Real Estate Marketing Pro

New Blog For Consumers

2007-08-31T06:46:00.000-05:00

So I went to Mega Agent camp and heard a talk by the author of www.therealestatetomato.com blog and I am PSYCHED!

No one up to this point had ever explained to me the way that a blog would impact my lead generation. Now don't get me wrong, I am all for providing information to the masses BUT I never really got the WIIFM connection that the relationships with the commenters and readers would act as a "pre-pre-listing presentation" and that the sheer mass of words that you use to talk about your marketplace would increase your visibility in your market (the long tail).

I paired this with a conversation that I had with my MegaChicks mastermind about what our passion is and decided to go with a full on commitment to this medium for a year.

For any of you that are considering a blog I have done some research:

Typepad is a nice community blogging site - would be great for a non techie user that wants to use a template site.

Wordpress is a more labor intensive product but can be hosted on your domain and would have been my first choice if my technical specialist (my husband John) was not a Blogger already - meaning he can and will help with setting it up for me.

Blogger is nice if you are going to use their templates and then point your domain to the site. The problem for me with this is I lose a lot of the search engine benefits and that is the reason for blogging. With blogger if you want to host it on another server (I use godaddy) you cannot use their predesigned templates. There is some front end work needed to get your site set up and it would be WAY beyond the typical real estate agent's technical skills (html, manually adding links, etc.) BUT once it is up and running it is a great clean look that I am very excited about.

AND I am adding some new tasks to my 411 (weekly, monthly and annual goals). I will be posting 3-4 times per week and visiting 5 other blogs per day so that I can get ideas and also comment which will increase my readership also!

If you would like to take a peek at the new look and sign up for upcoming posts visit www.thetaraandsheilashow.com! More about blogging and how it is going to follow here...:)

What's In It For THEM

2007-05-19T21:00:00.000-05:00

I got a flyer from a friend today and he asked me to review it for content. It was a laundry list of things that were important to their company BUT did not have any relevance for the consumer. A couple of things that were glaring errors:

1. The headline stated what it was (a TIMI Interest Only Loan) in bold large font and the benefits (lower interest rate, no money down, tax savings, etc.) were stated in MUCH smaller type and definitely not bold. While the type of loan is important to the bank, the benefits are what are going to make people want to learn more.

2. It was written in banker jargon - they need to paint a picture of what a 5/1 loan will do, not just state that is what it is! "Avoid scary rate hikes", "protect your interest rate for 5 years", and "Don't get slammed with huge payments" all tell the consumer what the result is, not just what the definition is.

3. The biggest mistake was was "Contact me today for more information" - all about them! A better way to put this is a call to action that will benefit the consumer "Call today to find out how to take advantage of this fabulous loan program".

Now this was just one example of good intentions gone wrong AND I am sometimes guilty of forgetting that there are humans at the other end of the my copy. I will say "large deck" instead of "entertain on the large lanai and enjoy outdoor living in screened luxury". Sometimes painting a picture seems like too much work but I can GUARANTEE that is worth effort!

Always remember that your reader is wondering what is in it for THEM!

Gratitude

2007-05-16T06:48:00.000-05:00

So I am listening to The Secret on my IPod and I got to the chapter on gratitude. They said that we should be grateful for all that is good and bad that has shaped us to this point and it made want to talk about the things that I am grateful for professionally (of course I am thankful for a loving and supportive husband, family and also for having wonderful friends, pets and abundance in my "real" life).

I have always felt that all the jobs and situations that I encountered prior to entering real estate have contributed to my success - some of it in just that fact that I know a lot of people because it took me a while to find this career! I have added all those people to the list of contacts that I mail to and call periodically and they all like the snapshot of the market they get hearing from me. I also learned to work with people - the ones I like AND the ones that I would not pick for friends. ALL of them add something to my work and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to meet them!

