It is that time of year again we are all gearing up to put another year behind us and start fresh with a new year. Many of us as we do every year gear up our marketing and start planning for the coming year with a whole new look on our marketing campaigns. Whether it be starting new ones, adjusting and tweaking current ones or keeping at what we are currently doing we all have marketing on our brains.

I recently took a short course on creating a road map, if you will for my marketing efforts in 2010 and learned some key aspects that I have forgotten along the way or have never really thought about. Many of us start our businesses because we love what we do. But that is it we are good at what we do, many of us don't have a marketing degree or a background in marketing. We just assume that if we are really good at what we do and we love it the people will flock to us as soon as we say we are open for business.  Yes, in a perfect world this would be wonderful but since we live in "realty" this is not what happens. We all have to market to our clients to attracts buyers of our products and services to start that ever revolving door of business.

Some of the key aspects I wanted to share that I learned from my short marketing class are some that I feel would be beneficial to all of us. Sometimes it is about getting down to the basics and really creating a strong foundation in our marketing efforts. Without a strong foundation the rest of our marketing efforts will crumble costing us time and money.

When focusing on our marketing we need to set S.M.A.R.T goals for it to be successful:

Specific- When focusing on your marketing efforts you need to be specific in what you are trying to do. The easiest way to figure this out is to ask yourself the following questions:

Ø  Who? Who is involved in my marketing efforts?

Ø  What? What am I looking to accomplish with my marketing?

Ø  Where? Where is my target market located?

Ø  When? Establish a timeline for your goals.

Ø  Which? Identify requirements of your efforts.

Ø  Why? What are the specific reasons or the purpose for setting your goals?

Measurable- Set actions plans or steps for each phase of your goal. These should be easily measurable whether it is meeting a deadline for having a marketing piece done all the way to the results of your marketing efforts there are several steps in between that will help you stay on track and focused. Breaking your goals down into phases and phases into steps will help you in actually completing and reaching your goals. Always remember don’t over complicate the process you want simple phases and simple steps within the phases for your goals.

Attainable- When you set us goals that you feel will be beneficial to you, you begin to adapt to reach these goals. When you see what you want and see how to get there you adapt creating the ability, skills and attitude to get you there. With each phase of your marketing plan you will move closer and closer to your goal, what once seemed like a daunting task now seems attainable.

Realistic- When you set up your goals be realistic on the outcome it must represent a realistic object in which you are willing and able to reach.

Timely- You need to have a time frame on your goals and action plans. Without a set amount of time you will push it off and push it off and it will never get done. When we set up some ground rules for ourselves and hold ourselves accountable for our actions we stay focused. Keeping a time constraint will keep you focused and motivated to get the job done.

 

Another thing that I was taught was to really identify who your target market is for me it is more than just saying well my target market is Realtors, Brokers etc. I needed to sit down and create the “perfect client”. Who do I want to work with, what is their personality traits, are they successful, how old are they, how long have they been in business etc. Really digging down to identify who your target market is will allow you to identify who your business should be marketed to.

Once you have figured out who you then need to figure out where, where do does my “ideal client” hang out and network. What do they do for fun and most importantly how can I get myself and my business in front of them.

So really getting down to the basics and starting with a strong foundation should help to lay the ground work for creating marketing goals and successful marketing plans for 2010.

Don’t just set resolutions this year get out there and take a look at the big picture, what do I want to do in my business this year? Set goals for yourself and break them down into action plans set up a monthly, annually and yearly marketing calendar for yourself.

 

Skye Hawk, REPA, REW

O: (480) 463-4971

At Your Service!

Virtual Assistant Specialists

www.AtYourService-VA.com

Skyeh@atyourservice-va.com

 

 
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Skye Hawk Skye Hawk REPA, REW
At Your Service! Virtual Assistant Specialists

Office: (480) 463-4971
Email: skyeh@atyourservice-va.com
Website: www.AtYourService-VA.com
 
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Via Laura Monroe- Real Estate Virtual Assistant (Creative Agent Solutions.com (916)343-3823):

Brian Gardner with Studiopress.com has been one of the masters of WordPress Theme designs for quite a while now. His designs are know for having "clean code" which in itself creates the optimum environment for having great search engine "readability". He has once again created a new theme, only this time its specifically with the Agent or Broker in mind!

AgentPress.com just launched today, and even more exciting is that he has teamed up with the MyTechOpinion Team to help develop theme content.

Check Out the Demo to see for yourself! If you've been considering using Wordpress for your outside blog and need a clean, elegant design the AgentPress theme has amazing built-in features, is SEO optimized and allows you to combine a compelling platform to market your listings, your blog content all is one stunning package!

For more on the advantages of using Wordpress for real estate websites..this is good reading!

Thanks Brian for designing another awesome theme!

Join the conversation on our Facebook Fan Page!  We'd love to see you there!

  

 

 

 

Hi fellow Active Rainers! Just wanted to post a quick post as I was readin on one of my many networks and there was a post about a Virtual Assistant who was targeted for one of those internet scams where they send you a money order for more money than you agreed on and you are to wire funds that you get from cashing the money order to someone for them.

