Archive for December, 2007
Boost Site Profitability by Measuring Visitor Behavior
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007REALTOR® Magazine – January, 2008
Measuring your Website visitor statistics is obviously important because it tells, among other things, whether or not your site is well-trafficked. What these statistics don’t show however, is what the visitors are actually doing when viewing any of your sites pages. Measuring that behavior is critical to fine-tuning your site’s ability to turn clicks into closes. Fortunately, there are several very easy and clever ways to do this…
Heat Maps – Determining What’s “Hot” and What’s Not
Crazy Egg (www.crazyegg.com) is a relatively new and highly affordable service that allows you to track visitor behavior on any page of your site in the form of “Heat Maps”. Think of a heat map as a visual overlay showing where visitors are physically clicking on a page. The brighter (i.e. “hotter”) a spot is on your page, the more people are clicking on it. For example, click on the each of the thumbnail images below to see how this looks full size. The one to the right is what the www.sunnyvailrealestate.com Website home page looks like. The one on the left shows the heat map overlay of visitor “clicking behavior” on that page.
This heat map not only shows the concentration of clicks, but quite literally, where the mouse was when they clicked. It will even show you evidence of people trying to click on things that are not clickable (but perhaps should be). These heat maps are typically generated over a test period for a fixed amount of time or a set number of visitors.
The reason these heat maps are so important is that they provide deep insight as to what visitors find valuable on your site, and just as importantly what they don’t. One student of mine used heat maps to discover that what she thought was an “irresistible offer” on her home page was anything but from her visitors’ perspective –almost no one was clicking on it. This gave her actionable insight to change her irresistible offer into something more… well, irresistible –then tracking visitor behavior again to see if it worked any better.
You can try Crazy Egg for free, just go to www.crazyegg.com and sign up. During the registration process it will ask you which pages you want to track and then give you a special snippet of code to place on each page to be monitored (a simple one minute task for your Web person). Then all you do is indicate whether you want the test to terminate after a certain period of time or after certain number of people have visited your site. When the test is done you can view your heat map to see what’s hot and what’s not on those pages. Then by all means, make adjustments to the less popular parts of your site to make them more valuable in the eyes of your site visitors.
As powerful a tool as heat maps are, they are not the only way to monitor your visitor behavior…
Looking Over the Shoulder of Your Visitors
Robot Replay (www.robotreplay.com) is an innovative service (currently free) that will record user sessions of your site pages in the form of videos. These videos will show visitor mouse movements, where they clicked, moving from page to page, form interaction –including where on your forms they simply give up, etc. What you see in these videos is like looking over your visitors shoulders as they peruse your site. You can see demos of this by going to the Robot Replay Website at www.robotreplay.com.
Like Crazy Egg above, it just takes adding a single line of code to the pages you want to monitor (and yes, you can use both Crazy Egg and Robot Replay at the same time). This service is currently in beta testing and can be a bit quirky at times. However, once they work the bugs out I see this as an awesome tool to really understand what your visitors do when they land on your site. SPECIAL NOTE: since this service will show everything your visitor does, including partially completing forms, it is probably a good idea to modify your Privacy Policy to indicate that your site is doing this kind of monitoring. Check with your legal advisor to be sure.
Just tracking your site statistical analytics (unique visitors, page views, referrals, etc.) is no longer enough to ring every last ounce of business producing potential from your Website. Once you monitor the very behavior of your visitors, only then will you have the insight necessary to stay on the path of incremental improvement that will maximize your site value.
NOTE: Mr. Internet®, RUSSER Communications, its staff and officers receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors (unless he/they are directly involved with the creation and/or improvement of a vendor service or product), and make no recommendations as to the suitability of the products or services mentioned in this article. Always thoroughly investigate any product or service before trying or purchasing.
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Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized Internet speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He’s dedicated to helping real estate professionals leverage their people skills into profit on the Internet. You’ll see his column on REALTOR® Magazine Online every other month and in the magazine quarterly. Send your Internet questions to help@askmrinternet.com or you can visit his Website at http://www.russer.com
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This article is reprinted in its entirety from the January 2008 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. January 2008. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark and IEC™ and Ask Mr. Internet!™ are trademarks of RUSSER Communications.
