Tag Archives: Marketing

Are you E-mail marketing in style?

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Traditional mail vs. e-mail campaigns
In the spirit of always thinking of ways to assist our stylish Realtor and Loan Officer customers, particularly in fostering their long-term business relationships with their clients, I frequently make suggestions, tips and write comments to our entire customer and client base via e-mail marketing campaigns. It never ceases to amaze me at all the great stuff, tools and suggestions here at RCG and out in the blogosphere. While browsing some of my favorite blogs, I ran across an e-mail marketing post at The Future of Real Estate Marketing.

While many agents can use generic e-mail group lists in their Outlook or Thunderbird programs to do the job, there are some great resources that really (in the voice of Chef Emeril Lagasse) kick it up at notch!

May I introduce Emma

One of the very best at e-mail marketing is at MyEmma. I came across Emma about a year ago when they were still very new. It has one of the best e-mail campaign editing tools and allows you to upload pictures in a snap. The UI is simple and very easy to navigate. One of the great features is the ability to track your responses to e-mail campaigns in a meaningful way. I know when someone opens the e-mail, at the precise time and whether or not they clicked on related links. There is also a way to allow customers to opt out if they choose or forward the e-mail to a friend–something that always results in the referrer receiving a nice gift card for a cup of coffee.

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Emma’s support is first rate and the responses to you are always helpful and humorous! When Emma announces new tools, improvements or “APB’s,” they always seem to have at least one reference to us customers as “stylish people.” I never knew I was stylish until I started hanging out with Emma. If you have a tough day at work and want to lift your spirit, just browse their site bio’s and company history. If you are like me, you LOL!

With traditional mailings, you can’t track success. If you have not added e-mail campaign marketing to your complete marketing program, perhaps now is the time.

The Best Online Real Estate Marketing Time Can Buy

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Jim over at the Real Estate Tomato has an interesting post about the type of content that real estate agents should produce on their blog. The question of content really boils down to how to do the best possible search engine optimization (SEO). So, here are my two cents…

The type of content you write about is almost irrelevant.

Really! I’ll repeat that…

The type of content you write about is almost irrelevant.

There is no “perfect” content or “magic bullet” that will get you to the top of the search engines and thrust you to internet lead nirvana.

Here’s the reality: It is far more important to be interesting in a real estate kinda way (hence the “almost”) than to worry about creating the “right” content.

I sincerely doubt that Hanin Levin set out to be the #1 result on any search for real estate information in Laguna Niguel. He got there because Google has a lot of trust for his site with regards to real estate and at one point he happen to mention Laguna Niguel in one of his blog posts. This is the the long tail in action, which also helps explains why Rain City Guide shows up #2 on that list.

Why does Google have a lot of trust around Hanan’s site with regards to real estate?
Because a lot of real estate sites (mainly bloggers) have linked to him. That back-and-forth of linking between related sites blows away all other factors.

Why do other real estate bloggers link to him?
Because he is interesting!

Maybe after you’ve created a real estate blog that does well in Google, you’ll decide that you’re missing a few keywords, but more likely your readers will do that for you. An recent example occurred when a reader pointed out that we didn’t have any good houseboat information. A simple post three days ago on houseboat financing has already put Rain City Guide at the top of a useful Google search.

[photopress:williams_at_christmas.jpg,thumb,alignright]The important thing to remember is the “perfect” content will only work if others are linking to you and the content is good enough to keep readers coming back for more. My guess is that people begin searching the internet for real estate information months before they are ready to talk with an agent. As an agent, you want to write content that will keep them coming back long after they’ve forgotten about their initial google search!

You could try to be interesting like Lockhart with lots of NYC real estate gossip, like Hanan by posting fascinating links on a daily basis, or like Joel by being on top of real estate technology, but more likely, you’re going to need to write about something that hits a little closer to your interests. Blogging done right is similar to all other human endeavors done right… Success will be a reflection of your personality.

Finally, Jim, it would be wrong to write this whole article without giving you the link you’ve earned by being interesting… So, here’s my link to a great marketing article from the juiciest real estate tomato in northern california! 🙂

I FEEL LIKE A DOG!!

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[photopress:collie.gif,thumb,alignright]I feel like a dog this week. Four times this week I went into people’s homes to tell them what they needed to do to get top dollar for their home. The last two times I turned people’s homes upside down and sold them quickly for top dollar, I had no problem at all. I told them to give me the key to their home. Told them to go to work. And when they came home they were amazed at the difference and were happy, happy, happy!

But this week…I had four experiences that just make me feel like a dog!

