What about a Pre-Listing Presentation? Create a customized pre-listing presentation and email the prospective seller a link to view it online. Pretty impressive, I’d say. Certainly makes you stand out, doesn’t it?

I love Slideshark! It converts your PowerPoint presentations into a video or slideshow format. It’s the perfect solution for creating impressive slideshows that look good and function well with the latest technology.

4 Steps is all it Takes:

1. Create a Power Point Presentation (Or have your friendly Second Self Virtual Assistant do it for you.)
2. Upload it to your free Slideshark account
3. Download the Slideshark app (for personal viewings on your handheld device)
4. Share the link on social media, website, blog site or email to a prospective seller.
5. BONUS – Search engines love videos.

This Short Video Explains how SlideShark Works

Add a Testimonial Slideshow to Your Website, Blog Site, Social Media Sites

One more thing….Virtual Tours are expensive. This could be an alternative. How many ideas can you come up with for using this advanced, yet free, solution.

Slideshare is one of the largest sites for sharing presentations online.  Consider this…60 million people visit Slideshare every month which adds up to about 130 million page views.  Did I also mention it’s a free service?  There is a Pro Version with some extra features but I’ve found the free version works just fine for my needs.

Listed #3 on Google Today

Just think of all the places you can post your slideshows:

• Slideshare, of course
• Your blog and websites
• Share on social media; Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
• You Tube
• Include a link in your email signature

You can also use Slideshare to:

• Create powerful Listing and Pre-Listing presentations.
• Create a slideshow of your listing and post to online resources.
• Showcase your expertise.

Simply create a PowerPoint Presentation, upload it to Slideshare.  Make sure you take the extra step of optimizing it with a title, description and keywords.

Don’t have time?  You’re in luck.  We burn the midnight oil so you don’t have to!  Just contact us.  We’re here to help!

Here’s two other slideshows you might enjoy:

• Starting a Blog – A Step-by-Step Guide
• Second Self Virtual Assistance – A List of Real Estate Support Services

Those of us who have been around for awhile can remember when link exchanges were the biggest part of search engine optimization.  Low and behold, the search engines got wise and started tossing link exchangers into their deep dark dungeons, leaving us alone to scratch and claw our way back up.

Search engine optimization, to me, consists of:

• Website – Making sure every page has its own title, description and keywords.  Linking graphics and text is also part of your site’s SEO.
• Blog Site – Ideally, your website has a blog component built in.  (WordPress is my absolute favorite!)  Whether is does or doesn’t, your blog site needs the same amount of SEO care as your website; title, description, keywords and links.
• Social Media – You could argue that social media isn’t search engine optimization; but consider this.  Your website and blog site should have social media icons that link back to your social medial pages and profiles.  Likewise, your social media sites should have links back to as many pages on your website and blog site as possible.
• Search engine, networks and directories are an important aspect of SEO.  Choosing appropriate sites to add your profile to will add a little boost to everything else you’re doing.

Keeping every directory, website, social media and search engine working together synergistically is the optimal way to get the most from your search engine optimization efforts.

Testimonials, too, are a great way to build trust. So, it’s important to gather testimonials from people with whom you’ve done business. Testimonials provide evidence of your ability, professionalism, trustworthiness and knowledge.

After you’ve helped someone with their real estate needs, ask them for a testimonial of your services. It might be helpful to provide them with a short outline; a sort of fill-in-the-blanks form.

With video being such a powerful marketing tool, take a 6-second video with a product such a Vine.co. Can’t do it on 6 seconds? Use the video option on your iphone or other handheld device and let them be your personal cheerleader. Upload it to your YouTube channel and add it to the “Raving Fans” section on your Playlist.

Whether the testimonial is written or visual, add it to your website. If you have a specific page that reflects the remarks your clients’ testimonial is about, add it there. By the way, if you have a WordPress website or self-hosted blog you can install the WP Testimonials plugin or widget. This will display your testimonials on your sidebar and/or specific pages and posts.

Marketing materials offer an extra punch when you add a testimonial from someone you’ve already provided that particular service to.
Don’t forget to add testimonials to your e-newsletters. Don’t forget to add a link to your website’s entire testimonials page.

Testimonials are a powerful way to build trust and confidence in this online world. So, whether you decide to utilize video or the written word, don’t miss this opportunity to THE one to call.

Words are powerful. However, no matter how eloquently you write, video is the ultimate way to persuasively communicate your message. People will watch a 2 to 3 minute video more often than taking time to read an entire page. Being able to hear your voice often lends more credibility to your message than mere text can do.

Take this Test!

