online marketing: ForePlay or Four Play - What Turns You On? - 12/29/09 12:12 AM
OK - OK -ForePlay is a play on the words Four Play - But now that I have your attention.... ; )
How many ways do you work the web?  1 ?  2 ?  3 ?  4 ?  More?
First there was just the web...  Then there blogs.  Then came Twitter and now Facebook.   That's the four play lineup...  For a Realtor - it is getting overwhelming!
The web is a no brainer...  You have to be there.  Then Facebook created yet another landscape, a playing field all its own.  I just don't know how fractured the communication channel can get and … (0 comments)

online marketing: The Dinosaurs are Dying... The Dinosaurs are Dying.... - 08/13/09 12:13 AM

The posts of others here at Active Rain often trigger comments from me that end up becoming posts in their own right on my own blog.  This is one of those : )
The Dinosaurs are Dying....
No - the sky is not falling.  However, there are "hallowed" marketing techniques in the real estate world that are dying out - along with the agents who have not migrated to electronic marketing.
I just read a really great AR blog about the power of the sign (and brochure box) in real estate marketing.  
I hate to say it but the … (13 comments)

online marketing: Secrets of Social Media Marketing - Web 2.0 For Real Estate Agents - 04/29/09 03:33 AM
Secrets of Social Media Marketing - Web 2.0It's all about Connecting with IDEAL CLIENT TYPESBefore they know they NEED A REALTOR !
HELLO!  Are you paying attention?  The days are fast coming to an end when a consumer will arrive at a yard sign and call the listing agent instead of their own agent.  This only happens now when they don't know a Realtor.  Most savvy buyers know better than to call somebody working for the seller.  Most agents would tell you that you should always have your own Realtor...  But thern again, many listing agents working a sign call can't help but … (7 comments)

online marketing: Do You Prospect the Internet? - 04/07/09 03:09 PM
 
Lisa nails it in her post below:  Like I have been saying in free coaching sessions all week;  Online Marketing in a WEB 2,0 World is NOT ABOUT REAL ESTATE.  It is about relationship.  Meet people.  Build your contact list.  Let them know what you do. 
 
How many times have you gone to the local board meetings, whether it be your local school board or your local board of Realtors, and tried to prospect for potential clients? Do you go knock doors in your service neighborhoods? Do you hang door hangers, do you leave your business card with new … (4 comments)

online marketing: SHAME ON YOU POINT2AGENT - 03/10/09 09:26 AM
SHAME ON POINT2AGENT.COM
Point2Agent's formerly Free web sites have all been disabled now. This is their right.  But did they have to post a message to all the disabled free sites that make it look like the agent has failed to pay their bill?
WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?  In the beginning, Point2Agent.com Agent starter sites were free.  This has been true for years.  I used one for a few months, about 5 years ago until I upgraded to the most expensive one they offer.  I was a fan for years, was even a "Distrubutor".  I think my P2 web site represented some … (31 comments)

online marketing: Building a WEB based BUSINESS - 02/13/08 11:07 PM
To build a web based Real Estate Business, You only need two little things....  ##
VISITORS, and LEADS  : )
OK that was easy....  Are you done yet?  ; )
Consider:  If Visitors become Leads, and Leads Become Prospects, and Prospects Become CLIENTS.....
Then what do CLIENTS become? Clients become REFERRAL MACHINES : ) (Yes they are people, and they become great experiences and sometimes good friends, but this is a business post so don't shoot me if I have reduced it to the business aspect.)
In order to have more business come out of the bottom of your sales funnel, you have to put more people in the top of … (3 comments)

online marketing: Your Opinion About The Value of Online Marketing? - 12/12/07 11:17 PM
In your opinion, what percent of your business comes from the internet? 
We all read the stats - 70% of home buyers look online... I know... I know.... But looking isn't buying...
So, my question is, do you think they only look, or do they eventually meet and use an agent after connecting online?  
I have my own opinion, based on my results.  If I did 30 transactions last year, I bet 15 of them were from the Internet.  That's 50% of my business from online.  It took a pretty powerful web site, (Thanx P2) lots of Google traffic, and 2000 people on drip.  Now don't get … (6 comments)

online marketing: How To GET More Web Traffic and SERP from Active Rain - 11/18/07 01:44 AM
One of the best things you can do for IMMEDIATE TRAFFIC and SEO / SERP results, whether your site is mature or still still maturing in the Google sandbox trap, is start an Active Rain Blog and post a few times with the correct keywords, blog tags, and a link back to your web site.You could be ranked #1 on google almost overnight for the keywords you use... IF YOU KNOW HOW TO USE THEM!##########See http://www.activerain.com/ Try starting a blog there under the name of your city.Title every post with the words, REAL ESTATE (CITY-NAME) or HOMES FOR SALE (CITY-NAME) (or whatever … (26 comments)