Generally, when I stage an occupied home before putting it on the market, there is little to no cost at all. So I have no “bad news” that hurts them financially. I often do most of the work myself as part of the commission, so there’s no added expense and people are happy. So why was this week so different?

Mainly it was because of the people. The last two times the owners really wanted to move. This week, everyone who was selling “needed” to sell and “needed” to move, for reasons beyond their control. When someone really wants to move, they have no trouble when I move their stuff around. This week, as I pulled things off of the wall that people bought from “home interiors” back in 1983, and stacked all the chatchkis in a big pile, I could feel the pain of the memories coming down with the chatckis.

Tonight it was Roosters. Roosters, roosters everywhere I turned. Two days ago it was 3D Cherubs peeking at me from every wall, most of them with gold filigree hanging from their chinny, chin chins. The toughest one of all was a dear friend of mine, a guy, and I swear he had tears in his eyes when I told him the “schocking blue” walls had to go!! He had just painted it that color to get it ready for market.

This is why most times I just have to go in and take it all down myself. I have an “eye” for getting the home just right and I’m not attached to the chatchkis like they are. It hurts them when they come down, but they don’t put them back up after I take them down and it hurts them more if they take them down themselves. It hurts them much less if they just leave and let me do it, and they come home to the “new look”.

“Detaching” from the home is a very big part of of the home selling process. The closer they are to detaching from the home, by the time they get an offer, the more likely they will get a higher price and handle the negotiating with less emotional charge.

I would never put someone through this if it didn’t make them more money. And sometimes I think I feel worse than they do when I’m done. And I know I’m not doing them any favors if I allow them to “leave money on the table” by “being nice”, and letting the house go “live” into the mls, before it is ready to be shown.

Representing “people” rarely means telling them what they want to hear, or stroking their egos. Most often it means having the guts to tell them what they need to hear, and rolling up my sleeves and just doing, what they can’t bring themselves to do.

I know in my heart that I’m doing the right thing, and helping them get the most money they can for their home. But I still feel like a dog.

Free classes

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On the fourth Thursday of every month, I offer a free one-hour class at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, where I offer my attorney-perspective on the purchase and sale of real estate.  The classes are interesting, and everyone always thanks me after the class for taking the time to do it.  Of course, I’ve got a little self interest: I do it to promote my law practice, which is focused on the purchase and sale of residential real estate.  After my last post, I promised Dustin I’d post on some of the questions I have heard and answered.  Unfortunately, a brief summary is not possible.  Questions run the gamut, from ultra-basic to super-sophisticated, addressing every stage of the process from beginning to end. 

For you real estate service providers out there — agents, attorneys, inspectors, mortgage brokers, title insurers, escrow providers, etc. etc. etc. — consider investing the two hours per month (and about 40 bucks) as a marketing endeavor.  Attendance at my class runs about 5-7 people.  So over the course of a year, I’m able to introduce myself to 60-80 potential clients (some of whom have become actual, paying clients), and all of them will hopefully mention my name to their friends, family, etc.  Small, but then again Rome was build one marble block at a time…

Paying for the Privilege of Marginalization

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The real estate industry is a funny place…

There is an obvious tension between the industry players who win through cooperation and the individual agents who win by differentiation. It kind of reminds me of the Tragedy of the Commons in that the actions that individual agents are taking in their best interest are slowly breaking apart the well oiled machine that is today’s real estate industry.

In particular, I’m thinking of all the agent money that is currently being poured into advertisements for companies that are building tools designed to marginalize the role of real estate agents. Joel Burslem picked up on one example when he mentioned that Topix (jointly owned and run by the newspaper publishers: Gannett, Knight Ridder and Tribune) is getting into the FSBO market. If this is not a clear enough signal of the newspaper’s intent, the fact that the Tribune recently purchased forsalebyowner.com should make it clear that the newspapers are now the competition…

While it may be in best interest of individual real estate agents to put ads in local papers, these ads are funding companies who are clearly attempting to completely disrupt their industry. (Don’t even get me started on the irony that a bunch of real estate professionals in Seattle are giving content to the PI that will likely be plastered in FSBO ads before long!).

But it is not only newspapers where agents are paying for the privilege of creating their own demise. Every time an agent buys an ad on Google, they are helping to fund a tool that is clearly meant to marginalize them.

I’ve been holding my tongue on this issue for quite a while because I’m sure a good argument could be made that I’m too biased in that I’m viewing the topic through my employer’s tinted glasses. Nonetheless, I can’t help but wonder if agents are going to get hip to the fact that they really should be using and/or creating their own media before the commons are destroyed.

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Marketing my Home on the Internet

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While my opinion that a good real estate blogger does not include their listings on their blog is well documented and much debated, there is always room for an exception… and marketing my OWN home is one of those!

