Blogging In The Rain Real Estate Marketing Blog

When to Blog, Email, Tweet and Post on Facebook for Business Effectiveness

2011-08-08T17:32:25Z

In our worldwide web of interactions things change, again, and again, and again. To be a consistent source of information and provide effectiveness you need to stay on top of the changes, or help move with them. Sometime this means doing your own research and being that source, and sometimes you might just be lucky enough to have someone be the source for you.

I wrote a post in November 2009 "5 Tips on Choosing the Right Day to Market Your Real Estate Services Online" which called for:

Tweeting Midweek
Publishing Blog Posts Midweek
NOT emailing on Saturdays
Engaging Facebook Fans on Tuesdays
Interacting on LinkedIn in the Mornings

But 2009 is so eons ago online....here's the update in Dan Zarella's "The Science of Timing"

The Science of Timing

View more presentations from HubSpot Internet Marketing

And even when your timing is just right don't forget that consistency, killer content, and expertise in what you practice and preach means everything.

Know your audience, your market, and your subject.

Peace.

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Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultantwith 17 years of experience serving real estate industry professionals.

If you need assistance with online marketing, offline marketing, social networking, or blogging contact Rebecca D. Levinson at #815-219-0691 or email rebecca@bloggingintherain.com.

Local Business Survival 101: How strong are the links on your sales chain?

2011-06-19T15:44:43Z

Local Business Survival 101: How strong are the links on your sales chain?

Have you ever been to a business, say a tv/appliance store of a big box brand and walked out after waiting for 10 minutes for service? Then after having waited ten minutes you found that the salesperson you had to hunt down to assist couldn't answer your questions without being vague and confusing. To top it off super salesman carried an attitude of aloofness and possibly even disdain. How dare you interrupt this sales person's day with your uninformed lack of product knowledge and pricing know how.

Didn't you know that you are wasting his time with all of your questions and he's missing out on the conversation he was having with his co-workers?

So what do you do? You are turned off by the lack of respect and the decency of super salesman for you nas thec as the customer, and for him and his lack of fulfillment of simple job duties, respect for his position and respect for his company. After all, he didn't have to do any hunting and gatheringto get you there. You walked into his store, a willing and able customer. You even had a good idea of what you wanted. He needed some simple order taking abilities and a pleasant demeanor. You look around but you can not see another sales person within 20 feet.

As you struggle through the process with Supersales man you are increasingly aware of how painful this process of making a purchase can be when you are stuck being helped by someone who just doesn't care.

Once you finished the process, back in the day you might have just asked to speak to the store manager. Or maybe you went home and complained to anyone within ear shot so they could share in your miserable experience. Perhaps you were even so frustrated you phoned a friend and vented about sucky service.

But we live in 2011....the Digital Age.

So if that happened last year, or last month or today you might have whipped out your phone while Supersales person was rounding up a coworker to consult for help on a basic question. You had already maybe checked into big box brand on Foursquare or Facebook places and now while you have time to kill you are tweeting, "At TV Store *trying* to buy a flat panel. Been here forever." Thirty minutes later you may be on Facebook posting to your feed- "Still at TV Store, still can't get answer to one question. Will be late to barbeque. Save a burger for me". Now the conversation starts and as you are maneuvering through the supposed to be simple process of buying a new t.v. you are carrying on a conversation with your friends...."oh yea was there last week, service sucked, walked out and went to abc store. More expensive but at least you get help"...and on and on it goes. Some good comments, some bad comments, some jokes about Super salesman.

Finally you purchase your t.v. and as they are carting it out the door you are firing off a rendition of your experience on Yelp for all to see.

As local businesses find themselves cutting resources and reorganizing in an effort to stay in the black and make a profit they may just be weakening their machine. Any forward facing employee for a business is a reflection on an organization and its profitability. Any salesperson who is mediocre or sub par is a sacrifice to the health of that business.

Has your local business went through any restructuring, recruitment, or reallocating of resources? Are your front line employees people who reflect the essence of your organization, its values, mission and business (financial) goals?

Local Business Survival 101: How strong are the links on your sales chain? Please share your experiences and tips in the comments. Check out the resources below:

Sales Interview Questions: Just Sell

Sales Management and Sales Leadership Interview Questions- Sales Coaching Habits

Key Qualities of a Great Salesperson- Success Magazine.com

Seth Godin's Blog: Good is Not almost as Good as Great

If you enjoyed this post on sales professionals, then check out:

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Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 19 years of experience serving real estate industry professionals. If you need assistance with online marketing, offline marketing, social networking, or blogging contact Rebecca D. Levinson at #815-219-0691 or email rebecca@bloggingintherain.com.

The New Wave in the Digital Age is Local

2011-04-03T15:27:53Z

The New Wave in the Digital Age is Local

The New Wave in the Digital Age Is

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Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 18 years of experience serving real estate industry professionals.

If you need assistance with online marketing, offline marketing, social networking, or blogging contact Rebecca D. Levinson at #815-219-0691 or email rebecca@bloggingintherain.com.

Social Networking at Its Finest...found in moving local businesses online

2011-01-07T18:19:35Z

I have been learning a great deal and not had a ton of time on my hands in the process in my new (since June) position as Digital Sales and Marketing Specialist for Rockford Register Star. Rockford Register Star is the leading newspaper in Rockford, Illinois, an old manufacturing city....2nd highest in population to Chicago, Illinois.

It's been an interesting journey. I go on 4 legged sales calls with our account executives and learn about the businesses in the five county metro area as well as McHenry County Illinois and Southeast Wisconsin to talk to them about their online marketing and advertising needs and frankly to help them sort out this complex world of online.

These are primarily towns that are truly built around relationships and deeply effected by the changing economic landscape. The saying in Rockford, I was told, is we are the first into the recession and the last to recover...but these folks are hard workers and aren't afraid to roll up their sleeves and dig in. Empowering these local businesses with information to help them get started and crank up their efforts online (some being non-existent) is a rewarding task.

I have run my car through back dirt roads up hills and stepped out in heels into the middle of apple orchards in the middle of summer with swarming mosquitoes and flies buzzing abundantly around my head and sucking the blood from an account rep. net to me while having a meeting in a barn with the Orchard owner to talk about online banners and Facebook. Signed, sealed and delivered the contract 3 months later end of season and feedback was "It works...it worked".

I have sat in the middle of fine dining restaurants with the owners being pulled in 5 directions at once but intent on listening to why Google is still listing their business in an old location and what can they do about it.

I have followed on the heels of ad agencies and national "affiliates of Google" as they have swarmed and bombarded our local businesses dropping acronyms and dog and pony shows like nobody's business. Talked to pediatricians and bakers, bars and tax preparers about that silly social marketing stuff and getting started on video or blogging or hey...how about a website????

And then the horror stories of run away webmasters...abundant in volume and typical in kind local businesses are their prey,

It's a jungle out there, but it's a jungle worth working at and when you see a small mom and pop business or legacy employer survive and their employees greet you kindly and take an interest in you as a person not just the "online girl"...you know at the end of the day, it's worth working at. One boost online can make or break a person...refrain layoffs and create hiring, and keep a local economy moving upward one business at a time.

And then a young girl or a pet dog might come up as you leave the business to offer some kind words or rub against your leg in parting and the drive home gets a little shorter cause when you walk in the door and your home mirrors that of these business owners everything feels way more humane and way more human.

This is truly social networking at it's finest......Local IS where it's at. Local is worth fighting for.

- Rebecca Levinson-

Mom, Real Estate Blogger, Local Business Advocate, Digital Sales and Marketing Specialist, Social Networker,

Humane and Human

Peace Out

How to Add Your Real Estate Business Listing to Google Places

2010-11-18T11:26:48Z

How to Add Your Real Estate Business Listing to Google Places

All real estate is local and now real estate on Google is becoming a more local search friendly place to be. If you haven't already claimed/added your real estate business listing to Google Places, here's how to do so in 10 Simple Steps with emphasis on the little details that will make a difference.

1st Step

Go to Google Places and Click “Create an Account Now”.

2nd Step

Complete the form with your email address, a password, your location, and your birthday.

3rd Step

It will ask you to verify your email address and synch it. Once you agree you will be brought to a screen (snapshot below) that asks you to “Claim your Business listing on Google. It’s Free! Click “List Your Business”.

4th Step

Enter your phone number.

5th Step

If Google doesn’t find your address, you will need to input the data fields manually. Type in your country, company, street address, city/town, state, zip, main phone number, email address and website.

6th Step

On the same form, complete the following fields:

Your Website Address (http://www._________). If you don’t have one, check the box “I don’t have a website”.

A Description of your Business. You get 40 characters so choose your words wisely and use keywords related to your business. Keywords are the words consumers type in a search box on Google, Bing or Yahoo to find businesses online. Ex: Restaurants in Rockford IL. If you want to know more about keywords ask your account representative who can give you information on choosing keywords for your business.
Category. You can choose five. Again you will want to make it keywords that people would search for online. Don’t get too creative with this field.
Choose your Service Areas and Location Settings. First you will choose if customers come to your business location or if you will travel to their location.

If you choose the second option, then you will choose if you want to keep your business address off the maps listing. If you choose this option you will then choose which zipcodes you service or a mile radius from your business location that you serve.

Take time to complete this section. The locations you choose are important.

7th Step

On the same form list,

Hours of Operation. If you are a business with a physical storefront be specific in this section. You can also enter split hours per day if your location is open during different shifts.
Payment Options: Check all that apply.
Photos: You will want to upload appealing photos of your location and appealing details of your storefront/business as possible. Make sure the photos are of good quality as they will most likely be a deciding factor in whether a consumer chooses your business. You have the opportunity to choose up to 10 photos so make sure you take advantage of it.
Videos: If you have videos you can upload 5. They must be hosted on YouTube in order to do this. Take the URL (http://www._______) of the video on YouTube and add it to the Video field on the form on Google places. Videos play an important role in people searching online and choosing businesses. Ask your account executive about the role videos play in getting your business found online.
Additional Details: You can add details about your business like parking options, reservations required, etc. Take advantage of this data field option.

