Destin Real Estate Marketing

4th Street Riddlers Flute Concert

2011-03-07T23:09:00.002-06:00

I recently went to a flute concert by the 4th Street Riddlers Flute Ensemble. I didn't realize that there are six different types of flutes. The sounds that they are capable of making are incredible. The sultry sweet sounds of the alto flute and the nice verbratto of the C Flute were a wonder to hear.

The flute is an incredible instrument, with its rich history and background, it is amazing the range of sounds that can be achieved.

The 4th Street Riddlers Flute Ensemble was a joy to listen to. Their songs carried me away, allowing me to get lost in the melodies and intricate layers.

If you ever have an opportunity to hear them play live, I recommend that you take it.

Looking For A Real Estate Career?

2010-09-02T15:08:00.001-05:00

Real estate is still hot along the Emerald Coast of Florida (Destin, Ft. Walton Beach, Panama City Beach, Gulf Breeze, & Penasacola).
Starting your own business as a real estate agent can be an incredible experience, and in a market area like the Emerald Coast, a job as a real estate agent is more than a job. It is a career.
If you are a new agent, looking for a brokerage firm, or an established agent looking for a change, then Keller Williams Realty may be the home for you. Take

Real Estate Careers

Health Benefits of Flax Seeds

2010-09-02T02:29:00.001-05:00

Every once in a while, I come across an article about health that interest me. This article on the health benefits of flax seeds peeked my interest because I have have tasted one of the health food bars made by Avena Naturale, and did not realize that it contained Flax seeds.
Here is what Avena Naturale says in their article about flax seeds:
"Flax seeds are being given credit for a large assortment of health benefits from fighting cholesterol and diabetes to cancer and

Health Benefits of Flax Seeds

2010-09-02T02:28:00.001-05:00

Tallahassee Classifieds Online

2010-09-02T02:27:00.001-05:00

Do you want a great place to post your Tallahassee Classifieds? Then www.TallahasseeClassifiedsOnline.com is the place your want to go. The site is well designed, with great features like ad history, featured Tallahassee Ads, linked with google maps, and ways to communicate with the seller.
If you are looking for used cars, antiques, pets, farm & ranch, employment, and more, the go to the #1 Online Classified spot in Tallahassee -

Tallahassee Classifieds

No End To Foreclosures Video

2008-12-16T23:21:00.004-06:00

Foreclosures have a second wave on the horizon.

I had to watch this twice because it was a powerful prediction of is in store for the real estate in the next 5 years.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4668112n

When you watch the video, it seems like the impending wave of foreclosures was foreseeable. But I think deep down, we knew it was going to end at some time.

So we have not seen the end of foreclosure, which makes publications like Foreclosure Publication the new place to find the next great real estate deal.

Foreclosures in Resort Area in Florida

2008-12-12T19:06:00.003-06:00

A new publication in the area showcases the opportunity for buyers to purchase properties that are being offered for sale by motivated sellers.

The properties may be foreclosed properties, bank owned real estate, short sales, auctions, or even just good priced homes read to be sold.

Foreclosure Publication has a little bit of everything if you are looking to a great deal in the Destin, FL area.

If you are looking for luxury properties in the Destin area you can view high end homes for sale in Luxury Living of the Emerald Coast.

Exquisite Homes Magazine

2008-11-03T13:56:00.003-06:00

Great content that talks about homes for sale in the Destin Florida area.

To get a great feel of what this publication offers, you can go start at http://www.exquisitehomesonline.com

Also, to find who advertises in the publication go to their destin real estate table of contents for Exquisite Homes

Digital and Online Advertising

2008-05-18T10:58:00.003-05:00

Online Advertising

Marketing is the life blood of any business. Without a steady stream of prospects, leads, and customers, the business will wither and die. It is painfully obvious that the cost of print advertising is rising, due to the cost of production (oil prices), add to it a downturn in economic spending, and less people are spending money on advertising.

Many companies, seeing the decline in print advertising and the slipping margins due to production costs, have done the most illogical thing - increase their advertising rates! The local papers have done this, magazines have done this, and printing companies have followed suite.

The major factor in the rapid decline in print media is the fact that more people are online. Period. Less people reading print, less leads generated.

So what can real estate agents do to leverage their marketing costs and increase leads to their business? Online advertising is the key to gaining leads, prospects and clients.

The next few posts will deal with the following subjects:

Database referrals
Email Marketing
Digital Publication
Pay Per Click

Print is not dead. Print can be useful, but should not be relied on to generate all of your leads. Print, internet, database referrals, and branding are all just pieces of the puzzle of a good advertising and marketing engine.

