advice realtors: Week 4 of Your 4 Week Online Marketing Plan - 11/21/08 06:57 AM
The goal of week 4 is to use your online marketing tools to make contact with people you don't know yet. (If you've missed a previous week here are links to Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3.)
Before I get into specific ideas for this week, take a look at the following list of questions. These are actual questions I found online (I'll share which sites in a bit). Are these people that you would like to meet? Are these people you would like to talk with?
What is the Germantown  real estate market doing? I am looking for real estate to invest in … (3 comments)

advice realtors: Unprecedented Conditions Call for Rationale - 11/14/08 07:12 AM
Join the Conversation!  Start communicating what's happening in the housing market. Follow the lead of Steve Brown and begin restoring confidence right now.
Scripts, Tips & Quotes from the desk of...  Steve Brown, Vice-Present & General Manager, Crye-Leike, Realtors
The whipsaw of the Dow Jones index, free fall of 401s, online minute by minute reports of the latest bank or business failure, sensational headlines in the daily paper and the "doom and gloom" of the nightly news can easily cause potential homebuyers or sellers to draw up in a ball. So how do we make any sense of all of this, … (3 comments)

advice realtors: Week 3 of Your 4 Week Online Marketing Plan - 11/13/08 02:43 AM
The goal of week 3 is to use your online marketing tools to make contact with people you know. (If you've missed a previous week here are links to Week 1 and Week 2.)
Get a Link to Your Web Site. Ask a company you work with or an organization you're a member if they'll link from their web site to your site (preferably with keyword anchor text). If you have trouble finding someone, do it on your own on del.icio.us or digg.com. >>>>  Try not to participate in link exchanges or pay people for links. Search engines place more emphasis on links you earn.
… (8 comments)

advice realtors: Week 2 of Your 4 Week Online Marketing Plan - 11/07/08 08:18 AM
Set Up Your Profiles. The goal of week 2 is to check out a few social networking sites are and get your name out there.... Create your user names and passwords.... Set up your profiles. Click here if you missed week 1.
Someone asked me, "Uh....How long is this going to take?" The idea here is just a few minutes here or there. You could sit down and knock out the whole list now, or as you have 5-10 minutes in office duty or after checking your email etc visit a site.
Sites to visit...
√  www.MySpace.com √  www.Facebook.com √  www.LinkedIn.com √  www.ActiveRain.com
Visit … (8 comments)

advice realtors: Week 1 of Your 4 Week Online Marketing Plan - 10/31/08 07:35 AM
At Crye-Leike's National Conference in Destin, Florida I presented a session called "Internet Marketing: From your web site, social networking, ecards & beyond...". I annouced that I would share a 4 week plan to put some of these ideas into action. (If you are reading this on active rain, you've most likely done a lot of this stuff already...) but I am sharing here anyway.
How much will this plan cost? It's a plan that's almost free... the only expense associated with this plan is the cost for your own web site (for Crye-Leike associates that is $10/month). Everything else is free.
… (11 comments)

advice realtors: Top 10 Email Etiquette Tips - 09/04/08 03:32 AM
Here's the latest tech tip from Crye-Leike Information Technology....
Turn off the Caps Lock. TYPING IN ALL CAPS IS YELLING AT SOMEONE (and it's hard to read).  Type a Subject Line. A descriptive one-liner to summarize the content and grab attention.  Include an Email Signature. Your contact info with the message (phone, fax, mailing and web addresses)  Watch the Acronyms. LOL is it "Life of Loan" or "Laughing out Loud"?  Avoid Sarcasm. Tone is easily misinterpreted in email.  Check Spelling. Chec wiht a profesionnal. Doesn't look very professional. Turn on auto run.  Keep it to the Point.  Keep your message concise. Short. Easy and quick … (18 comments)