After you are done entering these data fields click the “submit” button.

8th Step

You will be brought to a screen to choose your verification method to verify our business listing. You have the option of receiving a phone call or receiving a postcard. The postcard can take up to two weeks. The fastes option is phone verification. Then click “finish”.

9th Step

You will be brought to a screen to verify your business listing. Enter the PIN you received by phone or by postcard. Hit “submit”.

10th Step.

Your business listing is complete. If you want to go back and edit your listing, click the “Go to Google Places” link.

Many of your local businesses are probably not aware this change has been made to Google Search. It's very possible they still have a listing on Google Places because Google has been able to pull that data from a national directory like SuperPages. Be a true source of valued information for businesses that you network with and tell them to claim their business listing or create a Google Places Page. Remember, information is power and if you are the source, the stronger your alliances will grow.

Business opportunities abound...Be observant and grow locally.

If you enjoyed this post on local search, check out,

Subscribe to Blogging In The Rain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

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Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 18 years of experience serving real estate industry professionals.

If you need assistance with online marketing, offline marketing, social networking, or blogging contact Rebecca D. Levinson at #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@bloggingintherain.com.

How to Use SMS to Grow Your Real Estate Contact Database

2010-08-22T20:46:02Z

Using SMS to Grow Your Real Estate Contact Database

Do you have a strategy for Mobile Marketing? According to Gartner Inc.,

"By 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide."

So how do you get started? All along you have been told to build your email database and grow your RSS readers and now mobile? Well mobile isn't going anywhere and in fact resides on the hips and in the pockets and purses of most of your clients and potential customers until their heads hit the pillow for bed. So while you are growing your contacts online, wouldn't it be great to be right at their fingertips on a device that is easily accessible and almost always on?

Heck Yes.

Getting started doesn't mean abandoning the work you have done to date. It means moving forward and integrating SMS into your current marketing and sales strategies by working on successful and measurable campaigns.

Here's an easy guide on how to lay the foundation and use SMS to Grow Your Real Estate Contact Database.

Mobile marketing mojo using sms to grow your real estate marketing database

View more presentations from rebeccalev.

Use SMS and grow your real estate contact database.

If you enjoyed this post then check out:

The Top 7 Tips to Find Your Mobile Marketing Mojo

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Rebecca D. Levinson of Real Skillz is a real estate marketing consultant with 18 years of experience serving real estate professionals. Real Skillz Real estate marketing services include,

Blogging- See my Blogging Tune-Up Website for Details
Mobile marketing
Social Networking
Niche Marketing
Marketing Strategy
Branding- See my Branding Sanity Website for Details
Offline Marketing
Online Marketing
Special Events Promotion and Marketing
Holiday Marketing
Marketing Campaigns
Email Marketing (Content and Design)
Reputation Management

If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-745-0715 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

The Liberties of a Real Estate Entrepreuner

2010-07-04T09:59:16Z

The daily grind of a career in real estate can be exhausting. Your clients and vendors needs (and sometimes demands) may seem never ending. The hustle and bustle of real estate starts at the listing or home buying purchase and doesn't end with each transaction until it closes.

You might say a career choice in real estate is truly suited for a few determined souls.

Living in the land of the brave

A Real estate career is not all a tale of woe

It is a choice both of career and lifestyle

It has it's challenges but is rewarded by it's freedoms

Today let us celebrate and remember

The liberties of a real estate entrepreneur are many,

The ability to set your own hours.

The challenge of expanding your services to fit the needs of your current marketplace.

The creation of self wealth and self funded retirement.

The reality that you run your career and choose the direction of your career path.

The satisfaction of mentoring new recruits and watching them build their own businesses.

The joy of knowing you are helping to facilitate and coordinate home ownership- The American Dream.

The choice of hours you put on the street and the times you decide to stay home.

The choice to grow new skills and maintain those of old.

The knowledge that you are taking a risk.

The determination that keeps your wheels on the road.

The power to grow and give back to your local communities.

You are

An entrepreneur

Enjoy

Your freedom

These are the liberties of a real estate entrepreneur

Can you think of more liberties you have as a real estate entrepreuner? Please share by commenting below.

Celebrate your Independence. Happy Fourth of July

If you enjoyed this post check out these blog posts on motivation and real estate,

Join Real Skillz Real Estate Marketing on Facebook

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Gain freedom from your blogging inhibitions and distractions. Whether you are new or old to blogging chances are good it's time for a blogging tune-up. Any new enrollments on July 4th and July 5th will receive a free hour consultation on the topic of your choice (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Branding, Holiday Marketing) with a follow-up how to guide on your chosen topic (A $150 value). Offer expires July 5th at 12 midnight.

Five Ways to Upgrade and Put the "Bam" in Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page (Part IV- THE FINALE)

2010-06-07T15:55:41Z

Five Ways to Upgrade and Put the "Bam" in Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page (Part IV- THE FINALE)

Let's recap our delicious Facebook Fan Page offerings for a moment. If you have followed Part I, Part II, and Part III of this Facebook Fan Page series you now know how to:

1. Customize for your Real Estate Facebook fan page using the static FBML application.
2. Get rid of extraneous tabs on your wall (with the exception of the "wall" and "info" tab which are static applications and cannot be deleted.
3. Add a real estate listings tab to your Facebook fan page using the Roost Social Real Estate Platform Application.
4. Build your list by adding your e-newlsetter to your Facebook fan page.
5. Create a better bio page by adding the Extended Info application to your Facebook fan page.

These five ways to upgrade your real estate Facebook fan page are tantalizing treats for sure, but something is missing. How about a Welcome page to great your online visitors when they arrive at your fan page front door.

How to Create a Welcome Page on Facebook

I searched and scoured the internet looking for an attractive and easy way to customize my Facebook Fan Page without paying a customized fee for the service and still having control and ability to change the design. I found a few resources, many Facebook Fan Page Designers, and little else until I read Misty Lackie of GoSmart Solutions blog post on FaceItPages.

Misty let me give the product a spin and I definitely recommend spending the $39.99 on this product for the following reasons,

It has many designs to choose from and is enticing more designers to add their designs to the mix.
It has the ability to remove the footer thereby keeping only your brand on the welcome page.
It has tracking ability and the ability to add Google Analytics for further tracking details.
It has the ability to swap out your design for another one at anytime. This is very useful if your real estate company/business is going through a re-branding strategy.

You can add video, links to your other social networks and websites and a knock out FAQ about your business using FaceItPages. The one thing you'll want to have handy when you create your page is your header, content,links to websites/social networks, location of video. It is a really easy to it yourself application. The only tricky part might be installing the HMTL code from the Facebook page using the FBML application, but you learned how to do that in Part I of this series.

FaceItPages is a very simple and effective way to greet your Real Estate Facebook fan page visitors.

Once you have created your welcome page, you'll want to move it front and center so it's the first page visitors see when they come to your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page.

Here's how to relocate your Welcome Page to first position

1. Click settings on your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page.
2. Under "View Settings" go to "Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else" and click "Welcome" in the drop down menu.

Once you're done your welcome tab is the first page visitors to your Real Estate Facebook fan page will see.

BAM.

How to Add your Blog to your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page

A great way to gain more exposure, readers, and keep that content flowing on your Real Estate Facebook fan page is to add your blog. Here are a few quick steps to get your blog up and on your Real Estate Facebook fan page.

1. Go to Social RSS
2. Choose your Real Estate Facebook fan page in the drop down under quick select.

3. Add the URL of your RSS feed for your blog.

4. Type the title of your tab under "tab settings", description of your blog, link to your blog's website. Let the application know if it should auto like posts and send the feed to your wall.

Go back to your Real Estate Facebook fan page and click "Edit Page" under your logo. Find RSS Social and click "Edit application". Under "Applications" find Social RSS. Click "Application Settings". A box labeled "Edit Social RSS Settings" will pop up. Under Tab click "Add". Then Click "Okay". Now return to your Real Estate facebook Fan Page. Find your tab by clicking the >> symbol in the header. Right click your mouse and drag and drop your blog tab to it's desired location.

You've just added your blog to your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page. BAM.

Follow Posts 1-4 of this series on Real Estate Facebook Fan Pages and you will have a healthy, hearty offering for visitors to your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page to devour. Bon Appetit.

If you enjoyed this post about Facebook, then check out these social media marketing and blogging how to's:

How to Re-Purpose your Real Estate Blog's Content to Grow Your Email List in 5 Simple Steps
How to Cut Your Real Estate Blogging Time in Half and Re-Purpose your Content Three Ways with the Time Saved
The Top 5 Ways to Prune Your Real Estate Blog

Subscribe to Blogging In The Rain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

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Rebecca D. Levinson of Real Skillz is a real estate marketing consultant with 18 years of experience serving real estate professionals. Real Skillz Real estate marketing services include,

Blogging- See my Blogging Tune-Up Website for Details
Social Networking
Niche Marketing
Marketing Strategy
Branding- See my Branding Sanity Website for Details
Offline Marketing
Online Marketing
Special Events Promotion and Marketing
Holiday Marketing
Marketing Campaigns
Email Marketing (Content and Design)
Reputation Management

If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-745-0715 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

Five Ways to Upgrade and Put the "Bam" in your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page

2010-05-27T10:50:19Z

Five Ways to Upgrade and Put the "Bam" In Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page (Part III)

If you have followed Part I and Part II of this Facebook Fan Page series you now know how to customize tabs for your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page using the static FBML application, how to get rid of extraneous tabs on your wall (with the exception of the "wall" and "info" tab which are static applications and cannot be deleted), and how to add a listings tab to your Facebook fan page using the Roost Social Real Estate Platform Application.

