Social Media Networking Tips For Real Estate Agents

Author: David Hale
Source: ezinearticles.com

Many commercial real estate companies are active on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, ActiveRain, CREOPoint, and several other industry social networks.

They may not think of themselves as “experts” at social networking, but the practice has been quite helpful for locating key players in the blogosphere. Routinely, they find a blog post about themselves that was a great post, but the information they had was a little outdated. Through LinkedIn and Twitter, they were able to contact the author and get him the freshest information on their company, and he can stay connected with them and our latest developments by looking at our profile.

Many real estate agents think the best part about social networking is getting the chance to meet and interact with their customers. As a website, they rarely get a face-to-face interaction, and most of the calls and emails are customer support.

Through Twitter, they can see what is on the minds of their target audience and read all the articles they’re reading. It’s an informal forum where people can connect on a personal level instead of automated support emails.

Winning “fans” on Facebook generates enormous business exposure–practically for free! For today’s savvy social marketing real estate agent, possibly tapping into a large alumni, friend and supporter network will pay dividends when it comes to marketing the products sold their company,

Facebook pages along with blogs can be updated with daily postings which offer lots of information about upcoming listings, events, and hot markets.

These simple, yet powerful tips, have generated lots of feedback and lots of page hits, which translates into lots of house sales.

By the way, do you want to learn more about Social Media? If so, download my brand new free white paper Social Media: A Primer Click Here

Want the secrets to building a big subscriber list using social networks? http://drdavehaleonline.com/blog/social-network-traffic-tactics

Dr. Dave Hale, teaches social media and Internet marketing at several universities

Real Estate Investing – An Easy Way to Get Rich

Author: Charles Petty
Source: articlesbase.com

If you try to browse the internet, you will see a lot of topics on how to acquire wealth. Getting rich is probably what many people desire but very few get what they want. Do you agree with what experts say that an easy way to get rich is to through real estate investing? Entrepreneurs are always looking for ways to attain extreme wealth but they are also struggling to manage their finances and the business. There is never really an easy way to earn extreme wealth. You should work hard for every penny you earn and that also applies to real estate investing. Even if other investors are quite successful in the real estate business, there is no guarantee that you will have the same fate. To ensure your success in the real estate business, you should master proper leverage. You should learn about different systems such as automation, duplication, and delegation. You should be creative to multiply the results of your resources and effort. This is very important to ensure that you get enough profits in the future. Try to set realistic goals. About 90% of the rich people are into real estate investing. Again, you need to keep in mind that it’s not really easy to gain wealth even in real estate. Don’t believe in what infomercials claim. You must learn about the different processes involved in real estate. When pursuing your business, you will encounter many income generating opportunities like lease options, foreclosures, rentals, commercial properties, tax liens, short sales, being a loan officer or agent, investing in mortgages or in notes, and many others. Investing in mortgages promises high gains but you need you study how it works. When entering the real estate business, you should choose between purchasing single families or condos. To some, purchasing multi-unit properties is a great advantage because they can have the property rented. While they are paying for the mortgages, they will also earn income from the rental rates every month. There are those who purchase properties who are hoping to gain profits by reselling them at a much higher price. You see, there are a lot of things to consider when purchasing investment properties. If you don’t have the right knowledge, you will not last long and you’ll end up wasting your money. You need to ensure that your capital is protected. True enough, the first few years can be very tough because you have very high expenses but in the later years, you will see money rolling. There isn’t exactly one way to be extremely rich. Well, if you’re born rich, then you’re lucky because you already inherit wealth. What about those who were born as ordinary individuals? You should not be discouraged even if you were not born with a silver spoon in your mouth. If you try to learn about the foundation and basics of real estate investing, you too can become rich. Start real estate investing now. You will be rich in time especially if you’re hardworking and knowledgeable. Gather all the possible information resources you can find online and offline. Read and understand the facts you obtained and apply them in your investment decisions. Even if it may take some time, you’re guaranteed to have wealth through real estate investments. Test your luck in the industry but try to ensure your success as well.

