Blogging In The Rain Real Estate Marketing Blog

I Am Going to PubCon and Want to Bring Your SEO Questions with Me and Get Answers for You

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:27:48 -0600

I Am Going to PubCon and Want to Bring Your SEO Questions with Me and Get Answers for You

Today it the last day I will be working from my home office for a week. On Monday I depart on a jet plane to Las Vegas where I will be attending PubCon, a conference whose focus is educating participants on Social Media, Affiliate Programs, Search, and SEO/SEM.

Along my journey I will be meeting up with the lovely ladies of Classified Flyer Ads, Misty Lackie and Candice Hidalgo. Classified Flyer Ads is a company I have worked with in the past and a company that I would personally recommend to any real estate professional. My list of recommended real estate vendors is not easy to make and I am happy to include Classified Flyer Ads.

If any of my readers or associates will be attending PubCon I would love to have the opportunity to have some meet and greet time. Just email me and let me know.

If you aren't going to Vegas I would like to present an offer to you. Send me your questions by commenting on this blog post and I will pack them up and take them with me to PubCon and find the answers for you. I will try to get as many answers as possible. All I need are your questions in the comments below.

If you want to spread the word about this open invitation to hunt down and retrieve SEO information, just reblog my post and let your readers know.

What kind of SEO/SEM Topics You Might Have Burning Questions About

To give you an idea of some topics, here are just a few of the sessions I will be taking,

Top-Shelf SEO: Hot Topics and Trends
Local Search and Mobile Optimization
Competitive Intelligence: Know Thy Competitor Well

I would actually like to share my tentative almost 99.9% for sure PubCon Itinerary with you,

Your PubCon Conference Itinerary(2)

Other topics include PPC advertising, affiliate marketing, twitter, landing page optimization, viral marketing and of course SEO/SEM tactics and strategies

I always have a thirst for knowledge and a willingness to share.

I am going to Pubcon and Want to Bring Your SEO Questions with Me and Get Answers for You. It's a daunting task but I am up to the challenge. Spread the word via reblog and send me your questions in the comments below.

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

If you enjoyed this post then check out these blog posts written after the BlogWorld Convention 2008,

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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.

How to Cut Your Real Estate Blogging Time In Half and Re-purpose Your Content Three Ways with the Time Saved

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:27:44 -0600

How To Cut Your Real Estate Blogging Time in Half and Re-purpose Your Content Three Ways with the Time Saved

One of the burdens challenges of being a content creator is providing consistently focused content that will be of interest to your readers. If you are blogging 3-5 times per week or more content creation can become difficult for many real estate bloggers. Now if you add in the creation of email marketing campaigns, strategic micro-blogging on Twitter or Posterous, newsletters, and generating additional content for your business peers this challenge can be dizzying.

This is where the value add of web 2.0 tools comes into play.

Problem: Generating valuable content in a timely and consistent manner for multiple platforms and purposes.

Solution: Use Gmail and WebNotes to help you collect, organize, generate, repurpos, and syndicate your content.

Here's How to Cut Your Real Estate Blogging Time In Half and Repurpose Your Content Three Ways with the Saved Time

1. Use Gmail to Collect and Organize Your Research

Add a folder to your Gmail account labeled "Research-Blog". Everytime you receive an email newsletter, a notification of a new blog post, or even a question that you could use from a consumer/prospect as content for your blog move a copy of that email to your "Research Blog" folder. If you don't do this right away, at the very least, star the email so you can move it your "Research-Blog" folder later.

If you find content outside of your email account no worries, just write a quick note by emailing yourself and include a link. I personally do this all the time and find it to be simple, quick, and highly effective. Mark the subject line of the email to yourself "Research-Blog" so you can move it to your labeled folder later. In both Firefox and Internet Explorer there are options that enable you to email links and web pages to yourself.

2. Open an Account at Webnotes and carefully sift through your "Blog-Research" folder

Use Webnotes as your "go to" research tool. It will allow you to highlight and add sticky notes to web pages, blog posts, and pdf's (Pdf's only if you purchase the paid version).
Register for an account with Webnotes. I choose the paid version because I review several pdf's a week, and download the webnotes toolbar.
Go back into your Gmail account once you have downloaded the webnotes toolbar.
Use the time you have allotted to read and research the contents of your Gmail "Research-Blog" Folder.
Open up each webpage that you will use as a resource to create your newsletter and use the Webnotes tool to highlight and annotate the document. You do this by clicking on highlight and sticky notes right from the Webnotes toolbar.

The more thorough you are with your note taking the quicker it will be to create your content. This is where the time savings will really come into play.

3. Generate your Content

Once you are done researching it's time to create your content. Go back inside your Webnotes account. You can get there by clicking "View My Webnotes" on your Webnotes Toolbar.

You will see a results page that looks similar to this,

Webnotes keeps the title and source of all of your notes including a hyperlink to the original source. It also records your highlighted text and your sticky notes.

Open up your blog editor and start blogging your post. If you took copious notes the advantage is three-fold:

You now have a more conversational tone to write your post because you wrote the notes without hesitancy and in your own voice. You will also be able to check spelling, grammer, style, and switch copy around to have more of an active than passive voice.
You have written most of the content that you will need for your post minus a few tweaks and copy and paste actions.
You will be able to easily cite material correctly by giving proper attribute and you will easily be able to include helpful links.

4. Use the extra time you saved to work your SEO

Check for use of keywords frequently and effectively.
Tag your blog post with all appropriate keywords.
Take advantage of additional features (If you are in the ActiveRain platform or another social network) by adding your post to groups and taking the time to add your post to the proper ActiveRain Channel- an often overlooked feature.
Use Header tags properly.
Scan for visibility and make sure your images are aligned, crisp, and help to paint your story as well as marked with ALT tags.
Create a call to action on your blog posts.

5. Re-purpose your blog content in three ways with the additional time

a. Create an embeddable report

In webnotes you have the option of creating a report of your notes into html or pdf format. If you use the pdf format you can upload a copy to scribd or docstoc where people can subscribe to your notes and where they can be indexed on Google. You can also embed the report to Posterous if you have an account there or share it on your Facebook Fan Page or LinkedIn.

Summary Notes Report- Marketing to Women

b. Send a newsletter

Announce your research to your database via email. You may include all of the content or just a few items in a newsletter to your database. There also might be some lefotvers-items when you researched that you did not include in your blog post- that could be perfect for content in your newsletter.

c. Twitter with a real estate marketing purpose

In performing Step #2 if you find a resource/link that could generate a conversation and you have taken the to annotate and highlight thoughtfully share it with the your Twitter followers. There is a share button in the Webnotes Toolbar. Click "Twitter" and you are good to go.

Use Gmail, Webnotes, and the method above to cut your real estate blogging time in half and re-purpose your content three ways with the Time Saved.

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

Week of 11/03/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:04:43 -0600

Week of 11/03/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

The Case of Modesty, In An Age of Arrogance-TIME

Arrogance is easy to find, but doesn't modesty provide a more valuable commodity? This article does reference technology and it made me think about the case for modesty in social networking and blogging. Modesty in Social Networking and blogging means to inform rather than induce fear and bully, empower rather than make others feel incompetent or a posture of superiority.

Great take away quote from this article as food for thought,

"Modesty in private life is attractive, but in public life it is essential, especially now, when those who immodestly claimed to Know It All have Wiped Us Out. The problems we face are too fierce to accommodate arrogance. Humility leaves room for complexity, honors honest dissent, welcomes the outlandish idea that sweeps past ideology and feeds invention."-Nancy Giggs, Time.com

Google's Eric Schmidt on What the Web Will Look Like in 5 Years

ReadWriteWeb has done a great job of excerpting video from Google's CEO Eric Schmidt at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Orlando 2009 on what the web will look like in 5 years and breaking down the highlights. There's an emphasis on the persuasion of user generated content, the increased demand of video, and the seamless use of multiple applications. Interesting to me was the comment that "Five years from now the Internet will be dominated by Chinese-language content".

Buckle your seatbelts for whatever the future holds for the Internet. All marketers and business professionals must prepare themselves to be flexible and ready.

CNN.com Gets Major Overhaul: What We Can Learn

Website Magazine's review of CNN.com's Website redesign provides 5 key insights that are useful to any company seeking a strong online portal:

Branding is Everything
Navigation is Key
Community is Driving Interaction
Advertising is on Even Ground with Content
Below the fold is not an afterthought

Signs of Twitter's Business Model Emerge Via Bing, Google Deals

No nonsense article on the Twitter dealings with Bing and Google. I have seen the indexing of tweets on Google as well as on Bing. If you haven't started adding Twitter into your online marketing, it's time to engage.

Make it easy on yourself when you do and use an application that allow you to search, sort, group, and manage multiple handles(accounts) either here, here, or here.

Search Engine Marketing USA Marketing Overview- November 20009

By signing up for a free membership at econsultancy.com you can download their free report, "Search Engine Marketing Trends Briefing November 2009". It's loaded with useful statistics from authorities around the worldwide web. I was able to pocket these three take aways right away,

According to an iProspect survey, seven out of 10 respondents said they clicked a search result within the first page of results, while 92% clicked a result within the first three pages of search results. [Source: iProspect via eMarketer, April 2008] - Take Away: Visiblity is limited to the first three pages and that is why there is an emphasis on using longtail keywords because they give you a fighting chance to make it to the first three pages without breaking your bank account.
A study of 1.5 million search queries found 80% of searches can be classified as informational, 10% transactional, and 10% are navigational. [Source: Penn State via Search Engine Land, March 2008]- Take Away: A content driven strategy is the winner for online marketing. The content you provide must be useful and consistent.
Image search makes up about 5.7% of all Google searches, and "up to 15% of all search is image related" according to Eric Enge, President of Stone Temple Consulting. [Source: WebProNews, August 2009] - Take Away: Posting your photos and images and tagging them with ALT tags is important, people are searching for them and Google bots are crawling for them.

Also very interesting to me was a tidbit about Google's financials which were reported as $5.94 billion Q3 2009,

"Of this, Google’s financial statements show that revenues from outside of the United States totaled $3.14 billion, representing 53% of this amount."- There is money to be made outside of the United States online. If this is viable in your real estate market, have you incorporated a strategy to reach the international market as part of your online marketing plan?