I am grateful for the education that I got upon entering the business. It is amazing how hearing what to do turns into knowing what to do. If you are new to the business find out where the people who are successful are and learn from them. If you have classes available - take them. If you do not have classes available ask a successful realtor if you can help her (FOR FREE) and learn what she is doing that you could emulate. You don't have to agree with HOW she does it - just be open to learning WHY she does it and adapt that to your style. If you are an "old dog" learn some new tricks. Read books, listen to Millionaire Mondays, listen to Jeff Wilhems, Brian Buffini, Joe Stumpf, Howard Britton or Craig Proctor. Read Seth Godin, Brian Tracy or anyone else with great ideas either for customer service, lead generating or just being a better person.

Learn the rules of your state, industry or market center. Learn how to protect your clients. Ask questions, practice BEFORE you are writing an offer or going on a listing appointment. Stay current with what is happening in your marketplace. Have the hard talks with your clients about what it will take to get a home sold in this marketplace. Do something EVERY day to try and sell your listings.

I am also thankful for having wonderful professional partners. I have a wonderful listing partner who compliments my weaknesses and celebrates my skills (and who also happens to be a great friend)! My banker (Brian P.) and I walked a neighborhood last week and talked to people about their mortgage and house options. I also have a great insurance guy, a wonderful title rep, and also super coworkers who make working with them a pleasure.

Last but not least - I have wonderful clients. They are patient and understanding even when their house is not selling. They tell me what I am doing right and what I need to work on. They love their new house or are thrilled that their old one sold. They make it fun to go to work each day and also refer me to their friends and family.

Overall I am grateful that I found something to do that wraps up all my wierd talents into one really neat career!

A Million Ideas

2007-04-15T20:41:00.000-05:00

OKAY OKAY maybe just 10 - but they are good ones!!!

1. The yellow pages - my hero Tony DiCello says pick up the yellow pages and get more business. Attorneys, accountants, financial advisors, all great sources of additional referrals.

2. Banks - go to your neighborhood bank and see if they have a realtor they recommend when they give someone approval for a home loan. Bring some flyers to leave if they say they will recommend you. Bring them donuts from time to time so they like you. Bribery works great!

3. Newsletters - I know I say this a lot but it works. Pick a neighborhood and be the expert!

4. Flyers - Lori Crawford and I paired up with our HomeBanc banker (Brian P. Forrester) to print up flyers that we will deliver by hand to neighborhoods that have either move up buyers or a lot of renters.

5. Open Houses - I got a buyer for one of my houses today and also a new contact who may be moving in a couple of months. Not bad for a couple of hours work - and I made my sellers happy!

6. Call your sphere - do as I say not as I do! This one is self explanatory

7. Collect FSBOs like crazy - they are out there and want to sell their houses!!

8. New Postcards - Pick something to tell people about; marketplace statistics, the benefits of moving up in a down market, a great loan package, selling tips or anything that humans would be interested in. Send it to them on some colored cardstock. Use the same color every time!

9. Network with other realtors - go to a training out of the area, introduce yourself to people who have come in for training from out of town. Send a postcard to the realtors in your home town and tell them that you would welcome the opportunity to work with them on their referrals. Take out an ad with a realtor in another state where you want to farm.

10. And the tenth best thing to do...Start today. Do it fast, don't worry that it is not the "right" thing. Don't fret if you have a typo, maybe someone will call and tell you!!! Be bold - do something!

Free Money

2007-03-25T05:44:00.000-05:00

I found this on the Broker Agent News website - if you are a new agent and want to get some free money check this out!

The Real Estate Apprentice™ Foundation - is a non-profit venture created to assist new licensed agents entering the real estate and offers 20 bi-annual grants, totaling $250,000 are awarded with no strings attached.