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Real Estate Web Design – What You Need To Know

Author: Jeff Harpp
Source: articleage.com

Real Estate Web Design:
Abstract: Real Estate Web Design experts review the needs of Realtors(R) and real estate brokers, and highlights the advantages of dynamic real estate websites.
The most successful real estate agents and brokers realize the value of their agency websites and are constantly working to improve them. Unfortunately, many agencies throughout the United States are still working with static websites that are difficult and costly to maintain.
But how do I upgrade? you ask. Often this is not a simple answer. You need to consider the needs of your business and your agents. How will you manage listings? Are you using a Multiple Listing Service (MLS)? Should your agents have access only to certain parts of your administration panel, and not others?
What about logging agent and visitor actions on your website? Here is what you should look for in any real estate management system you contract for:
Dynamic, searchable listings. If your listings are not currently in a database and searchable, they need to be. This feature is the reason so many homes are sold online. It’s the “shopping in your underwear” principle: if a web surfer can access information about your homes at 11pm, and in a bathrobe while watching ER, no less, a whole new window of opportunity is opened, allowing you to showcase your listings 24/7. He immediately emails you and sets up a showing; you arrive at your office the next day, get the email, call him, and you’re on your way to making another sale.
Easy contact methods. All the interactivity on the Net won’t help you if your potential client can’t get in touch with you. Make sure that your newly designed website has plenty of opportunity for users to click to your contact forms: a link from every listing, and multiple contact methods (phone, email, etc.). Don’t require too much information on the form, but make sure you get enough: at least a name, an email address, and a phone number. Also, don’t rely on straight email links to get the job done: many computer users do not have a default email program installed, so when they click on your link all they will find is a setup wizard?a confusing and annoying situation for many users.
Lead management. The other end of the line of communication must be tied in: your lead management system must dovetail perfectly with your website. If you have an existing lead management system, see if your web design company has already built an interface for it, or would be willing to build one for your website. If you do not have a lead management system, find a website system that will provide one for you, seamlessly integrated with the site itself, such as the AWS Real Estate Manager.
System logs System logs and user management and user management. Real estate agencies, unfortunately, are not immune to legal issues with personnel and properties. System logs help you track down what was done on your site, when, and by whom. Make sure that whatever real estate website you choose includes a system log that shows you key activity on your site. You’ll thank yourself later when a dispute arises.
Likewise, you’ll need to specifically manage which sections of your site certain agents are allowed to edit, and others they are not. The administration panel of your website should have a section for setting user permissions: whether a user can edit all listings, or only those assigned to him; whether he can add or delete other users on the system; how many listings he can have and how many images attached to each; whether he can access the system logs, etc. These features will help you properly regulate the bandwidth and quota your site uses so you won’t incur extra charges each month, as well as avoiding duplicate work and conflicts among agents.
Self-updating site pages. If you’ve outsourced updating of your real estate website to a web design company, you know how expensive it can get. Such updates need not reach so deep into your agency’s coffers. When researching your new site, see if it provides a tool to allow you to create whole website pages on your own.
But I can’t write webpage code! you say. You shouldn’t need to. If the site is designed correctly, you’ll have a form that walks you through the process of adding page data and content, complete with hyperlinks, images, font formatting, table creation and all the HTML essentials?with nothing required except a little aesthetic sense. For a good example of a system that accomplishes this, visit http://www.awsinternet.com/real_estate_solutions.html With such a system, you could easily save $2500 or more per year on outsourcing costs.
Whether you’re starting a new real estate agency or are looking for a new design for your real estate website, this information should help you find an effective system that will suit your business’s needs. Other items to consider are search engine friendliness of the website system, marketing skills the firm can bring to the table, and support. Armed with these questions, you can be sure you’re getting your money’s worth, and that you’ll encounter as few problems as possible with the implementation and maintenance of you new website.
The AWS Real Estate Manager is a fully-featured website management system built specifically for real estate brokers and certified Realtors?. The site simplifies the lead gathering process, gives you insight into how, when and where your agents are updating listings and contacting clients, and offers a diverse array of powerful features that will help any real estate office save time, hassle, and money.
http://www.awsinternet.com

