Posts Tagged ‘Real Estate Virtual Assistant’
Coffee Shop Talk – A New Look at Blogging for SEO
Friday, February 10th, 2012
I was in a coffee shop the other day and overheard a small business meeting taking place. Now, I am not in the habit of eavesdropping, but when I heard the term SEO, my ears perked up. As a blogger, I know that one of my main responsibilities is to use key words throughout our clients blogs in order to organically boost their SEO. It’s a tried and true tool that works. (If you haven’t tried it, you need to!)
In the conversation, two of the people were part of the small business and the other person was their web designer. He was talking about the key words and links he was going to create for them throughout their new, custom designed website. I was impressed, this small business seemed to be on the right track with investing in a solid website that was up to date and peppered with SEO boosters throughout. I kept listening.
The web designer went on to talk about the company’s blog for SEO. “The website is great for SEO,’ he said, ‘but the blog will keep you at the top. If someone goes to Google, you want to be found on the top of the list.” Wow! I wanted to stand up and applaud this web designer! He knew what he was talking about and was letting this small business know exactly what it was going to take to be most effective in their marketing.
Sadly, when our clients are running low on funds, one of the first things to go is their real estate blog. Why? Real estate blogging is somewhat ambiguous, just like other social marketing like Facebook or Twitter. There isn’t a great way to measure your return on investment… or is there?
Did you know that you can see your real estate blog working for you? Try this: Go to your real estate blog and see what key words your Real Estate Virtual Assistant is using to boost your SEO. (Now, if you don’t find any key words linked throughout each blog post; you’re in trouble. Using and linking key words are what boosts your SEO!) After you’ve grabbed a few of these key words; test them in Google. Do the search yourself and see where your company comes up in the search engine.
If you’re not on page 1 or page 2; you’ll need to either up how many times your Real Estate Virtual Assistant blogs for you each week, or give it a little more time if you’ve just started your real estate blog.
Let’s look at an example. Our client, Oak Shores Realty, has us blog for them at least two times a week. I’ll blog real estate tips, community events or home tips each Tuesday and Thursday. They also have us blog their new properties that come on the market, market statistics and local news as needed. This has translated into major success for them in their Google ranking! By searching one of their key words in Google, Lake Nacimiento Real Estate, you’ll see they’re at the top of the list on page 1!
Have a great day!

Contact Carrie
Visit us Online at RealSupportInc.com
The Foundation for Successful Marketing for 2012
Friday, December 9th, 2011
The beginning of a new year can be very inspiring as it offers the opportunity to implement change. If you’re thinking through ways to really make your real estate business stand out in the coming year, there are a wide variety of ways to do so! From social media marketing, creating videos and a customized YouTube channel, real estate blogging, enhancing your website and networking; your options are nearly limitless!
Yet at the core of all of your marketing, and even at the core of your company, there needs to be a solid foundation of your brand. Defining the brand of your company forces you to think through questions such as:
- What is the mission of my company?
- How do I want others to view me and my services?
-What is most important to my clients?
- How do I want to run my company?
Using these questions as a jumping off point will help you discover your brand and establish a base for the new year and will be a building block for many years to come!
A recent article by John Williams, an advertising guru who’s created brand standards for Fortune 100 companies such a Mitsubishi, pointed out eight effective ways to build your brand. Of course, I tweaked them for real estate, but the basic points work in creating a top notch brand for any company.
1. Get a great logo- Place it everywhere. If you don’t yet have a logo, or you’d like a professionally designed logo customized to your business; let us know! Our design team would love to work with you to create a logo that’s uniquely yours and that helps you stand out!
2. Write down your brand messaging- What are the key messages you want to communicate about your brand? Every employee and agent in your company should be aware of your brand attributes so they can better portray them to clients.
3. Integrate your brand- Branding extends to every aspect of your business such as how you answer your phones, what you or your agents wear to meetings and open houses, your e-mail signature, everything.
4. Create a “voice” for your company that reflects your brand- This voice should be applied to all written communication and incorporated in the visual imagery of all materials, online and off. Is your brand friendly? Be conversational. Is it ritzy? Be more formal. You get the idea.
5. Develop a tagline- Write a memorable, meaningful and concise statement that captures the essence of your brand.
6. Design templates and create brand standards for your marketing materials- Use the same color scheme, logo placement, look and feel throughout. You don’t need to be fancy, just consistent.
7. Be true to your brand- Clients won’t return to you, or refer you to someone else, if you don’t deliver on your brand promise.
8. Be consistent- This point is last only because it involves all of the above and is the most important tip. If you can’t do this, your attempts at establishing a brand will fail.
Putting these eight rules for branding into practice for 2012 is a great way to build the foundation of your real estate business! Even if your company has been in existence for some time; if your brand has been pushed to the wayside, it’s time to create a fresh start!
Now it’s time to get started in creating your brand that will establish your company and act as the launching pad for years of success!
Have a great day!

Contact Carrie
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Whether people are just tired of moping about the economic downturn of the past few years or they’re sensing true change, it seems there’s an overarching sense of positivity for 2012… and that’s exciting! Of course just thinking positively is not a magical formula for boosting the economy, but it’s the actions that spring from a positive outlook that are agents of change.
Search-engine optimization. Who knew that these three little words could become so important to successful 
n you have 1,000,000 other things going on. Blogging is imperative in today’s real estate world, as it drastically helps with your SEO and can be fed to different places including your LinkedIn profile, Facebook profile and Twitter feed. Posting to your blog regularly will also define you as a credible source for community and real estate info in your area. If you’re already blogging regularly, or plan on starting, here are some great ways to build up an awesome following.
atters during time off, to prevent being bombarded with an unexpected workload upon your return. Luckily, our smart phones and other modern technology allow us to keep abreast of work progress while we are away.