Realtor.com Is Wonderful

2007-03-14T17:01:00.000-05:00

I am not sure that everyone think that Realtor.com is wonderful, but maybe they do not have the great Customer Service rep that I do. Take a bow Adam! Today he called to let me know that they would be processing my card - BEFORE they did it and was totally understanding and helpful when I let him know that I was experiencing technical difficulties and would have to wait a few days to pay.

He then sent me a handy dandy sheet with tips to making the most of my enhanced listing package, and made sure that I would have the correct number to contact next week when he would be out of town. Holy cow was I impressed!

I also like the enhanced listing features that Realtor.com offers. I can add photos, beef up the descriptions and plug in a virtual tour. We have been pretty successful in generating leads this way and so I consider this to be a part of my entire marketing package. There is also a sliding scale so that when you have more listings you pay more and when you have fewer you pay less. If you are a new agent sign up TODAY before you get 5 listings and the price jumps way up!

If you would like Adam's contact info please email me and I will be happy to get you his direct line so you can share in the great service!

How do you know when it is working?

2007-03-14T16:44:00.000-05:00

So I have been an official realtor for well over a year now and I started in what has been termed a "down market" - meaning that inventory was not flying off the shelf in days for thousands over the asking price! Before that I worked for a 20-year agent and learned A LOT that told me I would like the business BUT that it is hard work and there is famine before the feast.

Since then I have been doing the activities (Keller Williams speak for farming, working FSBOs and Expireds, doing LOTS of open houses, sending just listeds, etc.) and it seemed like I was having some success. Well this week was a very good week!! My listing partner and I had 3 closings and added over 2 million dollars in inventory. We are now making sure that we have the hard talks about pricing right up front so that we have the best possible chance of positioning the homes to sell quickly (which now means between 3-6 months). We also are working on making sure that we have more communication with our sellers and buyers so that they do not feel left out in the cold.

I met with one of my favorite Realtors this morning who started last September after a 4 year hiatus, and she said that she felt like it was sort of working and that she hoped it would break soon. I believe it will and that if she just keeps on doing what she is doing everything will work out just fine.

I would love to know how everyone else is doing out there - if you are having success with something please let us all know so that we can just keep getting better and better!

Try Really Really Hard!

2007-03-06T07:26:00.000-05:00

So this weekend I spent A LOT of time working on a contract for one of my listings. I worked at the office for about 4 hours Saturday and on the phone for a couple of hours Sunday. Then it fell apart (nothing I did and my client was really great about it - disappointed but great).

So how did I wind up feeling good about it? Well I spent some time last night talking to my client and showing her the virtual tour, photos and her enhanced listing on Realtor.com. I also have sent just listed cards and will be featuring her home in an upcoming newsletter. I advertise all of my listings on a rotating basis in print advertising and do open houses. I have also held a broker's open house.

If a house doesn't sell it is not because of lack of effort! The one thing that my clients get when they get me is dedication - dedication to selling their house! Most people just want to know that the person they hired to to sell their house is making an honest effort to get it sold - just make sure you are making that effort and the rest will take care of itself.

Customer Service - Ridiculously Happy Customers

2007-02-25T18:52:00.000-05:00

So sometimes just trying to the right thing is good enough -

I did an open house this weekend and got a new couple for clients. They are fun and very easy to work with and I like them a lot! They were interested in working with me because I ONLY tried to help them. I took them to a number of houses that were not my listings and I offered to help them get prices for houses even if they never bought from me. I did it because it is the right thing to do - and happily they liked my customer service attitude and are now my clients!

My listing partner Sheila spent a good bit of time this week helping a man who is listed with someone else. There is no opportunity there BUT she knew that there were things she could do help help him to work better with his agent. We may never list his house (until after it expires of course) but who do you think he will refer when someone asks him "who is your realtor?"

One of my favorite people (Jud Hennington) always said that you can't fail if you do everything possible to have ridiculously happy customers. I agree!

What is your UVP?

