“Well,” said the Grandfather, “I’ll do one too.  In 30 days we’ll see who has gotten the most hits on their video, and the loser buys dinner!”

The agent is mid 30′s – the Seller is past his mid 60′s.  This is not a Fluke.  Grandparents, and those from “The Greatest Generation” are being helped with all kinds of programs aimed at getting them more familiar with new techie gadgets.  One program, which runs Nationwide from Dec 1 to Dec 30 pairs teenagers and “grandparents” in their communities for one on one teaching. The Grandparents Gone Wired site claims that:

Kids can visit the site to register. They then fill out a checklist with areas of expertise (such as email set up, Facebook, Skype). They are then asked to reach out to a senior citizen that could benefit from those skills and mentor them on how to get connected. Reporting on that progress will make them eligible to win the prizes.

In Many Parts Of the Country – Seniors Have The Money

There are new shows on TV about “My House Your Money” (or something similar) where the kids are buying a house with the parents money.   This phenomenon is not likely to change!

If you are potentially working with “Seniors” you need to first remember that they will likely spend as much, if not more time, online learning as much as they can about an area, a house, financing options, closing costs – and yes, YOU as they can prior to ever meeting you!  This is also a group of people who likes to print information off – Women out number men on Facebook 2 to 1 – so if you are targeting those over 55+ remember to add some PDF’s to your information that are fairly easy to print off and hand to someone else (in large print).

If you have a fairly easy time connecting with this age group, why not volunteer to teach classes?  I’ve suggested that instead of a car wash to raise money, the kids at church could do a series of classes like the Grandparents Gone Wired.

When you are advertising these classes, or creating blog content for them, I would stay away from referring to folks as “Seniors.”  No one wants to be reminded how old they are.  “Active 55+” is the best reference point you can make.

But because there’s so much more to read, people are picky about what they read. Seniors especially. People will read amazing amounts of material if it’s interesting and personally relevant.

I would not ASSUME that a Grandparent does not text, or watch Videos.  There are plenty of Grandparents that have Droids, at a Neighborhood party last night one pulled his out and began showing me pictures of the fish he’d caught!  I’d ASK – just like you would any other potential client, “What’s the best way for us to stay in touch an exchange information?”

This niche should be treated just like any other excellent referral group (Teachers Come to Mind).   Seniors are looking to be sure that you are who you say you are, and you’ll do what you say you’ll do.  Because of that, being able to read Recommendations from REAL PEOPLE is very important.

Think these guys aren’t Hip?  Have you looked at the AARP site lately?  The current headlines include, SmartPhone Apps for Aging in Place, Your Facebook Wall is About to Change, Is Google+ For You?  Just like you would target blog content to Investors, or First Time Home Buyers – targeting the 55+ Niche Market is probably a great addition to your 2012 plan!

We should also look at how this plays in perfectly with the recent changes Google made to it’s SEO Algorythm.  It’s more important than ever to have a well thought out Social Media Plan for your Real Estate Practice.

Yes, Content is important, but there’s already a TON of Content on the Web.  These days, people need to see that you are who you say you are, and you’ll do what you say you’ll do.  The “Trust Factor” given to reviews, and interaction is incredible!  Bottom line?  Even if you only have your baby toe in the water with Social Media – you need to begin gathering reviews (from real people, not the “Great Job” A. Smith).

Where can Real Estate Agents Get Reviewed?

These days, you can get recommendations and reviews almost EVERYWHERE.  If you have your business set up with the Local Map Searches, then you can get recommendations there.  Facebook Business Pages also has a review feature, Yelp Businesses can be reviewed – and that’s just for starters!

Do you have your Zillow, Realtor.com and Trulia profiles complete?  They have the option of allowing you to get recommendations and reviews from past clients!

Also, if you’re like Jay, and you are contributing on Zillow, have your profile complete, and have positive reviews… they will give you featured preference on listings when the agent doesn’t have their profile complete!  Being a member of the “Community” has a ton of FREE benefits!

What about LinkedIn?  Many Real Estate Agents know other businesses owners through their chambers and charities.  Connect with these folks – GIVE reviews to past clients, THEN ask for a review.  No, you might not work with them, but you know that they are detail oriented, team players, possess high values – all things employers want to see in employees!

If you have questions about creating leads from your real estate blog, or how to get your Listing seen by more eyeballs – contact me.  I’d love to help you and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter?  Let’s Connect!