advice realtors: Squidoo Fun - 04/01/08 03:25 AM
Just checking out Squidoo this morning. I haven't ever played with it, but today I made my own lens.
Memphis Homes on SquidooCrye-Leike on SquidooIf you are not familiar with Squidoo, it's a site where you can go and build free web pages. Each page is about a topic or really whatever you want. You can drop in modules for links or text or widgets. You can make 1 or a million. It's up to you. You can also earn royalties from the pages you create for your pocketbook or for charity. Here's all the facts on Squidoo.
It's really cute - on … (2 comments)

advice realtors: Move-In Welcome Package - What do you include? - 02/01/08 03:24 AM
I'm curious if you make move-in or welcome packages for buyers when they first move into a home. What do you include or have you heard good ideas about what other people are packaging together.
Here's some information I've seen. I thought these were good ideas. 
When does the trash come?Where is the school bus stop?Where's the grocery store?Menus for restuarants that deliver or are nearby.Appliance manuals.Location of the water shut-off.Age of roof, water heater, a/c etc. Recommendations of home service providers.How would you build on this? Do you actually do this?
… (8 comments)

advice realtors: Need a web page fast and your webmaster’s not answering the phone? - 01/22/08 09:00 AM
Sometimes you just want a web page out there in cyber space and you don't want to have to wait on your webmaster. You don't want another hourly fee. You want it to go live now and it would be nice if you could just add it yourself. And the content may not be right for your blog. Anyone can create a web page with google pages.
"Google Page Creator is a free tool that lets you create web pages right in your browser and publish them to the web with one click. There's no software to download and no web designer to hire. The pages you … (8 comments)

advice realtors: Learn about your blog readers from your web site stats - 01/09/08 09:08 AM
Have you ever wondered how much to write for consumers (localism) and for professionals (active rain)? I've read the benefits of localizing content. I've heard the rumblings because consumers rarely leave comments. There is value in writing both, but I learned something new today. I learned more about links that people click on in my blogs. I like cold hard facts. So here ya go....  
I checked out my web site referring sites traffic reports.  I did a search by keywords, first for 'activerain', then for 'localism'. I wanted to first see traffic sent from both places and then do a comparison.  
Comparing Referral Traffic - Active … (11 comments)

advice realtors: Trash for Sale, House Comes With It - 12/19/07 03:50 AM
Yesterday I stumbled across an bad listing photo and posted - Did they flush? 
Today I came across another example of what not to do with property photos. Sometimes we learn more from others' photo blunders.
This looks like it would be a very nice kitchen...brand new, nice counters, cabinets etc. What was the agent thinking? I'm thinking something like... how fast can I get out of here. I'm going to be late. Sometimes a house will not be in pristine condition. Even if the agent had just taken a minute to move the bottle of windex, cord and waddded up, used, paper towels … (7 comments)

advice realtors: Did they flush? - 12/18/07 09:25 AM
I just pulled up a property for sale. Looks like a wonderful house. Certainly a beautiful bathroom.
But what's wrong with this picture? There are 6 (oh so important) property photos available and this is one that made the cut.
Please take a second to close the toilet lids before taking your next bathroom picture. Because I forgot all about the house when I saw this photo. Instead I just wonder - Did they flush? (Or actually looks like a he - Did he flush?)
Seeing this picture reminded me of a post from Rick & Ines - Toilet for Sale, House … (9 comments)

advice realtors: Northwest Arkansas Real Estate Slow Market? Ready for a Change? - 12/17/07 06:35 AM
This is an ad that ran locally in Nothwest Arkansas. You hear so many pitches about why different real estate companies are good choices. I thought this was good, because it is a collection of thoughts from real agent experiences. If you are considering switching companies or are looking for a company to work with, I would suggest that you talk with agents who are working there now.
See what 6 Crye-Leike agents say about their experience in the slower Northwest Arkansas real estate market.
Linda Pianalto, Springdale, AR real estate (pictured left) Sales Down"It has been 6 months since switching to … (3 comments)