Zeb Walker
SEO Certified
Exquisite Homes

Destin Real Estate Marketing is Not Dead

2008-05-16T15:53:00.003-05:00

So I missed the first day after my dedication not to miss a day. Figures. But, just like anything, take it one small peice at a time. So I will keep to 1 to 2 days for postings.

Real Estate Marketing - Content Freshness

I have often said when talking about blogging that search engines like "freshness". The more often you post, the more often the robots will index your site, and the better chance of you seeing improvement in the rankings.

Real estat marketing in the Destin area is no different than anywhere else. For blogging, you pick a topic, focus on good keywords and content, and post. For direct marketing pick your targets, choose your message and send it out. This type of process works for all types of marketing: choose target, choose message, and send.

The key factor that makes marketing, especially real estate marketing, successful is persistance and consistancy. Say the same things over and over, and send often.

The other factor in successful marketing is measuring your results. If a message is not working or the targets are not responsive, change. For direct mail pieces, the process is easy. Most agents use a number with an extension to track calls. While this works, a better approach is an actual call tracking number, either local or toll free.

I offer this type of service with a number of bells and whistles to my clients, if it not part of the package they use, then the cost is only $20. I will be happy to share with the benefits of call tracking - I feel this is requirement, not an option in todays marketing environment.

For online marketing, unique website or links, and forms and unique email addresses all work.

Remember: Persistant, Consistancy, and Tracking

Zeb Walker
Exquisite Homes
850-259-9489
zeb@virtualfuzion.com

Real Estate Now in Full Motion

2008-05-14T19:53:00.002-05:00

Its been a while since my last post. Ironic that I have been preaching about persistant blog posts, and yet I can't even follow my own words. That is now changing as of today.

Resolution for today - Post something every day!!!

I have renewed vigor with online marketing. I have been busy the last few months assisting a number of projects, getting qualified in Search Engine Optimization techniques and continued education.

In the past few months I have manage to cement a few incredible opportunities for real estate marketing.

First, I am now able to expand the distribution of the printed version of Exquisite Homes dramatically. I will be in more Panama City and Destin Locations, as well as FWB, Crestview, and Niceville.

Second, I am launching two new publications this month that will provide some great content on relocation, lifestyle and real estate for the area. I will be releasing more about these publication in the comming weeks.

Third, I am currently underway for a Top Producer software certification. There will only two Top Producer certified people in Florida, I will be the only one in the panhandle.

Fourth, I have acquired some great new technology that will allow me me finally merge the print and internet opportunities. Some of this is already in use now, the other part will up and online in the next 30 days.

Fifth, and but probably the most important, it feels as though the real estate in this market is finally turning. Many of the agents I have worked with are busy, showing, selling, and closing. Its about time!

I recommend checking out http://www.DestinKW.com, they are doing a great job at branding their market center and with my help and expertise, they have had their website go from non existence to rapidily climbing up the search engines - betting the 4-6 month curve to get on the first two pages of google.

Tomorrow I will post some insider secrets that I have learned about Pay Per Click on google.

SEO Tip - Balance

2008-04-02T09:24:00.002-05:00

Remember that the ultimate purpose of a web page is to be read by a human. To this end you must strike a balance between a page that is user friendly and search engine spider friendly.

The one rule to keep this balance is KISS. Keep it Simple. I recommend that you write page how you first envisioned it. Then go back and make sure that their is enough relevant key words and key word phrases for the 2-3 important points you want your page to cover.

Take a look at your own pages and make sure they are not all over the board, but focus on key concepts for each page. You may need additional pages to make sure that each page is relavent.

Upturn in the Market

2008-03-27T02:14:00.002-05:00

I have been hearing and even seeing an upturn in the real estate market. More buyers are around, more real estate being sold and listed.

If we are not already on the way up from the recent decline, the bottom of the market must not be too far way. In fact, by the time we realize we hit the bottom, it will already be on it way up.

So, I am anticipating a great year for the local Destin market.

Just some happy thoughts to put out on the internet about real estate!!!

Header Text

2008-03-24T11:28:00.002-05:00

Heading text are the html tags that look like H1 H2 H3 H4 and H5. Placing your keyword phrase in the heading text is influential in indicating the relevancy of information on your web page. There is no difference between the heading text tags.

Just don't over use the heading tags on you page.

Real Estate Marketing Tip of the Day

2008-02-27T14:03:00.002-06:00

Just a short tip today.

Your keyword or keyword phrases should appear as close to the top of the page as you can get. Keywords closer to the top of the page or top area may be considered mildley more relevant.

Fresh Content Marketing Tip

2008-02-11T06:56:00.000-06:00

You may get more relevancy for "content freshness" than you realize.

I recommend that you just don't update and post your site whenever the opportunity arises. Instead, consistently add new materials, articles, and content on a regular basis. You will likely find that the search robots behave differently when you do this consistently.