Discussion- Time Magazine posted a Special Report-"The State of the American Woman". Talking points and a discussion on this Report will be posted on the Real Skillz Business Page will be posted today,Tuesday November 3, 2009. Bring your opinions to the Real Skillz Facebook Wall**

Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies is a weekly online newsletter provided by Rebecca D. Levinson, Real Estate Marketing Consultant. If you like what you're reading come join my Business Page on Facebook.

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

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:46:41 -0600

How to Choose the Right Days to Market your Real Estate Services Online

Effective real estate marketing online has a lot to do with timing. There has been a lot of research conducted, mainly for industries outside of real estate (i.e.retail, hospitality, automotive) on the best days and times to market services and products online. Implementing the right timing to deploy marketing campaigns into your online marketing strategy is an effective way to ramp up your results.

Here are 5 tips on choosing the right days to market your real estate services online

1. Tweet Midweek-

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

State-of-the-Twittersphere -
State-of-the-Twittersphere -
State-of-the-Twittersphere -

2. Publish Your Most Important Blog Posts Midweek

Frequency of great original content is still important in building your readership and traffic to your blog. I recommend to my clients that they blog a minimum of 3-5 times per week to be considered as a true content provider in the eyes of their readers.

That being said when is the best time for a blogger to publish their meatiest, most important blog posts? Darren Rowse of Problogger addresses the timing factor in When to Publish Blog Posts-Timing Considerations,

"If I have a very important post that I want to get as much attention as possible I generally will publish it on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning (my time)."

Rowse's post also gives some advice as to publishing posts on weekends and holidays that is worth the read as well as the comments on the post (82 so far).

Roger Parker of blogforprofit.com recommends that if you were to only blog twice per week to publish those blog posts on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Clearly publishing your most important blog posts midweek is a winning strategy.

3. The Weakest Link for Email Marketing is Saturday

You may have several email campaigns in your real estate marketing campaign: email flyers, email follow-up, email newsletters. Email marketing is a heavy hitter for real estate professionals but when is the most effective time for you to deliver your messages to your prospects and customers?

According to EMarketer.com the best days of the week to send email marketing are Mondays and Tuesdays and the least effective time by nearly 50% is Saturdays.

The best advice I found and agree with is to survey your email subscribers and ask them when they would like to receive emails from you.

We are approaching the holiday season so it is important to consider the times that people are online and actively shopping. Study these deployment times statistics provided on the emailstatcenter.com website before launching any niche holiday real estate marketing campaigns.

4. Engage your Fans on Facebook on Tuesdays

In findings from Virtue SRM (Social Relationship Manager) the best days to post on your Facebook Business Page is Tuesdays, followed closely Wednesdays with Mondays coming in #3.

**Allow me one deviation~ What I find more or equally fascinating is the 6.49% CLR (Click Thru Rate) of marketing campaigns such as polls and incentives that are run on Facebook business pages. Fans are clearly interacting with their friends on Facebook in a big way and their interactions are also being seen by their friends.**

5. LinkedIn Users Are Active In the Morning

According to a small study by SenderOK Statistics report which was based on a sample of 440 anonymous users the most activity on LinkedIn occurs in the morning.

"LinkedIn use is predominantly an 8AM-Noon activity with very, very little activity in the evening. Of particular interest is that LinkedIn users tend to arrive at work earlier than Facebook users do....Those serious early morning LinkedIn users will spend an average of 29 minutes reading real Email before they get around to checking your connection request which they could have read first if they wanted to."

While this is a small sampling of members on LinkedIn and their behavior I can attest that this mimics my LinkedIn use. The first online activity I do in the morning is to check my email(which of course includes my blog activity) and the first social network site I check is LinkedIn and this occurs normally between the hours of 7:30-8:30 a.m.

Take into consideration the times and days that people are online and engaging in these online activities when you create and implement your online real estate marketing strategy.

Once you taken action use an analytics tool to measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. Tweak the times you deliver your marketing messages based on your analytics and direct feedback from your recipients.

Get your game on and use the 5 tips on choosing the right days to market your real estate services online.

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

Join Me on Facebook. Tuesday I'll be posting a discussion about marketing to women.

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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.

Building A Real Estate Community Means Growing Your Internet Presence

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:41:49 -0500

Building A Real Estate Community Means Growing Your Internet Presence

Real Estate professionals are savvy to the fact that the majority of their consumers are online shopping for homes. Now with the expansive presence that real estate professionals can have online through various forms of social media marketing and content strategies like blogging they can take a proactive role in engaging with consumers online.

Some real estate professionals question the viability and productivity of time spent prospecting, selling, and marketing online. What they do not see is that at its core adding an aggressive online marketing strategy that is focused, yet flexible to change provides more opportunities then could every possibly exist offline.

Let's throw out the gobbledygook and get with some clear cut examples for a minute,

If you were a spider, would you want to crawl on four legs or eight?
If you were a table would you want two legs or four?
If you were an octopus would you prefer four tentacles or eight?

The way I see it, if you are a real estate professional who cuts out online marketing because you consider it to be a waste of time, you are cutting off an immediate 50% of your business opportunities. As the numbers continue to shift toward more consumers researching and shopping online for goods and services the 50% of business opportunities derived from offline marketing strategies start to show even more diminishing returns.

It's kind of like the goodies you used to be able to buy in a candy store for a dollar. Twenty five years ago I could walk into a candy store and walk out with a small bag of several pieces of candy that I liked. Today I could walk into a candy store and walk out with maybe three lollipops. Three lollipops may be good for three people for a one time deal.

Three lollipops split among more than three people is a short lived sweet moment where someone is bound to lose.

So if you are wondering what all this social media, online marketing and blogging is good for anyway or if you are engaged in social networking, online marketing, and blogging currrently but have lapses of faith or direction:

The purpose of online marketing is to grow your business opportunities by at least 50%.

The purpose of growing your business opportunities is to make solid business contacts...prospects that are more serious and that you can close.

The purpose of building a real estate community of propects, referrals, and associates is to create business for spring, summer, fall and winter.

The purpose of creating business all year round is consistency for your brand and revenue-short term and long term and perhaps a exit term (retirement).

It is very clear and you can see it here,

And Here

Building A Real Estate Community Means Growing Your Internet Presence.

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Halloween Trick or Treat Fun with Real Skillz Newly Launched Free Real Estate Marketing Tools Website

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:50:41 -0500

Halloween Trick or Treat Fun with Real Skillz Newly Launched Free Real Estate Marketing Tools Website

A few months ago I launched my Real Skillz Goodies website to capture the web 2.0 tools in one place that real estate agents could use for the real estate marketing. Today I am relaunching the site with a few tweaks and improvements and hope it will serve as your resource when you are looking for a specific type of tool to help you with your real estate marketing.

All the real estate marketing tools on the website are free or free with a paid version. I have also broken them up into categories that I think will make more clear marketing sense for real estate professionals along with a resource link for each category tab.

Every time I write a new blog post about real estate marketing, the tools referenced will be included in this site as it will serve as repository and reference for real estate professionals to use. Access to this website will always be free.

I'll be adding videos, audio, and more on this site to further serve as a resource for your real estate marketing needs. I hope you come on by and have some Halloween Trick or Treat Fun with Real Skillz Newly Launched Free Real Estate Marketing Tools.

Enter the Real Skillz Newly Launched Free Real Estate Marketing Tools Website by clicking on my ghostly picture below.

For more holiday blog posts about real estate marketing subscribe to Blogging In The Rain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog.

Real Skillz Halloween Treat~A Blogging Workbook for New Real Estate Bloggers

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:31:01 -0500

Real Skillz Halloween Treat~A Blogging Workbook for New Real Estate Bloggers

In conversations sprinkled throughout my blog and in seminars I have given to real estate offices and franchises I am aware that there are still many real estate professionals who are intimidated as to where to begin blogging. There are many great resources to get started, but with the crush of information that exists online the amount of resources can be enough to make new real estate bloggers turn on their heels and run away from the blogosphere.

That's a shame because a content fueled marketing strategy online is a winning proposition for real estate professionals.

Real Estate bloggers win SERP (Search Engine Results Placement) on Google, Yahoo and Bing with content.
Real Estate bloggers win relationships with other professionals which often leads to referrals.
Real Estate bloggers win new clients who get to know like and trust them by reading their blog for advice about real estate,information on local events, and a few posts that are just about the person behind the real estate license.

Real Estate bloggers win business online when they are consistent, thorough, creative, transparent, sincere, and genuine.

Today I want to share two free resources with new real estate bloggers. I thought about the lessons I have taught in real estate seminars and my own experience blogging to real estate consumers for nearly 2 years and put together this workbook and slideshow to share.

Real Skillz Halloween Treat~A Blogging Workbook for New Real Estate Bloggers.

A blogging workbook

Conversations Are for Everyone-A Workbook for Beginning Bloggers

A slideshow on blogging

Conversations Are For Everyone Blogging

View more presentations from rebeccalevinson.

I hope you enjoy this Real Skillz Halloween treat~A blogging workbook for new real estate bloggers.

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Conversations Are For Everyone-A Workbook for Beginning Bloggers by Rebecca D. Levinson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Week of 10/26/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies- Issue II

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:21:48 -0500

Week of 10/26/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies- Issue II

10 Ways of Using Posterous at Work or Home- Ideas on using Posterous for collaboration, private blogs, image hosting and more. I like this article because it puts a focus on how to truly benefit from using this microblogging platform, rather than trying to make posterous another Wordpress/Typepad/Blogger platform.

Is Email Marketing Endangered?- Whitepaper from ExactTarget that explains the increase in usage of Email, the real threats posed to email, and how to capitilize on the opportunities email presents in a Web 2.0 marketing world.

Do the Hard Work for Your Readers- A blog post that discusses how doing your homework and writing for your readersreaps rewards by increased exposure and increased blog subscribers. This is a quick and simple read with a powerful and practical blogging message.

Get Your Brand On Every Social Network with KnowEm- An article from Website magazine about KnowEm, A Web 2.0 tool that allows you to scour the net for your username/brand and see if it is available on social networks (broken into categories). KnowEm will allow you to create a profile and it will then add you these networks and secure your brand name for $99 OR there is a free D.I.Y. version that will check to see if your name is available and then allow you to create your profile on these networks.

