Positive Real Estate Professionals

Over the last year to 2 years, I have been talking to REALTORS® from all over the USA and abroad. It seems that no matter who I talk to the one bit of universal feedback I hear is that agents want to be able to list their properties as cheap as possible, and without competitor ads.

Well, being the web developers that we are, we decided to see what we could do about that. So, we developed a site that will allow it’s members to list their properties advertisement free. Now that does not mean the site is completely free of advertisers. It just means that the listings themselves are free of advertisements. We are offering memberships to the site for $25 a year and you can list all the properties that you have contracted. We are not allowing agencies to list all of their REALTORS® listings at this point in time.

Listings can have up to 11 pictures.

You can have a contact form embedded in your listing as well.

So, what makes this site different from others. Simple, the only listings that are searchable on this site are our members’ listings. Also, it is free for the public to search and they do not have to sign up for anything.

With that said, if you are interested in joining prior to launch, email me. I will send you an invoice for the $25.

Lastly, we will be allowing guest post on the site as well. This way, you can drive readers back to your personal website as well.

If you have questions please contact me directly.

Over the time that I have spent on the internet, I have seen many people employ this strategy when it comes to blogging and social media. The first thing they do is take the proverbial “big bite” out of social media and sign up for all of the networks they can not really understanding what they can do for them much less knowing how to use them. Many people think that they can accomplish so much more by doing this. However, it goes back to the old way of thinking that the fact of the matter is, ‘less is really more.’

We can use quotes like putting the cart before the horse, leaping before looking, or speaking before thinking, and they all can refer to what people do wrong in the social media avenues. While social media is meant to help you succeed in gaining exposure, it can also help bury you just as fast if used wrong. So, now that I have told you what people are doing wrong and what the consequences are, would it be nice to hear what path should be taken? Fair enough. Now let’s move forward and get the horse in front of the cart where it belongs.

Before you take the time to join the possible 200 social medias that are out there, you need to first create a strategy. So many times I have seen people get involved in Facebook only to get sucked in to all the games and extras that can really become distractions with a system like that. Instead of networking with potential clients, they are defending their Mafia family. The same thing can be said of Twitter. While Twitter is great to keep up with updates from people, it too can be a little addictive when it comes to tweeting. You can also get spammed to death if you aren’t careful. Digg, Stumble Upon, Reddit, Mixx, and more are great for sharing articles. However, if you continuously share your articles, the other users in these systems can bury you so deep that there is basically no getting out.

So, with all of these road blocks, how does someone navigate through the land mines to get themselves recognizable on the internet. Well, I think the first part of being recognizable on the Internet is what I state in my article Internet Business Requires Internet Presence; creating a unique brand. Once you have been able to do that, then it is time to start blogging. Putting together a bunch of articles and just throwing them out there is not really smart. You have to think about what it is you want to say and then put it into words that people can understand. The last thing anyone wants to read is an article that talks over their head. Speak to the masses, not to the few. Once you have accomplished that, then it is time to move into the social media springs.

If you have the ability to be on a network like Positive Real Estate Professionals, then you have 50% of your job done for you, maybe even more. The network is designed to feed into Twitter and Facebook automatically as well as allowing you to tweet right out of your blog dashboard while never having to open another internet window. The biggest work that you have to do is set up your two accounts and then let it do most of the work for you. However, it does not stop there and this is where most people fail. In either of these systems, you have to create a following. It is great that PREP has their followings and you get to use theirs, but you also have to have your own as well. That means that you have to get into the system and locate not only people that would be interesting to you, but people that are interested in what you have to say. Once you do that, then you are ready to move forward.

Now, for the people that do not belong to a network like PREP, then you have even more work to do because you have to carry the entire burden yourself. If your system that you use can not be automatically integrated, then you have to share your articles with each site. Once you have figured out that part, it is up to you to get into the social media systems that you join and create a mutual following. The associations that you create will become important and you need to take this into account; if the person that you want to connect to is not very active, then they will actually just weigh you down. What do I mean by that? Well, when a person is not active and they sit on your list, then you need to get a least one more person to pick up the slack that the inactive one is creating. Now, before anyone jumps up and throws something at me, I am not saying to not friend these people. I just want you to understand what you are getting into in terms of social marketing.

