marketing: Promote your area with a travel guide - 05/01/13 02:39 AM
Many real estate sites hire paid content writers to talk about their areas.  Often consumers and those looking at an area distrust the glossy tourist bureau type information that the produced by people with little real local knowledge.
Have a look at our 2013 Emerald Isle Travel Guide.   We had a very successful promo during our free download days of May 1 & 2.  Envision how you might use something similar to promote your area.  It is a very unique travel quide with lots of maps and even a real estate sign in front of a home in one of … (0 comments)

marketing: Getting in Step with Today's Reality & the Speed of Life - 07/12/12 08:25 AM
Much has written about the value of social media in real estate.  I have written several articles myself and even taught a few classes.  I actually feel lucky to have grown children between the ages of 30 and 36. Having family members in their thirties is a good lesson in humility.  Working on teams with young colleagues also helps to keep me from leaping to the conclusion that I actually know exactly what is happening. 
Interestingly I have gotten a clearer view of the not so subtle changes in our world since I stopped being an active real estate agent.  For … (0 comments)

marketing: Going Beyond Selling Homes - 03/27/12 08:06 AM
I have always found something very satisfying about helping people find an area which meets their needs.  Perhaps some of that pleasure is related to having had careers which allowed me to choose where I wanted to live. Going to a new place and finding what we needed to have a good life there seemed to fit my personality.
I even enjoyed going back to my home in Mount Airy, NC many years after we had moved away.  For a few years my wife and I owned our family home in Mt. Airy before we sold it to the folks who … (0 comments)

marketing: Old fashioned stand in the sun marketing - 07/05/09 03:26 AM
While I depend a lot on my Internet efforts to keep my real estate efforts going, I also try not to neglect more traditional means of marketing.
Yesterday was the Fourth of July. I spent the majority of the day, printing and distributing a flier.
The rental division of our company allows us to hand out information to people checking into their beach houses.
It is agreat opportunity to get in front of a lot of people who already love our area.
I spent a lot of time thinking about what type of flier would have some persistence.
I ended up … (3 comments)

marketing: Applying some "high tech" marketing to real estate - 06/24/08 12:51 AM
I came to real estate from a career of nearly twenty years at Apple Computer.  Technology companies don't give you pensions, but you do come out with plenty of skills for dealing with a competitive market place.
While the high tech industry might bring to mind massive email campaigns and slick websites, some of the most effective marketing done by these companies is in the hand to hand combant on college campuses.
I like to think that I do a lot of creative marketing from over a dozen websites/blogs to postcards with area scenery.  I even manage have my photographs on … (1 comments)