Twenty Online Web Apps for Learning- Aside from listening, learning is my favorite marketing tool. This blog post from Jeanne Meister of New Learning Playbook discusses twenty web 2.0 tools for learning. Great topic, great tools, and I pocketed three tools I hadn't heard of that I could use to help carry out my online marketing strategy.

Upcoming Real Estate Marketing Discussion- Time Magazine posted a Special Report-"The State of the American Woman". Talking posts and a discussion on this Report will be posted on the Real Skillz Business Page has been moved to Tuesday November 3, 2009. Bring your opinions to the Real Skillz Facebook Wall**

Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies is a weekly online newsletter for Facebook Fans of Rebecca D. Levinson, Real Estate Marketing Consultant.

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If you like what you're reading follow Rebecca D. Levinson as a friend and a fan on Facebook for more real estate marketing tips and real estate marketing discussions.

How to Re-purpose Your Real Estate Blog's Content To Grow Your Email List in 5 Simple Steps

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:57:56 -0500

How to Re-purpose Your Real Estate Blog's Content To Grow Your Email List in 5 Simple Steps
If you are blogging 3-5 times/week as part of your marketing strategy you should use your published original blog content to your advantage. Re-purposing the content from your published blog posts allows you an additional vehicle to brand your business and promote your services online.

One easy way to re-purpose your content is to to create an ezine from the content contained in your published blog posts. An Ezine is similar to a newsletter and is published in a PDF format which makes it easy for your readers to access, save, refer to, and share your content and information.

Ezines are an easy way for you to distribute your content and to grow your contact database.

Here are 5 Simple Steps to re-purpose your real estate blog's content to grow your email list

1. Decide Which Real Estate Blog Posts You Will Use as Content for your Real Estate Ezine
Before you create your ezine you will need to decide which of your real estate blog posts you will be using to create the publication.

Here are some recommendations of topics for your Real Estate Ezine:

Real Estate Market Reports- You could take 3 months worth of real estate market reports and create a quarterly ezine.
Home Maintenance and Repair- You could group by seasonal repairs/improvements or by type of repair/improvement (e.g. kitchen, living room, outdoor landscape)
Home buyer checklists
Home Seller checklists
Short sales 101
First time home buyer information
Relocation information
Any of your real estate blog posts that you have in a series

Once you have decided which blog posts you will use in your ezine, list the names of the blog posts on a document ( I use Google Docs) and the order in which you want them to appear in the Ezine.

2. Create your Real Estate Ezine
Go to Zinepal.com and take 2 minutes to fill out a form and create an account. It's free. Once you have an account an Zinepal you will log in and start creating your ezine. The first step is to enter the url of your blog or your blog's rss feed. Once you have done this the zinepal.com application will pull a list of your blog posts. You simply check the ones you want included in your ezine and zinepal.com will add them to a dashboard for you.

Check to make sure that you have the right blog posts for your Ezine in your dashboard and click the customize and create my ezine button.

3. Edit your Real Estate Ezine

Once you are in the Ezine Editor it will ask you to:

Enter your keywords and an introduction for your ezine.
Choose your logo for the header of the ezine, font type and font size.
Upload an image for advertising on your ezine (I'll discuss this later).
Save your ezine as a template for future ezines.

Editing your Ezine will take you about 5-10 minutes maximum. Once you are done you can preview your real estate ezine or hit create to publish and save your ezine.

4. Your ROI Is Dependent On How You Market your Real Estate Ezine

You will get a PDF copy of your ezine which you can download onto your computer and save in your documents. You will also receive a profile page on zinepal.com that will become a library for your Ezines. You can choose to keep this ezine profile page public or private. If you allow your profile page to be public visitors can subscribe by RSS to your ezine feed.

Here is how I recommend you market your Real Estate Ezines:

Decide which ezines you are willing to give away without requiring Internet visitors to fill out a form and which ezines you require visitors to fill out a form before allowing them to download.
Take your private ezines and upload them to a document storage and collaboration website and set them as private.
Create a simple form for Internet Visitors to fill out before they can access your private real estate ezines.
Embed this form on your website, email, blog, social networks and other places online where your advertise your real estate services online. After they complete the form it will take them to the URL where your private ezine(s) are located for them to download.
Expose your public ezines by leaving them public on your profile on a document storage and collaboration website. This will allow visitors to download and share your ezines by email, facebook, twitter, Digg and more. It will also allow the search engines to index your profile page thereby increasing the visibility of these public documents.
Use the RSS feed you are given from zinepal.com and embed it on your blog or website. Even though you may leave some of your ezines public, you can still use the RSS feed to gain subscribers and grow your email list).

5. Take the Marketing of your Real Estate Ezine to the Next Level
The simple repurposing of content from your real estate blog into real estate ezines can provide a wealth of viral branding avenues for you to explore and create new business opportunities. Taking the marketing of your ezine to the next level means marketing your ezine in both offline and online venues.

Here's how you can take the marketing of your real estate ezine to the next level:

Use the advertising space when you are creating your ezine to promote your business, another real estate vendor or local business (possible paid opportunity- add disclaimer), an upcoming home buyer's seminar you are giving, or a charity you support.
Advertise your ezine in newsletters you send to your farm or in expired postcard and letter campaigns.
Offer your ezines as printed publications in local businesses that you network and partner with and/or on their websites.
Contact your local library if your ezines are of educational value on local or newsworthy issues and offer to allow them to be distributed in printed format and/or electronic format on their website.
Submit your ezines to ezine directories.

Pull and push your content heavy ezine for the maximum ROI.

It's up to you to take action now that you know how to repurpose your real estate blog's content to grow your email list in 5 simple steps.

A Roadmap Blogging Real Estate Professionals 23-Oct-2009

Crush the box. Somebody's gonna do it and it should be you.

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Week of 10/20/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:11:47 -0500

I am giving the readers of Blogging In the Rain a preview of the weekly newsletter I launched this week from my Facebook Business Page, Rebecca D. Levinson, dba Real Skillz Real Estate Marketing. My Facebook Business Page distributes weekly newsletters, daily reads, and bi-weekly discussions.

If you are on Facebook friend me and fan my Facebook Business Page so that you won't miss out on these Free Real Estate Marketing resources. I look forward to getting to know the less "business" side of you as a Facebook friend and to giving you more real estate marketing tips as a Facebook fan of my Real Estate Marketing Business, Real Estate Skillz.

Week of 10/20/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Are The Right People on Your Marketing Team?- A Free E-Book from HubSpot that real estate companies can use to gauge their internal marketing departments and that real estate professionals can use to gauge their current social media marketing efforts. The link to the Free E-Book is in the body of the blog post, "Inbound Marketing Book Launched In Stores Today".

Score.Org Small Business Community- Connect with other small business owners in groups, discussions, questions and answers and on the Score.org Blog. A unique feature that separates this social network among others is their "Find Properties for Sale" "Find properties for Lease" option- good opportunity for real estate professionals who carry commercial listings.

Moving Beyond the Wire: Tips for Making the Most of Online Distribution Channels- A free whitepaper from Vocus (company who provides on-demand software for public relations management) that dicusses how to distribute and syndicate your news. An easy to read whitepaper that breaks down some basic PR and online distribution strategies but also this whitepaper has some gems in the references it uses and links to making it worth your time vested in reading.

Moosylvannia's XL Marketing Trends Chapter 3- Social Networking Whitepaper- This is whitepaper #3 in a series of 10 marketing trends Mooslyvannia, Specializing in Digital, Branding and Promotions, is publishing whitepapers about so make sure to download the free social networking whitepaper. While your at it I want you to take a look at the homepage of the Mooselyvannia website. Notice the plane zooming across and what it is "skywriting" and the Twitter hot air balloon. Move your mouse around and hover on some of the images and click thru.

Pretty clever.

"What Web SuperStars Won't Tell You But We Will"- A motivating article from Website Magazine emphasizing leadership and Ingenuity- two of my favorite topics. An easy to read and inspiring article.

Upcoming Discussion- Time Magazine posted a Special Report-"The State of the American Woman". Talking posts and a discussion on this Report will be posted on the Real Skillz Business Page on Friday. Bring your opinions to the Real Skillz Facebook Wall**

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If you like what you read follow Rebecca D. Levinson as a friend and a fan on Facebook for more real estate marketing tips and real estate marketing discussions.

How To Manage the Time You Spend on Social Media In Three Simple Steps Using Google Docs

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:27:01 -0500

How to Manage the Time You Spend on Social Media In Three Simple Steps Using Google Docs

If you have a marketing plan that integrates social media, you know how easy it can be to get bogged down in applications, new social networks, SEO, and general SMM (Social Media Marketing) research and development. The time suck is one of the biggest road blocks to social media success.

To be effective with your social media strategy you need to track:

The completion of your goals (social media activities)
How long it took you to complete your goals
Feedback- The good and the bad of each activity daily.

There's an easy way to track your social media activities. All you need is an online stopwatch with sound, and an online chart that tracks your social media activities. I am going to show you how to create a Social Media Marketing Log using Google Docs.

1. Get the goal setting template.

Download the runner's log template from Google Docs into your Google Docs Account. You will need to be logged into Google Docs to do this. The runner's log turned out to be the perfect fit for charting social media marketing activities. Are you surprised?

2. Edit the Runner's Log Template to fit your Social Media Marketing Goals

You can edit the Runner's Log inside of Google Docs. I removed these fields on the form: Location, Distance, Who I Ran With, and Approximate Calories burned and added one field- Type of Networking. When you are done you should have these fields on the form: Type of Social Media Marketing Activity, Time Spent, Notes.

You can also change the theme, there are 68 total. Choose a theme that you don't mind looking at everyday.

3. Publish your Social Media Marketing Log In Your Google Docs Account

Hit Save in Google Docs when you are done and it will provide you with a link to view the Social Media Marketing Log you have created.

Your responses will funnel to a spreadsheet in your Google Docs account that will be timestamped for you to easily analyze and track from anywhere you have an internet connection.

That's it your done.

There are many time tracking and project management tools on the internet but this simple chart gets the job done and will grow as your social media efforts expand. Sometimes the more complex tools become a time waster when there is more time spent configuring and playing with them then actually using them to track your social media efforts.

Simply put, sometimes the simple things can be the most effective measurements of success.