So, in an effort to recap this article, let me give you an outline.

• Unique Branding
• Fresh relevant content
• Join a few social networks and learn the ins and outs of them
• Be active in the social networks
• If you do not want to be faced with this task, then pay the $100 and join a network like Positive Real Estate Professionals and let them do most of it for you.

In popular culture there are many brands that are so instantly recognizable that the company’s name pops into our heads seemingly without thought. Take for instance some of the branded logos below:

Just glancing at these logos I bet you were able to identify most if not all within a few seconds. These logos represent everything from technology to sports to non-profits to a nation. Logos are a pictorial representation of your business or organization. Granted we are a young organization but Positive Real Estate Professionals employs a logo on each page of this website and in the other media provided to the public. The effective use of logos should quickly evoke thoughts of what it represents. This is a prime example of how logos are used as a branding tool.

You may be wondering why I am writing about branding? The answer to that is simple, most business people use some form of branding. Do you have multiple websites with a similar look and feel that all center around your business? This similar look and feel is the basis of branding. Now consider the images that are common among your websites. These images could be a straightforward picture of you, the geographical area where you do business, or a logo similar to the ones above; all of these images are tools for branding.

If you are looking to establish a brand recognition for your business, I would suggest that you take a look at what you are already doing from your business cards to your websites. Are you using a logo? If you are using particular colors or a logo are they present somewhere on the material consumers are getting. Having your logo on all of the materials you disseminate to consumers promotes brand reinforcement. Brand reinforcement is what helps to create the association between your logo and your business in the mind of consumers. Take for example the following logo:

First off, I am fairly certain that you knew almost immediately what organization this logo represented. From television ads to internet marketing, this logo is included in virtually all of the material that this organization disseminates. This repeated use of a logo promotes brand reinforcement and general ideas of the organization’s purpose. You may be thinking that it is difficult to promote a message through a brand but consider this. After identifying the organization associated with this logo, what thoughts popped into your head? Were they general thoughts like charitable organization or something similar. There can be as many thoughts that pop into one’s head as there are people. For the logo and its meaning to convey what is intended it must be easily recognizable and backed up with positive actions by the organization to reinforce the intended message. Are you branded? And what message does your brand convey?

Since Rich Dansereau and myself started Positive Real Estate Professionals – A Real Estate Network back in March, we had a vision of being able to help each and every member gain more exposure on the Internet. Since the launch in March, we have been able to do just that. Members that have started writing articles on their blogs are seeing almost instant Google alerts. With that said, I find that I am still being asked what PREP can do for it’s members. So, I thought that I would just take a little time to tell you what PREP is designed to do.

First and foremost, PREP is designed to make your goal of becoming more visible on the Internet easier. Our goal here is for you to write posts on your blog and let PREP do all the other work. However, if you are currently running a blog and do not want the added post that it takes to run 2 blogs, we can syndicate your blog right into PREP and make sure that you are not getting hit with the double content whammy. At the same time, we are set to increase the Google juice that you are so thirsty for. And we can get your articles indexed quickly in Google. But, that is just the tip of the iceberg.

PREP has the ability to integrate with social networks like Twitter and Facebook. You can check us out on both of these sites by clicking the links on each of them. PREP has 815 followers in less than a month of being on Twitter and has 145 on Facebook. However, the business page on Facebook for PREP has 943 fans at the point of this article and the Networked Blogs page currently has 173 subscribers to the feed. As a site that is less than 4 months old, this is impressive. But, it does not stop there as PREP has built it’s RSS feed subscribers as well. And this is just one of the ways that PREP helps to drive traffic to you. Their increased involvement in the Social Media networks help to aide you in gaining more and more exposure. Add to all this the low Alexa ranking for a site this young and you spell out a successful union when you decide to join Positive Real Estate Professionals.

