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

• 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: 

1. Branding is Everything
2. Navigation is Key
3. Community is Driving Interaction
4. Advertising is on Even Ground with Content
5. 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,

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.