In Part III of this series we are going to add two more tabs to customize your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page. One is a newsletter application and the other is an extended information application,

How to Add Your E-Newsletter to Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page

A basic element to great real estate marketing is in building an opt-in contact list who you can reach via email/phone/mail with your special real estate offers, notice of your services, community happenings, and real estate information that paints you as the local expert. An opt-in email list provides you with a receptive audience for high touch branding, prospecting, and sales.

The first thing you will want to do is to log into your email marketing platform. In your email marketing platform you need to find the html for "Join My Mailing List". I use Constant Contact and in that program you can find the html code under Contacts>>Join My Mailing List. Make sure that when you create your mailing list sign up form you provide an explanation of what people will get when the subscribe to your E-Newsletter-W.I.I.F.T (Whats-In-It-For-Them).

You will use the steps we discussed in Part I of the series to create your Newsletter tab. First go to your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page and click, "Edit Page" under your logo.

Go to an existing FBML application and click the "edit" hyperlink. If you haven't created any custom tabs using the FBML application and this will be your first tab, follow the steps outlined in Part I of this series.

Add the Name of your Tab in the "Box Title" and add the HTML code you copied from your email program into the box labeled "FBML". Scroll down to the bottom of the page when you are done and click "Save Changes".

Return to "Edit Page" and look for your newsletter tab. It will say "Newsletter-FBML" or if you labeled it something other than newsletter it will say "name you labeled it-FBML".

Click on the hyperlink "Application Settings" and click "Edit page" under your logo. You will get a pop-up box that says, "Edit Static FBML 3 Settings". Click "Add" next to the tab option and then okay. The pop-up box will disappear. When it does scroll back up the page and click the "View Page" hyperlink under your logo.

Once you have returned to your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page, Click the >> Sign. You will see your newly created newsletter tab. You will right click your mouse and drag your newsletter tab to your toolbar and the result should be a nice branded newsletter tab.

Your newsletter tab will now show up on your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page.

BAM.

How to Add An Extended Info Tab To Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page

I really dislike the static "Info" Tab that comes with your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page, but was able to hunt up the Extended Info Tab application which much more flavorful. You can use the Extended Tab application to add a list of links, bullet points, "about me/my brand/business" information, videos, mp3's, and images.

Download the Extended Info Application here. Please note, in order to add this application to your Facebook Fan Page you have to click the "Add to my Page" hyperlink. Do not click the "Go to Application" button.

Once you click the "Add to my Page" hyperlink you will be brought to a screen with an Editor. Add your title and then click "Insert new field".

A box will open up and you will choose the fields you want to add. You can add an FBML box, videos, mp3s, bullet point lists, and more. Depending on what you want this page to be this application with it's customized fields allows you a world of options. You can use it to add an about me page, or your own featured listings, how about a video to showcase some properties, or perhaps a podcast. You can do as little or as much as you want.

Once you are done, click the "save changes" box on the right hand side of the editor.

Return to your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page. Click "Edit Page" under your logo and search for your new Extended Info Tab.

Click the "Application Settings" hyperlink and a pop up box labeled "Edit Extended Info Settings" will pop up. Click "Add" Next to the Tab Option. Return to your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page and click the >> sign. You will see your newly created Extended Info Tab. Right click your mouse and drag and drop your tab into the toolbar.

And BAM, you have made two important updates to your Real Estate Facebook Fan page with a delectable new offering.

Today we added a lead capture tab in the form of your newsletter to give your visitors information (pull them) so you can push them (gently and willingly) i

nto your list (the money maker). We then added the feature rich Extended Info Tab so that you can express yourself far more that that silly static info tab that comes with EVERY fan page. The extended info page will allow you to stand out and serve up plenty of apps, main courses and some dessert in the form of audio, video and compelling html text.

In Part IV we will add your blog and build a Welcome Page for your visitors.

BAM.

If you enjoyed this post about Facebook, then check out these social media marketing and blogging how to's:

Subscribe to Blogging In The Rain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

*************************************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson of Real Skillz is a real estate marketing consultant with 18 years of experience serving real estate professionals. Real Skillz Real estate marketing services include,

Blogging- See my Blogging Tune-Up Website for Details
Social Networking
Niche Marketing
Marketing Strategy
Branding- See my Branding Sanity Website for Details
Offline Marketing
Online Marketing
Special Events Promotion and Marketing
Holiday Marketing
Marketing Campaigns
Email Marketing (Content and Design)
Reputation Management

If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-745-0715 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

Five Ways to Upgrade and Put the "Bam" In Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page (Part II)

2010-05-25T13:01:39Z

Five Ways to Upgrade and Put the "Bam" In Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page (Part II)

In Part I of "Five Ways to Upgrade and Put the Bam in Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page" we discussed why it's important to have a full service offering that is branded toward your real estate business and market. We built the foundation of that customization process by learning how install and use the static FMBL application for Facebook.

In Part II of this series we are going to start using our real estate marketing skillz, and the tools and applications available to customize your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page. The first step is to give visitors what they are seeking on the Internet when it comes to real estate.....real estate listings of course.

How to Add Your Real Estate Listings to Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page

The Roost Social Real Estate Platform application allows you to add real estate listings to your real estate Facebook fan page. This application makes it super easy to add listings to your real estate profile provided by Roost. It will take you through 5 easy steps in which you will:

1. Create a Facebook Fan Page. If you already have a Real Estate Facebook Fan Page it will pull your Fan Page(s) (and Personal Pages). Once you have completed this step the applications will ask you to read the Terms and Conditions (read them) and then move onto Step 2 by clicking the hyperlink "Create Profile" next to your Facebook Real Estate Fan Page.

2. Create a Profile- The Roost Social Real Estate Platform Application will ask you to create a profile. You will add your name, photo, logo, slogan, business profile, phone number, links to website, and email address and then you will pick your Real Estate State and City. The next step is to choose which data you want to display: Roost.com data, Altos Research Chart, Education.com stats, and Walkscore. You will choose which ones you want to include by checking these options on your profile.

A few really slick things about this profile creation tool:

It builds your real estate tab on the right hand side as you add information so you can preview what it looks like.
It pulls the location of your logo and head shot photos so you don't have to go searching around for them on your computer.
It allows someone else to build the Real Estate Listings tab for you (such as a personal or virtual assistant).

When you are done click the button "Save Settings" at the bottom of the profile builder.

3. Add your Real Estate Listings Tab to Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page. Return to the Roost Social Real Estate Platform Application Page and Click the hyperlink"Add to my Page" located in the left-hand margin under the Roost logo.

You will get a pop-up box that says "Add Roost-Social Media Platform to Your Page". Click the tab "Add to Page" located next to the name of your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page. Click the link . You will get a pop-up box that says "Add Roost-Social Media Platform to Your Page".

Click the tab "Add to Page" located next to the name of your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page.

4. Return to your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page and click the "Edit your Page" hyperlink located under your Logo.

Under the category "Applications" find the one titled, "Roost-Social Real Estate Platform" and click the hyperlink "Application Settings".

You will get a pop-up box that says "Edit Roost- Social Real Estate Platform Settings". Next to the "Tab" option click the hyperlink, "add" and then click the "Okay" button in the right-hand bottom corner of the pop-up box.

5. Scroll back up the page when the pop-up box disappears and Click the "View Page" hyperlink at the top of the Edit the Page Screen. Click the >> sign at the top of your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page and look for the tab "Real Estate".

And BAM, you have you your new real estate listings tab and have made an important update to your Real Estate Facebook Fan page with a delectable new offering.

How To Remove those Unwanted Facebook Tabs from Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page

Hang with me for one more minute. In Part I of this series I mentioned that Facebook will only let you have four custom tabs on your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page. The "Wall" tab and the "Info" tab are static and unable to be deleted as of this posting. In order to make room for the upgrades in the upcoming Part III of this series, I want you to do some housekeeping.

We are going to remove the Discussions Tab and the Reviews tab that are on your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page when you first set it up.

1. Go to your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page.

2. Click on the "Discussions" Tab. You will see a pencil icon when you click on the Discussions tab. Click on the pencil icon and an option to "Delete" tab will come up.

3. Click on "Delete Tab". Your Discussions tab will be eliminated.

Repeat the same three steps exactly as outlined to remove the "Reviews" tab.

Now you have cut the fat and laid the table for a mighty feast and some hungry visitors. Today we have removed the Discussions and Reviews tab and added the delectable "Real Estate listings tab to your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page. In Part III we will add two additional tabs to your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page and in Part IV we will use that handy Static FBML application to build a Welcome Page for your visitors.

BAM.

If you enjoyed this post about Facebook, then check out these social media marketing and blogging how to's:

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*************************************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson of Real Skillz is a real estate marketing consultant with 18 years of experience serving real estate professionals. Real Skillz Real estate marketing services include,

Blogging- See my Blogging Tune-Up Website for Details
Social Networking
Niche Marketing
Marketing Strategy
Branding- See my Branding Sanity Website for Details
Offline Marketing
Online Marketing
Special Events Promotion and Marketing
Holiday Marketing
Marketing Campaigns
Email Marketing (Content and Design)
Reputation Management

If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-745-0715 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

Five Ways to Upgrade and Put the "Bam" In Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page(Part I)

2010-05-24T17:51:17Z

Five Ways to Upgrade and Put the "Bam" in Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page (Part I)

If you're a fan of Emeril Lagasse then you know that everytime he knocks down a great recipe in front of a live audience he adds a little spice, a little kick, a little something extra at the end of the dish so when everything is mixed together and the cooking is done....BAM.

Emeril puts the bam in every one of those dishes he makes so the results are scintillating. Voila, that extra special something really knocks out your taste buds.

Facebook has a huge audience of willing participants as long as you're serving the right dishes for their hungry palates. How do you make sure those participants visit, become a member of, and refer your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page to their friends and family? Over the next four days I will dish you up five ways to upgrade with ease and put the "Bam" in Your Real Estate Facebook Fan Page.