The Cyber Recruiter Meets Mr. Internet®…A Perfect Pair
Monday, December 17th, 2007Las Vegas, NV, December 16, 2007 — What happens when the hottest leading edge, web based real estate recruitment tool is partnered with the top expert on internet marketing for REALTORS®? It’s better than peanut butter and chocolate, Fred and Ginger, or even a Ferrari on the Autobahn… at least if you are an agent looking for a new job or a broker needing to hire new agents. Launched in January 2007 by Jon Cheplak, The Real Recruiter is an online lead capture, cultivation, and conversion mechanism, automated through action plans provided to the individual broker or hiring manager, for recruiting and retaining real estate professionals. Recently, they stepped their services up a huge notch by establishing a partnership with Michael Russer, aka Mr. Internet®, international speaker, author, and exclusive internet columnist for REALTOR magazine since 1998.
“Michael Russer is the number one expert in the online experience for the real estate industry. To have his brilliant insights and solid experience in collaboration with our platform really drives the service forward, creating a more valuable and credible product to our clients,” says Mr. Cheplak, though he is hardly a novice in the field himself. He has attained the ABR, GRI, CRS, CRB and CLHMS designations and was the 2003 top graduate of The Real Trends Leadership Institute. Mr. Cheplak has worked in real estate for over 17 years, providing training and consulting services to some of the top managers in the industry. With his consistent ability to develop leadership in the industry, his passion lead him in a new direction – providing tools, resources, and opportunities which enable others to utilize those same skill sets, all in a custom designed, simple to use but uniquely effective solution at The Real Recruiter.
The partnership between The Real Recruiter and Mr. Internet® has already proven to be valuable to the product’s users. Mark Sampson of Call Realty Company, Inc. says “Many thanks for the system! I have six experienced agent interviews and five newly licensed for next week. Never could keep track of the follow-up without your systems and method. Fantastic!”
To learn more about The Cyber Recruiter or to set up a personal tour, go to www.TheRealRecruiter.com, or call 775-846-5748.
Sell Your Services…Not Yourself
Thursday, December 13th, 2007It’s Christmas again, time to go shopping for those gifts for the family, friends and relatives. What if you were to go into a store and this was your experience?
You enter the store looking for a “widget” for your friend.
Salesperson: “Welcome to Wally’s World of Widgets, my name is Willy, part of the Wally Widget Team, your best widget salesperson in the area.”
You: “Thank you, that’s nice…I am looking for….”
Salesperson: “You know, I have been selling these widgets for 20 years.”
You: “Great, do you have…”
Salesperson: “I have more knowledge about widgets than anyone.”
You: “Fantastic, I have this friend and I am trying to buy…”
Salesperson: “The key to my success is tremendous customer service.”
You: “Oh really? Well then, when my friend was young he had….
Salesperson: “You know other widget salespeople will talk about selling widgets, but my combined experience and knowledge gives me an advantage over the competition.”
You: “I see, well then you would know about this widget…”
Salesperson: “I have become so competent about widgets, I now have a team.”
You: “Can I talk to one of them?”
Salesperson: “When it comes to widgets, we are the Professionals.”
You: “Great, so here’s what I am looking for…”
Salesperson: “If you are ever in the market for a particular widget, let me or one of my team members know, because we are here to serve you.”
You: “Okay, then I would like…”
Salesperson: “Oh, one more thing. I will need you to fill out your name, address and phone number, because I am not going to show you anything until you give me that information first.”
You Leave.
Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? However, have you read any websites lately? This is exactly what many of them do. The potential customer wants information, the website talks about themselves. I am asked on a regular basis, why doesn’t my website produce business? My first question, does your website really answer the questions that your consumer is asking, or are you trying to sell them…you? Typically what I notice is that the average website focuses on everything they can do for the consumer, rather than helping the consumer find the information that is most important to them. In my little example here, the salesperson talks a good game, but because he is so anxious to tell YOU about how great he is and how competent he is, you never get your questions answered. Furthermore, it becomes more frustrating as the conversation goes on. My second question, what is the cost of the information you give them? Can you imagine going to a store and before you can see anything you have to give someone your name, address and phone number? How ridiculous is that? Would you do it? Probably not. You would more than likely give them false information, or leave the store and find somewhere not to have to go through the hassle. Additionally, the chances of you coming back to that store are slim and none. Apply that to your website. A couple of the things that we know the search engines pay attention too, is return traffic and how long people stay on your website. If you are not answering the questions that your potential consumers are asking, or you are requiring information for your potential consumer to get information, you may get a few, but you are not getting as many as you could have. Not only that, you will never have the search engine placement you covet so badly.
So then I ask, “how do you do business?” If you think my example is totally out of control, take a look at your website…chances are it’s out of control too. Are you answering questions about you, or answering your potential client’s questions? Then ask yourself this, “why?” If you know that what you just read above is totally ridiculous, why do you do it on the web? Psychologically speaking it sounds to me that you have a bit of an inferiority complex, or you are a complete egotist. In either case you have problems. If that is the case, then people will just do what you don’t want them to do…leave. You can’t afford that. Here is a little tip: What would you say to a potential client that you met in person? At least you would have a better start.
