How to Reconnect With Past Real Estate Clients
By irenedorang | August 7, 2008
Do you have potential repeat and referral real estate business in your contact list that you’re just not sure how to tap into?
If you’re like most real estate agents, the answer is ‘Yes!’ To make it easier for you, we just posted an article on how to EASILY reconnect with those past clients when you think a little too much time has gone by. You can read it on this page of our ToolsForRealEstate.com website.
Topics: New Agents, Real Estate Agent Resources, Real Estate Marketing, Referrals | No Comments »
Dynamic Drive Has Great Tools for Your Real Estate Website
By irenedorang | August 4, 2008
If you’re a bit of a techie you should know about a great site I was referred to by Seattle pet photographer Jamie Plughoeft (you can check out her excellent dog and cat photos at www.cowbelly.com.)
It’s called Dynamic Drive, and you can find javascript and dynamic html script to create all kinds of cool features on your website or blog, including easy slideshow creating scripts. (That one is the one used on the home page of our www.ToolsForRealEstate.com main site.)
If you’re not a techie it’s still worth giving your webmaster a heads up about this site, and you’ll have fun looking at the demos that are usually available for each script.
Topics: Blogging & Websites, Online Marketing, Real Estate Agent Resources, Real Estate Marketing, Tech Tips | No Comments »
Walkscore is a Cool Tool for Agents and Homebuyers
By irenedorang | July 31, 2008
Here’s a good resource for agents working with homebuyers who need to know how close a property is to amenities like shops, parks and libraries. If you’re in one of 40 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. just plug the address into Walkscore and you’ll immediately see the amenities plotted out on a map around the address. It also creates a list of each one along with the walking distance, and rates the neighborhood for “walkability”.
Here’s an example:
With gas prices sky high and the green movement gaining ground, this is probably indicative of a trend in neighborhood review criteria that’s going to grow over time.
Topics: Real Estate Agent Resources, Real Estate Biz Tips, Tech Tips | No Comments »
How to Buy a Domain Name on GoDaddy
By irenedorang | July 24, 2008
Think you don’t need your own domain name because your real estate company hosts a page for you, or you don’t have a website at all yet? Wrong!
You can buy a distinctive, easy-to-remember domain name for just a few dollars a year and forward it to any other website, including one your company provides for you. And even if you don’t have any kind of website, owning a domain name means you can set up an email account to that address, so that your email looks professional instead of ending with something like yahoo.com or gmail.com.
Here’s a short video that shows you step by step how to buy a domain name:
That’s all there is to it - get your domain name now, before someone else does!
Topics: Online Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, Tech Tips, Tutorials | No Comments »
How to Add an Email Newsletter Signup Link to All Outgoing Emails
By irenedorang | July 24, 2008
Want to grow your contact list of future real estate clients? Make it easy for people to get great information from you!
Watch our video tutorial on how to add the signup link for your email newsletter to the email signature line of all your regular emails, so that people notice it and can easily sign up for your email newsletter.
Or, you can also download the printed instructions (a pdf file) showing
how to add your email newsletter signup link to all of your emails (click the underlined link.)
Topics: Online Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, Tech Tips, Tutorials | No Comments »
Put Ask the Builder Videos on Your Website
By irenedorang | July 16, 2008
Here’s a cool way to add some interesting content to your real estate website or blog. Just copy some code from Tim Carter’s Ask the Builder website, paste it into your website or blog, and you’ve got this little widget, below:
You can choose different styles and sizes of the video box just by checking a few options, and you don’t need to know any html at all - it’s just copy and paste.
Here’s the link to the page to get the code:
http://askthebuilder.magnify.net/widgets/playlist?playlist=recent
Tip: Check the box that says “Open in new window”, then click “Refresh Widget” before you copy the code. That way people don’t get permanently directed away from your site when they click on a video link.
Have fun!
Topics: Blogging & Websites, Online Marketing, Real Estate Agent Resources, Real Estate Marketing | No Comments »
A Great Real Estate Postcard Idea
By irenedorang | July 5, 2008
Want an eye-catching way to advertise to home buyers? Send this picture as a postcard, with the tagline “Considering Your Next Move?” to prospective home buyers, with a blurb about your services on the back.
(Hey - dogs, dry humor - it’s an unbeatable combination. )
This photo is available here at Dreamstime, which is a royalty-free photo source where you can purchase credits that you use to buy photos with.
For this one you’d want the 300 dpi option (the second one) so that it would print correctly, which would cost just $2. (The version on the left is watermarked, too small to use and copyrighted unless you actually purchase it at Dreamstime.)