Download the FBML Static Application

The static fbml application will allow you to use html or fbml (facebook markup language) to create customized tabs for your Facebook Fan Page. Once you download the application (make sure you choose to install it on your Facebook Fan Page as opposed to your Profile page) you will find it under your logo on your Facebook Real Estate Fan Page.

Click "Edit Page" and you will see the static FBML application. Click on the "Edit" hyperlink and you will be able to create a customized tab for your Facebook Fan Page.

You will be brought to a screen that asks you for a box title "title of your tab" and a box for FBML. In the box for FBML insert your FBML or HTML. This is similar to when you create notes on Facebook or when you create a blog post and use HTML instead of the WYSWIG processor

Once you have added your content you will click the blue box titled "Save Changes" and then go back to your Fan Page. Click the "Edit Page" hyperlink under your Fan Page's logo again and then go to your FBML application which will look like this "name of your tab-FBML". Click "Application Settings" and then you will get a pop-up box that says "Edit Static FBML Settings".

Click the "Add" button next to the "Tab" option in the "Edit Static FBML Settings" pop-up box.

Click the >> sign next to your tabs if you don't see your new custom tab on your fan page. Your fan page will allow you to display six tabs- 2 predetermined- wall and info, and 4 custom. If you want to rearrange the order of your tabs, right click your mouse and drag your tab to the position you prefer it to be in on your wall.

If you want to create more than one custom tab, scroll to the bottom of your existing application page and click the hyperlink that says "Add another FBML box". You will do this each time you want to add custom tabs to your Facebook Business Page.

You now know how to create custom tabs and upgrade your Facebook Fan Page. In Part 2, I will discuss which custom tabs will accentuate your Real Estate Fan Page and how to get rid of or mask some of those Facebook tabs that just don't have that "bam".

If you enjoyed this post about Facebook, then check out these social media marketing and blogging how to's:

Subscribe to Blogging In The Rain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

*************************************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson of Real Skillz is a real estate marketing consultant with 18 years of experience serving real estate professionals. Real Skillz Real estate marketing services include,

Blogging- See my Blogging Tune-Up Website for Details
Social Networking
Niche Marketing
Marketing Strategy
Branding- See my Branding Sanity Website for Details
Offline Marketing
Online Marketing
Special Events Promotion and Marketing
Holiday Marketing
Marketing Campaigns
Email Marketing (Content and Design)
Reputation Management

If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-745-0715 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

Don't Let Your Real Estate Marketing Mojo Pull the Revenue Producer Out of You

2010-05-19T22:56:47Z

Don't Let your Real Estate Marketing Mojo Pull the Revenue Producer Out of You

In both large and small businesses there is a palpable tug of war that exists between the marketing and sales departments. Sometimes the sales department, as revenue producers, eschew the ideas of "those marketing people" who don't ever seem to stick to a timeline. Sometimes those crazy marketing people, according to the sales department, will produce surprise campaigns that just don't fit the needs of their customers and are full of holes----they just don't think their strategies out before they roll them out.

The marketing department has to deal with those sometimes obnoxious and pushy sales people who promise things to their customers before they've hit the website or inked in print. Don't they understand that good campaigns take time and you can't just waive your hands with a wand and make good marketing happen...and good marketing isn't the only thing that makes the phone ring. Those sales people still need to sell.

The two headed dragon can be a monster of a problem for companies and even more so for a soloprenuer where the marketing head can easily dominate and cannibalize the sales head....leading to a one headed non producing medieval nightmare.

Don't let your real estate marketing mojo pull the revenue producer out of you.

Here are a few tips, especially in the web 2.0 internet world, to bring a balance to your business and allow both your sales and marketing efforts to push and pull in concert and grow your money tree,

Use the right tools on Twitter to generate leads.
Create a social media marketing strategy that includes ROI tied to revenue gains and opportunities, not just clicks and impressions.
Kill your old school puffery sales tactics. Build sales based on advantageous transparent relationships- WIIFM (Whats-In-It-For-Me).
Push market your real estate blog.
Choose a niche market for your real estate business, or two, or three. Why be a generalist when you can be a specialist?
Pick up the phone and call your leads. One more no will lead to a yes but you'll never know unless you give it a go.
Drop your busy work and concentrate on your money work.

Use these tips as a guideline and some simple reminders to allow your marketing to feed, not devour, your sales efforts. Check out these additional resources on the web for more sales reminders,

Don't Let Your Real Estate Marketing Mojo Pull the Revenue Producer Out of You.

Subscribe to Blogging In The Rain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

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Rebecca Levinson is an independent real estate marketing consultant who helps real estate professionals see through the blind spots in their real estate marketing. Call today #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com

Three Browser Extensions to Help your Real Estate Blogger's Block

2010-05-17T13:34:31Z

Three Browser Extensions to Help Your Real Estate Blogger's Block

ScribeFire

Ever start reading a blog post, comment, newspaper article, or get involved in a discussion forum and suddenly your mind starts filling up with perfect prose. Put those sparks of inspiration to good use and blog it baby. It's easy to do with the ScribeFire Add On for Firefox. Once ScribeFire is installed, click the icon and then right click "blog this page". ScribeFire has a simple editor with the ability to add images, videos, tags, as well as ping blog directories. You can save your notes for later, or you can blog and publish immediately to your blog (a great feature for live blogging webinars, seminars and conferences).

Download the ScribeFire extension for Firefox here or the ScribeFire extension for Google Chrome here. Do you want to synch ScribeFire to your ActiveRain blog? Follow these simple steps from Brad Andersohn.

Webnotes

I have a love affair with Webnotes and I am happy to tell the blogosphere. I loooove Webnotes, looove it. Why? It's easy to us and although I have the paid version, the free version will work for you. Webnotes is similar to Diigo. It's an annotating, bookmarking, highlighting, report making gem of a tool. Whenever I need to research something for a blog post I am writing I use webnotes to highlight, take notes, and save the URL of the source I'm citing. Webnotes will save all of this information for you and if you'd like it in a report format it can do that too.

Download the Webnotes extension for Firefox here or for the Webnotes extension for GoogleChrome here.

Trailmix Activities, Notes, and Files

Create easy snapshots you can use as images for your blog and take notes as you peruse the web. This is a great tool when you are creating that how to blog post....even for real estate consumers. Also for ongoing blog projects because you can organize clippings, notes, and links in folders so if you have ongoing blog series and make reference to other websites, timely articles, or blog posts this is a perfect blogging tool. The easy one click action with this extension makes it a winner in my blogging book.

Download the Trailmix extension for Firefox here. As of this blog posting there is no Trailmix extension currently available for GoogleChrome.

These three browser extensions have similar features so you may only need one extension to help kick your real estate blogger's block to the curb or use more than one to increase the effectiveness of your blogging schedule. It's all about using the tools to help you capture those epiphanies and words of wisdom that could break from your fingertips inspired at any moment...well, any moment online for now.

For those other moments, keep a pad of paper and a pen around-in your pocket, your purse, your nightstand, and yes...even in the bathroom.

If you enjoyed this post, then check out these other blog posts about real estate blogger's block:

An Easy Bake Recipe for Consistent Real Estate Blogging
Aspiring Real Estate Bloggers are Becoming Ventriloquist Dummies? Say It Ain't So- A Rant with A Few Blogging Solutions
Stuck in A Rut? The Top 5 Ways to Change Up the Ambiance and Get in the Mood to Blog

Subscribe to Blogging In The Rain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

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Rebecca Levinson is an independent real estate marketing consultant who helps real estate professionals see through the blind spots in their real estate marketing. Call today #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com. Need help with blogging? Check out my blogging tune-up program.

Ten Places to Drop your Real Estate Content Like It's Hot

2010-05-15T20:00:41Z

10 Places to Drop your Real Estate Content Like It's Hot

If you're looking for new readers, home buyers, and sellers, or a way to make an extra buck check out these 10 places to drop your content online and get rewarded with reader retention, new readership, and in some cases, additional revenue.

1. Opposing Views

The site enjoys a Google PageRank 6. After a simple registration process you have the ability to post a question, or add a blog post, news, data, opinion, press release, research or video.

2. Examiner.com
Apply to become a local city/town expert on up to three topics in which you have knowledge/expertise. Examiners receive revenue opportunities, back links to their website/blog, a support specialist, and a back end CMS that is user friendly along with writing tips and topic suggestions.

3. AssociatedContent
Create content-text,video,audio, or images. AssociatedContent has millions of viewers and has a revenue opportunity through its Performance Payments program.

4. Newsvine

Write new content and earn revenue. You can also "seed" by pointing readers to articles you've read online.

5. Constant-content.com
Submit articles and set a price for them (your receive 65% of the sales price). Contact customers with specific article proposals.

6. DemandStudios.com

Find freelance jobs for writers. Submit your resume, a link to your online portfolio (blog), and a sample of your writing to apply.

7. Google Knol
Sign up and share your knowledge by creating a knol on a topic of expertise.

8. DocStoc
Upload your documents, i.e, e-books, whitepapers, presentations, and set a price to sell them. You can gain additional revenue sharing opportunities through using Google AdSense.

9. Conduit.com
Create a toolbar for your website/blog and add your apps, links to your social media profiles, websites and recommended tools to add value and gain circulation and visiblity with every use and download of the toolbar.

10. Facebook "Like" Button
Easily create Facebook "Like" buttons for your webpages and blog posts that will push your content with each click of the button on your follower's pages and in front of their friend's faces.

Don't get overwhelmed with this list. Choose one or two that are the most pertinent for your real estate marketing goals and drop your real estate content like it's hot.

If you enjoyed this post then you'll want to read,

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Ten Internet Places to Prospect, Brand, and Sell Your Real Estate Services Online

2010-04-25T16:32:16Z

Ten Internet Places to Prospect, Brand, and Sell Your Real Estate Services Online

There is a worldwide web of opportunity for real estate professionals who are serious about cultivating and closing new business from online venues. While some prefer to do busywork without a focus be the professional that maneuvers around their idle vehicles and takes the path that leads to the money work.