Jay Izso aka “Dr. Jay” has his Masters of Science degree in Psychology from Washington State University. He was a former instructor of Human Learning and Motivation, Experimental Psychology, and Statistics at Washington State and North Carolina State University. He has been part of the Linda Craft Top 50 Internationally Ranked RE/MAX Team located in Raleigh, NC, since 1996 where he developed Linda’s award winning Websites and cutting edge technologies. He is also head coach for the Mr. Internet® Total Solutions Coaching program. Many of his articles and writings and observations can be read at www.realestatepsychologist.com.
Jay Izso, “Dr Jay”, M.S., Broker
Internet Doctor
1641 Stannard Trail
Raleigh, NC 27612
919.369.2121
Toll Free: 800.506.0633
FAX: 800.506.0633
doc@InternetDr.com
Blog Your Way to Customer Recognition
Friday, December 7th, 2007Blogs are the Hollywood stars of the web…at least for the moment. Practically everyone has heard of the word; but some people don’t really know what a blog entails. If you’re among the uninitiated, don’t despair! Think of a blog (a compound word created from the words “web log,”) as a kind of online journal. It’s a web-based forum which can be easily and frequently updated and where you can express thoughts and opinions as often as they pop into your brain.
One of the nice things about blogs is that they give you a chance to show different sides of your personality from the fairly rigid portraits found on most web sites. As a real estate pro, your web site’s “About Me” page is most likely a business-related bio where you talk about your work experience and possibly throw in a line or two about how you spend your leisure time. With a blog you can show your readers another side of your personality. Whether you breed Basset Hounds, fly small airplanes, sing in a barbershop quartet or knit for the homeless, the blog is the place to chat about your passion. Of course, it never hurts if you can somehow tie your passion into your business life, but it’s not necessary.
By posting a blog, you’re offering potential customers the opportunity to see you as an interesting, multi-faceted person—not just another real estate agent. Many blogs also offer readers a chance to leave feedback, giving you a chance to establish contacts and capture emails which you can add to your database. Blogs are also great tools for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), since they can be easily and frequently updated.
There’s more good news about blogs—you don’t have to be a tech-savvy guru to get started. There are a lot of reputable, no-cost and low-cost programs that walk you through all the steps to establishing a blog either connected to your existing web site or as part of a community blog site. Among the better programs are:
www.wordpress.com
www.blogger.com
www.vox.com
The more often you post a new blog entry, the more likely you are to attract repeat and new visitors. Topics can range from your personal observations to updates about what’s happening in real estate in your area. Try to steer clear of controversial topics—the point is to gain readership, not alienate people. If writing isn’t your thing, hire a freelancer. Since most blogs are relatively short pieces, you should be able to find someone to work at a reasonable rate. And don’t forget to ask for a volume discount; most writers are willing to negotiate if you commit to having them do multiple entries for you.
Now that I’ve demystified the blogging basics for you, check out some of the web sites listed above and join the blogosphere!
Lois H. Feinstein produces powerful and compelling Web copy, marketing materials, newsletters and brochures for Realtors® and other business professionals. She is Chair of the Real Estate Virtual Assistants (REVA) Copywriting Guild and a member of the International Virtual Assistants Association, and has written for a number of magazines including 5280 and Denver Woman. Her business, I Can Do That!, www.i-cando-that.com, is based in Denver, Colorado.
Change Your Hat, Change Your Life
Wednesday, December 5th, 2007A client had hired me to help her get control of her business life, which was causing her great stress. At the time, she was Executive Vice President of Franchising for one of the largest fast-food companies in the world.
A seasoned professional in the industry, with proven talents in sales and marketing in addition to franchise operations, my client determined that in order to grow professionally, she needed to have a greater understanding of Finance. Her problem was that she was already consumed with all the tasks and details of her core responsibilities. Her schedule allowed absolutely no time to pursue anything else.
Now, one would think that an executive who had risen to the high level my client had would be adept at delegating tasks and responsibilities to peers and subordinates. But, she wasn’t. She was overbooked and overwhelmed.
While working with my client, I discovered that she had come from a large family that depended on her as the breadwinner and care-giver. It was this set of values, expectations and sensibilities that informed the way she viewed and conducted her job, not to mention its effect on her personal life. She tried to do everything herself, unable or unwilling to let go of even the most routine tasks.