Go to my “About Our Owner” page. You will find my bio in both text and video. Which way would you rather find out more about “the owner”? Reading the entire page of text? Or, watching the 58 second video? Which do you think is more effective? Flat letters on the page or a real live person who’s voice and mannerisms are clearly visible? Videos allow your authenticity to shine through easier than words can.

The web is constantly shifting and changing. New tools and technologies impact the way we interact online. One of the biggest changes right now is all about video.

I’ve been designing and optimizing websites for a very long time; long enough to remember the days of web pages containing copious amounts of text. As technology moves faster and faster, people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. So, long pages of text are rarely read completely.

Video is Different – With sites such as YouTube, Hulu and others, people are comfortable with video. They spend many hours watching videos each day.

You Can Rise Above the Rest with Video Marketing – Even though the web has given us an awesome opportunity to promote our business to a worldwide audience, the downside is that everyone else on the planet has the same opportunity as you.

So, how can you stand out in the crowd? Video has a way of almost forcing people to pay attention to the message. When done right, people will be fascinated enough to stay to the end of your video.

Get Over Yourself – No one dislikes seeing themselves in photos and videos more than I do. It’s a real “cringe” moment for me. That’s why most of my previous videos are created from slides rather than from me actually being seen on them. There’s a place for both and I intend to start utilizing video marketing more and more as a powerful tool in promoting my expertise. I hope you will implement video marketing as part of your Plan of Action, too.

Please let me know how you use video for your business or if you need assistance with creating your own video marketing plan.

Consider this…you take your iPhone, iPad or other handheld device with you everywhere you go, right? Think of how valuable these tools become as a promotional device. You can create quick videos that can immediately be shared online.

Vine.co is a fairly new company that offers a free app that allows you to create unlimited looping videos and upload them to their online social site at no cost to you. Even the app is free. It’s owned by Twitter, the 140 character people.

Vine is kind of like YouTube without all the editing and long upload times. It’s all done in one easy step. And, you can post it to your Facebook and Twitter feed. Hopefully, other social media will come onboard in the near future.

So, how can you use it as a promotional tool for your business? Here’s a few ideas:

• Testimonials of happy homeowners in front of their new home
• New listings – focusing on a special feature of the property
• How to videos; preparing your home for sale, curb appeal, getting ready to move, etc.
• Show off your community events, restaurants, schools, etc.
• Ask questions and then send them to a landing page where you can capture their contact information
• Create a survey where you can send prospects to your landing page

I’d love to hear how you use Vine for your business now or ideas you have for using it in the future.

Choose a strong, secure password that would be hard to crack for hackers and easy for you to remember. The more random and mixed-up you make it, the harder it is for others to figure it out. If your password is compromised, someone will be able to take over your identity. Yikes! I kiddingly say that no one wants to be me but the fact is that it’s really no laughing matter and I take my identity very seriously.

A password, if too short, is especially vulnerable to attack. Today computers are fast enough to try all alphabetic passwords shorter than seven characters. Default passwords are also considered weak.
A strong password is one that is long and random. It should be something that is specific to you so that ‘guessing’ it will require too much time for the hacker to figure out.

Here’s a few tips for keeping your passwords secure:

• Passwords should be at least 8 characters long and not more than 14.
• Passwords should contain a mix of numbers, letters, and special characters (%&3ac_ht4@m7).
• Passwords should not contain a “real” word found in any dictionary.
• Each password should be different from the user’s User-ID.
• New passwords and old passwords should differ by at least 3 characters.
• Avoid picking names or nicknames of people, pets, or places, or personal information that can be easily found out, such as your birthday, address, etc.
• It’s wise to stay away from common keyboard sequences, such as dfgh678 or abc345 .
• Never form a password by adding a digit to a word.
• Avoid writing your password down or storing it on your computer.
• Never share your password with anyone else – especially your parrot!

No one is immune from hackers but I hope these tips are helpful. Please feel free to share anything you do to keep your passwords safe from hackers.

Have you ever felt like you’re just running in place and not really getting to your goal or destination? Me, too!

I go to a lot of webinars and read tons of blogs and promotional materials. While I don’t mind paying for a valuable product or service, free is always tops in my book as long it takes care of my need quickly, easily and effectively.

While looking for a solution for converting videos into a format for handheld devices, I found the motherlode! – a software company that not only provided a 100% free video converter, but an audio and eBook converter as well.

Here’s How the Video Converter Works

They also have free downloads for Zip Archiver and Zip Archiver for Business. Are you still burning discs? There’s a free download for that, too.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions or need help with these products.