We all know that getting Internet Leads is a mix of consistency in updating your site, using the correct keywords, and creating interesting, relevant and unique content for your blog.  With the changes in Social versus Search, it’s also important to make sure you are maximizing your sphere of influence.  Are you promoting your Stagger’s Blog posts, in exchange for her to always re-Tweet yours?  This is a no brainer!

There are some other pretty quick steps you can take to see if you can improve what you are currently getting out of your Real Estate Website.FIVE Things That Might Improve Your Real Estate Blog

1. Get rid of Flash, or at least figure out how to limit it to only a few pages on your site.  A site that has a TON of movement, probably cost you a TON of money a few years ago… but that doesn’t mean it will show up on my iPad.  If you haven’t looked at your site on an iPad or iPhone – go ahead and see how it shows up.
2. Check out where your phone number is.  Again, looking at your site from a mobile device, can you click on your telephone number?  If not, you probably need to make some changes.  Also, when you get to the bottom of the page, do you ALWAY put all of that link up stuff – or do you end each page with CALL ME HERE’S MY NUMBER! (Personally, I’d rather have a call, than somebody to just sign up for my newsletter!)
3. People generally read a site in the letter “F” – so what’s on the LEFT hand column is important.  Do you have all of your important Widgets on the RIGHT SIDE?  If so, you might want to try moving things around.  Ask your family and colleagues what they think of the changes.  One speaker at RETSO suggested that you take your laptop to a coffee shop and buy people a cup of coffee for spending 5 minutes telling you what they LIKE about your site, and what they don’t.  NOT selling them – just getting feedback.  Would be worth a cup of Joe!
4. Do you have all of your plugins up todate?  I know for a fact that some hosting accounts have been hacked because of an old component in some sites called TIMThumb.  If you have this component, I strongly suggest a) changing all passwords on the FTP, Hosting Account, Site to be different, 10 digits long, starting with a Letter have at least one Capital letter, numbers and it should include a ! or * type characters that your account supports.  Don’t make it easy for your site to be hacked because you were lazy and had the site name be the password (I’ve seen that!) and b) I’d probably look at a newer Theme, like Genesis with a Child Theme.
5. Are you maximizing Video on your site?  So many agents tell me that they hate being in front of a camera.  Use Animoto – get the plan that allows you to do longer than 30 second videos… or use the Microsoft tools right there on your PC!  This is not hard, and it’s something you NEED to be doing.

If you have questions about creating leads from your real estate blog, or how to get your Listing seen by more eyeballs – contact me. I’d love to help you and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter? Let’s Connect!

The Lesson? Minimal is IN. We all need to think about editing our overly boring 20 word taglines that incorporate multiple layers and elements that don’t really SAY anything!

Several demographic groups have high levels of smartphone adoption, including the financially well-off and well-educated, non-whites, and those under the age of 45.  Some 87% of smartphone owners access the internet or email on their handheld, including two-thirds (68%) who do so on a typical day. When asked what device they normally use to access the internet, 25% of smartphone owners say that they mostly go online using their phone, rather than with a computer.

So, we are all going to be using Droid Apps and iPhone Apps in the next few months!  My question is, what are the top things you want a Real Estate App to do?

• View Homes near where you are currently Geo Located with pictures
• Search MLS, with details
• See the properties that have sold near the home you are interested in buying or selling
• Walkscore – how close are you to Starbucks or Day Care
• Estimated Travel Time
• School Information
• Video or Virtual Tour
• Get ratings from Consumers OR Licensed Real Estate Agents
• Make your own private notes about the house

Would you also want to be able to access your company internal site from the Mobile App?  (Maybe)  I definitely feel that it’s important to do both an iPhone, iPad app AND a Droid App. There’s not a quick way to do an iPhone App (that I’ve found, if you know one speak up!)

Fortunately, creating a droid app is not that difficult.  So, before you talk to a developer about exactly what features you want, test the waters with consumers with a DIY project first!

To get started you will need to first register as an Android Developer which costs $25.  Then you need to install the WPAndroid app to your WordPress site.  With this app, if you know what you want the app to do – you can have a simple app created, and loaded into the Android Market within 10 minutes!  REALLY easy!  There’s no approval process, and there’s a developer forum for help!

UPDATE:  The Droid App will be even MORE important now that Google bought Motorola Mobile 8/15/11

If you have questions about your creating leads from your real estate blog, or how to get your Listing seen by more eyeballs – call Josh Harley, Fathom Realty, 214-228-0301.  I”d love to help you, and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter?  Let’s Connect!