This Virtual Assistant had answered a Craigslist ad for a women who said she was moving to the area and needed someone for only a few hours a week. She checked her out online and viewed her website everything looked good. But turned out to be a scam. 

The Virtual Assistant needed additional equipment to complete the work for the potential client the client agreed to purchase the equipment needed. She also agreed to pay a much higher rate than normal, she also hired the Virtual Assistant without a phone call or any discussion. The client also would not (she "forgot") to send the Virtual Assistant her contact info.

Then the Virtual Assistant got an email stating that client had sent her a money order for $2000 she was to keep $100 for the equipment that they discussed, then she was to wire the $1900 to a cousin who needed a heart transplant.

The Virtual Assistant received the money order and called  Money Gram to confirm validity of the money order. Money Gram told her that the money orders were no good as they had numbers that had already been previously cashed money orders.

The Virtual Assistant of course did not deposit the money orders but did do a search for the lady by name on the Internet. She did find the lady on Facebook and she had posts on her page that someone was using her name for this scam. 

So when we get a lead sometimes checking online is not enough, make sure you get contact info for the lead, speak with them on the phone and follow your gut instincts. If something sounds to good to be true it probably is.

Skye Hawk

At Your Service!

Virtual Assistant Specialists

Phone: (480) 463-4971

Toll Free: (800) 403-2430

Email: Skyeh@atyourservice-va.com

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW..... Your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can be used to screen your leads to make sure they are qualified.

You and your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can come up with a script that works for both of you that has specific questions to help asses the seriousness of your leads. If you have any paperwork, questionnaires  or anything else you like to have your leads fill out then your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can manage these tasks for you. This can often be a time consuming task for a Realtor. Let your Real Estate Virtual Assistant take this task off of your hands!

If you are working with a mortgage broker you can have your Real Estate Virtual Assistant send any leads that are not pre-qualified to your mortgage broker. Your REVA can follow up with both the mortgage broker and your lead to make sure that the process has been started and keep up to date as to what is going on and where they are at in the process. Once they are pre-qualified this will help to aid in the search for a home for both you and the buyer. 

If the lead is a seller you can have your Virtual Assistant schedule the listing appointment, fill out information pertaining to the property and assist you with any listing presentation tasks that you may need. She/he can follow up with the seller to confirm the appt and make sure everything goes smoothly.

Just another quick tip from your Real Estate Virtual Assistant!

 

 

Skye Hawk

At Your Service!

Virtual Assistant Specialists

Phone: (480) 463-4971

Toll Free: (800) 403-2430

Email: Skyeh@atyourservice-va.com

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW..... Your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can be used to market well, YOU!

Now we all know your REVA can be used to market your properties but did you ever consider to have your Real Estate Virtual Assistant market you. Each business should be marketing their services at least 30 minutes everyday. This can be a time consuming task but this is something that your Virtual Assistant can do for you. You know how useful your assistant is when it comes to marketing your properties give it a whirl and have your assistant create a couple of marketing pieces that can be marketed online or off for you on a daily basis.

This can include your farming campaigns, expired listings and FSBO campaigns, online and offline marketing and warm/cold calling. Your assistant can post items online and schedule direct mail pieces to be printed and mailed. Some additional marketing can be blog posts about your services or what great services you have provided to a recent client. Your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can also manage your referrals from previous clients to post in your website or in your marketing collateral.

Just another quick tip from your Real Estate Virtual Assistant!

Skye Hawk

At Your Service!

Virtual Assistant Specialists

Phone: (480) 463-4971

Toll Free: (800) 403-2430

Email: Skyeh@atyourservice-va.com

 

 

This is a great tool for Virtual Assistants who handle multiple Twitter accounts (personal and clients).

Via Sheri Moritz (Real Living Realty Experts):

I have to admit that this week Twitter Tuesday had me feeling like Toast.  Not like eating it this week but feeling like it.  So I apologize that as much as I wanted to get the Twitter Tuesday Tip out yesterday I just couldn't get the energy together to do it.  The good thing about being under the weather is that I have had a chance to spend time playing around learning a few more Twitter tools.  As many of you know I wrote ablog a few weeks ago on Tweetdeck.  Hopefully you have had an opportunity to check it out and learn your way around.

Today's Twitter Tip is Hoot Suite which is very similar to Tweetdeck with a few KEY advantages. Don't we all send out Tweets wondering "am I wasting my time" or "is anyone even reading my Tweets"?  With Hoot Suite you can track how many people have clicked on a link in different Tweets.  Just think, you could tell your sellers that you listed their house via Tweetlisteronn Hoot Suite and 10+ people linked today via Twitter and 140 total for the week.  Not only does this show your seller that you are marketing their home; it shows them that you are tracking the results and ahead of the curve on technology.  Try different wordingto generate traffic to your website with different key words and see what generates more traffic.  In addition tracking HootSuite has the ability to schedule Tweets to happen later.  Now you don't have to constantly be retyping posts or trying to remember to Tweet about your listings and business it will happen automatically for you when you scheduled it.  You can also promote your business at different times of the day to get more exposure to people in other areas that may be on Twitter at different times of the day.  Maybe you are having an open house from 1-3 on Sunday and know you wont have Internet connection at the house...just schedule a Tweet in advance reminding possible buyers to stop by.