Have fun and enjoy. Now you know how to manage the time you spend on social media in three simple steps using Google Docs.

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If you enjoyed this post on time management check out these:

Three Online Marketing Assumptions You Might Be Making and How You Can Correct Them

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:02:21 -0500

Three Online Marketing Assumptions You Might Be Making and How You Can Correct Them

In the 24/7 world of online marketing that now includes interactive social media and blogging strategies, it is easy to get caught up in new web 2.0 tools and not work on remaining consistent and improving the work that has already been created. Pruning my blog and improving my online marketing presence this week has been an enlightening experience this and I wanted to share my findings and solutions with you.

Here Are Three Online Marketing Assumptions You Might Be Making and How You Can Correct Them

1. Your Online Business Profile Should Be Brief

One common assumption about online business profiles is that less is more. While you shouldn't write an epic biographical novel, your online business profile should include relevant information: Background, Services, Testimonials, and Contact information. Spice up your online business profile by telling readers about YOU, the person, not just the business professional.

It's a good idea to create one basic online business profile in a document processing application (I use Google Docs). Obviously your ActiveRain profile will be different than your Facebook profile which will be different from your profile on Twitter.

If you save one master profile you can pull content from it to create a different profile for each of your social networks.

You want your profile to be tempting enough that prospects either pick up the phone and call you or they email you. Do not make the assumption that prospects will read a paragraph about you and visit your website for more information. You need to capture your prospects attention on the platform in which they found your profile. The content in your business profile should keep visitors intrigued and reading.

Remember, if visitors don't stick who cares about the click.

Almost every single client that has called me from my real estate marketing profile on ActiveRain has picked up the phone because of an emotional trigger related to what I wrote....which would be the softer, more personal side of who I am and what makes me tick. How do I know? I asked the ones who didn't tell me, though many of my prospects and clients have told me this as soon as they had me on the phone.

Know-Like-Trust + Experience and Knowlege= Contact From A Prospect

Here's a resource for further details on how to create an engaging online business profile in 5 simple steps.

2. Your Blog Readers Will Know All the Places You Have A Presence Online

It can seem confusing, based on the concerns from some in the real estate blogging community and social media marketers at large, whether you should "maintain the purity of a blog" by not adding calls to action. Well rest assured you can maintain a quality blog and add a call to action for your blog readers.

Most good marketing has a call to action and the most valuable property of your blog is the post itself.

Both a call to action AND your blog are two great tastes that DO taste great together. The formula you want to write is: Valuable Property + good marketing=Call/Email of a prospect.

A Blogger’S Call To Action

View more presentations from rebeccalevinson.

Do not think for a minute that other marketing professionals do not have a call to action in their blogs. You will find calls to action in the footers and links of blog posts across the blogosphere. Remember that socialize buttons, RSS text links/buttons, email links, website links, and phone numbers are all important calls to action that should be incorporated into your blog posts.

Strategically you will want to vary your calls to action based on the keywords and content of each post. This will be easy if you have an online marketing strategy.

3. Your New Blog Subscribers Will Read Your Older Posts

Most of your new blog subscribers will read from the day they subscribe forward. Sometimes they might dig back a week or two....but further isn't likely UNLESS YOU...

Point readers, new and old, in the direction of your older posts. Many of your blog readers will read other bloggers online and your older blog readers may miss a few of your blog posts as they have other bloggers they follow. Point your readers in the direction of your older posts. When you write a post, link to 2-3 other blog posts you have written in the body of your post (if applicable) or in closing as recommended reading.

Not only will you be providing your readers with a valuable resource on the same topic as your blog post, BUT if you link wisely, you can also win by increasing the Google Juice to the blog post.

Fresh New Post Content + Recommendations to older related blog posts= Value to your readers new and old

All Good Marketing Intentions Succeed with Action

If you are making some of the aforementioned assumptions in your online marketing now is a good time to start correcting them.

As my good friend Anne Marie Malfie made the point, frequency is a required action for successful online marketing. You must not only go backward and correct the 3 online marketing assumptions you may be making but moving forward you need to implement these ideas into your online marketing strategy and take action frequently.

If you enjoyed this post about online marketing then you should read,

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Top 7 Tips To Connect with Blog Comments

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:35:06 -0500

Top 7 Tips to Connect with Blog Comments

Do you want to kick your blogging up a notch? One key to successful blogging is listening. When you listen by reading a blog post you need to treat that time as you would if you were sitting across the table from a prospective client.

To listen you need to make a commitment to unplug from your other tasks at hand. There's a lot of hearing that gets done online, but listening is in a class all its own. If you truly listen you set yourself up for great connections and true business opportunities. Add commenting to your blogging goals and try these commenting tips.

Top 7 Tips to Connect with Comments

1. Read the Full Post- It's common for people to skim posts online. Try to choose blogs that you can regularly visit that are chock full of great content and interesting subjects that keep you on your toes.

Continue Reading Top 7 Tips To Connect with Blog Comments

Businesses Who Outsource Work Overseas Will Get Less In Return Than You Think

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:59:44 -0500

Businesses Who Outsource Work Overseas Will Get Less In Return Thank You Think

This past weekend I was searching for a coder for a website project I have. Before going to the job boards and looking at Linked In, I did a Google Search online. One of the first organic search results was for a company called O'Desk.

Oh my O'Desk is an interesting freelancer website.

If you log onto O'Desk you can find SEO Specialists, Link Builders, Copywriters,Virtual Assistants, Marketing Assistants, Senior PHP/Sequel Developers, Graphic Artists and more. So far so good right? Then comes the crazy part. You can hire a worker overseas, the Phillipines seems popular, for $3/hour to build your linking strategy. Overseas coders quote 50-75% less than coders for the United States.

And right here is where you say, "Oh Rebecca, Thanks for letting me know about this site...I can afford those prices. I'll have to check it out".

Right?

Wrong. I say wrong and this is why. For every job that you give to an overseas worker, you take the business opportunity away from an able bodied and willing to work American. Does this mean I am prejudice? Do I have something against foreign workers?

I am not prejudiced. I am aggravated. I am sad.

I am sorry to see so many people willing to work who are obviously well qualified and look at the O'Desk board to see that these U.S. workers have 50% less hours than their foreign counterparts.
I am sorry to see the unemployment numbers rise and small and large businesses alike continue to outsource labor overseas.
I am sorry to see solopreuners and entrepreneurs struggle to employ workers to help them with their non-revenue producing tasks and turn toward these board to have their website, blogging and social networking done for them at $3-7/hour.

I am sorry because I know that behind every displaced worker and underbid contractor there is an American who is getting the short end of the stick by their own fellow Americans. I am sorry because the Recession may be officially "over" but if unemployment rises we are headed to something much worse. I can't help but think that these moves relocate more Americans from Middle Class to Poor.

I can't help but think that these moves threaten to move America to a two class society-Have and Have Nots and no in betweens.

You may not know someone who is effected by unemployment but really you do. In six degrees of separation we are all linked to someone who is not doing well and should be given an opportunity if able, willing and ready

Instead by outsourcing work we disable the able bodied American worker.

I am not anyone's moral compass but businesses who outsource work overseas hurt your business more than you think. If we burden the very backs of those who consume and purchase products and services sold in AAmerica who will be left to purchase and who will be left to sell? The decisions we make to outsource work to foreign workers will hurt someone tomorrow.

What businesses may THINK they are saving today will be recycled to hurt them tomorrow.

It may seem painful to pay more when we could pay less. But not all moral decisions are easy decisions. Not all right steps are easy steps. I concur that sometimes the best steps can seem painful, as an entrepreneur I've had to make some of those this year.

No one said running a business was easy. No one said doing the right thing is always easy either. Does each of businesse's survival come at the expense of our American Workers. Though they are not the cheapest they are most likely the fittest.

Come on America, we are better than this and we each individually CAN do better.

Businesses Who Outsource Work Overseas Will Get Less In Return Thank You Think.

Michael Jackson, Social Media Gluttony, and Wall-E

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:48:13 -0500

Michael Jackson, Social Media Gluttony, and Wall-E

Today I was reading a newsletter from Social Media Today that warned about the risks of overusing social media, with quite a brilliant comparison made to Michael Jackon. Social Media Gurus who rise to the top must be careful that their transparency, position, and influence does not disengage them from their audience

And isolate them......

At least that is what I got out of the analogy.

The article was prompted by a post that Jason Baer wrote, "Let's Stop Swooning Over Social Media". I applaud this post for its spot on appraisal of what social media marketing has come to many and for its resounding message-we must not turn our backs on consumers who are still not engrossed in social media as much as marketers are.

Great timing for me, not only because I feel I have written about this a time or two, but also because for the past month I cannot tell you how many "consumers" ask me "What is Twitter?". They laugh and tease about it, guess at it,some vaguely have knowledge of it. So I spend time giving mini Twitter classes to consumers on the fly.

I don't mind and I know it's a smart place to be- early adoption is half the winner's race.

I digress....back to Jason Baer's post and Social Media Today's news article. When I read both today I thought they were spot on and I went back to re-reading the ClueTrain Manifesto and then in the middle....as often happens...I had to jump right up and open up my blog to write.

Because again what struck me about these posts was the emphasis on relationships....making and engaging in relationships and not disregarding those relationships that you can also find offline. Relationships come in many forms, many places, and not always the places we are swooning over.

I smiled, thinking of communication and relationships... and I thought of this,

If you enjoy posts on social media then read,

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The Power of the Referral May Be Losing Its AV...Will the FTC Recall Your Client Testimonials?

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:25:32 -0500

The Power of the Referral May Be Losing Its AV ...Will the FTC Recall Your Client Testimonials?

Background and Thoughts on New FTC Rules

This post was inspired by "Will New FTC Rules Affect Agent Testimonials on Trulia Blog", General Twitter Buzz on the FTC Guides and my own direct experience in using testimonials to sell and market real estate services and products to the real estate industry.

There has been much talk in the blogosphere as to how the FTC's new regulations has put more restrictions on bloggers, advertisers, marketers and businesses. After reading several sources, including the FTC's announcement it is possible that the very testimonials Real Estate Brokers and Agents use to advertise their services could come under scrutiny and be in violation with the FTC's new rulings,

"...advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect."

