Posts Tagged ‘blogging’
5 Tips for Reaching the Millennial Generation
Friday, October 28th, 2011
Have you stopped to think how technology driven our society is today? It seems worlds away from where we were twenty, fifteen, even ten years ago! In fact, there’s a whole generation of people who don’t even know what life was like before the internet. They’ve grown up with immediate access to an abundance of information at their fingertips, a fast paced social life and are novices as quickly sorting through the best and most convenient path to take in any given situation. They’re call “Millennials.”
So, how do you reach this 17-34 year old, on-the-go generation? Since they are the next wave of home buyers and sellers, being able to capture their attention and speak their language is vital!
Two of the key aspects are to be mobile and be social.
Millennials aren’t tied to a desk top, but reliant on their smartphones, tablets and laptops. Being as mobile as they are will help you keep their speed. Being social reaches them where they spend the majority of their time and will help keep you at the forefront of their mind when they do decide to enter the real estate market.
Here are five main ways you can reach the Millennial generation with your marketing as pointed out by Matt Britton, founder and CEO of Millennial generation marketing agency Mr Youth.
Utility: Millennials are multitaskers. They have 15 tabs open in their Chrome browser while their iPhones push Twitter alerts and their Facebook feeds are blowing up. They don’t want their time to be wasted, so you’re best suited by offering tools to help streamline their day, as opposed to adding one more thing to check.
Keeping on top of your Twitter and Facebook accounts can help streamline their online time as you feed your blog and other social media sites through these hubs.
Entertainment: The average YouTube user spends 15 to 25 minutes per day on the site; we like being entertained. And since traditional media consumption is being turned on its head by streaming services, companies need to find a new way to get in front of their audiences and entertain them.
Having a custom YouTube channel for your listings and community videos will spark their interest and give them that visual entertainment they’re searching for.
Information: We are bombarded daily by information online, and one huge reason we use the web is to find more of it. The information you provide on your blog and other social media sites needs to be current and relevant in order for the Millenials to take the time to read it. They’re smart and will quickly dismiss any information they feel like they’ve heard a thousand times. They simply don’t have time for it. Fresh and pertinent information is key!
Rewards: Rewarding is most effective as a retention tool, and not an acquisition tool, Britton says. Offering a prize to your 200th follower might get you a few more fans, but they’re only there for the free stuff and not because they’re huge fans of your business. On the other hand, rewarding your existing fans is a great way to bolster their connection to your company.
Whether you’re offering an exclusive coupon or a prize, be sure to reward the existing fans who got you are past clients or current leads. These are your loyal fans who are most likely to stick with you and use you again in the future, unlike a fair-weather follower who only showed up for the latest contest.
Recognition: Be appreciative of your fans’ interest and support of your company (it doesn’t have to be monetary, even a “thank you” will go a long way). Branding isn’t just important for companies as millennials are all building their own personal brands, too.
If you have a current client who is showing in a local gallery; recognize their accomplishment on your sites! Having your recognition and interest in their lives will show them you care and show others that you’re a real estate agent who will go above and beyond. This will give them even more reason to tell their friends about you and your services, which could result in even more leads for you in the future.
Now, it may sound like it will take a lot of extra time and effort to reach out to this next generation of home buyers, but taking it a day at a time will go a long way. If you find you don’t have the time needed to reach out to this demographic in the way they need to be reached, your Real Estate Virtual Assistant will be a great resource in helping you achieve your goals!
Contact Carrie
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Become a Real Estate Icon with These 5 Tips!
Friday, September 23rd, 2011
As a real estate agent, you may not automatically think of yourself as an entrepreneur, but really, that’s what you are! You’re building your brand, clientele and entire livelihood from the ground up. While your business is similar to others in the real estate field, it’s up to you to establish yourself as a legit business and bring growth and success; and that’s a large task!
So, what are some of the key steps you can take to really set yourself up as a solid business, a real estate expert or even an icon in the field?
Now, you may think, “Okay, I can see myself as an entrepreneur, but an icon? I’m not so sure…” We’re all aware that to have a dynamic business means to constantly be pushing yourself to continual growth; so aiming for the status of icon in your real estate market or even on a national level can be just the thing to urge you to constantly strive for more.