If you want a super easy-to-use, high quality real estate postcard service try XpressDocs - they will actually take an order up to 2 pm CST and have it at your doorstep the next business day.
Topics: Real Estate Agent Resources, Real Estate Marketing, Real Estate Postcards | 1 Comment »
The Mr Scribbles Fear-of-Video Video - Funniest Ever?
By irenedorang | July 4, 2008
Have you been hearing the buzz about using video to promote your real estate business online, but found yourself nervous about trying it out? This video offers good tips and is laugh-out-loud funny at the same time - check out the ‘Video - It’s Not For Everyone’ video from Mr. Scribble:
Topics: Blogging & Websites, Real Estate Agent Resources, Real Estate Biz Tips, Real Estate Marketing | No Comments »
Google Hates Perfectionists
By irenedorang | May 16, 2008
Well, confession time here at The Agent Guide headquarters. We’re in the process of a massive website makeover, including even a domain name change (so that I don’t have to spend the rest of my life explaining on the phone that no, I am not “The Agent Guy”. 
I fell into the well worn trap of stopping a consistent business practice, in this case blogging, because I felt like I was just adding to something that was about to change, and it was tempting to not deal with the old stuff and just wait until the new site was ready.
(Translation: Until things were ‘perfect‘.)
Dumb mistake! Not only did traffic to our website drop, but we also lost a level in our site’s Google Page Rank. Plus, during that month there were a number of useful ideas I wanted to pass on via the blog that I never got to.
So, let’s turn this into something useful for real estate agents. (Because, let’s face it - this is classic real estate agent behavior.)
I can’t tell you how many agents I talked to a year ago about putting a ’subscribe’ box for their email newsletter on their site, and they decided to hold off until their new website finished. (You know, the one being made by programming experts, that was going to have a member-only password protected client section and the dancing house waltzing across the screen when someone clicked ‘Send’ on a contact form - that one.)
A year later, they still have the generic company site, and no subscribe box….
So please, learn from bozos like us:
- When it comes to marketing, done ‘pretty well’ is 1000 times better than ‘nearly perfect, but never completed’.
- If you put a project off until something else is perfect, expect to stumble over its dusty, uncompleted remains sometime next year.
- If you’re posting content online, make it relevant, and make it consistent - and Google will appreciate you, even if it’s not perfect.
Here’s a thought: Take 10 minutes today and write down the good marketing ideas you had over the last year that never got executed. Pick the simplest, least time-consuming one and schedule an hour this week to get it done.
C’mon - why not fire up Microsoft Word and give it a shot now?
Topics: Blogging & Websites, Online Marketing, Real Estate Biz Tips, Real Estate Marketing | No Comments »
Should You Quit Real Estate?
By irenedorang | February 27, 2008
“Quit now” was marketing expert Seth Godin’s Plan A advice a few days ago to the group of real estate agents he called “order takers”. (You know, the ones who were just carried along by the great housing market we had until a year or so ago.)
To be fair, we ALL benefited from those conditions. My bet is that nearly every agent can take a business gut check right now and find areas where he or she could up their game in marketing or offerings.
Seth’s Plan B is what I wanted to talk about - actually, the second part of Plan B.
(The first part is micro-specialization in a certain area, customer or property type, which would have had me turning away in droves people who are now part of a fun, faithful client base. I know it works, but I don’t think it’s the Golden Answer for most agents.)
Here IS the Golden Answer, as far as I’m concerned:
It’s Seth’s recommendation to earn the permission to follow up with people by offering TRULY USEFUL information, and allowing them to sign up for it through your newsletter or blog posts.
Seth quotes a NAR survey that shows 91% of agents never follow up with their client after a transaction. Furthermore, most home buyers and sellers are under-informed before and during the transaction. People need the expert information you have, about things like:
- Remodeling choices that pay off.
- How to get a good deal on a refinance or new mortgage.
- Home maintenance tips that keep their family and home healthy.
- Tax savings available to homeowners.
- What features to look for in a home that create real value.
There’s plenty of other information that previous and prospective real estate clients want - need - to hear about. This is the kind of thing that creates trust and positions you as an expert.
In my opinion, you don’t have the option to not do it. Your options ARE to either do it yourself or to automate it. Here at The Agent Guide we created a done-for-you email newsletter service for just that purpose.
Whether you choose that, some other automated solution or you’re able to consistently do it on your own, take Seth’s (and our) advice:
Earn the permission to follow up with past and prospective clients. It’ll be the key to your real estate success from here on out.
To read Seth’s article click here.
Topics: Blogging & Websites, Online Marketing, Real Estate Marketing | No Comments »