Below are five ways you can make money from your blog:

•     Affiliate Marketing – This  is one of the easiest ways to make money from your blog and very simple to start. You begin by selecting an affiliate program from one of the popular affiliate networks such as ClickBank or Commission Junction. You will be given an affiliate link.  You can either post a review on your blog about the product or post ads along the side of your posts, including your affiliate link.

•     Selling Your Own Product – If you want to create your own product, you can add it and advertise it to your blog for another stream of income. Your readers have already built a level of trust with you so they’ll be likely to be interested in your product. You can link to your product’s sales page directly from your posts and display graphic ads in the sidebars of your blog.

•     Contextual Advertising – This is a way to make money from your blog with hardly any participation on your part.  When you sign up with a company like Text Links, InfoLinks or a similar service, your blog posts will automatically have certain words hyperlinked. These links go to advertiser’s websites. You get paid when someone clicks on a link.  Unlike with affiliate programs, you won’t get a commission on a sale but you do get paid whether or not your visitor buys from the advertiser’s site.

•     Other Types of Advertising – Google Adsense and other pay per click advertising programs will give you code to add to your website. These programs will automatically display ads in the sidebars of your website. Anytime a visitor clicks on one of these links, you will get paid anywhere from a few cents to a few dollars depending on your niche. These ads don’t appear within the body of your post, but they are based on the content of your posts so they will be relative to your audience.

•     Get Paid for Reviews – Once you have some traffic coming to your blog, you can be paid to post reviews. There are many different networks that link advertisers with bloggers. You simply find an advertiser through one of these networks and promise to post a review on your blog about the product or service. You’ll be paid a flat rate for your review. Be sure the product or service is relevant to your niche for best results.  There are tons of these so I recommend that you type “Get Paid for  Reviews” into a Google search and see which sites best suit your goals.

If you’re looking for a way to make money from your blog, try one or all of these to see what works best for your niche.

Let’s talk about some easy ways that you can get traffic to your blog.  Afterall, a blog without readers is just an exercise in writing.  If you’ve been consistently blogging for awhile and have only been getting a small number of viewers to your posts, maybe it’s time to put a traffic-building plan into action.

Building traffic is just as an important as writing quality posts. Most bloggers are great at creating content but, unfortunately, don’t know a thing about building traffic to their blog site.

Here’s a quick guide to the five most popular and effective traffic-building techniques:

• Put Your Party Pants on and Get social!  Social networking and blogging go hand-in-hand. Your blog posts can be distributed across social networking channels in many different ways. Sign up for Twitter and tweet about your posts as soon as they are added to you blog. Update your Facebook status with a link to you new blog posts. By the way, if you have a self-hosted WordPress blog site, there’s a plugin that will automatically feed your blog posts into your social media sites.  Submit your stories to Digg.com,  Reddit.com and StumbleUpon.com as well as niche-specific networks. Remember that in order for social networking to be effective, you need to participate with other people on your list. If you visit their links and respond to their updates, they’ll be likely to do the same for you.

• Be a Stand Out  and Get Noticed!  Find blogs in your niche and start following their posts. Make sure to add insightful and interesting comments on their posts. Not only will the blog owner take notice and visit your blog, other commenters will visit your blog to get more of your great insight. You don’t have to spend a lot of time on comments, but make it a point to comment on a few related blogs each week.

• The Beast Must be Fed! – RSS feeds are a way to syndicate your blog’s content so that it is sent to many different people in their own blog readers or on their own sites.  Most blogging systems have RSS feeds automatically included but you can add a lot more functionality to your feed by using a free service like FeedBurner.com. With FeedBurner you can add things like sharing the feed via e-mail so it will pull in new readers and encourage previous visitors to come back to the blog again.

• Paper!  Paper!  Read all About it!  Get articles in directories.  You may think that by being a blogger you don’t need article marketing. However, you can get a lot  of traffic to your blog by tweaking some of your popular blog posts and adding them to article directories. Notice the word “tweak”?   Article directories won’t accept articles that have been blog posts.  So, read the article directory’s rules and make your changes as needed.   You can post your popular posts as articles with a link back to your blog in many different article directories. Not only will you get a valuable backlink but your article may also be used by ezine owners which will bring you more traffic.  And, don’t forget that little piece of valuable real estate at the end of your article – your short bio.

• Get Backlinking – Not at all Back Breaking!  You should work to build backlinks to your blog. By creating backlinks, you’ll improve your blog’s ranking in search engine results. You can get lots of traffic from search engines if you are within the first group of search results for your keywords.

These simple ways of building traffic should be used to help build traffic to your blog and increase your readership.

Next week we will be talking about how you can actually start making money from your blog.  Always feel free to contact me with questions or comments.