Real Estate Marketing - Blogs

2008-02-06T10:47:00.000-06:00

I recently did a presentation on "Blogging Like A Rock Star" for the Keller Williams Realty Emerald Coast office. At the request of several attendees, I have posted a PDF of my slides at:

http://www.ExquisiteHomesOnline.com

The presentation is a basic overview of blogging, where to set up a blog, why you need a blog, and why you need to syndicate your blog.

Blogging is just one of the many "needles" that will allow your next client to locate you, and allows you to create that "warm and fuzzy" feeling that people need to choose you as their agent. Blogging, and all technology, is not going to replace the human factor in sales. People buy from people they trust. But, technology can help future clients find and get a feel for your knowledge and professionalism.

Real Estate Marketing - Link Backs

2008-01-15T09:39:00.000-06:00

One of the best ways to get higher in SE results is to have links from relevant sites to yours. SE look at this basically as "one vote" for you site. While the actual calculation and algarythms are not so straight forward, it is easy to see with a few link popularity checks, that the higher the result placement for a site, the more link backs they generally have.

So how do you get more link backs to get better page ranking in SE?

That answer is almost as complex as the methods used to calculate page rank. Some search engines (lik Google), clearly state that they don't condone link back building methods that grow you links overnight. While there are many legitimate companies that help grow the number of links to your site, watch out for those that don't comply with SE requirements - your site may get banned from that SE.

The correct method involves getting down to some research, and time, and networking - basic business building skills.

I came across an article written by established SEO experts regarding link back strategies. I am offering a link to this 23 page article from my site ExquisiteHomesOnline.com This article has some basic and advanced ideas on link building. You will find somenthing that fits your needs to help increase your link backs.

Link building does not happen overnight - it can be a never ending task. Just start with some simple methods - like emailing business partners and networking with agents. Blog, and syndicate. Write articles, and syndicate. Soon, you will develop a rich list of link backs to relevant sites, increasing your link popularity and SE placement results.

Real Estate Marketing Tip of the Day 5

2008-01-11T01:20:00.000-06:00

Blogging

What is a blog? Rather me take up the time to say the same thing, take a quick look at wikipedia's definition, don't worry I'll wait.

Blog Definition

Why is it important? Blogs will let others know your thoughts and opinions, as well as provided needed exposure, and most importantly fresh, relevant content for search engines to eat up.

Another reason I recommend blogs, is so that you can syndicate them to blog aggregators. This will help you increase your link popularity - a very important factor for getting higher results for search engines.

Short burst of information, usually 250-450 words is a decent blog. Make sure you tag your blog with key words so that it can be indexed and found.

Probably the hardest part for real estate agents and blogs is dedicating time to blog. Like anything, start off with one post per week or every other week, and then grow from there.

Real Estate Marketing - Tip of the Day 4

2008-01-03T09:48:00.001-06:00

Its the start of a new year, and everyone should take this opportunity to really look at their web site and their web marketing. The internet is booming, according to Realtor.com, over 90% of all home buyers start their search online. And with the millions of search results out there, is your site a needle in a haystack, or is it on the first couple of pages of search results?

Today's tip covers a short check list of items to look into regarding your website. Many of these will be covered over the comming days, but you can get a headstart by analysing your site and determining if your site is working for you:

What is your page ranking on Google, Yahoo, MSN, dmoz.org, Ask, and Altavista?
Do each of your pages have unique titles?
Do each of your pages have unique content with a focus on specific keywords/keyword phrases?
Do your images have "alt" tags filled in, focusing on keywords?
Does your site have multiple partner links to and from other relevant sites?
Do your pages have focused relevant content related to the keywords/phrases of the site?

This is just a small list of questions to ask when looking over your site. To get better natural optimization, you will need to insure that you have done your best to get your pages focused on relevant information, keyword density, submissions to major search engines alt tags for all the images. For your entire site, you should get as many link backs as possible, this increases the "popularity" of your site. Many related sites will probably exchange links, since this benefits both parties.

So to close our the tip of the day, I recommend that you send a link exchange request to Exquisite Homes. We both benefit, and get one small step closer to higher rankings on the search engines.

If you have any questions, I can be contacted at magazine@exquisitehomesonline.com

Tip of the Day 3 - Real Estate Marketing

2007-12-27T14:56:00.000-06:00

Holidays are always a double edged sword - its great to see friends and family, celebrate, and make merry, but it also seems to be alot of work and is very exhausting. But, regardless the memories are made, and the moments are enjoyed.