Does this seem overwhelming yet? Well, take a deep breath. Becoming an icon doesn’t happen overnight and will take consistency and a daily committment to provide the best and most innovative service to your clients.
Recently, entrepreneur.com gave five great tips that will help boost you to that iconic level. Of course, I’ve modified them to make them real estate specific, so take a few minutes to review how you can take your business to the next level!
1. Start blogging- Blogging is a great way to establish yourself as an expert. You can easily provide pertinent information about your real estate market, your listings, home buying or selling tips and even community events. Giving people the information they want about the real estate market, their home and the community will keep them coming back for more. The more you blog on a consistent basis, the more people will begin to see you as a trusted expert in your field and in your community.
Not a writer? Delegate the copywriting to your Real Estate Virtual Assistant!
2. Market yourself- In being your own brand, marketing is key to your success. While you may not feel comfortable with self-promotion; it’s really the only way to market your business since you are your business. Marketing your services, your field of expertise, even your awards or recognitions allows others to get to know you, your values and what you will be able to do for them. This is just another way to establish yourself as an expert and give an open door to becoming an icon. Exposure brings recognition, which breeds familiarity and establishes trust. It’s just how our minds work!
A great way for real estate agents to do this is through a one sheet marketing approach. We’ve created this for a few of our clients and its been a huge success! A one sheet is simply a sheet of paper that gives a brief synopsis of who you are, your certifications, area of service, expertise or anything else you want to highlight about you and your business. They’re perfect for leaving at an open house, giving to potential clients and handing out with your marketing presentation. Check out this example of a one sheet we did for our North of Boston client, Sven Andersen.
3. Create Compelling Content- Whether you’re blogging, writing a buyer or seller page for your website or creating your print marketing material; your content should be compelling. That means sentence structure and grammar should be impeccable, and the topics or advice you are presenting should be up to date and interesting. Visitors to your website or blog will know when something’s just been thrown on a page, and that will send the message that you are okay with doing the minimum just to get it done. Why not show how much you care about your business and your customer service ethics through great content? It will help set the tone for your entire business.
4. Create Products- Did you know that real estate agents can have products too? While you’re not trying to sell them to make a profit, having products or tools to provide for your clients can help set you apart. It can be anything from a free monthly market report, to an e-booklet on 365 things to do in your community, an informational guide to short sales, a drip email campaign that delivers great tips or market news to their inbox, or a brochure you’ve created about your city. Giving your client or potential clients something extra is unexpected, sets you apart and establishes yourself even more as an expert.
5. Take it to the Next Level- Now that you’re seen as an expert in your community, boost yourself to icon by taking it to the next level. If you’re passionate about selling homes or helping people avoid foreclosure; do all you can to grow in your area of expertise. Begin to register yourself as an expert on real estate sites or other marketing avenues and network, network, network! Real estate conventions are always looking for speakers in a specific field and the more you put yourself out there, the more likely you are to have opportunities on a national level. Imagine how sought after you’ll be in your community after receiving national recognition!
Phew! This is may seem like a lot to take in and a lot of hard work; and it is! Reaching your goals will take time, dedication and a focus on the end results. Remember, taking it a day at a time is key! You won’t become an icon, or even seen as a real estate expert overnight, but you’ll be encouraged by those daily “wins” and as you see your business begin to grow.
Contact Carrie
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Beat the Clock: 3 Tips for Managing Your Time
Friday, September 16th, 2011
As a real estate agent, you’re fully aware that time is of the essence! In fact, the saying, time is money, certainly rings true as you deal on a daily basis with this ever-changing market. Oftentimes, your schedule is filled with back-to-back appointments with buyers and sellers and, if you’re constantly having to move appointments around or aren’t giving the time needed to your clients; a deal could fall through.
So how can you free yourself up to focus on the areas in your day that are most important to you? How can you avoid being overwhelmed by endless tasks that you don’t have time to get done? How can you better manage your time?
Here are three key tips that will help you approach each day with a sense of being in complete control of your time. Which can, in turn, result in a more organized approach to your business and further growth!
1. Plan your schedule the night before and hit the ground running- When you’re not in control of your schedule, you invite stress to fill the void. Set and prioritize meaningful tasks to be accomplished. Whether it’s an appointment calendar or a software program, the critical first step to properly managing your time is to organize and schedule your day.