2007-02-23T06:26:00.000-05:00

It sounds like an alternate kind of TV station or a dreaded disease but in actuality it is what you bring to the party real estate wise (unique value proposition). I talked with an agent this week who said she didn't like to work with Expireds because she was not sure she would do anything that the first agent didn't do (i.e. put a sign in the yard and put it in the mls).

I do not have that problem! I know EXACTLY what I will do try and sell that house and I have it written down and in my listing presentation. I spend quite a bit of money BUT you do not have to bust the bank to offer your sellers good features. Here are 8 ideas under $25 or free that you can do.

1. Open houses - Offer to do an open house once a week until they say NO MORE! You can put a sign rider announcing that you will be there from 1-4 on Sunday and also walk neighborhood personal invites to all the neighbors. Make sure you have you have magnets on your car so that the neighbors know it is you sitting in there all the time. If you can't make a week, ask someone from the office to help.

2. Free listing sites - Put your listings on your company sponsored website, on www.zillow.com, www.Point2agent.com, base.google.com and anywhere else you can think of!

3. Pitch sessions - These are back! Let your sellers know you will attend EVERY pitch session available and will tell all the agent about their great listing.

4. Backs of flyers - Put all your listings on the back of your flyers in the flyer boxes. If you don't have your own "borrow" some from other agents.

5. Brokers Open House (Under $25 bucks) - Invite other agents to participate and serve something that people will like to eat. Invite LOTS of agents so that you have someone to talk to!

6. Just listed postcards - If you can not afford preprinted ones, print them out on your copier at work. If you can't afford postage for all of them walk them around to 100 or so neighbors (do NOT put them in the mailbox as that is a federal offense and I will not come and bail you out!)

7. Neighborhood newsletters - List an ad for your home for sale and give the neighbors some statistics about recent sales and some home selling tips. Mail if you have the money or start walking the neighborhood if you are short of cash.

8. The MLS - Put the maximum number of picutes in there. Say more than one sentance about the house. Think about the fact that this house will be competing with over 17,000 homes in the area and some people will not even consider the house unless there are pretty pictures to look at.

If you do something cheap that you would like to share with group please let me know!

Real Estate Marketing Pro

Snaps Award! - Flyer Headline

2007-01-28T06:16:00.000-05:00

So following my "I hate flyers" rant I have a Snaps Award to give to Julia Fischel for her great flyer headline!!!

PreForeclosure Crystal Beach $133/sf - $$ Maker

The flyer that is attatched is interesting also!!! (the house address is 136 Pennsylvania Ave, Crystal Beach FL if anyone would like to learn more!)

SEO - What the heck is that?

2007-01-24T07:10:00.000-05:00

So as I told you, www.cometoclearwater.com is doing well on Yahoo.com (see current ranking).

That the site does well is not an accident. There are a number of things that make the site interesting to the search engine spiders - which is what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) attempts to do.

1. First it is written in HTML and is NOT a dynamic/template site. Many of you use a template site for your main site (a la mode, agent access, etc.) - this is not a bad thing but it will limit how high your site can rank. I think that having a main site is great - BUT to get good rankings you may want to have a mini site for each specialization that you might have. For example I have my main site and then www.tampabayunder200K.com and www.clearwater4salebyowner.com. These are VERY specific and made to attract a certain kind of user.

2. Decide EXACTLY what kind of user you are trying to attract. CTC is made to attract out of town buyers and also to serve as a marketing site for potential sellers. I have a free relocation guide offer on every page - last night I got three requests and wrote a contract on a CTC buyer lead. You may be looking for sellers or for 55+ buyers or for people who park their RVs at home - no matter what type of client you want, you must be very specific in your content and your metatags to make sure that you position yourself well.

3. Last for today is metatags. These confuse many people, BUT basically they are the source code that computers use to help catagorize pages and describe your site to the search engines.

1. Title Tag - This is the bar across the top of browser window. It should include words that coincide with the content of your site. CTC's title is "Come to Clearwater - Real Estate and More for Clearwater and the surrounding communities!"