Hmmm.....I can only imagine what the disclosures of real estate companies, real estate agents, and real estate vendors might have to say. Who can say what is average or customary? These disclosures could be the makings of very wishy-washy ineffective testimonials making the power of the referral online lose its appraised value.

Think about testimonials on websites, blog posts....what about Recommendations on Linked In?

Real Estate Vendors Live for Client Testimonials

Even more susceptible to these guidelines are the real estate vendors who use testimonials. Joseph Ferrara cites Zillow and Trulia in his blog post, but I can say from experience that many referral companies, lead generation/management companies, website vendors, and Internet advertising companies have their sales force use testimonials almost exclusively to sell their services and products.

I would go so far as to say this would encompass every existing and established real estate vendor selling and marketing to real estate professionals today.

If you sell a product to real estate agents or real estate companies you are 7/10 asked these questions:

What real estate agents/brokers use your service/product near my area?
How many real estate agents/brokers near my area use your service/product?
What real estate agents/brokers may I talk to who use your product/service?

Many real estate professionals purchase products based almost exclusively on these testimonials and the inherent promises that their words promise. FOR REAL.

I imagine these sometimes false expectations are part of what the FTC is trying to avoid, but it is hard to police human nature. If consumers do their research and try to cure their impulse shopping habits, whether they are B2B or B2C therein lies the better and bigger picture. This makes common sense....right?

Do not disregard the new FTC guidelines because of what you assume is common sense for consumers or businesses to know.

Businesses now tell people things common sense takes for granted,

To protect us from ourselves,

If you had to add a disclosure to your testimonials what would it need to say? How ridiculous might it look?

The revisions to the guides from the FTC also states,

"The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers."

I imagine there are many "handshake" agreements in the real estate blogosphere- agreeing to send each other business, promote readership, etc., when they can. Will these agreements now have to be disclosed? Just some food for thought I am throwing on the table.

Keep Informed of the FTC Guidelines

Let's keep informed so that we can remain aware, proactive and empowered bloggers.

Understanding the New FTC Guidelines

View more documents from Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

Additional Resources on the Worldwide Web Regarding the FTC guides for Testimonial Advertisements:

From: FTC Sets Endorsement Rules for Blogs by Cecilia Kang
Source: The Washington Post, 10/6/2009.
Via: HighBeam™ Research
Copyright 2009 The Washington Post

From: Web reviews must disclose payments by Associated Press
Source: The Boston Globe (Boston, MA), 10/6/2009.
Via: HighBeam™ Research
Copyright 2009 The Boston Globe

Have you read the new FTC revisions to the guides regarding testimonial advertisements? What do you think?

Regardless of FTC revisions think about how Customer testimonials influence you as a consumer. Do they make an impact on your purchasing decisions, B2B or B2C?

Please share your thoughts by commenting below.

If you enjoyed this post you'll enjoy reading,

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Oktoberfest in Lake Geneva Wisconsin

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:52:45 -0500

Saturday October 10, 2009 and Sunday October 11, 2009 marks Columbus Day Weekend AND Oktoberfest in Lake Geneva Wisconsin.

Oktoberfest is a traditional local fall event that I have taken my children to every year since I moved to Lake Geneva Wisconsin four years ago. The first time I ever had hot Apple Cider with caramel and whipcream was at Oktoberfest. The first time my youngest son ever road a pony was at Oktoberfest.

Lake Geneva, WI Oktoberfest Events on Saturday October 10, 2009

Times: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Enjoy the food booths, farmers market, craft booths, restaurant Oktoberfest Specials, and Fall Color Lake Cruises.

Children's Main Entertainment Stage- 200 Block of Broad Street, Downtown Lake Geneva

Great Pumpkin Giveaway-200 Block of Broad Street-1 p.m.- Giveaway of 400 pumpkins 'til they're gone; 1 pumpkin per child 10 yrs. old and younger

Kids Activities Include: Moonwalk, Hay Rides, Face Painting, Caramel Apples, Cotton Candy, Popcorn

Oktoberfest Lake Geneva, WI Events on Sunday October 11, 2009

Times: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Enjoy the food booths, farmers market, craft booths, Restaurant Oktoberfest Speccials, and Fall Color Lake cruise

Oktoberfest Street Dance- 2 noon- 5 p.m.- 200 Block of Broad Street-Music by a German Polka band; Oktoberfest Dancing by the Milwaukee Donauschwaben Kinder Gruppe1.

For the Kids From 11 a.m.-5 p.m.: Moonwalk, Hay Rides, Face Painting, caramel Apples, Cotton Candy, and Popcorn

** This Schedule is courtesy of my local county newspaper- The Walworth County Shopper Advertiser*

I hope this schedule helps people find this information online and plan for the fest accordingly.

It will be cool tommorrow and parking gets crowded so be prepared to park away from the downtown Lake Geneva Wiscconsin area and walk. The intersection at Broadstreet will be blocked to traffic.

Make sure to bring quarters if you happen to get close parking because you will need it for the meters.

Dressing in layers will allow you to enjoy the festivites as they are outside and most people enjoy walking around Geneva Lake Shore and exploring the shops in the downtown area and their specials which are normally displayed on racks and at booths on the sidewalks downtown.

If you have an umbrella stroller you might want to bring that instead of the big stroller because it gets crowded downtown, especially on the sidewalks with the tables and sales racks.

AND, unless you want to carry pumpkins around and other goodies all day...plan on taking another trip to the car or bringing a wagon.

Have fun and enjoy Lake Geneva Wisconsin.

If you enjoyed this post then you'll enjoy reading,

Why, What, When, Where, and How Real Estate Agents Can Use Posterous

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:28:16 -0500

I don't want to complicate the simple and effective purpose of microblogging as a form of real estate marketing. Here's the lowdown in a few words and some pretty pictures.

Why, What, When, Where and How Real Estate Agents Can Use Posterous

Posterous For Real Estate

If you enjoyed this post about Posterous and like learning about web 2.o tools for real estate marketing then you should read,

Need a blog marketing strategy or an analysis of your current blogging? Consider a blogging tune-up.

Fortune Magazine's 2009 Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides A Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies- Part IV

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:30:12 -0500

Fortune Magazine's 2009 Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides A Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies- Part IV

In Part III of this blog post series I discussed how real estate companies and franchises can use Social Responsibility Blogging to discuss their social responsibility programs or regular charity events that they sponsor. I also discussed how the use of participation from real estate consumers by interview or by blog post submission can be a credible and original source of content for a blog.

Part IV is the last post in this blogging series and we will cover the rest of the companies from Fortune's Top 100 Best Companies to work for list who are using the shorter form of blogging-micro-blogging. These companies are using micro-blogging as an integral part of their social media marketing strategy and other business goals. These micro-blogging companies have some great take aways for the real estate industry.

Let's travel together and I will show you. Come on board the blogging train for one final destination- micro-blogging land.

Companies who are tweeting with a purpose and plan

The following is a list of companies from Fortune's Top 100 Best Companies to work for list who are using microblogging instead of blogging, their twitter handles, and their rank on the top 100 list:

Wegman's Food Markets- @wegmans
Genentech-@genentechnews
Carmax-@carmaxinc
Kpmg-@kpmg
Deloitte-Deloitte's Globabl Feed-@deloitte, Deloitte IFRS-@deloitteifrs
Ernst&Young- Ernst&Young Corporate- @ernst_and_young, Ernst and Young News- @eynews
Stew Leonards- FoodStore-@stew_leonards; Wine- @Stew_wines

We are going to hit pause on this journey and stop at Salesforce.coms use of twitter:

Salesforce-salesforce news-@salesforcenews, @appexchangenews, @asksalesforce,@forcedotcom, @salesforcedocs, @salesforcejobs, @salesforceoffer, @successprogram, @salesforceapac

Salesforce has multiple accounts for each product line. Each of their accounts are shown on their main twitter account @salesforcenews which makes it easy for users to navigate and find who they would like to talk with and follow. Salesforce notes each of its SMM (Social Media Marketing) channels so that users know where they can have a conversation with salesforce online. Altogether Salesforce's network of twitter accounts is simple, well branded, and slick.

Think about all of the things Salesforce can do from multiple accounts. Each tweet from each different account can:

Send followers to a webpage specific to that product/service.
Update followers on product/service enhancements, upgrades, or changes.
Request followers to subscribe to newsletters or download white papers=Increase opt-in subscriber list.
Streamline processes for reputation management and feedback by having conversations with consumers about each product/service without the confusion (twitter noise) of other product lines and services in the social stream.

Real Estate companies you can use this method too. Look at the snapshot of Salesforce.com above. The page is well branded, simple, and effective. Think about separate accounts for each of your niche real estate markets, accounts for popular subdivisions/neighborhoods for which your company holds many listings or where your company is looking to increase its business, an account for public seminars your company holds, an account for real estate news, an account for community news and an account for prospecting fueled by search for keywords using tweetgrid, hootsuite, or tweetdeck.

Popular Social Networks could use this method. How about the #1 Real Estate Social Network ActiveRain. It could have a twitterhandle for: Localism, Outside blogs, Business builders, each Professional channel, Each Consumer channel, Featured Posts, Posts By State, Corporate News, Wordless Wednesday Posts, Speechless Sunday Posts, the ability for Groups to Have a Twitter Handle, and all possibilities that the dreaming mind can achieve.

.....We are back on track to the companies who Tweet List

Stanleyworks- @TheStanleyWorks
Nordstrom-@nordstrom
Lehigh Valley Health Network-@lvhn
CH2M Hill-@CH2MHillOMI

........Our final stop

Four Seasons Hotels-Corporate Account-@fourseasons, Careers Account-@fourseasonsjobs, and 25 other twitter accounts for Four Seasons Hotels by location which are listed on their own webpage on the Four Seasons Hotels Website.

This model is a no brainer. Real estate companies and franchises can have a corporate twitter handle, a recruiting twitter handle, and multiple twitter accounts for office locations which consumers could find easily from a button on its home page directing consumers to a page on its website with all the company or franchise's twitter handles.

Action Item For Real Estate Companies

We have reached our final destination. The action items for Part IV is to add some of the Twitter Handles from the companies in this post to your twitter account and put them in a group, perhaps top 100 research list could be the label, and then watch how each handles communicates with its market (B2B or B2C).