Be careful not to confuse activity with productivity. For example, don’t just block off a couple of hours to make calls. Instead, set measurable activity goals to be accomplished, such as those 15 necessary phone calls you need to make that day.
2. Identify your time bandits- Once you’ve scheduled your day, the next step in managing your time is to recognize and modify old behavioral patterns regarding the improper use of time. Avoid procrastination in all of its attractive forms.
Having a planned schedule helps you say no to time wasters such as online surfing, personal phone calls, long lunches and chatty coworkers. An open door invites continuous distractions. Effective real estate professionals focus on task achievement rather than tension relieving diversions.
3. Delegate- Don’t feel that you have to take on every aspect of your business! Focus on doing the things only you can do and delegate things like your social media maintenance, listing marketing and real estate blogging to your Real Estate Virtual Assistant. This will give you more time to focus on your clients.
Although these steps seem basic, it’s sometimes hard to put them into practice. Yet taking control of your time will be refreshing for you and your business!
Contact Carrie
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3 Good Reasons You Should Never Kick Your Blog to the Curb!
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
In our social media society, it seems we’re constantly being faced with updated features, new tricks and even new social media sites. And, while it’s good to stay on the cutting edge of social media marketing, it doesn’t negate having a solid and consistent real estate blog. In short: Facebook should never replace your blog.
Now, you may be wondering, “What’s the big deal? I’m not a writer and posting on Facebook only a takes a few minutes.” I understand that not everyone enjoys sitting down and writing a post! So, I thought I’d give you a few good reasons why blogging is still a great necessity for your real estate business.
1. Blog Customization and Branding: Let’s face it, you can only do so much with the look of your Facebook page. It’s not a bad thing; Facebook has its reasons for wanting to keep everything pretty basic. However, your blog is your chance to create a look and feel that ties in with your website and branding. It gives visitors a strong sense of your style, your committment to professional branding and serves as an extension of the information they’ll find on your website. Believe it or not, this type of consistency builds trust in who you are and the services you offer.
2. In Depth Analytical Reports: Want to know where your visitors are coming from, how many times a day your blog is viewed, and what posts are most popular? Most blogs have these analytical reports built in and grant you easy access to the stats you want to know! Find out what key words are being searched, how long visitors spend on your blog and more with your blog statistical reports or by adding in a 3rd party analytical tool. You’ll find these detailed reports to be helpful as you hone in on the needs of your target audience.
3. Search Engine Optimization: Yep, good ol’ SEO is one of the main reasons to hang on to your blog. There’s no replacement for providing rich content with key words that act as a feast for search engines. Sites like Google and Bing survive on pertinent information and the more quality content you provide, the more they like you and boost you to the top. We all know that no one will continue to page 10 in a search when the information they need is on page one. We’re happy to say that many of our clients sit on page one because of their blog… simple proof that it works!
So, you may be thinking that this is a “blogs are better than Facebook” post… it’s not. In fact, your blog and your Facebook page (and all of your other social media sites) should be interacting and supporting each other! It’s not a matter of having to choose between them; they are built to work together for the good of your business. And that’s an encouraging thought.
Here are a few examples:
Your blog should feature your Facebook and other social sites.
Your blog posts should contain a signature with all of your links.
Your Facebook should feature your blog.
Your Website should highlight all Social Media sites and your blog.
The list can go on and on! As you can see, the idea is to have all of your sites “talking” to each other and to create easy access for visitors to explore everything you have to offer. If you still aren’t convinced about keeping your blog; talk with your Virtual Assistant! They can answer any further questions you have or can even handle your real estate blogging for you along with your social media!
Contact Carrie
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5 Cost-Effective Ways to Create Buzz about You and Your Business!
Friday, April 22nd, 2011
Every agent wants it. Whether it’s walking into a local restaurant and having people recognize you as “the” real estate agent in town, gaining new fans on your social media sites every day, having your phone ring off the hook with new leads or requests to be a guest speaker at a real estate conference; recognition and success go hand in hand.
Yet we all know this type of buzz about you and your business will not just happen overnight. It won’t even necessarily happen if you’re simply a great agent! Your selling record may far exceed your area competition and you may be able to assist first time home buyers with an efficient home purchase, but if no one knows; it won’t help you gain any new business.
