Positive Real Estate Professionals

Just the other day I had a Realtor® tell me “Blogging is all Hype.” After digging deeper, I found the roots of her issues and had a very productive conversation with her. It seems that she was getting no visitors to her website even though it was a gorgeous website. It basically reminds me of the old adage of “All dressed up and no where to go.” I once asked the question of “If no one visits your blog, is it still a blog?” and never got much of an answer from the readers. Let me answer that question, “Yes it is still a blog!”

Whether or not people visit your blog does not make or break it from being a blog. What it does do however is hinder your ability to convert visitors to clients. Without visitors, there is not even the potential to garner new clients from your blog. With that said, that does not mean that blogging is all hype. In fact, the hype today is BLOGGING. If you do not believe me, talk to the millions of people that are successfully doing it for their business today. What got me started on this subject is that a good friend of mine actually asked me the other day, “If I have a business page on Facebook, should I keep it strictly business or should I talk about little Johnny’s first steps?” My answer was simple, if you are looking to gain business, then stick to business. You can still show people that you are human without discussing your personal life all the time. Adding some here and there is fine.

Every day I am asked how to drive readers to a site and how to convert those readers to leads. Driving readers is no more than using social media outlets, writing great content and showing up high in search engine results. As for converting readers to clients, that is a horse of a different color. Great content can make this easier, but for the most part, you have to have a site that has lead capture forms as well as a clear call to action on your site. I have seen many people have a contact form on their site with no introduction to the contact form and no call to action to prompt the reader to use the contact form. I have seen forms that are called “Obtain More Information” which require readers to fill out personal information, but gives no reason for the required info nor what the reader can hope to get for providing it. Having the forms on the site it the first step to gaining the lead, but it is NOT the only step. These are a few of the common mistakes that I have seen. The great thing is these are mistakes that can be corrected easily.

Blogging can be an important part of your business today. It is really up to how you work it. Some people have mastered it. Some people have perfected it. Some people have manipulated it. Most people are in need of help with it. Where do you fall? If we can help you, contact us @ 865-951-0522 or visit http://positiverealestateprofessionals.com/membership-request-process.

Hopefully we all have goals. Depending on what we are talking about, there can be as many goals as there are people in this world. Because of this great diversity of goals, I am going to narrow this article to business goals as they relate to this real estate network and your business website. Most real estate industry professionals are aware of the statistic that 80% of home searches are begun on the internet; I would suppose that statistic is also quite high for other industries as well. With this taken into consideration, the effective use of available resources and time management are vitally important.

One of the first things I would recommend when considering how to best maximize your internet work time is reading the ‘About‘ section of the network you are considering joining or the ‘Mission Statement‘ of the web development company that you are considering using to build or revamp your business website. These statements are generally well thought out and purposely written to hit the highlights of what that network or company can do to improve your internet business. As I said in the first paragraph, the goals of any business can vary dramatically. Because of this tremendous variation I believe that businesses who conduct some portion of their business online should look to these statements for complimentary goals.

Once concurrent goals have been determined, it is essential that the effectiveness of the network or company in attaining these aims be assessed. This determination may not be as straightforward as one might think. Testimonials on a site from satisfied clients are a good place to start. However, there is a caveat to relying heavily on testimonials as most sites would only include positive articles about their service. I have never seen a negative testimonial about a company on its own business website. If I ever do encounter a negative testimonial on a company’s website I will run as quickly as I can in the opposite direction with the assumption that the company has a surplus of internal issues to deal with and may not be able to address my business needs.

Another thing to consider is the potential longevity of the network or company. There seems to be a tipping point when it comes to some networks when they seem to forget that the members drive the success of the network. When this happens there is often a sudden and furious bonfire that erupts and if not doused can quickly consume the network. So when I speak of longevity, I am essentially asking, does the network seem to care about its members’ business goals and take those into consideration when making decisions about the network that may affect the attainment of those goals.

And finally, a simple search engine inquiry can provide a wealth of information. How high does a network place on search engine results using terms that your potential clients might use? How high do members’ articles place using similar criteria? How quickly after an article is published does it get indexed by the search engines?

While we are on the topic of how easily member information and articles are found by potential clients it is important that we take a quick look at the structure of a network. By structure, I mean is the network set up to give its members the tools necessary to connect with clients through means other than traditional blogs. Ask yourself, can the member sites act as stand alone websites? While the connection with potential clients can be established through the comment section of a blog, there are other important tools that should also be included in a multifaceted network. The availability and use of forms are a vital tool to move beyond the commenting section of a website and convert the commentor into a potential clients. If forms are not available on a network this is a lost opportunity to increase your business. And while we are on the supremely important topic of potential client interaction what about a community calendar? Twitter? Facebook? PDA and cellphone compatibility? Integrating your IDX? And what about the next technological development, will your network be ready to integrate it for your use? Or will a link that takes the potential consumer away from your site be all that is available?

When you are assessing how to best spend you internet time (and dollars) ask yourself, what is the payoff potential of joining a particular network?

You hoped onboard the internet train and decided that the internet really was the best place to market your business. To harness the power of the internet you have joined a real estate network (or other professional network) or you are going at it with a stand alone website or both. You have a website that would make Michaelangelo proud with its beauty. It is so easy to navigate that even your dad wouldn’t get lost. The search engines can’t get enough of your site and prove it by sending their spiders out to index it multiple times per day and returning your site on page one. You are getting visitors, lots of visitors, to your site. Still, a nagging question remains, why aren’t you converting these visitors into leads? And how can you?

You have to consider that a certain percentage of visitors are there for informational purposes only. While the casual visitor may not be in the market for your service at that time, if they find your site helpful they will refer other people to it. This is an excellent type of referral because personal or first hand referrals give an implied endorsement of your knowledge and professionalism. Visitors who find you from a targeted search, like Google, Yahoo, or MSN should be easier to convert to leads because they actually searched for the service and information you provide.

An essential function of your site is lead generation and capturing potential client information from your site. The most effective way to accomplish lead capture is through the use of forms. Forms can be as simple as signing up for your weekly or monthly newsletter to requesting additional information on a particular topic or service highlighted on your site. Every site should at least have a contact form with some basic information required, like name and email address. A site can also have specialized forms like a relocation form or a Comparative Market Analysis form that are geared to the specific needs of your site’s visitors. The information that is given on these forms can then be indexed and utilized by the site’s owner.

Now that you have been entrusted with visitor’s information, it is of the utmost importance that a responsible site owner NOT sell or distribute this information to third parties unless this is a known practice and function of the site that has been explicitly consented to by the visitor. Violating a visitor’s trust is one of the quickest ways that your site can become the means for business suicide. In conclusion, using forms are a great way to convert your site’s visitors into both clients and referral sources.

Over the last 5 months, I have learned a lot about people in the real estate industry. Most of them have a budget set aside for marketing. Many of those professionals have been smart with their budget and have portioned off a percentage in an attempt to get on top in the computer age. With that said, it seems that there is always a “new” marketing scheme out there that is going to generate you the most in leads. For this very reason, it seems that people are getting nickled and dimed to death. The problem is, there are no nickles and dimes involved in it.

Now, before someone jumps up and shouts that we here at Positive Real Estate Professionals basically did the same thing, hear me out. PREP was created to give it’s members a place that you could get ALL you need to conduct business in one place. We have the ability to create your account and provide you a platform that you can blog on, but it goes much deeper than that. On this real estate network you have the ability to create web pages as well. In those pages, you can use different types of forms to “catch” customer information or provide a service that other vendors such as lenders may need, such as BPO request forms. We also offer SEO information for free as well as a Social Media integration second to none. We help members create a Social Media Marketing Strategy that has allowed many members to obtain rankings in Google searches they never thought were possible. The great thing is, this is all included in the $100 annual membership fee. Well, at least till the end of August when the new annual price will be $150. But, enough about what we do. That is not what this article is about. Let’s get back on subject before I digress anymore.

Yesterday a member of PREP asked me to look into “SQUEEZE” pages for her. When I first started to look into it, I was blown away. It seemed that the same information that I provided for free in Embracing Technology is now the basic blueprint for what these “SQUEEZE” experts are trying to charge people for. Basically what they are saying is direct all of your internet efforts to one page that has all your forms and information on it. This allows potential clients who come to your site to become a lead by filling out one of your forms. Hmmm…That sounds a lot like what PREP was created to do more than 5 months ago. This is the excerpt from the article that I referenced earlier in this post that keys on exactly what the “SQUEEZE” is all about.

“Earlier today, I wrote this on our Facebook status: We (http://positiverealestateprofessionals.com) are hard at work helping our members create their own “Spider Web” effect on the Internet to gain even greater exposure. If you would like your own web created, it starts by becoming a member today. (http://positiverealestateprofessionals.com/membership-request-process/). The one thing that I would like to pull out of the message is “Spider Web”. If you look below, you will see what we mean by the “Spider Web” effect. The most successful people are the ones that have learned how to direct ALL of their traffic back to one dominate page. Being able to tie each and every profile together on the world wide web starts to create this effect.”

I do not claim to know it all, but I will tell you this. When I first came up with the vision of PREP, it was a place designed to refute the bombardment of negative media messages. Since the site has evolved to what it is today, so has my vision. I want to be able to provide the members of the site with the tools to dominate their industry. To do that I cannot nickle and dime them to death. I would be lying if I said that there are no additional charges. However, those charges are for completely optional things and do not impact SEO such as custom themes for example. With that said, we are determined to help you create the “Spider Web” as I so adamantly like to refer to it, for free. We spend countless hours each and every day developing the web presence that our clients want and need.

Another thing that I have noticed is all the many different SEO companies out there. I hear them talk of short tail, medium tail, and long tail keywords. I hear them speak of meta descriptions and meta keywords. I hear them talking about blogging consistently. Then I hear them tell you for the price of $299 to $2495 you can learn the secrets that got them to where they are today. Well, frankly, I don’t know ANY of those SECRETS. What I do know is what has made PREP the site it is today. What I do know is what works. What I do know is when you become a member of PREP, there is no special class that you can take for a price to learn this. We will teach you what we taught people just like Jodi Smith, your Atlanta Real Estate Agent. She has employed what we have taught her and it has done wonders for her in Twitter and in her Google searches. Jodi is only one example of the members that we have helped. My point is SEO education really should be included from any premium network or any web designer that builds a site for you. That is just my take on it.

The last thing that I will mention is IDX solutions. I have noticed some astronomical charges in association with IDX solutions being integrated into a personal website. I was reviewing a competitors site the other day when a potential client of R & D Art recommended that we include IDX solutions as part of our build. We feel no need to be the middle man as you might not actually like the IDX solution company that we had chose to partner with. Instead of partnering with any particular IDX company, we have chosen to recommend several without any type of financial compensation for doing so. Once you have your IDX account, we can and will embed it in your PREP account or any site that we build or maintain for you for no charge.

In short, if you are feeling your budget getting squeezed, you might want to check out our services. I can promise you that we work our butts off for your $100.

Positive Real Estate Professionals is committed to staying abreast of emerging technology to help connect you, our members, with consumers. We are also happy to receive your valuable input for things that you might need to help you with your business. Responsiveness to our members’ needs is an important part of providing you with an excellent tool to network with other real estate industry professionals and with clients. In many cases a visitor to your site may leave quickly if there is some impediment to connecting with you, the real estate industry professional, on a general or a specific question they may have relating to something you have written.

The most common means for a potential client to connect with you is through leaving a comment on a post you have written. Another way that clients connect with you is through the contact information you provide, email and/or phone number. The emergence of Twitter as a major tool in communication provides another means of communication. With the ease of controlling your entire Twitter account from the Dashboard of you website, you never have to leave PREP to stay connected. In fact there is an entire collection of Twitter Icons that you can use if you wish on your website.

Another major way to connect with clients on PREP is through the numerous forms available for your use. As evidenced by the Relocation Form to the BPO Form to the Title Order Form, we take the needs of you, our members, very seriously. Today we added the Feedback Form to the Test Account page where all of the currently available forms can be found. This will hopefully be a very useful tool for Realtors. If you have a suggestion for a form or another improvement to PREP, simply submit a Support Ticket, located on the main page of the site, and we will definitely look into the viability of your suggestion. If there is an existing form that you need help adding to your site, please drop us a note  and we will be happy to help.