How is each twitter account used to strengthen the company's brand identity, marketing campaigns, promotions, industry/company news, new product or services line, prospect for business, and monitor their reputation?
How do these twitter accounts interact and have conversations with their markets in a transparent and useful way?

Pay close attention to the webpages these twitter users send their followers to because many of them are chock-full of content-YouTube branded channels with useful how to do's, Libraries on company webpages, online company media rooms that have whitepapers, company background, pressreleases and more.

If you engage in all the action items, listening and taking diligent notes, you will be able to determine what method fits your business model best. You will have an outline from which you can build a dynamic blogging foundation with a unique selling proposition. One that will gain you a loyal readership, help you retain clients, gain new clients and build and maintain your brand and its reputation.

You may depart. I hope you enjoyed the ride.

Do you need a blog marketing strategy? Whether you are just getting started blogging or have been blogging for awhile consider a blogging tune-up.

Fortune Magazine's 2009 Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides A Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies- Part III

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:27:34 -0500

Fortune Magazine's 2009 Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides A Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies- Part III

In Part II of this blog post series I discussed how real estate companies can use Multiple Blogs/Team Blogging to lighten their load and keep their blogs' consistent with fresh content. I also discussed how a Corporate Blog should be an extension of a company's corporate brand and provide its consumers with extensive information.

Now I am asking you to buckle up and continue your ride on the blogging train as we discuss the last two categories addressed in Part I of the series- Social Responsibility Blogs and Participation from Target Markets Blogs. All aboard...here we go.

Social Responsiblity Blogs
Real Estate Companies who have social responsibility programs or regular charity events that they sponsor or contribute to should have a social responsibility blog. Consumers of all walks of life like to know what businesses are doing to give back to their communities and what charities they are sponsoring.

Think about celebrities, if you thumb through any pop culture magazine (i.e. People) you see photos and short stories with stars participating in charitable events. On television the Reality show Extreme Makeover:Home Edition brings many families to tears with its remarkable transformations of families in need.

One more reason to pause for thought. In interviews I have done with real estate professionals in the past not all could name hobbies and interests that existed beyond their profession but almost all could name charities which they chaired, sponsored, contributed, or lent their time.

Why not use these opportunities as content for a blog?

Take a look at Fed Ex's Citizenship blog. It is broken into four individual blogs off the main blog home page: Community and Disaster Relief, Economics and Access, Environment and Efficiency, and People and Workplace.

You will also notice that the brand identity of the Fed Ex Corporate website is carried through to the Fed Ex blog,

Here is the blog's mission statement I took directly from the About Page of the Fed Ex Citizenship Blog. Listen closely:

"Thanks for visiting the FedEx Citizenship Blog. We are excited to be a part of this important and ongoing conversation. To this point, we have been listening, reading, sharing and responding to the blog community on the progress of our corporate responsibility programs. The FedEx Citizenship blog is our opportunity to actively contribute to the dialogue. We look forward to growing our community with your feedback and participation."

Please also take a look at the Quicken Loans Blog, What's the Dif. This is the corporate blog located off Quicken Loans Careers web page. It's theme is "...the things that make the difference in business and in life". Charitable endeavors and technology are two topics of interest on the What's the Dif. blog.

Im thinking that with the increasing amount of real estate companies and real estate professionals blogging about technology and how they use it, this type of theme would be an easy fit.

If you choose a similar route to the Quicken Loans blog make sure the technology posts are relative and useful to your target market or the market to whom your blog is trying to attract.

Participation from Target Markets Blogs

Can you imagine allowing your customers to be guests on your blog? What about a blog that receives regular contributions or has bloggers writing content from their target markets? Dream often and carry a soft pillow...it can happen and why shouldn't it? Real estate consumers have a lot to say as evidenced by the popular real estate communities Zillow and Trulia.

When I was a corporate blogger for a real estate advertising company I interviewed a few consumers on their real estate stories and boy were they willing to share. One interview was with a consumer in California about selling her house in a neighborhood of at least three other foreclosure listings. One interview with this California real estate seller produced three posts of useful and unique content.

Since each state has different laws governing real estate and you are bound by your COE I would discuss this concept with an attorney before proceeding beyond interviews. You can start with consumer interview which will allow you to maintain control on your blog.

S.C. Johnson and Son has a blog titled Family Economics in which three mom bloggers are the S.C. Johnson bloggers. Each of these mom bloggers has their own separate blogs: House and Home, Food for Thought, More with Less, Getting Organized.

What kind of credibility and content do you think this approach lends to the S.C Johnson brand?
Does this method of blogging provide a unique selling proposition for S.C. Johnson?
Is S.C. Johnson still able to maintain their brand identity by hiring consumers from outside of their company to be their bloggers?

Action Item For Real Estate Companies
We have reviewed all four of the categories explained in Part I of this series so now your action item will be a little different. Subscribe to both the Family Economics Blog and Fed Ex's Citizenship blog. Read the posts of the blogs that you have subscribed to as a result of this blog post series. Create a rough football goal post outline for each of the blogs you are following and Label it Likes/Dislikes. Do this for each of the blogs you visit. Determine each blog's Unique Selling/Value Proposition, who its target market is, and how it is reaching its target market by the content on its blog.

Pay careful attention and make written note of what each of these companies is doing on their blogs in order to have two way conversations with their target markets.

The blogging train has now arrived at the depot. Its last stop will be tomorrow in Part IV which is dedicated to the microbloggers of Fortune's Top 100 Best Companies to Work For List.

Do you need a blog marketing strategy? Whether you are just getting started blogging or have been blogging for awhile consider a blogging tune-up.

Fortune Magazine's 2009 Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides a Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies- Part II

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:45:47 -0500

Fortune Magazine's 2009 Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides a Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies- Part II

In Part I of this blog post series I took Fortune Magazine's Top 100 Best Companies to Work for List and used it as resource to provide a list of companies whose blogging efforts are a textbook study for the real estate industry. The list was broken into four categories: Multiple Blogs/Team Blogging, Corporate Blogs, Social Responsibility Blogs, and Participation from Target Market Blogs. I also called for an action item for real estate companies to take their favorite blogs from the list that hit the bulls eye for brand identity, valuable content, consistency, and that had an unforgettable quality and to subscribe to these blogs.

This list of companies who blog was just the beginning of this series.

Come on board the blogging train as I navigate these categories for you and as promised provide the take aways from this original list of blogging corporations. The ride might leave you feeling a bit breathless but also giddy with anticipation as ideas for you blog begin to formulate.

Multiple Blogs/Team Blogging

Real estate companies can use this concept to make sure their blogging is consistent. By assigning an administrator to the team blog you can make sure it complies with company guidelines, that it is in adherence to COE policies, and that it stays on topic and focus. The administrator can also serve as a blogging coach who guides real estate bloggers into best practices and new blogging tools to help their efforts.

Take a look at the snapshot of the Zappos blog below. There are over 100 bloggers who write on this blog, "Inside Zappos" and they are led by an administrator. What is interesting to note is that while there are two CEO executives and two COO-CFO executives who are bloggers on the Inside Zappos blog they are not the administrators of this blog. The Inside Zappos blog is consistently adding new content- created 21 months ago it boasts 1033 total posts. Everyday there is a post published on the blog and some days there are multiple posts published.

The Inside Zappos blog stay on topic. It's tag line is "Fun and a Little Weird" and it delivers it's focus with posts titled,

Each of these posts were fun and/or a little weird. When I read these posts I really felt like I was inside Zappos. The posts being published on this blog do not stray from their theme.

Zappos also has multiple blogs-12 to be precise - ranging in topic from fashion trendy to running but then they do something a little zany...they throw in a separate blog for parents. Then again, the Zappos brand extends beyond shoes. Zappos's blog strategy of maintaining multiple blogs helps to bring awareness to the multiple offerings of the Zappos brand and brand identity.

The multiple blogs/team blogging concept is useful for real estate franchises and small brokerages alike. If you are a smaller brokerage you may want to consider bringing in your ancillary vendor partners to form a team blog and/or engage your internal customers. If you are a real estate franchise you could have a blog for each region, or each niche market your company serves. Real estate franchises and small brokerages alike should definitely consider a separate executive blog to open the curtain from behind the brand and lets people know who the PERSON is behind the company.

Corporate Blogs
A single corporate blog is a good choice for a small mom and pop real estate brokerage or a small real estate company focused on a niche market. A corporate blog,when well planned and executed, enhances the company's brand. It's content offers a strong value proposition to its customers. A single corporate blog is not hidden, but is built right into the company's website in a prominent location on the homepage.

A good example is the Whole Foods blog, Whole Story. Whole Foods, a company that services a niche consumer market (organic shoppers) wants to talk with its customers on LinkedIn, Flick, Twitter, and its corporate blog. They don't keep this call for two way conversations a dirty little secret. Their call for action is located in the top upper right hand corner of their website(i.e.above the fold).

The Whole Story blog has a consistent brand message. The look and feel of the blog is the same as the Whole Foods Corporate website on which it take up residence and enhances the Whole Food's Internet Real Estate (i.e. http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/). It contains an incredible amount of content on topics ranging from recipes to free trade. The blog invites you to connect with Whole Foods on Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter, and contains a video and library podcast. The Whole Story blog has multiple authors that includes the vendor partners of Whole Foods. The Whole Story blog email subscription page also offers subscription to their Recipes bi-monthly newsletter and their bi-monthly store specials and events newsletter.

In one easy to use subscription form Whole Foods seamlessly integrates their other online marketing efforts and their branding opportunities.

Action Item for Real Estate Companies

Study the Zappos network of blogs and the Whole Foods Corporate Blog, Whole Story. Think about these companies brands and unique selling proposition. Discover how they incorporate their culture into their blogs and how they deliver consistent content to their readers that is interesting, unique, and valuable. Subscribe to a few blogs from the Zappos blog network and Whole Story, the corporate blog of Whole Foods.

I will continue this series with an analysis of Social Responsibility blogs and Participation from Target Market blogs in Part II of this four part series. Stay tuned.

Do you need a blog marketing strategy? Whether you are just getting started blogging or have been blogging for awhile consider a blogging tune-up.