Real Estate and The Internet

Author: Michael Alves
Source: articleage.com

Real estate on the internet has become an online phenomenon.
There is a generally accepted trend online, that people will “research globally, but shop locally”. This is especially true for real estate. That’s why it is important for your website to be seen. There is also a recognizable pattern online that, most real estate customers use the first realtor they contact. As a realtor I’m sure that you have said to yourself “hey, I know those people, why did they list with that realtor instead of me”. Chances are, that is the first realtor that they came across.
Real estate online is so hot that Google is talking about creating a whole separate Google directory just for real estate. Yahoo already has a “lead buying” program just for realtors. HomeGain is reporting a record 5.5 million visitors to their website in the first part of 2006. Many of my clients have already gone through the process of buying leads at Yahoo and other real estate “lead capture” portals. Most of these lead buying programs can be expensive to join and the leads can also be pricey. I have spoken with many realtors all over the country that participate or, have participated in these programs. I hear good and bad things about these programs. However it is my opinion that you should spend your money on marketing your website and then all the leads that you get are yours to keep. Technology, especially the internet has forever changed the way people search for real estate and how they contact local realtors. The National Association of Realtors 2004 survey of home buyers tells us that 71% of home buyers used the internet to start the search for their new home. That is up from 62% in 2003.
Ok, so you know all of this. You have a website, now what?
How do your prospective customers find your real estate website and do business with you. There are two ways. One is “SEO” (search engine optimization) and the other is SEM (search engine marketing). Let’s look at the differences between these two and how they affect you and your real estate business.
SEO, “search engine optimization” is the application of several techniques to help a website rank higher in the “natural” search results.
To begin with let’s talk about “meta tags”. Meta tags are the first things that the search engines will read when visiting your website. Here are the main meta tags that you need to improve if you want to “optimize” your website.
They are your “title tag”, your “description tag” and your “keyword tag”.
Ok, so how do you find the meta tags on your website? You can check your meta tags by going to your website, at the top of the internet explorer window click on “view” and scroll down to “view “source”. A new window will open and you should see something like meta name=”description” meta name=”keywords”.
Let’s begin with your “title tag”, is also known as your “page title”. For example, on many websites if you click on the “about us” link or, the “contact us” link, that’s what you will see displayed at the top of the browser window in the blue bar. It is also known as your “anchor text”.
Search engines read like we do, from left to right and top to bottom of the page. Your “anchor text” is one of the first things that the search engine will read on your website. Your “anchor text” is what is displayed when your website is listed in the natural search results. It is the first thing your potential customers will read when they do a search. Your anchor text should include one or, two of your best keywords. For example: “Pittsford Real Estate 10 Years of Experience” or, “Professional Full Time Realtor, Pittsford”.
So, your title tag is both your page title and your anchor text. Again this is the first thing that your customers will read when reading the title of your search listing.
It should not say “welcome to my website” or “Joe bob’s website”. This is the first thing that your customers will read. It is your first opportunity to catch their attention. Using keywords like “Real Estate” and “Realtor” will tell the search engines that your page is about real estate. Even better, if you are a realtor in Pittsford, it will see the keyword Pittsford and display your website to anyone typing in “Pittsford real estate”.
Next, is your “description tag”. This tag provides the description that you see right under the anchor text. Most search engines will display about two sentences as a description. Both your anchor text and your description should include several of your best keywords.
Speaking of keywords. The next tag that we will talk about is your “keyword Tag”.
Keywords are important! Keywords are what describe your real estate services. Keywords are what people use to search for your website. And, keywords are what the search engines use to determine if they will display your website to someone searching for your real estate services. Including ten to fifteen of your best keywords into the meta tag keyword section of your website can help your page rank and can help people find your website.
So how do you know what keywords are searched for most often? There are many free keyword tools on the internet. Go to your favorite search engine and type in “keyword selector tool”. When you find a free keyword tool that suites you, type in a keyword phrase to see how many times it was searched last month. All the results that you get using this tool are tabulated by the month. Play around with different combinations and you will find that there are specific keyword phrases that are searched more than others. Those are the keyword phrases that you want to use as keywords in the meta tag keyword section of your website. For example, try “Pittsford realtor” or “real estate Pittsford” or try misspelling the word real estate. For example try, “Pittsford real estate”. Yes, misspellings count and can be used as a keyword in your meta tags.
Mike Alves is the Owner of http://www.Marketing4Leads.com
My only business is marketing realtor websites.
I create, publish and manage pay per click campaigns on Google full time, for real estate agents all over the U.S. I can start sending new real estate customers to your website in 48 hours.

