Dec
15
Still don’t have a clue what Web 2.0 is all about?
Or perhaps you want to demonstrate to your broker or spouse [whoever holds the purse stings] in a simple, shoot-from-the-hip way what Web 2.0 is…but don’t have the time to create such a demonstration. Or even know how to go about doing it.
If that’s you, then watch and then share these four short videos.
Social Bookmarking in Plain English
Social Networking in Plain English
Oct
15
There is one key to online success. And technology is not it.
5 immutable laws that will make your blog persuasive, fun and infectious. [Read: spread easily and attract a large following.]
Are you investing a lot of money into online advertising? Are you investing a ton of money in pay per click advertising? If so, here’s how real estate blogging will help you kick that expensive and unnecessary habit.
A cautionary tale about three little blogs.
The Bikini Concept: give away 90% of what people want, and they will give you money for the remaining 10%. In blogging on real estate, this means property values, hot markets, ways to find deals, how to work without a Realtor, where to look and when not to buy.
Linking out is a great strategy for creating traffic and an audience. Here’s how to optimize a strategy for relationship linking. That is, always extend the conversation.
And definitely don’t be this kind of blogger. You probably don’t have the pull of an Andrew Sullivan to pull this off.
Mini-hit list of must read RSS Marketing posts:
Going viral to build defensible traffic
10 point quiz: Is your site defensible?
How to build a Digg culture out of your blog
And four simple steps to more blog subscribers
If you haven’t already, subscribe to the real estate marketing Blog by feed or email.
Oct
5
6 Unorthodox Ways to Become a Market Shaker
Filed Under Real Estate Marketing, Technology | 2 Comments
Just when you thought you could put your wallet or purse away…
Last Wednesday the wireless carrier Verizon released three new phones, including a high-end set that is expected to compete with the iPhone this Christmas. Verizon’s high end phone is called the Voyager.
Among the perks the Voyager offers:
Verizon Wireless hopes the new phone will attract customers put off by the iPhone’s lack of a traditional keypad — the Voyager hinges open to reveal a small computer keypad and a second screen.
There’s a case for those who currently subscribe to Verizon to give the Voyager a close look. The bigger question I think is whether it will actually be the iPhone killer Verizon thinks the Voyager is.
I doubt it.
Verizon is only making an improvement on the iPhone. So the Voyager is not a disruptive technology that will challenge the status quo or overturn the market or even sway iPhone users.
However, I think Verizon had to do it in order to stay competitive and hold onto it’s current client base.
How Disruptive Technology Applies to You
Here’s something to think about: what can you, as a real estate agent, do that would challenge the status quo, overturn your market or even persuade a competitor’s client to work with you?
We can’t deny it: we are in a cooling market. And some of you are starting to feel the pain. The thing about pain is it’s designed to be a warning signal, a wake up call. A time for you to start evaluating what you are doing.
Up to this point your ways of working may have been successful. But think about this: out of the 43 businesses that were showcased in the book In Search of Excellence 14 were out of business in two years. BusinessWeek then studied these 14 failed companies…and do you know what they found out?
“Failure to change” was the main theme for going out of business with these companies.
What does that say to you?
Are you in a position to change? To challenge the status quo? To shake up your market and be a trend setter instead of a passive causality?
6 Unorthodox Ways to Become a Market Shaker
Forget widely accepted principles such as blind optimism and arrogant self-promotion. Instead, break out of the box by asking yourself these unconventional questions that will lead you down a different, unused, but highly prosperous, path to success.
- What worse case scenario could happen, that seems impossible, but if it did happen, what would I do?
- What alternatives to marketing, technology, industry, prospecting, organization are out there…alternatives people are not thinking about?
- What pain are my client’s and prospects GOING to experience in the near future? And how can I provide a solution to that pain?
- What am I personally doing in my business or life that if I don’t change now could provide significant pain in the near future?
- What did other companies do during a recession or sagging growth to survive? How did they change? How did they adapt?
- Finally, what rules can I break? What rules can I rewrite?
The best performers in any industry are the agitators, the pioneers, the rule breakers and the game-changers.
In essence, it’s about staying fresh. So ask your self theses questions. Forecast the future. The ability to peer around corners will pay off big for you.
If you haven’t already, subscribe to the real estate marketing Blog by feed or email.
Sep
26
Mastering Technology: How to Be More Effective in Real Estate
Filed Under Real Estate Marketing, Technology | 5 Comments
The real estate industry is historically behind when it comes to technology. Why is that?
In an intriguing post called “You Can Lead an Agent to Technology, but You Can’t Make Them Type,” Elizabeth Weintraub argues that an agent shoots herself in the foot if she ignores the web and what it offers.
Perhaps this has something to do with the demographics. NAR says average agent is a 57 year old female.
Then you have posts by Kelly Roark over at Future of real estate marketing. She writes about Agent 2.0. She quotes her colleague Pierre Calzadilla, who’s trained agents for years on how to integrate technology into daily business, recently profiled what Agent 2.0 looks like:
- Not “tech savvy,” but “technologically empowered”
- Highly proficient in marketing, workflow and time management
- Aware of and open to new innovations, and how they can fit into one’s business
- In tune with consumer trends and changes in buyer/seller behavior (e.g., Gen X/Y)
- Appreciation for “old school” techniques but with an understanding of the value in adapting these techniques to new mediums
Further on in her posts she does an excellent job pointing out the key to successfully using technology: adapt the best offline techniques to use online.
That’s good advice. So exploit these traditional techniques.
And the thing to remember is this: if a piece of technology–whether a blog, Facebook or Twitter– doesn’t some how save you time, save you money or make you money, get rid of it.
Furthermore, always make sure you are in control. You are the master and technology is the slave. You make the plan, then you work it.
Regardless if real estate is behind when it comes to technology…it is never to late to start. And it is not as intimidating as you might think. I promise.
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