David Krichmar
By David Krichmar
Testimonials are a very important asset to you. Heck, what better way to show your “The Best REALTOR®” then with testimonials from past clients? Here are five great tips to get more out of your testimonials:
1. Content- “Dave is great,” is not a testimonial. You will want to be at least a paragraph, four-to-five sentences. Let the client paint the picture of the great job you did. This means do not just post the good parts or shorten it. Putting “Kim did a good job,” in quotation marks makes me feel like you cut out the part where Kim did something not so good.
2. Key Words- In anything we do online we want keywords. This is how you get found on the Internet. So highlight the keywords that your client uses in their testimonial, such as the town, county, subdivision, builder’s name, etc. of the home. If the client does not mention them, add them after the testimonial.
3. Links- Just like keywords, we also want links that point to our websites. If the client mentions a keyword, such as “Sugar Land, Texas,” have it link back to your website. Especially if this is an area that you specialize in. This is also a great idea for school districts, subdivisions, etc. that are mentioned on your website, blog posts, and/or Facebook pages. Continue reading »
Subhi J. Gharbieh
By Subhi J. Gharbieh
It is very obvious that the Internet has drastically changed the way we do business as REALTORS®. According to the 2010 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 99 percent of buyers started their home search online.
With that said, all the media that we display online can have a great say in whether a buyer will call you about viewing a listing, or not.
I recently shot my first video tour on a listing I have here in Dallas, and let me say: It was quite an experience. I learned many things that I wish I would have known before I was actually in front of a camera.
Here are 5 tips to help you shoot a successful video tour:
- Plan ahead. Make sure the weather is great on the day you record your video. You want it to be clear that you are a REALTOR® touring your listing, not a weatherman/woman out in the middle of a thunderstorm.
- Make sure the property will show well in a video. Staging the home if it is vacant will do wonders. Make sure the home is landscaped, neat, and tidy. You don’t want your viewers to catch any dirty socks on the floor while your showing the master bedroom!
- Mentally walk through the house and take notes on what you are going to say before the camera is rolling. It will make you sound a lot more professional, and people will notice it. Consult with your client. Ask them why they bought their home. Why they chose to live in the specific area. Talk about nearby parks, lakes, shopping, etc. Market the lifestyle of living in that specific area. Don’t just wing it!
- Have the video professionally edited. If you cannot do that, download a video editing software and do it yourself. There are many simple video editing programs available online and are fairly easy to use.
- Last but not least, BRAND YOURSELF! There is no point in producing a video tour if your viewers are not going to know who made the video, and who to contact to view the home if they are interested! Start a YouTube Channel and post your videos. There are also many other sites that can help you syndicate your video to the world.
Subhi J. Gharbieh is the broker owner of Gharbieh & Associates in Dallas. Connect with him at www.Gharbieh.com or on Twitter @subhig.
TG Gallaudet
By TG Gallaudet
I first became in tune with the idea to outsource around the same time 4-Hour-Workweek became a hit. I assumed that if people could outsource their entire lives, then I could outsource most of our business systems and save millions, if not billions, at the same time. Although that reality didn’t come to perfect fruition, I have learned a lot, which I’d like to share.
Every YPNer knows what I’m talking about, but a quick definition just in case: By “outsourcing,” I mean using the Internet to post jobs on websites like elance.com, odesk.com, and others to get the global workforce to bid on your projects. Projects can consist of virtually anything — from mundane data entry tasks, to designing beautiful and unique brochures, or providing full time administrative assistance. Aside from cost savings and quick turn around times (compared to using a local firm), it’s also a great way to delegate work.
Here are some personal examples:
- We just revamped our listing presentation and used a graphic designer in Peru to create powerful graphics that dramatically enhance our presentation. She turned my words into brilliant graphics, which enhance our presentation and message by roughly 1000 percent.
- Through outsourcing, we’ve updated all of our print marketing to have consistent branding across everything we publish: postcards, property fliers, business cards, note cards, and personal brochures. All are printed through online printing services.
An important point is that you must find the outsourcing person or team that best fits your needs. Work with a few different providers at first and determine which aspects of the relationship are most important to you, then focus on finding a provider with those attributes and don’t settle until you’re 100 percent satisfied. Finding the right person will produce better and quicker results over time.
A few lessons learned: Continue reading »
Know any true football fanatics? You know, the normally mild-mannered dudes and dudettes who’ll hurl their official autographed football through the wall if their beloved team loses in this Sunday’s Super Bowl? Help them mend their broken hearts—and their drywall—by posting the free REALTOR® Content Resource article “Repair Walls to Give Rooms a Fresh Face” to your blog, Facebook status, or Twitter feed.
