Safe Distractions From Real Estate This Season - 12/13/06 04:52 PM

I am out of my element this week and out of town.  As a result, I have not had a great deal of time to spend on real estate or marketing.  However, tis the season (I always wondered why tis is common vernacular for this time of year)  to do some Christmas shopping, and if you have kids that want a new Wii video controler, you may want to read the warning labels.... I think there are nine of them on the packaging and video interface. 
With that in mind, here a link to a great blog about the dangers of … (2 comments)

So how many leads per week does your service give me? - 12/11/06 04:18 PM
I receive this question at least three times per week about the 4MySales.com system, and every time my reply is about the same.  My reply usually goes: "What if instead of charging you thousands of dollars for me to find a willing client to buy from you I could give you a tool to turn every one of your contacts into clients for less than twenty dollars per month?"  Usually in the sales process the REALTOR that I am speaking to asks for clarification which is my opportunity to describe the value of the 4MySales.com system.
The reason that I am sharing … (0 comments)

Structural Defects, Drainage Problems, Time to Move On - 12/09/06 01:28 AM
There was a time, not so long ago...actually March it was March 2006 when a real estate buyer would completely overlook a number of different detriments to a property when they choose what and where to buy.  As a result in this new buyer's market, there are a number of people in properties that have less than desirable features such a no-yards, steep drives, drainage problems, extremely weird floor plans (I have a buddy that bought a house that must of at one point been used to host swingers parties)  and any number of other aspect that compromise the resale value … (0 comments)

The rules of viral marketing - 12/07/06 06:12 PM
Viral and buzz marketing consists of compelling a group of people to evangelize about your product or service.  For real estate bloggers, and in fact most REALTORS, a viral marketing campaign can be created with some carefully planned promotion.    With that in mind, there are a couple of points that need to be addressed with regard to the viral strategy that I am proposing.   Think of these as the rules that govern many social networks.  For your review, the rules are as follows:
1)  In any given community of people, 1% will create content, lead ideas and push discussion.  These are the … (14 comments)

We are the 1% Rule! - 12/06/06 07:11 PM
A comment made on my blog this morning let me to Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba's blog this morning and the elucidation of the 1% rule which I feel is well demonstrated by the ActiveRain community. For those who have not heard of the 1% rule (I hadn't heard about it until this afternoon) it is as follows:
The 1% Rule: Roughly 1% of your site visitors will create content within a democratized community.   
Essentially this means that for a given online social network, 1%of the visitors will stop to creat a profiles. The extention to the 1% rule is the 10% … (7 comments)

The Secret of Viral Marketing... - 12/06/06 12:55 PM
Online social networks, Web 2.0, real estate blogs, podcats; all of these new tools and so many ways to use them.  With all of these new technologies, how do you create a marketing buzz?  More importantly, how do go viral and attract clients and listing from every corner of your community?
I don't pretend to have the answer.  However,  I spend a lot of my time trying to find peers who have expertise in viral marketing so that I can incorporate it into 4MySales as well as share it with all of you.  In that vein, I have found a couple of … (2 comments)

Capture market share from your competition - 12/05/06 04:13 PM
Will Dylan posted an interesting article this week about capturing market share in your local real estate community.  The approach actually echoes the first lessons that are taught in entrepreneurial classes in MBA schools which is:  In a highly fragmented and saturated market (sounds like the real estate market of today) identify the market leader and develop strategies to take market share.   Although not revolutionary, the article and the concept convey some very effective points that can be incorporated into your own business plan. 
I continually tout the benefits of finding a unique niche  to serve within this industry.  Due to … (0 comments)

Bloggin the not so common way to get traffic - 12/05/06 01:25 AM
I have been spending a bit of time on HitTail over the last couple of days and I was reminded of one of the basic edicts of search engine marketing.  Many people will misspell the search term and you can get a lot of traffic simply by making sure that you include these terms in your search engine program......  I used to apply this to pay per click, but it looks like my real estate blog is showing up quite often in the search engines under misspelled words.
So what does that mean?  Type what the search engine will find.  If you … (1 comments)

Unique closing gift idea… and it’s free - 12/01/06 01:23 AM
I am posting this on my other blog as well, but I wanted to share it with the ActiveRain community....
Have a little free time and want to create a unique closing gift?  How about using ScrapBlog to create a scrapbook page of your client and their new home?  I came across this tool while tooling around (redundant, but I am taking artistic license) this evening.   Instead of a blog, it lets you upload pictures, orient them however you wish, and add borders, backgrounds, stickers, text bubbles, and any of the other doodads that you would normally find on a scrapbook page...okay, … (7 comments)