**Caveat**  Please do not use this as an opportunity to put Twitter on autopilot to spam out your listings and beg people for business.  It is important to understand that Twitter is a conversational tool and the fastest way to lose followers is to only talk about your business or constantly throw ads at them.  Try to have a good balance of conversation and auto Tweets for business purposes.  If you build relationships with people on Twitter they will help Re-Tweet your business information if they find that information valuable to their followers. 

Check this video out to learn more about Hoot Suite.  Check back and let me know what you think after you track your first Tweet.  I would love to hear some feedback.

 

Want to receive Twitter and Social Media tips on your Facebook wall?  Then do me a favor and head on over to Facebook and join our Facebook fan page for Real Estate Professionals using Twitter and well as my Boot Camp 4 Social Media Facebook fan page. 

                                                                       

To get your Twitter Tuesday (Wednesday this week) updates jut hit the subscribe button!

 

 

 

Did you know...that you can utilize your Real Estate Virtual Assistant to contact your buyers list and to create a marketing "schedule" to keep in contact with your lists and COI?

Your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can assist you in setting up a schedule for contacting your buyers/sellers and COI. If you had your assistant call 25 leads a day that is125 leads a week and 500 leads a month! Calling 25 leads a day should take about an hour a day this is a great way to start the momentum of reaching out to your leads and COI. As time goes on you can have your assistant incorporate emails, direct mail and other great pieces into your marketing plan.

Week One: Call 25 leads a day

Week Two: Call 25 new leads a day and email 125 leads from week one ( doing a mass email for all as BCC should take a very short time)

Week Three: Call 25 new leads a day, email the 125 leads from week two and take a break on the week one leads.

Week Four: Call 25 new leads a day, email the 125 leads from week 3, send out a direct mail to the leads from week one and take a break on the leads from week 2.

To simplify this process have your leads put on a drip email campaign and have your assistant call the 25 leads a day and work in some direct mail pieces into your campaigns. Keep in constant contact with your database keep everything updated this will help to utilize these contact lists that you have built. 

Remember out of sight out of mind let your leads feel like they have a personal connection with you. Make sure to have detailed notes in your CRM file for that lead. If you speak to the lead and they mention a new job or a new baby etc make sure and mention that in the next phone call you can say, so have you started your new job? or how is the baby doing? Little things like this go a long way!

This is just another way your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can assist you and eliminate some of the "headache" work.

 

Skye Hawk

At Your Service!

Virtual Assistant Specialists

Phone: (480) 463-4971

Toll Free: (800) 403-2430

Email: Skyeh@atyourservice-va.com

 

 

 

   

Did you know...that you can utilize your Real Estate Virtual Assistant with showing schedules and feedback? 

Your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can assist you in setting up previews and showings for your buyer clientele. A good Real Estate Virtual Assistant will get the showings set up with a scheduled time have it all mapped out and include all showing information. Your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can also provide feedback either online, email or via phone to those listing agents.

Your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can also assist with the showings and feedback of your sellers. Your REVA can assist with setting up and scheduling buyers agents to show your listing, confirm appointments so there is no mix up and request feedback from the buyers agents. Your REVA should also be preparing a report for your sellers once a week on any showings that took place with their listing and include any remarks or feedback on their home.

This is just another way your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can assist you and eliminate some of the "headache" work.

Skye Hawk

At Your Service!

Virtual Assistant Specialists

Phone: (480) 463-4971

Toll Free: (800) 403-2430

Email: Skyeh@atyourservice-va.com

 

 

 

Via Laura Monroe- Real Estate Virtual Assistant (Creative Agent Solutions.com (916)343-3823):

As a blogger here on Active Rain it's obvious that we get excited over SEO, or free search engine optimization tips and tools that will make our lives easier. We put a lot of thought of thought into drafting and organizing posts that will help make our blogs easy to find by consumers using our keywords to search what interests them.  

What if you could have a handy keyword tracking tool, right next to you, guiding you as you write a blog post? Well, now you can!  

If you are a Firefox browser user, there is a new add-on called SEO Blogger that sits in your sidebar as you write, and optimizes your post by allowing you to pick your optimized keywords, and it will keep track of how many times you insert the words or phrases for you! (as you can see I've selected some keywords to use in this post, and it is keeping track of them for me;)   You can use this search engine optimization software for your ActiveRain blogs and for your outside blogs and others like Wordpress. It's a great way to save time while blogging!!

 

 

 

 
 
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Skye Hawk, NAR Cert. REPA (Virtual Assistant)

Fountain Hills, AZ

More about me…

At Your Service! Virtual Assistant Specialists

Address: Fountain Hills , AZ, 85268

Office Phone: (480) 463-4971

Email Me

This blog is presented by Skye Hawk with At Your Service! Virtual Assistant Specialists offering tips and tricks for the savvy real estate professional. At Your Service! provides professional real estate virtual assistance to the real estate industry. click-to-call from the web



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