2. Description - This in my estimation is the MOST important tag of all as it is what shows up as the blub on the search engine page when users are trying to decide what link to click on! CTC's description is "Clearwater information and real estate news! Tara Jacobsen is the leading residential real estate specialist for Clearwater and the surrounding communities of Dunedin, Seminole, Safety Harbor, Palm Harbor, Largo, and Tarpon Springs. She is dedicated to helping you find you dream home. Search for the perfect home on www.cometoclearwater.com."

3. Keywords - Not as important as they once were but still helpful! These are words that you recommend that will help the search engines catagorize your site.

If you have not fallen completely asleep yet and would like to learn more, I am teaching an advanced internet marketing class this month at Keller Williams Palm Harbor. It is Friday the 23rd of February at 1pm!

Yahoo! - WOW

2007-01-22T07:12:00.000-05:00

I have to say that when good things happen I sometimes want ignore them so that I don't jinx them but I have to say that this is GREAT and that I am just going to revel in it for just one day!

For the longest time I have been ranking well for clearwater relocation on yahoo - bouncing between number 5 and number 7 which I thought was great, until I ran a ranking report last night (I know - sitting around submitting your site to the search engines and seeing where they rank is not your idea of a fun time...:)

www.ComeToClearwater.com is number 1 on yahoo for clearwater realtor!

Tune in tomorrow to find out a couple of the things that I did to make that happen...

Open Houses - Just Do It A LOT

2007-01-20T17:12:00.000-05:00

So my listing partner and I spent all day working 3 different open houses. We got 1 showing on another listing, 2 interested in the houses we were at, a realtor who likes the house and 2 sign calls today. I also got TONS of postcards labeled and stamped thanks to my friend Billy C who sat with me at my second open house.

When you are sitting at a house and no one comes it seems like a waste of time, but the chances of you meeting someone who wants to buy or sell real estate are 100% better there than on your couch AND your sellers will remember that you have made the effort.

A couple of pointers:

1. Make sure you have ALL your other listings on the back of the flyers in case the house you are sitting at doesn't suit their needs.

2. Put magnets on your car so that the people know you sit at your own listings OR if you are doing an open house for another agent they will know it is YOU in there.

3. I am going to get directional arrows with my name on them as soon as I have a couple more closings - a great idea I have heard but not implemented YET.

4. You can do open houses ANYTIME - middle of the day, drive time (4-6pm) or on the weekends. I try to make sure I do at least 2 a week unless I am booked with client appointments.

If you don't have anything to do tomorrow get out there for a couple of hours and do an open house - what do you have to lose?

PS - Let me know if you have any successes...:)

Market Like A Maniac! - Do As I Say

2007-01-18T05:37:00.000-05:00

So I am going to be teaching my Marketing Like A Maniac class today and I must tell you I am jazzed about it! It gives me a chance to talk about what I SHOULD be doing and also reminds me of things that I think that I MIGHT want to do.

This happens because I know what I SHOULD do from Howard Britton's star power tapes or from Millionaire Mondays or because I read marketing books a lot. If anyone had the time or money to implement everything they wouldn't have time to sell any real estate...:)

That having been said, I have found some things recently that are working. I am getting more calls from marketing in The Real Estate Book and the Home Search. I am also getting more calls from my yard signs. I also have gotten a huge boost from putting our other listings one the back of our flyers. This one is a perfect example of knowing what to do and then waiting months to implement it. And to sound like a broken record our postcards do great (just listed, expireds, marketplace statistics).

If you are in the Palm Harbor area at 1 today please feel free to drop in for a couple of hours to talk about marketing! It is open to EVERYONE, not just Keller Williams agents. 727-415-9165

Internet - Gotta Give To Get

2007-01-08T06:43:00.000-05:00

I am teaching my class today on the internet for KW and that made me think of a couple of conversations that I have had lately.