Here are Ten Internet Places to Prospect, Brand, and Sell your Real Estate Services Online

1. Question and Answer websites

Question and answer websites have received triple digit growth and are widely popular among females and Generation X consumers. Hop on board the inquisitive (i.e. lead generation) train and answer real estate questions where consumers ask online.

2. Call to Action in your Blog Posts
Don't ass-u-me that your blog readers will call you, email you, or visit your website without a clear direction or invitation to do so. You need to direct your blog's traffic by including strong call to actions on each and every blog post your write, whether you are targeting real estate consumers or real estate professionals.

3. Discussion Forums

Online productivity is a two way street where people have real interactions that can lead to sales transactions. Don't miss out. Visit and join the online discussion forums where conversations are active online. Your brand will become visible the more you make yourself accessible to real estate buyers and sellers who are seeking a good dialogue.

4. Facebook "like" Pages

Create your fan "like" page(s) on Facebook using your brand name and smart keywords associated with your local real estate market/niche markets. Launch contests, advertise your listings, syndicate your blog, inform buyers and sellers of current real estate trends, and offer your real estate services.

5. Syndication of Real Estate Listings

According to Hitwise,"Visits to classified websites rose 84 percent in one year, rising fastest between December 2008 and February 2009". Can you smell the sales opportunity?
Use an online classified flyer service to syndicate your real estate listings online and be in front of your target market.

6. Announcements in Your Blog Posts

Use Google alerts to keep track of real estate news. Announce the latest real estate news on your blog and help real estate consumers to determine how this can effect their real estate situation.

7. Microblogging

Use Twitter to find home buyers and real estate sellers in your town, to syndicate your blog posts, and to let people know who you are and that you are ready, willing and able to help them with their real estate needs.

8. List Building

List building is an essential online sales tactic. The more interested parties you can collect contact information from the more prospects you have in your pipeline to brand your name and sell your services to consistently. The money is in the list so collect that contact information via E-Newsletters, YouTube Subscriptions, Blog Subscriptions, and Podcast Subscriptions E-zines, and E-Books.

9. Micro Websites

If you're marketing more than one real estate niche consider investing in some additional Internet real estate space by creating micro websites that have information on each niche. Your target markets will appreciate being able to find information pertinent to their needs without having to dig through the pages of a larger multi-purpose website Don't forget to market your micro websites once you have created them.

10. Referrals

Let your fellow real estate and business professionals know that you are happy to help and willing to accept their referrals. Let them know how you will take care of their clients and what your follow-up process is (a big selling point as so many professionals seem to be lacking good referral skills). Shout it out on Twitter, your blog, and a B2B network like LinkedIn.

Use these ten online places to create a winning strategy to prospect, brand, and sell your real estate services online.

**************************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate professionals. Real estate marketing services include

Blogging- See my Blogging Tune-Up Website for Details
Social Networking
Niche Marketing
Marketing Strategy
Branding- See my Branding Sanity Website for Details
Offline Marketing
Online Marketing
Special Events Promotion and Marketing
Holiday Marketing
Marketing Campaigns
Email Marketing (Content and Design)
Reputation Management

If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-745-0715 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T- In Real Estate Marketing and Sales Means Everything

2010-04-24T00:03:34Z

R.E.S.P.E.C.T- In Real Estate Marketing and Sales Means Everything

Real Estate Professionals

Entrepreneurs-------Independent Contractors

Eager, Ready, Willing and Able....wouldn't ya think so?

This melting pot is a tricky mix but one thing is for sure

If you wanna be a success in real estate you just have to know

R.E.S.P.E.C.T- In Real Estate Marketing and Sales Means Everything- What does that mean? O.K. Let's go:

R- Recruit- Recruiting is the name of the game for real estate brokers. Use your blog and social networks to market to internet savvy real estate agents and shout out your brokerage's agent advantage.

If you're an agent who is looking to build out a team, network with other local real estate agents online and sell your value proposition by getting to know like-minded professionals. You could find the real estate agent who has the missing element to your equation that could set your business on fire....or at least get the kindling sparked.

E-Empower- Empower real estate consumers by giving them the information they need to make decisions without forcing them to contact you first. Blog about new legislation and changes to real estate within your niche and market that will effect them. If you're not an expert on all things touching real estate that's okay. Reach out to local service providers and interview them or ask them to be a guest blogger.

Be the conduit to the information and brand yourself as a valuable resource.

S-Syndicate- Syndicate your posts to LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and all the social networks that you have a presence on. The amount of social networks that have no cost tied to them along with the abundance of online real estate forums and blog directories makes syndication your real estate marketing best friend.

Don't make your blog a dirty little secret. Use syndication and let your blog presence be known.

P-Perfect- Improve your online presence. Take some time after you have taken a social marketing class or read a book on blogging techniques to go back and use your new found knowledge to draw better results. Sitting in webinars and flying to conferences, reading your heart out til 1 a.m every night means nothing if you don't take at least one or two techniques and use them to boost the results you are getting from your real estate internet marketing and real estate blogging.

E-Emerge- Emerge from behind blog lurker obscurity. If you haven't yet begun to blog but have enjoyed social networking communities start to engage by commenting regularly and then take the next step and start microblogging.

Platforms like Posterous make it simple to post photos and blog prose...even right from your email, until you feel comfortable jumping to another platform.

C-Create Original Content- Content is your home run, over the fence, guaranteed results driven money maker if you work it. The thing about great content is if you work it hard it's seeds blow far and wide across the world wide web, populating your blog with traffic, new readers, repeat loyal readers, prospects, and clients that close.

Do the homework and take the time to improve your content and your copy writing skills. A content driven strategy is the winning strategy online.

T-Test. Test your real estate marketing's effectiveness. Use Google Analytics and check your website and blog statistics. Add a search bar to your website and see what people are searching for but not finding when they come to your website. Know your page rank and that of your competitors. Consider switching out headlines on your e-newsletters like the Huffington post does and see what is most effective.

Never think you always know what your website visitors and blog readers want, try, test, try, test and then do it repeatedly for online real estate marketing success.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T- In Real Estate Marketing and Sales Means Everything

Subscribe to BloggingInTheRain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

*************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience servicing real estate industry professionals.

If you need assistance with online marketing, offline marketing, social networking, or blogging contact Rebecca D. Levinson at #262-745-0715 or email rebecca@bloggingintherain.com.

3 Simple Ways to Touch-Up Your Internet Presence for Effective Real Estate Marketing

2010-03-10T16:04:32Z

3 Simple Ways To Touch-Up Your Internet Presence for Effective Real Estate Marketing

First impressions do make a difference. Here are three simple ways to keep your Internet presence effective for real estate marketing and make it outlast the competition.

1. Email addresses

Let them work or you. Instead of sending clients to a yahoo, gmail, or even aol address send them to your primary business domain- yourname@yourname.com.

Send spam to your yahoo account.

Track business from your blog by using a different domain.

Domains can be purchased cheaply right now and to add an email service is truly pocket change. The biggest take away is to give clients a true domain that brands you, not aol, gmail or yahoo.

2. Margin of your blog

You have numerous opportunities to brand yourself on your blog and I have discussed this topic before. Yet with each new clever widget invented comes an opportunity for a company to fill up your real estate with their name, their brand, and their offerings. Before you add a widget next time think about what you are trying to accomplish in that space on your blog.

Are you seeking credibility? Awards might be good widgets to have.
Are you trying to make it a contact capture mechanism? Try a newsletter sign-up for widget or click to call/text widget.
Are you trying to have consumers visit your website- Add links with good keyword anchor text that sends them to pertinent pages on your website.
Are you trying to promote other companies and ditch your offerings?Add all sorts of widgets that are fresh out of the box and ready to take your internet traffic that you blog hard for.

It is true that sometimes the simplest things can be the most effective. The details can make or break you EVERY TIME.

3. Analyze Your Web Presence and Your Competitors

You may not be a web designer but being a real estate professional you know that analytics and competitive analysis is important. Carry this thirst for information from the offline landscape to your online presence. You can use HubSpot's website grader product to analyze your website. Don't just stop at your website.

Test your real estate competitor's websites with this tool and compare the differences.

Tracking a competitive advantage is so much easier to do online then offline because in business matters no one is trying to be a secret on the worldwide web.

Keeping your brand online and top of mind requires maintenance. Don't let your brand start to sag and become dormant. Use these touch-ups to freshen up your brand and stay on top.

If you enjoyed this post, you might want to read:

5 Tips on Choosing the Right Days to Market Your Real Estate Services Online

The Top 5 Ways to Prune Your Real Estate Blog

Ten Ways to Analyze and Measure to Make Sure Your Online Marketing Efforts Aren't Half Baked

Subscribe to BloggingInTheRain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

**************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate industry professionals.

If you need assistance with online marketing, offline marketing, social networking, or bloggingcontact Rebecca D. Levinson at #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@bloggingintherain.com.

2/06/2010-2/28/2010 RealSkillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

2010-03-08T20:48:27Z

2/06/2010-2/28/2010 RealSkillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Ten Types of Landing Page Goals for PPC Campaigns

A blog post from Search Engine Journal about how to get results from your PPC campaigns.

Many real estate professionals ask about the effectiveness of PPC campaigns. Effective PPC campaigns start with good landing pages. The blog post gives you ten ways to meet your prospecting/conversion goals.

Not to be missed are #2 Leads, #3 Up-sell or Cross Sells, and #4 Video Views.