Okay – so maybe I’m talking about something that’s not “Quite” here yet, but it’s a pretty exciting opportunity on the Technology Gadget list for Real Estate Websites… Geo-Fencing.

What if a buyer looking for a place to live didn’t have to do anything beyond choosing what features they wanted in a home? What if a buyer was automatically alerted to nearby properties that matched their needs… meaning when they are physically in that area, with their phone, they get a SMS text?

This could be the best part of the next generation of mobile real estate marketing.

The use of “geo-fences” surrounding properties really drives the location-based marketing engine. A geo-fence is a virtual boundary surrounding a geographic region like a “fence”.  The trick would be to keep Real Estate Agents from fencing the whole darn town, because that would be kind of pointless, right?

When a person with a mobile phone crosses a geo-fence boundary, a notification is automatically issued to that mobile phone. Traditionally, geo-fencing has been used to send alerts when users exit a certain area, instead of entering one.  So they are used with Alzheimer’s patients, keeping track of your children, or to monitor hazardous cargo (for example).

Each Real Estate Company (theoretically) would have potential buyers (Users) who have given them their needs list. Once the property goes on the market, and the geo-fences have been set up, notifications would go to those “Users” who are interested in that type of property in that area.  All that is left is for the users to go about their normal lives, with their GPS-enabled mobile phones, of course.

When they get close to a property that matches their wants, they’ll be automatically notified on their mobile phone. Real Estate Company would need to incorporate this into their CRM, to track the effectiveness of the messages and review properties with clients.

House hunting couldn’t get much easier than that, could it?  The potential buyers have done it as an Opt-In – which makes it that much better.  Think about the possibilities for Investors, or folks who want to live in a certain School District?  One article I read referred to as the “Holy Grail of Marketing.”

If you have questions about your creating leads from your real estate blog, or how to get your Listing seen by more eyeballs – call Josh Harley, Fathom Realty, 214-228-0301.  I”d love to help you, and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter?  Let’s Connect!

Google announced that it is changing the Math behind how a certain site, or post makes it to the top.

This change in calculations  is especially important to real estate companies that use “Long Tail Keyword Searchs“ (meaning everybody who might want to be found under “Stonebridge Ranch TX For Sale” or some other specific combination of search terms).Why Is Google Doing This?

Most major business changes come down to money.  Is it PROFITABLE to continue offering something in a certain way.   Most analyst, will tell you that Facebook and Google are in a WAR for Advertising dollars, and the WINNER is going to be the search that delivers the most relevant information.

If  Google continues to rank sites that have tons of  “Duplicate” (which means NOT ORIGINAL) content – then people will perceive the returned information as low-quality, spammy results and move to a different search engine!

Here’s what Gayhlord Dewald said in Inman News about it

This new algorithm is meant to deliver higher-quality results from Google. This is important because it means Google has some logic/math system for determining the quality of content.

This means that the quality of your real estate content, something I hope you’ve been paying attention to all along anyway, is now being mathematically calculated.

So The Question Becomes What is “Good Quality Content”

One of the posts I read on this topic suggested that “shallow pages” with a paragraph of basic information that forces you to click to another page of information would NOT be considered “Quality.”

Also, some of the reports I read suggested that we all need to be vigilant about creating inbound links to our site – and to our blog posts… especially if the blog is “seasoned.”  Meaning that if you’ve been blogging for several years, and you don’t generally have many comments from readers, and you don’t ever have a “LIKE” (except maybe from YOU), then you might want to do some adjustments and make your site more SOCIAL.

Bottom line?  Those of us who update our sites,  have sites with more than just IDX and a few pages that were written by Corporate 5 years ago are happy! We are already in on this secret… this means Content is King, and Consistency is Critical!

If you have questions about building your real estate blog as you build your real estate business, give me a call!   Josh Harley, Fathom Realty, 214-228-0301. I’d love to help you, and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter?  Let’s Connect!

In the Real Estate Business we are constantly looking for ways to get more attention for our listings, and to find buyers.  We have several choices, we can Advertise… or we can Market.

Advertising is out. Viral marketing, where someone else says how great you are, is in.

So what IS this “Viral Marketing” and why is “Advertising Out?”

Advertising, by definition is the paid, public, non-personal announcement of a persuasive message by an identified sponsor to its existing and potential customers.  It’s the Old Fashioned Reader Ad, or Print Ad in the Newspaper… it’s not getting much attention now that everyone is carrying around an iPad!