While observing the holiday rituals, it got me thinking about the next tip I should write about. Every holiday has specific order of events that occur, linking the moments together into a larger picture of the entire day. That nearly exactly like a site map - a layout, an order if you will, of where to go to on your site. If the map is followed, the result is a very happy "spider" that leaves with the knowledge of how your site is layout, what relevance it has, and how the page relate to each other.

The best site map is one that spiders understand, XML. To many people, this is seems like a foreign language, but it is fact a very straight forward language. Basically, XML describes data. This allows other programs to know they are getting data, what kind of data, and the data itself. Your site map should an XML component to make it very useful to spiders and especially if you use google analytics.

Don't fret, you don't have to go out and purchase books on writing XML. I'm going to provide a link to a free service I use to generate my XML site maps.

http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/details-destinrealestatemasterminds.com.html

This site is easy to use, and provides all the code and XML that you need to have a correct site map.

While no one thing is going to provide the boost to get you to the top, a lot of little things will help. So, by implementing my three tips, you will definately start getting noticed by search engine more. There are lot more "little" things to do, so keep checking back as I continue these tips of the day.

To see a sample of the what the site map look like that is generated by the site mentioned above, go to:

http://www.destinrealestatemasterminds.com/

And scroll to the bottom. The site map link is there. Remember, spiders are not looking at the "beauty" of the page, just the readability and relavance of the page.

Happy Holidays

Tip of the Day 2 - Real Estate Marketing

2007-12-19T11:12:00.000-06:00

Continuing on my series of Real Estate Marketing focusing on what agents need to do make their site work for them, I have a tip about your page names. When it comes to knowing how search engines qualify a website for ranking, one general consensus is that the name of your page matters.

There are two aspect to the name of your page. The actual file name and the title tag.

The first has to do with the actual name of the file, whether it is a .html, .htm, .asp, or so on. The name of the file should relate to the relavent information on the page. So, for example if you have a page that focuses on beaches, where they are out, tips on how to enjoy them, what the beach flags mean, and any thing else regarding beach, the name of the page should have something to do with beaches - like beaches.html, or funatthebeach.html. Another pointer is avoid using the underscore ( _ ) when naming files. If you need to break up the file name use dashes ( - ). For example: fun-at-the-beach.html. My investigation and interviews with SEO companies have revealed that search engines prefer to use the dash naming method as oppose to the underscore.

The second aspect is the Title tag. This is very important to search engines because it is basically an indicator of what that page is about. Using our example of the beach page above, your title tag should have a similar feel, like Beaches of Destin, Map to the beaches, Best Beaches on the Emerald Coast. Feel free to add some additional key words to go with the original title - like "Best Beaches On The Emerald Coast, Destin FL Beaches". Adding a few additional key words, and even a repetitive key word won't hurt. What will hurt is having nothing, having something that is unrelated to the page, or key word loading (like "Destin Beaches, Destin Beaches, Destin Beaches, Destin Beaches").

Please bear in mind that these methods are probablly not going to shoot you to the top of the page ranking pyramid, that process is complex and made of a bunch of tiny things, like the page name and title techniques. But anything you can do to make your page "likable" by the search engine, is just one step closer to getting a first page ranking.

If you are serious about looking into a first page ranking with SEO, I have worked with several companies in the past. One of them I have had great success with, and their professionalism and reliability was at the top of their profession. Not to mention the cost for the service is worth while.

Check out the SEO company SubmitPlus.com, the can definately help your site out, giving you a great evaluation, first page ranking in search engines, and help get yoru site the prominance it needs in today's online real esetate climate.

Tip of the Day - Real Estate Marketing

2007-12-14T18:32:00.000-06:00

I am starting a "Tip of the Day" that focuses on Real Estate Marketing. The first several tips will focus on what real estate agents need to do to get their websites marketing for them. Any agent with a website has spent some money (or time), getting their site online. Many agents have outsourced this tool, due its innate complexities, while other are lucky enough have assistance or the knowledge themselves to build their site.

Regardless of how it gets up online, here is the tip of the day to make sure that you start getting the most out of site:

All listings need to have a "detail page"

This page needs to contain only information about the one property. Other promotional marketing is optional. The reason for this is that other than the knowledge an agent brings to a real estate transaction, their other large marketing assett is their listings. I suspect that most agents lose valuable traffic to their site because they do not have specific detail pages for each listing. Many of the search search sites and real estate aggregators need to have one page associated with each listing.

Many third party marketers host these pages themselve, therefore getting all of the traffic to their site (see any of the major franchise real estate publications). Where ever you market online, insure that traffic is pushed back to your site, and to your listings.

Exquisite Homes is one of those publications that wants to see real estate agents succeed in the competitive world of online marketing and traffic. All listings that appear in our publication are pushed back to the detail pages on the agent's site. We provide statistics on this traffic, helping agents get more "bang" for their real estate marketing dollars.