So how do you create a local buzz about you and your real estate business? How can you pull ahead of the competition and be seen as a great real estate resource in your community? Below are five simple and cost-effective ways to jump start the buzz and put you on the path to real estate celebrity status!
1. Network- Opportunities for networking are all around you. Begin with building your support system with family and friends and express your desire to grow your business. They’ll be the first to jump on board and will want to talk about your services at any chance they get! Most cities have networking events that you’ll want to be sure to attend. These are ideal for making those professional connections which can be invaluable for recommendations.
2. Have Fun- Everyone loves a great contest and starting one that you can advertise on your website, Facebook, Twitter and blog is a great way to draw attention. Whether it’s real estate related or not, prizes like a free dinner or a night at a hotel is something that alot of people would want a chance to win. Have them enter on your Facebook page to gain new fans!
3. Socialize- Making sure your social media sites are enhanced and being posted to on a regular basis is a given in today’s marketing endeavors. Interacting with comments and people who are your fans will help your buzz gain even more momentum.
4. Reward- Giving your clients a gift after a successful home sale or as a house warming present for their new home will go a long way. It’s a way of rewarding their loyalty! It may seem small, but these little touches will stick in their mind and you can bet they’ll be calling you for their next real estate transaction!
5. Publicize- You can publicize you and your business without spending a dime! Look for opportunities to submit press releases about recent awards, designations you’ve received or community events or charities in which you’re involved. Local papers are always looking to highlight people in the community who are doing great things for the area. You can also let local newspapers that you’d love to be a real estate resource. You never know when an opportunity for an interview might come up!
These five tips should get you started on the path to creating a great buzz around you and your real estate services! I hope you can utilize a few, or all, of these tips! If you’re already doing something that’s working for you; let us know!
Your Real Estate Virtual Assistant is there to lighten your work load and help you build a successful real estate business! Let them help you create the buzz you deserve!
Contact Carrie
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How To Turn Your Blog Into A Real Estate Hub!
Friday, April 15th, 2011
Hub: [huhb] noun- a center around which other things revolve or from which they radiate; a focus of activity, authority, commerce, etc… —Synonyms: core, pivot, heart
Does this describe your blog? It should! A great real estate blog can act as the center of your business- it’s heart and core- if you let it! Now, many of you may be thinking, “wait a minute… I thought my website was the most important thing.” It is. Without a strong website that offers valuable information, your real estate listings, what you’re about and calls to action, your real estate business will quickly fade in this technology driven society.
Let’s think of it this way: your website is a riverbed and your blog is the water.
Having your “constant” is foundational. You need your website to be the base of the information about your business. Typically, your website will not change on a regular basis (unless you’re updating listings), and will probably need a “refresher” every 6-12 months.
Your blog on the other hand is the water that brings the riverbed its’ life! Without water, the riverbed is dry, and without a riverbed, the water is chaotic and has no rhyme or reason. They work together to form a beautiful, lively river. They need each other.
So how can you make your blog a hub that brings life to your website? Your blog should be constantly changing and moving great information through its pages. It needs variety, quality and consistency. Below are a few great ways to turn your blog into a real estate hub.
1. Real Estate Content- Whether you’re providing selling tips, home improvement information, the latest market news, monthly statistical reports or advice for first time home buyers- the base of your blog should be real estate information.
2. Listings- Allow your readers to see the great new home that you’re listing or the one that you just sold! Showcase what’s going on with your business and the activity that makes you successful!
3. Community Highlights- Let your audience know that you’re in tune with what’s going on in the community that you serve. Upcoming events, local news that portrays how unique your city is, residents who are making a difference in the community, a feature of the great new restaurant in town- all make for interesting community blog posts!
4. Expert Interviews- This is unique way to draw local attention to your blog. Interview a community mortgage lender, the owner of a lawn care shop, a local home improvement contractor, etc… You get the idea! Grab your readers attention by providing them the information they want for things pertaining to their home or future investment.
5. Videos- Many agents are beginning to utilize this medium, and it’s ideal for our visual society. Whether you’re taking your audience on a tour of your town, highlighting a local bakery or are just giving a market update; videos will always be more of an interactive experience than simply reading a post.
Of course there are many things you could post on your blog- there are really no rules! The key to each post, however, is to make sure it’s still professional (not crossing any personal, political or racial boundaries). You always want to keep in mind that this is still a reflection of your business.