Most people happily share their favorite restaurants, the places to get the best deals online, and oftentimes, the name of the Realtor who did a good job for them on their transaction.  THAT is what people refer to as Viral Marketing… getting people to talk about you!  Getting people to forward a link to something you wrote, or ReTweeting something that is important.

The old model for real estate marketing was to rely heavily on advertising in newspapers, in the Real Estate Book or maybe through radio.  There is no interaction and no way to really track how many people saw your newspaper ad or heard your radio commercial.  Today seller’s expect to see a “Hit” report on the property!

Here are some Top Marketing Activities for 2011:

1. The post-closing survey. This should be a part of your marketing plan.  It’s easy to create, and gives you credibility and gives you the chance to connect to your clients online.

• What motivated you to hire me?
• What did I do well?
• What could I have done better?
• Do you know of anyone thinking about buying or selling a home?
• May I use you as a reference?
• Would you recommend me on Yelp, Zillow or Linkedin?

2. Do a video testimonial exchange

For your clients who have their own businesses, one of the best ways to get them saying good things about you is to say good things about them. You can post a positive review about them on Yelp, Merchant’s Circle, Yahoo Local or Facebook.  You can also post your video testimonial on LinkedIn and send it out as a Tweet on #FF

3. Promote Your Area

How many small coffee shops and berry patches in your area don’t have ANY web presence?  I know of one agent that focused so heavily on promoting the small community she lived in on line that the Chamber of Commerce GAVE her a Membership!  Take advantage of your online knowledge!  Host a website for your local PTSA (they need help, trust me on this!)  or be the webmaster for your local homeowners association.  If you set it up as a blog site or a fan page on Facebook, you can invite others to share important community information.  By highlighting the Community, the Schools, the Charities that need more exposure, you no longer are a pesky Realtor.  Instead, you become “Our Association’s Realtor.”  Remember the Rule… Content is KING!

4.  Do Something UnExpected

Yeah, Sponsoring a Baseball Team is nice… but not that something that is going to create a “Buzz.”  What kind of reaction would you get if you rented a bus and took potential buyers on a “Foreclosure Tour” in your area?  What about starting an Oral History of the area?  There are TONS of things you can do to differentiate yourself from ALL THE OTHERS.

Real Estate Agents who understand MARKETING, and how it differs from straight ADVERTISING will be the ones who understand that Social Media is a Cocktail Party... it’s about the Conversation, not the AD.

If you have questions about building your real estate blog as you build your real estate business, give me a call!   Josh Harley, Fathom Realty, 214-228-0301. I’d love to help you, and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter?  Let’s Connect!

Real Estate Brokerage Giants are teaching classes, opening their databases up for solicitations from Social Media companies and insisting that agents get “up to date” on the latest and greatest Social Networking Trends… but are “THEY walking the walk?”

What I’m getting at is this

At LEAST 80% of all  Large Real Estate Offices in the Country have a BIC that doesn’t understand Twitter or SEO or Blogging or Klout

I saw an article yesterday on Real Estate Predictions for 2011.  In it 20 agents or so were asked for Their Predictions, Their Wish List and Their Resolve.  One agent with a big brand national firm had this as a resolve:

2011 Resolution… work for a brokerage that uses all that is currently available to improve the odds of doing business successfully

WOW!  This person works for a company that has over 170.6 BILLION in sales! The problem, in my view, is not that the COMPANY doesn’t have a Social Media Strategy… they’ve paid people to develop one.It’s that the LEADERSHIP of the Real Estate office and the COMPANY doesn’t understand HOW Social Media, Social Marketing, Social Networking WORKS. I’ve had agents tell me that they asked their BIC to go to RainCamps, REBarCamps, Inman Reboot and RE Tech South events with them this year, and the BIC refused!  “Well,” I asked, “was it because the BIC was just slammed?” NO!  It was because the BIC thought it would be a waste of their time… that so much of what was going to be discussed would be OVER THEIR HEAD.

It’s not that the discussion at the event is going to be over the BICs head – it’s that it’s not relevant to them. They aren’t IN the Real Estate Social Media Discussion… they aren’t USING social media to build their brand… they simply don’t get it.

“In the past, a real estate agent could succeed through a single, focused strategy such as geographic farming. Today, it requires highly targeted marketing across multiple channels and from multiple sources; social networking; a dynamic website with relevant real-time information with a user-focus; search engine optimization so your dynamic website can actually be found; mobile strategies to meet today’s digital consumers needs — the list goes on and on.”