Fortune Magazine's 2009 Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides A Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies- Part I

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:34:29 -0500

Fortune Magazine's Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides A Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies- Part I"

Real Estate companies who are just stepping into the blogosphere or are considering blogging have great R&D material from the companies on the 2009 Fortune 100 Best Companies To Work For List. I chose to analyze this list as a resource for the real estate industry for three primary reasons:

TOP 3 REASONS THE TOP 100 BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR LIST IS AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE FOR REAL ESTATE COMPANIES:

1. Spicey with Variety- It consists of global corporations, large companies, and small businesses and thus in terms of business structure runs parallel to the make-up of those companies that exist in the real estate industry: mom and pop companies, small brokerages, larger brokerages, international franchises.
2. Master Listeners- It is compiled of companies who listen and are responsive to their internal customers (i.e. employees and vendor partners). Businesses who satisfy their internal customers are often successful in satisfying their external customers (i.e. their marketplace) which leads me to big bad ole reason #3
3. Excellent Communicators- I hypothesized that based on reason #2 it wouldn't be a stretch that these companies were good at communicating and would have a presence in the blogosphere. It turned out that 48 of these 100 companies are micro-blogging or blogging. These companies are listening and responding to their market.

TOP 100 BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR WHO ARE BLOGGING

The companies who are blogging from the top 100 best places to work for, their ranking on the top 100 list,the type of blogging methods they have adopted, the location(URL) of their blogs and a of description of their blogs.

MULTIPLE BLOGS/TEAM BLOGGING

Adobe Systems-Network of Adobe blogs, Adobe Blog Aggregator-External customers and experts that blog about Adobe, All Feeds for Blogs (Internal and External) about Adobe Products -Ranked #11
Alston + Bird LLP-Alston +Bird LLP Corporate blog home page-Corporate blog home page that consists of six individual blogs.-Ranked #36
Cisco Systems-The Platform- Cisco's Corporate Blog, Channels, Collaboration, Data Center Networks, DigitAll Consumers, Dig Media Rev, Ecolibrium, High Tech Policy, Innovation, Mobility, Security, SP360 Service Provider, Virtual Worlds, Web Experience -Ranked #6
EBay-Ebay Ink Blog- Employee's Views and Insights on EBay, Ebay Developer's Blog, EBay Insider Blog,The Official ProStores Blog, EBay Certified Provider Program Blog,EBay Partner Network Blog- Ranked #83
Gilbane-Eight employees and Executivees from Gilbane are on the Gilbane blogging team for the Healthcare Building Ideas Blog.- Ranked #91
Google-The Official Google Blog- Google's Corporate Blog. Google Webmaster Central Blog-News on crawling and indexing sites for the google index,Google Analytics Blog,Google's Public Policy Blog,Google Code Blog, Google Geo Developer's Blog, Google WebToolkit Blog, OpenSource at Google Blog, Android Developers Blog, Google Wave Developer Blog, Google AJAX Search API Blog- Ranked #4
Intuit-Online Database Blog-Quickbase- Corporate Blog. The AppGap- Blog Sponsored by Intuit Quickbase and BeeLine Labs-Ranked #49
Juniper Networks-Juniper Networks Blogs-Homepage for network of 3 Juniper Blogs.- Ranked #84
Mayo Clinic-Mayo Clinic Community Blogs Home Page- Homepage for a network of 8 blogs. Ranked #63
Methodist Hospital System-Mymethodist blog-Corporate blog, AskCharles, Emotional Eating and Body Image, Honoring Dr. DeBakey, Patient Stories,Weight Loss Support-Ranked #8
Microsoft-Microsoft Blogs Community Page- Videos and blogs from Microsoft employees Ranked #38
NetApp-NetApp Communities- A networked community of 52 blogs. The bloggers include cofounder Dave Hitz, executives, technical directors, solutions architects, and systems engineers-Ranked #1
Salesforce.com Blog-Salesforce Community Blogs Home Page- Homepage for a network of 5 Salesforce.com Blogs.- Ranked #55
SAS-Blogs.SAS- Corporate blog home page of SAS that highlights 5 featured SAS blogs and 17 RSS Feeds for SAS blogs.-Ranked #20
Vanderbilt University-Inside Vandy- Vanderbilt University's Student News Source with a network of 7 blogs.-Ranked #98
Zappos.com-Zappos Corporate Blog Community Page- Home page for the Zapos Network of Blogs. The network of blogs consists of 15 seperate blogs each with an administrator and a team of bloggers.-Ranked #23

CORPORATE BLOGS

Accenture-Accenture Green IT Blog- Corporate Blog- Ranked #97
Herman Miller-Herman Miller Blog- Corporate Blog- Ranked #89
Marriott International-Marriott On The Move- Marriott Corporate Blog from Bill Marriott, Chairman & CEO of Marriott International.; Marriott In the Kitchen- Marriott's Blog from Brad Nelson, corporate chef and vice president of culinary.- Ranked #78
Perkins Coie-Private Equity Viewpoints-Corporate Blog- Ranked #82
Principle Financial Group-Leadership Development Rotation Program Blog- Ranked #17
Rackspace Hosting-The Official Rackspace Blog- Corporate Blog- Ranked #43
Texas Instruments Corporate Blog-TI Video 360 Blog- Texas Instruments Blog- Ranked #65
Whole Foods Market-Whole Story- Whole Foods Corporate Blog- Ranked #22
Qualcomm-Gobi On The Road- Gobi Blog- Ranked #16

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY BLOGS

Arkansas Children's Hospital-Gears4Ears Blog- Blog about Arkansas Children's Hospital Endurance Ride- A Cause Sponsored by ACH, not a corporate blog- Ranked #85
Baptist Health South Florida-Baptist Health's Hurricane Blog- Baptist Health Hurricane Season Blog- Ranked #79
FedEx-Citizenship Blog- Blog about FedEx Corporate Responsibility Programs- Ranked #90
Quicken Loans-What's the Diff?-Corporate blog located off of Quicken Loans Careers webPage about the things that make the difference in business and in life.- Ranked #29

PARTICIPATION FROM TARGET MARKETS BLOGS

Bright Horizons-Mom to Mom- Bright Horizons moms' blogs authored by Commuter Mom, Modern Mom, News Mom, Green Mom, Crafty Mom, and Cooking Mom.-Ranked #80
S.C Johnson and Son-3 Blogs written by 3 Mom Bloggers-House and Home, Food for Thought, More with Less, Getting Organized- Ranked #81
Starbucks-Starbucks Corporate Blog- Starbucks Ideas in Action Blog which discusses topics from the Starbucks Social Network Community My Starbucks Idea.- Ranked #24
Umpqua Bank- Save Hard Spend Smart- Umpqua Bank Blog about ways to save money as well as three cause blogs: YWCA, Boys and Girls Club, and Kids Unlimited

ACTION ITEM FOR REAL ESTATE COMPANIES

This post is Part I of a four part series on "Fortune Magazine's Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides A Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies".

Study this list and the categories. Think about the Unique Value Proposition these brands have and how they have incorporated their brands into their blogs. Take your favorite blogs, the ones that strike you as hitting the mark in brand, content, consistency, and have an unforgettable quality. Subscribe to them.

I will blog my take-aways from this list in Part II of this series. Stay tuned.

Does you need a blog marketing strategy? Whether you are just getting started blogging or have been blogging for awhile consider a blogging tune-up.

Three Tools for Real Estate Agents To Use To Write A Competitive Analysis

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:18:16 -0500

Three Tools for Real Estate Agents To Use To Write A Competitive Analysis

Google Alerts

Take your keyword list that you have crafted after completing your keyword research. Sign up for a Google Alerts account and add the keywords to your list so you will receive "...email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.)" for these keywords". This will help you develop content around those keywords and also see what websites are ranking for those keywords and if there is any repetition.

These websites are your competition and you want to track them.

Perform initial searches on the search engines-Google, Yahoo, Bing- for the words on your keyword list. Write down the companies and/or names of professionals who are ranking in the top positions on Page 1 of these search engines. Add their names to your Google Alerts account.

Don't Dismiss companies like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, Redfin or the like show up in your results Just because a company isn't a traditional brokerage doesn't mean you shouldn't add them to your competitive analysis. If they are showing up high in search results for your keywords then they are doing things you may be to able to duplicate or even improve upon.

These companies and professionals are your competition. You want to watch how they move online and you want to be in those places too.

SEOBOOK Toolbar

Download the SEO Toolbar for Firefox. The information from this tool is incredible for your competitive online analysis. A few things this toolbar will give you: PageRank of a website, SEM.com traffic rush valuable(indispensable information in my humble non SEO Expert Opinion), monthly unique visitors, keyword density(more invaluable information for your keyword research), directory links, page links, and links to the domain.

Use this wealth of information to your advantage when devising your linking and keyword strategy.

You should also use this toolbar when deciding what sites to comment on as it will give you quick page rank and nofollow links information.

Simple Checklist

Don't limit your analysis to your competition's keywords and SERP online marketing effectiveness. There are other electronic AND offline marketing verticals that provide good business opportunities for real estate professionals and they shouldn't be automatically dismissed. Put yourself in the shoes of your competition AND your customers, not all of who will be tech savvy.

Does your competition have a strong brand presence, are they holding open houses, are they a member of the Chamber of Commerce, do they have an internet radio show?

Here's a simple spreadsheet to help you get started.

Take Action

Once you have completed your analysis you may develop some astounding conclusions.

Perhaps you have found a niche market your competition has not yet captured. Maybe your competition is finding themselves in more unusual places online than you had realized and now you know you need to be seen there too.

Competitive analysis is an ongoing process but it is a pillar to market domination. Use these three tools to analyze your competitive real estate landscape and keep your business on top.

If you enjoyed this blog post on competitive analysis you will enjoy reading,

Need help analyzing your landscape and creating a competitive analysis? Contact Rebecca D. Levinson, dba Real Skillz, Real Estate Marketing Consultant- #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

The Top 5 Ways to Prune Your Real Estate Blog

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:32:55 -0500

Your blog is your garden.

It's time to fall back. Now with the change of seasons it's time to take a look at your blog.

You have and shared information. Your content has grown like the vines of a cucumber plant as you crafted your blog with well placed and tagged images, keywords, links and html headings.

Now is the time to evaluate. Ask yourself what you have reaped as a result of your efforts and what you can improve to harvest a bigger crop. I am going through this process for myself and my clients and wanted to share my blogging tune-up efforts with you.