One of my dear friends and fellow realtor Bill said that he was not getting any leads from his internet site. I asked what he was offering that would compel someone to contact him and he realized that there was nothing but his listings. Don't get me wrong, I think that it is imperative that you have listings on your site - if you do not have your own BORROW them from other agents. Most sellers in this day and age will check out your site to see if you have listings and if so what price range and what location.

BUT (and it is a big but!) people will not generally contact you directly through your internet site about a specific listing. So what can you do to make someone contact you?

1. Offer a free report - 27 ways to get your home ready to show
2. Generate a list of homes in Dunedin around the Pinellas Trail under $200,000 and offer to mail or email them that list. DO NOT provide addresses.
3. Provide a free relocation guide
4. Offer a free CMA
5. Get together with your lender and get information about the mortgage/rate situation (if you need some good ideas call my friend Brian P at HomeBanc who is very proactive about having this type of info available! 813-361-6350)

All these things should help to get someone to email you or call for more information, and none of them cost you much money!

Holy Cow!

2007-01-07T07:03:00.000-05:00

Despite my best intentions, I have not posted every day this year - I do have a reason though! I have been on a death march of listing appointments...:) My listing partner and I have been on one a day for the last 3 days and there are two more in the next 3 days.

Where are all these appointments coming from?

When I started in real estate last year I was told that if I just continued to do all the activities suggested by my office classes and by emulating other mega agents there would be a snowball effect. If I would contact my sphere, do regular mailings, attend networking events, do open houses and contact FSBOs and Expireds then there would be business. I have the additional bonus of having a web marketing background and so I also put up 3 websites that attract 3 different types of users which also provides me with leads.

This years appointments are coming from a referral, a networking lead, an Expired postcard, a realtor referral, and a co-worker of my husband. Three look like they are turning into immediate business, two may take a little while to simmer, but all were impressed with our professionalism and our dedication to the industry.

If you are in a slow market it is easy to get discouraged by a lack of sales - believe me I KNOW! But if you are doing everything you can for your clients and working to increase your market share you should come out ahead after the dust settles!

Get an appointment!

2007-01-04T07:50:00.000-05:00

This one comes from Tammy McInerney (my RE mentor!)

The only good outcome of a lead (from an open house, sign call, referral, etc.) is an appointment. WAIT!!!! Before you tell me how that won't work listen up...

The best appointment is one to meet face to face. Whether the lead is for a buyer or seller, set a time to get together (SOON) and go over their goals, wants and needs - and then list/find their house!
The second best appointment is a phone call appointment. "Would it be okay if I called you in a couple of weeks to see how you are coming on your plans?" When you actually call them it shows that you are reliable and gives you an opportunity to make a face to face appointment. If they are still hot but not ready to meet, make another phone appointment.
The worst appointment is to tell them that you will be sending them information from time to time and is that okay? Then send them a thank you card and put them on some kind of a "touch" program so that they don't forget you!

So, from now on each contact should result in an appointment (or crushing failure when they say they don't want your services...hehehhe...NEXT). Keeping this in mind helped me to stay on track and to get the next contact scheduled so I did not feel like a dufus picking up the phone and calling them. It also became something of a habit which is nice!

Updating My Clients

2007-01-03T06:28:00.000-05:00

Wow am going to have to work on this one!

I am great at doing things for my clients, running adwords campaigns to get their homes noticed, advertising in a variety of different magazines and real estate guides, open houses, posting listings on our in-house message boards, just listed postcards, neighborhood newsletters, etc. What I am not great at is TELLING them about it!

I do not think that they know half of the stuff that I have done - and that makes me seem less valuable in a market where homes are taking months to sell. I do call them regularly but I think that has a somewhat lesser effect than to see a whole list of SPECIFIC things that I have done to get their home sold.

This is my first new year's resolution (I have things I am working on but none formalized like this!): I write down EVERYTHING I do for my clients and send them an update EVERY month.