5 Steps to Successful Facebook Advertising

A blog post from DuctTape Marketing with simple tips and how to's on creating good advertising for Facebook. A few great take aways include:

Choose the CPC (Cost per Click) Model yields a better ROI.
Create multiple ad versions and test for effectiveness.
Use the Facebook Insights Tool to monitor interaction.
Create your ad sponsoring free content or an event is a more effective way to draw people to your pge than using traditional push marketing ads.

#Spon, #Paid, and #Samp: New Tags for Shilling on Twitter

Good article from ReadWriteWeb with a link to WOMMA's Social Media Marketing Disclosure Guide and the tags you should use when tweeting about a company/product that you are receiving something from in return.

Paid sponsorhip guidelines are important to pay attention to and keep up with online. This article is a good resource and at the very least should be bookmarked for near future reading, especially if you do any affililiate marketing or have sponsors on your blog/website or promote through your social marketing and microblogging efforts.

6 Approaches to Your Company Blog

A blog post from ReadWriteWeb for their ReadWriteStart channel (for entrepreuners and first time start-ups). The post breaks company blogs into 6 different category types. The Operations category would be relevant to real estate brokers as would elements of the Research category.

Make sure to check out the diagram in Figure 1. Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2009. The diagram anticipates that corporate blogging is two years away from mainstream adoption.

Creating a theme for your blog is an important exercise and will keep your efforts on target and your readers loyal and true blue.

Longtail Keywords: Using Keyword Phrases that Make Sales

A good article from ClickTalez about creating longtail keyword copy that makes sales rather than emphasizes giving away free information. There is a time and balance for both in online marketing and if you always advertise free, you are running from push sales. A balance of push and pull should be in all of your online marketing efforts in order to grow your revenue and not become a philanthropist in the process.

Terry explains how to balance out your keywords by defining and giving examples between commercal longtail keywords and informational longtail keywords. She also provides the use and relevance of both.

In this post there is a gem in the comments section where a commentor recommends using a free tool for keyword research thats sits alongside your blog editing screen by Wordtracker called SEO blogger.

The tool will help you to define your commercial and informational longtail keywords as you edit your blog post. Very cool.

Subscribe to BloggingInTheRain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

*************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience servicing real estate industry professionals.

If you need assistance with online marketing, offline marketing, social networking, or blogging contact Rebecca D. Levinson at #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@bloggingintherain.com.

1/24/2010-2/05/2010 RealSkillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

2010-02-14T22:11:08Z

1/24/2010-2/05/2010 RealSkillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

How to Create An Incentive for Visitors To Fan Your Facebook Page

A blog post, day 17 in a series from John Haydon on how to optimize your blog with social media, that concentrates on Facebook Fan Pages. Haydon's tips are easy to follow and involve creating content for Facebook Fans that visitors

can't see using the static FBML application.

This content should be useful to your Facebook Fans.

Haydon mentions his own Facebook Fan Video that are not available elsewhere. I would suggest reminding your fans that

if they have Facebook friends who could use this information then to please recommend they become a Fan of the page

after they have received the special content.

Bill Gassett's post,Agent Applause Real Estate Marketing Ideas,

is also recommended reading. The tip on thanking fans for joining

is a traditional technique that makes common sense.

How to Recruit a Guest Blogger

An article from Website Magazine on a topic that I see real estate professionals desire to enter into yet many struggle to carry through- adding guest bloggers to the mix. The article gives solid tips on recruiting guest bloggers includes:

Offer a link with keyword anchor text at top of post and body of post to guest blogger's website.
Give stats on number of blog subscribers and newsletter subscribers.
Post bio and photo of guest blogger.

I strongly recommend you visit the full article on guest bloggers and check out the bonus section which includes a tool you can use to find a guest blogger.

Using guest bloggers can really help to lighten your load and make your blog even more valuable to readers. Creating an Editorial Calendar will further help recruit and retain guest bloggers and generate traffic to your blog.

10 Free Online Sales Tools for 2010

An article on BNet from Geoffrey James about online sales tools to help sales professionals. The entire article is extremely useful and cleverly organized. The list is broken down into what each tool does, how it helps you sell, if it has any drawbacks,

why it's free (really clever section IMO), the name of the vendor, and where to get it. Very nicely done.

Of all ten tools noted in the article I found these three to be especially useful for real estate professionals:

Xobni- A plug-in for Microsoft Outlookthat displays a live stream of social information about your contacts inside Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010 by pulling information, including photos, from the web, LinkedIn, Facebook, Hoovers, Twitter, and Salesforce.
The Ultimate Cold Calling Tool from BNet- Categories of objections that you can click open and use one of the responses in your cold calls. They also have The Ultimate Prospect Qualification Tool. Nice two-fer for real estate professionals.
DemandBase-Desktop widget that lets you know what businesses are visiting your website, what search terms they use to find your site, and which pages they visit.

These sales tools should pack some power to your sales calls and marketing efforts to help rev up your effectiveness and seal your deals.

Email + Social Bookmarking=Instant Rankings

An article from Dr. Ralph Wilson of Web Marketing Today that gives really simple steps to a good link strategy using your blog readers and email marketing database. The article gives good concrete steps to follow and emphasizes that there is no magic formula, these steps involve dedication and hard work. The article also includes a real life example of a successful campaign and emphasizes the need to ask your readers for a social bookmark by creating a call to action in your email newsletters and website landing pages.

These links back to your online newsletter and landing pages will help increase not only your link popularity but get your voice spread virally among your subscribers friends creating additional opportunity to increase your database.

Integrate SMS and Social Marketing

A post on the MarketingSherpa Blog from Adam Sutton discussing the importance of considering multiple channels to reach customers to grow your database. The article discusses the fact that social and mobile marketing are effective when they are coupled with email marketing. As stand alone efforts SMS and social maketing are currently less effective than email marketing.

If you think about the stand alone rule for offline marketing, for example running a mailing campaign like postcards, where you need at least eight impressions before the customer recognizes the brand it makes sense that adding multiple online channels to your marketing campaign would increase the effectiveness.

It also makes sense that while some prospects might not immediately sign up for your SMS, a prompt on a Facebook fan page and an email campaign outlining the value and he WIIFM if they take the action might prompt them to do so.

Subscribe to BloggingInTheRain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

************************************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate industry professionals.

If you need assistance with online marketing, offline marketing, social networking, or blogging contact Rebecca D. Levinson at #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@bloggingintherain.com.

The Top Top Three Tips to Become A Blog Originator and Build your Brand Identity Online

2010-02-08T10:40:52Z

The Top Three Tips to Become a Blog Originator and Build Your Brand Identity Online

Is blogging dead? This is the question that seems to resurface every time a micro-blogging platform gains more visibility, new features, and higher traction. To me it is like a comparison between a quick bite to eat and a great home cooked meal or an elegant dinner with fireside dining.

Sometimes I need information and conversation that is quick and fast, other times I might want to opine and banter back and forth soaking up the prose along the way and digesting an idea to let it permeate my thought patterns and hopefully create something great as a result.

....Or just be satisfied with a belly full of good conversation among people I respect.

What might just be dead, though, is the regurgitation of tired topics. As bloggers we need to create content that matters to our readers. As business bloggers we have the tools at our disposal to see what is relevant to our readers and write about new topics and old topics with a brand new bent.

Blogging for business is about establishing your brand, your presence, and your authority on a topic and owning it in your own unique way.

Blogging for business is one of the greatest tools available for real estate professionals to brand their business online.

Here are the Top Three Ways to Become a Blog Originator and Build Your Brand Identity Online

Create a theme focused blog

Create a theme for your blog and stick to it. Start tracking categories on your blog so you can be mindful of the topics you are blogging about and if those topics are staying consistent with your blog's theme or if they are starting to run off track. It's easy to meander on your blog and if you do this consistently you are shooting your brand in your foot and run the risk of losing readership and business in the process.

Need help finding a theme? Use this blogging workbook designed to help real estate professionals decide on a focus for their real estate blogs and create a strategy for blogging and micro-blogging.

Develop your Blogging Voice

The stronger the dialog, the stronger the brand; the weaker the dialog, the weaker the brand.

~ Larry Webber

Content is big business online. How do you create and maintain originality while still remaining a water fountain of information that your readers thirst for and pass on to their friends and family? The answer is to develop your blogging voice. You can do this by working on traditional writing exercises that will help tone and strengthen your blogging muscles and allow you to feel more at ease letting your personality seep through your blog prose. Here are 36 resources to create blog content that blossoms online.

Developing your writing skills will allow your blogging voice to seep through your blog posts and up the emotional value in your real estate blog posts.

Use and Protect Your Blog's Property Wisely

Once you have developed a readership and gained traction in the blogosphere for your niche market make sure to use and protect your blog property wisely. There are many widgets and applications designed to make blogging easier and at the same time pull your readership to those companies internet property and away from yours.

You will also find that if you make a big impact online by working your blog with dedication there will be other professionals eager to have you open up your blog to their services and products. Choose your affiliations wisely and keep your reader's needs in mind FIRST before you recommend other professionals products or services whether it be in a blog post or by an ad on your blog.

Your association by link, blog prose, widget, or ad will be attached to your brand and your name for all to see.

Consider your blog as a primary Internet storefrontto showcase your products, services, and unique selling proposition BEFORE considering outside resources for your readership.

Consider all these components of your blog as branding opportunities,

Blog Header
Call to Action in the Footers
Blog Post Headlines
Blog prose in each post
Outbound links
Interlinking
Tags
Photos
Images
Blog Margin/Side Bar
Groups you join to Promote Blog Posts in a Community
Name of Your Blog
Blog Post Topics
Blog Archives
Blog Categories
Alt Tags

Don't miss another opportunity to build your brand identity online through your blog. Use the top three tips and become a blog originator.

Subscribe to Blogging in the Rain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

*************************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate industry professionals.

If you need assistance with online marketing, offline marketing, social networking, or blogging contact Rebecca D. Levinson at #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@bloggingintherain.com.

