Tag: Real Estate

Master the Google AdWords Networks

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Whether you’re just getting started with Google AdWords, or you’re a seasoned veteran,
regular review and optimization of your ad campaigns is important to ensure you’re getting
the most website traffic and highest-quality leads for your budget. Monitoring your ad reports helps you identify key factors that can impact your performance.

One such factor is Google’s Display Network. Many agents don’t realize that Google distributes your ads in two different ways: via the Search Network, which includes the Google search engine and partner websites, and via the Display Network, which presents ads on blogs, merchant sites, and any other sites that subscribe to it. Search ads are presented in response to search terms entered by the user, while Display ads are essentially the same as banner ads, presented at random. And due to its much larger size, most ads generate far more impressions on the Display Network.

Display ads can sometimes be effective, but it’s clear that that Search ads usually drive more and higher-quality traffic to your website. In today’s AgentSecrets video event, we look at this important difference, and show you how to fine-tune your campaign settings to generate more ad impressions on the Search network. If you’ve been less than satisfied with your AdWords performance, this actionable content could give you the boost you’re looking for.

SPECIAL OFFER for a limited time for AgentSecrets members:

Sign up today for the 30 Day Test Drive of the SuccessWebsite® Solution, and we’ll give you a $100 credit towards your first month of advertising on Google. Our AdWords-Certified specialists can help optimize your current campaigns, set up new ones, answer your questions, and get your Pay-Per-Click marketing on the right track. To get started, please contact me at Kristie@SuccessWebsite.com for more information on our Google AdWords Management program.



Maximize Your ROI with Google Pay-Per-Click

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One topic we’ve received a majority of questions about is Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) and the best ways to achieve the maximum ROI from services like Google AdWords. As PPC becomes more competitive among real estate agents, the need for optimized bidding, carefully-selected keywords, and strategic campaign management continues to increase.

In this installment, you’ll eavesdrop on an actual Google AdWords consultation call between me and SuccessWebsite® member Keri Shull.

The call provides a valuable real-world insight into Keri’s business, and how she keeps new leads coming down the pipeline to feed her growing team of agents. Even better, you’ll see how her website integrates with her AdWords campaign to convert her ad traffic into leads – valuable information that’s often missing from other PPC educational resources.

What do you think about Pay-Per-Click? Do you have any ideas, tips or success stories to share? Please add your feedback and questions to the comments below!


Are You Feeling the Pressure of Social Media?

And I’ll tell you upfront that I’m not going to focus on how to get more likes on your facebook page, more followers on Twitter or more views on YouTube, but how to use these channels to acquire the most valuable commodity – trust. And this is something that is not always easy to gain online.

So how do we do this? How can we use Social Media to build strong relationships and gain trust? We are all under pressure to produce great content, get more followers get more people to like us. It’s like being in high-school again where everything is a popularity contest. We have lost focus on the most valuable component here, and that is benevolence. The desire to help others and provide value. As social creatures, this is what releases those chemicals in our brain that make us feel good.

Let’s explore how and why we need to stay focused on this in all of our online marketing efforts, especially when it comes to social media.

The Four Cornerstones Of Trust

It’s not enough to project a super friendly persona and let everyone know what you are doing at all times. That is not the type of transparency we’re discussing here. Trust can be acquired in multiple ways and is most effective when you identify the key cornerstones.

Expectation. A positive interaction is what people expect when they like your facebook page or comment on your blog post. How do we meet that expectation and better yet exceed it. This is something that takes time and will come from a combination of quality content, being present, responding to feedback and most importantly – being consistent. There is no fast and easy money when it comes to social media, but you are expected to interact in a meaningful way.

Relationships. This positive interaction is what builds relationships. People want to know who you are and what you’re all about. If you stay consistent and make an effort to build relationships your audience will reciprocate.

Benevolence. The tendency to do good, to help, to take that part of your day to show an act of kindness. There are many ways to do this through the free content you provide. The knowledge that you share with others. If we are too focused on guarding our ideas and worrying about being better than the next guy, we loose the ability to be benevolent.

And most importantly, Integrity. By demonstrating all of the above cornerstones of trust, you will display integrity which is one of the most important leadership qualities any individual can possess, and sometimes the hardest to demonstrate.

So let’s start building our social empire of trust. It may be discouraging when you feel like no one is listening and your efforts are in vain, but Rome was not built in a day. And we are fortunate to have tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Yelp, Twitter and all of the sites that encourage connections and inspire us to share we have to offer to the world. If you keep the following points in mind, especially when it comes to Social Media, you’ll do just fine:

  • Be Present
  • Be Authentic
  • Be Responsive
  • Be Consistent
  • Be Friendly
  • Be Professional

To View This Week’s Agent Secrets Video On How To Build Trust Online Click Here

It’s LIVE NOW, ThursdayApril 26th, and will only be available to the public for the next 24 hours.

See you online!

 

Your Best Social Marketing Strategy is You!

I may be preaching to the converted, but who here often finds themselves floundering when it comes to getting results from Social Media?

Despite all the positive benefits of developing a Social Media presence, many agents continue to resist blogging, Facebook, and Twitter. The reason I hear the most is “I don’t have enough time”, but I think secretly they fear they won’t know what to write about. I say this because, in fact, that’s the second most common reason I hear!

This seems odd, since talking to people and giving opinions on real estate matters is basically the successful agent’s job description. Yet it’s amazing how such personable and outgoing folks become wallflowers when it comes to getting social online.

I recently interviewed real estate broker, coach, and longtime SuccessWebsite member Danny Griffin on this topic, and together we came up with a list of the top blog entries every agent should post to get started on the right track. Though there are many other topics you could write about, strictly for their SEO benefits, these are important to introduce you, set a friendly tone, and demonstrate your expertise. Here are the top three on our list:

1. About You:  Who you are, why you got into real estate, your service philosophy, etc. When people visit your blog, they want to identify with you. Show them what you’re all about.