Tomorrow - free things to do for your listings (this one will be interactive so start thinking of some ideas!)

(dis) Organization & Real Estate

2007-01-02T06:19:00.000-05:00

My name is Tara and I am compulsively, totally disorganized. I am a piler and a hoarder and it makes me crazy! I came by it naturally as my father is a piler and my mother had to spend hours taking her piles off the dining room table in order to serve Thanksgiving dinner (I do not think my grandparents were pilers but they were hoarders!) I am NOT one of those smug disorganized who say that they can lay hands on whatever they need in a minute - I AM one of those cussing, moaning disorganized who has to go through a pile of stuff every time that I need something.

Until now

My mother in law got me the fancy Treo real estate phone and that is just wonderful. Top Producer, MLS and my lead generation spreadsheet all walking around with me. My husband also jumped in and got me a desk where I can put my electronics and hopefully walk out the door with everything all at once instead of getting to the edge of my neighborhood and coming back for whatever I left today.

I have started a postcard program for the office that I am using as one of my mailings each month to my expireds, fsbos and sphere. I design it and the mail market house sends it out - no sticky sticky on the labels and since others rely on me to do it on time it gets done. I also have started writing down my hot prospects and potential clients each week with my listing partner and that helps A LOT as it reminds me of what is important - following up on my leads and getting them under contract!

I have other things that I will implementing (like a budget!) but for now it is a start. If you are out there totally organized and ready for the new year I applaud you - if you are a work in progress like myself I wish you and organized and happy new year!

New Year New Focus

2007-01-01T09:40:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to start the year out! I am using my company's model of doing the activities and letting the rest take care of itself. With that in mind I am using a lead generating model and I already have 2 - they actually came in yesterday but I am counting them!!!!

(1 Realtor.com and 1 from putting flyers on my yard signs - more about that another day...:)

Have you decided how you are going to measure success this year? I am a firm believer that if you do not measure it you cannot change it. That having been said, I am the worst at tracking expenses and will have to buckle down and start counting my dollars.

I will be back to making (almost) daily entries in the blog. If there is something that would be interesting that I haven't talked about yet please let me know - if I am focusing too much on a certain area let me know that too!

Have a great day and a very happy new year....Tara

Website - What are you missing?

2006-12-26T08:29:00.000-05:00

So I was updating my site today to take off the Open House from DECEMBER 2ND - that is a MAJOR no no since it shows the users that come to the site that it is not current and that the webmaster (me) is not keeping up with the content.

One of my New Year's resolutions this year is to work on one of my sites (I currently have 3 and am working on a forth) each week for at least an hour. Some of you have asked me what kind of leads I get from my sites - over the Christmas holiday I got a buyer's lead from www.cometoclearwater.com (relocation guide request) and a FSBO lead (list my site on www.tampa4salebyowner.com) . These are very easy for me to fulfill and will hopefully help round out my 'haven't mets' leads goals for the coming year.

One thing that I noticed was that I did not have some pertinent content on my home page about second homes and vacation homes. I think that I am missing an opportunity by not having those links and generating more good search terms for the engines. I will be adding that kind of content soon as a FEATURE and see if they generate me some targeted leads.

Is anyone getting good consistent leads from their website? Don't forget to follow the path of least resistance - if you are getting a bunch of people that want to see cheap homes add affordable housing links and pages to your site. If you are getting first time home buyers add links to the area programs that offer those types of services and work with your banker to see if he has anything that can help like the loan advisor tool bar from HomeBanc.

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25T18:42:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I just wanted to pop in and wish you all a very Merry Christmas...:) Santa was VERY good to me (I got the Treo PDA that is the real estate agent's best friend AND a laser printer for my office!).

I am standing right next to myself about the opportunity the coming year is going to bring and can't wait to hit the ground running with all my new toys!!!