advice realtors: What you can learn in real estate from a $59 pound of potatoes - 11/29/07 08:58 AM
Buying and selling real estate is an emotional experience. When we are buying we are trying to imagine our life in each house. When we are selling, we are trying to detach ourselves from a place in our life that has meant so much --all in order for buyers to be able to imagine their own life there. It's a delicate balance.
The other day I was flipping through a cooking catalog with beautiful pictures and product descriptions of specialty foods and kitchen equipment. One ad really caught my attention... Would you pay $59 for a pound of fried potatoes? If you are … (17 comments)

advice realtors: Listing Syndication: Choosing to Participate or Not - Debate It - 11/06/07 02:31 AM
This is a difficult decision for many. I think a lot of agents participating in Active Rain are more likely to syndicate listings - so this may be a little one sided on this site - but I may be off on that. Debates are going on across the country (Listing Syndication Failure to Launch, Challenging the MLS Data Assumption ).  Some vendors are preying on ignorance. You may not have decided for yourself. If anything I hope that reading this may help clarify points in your mind and help you consider the issue for your own listings. I'm hoping someone will … (18 comments)

advice realtors: Pansies Teach Customer Service - 10/22/07 03:36 AM
One thing I love about winter in the South is the pansies. I grew up in areas where winter was made up of snow, ice and more snow. So every October 15th (or around that time) I pull on my green thumb and plant pansies. They are so beautiful - blooming most of the winter - and bouncing right back after a cold spell.Ever year when I go to the garden store to buy pansies, I also buy mulch, potting soil, and a few incidentals. That last two times the store has been all out of mulch. I see that as … (5 comments)

advice realtors: More Ideas for Localism Blogs: Embedding Google My Maps - 08/25/07 01:25 PM
I follow google's map api blog. I really like the 'my maps' feature and ever since that was released, I've followed their maps blog.
I learned something new today. They have added a new feature where you can easily embed maps right into your web pages or your blogs.
Go ahead....click on the map....drag it around...check it out. It's the real deal - as easy as copy and paste. View Larger Map
The map above is one that I made that shows the location of splash parks in Collierville, TN. You could create maps for your area and embed them right … (33 comments)

advice realtors: Practice Being in the “Eye of the Storm” - 08/21/07 03:20 AM
As agents for buyers and sellers, we are often put in awkward or semi-chaotic situations. The eye of a storm is that one specific spot in the center of a twister, hurricanes, or tornado that is calm, almost isolated from the frenzy of the activity. Everything around the center is violent and turbulent, but the center remains peaceful. How nice it would be if we could be calm and serene in the midst of chaos-in the eye of the storm.
It may be easier than you might imagine being in the eye of a "human storm". What it takes is intention and … (5 comments)

advice realtors: Promoting Yourself & Creating a Niche - 08/14/07 05:18 AM
It's important to be able to stand in a crowd and be noticed. Creating a niche through self-promotion is something every agent can and should do.
How Do You Promote Yourself and Create a Niche?
Develop a consistent look and feel...Consumers quickly get comfortable with the way people market themselves.Consistency will create a warm and safe world for your clients.The only way you distinguish yourself from everyone else is your persona, and if it's constantly changing, you lose any momentum generated.You are your own brand!! Market yourself as such.The public will remember you for what you have done in a community.Below are some … (17 comments)

advice realtors: Executive Corner: Is real estate on its knees like the media portrays? - 08/10/07 02:45 AM
From the desk of Dick Leike, President, Crye-Leike
2007 is a very interesting year in real estate. To listen to the press and newscasters you would believe the housing industry is on its knees. The negative press alone can take its toll on consumers.In looking at the facts, here at Crye-Leike, we are certainly having a very good year. Yes, last year was a blockbuster, but most of the same dynamics are in place this year. Employment is good, mortgage loan rates are near the lowest in 40+ years, and the amount of homes on the market allow for choice.A home is … (9 comments)