At one point, she told me, “I don’t know, sometimes I feel like a fire-extinguisher.” That comment prompted me to advise my client to visualize herself wearing a bright-red hat that looked like a fire extinguisher. I guided her to imagine it blinking and blaring warnings like, “Urgent!” and “Emergency!” Its bright red color, I suggested, acted as a magnet, attracting projects that needed to be done “yesterday,” and people who were dependent on her to get them done.
After letting her experience the effect this identity created for her, I then urged my client to change her hat. Instead of the bright-red fire extinguisher, I asked her to now visualize herself wearing a dark blue one, with a shield on it that said “Fire Commissioner.” The new hat was demure, calm, self-assured and authoritative. And those were precisely the qualities it conveyed to her and to others around her.
Wearing her new hat — and persona — my client derived a whole new wardrobe of benefits. As Fire Commissioner, she felt comfortable letting go of control of the tasks piled up on her desk. By delegating these to others, she not only increased her own effectiveness as a leader and performer but strengthened the skills and reinforced the independence of her team. In addition, she pared the items on her to-do list from 48 to 8 by letting go of the strings that bound her to controlling too much.
Plus, with her schedule now able to accommodate new initiatives, she was able to follow my recommendation to forge an alliance with the CFO of the company, for a “mentoring-exchange” relationship, helping her develop a financial acumen that would propel her to the next level in her career.
And, as an added bonus to the benefits to her business life, my client realized that she now had time for her life outside of work, which she relished by going to the gym more often and by spending cherished time with her family and friends.
It’s always a good idea to look at yourself in the mirror of pure awareness. Does the hat you’re wearing compliment and complement who you are and the identity you want to project? Does it align with your goals and intentions or does it clash with the wardrobe of success and fulfillment you want to wear?
Here’s a good exercise to do to determine if you are projecting the identity that is aligned with who you are:
1. Draw and/or describe the hat you wear in your business life and personal life.
2. What does that say about you?
3. Ask three people to describe the persona they see you projecting in the world.
4. Decide how to change your hat to bring these factors into alignment.
5. Try wearing that hat for the next week and see what happens within you and around you.
As a creative director for The Cola-Cola Company for ten years, a vice president of Universal Television, and a communications director of the 1996 Olympics, Neil Tepper has had a creative and fulfilling professional career. He now focuses on what he loves best helping people live more successful and meaningful lives through his unique insights into the creative process. Visit Neil’s website at www.neiltepper.com.
Your Online Optimization Plan for 2008
Saturday, December 1st, 2007As the year quickly draws to a close, many people use this opportunity to think about the marketing plan for the upcoming year – and for good reason. Technology travels so fast that last year’s “cutting edge” marketing may be already out dated, especially when you think about your online marketing. So with this in mind, I thought I would share a few online marketing strategies to look out for in 2008.
Identity Optimization
People are relying on more and more on “Online Peer References” to hire service professionals. Websites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and other online networks allow peers to easily share their sphere of influence. So how does this help you?
- Brand Awareness – You now have your name in more places
- Trust Transference – They trust you because their peers trust you.
Action Plan: Join LinkedIn and start building connections, participate in their Q&As. Write Recommendations for others, encourage them to return the favor.
Additional Sites of Interest: LinkedIn, ClaimID, Naymz, Ziki, Spock, ZoomInfo, etc.
Association Optimization
Like Minded people usually cluster in groups. It doesn’t matter if the common thread is geographic, demographic, or physiographic. With this in mind, begin to spend time visiting sites that not only attract your target market, but also attract you as a real estate agent. You would be amazed at how many unique marketing ideas you can pick up by seeing what other agents are doing in their market.
Action Plan: Join ActiveRain. Search for sites that attract your target and start to engage with them. Become a trusted advisor for a targeted online community.
Additional Sites of Interest: MySpace, Eons, Squidoo and various local social communities.
UserGroup Optimization
This is very similar to Association Optimization but is even more targeted. For example, did you know that there are currently over 17,000 groups (groups, not people) about Real Estate on Yahoo Groups alone? But remember, people in these groups can smell a sales person a mile away. The concept here isn’t about selling, it’s about proving that you are the expert about a topic and watching sales gravitate to you!
Action Plan: Seek out UserGroups that relate to your local real estate market. Begin to participate in these groups by sharing helpful tips and advice.
Additional Sites of Interest: Yahoo Groups, Google Groups, Trulia Voices, Yahoo Answers.
The Tip of the Iceburg
The strategies outlined above, coupled with blogs, online videos, and new social networks will continue to play an even more important role in 2008. And while this only encompasses a handful of online marketing techniques; I hope it does get you thinking creatively about your online marketing strategy for 2008.
Happy Holidays!
Brad Carroll