I hope these tips will you in turning your blog into the lively hub that it should be! If you have any questions or need help with your blog, ask your Real Estate Virtual Assistant! They’d love to bring life to your blog and boost your website and online presence!
Contact Carrie
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How to Develop Your Online Kaizen
Monday, April 4th, 2011
If you had a choice between instant results and “slow and steady” implementation, which would you choose? Okay, now which one is reality? Well for most people it’s neither, but for the really smart ones it’s the latter.
Last night I had a chat with one of my all-time favorite students, Doug Newby. The purpose of the call was to get his permission to include his Website’s monthly unique visitor count for a Realtor Magazine article I’m writing (over 25,000/mo. in case you were wondering).
Our conversation quickly evolved into reminiscing about how we first got together. He was in the audience of a presentation I did on behalf of the Dallas Association of Realtors, way back in the 1990′s. After the session he came up to me and tried to hire me as a consultant (at several hundred dollars per hour) which I politely turned down.
Not one to be frustrated in his attempt to move his online business forward, Doug attended one of my first 3-Day Advanced Workshops in the early 2000′s. Even though he had made some changes to his Website (based upon my first presentation) it had a long ways to go. He volunteered to be on the “Hot Seat” in front of the entire workshop audience –which was a gutsy thing to do. There wasn’t much left of his Website by the time I was through with it, other than the possibilities of something much greater. Instead of feeling dejected, Doug literally glowed with the excitement of what could be. In fact he won a medal from my staff and me at the end of the 3 days for being the one attendee with the greatest possibilities of improvement.
The following year he attended yet another 3-Day Workshop (still in the early 2000′s) and proudly announced that his online business had shot up 300% from the previous year. He has continued to make small, incremental improvements over the years to his Website. And then in July 2009 he took the leap of creating his ModernHomes Facebook page. Though he was very uncertain about this whole “social media thing” he trudged onward with the advice of Brad Carroll and myself. In just over 18 months his fan base for this page went from zero to over 300,000. And as a result of his slow and steady approach to implementing other proven online principles, his Website now enjoys over 25,000 unique visitors a month and has higher Google rankings than even 500 agent firms in the Dallas area.
Oh, there is one thing I almost forgot to mention. Doug will be the first person to admit that he is anything but a techy. He can send and receive email and use a Web browser without getting lost, but that’s about it.
We live in an “instant” world. Instant news, instant pain relief, instant weight loss, instant wealth. There is no pill to take or silver bullet to purchase that will cause your business to flourish immediately.
Doug Newby, with his contagious enthusiasm, sense of wonder and commitment to consistent incremental improvements is a perfect example of what really does work. His Kaizen approach to business is an inspiration that we all could look up to and learn from.
The Top 7 Marketing Trends for 2011!
Friday, March 11th, 2011
I think we all sensed it. It seemed that the beginning of 2011 established the fact that real estate marketing had officially changed. The last few years have been a whirlwind of crash courses in social media, blogging, videos and other creative online tools. Many agents remained on the fence as to whether or not jump on board to this seemingly passing phase, while we, as Real Estate Virtual Assistants, quickly came up with processes for the most effective way to market for our agents using these mediums.
During the slower holiday season, many agents took the time to evaluate the last year, wrestle through their stance regarding their online presence, and determine their steps for the future. As the real estate community wrapped their minds around the changes, shuffled through their options and planned for the coming year; it seemed there emerged a renewed attitude, balance and self confidence with the beginning of 2011.
We’ve seen the change as agents are coming to us with a sense of calm and fortitude knowing what they want out of their social media and online branding. The whirlwind is settling, along with the debris of the past few years, and we’re clearly seeing our way along this new path.
Here are the 7 marketing trends that are at the forefront of marketing for 2011.
1. Niche Marketing- We’ve noted this in the past that the most effective agents are those that hone in on a niche market. Rather than being a “jack of all trades, master of none;” find that place in which you excel and focus your energy. Whether you’re great at helping first time home buyers, can sell a waterfront property in no time, can relate with empty nesters or work best with high end buyers; there’s a market out there for your specific skill set. Find it and go for it.
2. Quality Content- In a world of texting, Facebook, Tweeting and key word greedy blogs; we can tend to push quality to the background, and focus more on quantity and quickly climbing the crowded SEO ladder. The bottom line: it’s still business and you’re still representing your brand. While these mediums can be more casual; they still require professionalism and virtue. Make sure that what you’re saying online is valuable to the reader in order to stand out from the online noise.