[photopress:kids_at_easter.JPG,thumb,alignright]Essentially, we have about two weeks left before we put it on the market. We’re just waiting for the movers to take our stuff and then, after we refinish the wooden floors on the main floor, we’ll be ready to list!

So, here are the internet marketing items I have on my checklist (of course, we’ll do some off-line stuff like putting together fliers, but I’m more interested in exploring the online stuff!)

  • Add Our Home to the Free Directories. Craigslist and Google Base come to mind. Are there others I should consider?
  • Blog About Our Neighbors. I know that there is very limited things that a real estate agent can say about the family-friendly nature of a neighborhood, but not having a license gives me the freedom to talk in great detail about are wonderful neighbors. Things I’d like to mention are all the kids that live nearby (8 kids within a few houses!), our regular Sunday BBQs during the summer and our weekly game nights during the Winter. (And I’m sure the neighbors would love it if the new owners continued our tradition of hosting the annual neighborhood easter egg hunt!!!). When moving to a new home, one of the biggest mysteries is what are the neighbors going to be like and because the people on our street are so cool, I’d like to put together an extensive neighborhood blog post! (Honestly, the hardest part of accepting a position in LA was leaving the neighborhood!)

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  • Financing Options. Interestingly, I’m in a place where I could offer the “right” people some innovative financing options… Like a lease-to-own, or something similar (as long as it is a win-win for both parties, I’m game for any idea!). Does something like this normally happen through the usual MLS channels or is there a special market for these types of properties? (Hint: if you contact me before we list, we might even be able to cut out some obvious fees.)
  • Blog About Our House. I promise not to overdo this, but I think one blog post about all the cool features of our home that might be too “personal” for the typical MLS listing would be appropriate on Rain City Guide. I’m thinking of things like the tree house I built in the backyard and the original art deco fixtures… I’d also like to add a map of all the recently sold homes (or maybe I’ll be lazy and just link to the appropriate ShackPrices page!)
  • Unique Icon. Robbie says he’ll give our home a unique icon on the maps of listed properties… Any ideas for what the icon should look like?
  • Enhance listing on Realtor.com. Around Move, people are shocked at how often real estate agents pay to get showcase listings and then don’t spruce up their listings by adding additional photos and other extras. Considering that Anna’s broker already pays for this service, I’ll make sure we spruce up our home!

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  • Get on the Redfin Blog. If I provide a direct link from my blog to my listing on Redfin (and beg people to click on the link!) maybe I can blow out their single home stats for a day and thereby get a mention in their blog!!! (hmmm…. Is there a way to get on the Zillowblog?)
  • Newspaper Coverage? Is someone at the Seattle Times, Seattle PI, Seattle Magazine and/or any other local newspaper interested in writing a story about preparing and then selling a 1920’s Crown Hill (N. Ballard) home? We’ve got lots of great photos and I could probably write most of the story for you! 🙂
    (This reminds me… I did an interview for a real estate technology story that was suppose to be in the May issue of the Seattle Magazine. I never saw or heard anything about that story… Did this story ever go live? )
  • Picture Cloud. These guys just sent me a link for a free photo cloud. Interesting technology and easy enough to put together, so I think I’ll try them out with our home. (By the way, their branded option is free, but if you type the code “raincity”, they they will give you credit for five unbranded clouds for a penny.) If you try them out before I post my cloud, let me know what you think!

Any other ideas as I prepare the marketing plan for our home? Has anyone ever had any luck marketing a home on the internet? What did you do?

Clever marketing

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I’m back from a crazy contract job in New Orleans and a great vacation in the Copper Canyon, Mexico, where the real estate agents must walk eight hours up a steep arroyo just to talk to their rural clients. I’m guessing there aen’t a lot of buyers for precariously perched tiny houses serviced only by burros. I recommend the trip and I am a big proponent of a trip to a hot sunny place every Seattle March.

[photopress:Fortunes.JPG,thumb,alignright] On to real estate: Normally I’m not into cutesy marketing, but these fortunes cracked me up. Bonnie’s dedicated client served her fortune cookies after a great dinner and noted that they really matched Bonnie’s style, which got me to thinking about the basics of any kind of marketing; your marketing (including your blog) should match your style. If you’re outgoing and funny, your marketing should be outgoing and funny. If you’re a brain, it should be more like the puzzle a friend of mine got from his money manager last year. Which just happens to bring me to a new real estate blog that sings to the bean counter in me: Altos Research. Charts and graphs, oh my!

Disclaimer: Mike is the relative of a friend of my relative.