That’s not the only free, ready-to-go article at the REALTOR® Content Resource that you can post online, add to your website or e-newsletter, or print as a handout. Check out the other three articles in the “The Super Bowl-Ready Home” theme, or just do an easy search of the REALTOR® Content Resource by keyword or topic.
While you’re tooling around the REALTOR® Content Resource, log in daily to enter the REALTOR® Build-Your-Business Sweepstakes, featuring a monthly drawing for an iPad and a weekly drawing for a $150 Visa gift card.
The REALTOR® Content Resource is brought to you by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. With it, you can download free home ownership content from HouseLogic to your marketing materials. HouseLogic is the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS’® comprehensive consumer website geared to helping home owners make smart decisions to enhance, maintain, and protect the value of their home.
Laura Rubinchuk
By Laura Rubinchuk
Lately I’ve been convinced that Facebook business pages should be more like a community page, a 365 page, or another way to get your community involved and talking.
While I see extreme value in that, and don’t mean to discredit that theory, because there are many ways to make social media work for you, I want to say that you should STILL have a fan page for you business (or your brand).
I recently got engaged and found wedding planning to be a second job. Research, planning, Web surfing, reviews, etc. etc. <eyes glazing over here> I’ve found that I went back to what I know well. When I find a vendor I’m interested in, I took to wedding rating sites in addition to Facebook. I wanted to see what people were willing to stake their names and identities to say. Is it just the vendor talking about recent events or did the clients actually post something to say “Thank you! You were great!” or something of the sort. In one instance, I was so torn between two vendors, I actually sent a complete stranger a Facebook message. Surprised? She responded. She was willing to spend the time to tell a complete stranger how great this DJ was at her wedding. I find it’s easy to bash or praise a vendor as a faceless avatar with an arbitrary name – it’s more credibility when it’s an actual person speaking up and vouching for this professional.
Take that to your business. We ask clients for testimonials all the time – we add it to our websites, our marketing brochures, we paste them everywhere! But what about your Facebook page? Why not simply ask them to write it there? You know they’re on there killing time anyway! You know how it goes – the post shows up on their wall, and their friends see it, and so on and so forth.
Just don’t forget to be consistent. Don’t have one post a month or none at all. Don’t brag, don’t just post your blogs or tweets. Actually provide some content and reassurance so when a stranger looks for you, they’ll find something great they can’t ignore! I plan to implement this new strategy, now that the lightbulb has gone off!
Laura Rubinchuk, GRI, is a real estate practitioner with Keller Williams Realty in McLean, Va. Visit her blog at www.ArlingtonRealEstateNews.com or her Web site at www.TheLJRGroup.com.
Stefanie Hahn
By Stefanie Hahn
Agents will often ask me to check out their real estate website. They want to know how it looks, do I like it and are they doing it right? I love when I get to peek into an agent’s website and get a glimpse of what is important to them. Many agents opt for a template site – and that can be okay, as long as the site has a few key elements. I like to see that the agent has some control over the site, too: content, placement, headers, page titles and link structure – but mostly content. You can have the most search engine optimized site out there but, if you content stinks, the consumer won’t stay long. Bonus for fresh content, because we know how much Google loves fresh content. Here is my “must have” list:
1. I want to see “search for homes” or something similar on the first page, right in front of me. I see so many sites that bury the home search behind pages and pages of pointless content. Consumers expect to be able to search for homes on your real estate website. Keep it front and center. Two other things that would be so great: keep your home search unencumbered. Don’t make me fill out a resume before I can see what homes are available in my desired school district. Just let me search on my own. And, secondly, please give me all the listings. Not just yours, your office or your company listings. I want them all.
2. Give me market snapshots – there are tons of cool tools that will help you do this … Altos, Top Producer, or do your own through your MLS data. I want to know what the market is doing in the area where I am buying or selling. Give me data. Continue reading »
Jessica Hickok
By Jessica Hickok
Nothing is more frustrating than when you can’t find the inspiration to update your social media statuses or knock out that blog post. I have spent many nights staring at a blank computer screen trying to search deep within myself to write something engaging for my blog readers. That’s because I’m a REALTOR®, not a writer.
But everyone says that blogging is so important for your real estate career and that it’s “so easy to do.” While I do agree with the first part of that, I believe the second part I can only partially agree with.