online marketing: Are You PURPLE Yet? - 10/15/07 02:41 PM
Best Real Estate Web Site - Search Engine Placement - How To Get A Real Estate Web Designer Who can Change Your World
If you HOLD your BREATH until you TURN PURPLE, will you sell more real estate? 
Probably not, but you never know...      
Where am I going with this?  I am trying to help you make an extra $10,000 to $50,000.  Would that work for you?  What would 5 extra deals be worth from a web site that REALLY WORKED better? 
What does this have to do with BEING PURPLE?  Every great blog post needs a cool "lead in" or angle -  … (14 comments)

online marketing: Better to light a candle than curse the darkness? - 09/12/07 01:51 AM
I don't have much to add to the following observation about the Real Estate Market Correction...
It is short but says a lot...   
#############
 Michael Parker, a Real Estate Consultant, In a Recent Article, says:
In any correction, there are those who adapt and improve, and those who curse the darkness. I was always taught that it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. There are lots of reasons behind this current mess that are outside of your control. Your prospecting, Internet marketing and transition to making your online marketing presence work better for you are all things within your control.
#############
So … (5 comments)

online marketing: Do It Yourself SEO and Natural Search Engine Results w easy eBook - 09/09/07 04:34 AM
Realtors can Learn to Do it yourself with SEO / SERP.
Get Natural Seach Engine Results for FREE Real Estate web site traffic for life!
It's all about titles n tags n congruency between these and your content.  I make these things simple, and help them make sense in one very affordable eBook.
You can read thousands of pages about this topic online, or just get my eBook and work for about one hour a day for about one week and get page one results at google or yahoo.
Read the tips free here at Active Rain by searching keyword "SEO eBook" or just get the eBook!
Order eBook … (1 comments)

online marketing: Active Rain: A little overwhelming, but worth the effort - 09/04/07 02:09 AM
KUDOS 2 AR !
At first I thought of AR as mainly an SEO opportunity for Real Estate Agents (that is how it was introduced to me). 
I have been blogging elsewhere for my Real Estate and Coaching Business, for the most part, but posting the same content here as there, for the Real Estate SEO / SERP kick.
Somewhere along the way, I found that AR was much more professional in it's Real Estate Community behavior and feel.     
Now that I have migrated to AR as my main Real Estate blogging site I am becoming more aware of how many people participate here, what great Real Estate … (3 comments)

online marketing: Search Engine Optimization - Market Share for Google vs Yahoo ? - 09/02/07 02:39 AM
If you are doing SEO or Search Engine Optimization for a Real Estate Web Site, then it is important to know whicfh search engine to optimize for.... 
It is widely reported that about 70% of all search engine results are produced by Google, either directly or as the "search engine behind the search engine" as when the words RESULTS BY GOOGLE (or some such) are found at page bottom of another search engine.
HOWEVER - Yahoo may have more relevant or meaningful traffic when it comes to real estate.  They have offered real estate listings and Real Estate specialized searches for a lot longer than google... … (8 comments)

online marketing: 101 Ways to Get NATURAL Page One Search Results at GOOGLE - 03/27/07 01:04 AM
To show what is possible.... validate the efficacy of what I write in my eBook...  
3/18/2007   DuganSells.com actual NATURAL SERP rank at google for 100+ Search Phrases.
My main market is Greater Toledo, Ohio Including Major Bedroom Communities of Temperance, Lambertville, Sylvania, Perrysburg, etc. 
On the following list, you may see a search term all on one line, followed by one word variations.  For example
real estate toledo 9 sylvania 8 temperance 1   this means that the phrase real estate toledo produces my site at rank 9 while the term real estate sylvania produced rank 8 and real estate temperance produced rank 1. etc.....
Of course rank higher than 10 is … (4 comments)

online marketing: Realtor Referrals By Trusted Friends - Yahoo and Google - - 03/13/07 01:00 AM
YAHOO and GOOGLE are now considered Trusted Friends in the Referral Business..... 
In a very good ONLINE MARKETING article at Broker Agent News, by Author Michael E Parker, we read: 
( Excerpt for commentary = fair use ) 
.... Last month, you might have read our article comparing Internet Buyers to Traditional Buyers; an eye-opening collection of facts courtesy of the California Association of Realtors® and Leslie Appleton-Young, Vice President and Chief Economist of that organization The response to that article was overwhelming. So many wrote to tell me that they "understood" what that article presented: if you are in the real estate business, … (2 comments)

online marketing: Does Your Web Site Work The Way You Want It To ? - 02/26/07 11:52 PM
Does your web site work like you want it to?  How do you even know what it SHOULD do? There really are VERY FEW published statistics for real estate web sites that will tell you how well your site is or is not doing. 
I would like to create a few simple measures to help us all do this.  You might wonder... How can we even compare web sites from different cities or in buyer markets vs seller markets and have a reasonable discussion about what is possible?
Try this....  Look up total closings in your MLS last month, and divide by 10.  … (0 comments)