3. Leaning towards Social Media- Agents are spending less money on print marketing and moving their funds to their social media and other online branding. It’s the idea of meeting your market on their terms, and we can’t deny that it’s an online world. Marketing money is being used to enhance and maintain social media sites as well as custom websites and other online initiatives.
4. Multiple Branding Experiences- You’ve probably experienced the feeling that suddenly keeping up with your Facebook and Twitter isn’t enough anymore. Flickr, YouTube, Yelp and other marketing means are also coming to the forefront. It’s a matter of providing a variety of options for people to interact with your brand.
5. Getting Local- Narrowing down your online presence through geotargeting allows agents to market to their direct market. There are a variety of ways to hone in to your area of service through Facebook ads, Yelp, Google and many others.
6. Co-Marketing- This form of marketing is quickly emerging in our current economic state. From teaming up with non-profits, local stores, restaurants and more; agents are finding creative ways to cut marketing costs and build local relationships. (View our recent blog on Co-Marketing.)
7. Mobile Marketing- While still in the works; mobile marketing is beginning to take off beginning with QR Codes, Foursquare and other applications. Creating a mobile marketing presence will most likely be one of the top growing marketing strategies this year.
As you can see; these top seven approaches to marketing are significantly different that a year or two ago. It’s no longer a matter of if you want to jump on board; it’s necessary for staying in the game!
If you want to take this year to get up to speed, but aren’t sure where to start; find a Real Estate Virtual Assistant! Your VA can walk you through determining your needs, finding a plan that works for your target market and budget, and can handle it all for you! If you just need guidance in the beginning and want to learn along the way to be able to take the marketing on for yourself; your Virtual Assistant can help with that too.
It’s not too late to start, and a renewed marketing plan can be just the thing to rejuvenate your spirits for the spring season and carry you through the rest of the year!
Contact Carrie
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To Blog or Not to Blog – That’s No Longer the Question
Friday, October 8th, 2010
A few years ago real estate blogging was the big question. It seemed that the creative outlet for avid writers, beginners to novices on any topic or those just wanting to journal their thoughts to the world, was making its entrance onto the real estate scene and agents began to wrestle with whether or not to jump on board. After all, who had time to sit down and write for an ambiguous audience and, ultimately, what would be the point?
As 2010 begins to quickly draw to a close, the question today isn’t if you should blog, but how often, what are your key words to boost your SEO, who are you delegating this to in order to keep your time free, and when can you expect return on your investment. The option for blogging is no longer an option; that is, if you want to stay at the forefront of your real estate market! Let’s quickly look at the answers to each question:
How Often? The absolute minimum is once per week. Ideally, 2-3 times per week! The key to blogging is consistency and frequency.
A recent study showed that: businesses that published at least 5 blog articles in the last 7 days draw 6.9 times more organic search traffic and 1.12 times more referral traffic than those who don’t blog at all. Out of the masses of business, relevant content (1 post per weekday), blog readers will likely find something engaging and proceed to learn more about a company that is actively posting (2-3 times per week).
It’s simple: more blogging = more traffic = more readers = more leads = more clients.
What Are Your Key Words? Blogging for the sake of blogging will not get you anywhere unless you enhance your relevant content with key words that reflect your market, niche and target client.
These are the words people type into a search engine (such as Google) to find what they’re looking for. “Evanston Real Estate,” “Homes for Sale in Evanston,” etc… Don’t believe us? Try typing “Evanston Real Estate” in Google and see what comes up! Did you find JudyNewton.com on the first page? We blog for her every week and her blog has moved her up the Google ladder to the page ONE in less than a year. (Oh, and we also designed her custom real estate website!)
Who Are You Delegating Your Blog Writing To? If you don’t know what to write about, don’t have the time to blog consistently, or wouldn’t know where to begin with creating a blog, linking key words, formatting, etc… your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can help!
Not only can they set up a custom blog that effectively boasts your brand, but they should write custom SEO/keyword rich content for each blog! A VA should understand the importance of current, local and personalized real estate blogging that will draw traffic to your site. Sadly, we’ve seen blogs where a canned article has been copied/pasted. This won’t help your search engine ranking! You should never see the blog that your VA writes for you anywhere else! They will use your key words and link them to your website so that the content is, not only interesting and pertinent for your local readers, but it will increase traffic to your site!