Week of 01/18/10- 01/23/10 Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

2010-01-31T20:26:36Z

Week of 01/18/10- 01/23/10 Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real

Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Developing Perusasive Content for List Building

An article from Website Magazine on the different ways to strengthen your content in

order to build your contact database. The article breaks down persuasive content into

three categories: logical content, credible content, and emotional content and cites general

examples of what type of content satisfies these categories. After reading the article I would

keep a cheat sheet handy that outlines each category and a brief summary of what it means.

When you write your blog posts start marking them Logical, Credible, and Emotional. Keep a

notice of which type of posts you lean more heavily toward.

If most of your posts, for example, lean toward the emotional category and you are blogging

for business, you need to revisit your blogging strategy and mix in more posts under the

categories of logical and credible to draw business. If none of your blog posts have an

emotional bent, you need to create a strategy to create blog content that has an emotional value

so new readers and subscribers can connect with you.

Balancing your content is a winning real estate marketing strategy.

Use Chrome, Stay Focused: New Plug-In Limits Frivolous Browsing

An article from Jodie O'Dell of ReadWriteWeb that discusses two plug-ins to help keep

you focused and manage how you spend your time online. One plug-In noted is

LeechBlock for Firefox and the other is StayFocsd for Google Chrome. Time

management is a fundamental business necessity and online time can seemingly evaporate

if you don't track, monitor and stay disciplined with your activities.

These two plug-ins help you get the job done online by cutting out any wandering you may have

along the way.

The Eight Elements of Contagious Ideas

A blog post from Dan Zarella that breaks down eight tactics you can use to help make your

online marketing campaigns spread virally. Zarella is known as a viral marketing scientist and

the tactics explained are done so in an analytical fashion. The post is worth your time and if you

like crunching historical marketing with a new media twist it will be worth your read. Some take

aways include:

Influential users share content more frequently than average social media users

Twitter proves this to be true.

Unique Ads get the most attention. The Geiko commercials illustrate this point.

Present old information/messaging in a new package for a powerful message resonates with readers.-Stir up your blog and create remixes of your posts that are classics.

Read the whole post for all eight elements of contagious ideas.

Ten Ways to Make Wordpress More Useful

AN article from Jon Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing on Wordpress Plug-Ins. While I found

that most of these plug-ins made sense, here are four that I think are especially worth a look

from real estate professionals:

        Wishlist Member- A paid membership site or course site. Think about training for real estate professionals or even course training
        on real estate topics for real estate consumers.
        Sociable- Adds links to social networking sites to consumers can share your content online.
       Related Content- Displays posts that are contextually related to your blog post.
        MoFuse- Creates a mobile friendly version of your blog.


       There are many plug-ins for Wordpress so it's nice when a simple blog post can make the cream

rise to the top.

YouTube Basics for SEO

A blog post from Wil Reynolds of SEER Interactive with excellent video marketing tips.

The full post is power packed with some easy how to's and ah ha moments. Some great

take aways include:

1. Put your URL as the first part of the description for every video you post.

2. Thank webmasters/bloggers who embed your video and ask for feedback and a link to your website.

3. Post your videos and a text description on your website not just YouTube.
 
 This is a really easy to follow SEO post and well worth the entire read.  Reynolds not only explains 

the how but the why in practical terms that are more real people speak then tech speak.  
 
 Get to know me on Facebook as a friend and if you like what I'm doing I'd be honored for

you to become a RealSkillz Real Estate Marketing Fan.

*******************************************************************************
Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate professionals. Real estate marketing services include

Blogging- See my Blogging Tune-Up Website for Details

Social Networking

Niche Marketing

Marketing Strategy

Branding- See my Branding Sanity Website for Details

Offline Marketing

Online Marketing

Special Events Promotion and Marketing

Holiday Marketing

Marketing Campaigns

Email Marketing (Content and Design)

Reputation Management

If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

Week of 01/10/10- 01/18/10 Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

2010-01-20T11:22:46Z

Week of 01/10/10- 01/18/10 Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

What's Motivating the Social Relationship Between Consumers and Companies?

A new chart from Marketing Sherpa exploring how consumers interact with companies who use social media. The report follows Max Connectors (people with more than 500 social connections), Daily Users and All Respondents. The reason most consumers friend/follow companies is because they want to learn about special sales followed closely by wanting to learn about new products/features/services.

Keep this in mind when marketing reduced listings, posting new inventory, and discussing new housing bills.

SEO CHALLENGES FOR 2010 WITH AMANDA WATTLINGTON

An insightful interview with Amanda Wattlington, SEO expert, on three SEO challenges for 2010 which include Google page loading speed, localization, and personalization.

What Wattlington has to say about localization and personalization is especially important. Remember that your offering should be as full as possible on your social media profiles because not all visitors will go to your website. Make sure to claim your business in online local directories.

Which Is Worse for Your Brain: Texting or Pot?(Hint: Pass the Pipe)

An article from Richard Young of BNet that cuts into the stress of the real time web and gives some no nonsense advise on how to deal with it.

A few stellar tips include,

Set a time to check for messages in the afternoon and use your brain for more important tasks; Turn off any alarms that notify you of email as it comes into your inbox.

Organize your thinking visually.

Break down complex information into sub-groups

Delegate more often.

Working online makes it difficult not to fall into the trap of 24/7 availablity. This article helps provide tips

on being less robotic and more human. Just as important it emphasizes that your effectiveness increases

when you are less tapped into a wired environment.

Ten Musts for Marketing to Women on Facebook

This article from Brette Burrow on Mashable discusses how to market to women online. Women account for over 56 million Facebook users and are the purchasing decision makers in most households.

Here is a Summary of the Top 10 Tips:

Create an emotional connection with your fans.

Design a post series that readers can rely on and is useful to them.

Share new products/services with your fans and help them take advantage of new offers online.

Quit being redundant. If you repost news to your Fan Page offer additional value.

Consider widgets that allow a transaction to occur right from your fan page (For real estate this could be a free home evaluation or access to listings; For mortgage professionals this could be rate quotes or daily rate summaries).

Respond to feedback and criticism.

Share the positive and address the negative.

Let your customers know about supply shortages or website problems.

Provide quality information in your Facebook posts and on your Facebook Fan Page. Stay away from spammy advertising.

Answer questions on your Facebook Fan Page.

Women are in the majority when it comes to making financial purchases and decisions. This is a helpful list to keep in mind as you are creating a

Facebook Fan Page Strategy. Also check out this summary notes report- "Marketing to Women".

The Mad Scientist of Cold Calling

An excerpt from an interview with Geoffrey James of BNet and Dr. James Oldroyd on the science of cold calling. There are some really fantastic metrics in this post which include,

The best times and day to qualify leads are between 8a.m.-9 a.m. and 4-5 p.m. on Thursdays.

Sales leads in the financial industries remain live or 24 hours.

Your focus shoud be on the newest leads first.

The full Lead Response Management study by Kellogg can be downloaded here and includes information on getting people to your website, creating effective lead capture website forms, contacting web leads and great stats and tactics on lead generation.

The report is worth the read and the timing strategy tip are excellent.

Use it in conjunction with these five tips on choosing the right day to market your real estate services online to create an effective prospecting schedule for your real estate business.

Real Skillz is grateful to have such loyal subscribers, readers, friends, followers and fans. For more practical tips and how subscribe to the Real to's Skillz Real Estate Marketing Newsletter.

Get to know me on Facebook as a friend and if you like what you're reading then please do me the honor of becoming a fan.

Five Tips to Create Emotional Value in Your Real Estate Blog Posts

2010-01-14T15:34:16Z

How do bloggers maintain loyal readership and gain new followers? Most bloggers discover over time that the way to do this is to blog consistently and satisfy your readers by giving them what they want. In business, this is information, given freely and regularly, about products and services. Timely news, how to's, and real life real estate stories are all blog fan favorites, but they need to be intermingled with a special seasoning to make an impact.

That special seasoning is emotion. PPC Advertising, online marketing, and sales all use emotional triggers because they are proven winners. You can create emotional value in your blog posts to wow readers into referral sources and direct buyers of your real estate services.

Here are five tips to create emotional value in your real estate blog posts

Research-Mix up Your Blog with High Traffic Trending Topics

Check trending topics on Google and Twitter. View a few of the blog posts and articles that are written based on these trending topics. What triggers your emotions in these online works? Record the phrases that stand out when you read them and draw an emotional response from you. Keep these notes on hand when you write your blog posts and need to find way to draw a similar response.

Analyze-Craft a Great Headline

Provide a balance of good SEO strategy and emotional value in your blog posts at the onset by creating a headline that makes use of longtail keywords and hits an emotional trigger. Use a copywriting tool for your headlines called the Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer. Use this tool to set your blog posts on target from the get go. The headline analyzing tool helps bloggers makes sure their headlines will make the right impact for their readers. This tool also helps you stay on track with the theme of your blog posts by sorting it into one of three categories: spiritual, empathetic, or spiritual which will help you make sure you are on track with the theme of your blog posts.

Create- Write First. Edit Second

Allow the words that come to your mind to flow freely without thought to spelling, grammar or allowing your inner self criticizing writing demon to stop you in your tracks. Limit your distractions from IM and Email by using the WriteRoom application for Google Docs.

When you are done writing the words exactly as they come to mind without any censoring then you can go back and edit your blog posts. If you edit as you write you are, without a doubt, editing the emotional potential of your posts before it has the chance to hit your computer screen.

Enhance-
Add Graphics that Invoke Emotion

Read this blog post from Cathy Moore, "How to add emotional impact with evocative images". Great images can evoke emotion in your readers beyond the prose of your post. Moore's post breaks down the use of graphics into these five categories with specific details and how to's,

Choose your stock site carefully
Search the site for the concept
Think of opposing similes
Avoid culturally specific images
Manage your images locally

After you read this post you will have a whole new view on the impact of images. It is seriously that good.