The Top 5 Ways To Prune Your Real Estate Blog

1. Define Your Blog's Purpose

What is the goal of your blog?
Are you writing to recruit other real estate professionals?
Are you seeking B2B referrals?
Do you want a place where your current clients can visit for community information?
Are you seeking new consumer prospects and clients?
Is your blog a public diary for your artistic endeavors?

This exercise may result in the relocation of some of your posts to a different blog suited for a different purpose or marking some of your posts as member's only if you are using the ActiveRain platform.

If your blog's purpose is not clear to you it will not be clear to potential or current readers either.

2. Tweak Your Blog Post Titles

Is the message in the blog post title delivered in the body of the post? Are the keywords of the post topic in the headline? Have the words in the headline been repeated in the first 160 characters of your blog post and the last sentence of the last paragraph of your post?

Is your blog post title evoking enough interest and emotion to make someone click and read your post? Review the stats of your individual posts. What are your views vs. click stats? What are your most popular posts?

3. Create a Blog Content Strategy

You cannot wave a wand, exclaim hocus pocus, and expect that magically your blog posts will maintain a focus. It takes a well laid action plan that is designed to put your blog's focus into motion.

To maintain consistent real estate blogging,

Research how real estate topics are searched on the Internet and what is written about them. Make two lists. The first list will be a list of topics to post on your blog and the second will be a list that categorizes the existing posts your blog.
Create an editorial calendar that will keep you blogging on schedule.

A blog without a content strategy is like a garden that is not watered regularly. Eventually it will start to wither and it will lose the fruits of its labor.

4. Check Your Links and Your SEO

Are the links on your blog posts still live or are they broken? When you link out on your blog are your linking to resources with a good value to your readers AND a good page rank? Are you using the opportunity to link to other posts that are frequently trafficked within your blog? Are you linking to pages in your website from your blog posts? Check your metatags, check your tags, and check your anchor text. DailyblogTips has a handy SEO Checklist.

Are you using Header tags in your blog's SEO/SEM Strategy? There's very good and succinct advice on Header tags in this SEO blog post and this blog post about header tags.

5. Examine Your Blog Design

Your brand should have a prominent home on your blog. If your purpose for blogging is to gain new consumer prospects, clients and referrals business then do not make your brand, services or persona anonymous. Make sure that your blog's design reflects your brand in the header, the right hand margin, and at the end of the blog post in the footer with a call to action.

Don't make an assumption that blog readers will click over and read your profile.

Incorporate these elements into your blog. Make it EASY for blog readers to reach out to you:

Your name, phone number, and email address
Links to pages on your website
Subscribe buttons for your blog
Subscribe buttons for your newsletter
Links/buttons to listing search and home evaluation

Some clients may come to you the zen way but you are still selling your services through your blog. That is the end game.

Blogging great content consistently is the key but all blogs need attention and care. Enjoy the top 5 ways to prune your real estate blog.

If you have any tips to add please do so in the comments below.

If you enjoyed this post check out these posts about blogging,

Does your blog need pruning? Consider a blogging tune-up.

Conversations on the Sidelines: A Look at Google Sidewiki

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:35:35 -0500

Conversations on the Sidelines: A Look at Google Sidewiki

Google has launched a new application that allows website visitors to comment about a webpage they are visiting and read other visitors comments. These comments appear as a sidebar on the left-hand side of the page called Sidewiki. Users are also able to rate the comments as useful, not useful, or report abuse.

In true sharing fashion you can share the sidewiki comments on Twitter, Facebook or via Email. Brings a different sort of meaning to the power of referrals.

You can install the Google toolbar with Sidewiki here.

I took a walk around the worldwide web this evening with Google Sidewiki and took a few snapshots

Mashable

Zillow

I just couldn't resist so I took a quick jog over here before heading home

I strolled by the top real estate franchises, but only found one, Re/Max, that had a sidewiki comment. I suspect that will change.......real soon.

Sidewiki seems like the user friendly app. it was meant to be and I am sure there will be some tweaks and changes along the way. Most importantly, in my view, it will enable the flow of conversation and empower users with feedback from hopefully many impartial parties- i.e. other consumers or business folk who do not all have a commercial interest in the webpage.

As to real estate brokerages, offices, and real estate professionals....just another reason to be active listeners and engage in two way conversations on the worldwide web.

If you liked this post about the Google Sidewiki you may be interested in reading,

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

How can you manage the barage of information, conversations, and shiny new tools that is Web 2.0? Call Rebecca Levinson, dba Real Skillz, Real Estate Marketing Consultant-#262-203-5231 and let's talk about creating a social media marketing strategy that makes sense for your business or Email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.

Blogging In The Rain Real Estate Marketing Blog

I Am Going to PubCon and Want to Bring Your SEO Questions with Me and Get Answers for You

I Am Going to PubCon and Want to Bring Your SEO Questions with Me and Get Answers for You

What kind of SEO/SEM Topics You Might Have Burning Questions About

How to Cut Your Real Estate Blogging Time In Half and Re-purpose Your Content Three Ways with the Time Saved

How To Cut Your Real Estate Blogging Time in Half and Re-purpose Your Content Three Ways with the Time Saved

Here's How to Cut Your Real Estate Blogging Time In Half and Repurpose Your Content Three Ways with the Saved Time

1. Use Gmail to Collect and Organize Your Research

2. Open an Account at Webnotes and carefully sift through your "Blog-Research" folder

3. Generate your Content

4. Use the extra time you saved to work your SEO

5. Re-purpose your blog content in three ways with the additional time

Week of 11/03/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Week of 11/03/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

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

How to Choose the Right Days to Market your Real Estate Services Online

Here are 5 tips on choosing the right days to market your real estate services online

1. Tweet Midweek-

2. Publish Your Most Important Blog Posts Midweek

3. The Weakest Link for Email Marketing is Saturday

4. Engage your Fans on Facebook on Tuesdays

5. LinkedIn Users Are Active In the Morning

Building A Real Estate Community Means Growing Your Internet Presence

Building A Real Estate Community Means Growing Your Internet Presence

Halloween Trick or Treat Fun with Real Skillz Newly Launched Free Real Estate Marketing Tools Website

Halloween Trick or Treat Fun with Real Skillz Newly Launched Free Real Estate Marketing Tools Website

Enter the Real Skillz Newly Launched Free Real Estate Marketing Tools Website by clicking on my ghostly picture below.

Real Skillz Halloween Treat~A Blogging Workbook for New Real Estate Bloggers

Real Skillz Halloween Treat~A Blogging Workbook for New Real Estate Bloggers

Real Skillz Halloween Treat~A Blogging Workbook for New Real Estate Bloggers.

A blogging workbook

A slideshow on blogging

Week of 10/26/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies- Issue II

Week of 10/26/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies- Issue II

How to Re-purpose Your Real Estate Blog's Content To Grow Your Email List in 5 Simple Steps

How to Re-purpose Your Real Estate Blog's Content To Grow Your Email List in 5 Simple Steps

Here are 5 Simple Steps to re-purpose your real estate blog's content to grow your email list

1. Decide Which Real Estate Blog Posts You Will Use as Content for your Real Estate Ezine

2. Create your Real Estate Ezine

3. Edit your Real Estate Ezine

4. Your ROI Is Dependent On How You Market your Real Estate Ezine

5. Take the Marketing of your Real Estate Ezine to the Next Level

Week of 10/20/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

Week of 10/20/09- Real Skillz Freebie Picks- Free Online Reads and Real Estate Marketing Resources for Real Estate Agents and Real Estate Companies

How To Manage the Time You Spend on Social Media In Three Simple Steps Using Google Docs

How to Manage the Time You Spend on Social Media In Three Simple Steps Using Google Docs

1. Get the goal setting template.

2. Edit the Runner's Log Template to fit your Social Media Marketing Goals

3. Publish your Social Media Marketing Log In Your Google Docs Account

Three Online Marketing Assumptions You Might Be Making and How You Can Correct Them

Three Online Marketing Assumptions You Might Be Making and How You Can Correct Them

Here Are Three Online Marketing Assumptions You Might Be Making and How You Can Correct Them

1. Your Online Business Profile Should Be Brief

2. Your Blog Readers Will Know All the Places You Have A Presence Online

3. Your New Blog Subscribers Will Read Your Older Posts

All Good Marketing Intentions Succeed with Action

Top 7 Tips To Connect with Blog Comments

Businesses Who Outsource Work Overseas Will Get Less In Return Than You Think

Businesses Who Outsource Work Overseas Will Get Less In Return Thank You Think

Michael Jackson, Social Media Gluttony, and Wall-E

The Power of the Referral May Be Losing Its AV...Will the FTC Recall Your Client Testimonials?

The Power of the Referral May Be Losing Its AV ...Will the FTC Recall Your Client Testimonials?

Background and Thoughts on New FTC Rules

Real Estate Vendors Live for Client Testimonials

Keep Informed of the FTC Guidelines

Oktoberfest in Lake Geneva Wisconsin

Saturday October 10, 2009 and Sunday October 11, 2009 marks Columbus Day Weekend AND Oktoberfest in Lake Geneva Wisconsin.

Lake Geneva, WI Oktoberfest Events on Saturday October 10, 2009

Oktoberfest Lake Geneva, WI Events on Sunday October 11, 2009

Why, What, When, Where, and How Real Estate Agents Can Use Posterous

Why, What, When, Where and How Real Estate Agents Can Use Posterous

Fortune Magazine's 2009 Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides A Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies- Part IV

Fortune Magazine's 2009 Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides A Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies- Part IV

Companies who are tweeting with a purpose and plan

Action Item For Real Estate Companies

You may depart. I hope you enjoyed the ride. Do you need a blog marketing strategy? Whether you are just getting started blogging or have been blogging for awhile consider a blogging tune-up.

Fortune Magazine's 2009 Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides A Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies- Part III

Fortune Magazine's 2009 Top 100 Best Companies to Work For Provides A Lesson In Blogging to Real Estate Companies- Part III

Social Responsiblity Blogs

Participation from Target Markets Blogs

You may depart. I hope you enjoyed the ride.

Do you need a blog marketing strategy? Whether you are just getting started blogging or have been blogging for awhile consider a blogging tune-up.