Revolutionize Your Business in Only 3 Days with Blogging!

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Maybe I’m becoming a blog snob, but I’m seeing more and more BAD marketing advice about blogs as they relate to real estate agents. A lot of people simply don’t understand the marketing potential of blogs and rather than giving useful advice, a lot of marketing “gurus” are stepping up to deliver advice designed to keep them in business. A good real estate blog is extremely cheap and costs much more in time than money. If someone is trying to sell you a blogging service that replaces time with money, they are likely trying to sell you a website with blog-like features. If your goal is to increase your presence on the web, then a website with blog-like features will get you about the same benefits of a typical website except you’ll end up with all the formatting restrictions inherent in a blog.

What got me started thinking about bad marketing (at least today) was when I read a comment on my 8 Mistakes article from an internet marketing expert who completely misses the marketing potential of blogs:

Some of the things this blogger wrote about were insightful and probably very appropriate guidelines for creating a typical blog. But on the other hand, there were a couple points that I just couldn’t look past:

* Don’t put your real estate listings on your blog
* Don’t “spam” your own blog with self promotion

Now, I’ve experienced a good deal of success in the real estate marketing business by executing a blog strategy that is not focused on being a “typical blog”. I’m not terribly concerned with creating a forum for discussion about Chicago real estate, nor am I terribly concerned with generating a loyal readership who will return to my site over and over.

If you keep reading his post, you’ll notice that the writer goes on to say that many people want to see homes when they search the internet for real estate information. He is right on that point, which would help explain the current bubble in new home search tools. However, even if people do want to look for homes on the internet, designing a blog around this is missing out on a large slice of potential home buyers who are looking to learn about neighborhoods, find appropriate real estate professionals, and research home-purchase advice.

However, the real kicker is that while there are some great ways to display a home listing on the internet, a blog entry is not one of them. Compared with the stuff you can do with a simple website creation tool like Microsoft Frontpage, let alone more advanced website creation tools, a blog post is down-right ugly. Blog posts are really geared toward text and they simply have limited graphic capabilities (while my blog software is top-notch, I have to dive into HTML code just to change the color or size of the font within the post!)

The author mentions the great success he’s had blogging about home listings. But does this typical listing on his blog come anywhere close to comparing to this beautiful listing that Joe put together? If your aim is to advertise a listing, then a webpage (or an entire website for that matter) is a much better way to accomplish this task than a blog entry!

However, I suspect that the author (who consults as an internet marketing expert) is under the assumption that because the home listing is in a “blog”, there is some type of search engine optimization benefit over a standard website. Not only that, but I’ve heard this logic said enough that I suspect this notion is prevalent in the real estate community (i.e. blogs show up better than websites in search results!). But this is a myth. Search engines do not even try to tell the difference between a blog and a typical website (after all, they both just appear to be a collection of HTML code to a search engine).

The REASON blogs tend to perform better in search engine results than typical webpages is a direct result of the community that has created them. When done right, a community of bloggers share links with each other and not just any links, but deep links associated with quality content. To create a blog without the intention of creating community (or loyal readers for that matter) is to completely misunderstand the marketing potential of blogs.

I also believe the authenticity of the author when he says that he has had success marketing homes through his blog. However, I think the success has a lot more to do with the fact that the author has created a community around providing interesting advice for buyers despite his lack of care for these readers. When I said it was a mistake to put listing information on a blog, this is because there are better ways to display listings than in a blog post and too much self-promotion inhibits creating a community.

I actually remember noticing, and then unsubscribing, to the author’s blog a long time ago because of all the self-promotional stuff. Interestingly, I would never have even found out about his post or linked to him had he not linked to me! By linking to me and taking part in the larger real estate blogging community, he has earned some backlinks to his site that will help him score better in search engines! A blog without community is simply a website that is organized chronologically and will be treated as such by the search engines.

If you want to see this bad idea taken a step further, check Ubertor’s latest product where they sell a self-updating blog of featured listings. What could possibly be the benefit of a blog (with all it’s ugly formatting restrictions) if it is self-updating? If an agent doesn’t think it is worth their time to select a few featured listings for their blog, do they really think it will be worth anyone’s time to read it? Let alone comment and link to these posts? Sometimes understanding whether or not an idea is a good marketing strategy takes little more than common sense.

Talking about common sense marketing… In putting together this post, I came across this great video featuring Seth Godin where he discusses with Google employees how much of their amazing success is related to how they have marketed their products (Thank you Grow-a-Brain!). The 48 minute video is so darn instructive for understanding how marketing should be done (and I believe that real estate agents are either in marketing or broke) that I’m going to experiment with including the video below so you can watch it directly from this site: