Attending the Weichert Realtors' National Convention in Atlanta, GA?

Stop by Booth #3 and Visit Homes.com For Your Chance to Win an iPod!

Enjoy Franchise Network Specials available just for Weichert!

What’s the new, exciting news for you and your Weichert listings? Find out at Booth #3!

We look forward to seeing you there from March 31 through April 2!

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According to Wikipedia – “A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological order. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries.”

Ok, so now we’ve defined what a blog is, is it good for your website?

Short answer is ABSOLUTELY! And here is why.

A blog is a collection of posts that are generally updated on an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly basis. By updating your blog you’re increasing the possibility of having someone return to your blog because you’re creating something new to read.

Have you ever received an email or an IM from a friend saying, “HEY, read this”?

By that person sending you the link, and by you reading it, you’ve just increased the traffic for that site. Increased site traffic means more eyes looking at what you have to say, and by having it informative or entertaining increases the chances of a link to your blog being passed on or linked back to.

Just remember…

Write about what you know or about something you’re passionate about. This will ensure you take the time to keep it updated. If it is interesting to you, you’re more likely to take the time to write about it.

Update often. By keeping the blog updated often, not only are you giving your viewers something to read, the search engines see this as something more to index.

Search engines love fresh content. By having updated content, your site has a better chance of being indexed more often. Being indexed more frequently in turn allows your site to moves up in search engine rankings. Higher rankings on search engine leads to more traffic. Higher search engine placement brings more eyes to your blog. It’s all related.

And don’t forget:

Keep it informative
Keep it updated
Keep it fun

So, get out there and BLOG AWAY!

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Smaller than the baby boom, generation X makes up 50% of all first-time homebuyers. These prospects are stern, brash and reluctant to beat-around-the-bush selling tactics. They’re smart, independent, pragmatic and expecting you to perform. So how do you, the modern Realtor, make this demographic your customers? Here are a few tips to satisfy the expectations of your next home buyer:

1. Clear facts. Help them along in their journey by giving them the information they need to improve their odds of buying the right property. Are they interested in townhouses or condos? Do they want a detached home in a more established neighborhood? If you have the facts and appropriate information at your fingertips, you may have your next customers.

2. Trust. Develop a relaxed conversation with your buyer. Talk with them. Help them with their decisions. Enable the buyer to see options available to them. In these ways, you engender the trust necessary to develop a lasting and fruitful relationship with your Generation X customers.

3. Value. The Xer is not brand loyal, but decision loyal, so you will want to help them see the value of your services. You want to help them understand that because of your value to them, they will make the best decisions, but only with your help.
For the stay-at-home mom who may not have much time on her hands, offer to compile any information she has found on her own.

4. Knowledge and Credibility. They’ve done their homework and are not afraid to move on to another realtor. Offer your client knowledge about the market ahead, and tips to help simplify the home-buying process. Compile industry news and present it along with your own researched findings; show them how this information will get them closer to the desired outcome.

These simple steps demonstrate your professionalism and establish credibility. Buyers are very savvy these days, but they want someone more savvy than themselves. And they will look to you to negotiate the purchasing process.

Hopefully, these tips will take you a step closer to conquering Generation X.

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What are you doing to ensure your site is successfully crawled, indexed, and positioned in the major search engines? Here are five questions to ask yourself:

Are you targeting keywords relevant to site content?

Are the keywords you target the popular phrases used in search engine queries?

Do page titles begin with your targeted keywords?

Does your site employ H1 header tags for prominent content titles?

Is your permanent body copy contextually sufficient and keyword-rich?

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With the competitive real estate market of today, replying first to a client inquiry sometimes means the difference in getting a new listing, closing a sale, or beginning a relationship with a potential buyer.

Many technology savvy agents and brokers are already taking advantage of text message add-on services with their internet products to assure they get their messages first, while others are providing their text message email addresses associated with their cellular phone.

If you do not currently have text messaging built into your internet presence, we recommend adding your cell phone email address as a secondary option to assure you stay connected with your client’s communications.

To help you track down your cell phone email address, we’ve listed below a great link which compiles all current phone carriers.

http://www.notepage.net/smtp.htm

As with any service, please send test emails before adding as an additional email option and always review your phone service plan for additional charges that could apply.

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After listing photos, the listing description—those 100 words or fewer describing the property for sale—is one of the most valuable tools in your marketing arsenal. Whether it is in print, on a website, or read aloud during a real estate promo show on your local cable access channel, your listing description potentially could make the difference not only in selling that particular property, but in attracting both homebuyers and sellers to your business. Your listing description is often your one chance to not only sell your listing, but you as an agent. With leads galore at stake, and seemingly endless numbers of competing real estate professionals vying for their share of this emerging buyers’ market, you must make your 100 words work for you.

One of the best strategies for stopping would-be homebuyers (and for that matter, those seeking a listing agent) in their brochure-skimming tracks is to instill a dream in their minds. This method of advertising works time and again, selling everything from cigarettes (quite infamously) to sports cars. As consumers, advertisers bombard us with messages telling us that if we buy this pair of jeans that we will feel younger, or if we drink this water that we will be healthier. Even advertisements for items as mundane as dish soap have enticed consumers to believe that they too can bask in that Leave-It-To Beaver-esque cleanliness if they only buy a bottle of X-brand dish soap. People buy products because they want to buy the image, emotion or dream associated with the product, not just because of the product’s size, shape or color. In that 100 words or less of your listing description, don’t sell them so much on the physical specifications and features of the home. Sell them on the life they can have if they buy your listing!

You may ask, how can I create this “dream” in so short of a space? What about all of those “required” pieces of information that I must put in my listing description? Read this example below and see how this very typical listing description can be transformed into a must-read (and, consequently, must-call-about!) ad:

Before

New 3/2 ranch in Killearn Lakes. Situated on a big 5-acre lot with surrounding woods. Walking distance to elementary and middle schools. Stainless appliances and granite countertops complete the kitchen.

After

Imagine peaceful, country living in a lush forest. Also imagine seeing your children off every morning as they walk along shaded sidewalks to their neighborhood school. Make this dream a reality with this new, 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch home designed for a young family in mind. Located on 5 sprawling acres in Killearn Lakes, children will have plenty of room for outdoor activity, while you’ll have room to relax. Eat around your dinner table together with a meal prepared with your durable, yet beautiful stainless appliances and granite countertops. Don’t pass up your piece of the American Dream!

In this example listing “makeover,” I have transformed a simple listing description giving bedroom/bath count, lot size, kitchen specs and other features into a “piece of the American Dream.” Instead of just listing numbers and features, I use these to emphasize the dream image I weave for the reader. Instead of “walking distance to…schools,” I paint a Rockwell-like picture of children gleefully walking to school as in the days of old. Instead of just a 3/2 ranch on a 5 acre lot, my description offers homebuyers a family-friendly enclave, with plenty of room for the kids to play. Everything I write in this listing description describes more than a physical structure: it describes the dream of the ideal American family home. Many who have not yet purchased their first home seek this dream, and will probably stop to read this listing description. Those who want this dream badly enough will follow-up on this ad!

Plant the seeds of dreams in your listing descriptions and watch them grow into leads and profits! Don’t just offer a property, offer a lifestyle. Your listing descriptions won’t be ignored!

For more helpful copywriting tips, please attend my class hosted by the AgentAdvantage Learning Center, “Copywriting 101: Get and Keep Homebuyers’ Attention” on March 6th at 3 PM ET. For more information, or to sign up, click here.

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