“The return on investment for social media is that you will still be in business in five years. Any drawbacks to social media are completely trumped by that fact.”

You see many of the Real Estate AGENTs at the big brand company get this… and the guys paid to do the marketing for the company understand it – but the LEADERSHIP is still “living” in 1999.

If you do Social Networking the RIGHT way… it creates leads.  Lots and Lots of leads. Real Estate Agents in 2011 are going to be looking for, and ultimately WORKING for those brokerages and Leaders who get it.  They are going to work for folks who will be your Friend on Facebook, Help you build interaction on your FB Business Page, Comment on your blog posts from their Droid, give you real life tips for Lead Conversion and help you build your Klout on Twitter.

The successful BIC and Real Estate Company Leader of 2011 is already IN the conversation and creating leads.

I just finished reading an amazing book by Jim Tobin titled, “Social Media is A Cocktail Party, Why You Already Know The Rules of Social Media Marketing.”

Here are the Rules of a Cocktail Party that Jim lay’s out in the Book – and my notes about how these apply specifically to those of us in the Real Estate Industry:

1.The Party Goes On With or Without You. People are already talking about you and your company online.  They are “grading you” on Yelp and Zillow, and they are telling their friends that you did a GREAT job… or never updated them.  You should know, and monitor what’s being said about you online.2.  When you get to a Party Mingle and Listen before you Talk. Would you walk up to someone at a Cocktail Party and start screaming at them, “HEY!DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO BUY A 3 BDRM FIXER UPPER THAT NEEDS SOME TLC?  DON’T YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR A RELATIVE THAT NEEDS TO BUY THIS HOUSE??”  Of course not.  But that’s EXACTLY what you are doing when you are simply going online to “slap up a listing.”  There’s MORE to a conversation than your listing!  Quit Spamming People!

3. Keep The Conversation Thread Going Naturally Go back and re-read my comments about number 2.  Don’t be RUDE!  Don’t SPAM people!

4.  The Setting Matters Just like a New Year’s Eve Party is different from a 5 year old’s birthday party – the different Social Media Platforms you interact on are different too!  So many agents just want to get online and post one message 15 different places!  That’s NOT being part of a conversation.  The people who are connected to you on Facebook are likely different than the ones connected to you on LinkedIn.  Your message should be different too!

5.  It’s Not All About YOU I don’t even need to add anything to that!

6.  Don’t Be Slick, People Can Smell Fake Let’s say people read about 20 pages you’ve posted about moving to a certain area.  You talk about the restaurants you like, where kids can play ice hockey, the local museums… but let’s assume that you use a copy writer or you just spin information from other people… do you think they are going to LIKE YOU when they meet you?  No.  Everyone has their own “voice” online, a style, a way in which you talk and communicate information.  If it’s NOT you, they will know.

7.  Share Information That Doesn’t Benefit You Again, think about being at a Cocktail Party.  Do you ONLY talk about Real Estate, the Real Estate Market, the Benefits of Short Sales, 5 Ways to Avoid Foreclosure?  NO!  You don’t want to do that in your online discussions either.

8.  It’s Appreciated when You Share What You Know In Context I think we got this one – it’s figuring out the CONTEXT.  Real Estate Agents tell EVERYONE about Real Estate 24/7

9.  You Can Ask Something of A friend that you Can’t Ask Of Someone You Don’t Know The goal on Twitter, and LinkedIn and Facebook and Yelp (and fill in the blank) is to engage people.  Show them that they can Trust You, that you know the area, the market, how to negotiate.  After you have people engaging in your conversations, and following you, it’s much more natural to ask them to “give you a nod” and refer people to you.

10.  If people like you, and need what you do, they want to work with you. Keeping your status updated, connecting with your old High School friends, commenting on interesting posts on Activerain takes time.  Making Friends takes effort, keeping relationships going takes commitment and effort too.  But this is how you build your online reputation – and your business.

There’s SO MUCH good, solid information in this book!  I hope you will buy it, read it, share it with your referral partners, develop your own plan and get started! Real Estate Agents get caught up in the Technical Terms of Social Media – but really – all you need to remember is that it’s SOCIAL.

If you have questions about building your real estate blog as you build your real estate business, give me a call!   Josh Harley, Fathom Realty, 214-228-0301. I’d love to help you, and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter?  Let’s Connect!