2. Answer the most common question(s) you are asked by your clients: This will begin to establish you as an authority and trusted adviser. Ask for your audience to participate and post more questions or comments for you to respond to.

3. Warn people about the most common mistake(s) you see in real estate: How can you save someone from making the same mistakes by reading your blog. Share stories to illustrate how these mistakes could have been averted. This type of sharing makes you more personable and will make it easier for your audience to connect with you.

Seems simple enough, and you probably could have figured them out by yourself, but where do you go after this?

Today, we’re releasing our latest no-cost-or-obligation edition of our AgentSecrets.com Video Series titled “Top Social Marketing Strategies for Real Estate”. The first installment is the interview with Danny, and it’s the most exciting and inspirational talk I’ve heard on these topics in a very long time. Danny talks about connecting with your passions, the very things that you love most about your career, to find an endless stream of topics to write about, as well as the energy to keep going when it feels like no one’s listening.

There’s lots of practical information in this interview. Danny lays out simple strategies for getting started with your blog, including shooting and posting video entries. And we give you more of those top blog posts every agent should write, along with reasons why they are so effective.

So get out there and join the social media party! The benefits to your business are well worth the effort.

Got The Right Personality for Online Success?

After reading an article by Steve W. Martin from the HBR Network on the “Seven Personality Traits of Top Sales People”, it struck me why some people are almost born to sell. They garner trust and authority by having the right mix of modesty, knowledge and confidence.  And because I specialize in helping real estate agents market their services online, I’ve devised an online strategy that will assist you in using those personality traits to gain trust and influence from your online audience

1. Modesty. “Contrary to conventional stereotypes that successful salespeople are pushy and egotistical, 91 percent of top salespeople had medium to high scores of modesty and humility. “

I can’t tell you how many real estate sites I see every day that have “John Smith Realtor – #1 In Sales Worldwide!” plastered right across the top of their homepage.  Yes, it took a lot of blood, sweat the tears to get that distinction, but does it need to be the first thing people see when they visit your site?  This kind of accolade is best suited for an awards page or a page that is specifically about you that people can visit if they wish.

2. Conscientiousness. “Eighty-five percent of top salespeople had high levels of conscientiousness, whereby they could be described as having a strong sense of duty and being responsible and reliable.”

When leads come through your website follow-up!  Call them back and send follow-up emails.  In a perfect world, everyone would pick up the phone and call you to let you know that you’re the one for the job. But that’s not realty.  Every time you get a lead through your website, especially if there is a valid phone number, there is no better way to show you are a responsible and reliable individual than to follow up and provide more information to the prospect.  In fact, over 75% of home buyers and sellers end up working with the first agent they speak too.

3. Achievement Orientation. “Eighty-four percent of the top performers tested scored very high in achievement orientation. They are fixated on achieving goals and continuously measure their performance in comparison to their goals. “

When developing a web marketing strategy, the first step is to set your goals.  Most of you may just want a website that magically generates leads with little effort or cost.  Some of you would even ask if we could do the follow-up calls! However, I do have quite a few clients that are genuinely interested in learning more about how to market their website to generate more leads and are very diligent about making sure they learn what is required to meet their own personal goals.  These clients end up being the best ones because they make a personal choice to take the time to learn and always benefit from their achievement.  Always set goals and devise an action plan that will help you meet them.

4. Curiosity. “Curiosity can be described as a person’s hunger for knowledge and information. Eighty-two percent of top salespeople scored extremely high curiosity levels. “

One of the things I love most about Realtors is they’re hunger for knowledge. The fact that there are probably more coaches and training in real estate than any other profession is a good indicator of that.  You love to soak up information and learn more and more until you feel your head will explode.  This is great if it’s coupled with action.  If all you do is learn and never act, you’re at a standstill.  I always encourage my clients to learn new things and then put them into action right away.

5. Lack of Gregariousness. “One of the most surprising differences between top salespeople and those ranking in the bottom one-third of performance is their level of gregariousness (preference for being with people and friendliness).”

This is an interesting one.  You are in the people business right? You should be the most friendly, personable mover and shaker around.  Wrong.  Top salespeople acquire a level of dominance that encourages obedience.  If you are too friendly with your clients you are at risk of loosing that. This becomes a real issue when it comes to things like facebook and twitter.  It is extremely important to use these social media platforms to establish your position and share your knowledge and expertise. Therefore, when the time comes to represent them, you will already be in a position of authority and power.

6. Lack of Discouragement. “Less than 10 percent of top salespeople were classified as having high levels of discouragement and being frequently overwhelmed with sadness. Conversely, 90 percent were categorized as experiencing infrequent or only occasional sadness.”

The power of positivity can go a long way.  Yes, there will be days when you make phone calls and people  don’t want to talk to you.  Having a follow-up plan and sticking to it is your best strategy for remaining positive.  Using an effective follow-up script can get you through those tough calls and give you that extra boost of confidence. I like to provide my clients wit a follow-up script that is designed specifically for web leads and getting them to the next level.

7. Lack of Self-Consciousness. “Self-consciousness is the measurement of how easily someone is embarrassed. The byproduct of a high level of self-consciousness is bashfulness and inhibition. Less than five percent of top performers had high levels of self-consciousness.”

Most of the top performers that I work with are not afraid to ask for things or tell people about their business. You have to be willing to go out and ask for those testimonials, hand out those “Just Listed” cards, tell people about your website and how great it is.  If you wholeheartedly believe that what you have to offer is valuable and unique, it will be much easier to sell.