Learn- Get A Clue from Creative Works

Watch some film footage, and more specifically, watch footage from animated movies. One of my favorite inspirational resources to draw from are Pixar films. Pixar's movie "Up" manages to portray a whole lifetime in five minutes. It is utterly amazing and a craft of genius. It is a high caliber example of how to create and hold the end user's attention through eliciting an emotional response within a short time frame. If you want to really observe how to create an impact I recommend watching this film.

Here's another example of Pixar's ability to create emotion through creative work. View this short scene from Toy Story 2 and notice how it triggers emotion.

You can recreate this same effect by using multimedia in your blog posts. Adding video and audio is good way enhance your blog post topics. Another method is to publish Speechless Sunday and Wordless Wednesday blog posts.

Use these five tips to create emotional value in your real estate blog posts. Remember thought, that these tips will mean nothing unless you do the ground work. Take a step back to breathe, live, laugh, and love. This is where the best inspiration comes from.

The rest are just meaningless methods without this foundation.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
—
Maya Angelou

Subscribe to BloggingintheRain, a Real Estate Marketing Blog

*************************************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate professionals. Real estate marketing services include

Blogging- See my Blogging Tune-Up Website for Details
Social Networking
Niche Marketing
Marketing Strategy
Branding- See my Branding Sanity Website for Details
Offline Marketing
Online Marketing
Special Events Promotion and Marketing
Holiday Marketing
Marketing Campaigns
Email Marketing (Content and Design)
Reputation Management

If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

01/01/10-01/09/10- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

2010-01-12T20:27:59Z

01/01/10-01/09/10- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Clear Hyperlinks Increase Conversions

A blog post from Todd Follansbee on how not to confuse your visitors with hyperlinks and how to make sure sure your hyperlinks are getting the most mileage. Take his hyperlink text quiz and make sure to check out the tips under "Make Text Hyperlinks Do More". The first one is discusses "Call to Action".

"Call to Action" are my three favorite words in marketing. Good marketing does nothing for sales without a clear call to action.

Tweetpsych

Tweetpsych is a Twitter application created by Dan Zarella. Tweet Psych provides Twitter psychological profiling for both users and lists. Each factor is represented in a bar graph as a percentage over/under the median of Twitter users with a description listed in the results section under the bar graph.

I learned that most of my tweeting is about work and I tweet the least about media.

Tweet Psych used in tandem with Twittergrader's tweet cloud really lends a clear perspective to your tweeting efforts and could keep you in check and on track.

The 2010 Social Media Marketing Ecosystem

A blog post from Dave Fleet on Social Media Today of the vast ecosystem of social media marketing and what to look ahead to in 2010.

As you start to read it you may want to shy away because of the intricacies in detail (even in the diagrams) and the layers of marketing butplug through. What I would like you to take note of is the first chart which lists the type of media and then the elements mentioned under the "ideal corporate social media system".

Note that the diagram has a corporate website and social media hub as the center of all other Internet marketing activities: Facebook,Twitter, YouTube.

I recommend that you map out your own current social media initiatives and see if they put your corporate website and social media hub at the center. You can use a simple pen and paper or a mind mapping software to help in this task.

Are all of your activities on social media marketing venues directed toward your corporate website and social media hub or do they not have a clear path home and a call to action?

If there's no clear direction home, time to get to work and work on creating an effective social media marketing strategy.

High Performance Analytics

A Feature article from the February 2010 edition of Website Magazine. This article is well worth the read as it emphasizes the importance of analytics in your online marketing activities. The author discusses KPI (Key Performance Indicators) that include Visitors per Conversion, Lead or Order, Cost per Lead, and Stickiness. It also gives four key tools for measuring website speed and load times.

The website also discusses Video Analytics, social analytics, and CRM analytics. I would bookmark, print, highlight and use this post when planning your analytics and looking at factors that you should be measuring and the tools that can help you with those measurements.

It will be very clear after reading this article that measurement should be part and parcel of all of your marketing endeavors.

Real Skillz is grateful to have such loyal subscribers, readers, friends, followers and fans. For more practical tips and how subscribe to the Real to'sSkillz Real Estate Marketing Newsletter.

Get to know me on Facebook as a friend and if you like what you're reading then please do me the honor of becoming a fan.

*********************************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate professionals. Real estate marketing services include:

Blogging- See my Blogging Tune-Up Website for Details
Social Networking
Niche Marketing
Marketing Strategy
Branding- See my Branding Sanity Website for Details
Offline Marketing
Online Marketing
Special Events Promotion and Marketing
Holiday Marketing
Marketing Campaigns
Email Marketing (Content and Design)
Reputation Management

If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

A Simple Twitter Cheat Sheet for Real Estate Professionals to Generate Leads, Brand Your Business, Create Referral Partners, and Manage Your Reputation

2010-01-08T13:10:22Z

A Simple Twitter Cheat Sheet for Real Estate Professionals to Generate Leads, Brand Your Business, Create Referral Partners, and Manage Your Reputation

Why Twitter? The news is in....Twitter users will now have an added advantage of their conversations appearing on the search engine results pages of Google and Bing. I have seen the indexing of tweets on Google as well as on Bing firsthand. Twitter can be used to brand your business, lead generation, to create referral partners, and even retain business through responsive reputation management. If you haven't started adding Twitter into your online marketing, it's time to engage.

When to Tweet

You can tweet everyday of the week. Make sure to to tweet on Wednesdays and Thursdays for maximum effect as they are the most active days of tweets and retweets as found by HubSpot's State of the Twittersphere June 2009.

Where to Find Local Peeps on Twitter

There are many directories and Apps for Twitter to help you find locals. Submit your twitter handle(s) and follow locals. Become engaged in local conversations on Twitter.

1. Twellow- Twitter Yellow Pages.
2. GeoFollow- Location based Twitter Directory.
3. Local Tweeps- Zipcode level Twitter directory.
4. twvite- Find and attend a local tweetup(locals who twitter meeting together offline.
5. Twitter Local- Gives you a feed of tweets based on location.
6. Nearby Tweets- Find twitter users in locations near to where you live.
7. Happn.in- Tracks local twitter users near to where you live.

How to Customize Your Background On Twitter

First impressions are important for branding and your background page on Twitter is no exception. Your Twitter background is a great opportunity to brand your business.

Here are 7 free applications you can use to customize your background:

1. Twitter Patterns- Abstract twitter patters you can use for free for your Twitter background.
2. Twitbacks- Free customized twitter background with full about section.
3. Twitpaper- Free Twitter themes.
4. Prettytweet- Customize your twitter background. You can add images, change color and change text.
5. TwitterImage- Free backgrounds grouped in various categories.
6. Freetwitterdesigner-Create custom twitter backgrounds.
7. Twitrounds- Free Twitter backgrounds.

What to Tweet

Twitter is a great way to prospect for business and engage in conversations.

Here are a few ways to find some useful things to tweet about and get people's interest.

You can join Twitter here.

1. Twitter Lights-Application that lets you highlight information you find interesting and send as a Tiny URL to Twitter.

2. WhatTheHashTag- Tracks trending hashtags and other hashtags on Twitter.

3. Tweetag-Search for topics on Twitter and setup alerts to get notified when your keywords are being talked about on Twitter.

4. Twitlink-What links are being shared and what is being tweeted on Twitter.

5. StufftoTweet- Popular topics on the worldwide web.

6.PlusPlusBot- Karma on Twitter.

7. Twitter Answers- Ask questions and get answers on Twitter.

How to Monitor Tweets to Generate Leads and Retain Business

Monitor Keywords Topics, and Links on Twitter...Then Engage. These 6 applications will help you track keywords and topics on Twitter allowing you to monitor your brand and generate leads.

1. Tweetbeep- Set up alerts that will be sent to your email when your topics/keywords are tweeted.
2. Tweetscan-Do a search for keywords and get results sorted by most recent tweets.
3. Samepoint- Tracks conversations across the web based on your keywords. A must use tool for prospecting and marketing.
4. Tweetmeme- Tracks the most popular links on Twitter.
nces.
5. Monitter- Allows you to monitor multiple keywords in a grid in real time on Twitter.
6.Twitscoop- Robust application for tracking keywords, topics, and conferences.

Best CRM for Twitter-Hootsuite- Manage your contacts by grouping, manage multiple twitter handles (user accounts), keep searches running, synch up with your Wordpress blog, analyze your twitter traffic and so much more.

These tools are recommended twitter tools to create an effective strategy for lead generation, reputation management and branding for real estate professionals. Do not use all the tools. Choose one or two from each list that will get the job done for you. I have whittled down the Twitter applications from the worldwide web and there are probably a half dozen new Twitter applications born for every one that already exists every week. Don't concentrate on that.

Concentrate on the tools that will make your Twittering effective and then just do it. Stop by and make sure to say hi to me while you tweet.

If you enjoyed these tips then sign-up for the weekly Real Skillz Real Estate Marketing Newsletter which has a static Twitter column with Tips to make your twittering efforts effective. It's delivered to your Inbox every Tuesday.

For All Real Estate Professionals

For Email Marketing you can trust

For Real Estate Professionals Who Are RealSkillz Clients

If you're a current RealSkillz client look in your inbox for the debut of the RealSkillz Real Estate Marketing newsletter for clients with tips on how to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and new how to's. This newsletter is only for clients and will debut on Tuesday, January 12, 2010.

**************************************************************************

Rebecca D. Levinson is a real estate marketing consultant with 17 years of experience serving real estate professionals. Real estate marketing services include

Blogging- See my Blogging Tune-Up Website for Details
Social Networking
Niche Marketing
Marketing Strategy
Branding- See my Branding Sanity Website for Details
Offline Marketing
Online Marketing
Special Events Promotion and Marketing
Holiday Marketing
Marketing Campaigns
Email Marketing (Content and Design)
Reputation Management

If you treat real estate as a business then Real Skillz is a desirable real estate marketing solution. Call #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.