Real Estate Industry Disappointed with Internet Results

Author: David Casey
Source: articleage.com

The real estate industry viewed and continues to view the Internet as their portal to a vast population of buyers and sellers in their area and beyond.
Website after website has popped up across the Internet and website designers have created entire businesses around the real estate industry.
Though there are a number of real estate professionals who are pleased with the results of their investment, many real estate professionals are quite disappointed with the results of their often considerable investment.
The reality for many real estate professionals that invested in having a website designed and developed is they simply chose the wrong design firm. Often mesmerized by bells and whistles, real estate professionals lost sight of the true key to success: results!
In real estate location is everything, the same is true for real estate professionals on the Internet. Having the most beautifully designed website on the Internet with every bell and whistle possible is certainly nice, but is it worth the investment?
Real estate brokers and agents must ask themselves how successful they will be in selling the most amazing house they ever saw if they are unable to show it to anyone. If no one sees it – will anyone buy it?
With the overwhelming majority of real estate professionals having a finite budget for website development and marketing it is important to spend that budget wisely.
Though a good portion of a budget should be spent on the design and development of a website, a larger portion should be spent on the marketing and optimization of the website so your newly designed website is seen and can actually be a source of leads for your business.
Investing in the development of a website without investing in the optimization and marketing of the website is akin to building a great restaurant in the middle of the desert. Sure those limited visitors that may come to your restaurant may be impressed, the traffic is simply not strong enough to sustain it.
The most successful real estate professionals on the Internet are investing in both website development and optimization/marketing. Selecting design firms that handle SEO and marketing has proved successful for those real estate professionals that are looking to tap into the great potential of the Internet.
In a business where location is everything, it is time real estate professionals heed their own advice and consider the location of their website in search engine result for real estate.
David Casey, VP, SetSitesHigh (http://www.setsiteshigh.com), a website design, development and marketing firm has extensive experience in the real estate industry.

Real Estate Marketing and Blogs

Author: Rachel Oliver
Source: articleage.com

Internet has lead to revolution in communication technology. With the fast expansion of internet, blogs have become the order of the day. By a click of a mouse, you will find hordes of information dispersed in blogs on variety of subjects from history, literature, arts, science, architecture, real estate and many more. Blogs carry information on almost all subjects under the sun. People are using blogs not only for dissemination of information but also for supplementing their marketing efforts.
Real estate marketing via blogs is fast catching up. This is because of two reasons. Firstly, blogs are easy to use and wide ranges of free services are available on the net for hosting and maintaining your blog. Services like Google’s Blogger.com provides a fast impetus in getting your Blog on different aspects of real estate marketing seen by the prospective customers at a much faster rate.
Real Estate Marketing Blogs: What and How
Creating blogs for real estate business is both a business and adventure. However, you must be clear enough in your perception as to what all you should write while setting up blogs for real estate marketing.
Listed below are some essential tips that might help you creating a successful real estate blog:
1.Follow a stringent naming convention – This is necessary to attract potential customers and clients to your blog. A blog with a title say balloons for fun containing information on real estate will surely mislead the visitor to your blog. While creating a new Blog always make sure to use the term “Real Estate” or “Realtor” in the Blog name as well as the title. IF you are targeting a business niche or a local market, include the name of the market as well in the blog. It works wonders.
2.Effective Presentation Technique- Real Estate marketing via a Blog will generate good amount of traffic to your post, provided your blog is presented in a neat, clear and smarter way. You can place your listings on your Blog along with photos of some commercial or residential real estate properties.
3.Arranging Information on your Blog-Keep your blogs succinct and to the point. Unnecessary and chaotic information will thwart the audience away from your blogs and the very intention of generating good business fails. It is generally recommended keeping a single entry restricted to around a paragraph or two.
4.Relevant information on Real Estate business – Your blog should provide to the point information related to all the issues of the real estate. It can contain free home appraisals, neighborhood information and advice to sellers on how to market their properties, commercial real estate, residential real estate, discount or fee-for-service, besides many more.
By following above-mentioned steps, you can generate good traffic and business for your real estate marketing blog.
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