New Real Estate Marketing Rule...If You Can't Join 'Em, Beat 'Em
Disclaimer: If you are paying thousands of dollars for online marketing you might not like what I'm about to say.
Have you ever had this conversation with a client?
Client: I found this great house that I want to see....I think its the one! It is a yellow 2-story with a great yard...can you tell me more about it?
Agent: Do you have the address or MLS number?
Client: Well, no.
Agent: Where did you see this house?
Client: I was searching on (insert your biggest competitor's name here) website....
Agent: (with jaw clenched and fists balled) Let me see if I can find the one you are talking about.
No matter how hard we try to promote our own website and home search, our clients may have different taste when it comes to how they like to browse homes. There is no denying that some companies, as well as individual agents out there, have amazing home search sites. Then there are sites like Zillow and Trulia, where your competition is lurking rather prominently, ready to snag your clients at the first opportunity. To play the game costs money, and in the case of creating a top notch website or buying prominent ad space on top websites...LOTS of money. But to stay competitive do you need to grow your marketing budget or just get smarter?
The Ultimate Client Retention Tool
Could you tell your clients to go search any site they like and maintain total confidence that they will come back to you when they find a home they like? If so, you have great loyal clients. But if you've ever dealt with someone who you were scared to send out to that new construction site or open house without you tagging along, then this is for you.
Imagine having a way to expand your web presence to EVERY WEBSITE in existence. Yes, I mean EVERY WEBSITE. Now imagine that it is totally FREE to do this. Do I have your attention yet?
Have you ever been prompted to install a toolbar from sites like Google or Yahoo? Well now you can create your very own toolbar, fully branded and customizable, that you can share with friends, clients, or anyone you would like to have as real estate clients. This toolbar can include links to your sites, pre-loaded RSS feeds for your blogs, pre-loaded Twitter updates for any Tweeters you want people to follow, local weather, news.....the list goes on. People who use your toolbar can also access their Facebook accounts and receive their notifications right on the toolbar, or set their web-based email to come right to their toolbar. It is a great way to reduce the number of pages you need to visit in order to find the information you want...and you can provide this to people.
The Real Estate Tie-in
So you've got a toolbar, what does that have to do with the beginning of this post? Here's where it gets fun. The guys at RealBird.com have come up with several gadgets you can add to your toolbar that will keep your clients coming back to you regardless of where they go to search for homes.
Thanks to RealBird, you can include a button on your toolbar that, when clicked, will allow your client to send you a message right from their toolbar. The best part is that when they click to send you a message the URL of the page they are looking at will automatically be captured and pasted as a link into the message. So you can now see exactly what information your client was looking at and be able to respond in a way that provides new, valuable information to them. It is a win-win scenario, your clients get easy access to you from anywhere on the web and you get to know how you can add value and provide them with information they haven't already seen.
RealBird has also created gadgets you can add to your toolbar for your featured listings or your branded RealBird property search. You can give the buttons for those gadgets any name you choose and also add help text that appears when someone mouses over the button.
Here's What To Do
If you like the concept and want to learn more, here are several things you can do:
- Visit the download page for my toolbar to see an example. If you want to see the toolbar in action go ahead and download mine (it is very easy to uninstall).
- Visit Conduit.com and experiment with creating your own toolbar.
- If you want to add real estate functions to your toolbar, go sign up for RealBird and click 'Toolbar' at the top of your member dashboard. Then follow their tutorial for adding the gadgets.
After you create your toolbar you will receive a customized URL for your download page that you can share with your clients and friends. You can also click to 'Like' your toolbar right from the download page to easily promote your toolbar on Facebook.
Give it a try and please let me know your thoughts!
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