I hope that Santa was good to you all and that your business has a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Marketing Response

2006-12-19T06:44:00.000-05:00

I like to find out what is working for me so that I can do it some more - a revolutionary thought isn't it? BUT I also like to make sure that I am working as smart and as affordably as I can. With that in mind I have a couple of suggestions (sorry guys some of these are Keller Williams related but use your own company perks where appropriate).

I have a magic credit card! Because I do so much mailing I go through a lot of paper and mailing labels, Office Depot loves me! Anyways, Keller Williams allows you to register your credit card so that you get the highest discount possible when you check out. For example I saved over $5 on a box of 3000 labels last night - not bad.

I had a conversation with my business partner yesterday and she said "are you sending out Christmas cards?". I did not - I sent out postcards that I combined with other agents in the office to make them beautiful and cheap - then sent them out to be processed at my friend Tammy's mail marketing house - SO EASY! If you would like to find out more about our KW 12X12 program that "touches" your clients once a month shoot me an email and I will send you the flyer. Many other mail houses offer this service also (I just like my own designs better - this month we have a baby turtle!)

Newsletters on colored paper - two agents I know are working on these and have devoted between 2 and 4 hours to getting them set up in Publisher. Not a lot of time and from now on they can just drop their numbers in and send monthly updates to their targeted farm. A VERY good way to become the neighborhood authority - BUT don't count on an immediate response, pledge to do it for 6 months OR send it every other month for a year.

A formalized plan - my banker guy (Brian P from HomeBanc) is a very forward, out of the box thinker - for a banker...:) We sat down and figured out an 8 step program to target top notch realtors whose business he would like to have. So far he has had a good response - at least two real opportunities to talk with agents that were somewhat hesitant before AND it is supposedly the worst time of the year to make those contacts.

What ever you do - start today. Call more, send more notes, get on a postcard program, vow to visit 3 FSBOs every week, join another club, volunteer for a cause, do an open house (or three). There are a million reasons NOT to do anything (it might not work, it is the wrong time of the year, everyone does that, no one does that, it is too rainy today, it is a nice day no one will come) there is only one reason to do something - you have 100% more chance of being successful if you do ANYTHING than if you do nothing!

What you feed your brain

2006-12-16T07:07:00.000-05:00

So I am going to wax eloquent for a bit about what I listen to/read, who I have been spending time with and what has happened to my real estate business.

First off I attended a business planning clinic. At the clinic (which I did NOT want to attend because that kind of specific planning hurts my head) I learned that the amount of leads that I need to be super successful next year is not that big. Try it yourself - you may be surprised to see what it will take to meet your goals. I have a worksheet that can help - email me at taradactyl@gmail.com and I will be happy to send it to you!

Then I started listening to a Brian Tracy Success Series Book on Tape. Holy cow. Then I was told at another meeting to read Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy and finally one last person told me that Brian Tracy was inspiring. Well the universe has told me that having him playing in my ear all the time will make me a better realtor and person!!! I was wondering the other day why I don't get too upset when a contract falls apart or I have to take a listing off the MLS. It is really hard to feel sorry for yourself when Brian Tracy is talking to you or when Seth Godin is telling you all the great things you can do to market yourself or when the Millionaire Monday realtors are telling you how to make your business better. Ask Santa for an iPod and load it with inspirational people.

Finally I spent a day "Shadowing a Superstar". We had the opportunity to listen to three of my favorite speakers (Gary & Nikki Ubaldini and John Dietz) and then go on a caravan. One of my houses was part of the caravan and I may be getting a price reduction from the comments that I got.

I will not tell you that my life has changed over the course of the last couple of weeks. I am generally a very optimistic person so that is in my favor to start. BUT I have negative self talk - I tell myself that buyers are scary, I tell myself that I did not get everything I wanted to do done so I am a giant loser and that I have to work harder. BUT I did realize that if I try hard with a plan I should do better than OK and definitely better than most of my competition out there.