However, I do have some tips for finding that blogging inspiration you need:
1.) Scan your RSS feed reader headlines as if they are questions. Write your post as a response to the article you just read. This also creates great link juice for that original article you read.
2.) Flip open a magazine and scan the table of contents. Take a magazine headline and replace it with your own. For example: a magazine article reads “Computer Help 911”. Change it to “Short Sale Help 911.” Use it to write about how you are working a short sale transaction and share the tips you use to save a dying deal. Continue reading »
By G. M. Filisko, contributing writer, HouseLogic
Have you met your prospecting goals for the month? Drop in on potential clients and customers and encourage them to tackle minor but money-saving or big-impact home upgrades over Memorial Day weekend.
Show them how with the May “Weekend Warrior” bundle now available at the REALTOR® Content Resource, the new tool brought to you by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, where your NAR membership entitles you to download free homeownership content in your consumer Web site, blog, or e-newsletter.
The “Weekend Warrior” bundle includes tips on projects sellers can conquer in just a weekend like saving energy on water heaters. Here are just a few of the tips available now at the REALTOR® Content Resource:
Turn down the temperature. Many water heaters come from the factory with the temperature set needlessly high. For every 10 degrees sellers turn it down, they’ll save 3 percent to 5 percent on their bill, according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). A setting between 120-140 degrees is plenty hot for most uses. But sellers shouldn’t go below 120 degrees, which could lead to the unsafe growth of bacteria inside the tank.
Install low-flow fixtures. One of the surest ways to cut hot water costs is to use less of it. According to ACEEE, a family of four uses 700 gallons of hot water per week. By installing low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators, which cost as little as $10-$20 each, sellers can cut hot water consumption by 25 percent to 60 percent. These devices are easy to install and will save 14,000 gallons of hot water annually, plus the energy it takes to heat it. By cutting water consumption in half, sellers will save more than $200 annually.
Demonstrate your knowledge as an expert on home value by using these tips to educate sellers about this relatively easy—but money-saving—upgrade to their home. If sellers have already made changes to their water heater, share tips on exterior lighting, inspecting and maintaining their garage, and fast gutter fixes, all of which are also part of the “Weekend Warrior” bundle.
The REALTOR® Content Resource, the new tool brought to you by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, is an exclusive, free benefit for NAR members. HouseLogic is the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS’® no-topic-left-uncovered consumer Web site geared to helping home owners make smart decisions to maintain, protect, and increase the value of their home.
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
I recently blogged about this and I think it was very necessary to share with YPN. Yes, it’s kind of lame to Google yourself. Yes some people look at it as being egotistical. But there are several reasons to do it.
If you are anything like me, you occasionally Google yourself. I really have no reason to do it but for some reason it makes me feel cool. I like reading all the info on the Internet and also I like to make sure it’s accurate.
When I first got my license, I was so excited to see my name listed as “Brooke Wolford”, REALTOR(R). So I decided to Google myself. Low and behold, there is another Brooke Wolford. She’s an actress… I guess if that’s what you call a porn star. I was horrified. I also found out that there is a “Wolford” lingerie line. Besides that, there were pages upon pages about the porn star and this lingerie line and not too much info about me.
Since then I have done a lot of research and managed to get my name planted on to every possible real estate Web site, every social networking site, and I try to update my blogs every day. I have also had the opportunity to make sure that the information listed on Web sites is accurate. One Web site had me listed as a commercial agent working out of the Duluth, Minn. area… it was a little off considering I mainly deal with residential and the city of Duluth is four hours away from me. Continue reading »
Just-released, free customizable content widgets available at the REALTOR® Content Resource, powered by NAR’s consumer Web site HouseLogic, let you easily incorporate homeownership content into your Web site or blog.
Customize the size and shape of the widgets, and take advantage of hundreds of articles written by premier journalists on such topics as home improvement and maintenance, landscaping, pest control, energy efficiency, tax credits and deductions, finance, insurance, and building a community.
The widget content updates automatically in real time, so there’s no need to refresh or re-import it.
Choose from three widget sizes and display up to four articles at a time. With just a few keystrokes, you’ll have imported the content you need to show clients your mission is to help them protect their most important investment.
The REALTOR® Content Resource, powered by HouseLogic, is an exclusive, free benefit for NAR members. HouseLogic is the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS’® no-topic-left-uncovered consumer Web site geared to helping homeowners make smart decisions to maintain, protect, and increase the value of their home.
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