be able to better launch ad campaigns for the web site if you have set your goals: you’ll know who you are trying to reach, what you’d like them to do and what you suspect that they are looking for.

By setting goals - whether they are goals for attracting buyers or sellers, for building your mailing list or for selling additional products and services - you will find that you are able to include those goals while you are planning your web site. By doing so, you will find that you are in a better position to plan a web site that works for you and your business.

-Written by Susan Sweeney

Increasing Traffic Through Online Publications: Reasons You Might Start Your Own Ezine

Today it is relatively easy to start your own ezine. There are lots of resources online regarding ezine development and administration. Don’t make this decision without much thought, though, as you can damage your reputation if you don’t deliver consistent, valuable content.

There are a multitude of reasons that you should consider developing and distributing your own ezine. Ezines can be an extremely effective online marketing tool for the following reasons:

• You become established as an “expert.” By providing your readers with valuable articles related to your area of expertise, you become, in their eyes, a valued and trusted expert.
• You establish trust. The first time someone visits your web site, he or she has no idea who you are, how capable you are, or how professional you are. Sure, visitors get an impression from the look and feel and content of your site, but are they ready to do business with you? By providing them with free, valuable content over a period of time, you earn your visitors’ trust, and they are more likely to turn to you when they are ready to sell their house or purchase that first home.
• You generate significant traffic to your real estate web site. Your ezine should always reference and provide a hyperlink to something available on your web site. Once your visitor links through, there should be elements that encourage him or her to stay awhile and visit a number of pages on your site, the more likely they are to do business with you.
• You build loyalty. Relationship marketing is what it’s all about on the web. You want to build relationships over time, and your ezine will help you to do just that. Your subscribers receive something free from you every month. Whom are they going to do business with when they have a need for your real estate services? People prefer to spend their money with businesses they know and trust.
• You stay current with your current and potential customers. When you are in front of your subscribers every month, you’re not too easy to forget. You can keep them up to date on what’s new with your company, your products or your services and listings, or what’s new in the real estate industry.
• You grow your database.

Starting an ezine on your own can be a lot of work. Make it easier on yourself with the help of my new book, 101 Ways to Promote Your Real Estate Web Site!

-Written by Susan Sweeney 

Autoresponders: Answering Email Immediately

When you’re in the real estate business (as well as most other businesses that involve selling products or services), one of the most important things that you can do is to reach out to your best prospects at the right moment: you need to be sure that you are connecting with those individuals who are actively looking for the products and services while they’re looking for information. Simply put, that’s the reason why you need to have an autoresponder set up for your real estate web site: an autoresponder allows you to send a set message to those who are looking for info while they’re looking - even in the middle of the night.

With an autoresponder set up for your mailing list or even for information requests, you will find that you are able to know which messages are being sent - different links on your site can trigger different emails that address the prospect’s needs. With an autoresponder, you can be sure that when someone signs up for your mailing list or for your ezine that they won’t be waiting hours or days to receive a thank you for signing up.

The “little things” that you can address with autoresponders usually aren’t so little: they show your commitment to getting the information out and your commitment to being there to answer questions - and those are things that your clients are going to want to find when they are looking for real estate help.

For more on autoresponders, check out the chapter dedicated to them in my new book, 101 Ways to Promote Your Real Estate Web Site!

-Written by Susan Sweeney

Maximizing Media Relations: Advantages of Interactive News Releases

Online news releases take the same standard format as offline news releases, but the online news release can be interactive, with links to a variety of interesting information that supports your message. When your news release is provided by email and you provide a hypertext link in that email, the journalist is just a click away from accessing all the information he or she needs to complete the story. Helpful links to include in your interactive news releases are:

• A link to the email address of the media contact person in your organization so that with the click of the mouse a journalist can ask a question via email.
• A link to the company web site so that the journalist can quickly and easily access additional information as part of his or her due diligence, or can find required information.
• Links to articles that have been written about the company and related issues, both on the corporate web site and on other sites. Don’t provide a link to the site of a magazine that has written the article; rather, get a copy of the article and place it on your own web site to ensure a live link.
• Links to graphics and pictures for illustration. If your story relates to your destination, have a link to a graphic that can be used.
• Links to key corporate players, their biographies, their photos, and possibly some quotes. Journalists usually include quotes in their stories.
• A link to the FAQ section where you can have frequently asked questions and a few that you wish were frequently asked.

Still want to learn more? Check out my book 101 Ways to Promote Your Real Estate Web Site!

-Written by Susan Sweeney