When Can You Expect a Return on Your Investment? It all depends on how often you let your VA blog for you! If we only blogged once a week, linked key words throughout your blog and submitted to Google after each post; you can increase your SEO significantly in less than a year! If we are blogging for you 2-3 times per week, your Google rank will get higher a little faster. Increase your exposure as a key resource within your community which will keep readers coming back for more!
“87.4% of respondents successfully increased measurable SEO objectives as a direct result of blogging.” – TopRankBlog.com
Of the 12.6% that didn’t find measurable SEO results from blogging the main reason given was a lack of time to blog consistently. We’ve seen a blog for one of our clients that we created in June reach the first page of Google due to blogs being posted 2-3 times per week!
A few more blogging statistics…
Many of you understand the value of blogging as you know it’s a sure fire way, when done correctly, to power up your Google Juice and drive traffic to your site. Further research proved the correlation between blogging and SEO. Statistics gathered by Hubspot put a quantitative approach to the growing medium. They found that those who blog have:
- 55% more visitors to their website.
- 97% more links to their website which is a primary factor in where your website shows up in search results. (Want a higher ranking; get quality links to your site).
- 434% more indexed pages. This is the number of pages that show up in search engines. Just because you have a site doesn’t guarantee it is being indexed (findable). Just because some of your pages are in search engines doesn’t mean all of your pages are.
Additional studies show that a blog can be indexed by Google in less than 5 minutes! Geoff Karcher, held a conference in which one session he wanted to prove the power of blogging and search engine results. He wrote a blog about the phrase “search engine marketing made simple experiment” and a mere 4 minutes later, Google had indexed and ranked the blog. Now that’s powerful!
The bottom line…
We could go on about the power of blogging as there are many websites, articles and our own personal experiences with our clients that prove its worth!
The bottom line is this: Blogging is imperative for the growth of your business.
If you haven’t started blogging yet, now is the time! If you’ve been blogging but are experiencing the frustration of not having time and not seeing results, delegate this on-going project to your VA! View our real estate blogging samples for ideas…
You’ll thank us later….
Carrie Gable and the team at RealSupport, Inc. are our “VA Quick Tip” columnists offering expertise in real estate marketing, technology and more. RealSupport’s office and team of 9 full-time staff members is located near Chicago, IL. Their successful team works virtually for many top real estate agents and brokers nationwide. Pioneers in the Real Estate Virtual Assistant industry, RealSupport offers marketing, branding, website and logo design, listing marketing, lead generation, technical support, transaction management, social networking, blogging and much more… Just ask!
The Instant and Free Way to Create Video Property Tours
Monday, August 30th, 2010
There are lots of ways to create video tours of your listings —most are not free or easy. Here’s a very cool and private way to do it that is free, fast and incredibly easy…
Smart Phone to Video Tour 1-2-3
The first thing you want to do is set up a free account on the Posterous photo-blogging service (click here for a previous post about the use of Posterous and photo-blogging). This just takes a couple of minutes and only needs to be done once. Now you are ready to create your video tours. Here’s what you do:
- Plan Your Walk-through – you want to keep your video tours short yet have great impact, this requires that you first think through what you are going to show and say as you show it.
- Shoot the Video – use your smart phone to do this and try to keep your hand as steady as possible.
- Post it Privately On Your Posterous Account – by sending your video to private@posterous.com Posterous will send you back a special link to your video up on your account site. This is a private posting so only your prospect will be able to view it.
That’s it! Now at this point you are probably wondering why I recommend that you keep this kind of tour private. First of all, shooting it with your smart phone allows you to complete the process in about 2 minutes and you can highly personalize the video by talking directly to them. This is incredibly powerful for relocating clients and prospects. By definition you wouldn’t want this kind of video to be seen by just anybody. You could certainly use your Posterous account to post publicly viewable videos as well. However, I’d spend more time and hire a professional videographer if you are going to show these tours to the world.
The method described above is perfect for 1-on-1 communications with prospects or clients that appreciate seeing properties they simply don’t have the time (or capacity) to view in person. It is free, fast, easy and will certainly set you apart from the crowd.