Top this with the ability to network with other professionals that you can learn from as well as share ideas with and this just becomes another benefit. However, PREP is geared toward reaching consumers and this is what we sit here and do for 16 hours a day. Driving more and more potential consumers to our site as well as to your articles is what has helped in the success that PREP and it’s current members have enjoyed. The first few months of this start-up has been exciting and as we are getting ready to turn the page, we are wondering what is keeping you away.

We are very much for people having their own blogs, websites, and other web presence, so we are not going to try and get you to leave anything. Whether you talk to Rich or to myself, you will always hear us state that you never want to leave all your eggs in one basket. Doing this might gain you some exposure, but the question is, when that exposure starts to fade away, what is your contingency plan. Having a presence that is spread around the world wide web helps to maintain that presence when and if another site starts to lose out on some Google juice. Bottom line that you have to look at is can your business sustain having to rebuild your Internet presence from scratch all over? If the answer is “NO” then you need to be calling 865-951-0522 and asking for Rich or Danny today. Getting your PREP account going could not be any easier.Oh, and before I forget, it is just $100 a year. If you break it down over 12 months, it comes out to $8.25 a month, basically the price of one entree at dinner.

Now, let me leave you with this thought. I have barely scraped the surface of what PREP can do for you. If I were to sit here and detail it out, you would be reading for a while. So, if you are intrigued, then check out our Test Account and see some of the added benefits that our network has to offer. If you have questions, you can call us or you can email Rich or myself anytime. Also, take the time to see what some of our members have to say about us.

Over my 22 plus years being in the working world, one thing that I have found to be constant that seems to rear its ugly head is indecision. Many times these people are referred to as “fence sitters” and lord knows, we all know a few. As for the real estate world, the National Association of Realtors® released this video a while back to make this very point.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L41Ojn7XQHU[/youtube]

The issue with fence sitting is the fact that you are taking a chance of a lifetime and making it into a betting game when it comes to buying a home. Imagine having to go to your family and tell them that you lost the home of their dreams because you could not make a decision on whether or not to make an offer on the home. Then, just when you thought that the time was right to swoop down to buy their dream home, someone else already did. For me, that would be the hardest thing that I would ever have to do.

With all that said, fence sitting is not just done when it comes to home buying. There are fence sitters when it comes to buying a car, joining the gym, joining a real estate network, or even marriage. The bottom line means that some people loathe indecision whether it is concerning something small or something large. The issue is that indecision is the graveyard of good intentions as I said before. In the end, people that are indecisive tend to lose out on things that can benefit them or make them very comfortable or happy.

I leave you with this thought: What have you been indecisive about?

It is important to always remember that all real estate is local or hyper-local. With that said good news emerged today from ‘across the pond’. It appears that the modest gains that have been being reported in many U.S. housing markets and the positive moves made by many Money Center Banks are beginning to catch on around the world. Now I do not want to report any unrealistic numbers nor do I want to give any unrealistic expectations.

With that said, Rightmove which is touted as the U.K.’s number one real estate property website, is reporting a 1.8% increase in asking price for the month of March. You might be saying that this is barely a gain and I would answer that that view is somewhat pessimistic. This is a realistic gain that is sustainable. To have a huge gain would generally demonstrate an external and non-sustainable cause. It is important to not begin a risky growth cycle that would be indicative of a real estate bubble.

Much of the growth in the U.K. is attributed to the Bank of England having cut key interest rates to 0.5%. This coupled with the purchase of some of Great Britain’s toxic assets is contributing to banks easing lending restrictions. This easing of restrictions does not mean a return to reckless lending but lending to properly qualified applicants. Central Bank data show that mortgage approvals in February rose to 38,000 which represents the biggest increase since May, 2008; while this figure is still down, it does show improvement.

In many situations when a crisis emerges the initial reaction is to over-correct. This over-correction has so strangled the lending ability of banks that many have similarly been forced to turn away otherwise qualified applicants. In my opinion, this over-correction has contributed to the economic volatility in world markets. Hopefully this is another indicator that sensibility is returning to the world’s economy.

In many real estate transactions the services of a notary or notary public are often employed. It is important to understand what a notary is and what their role is. Let me make it clear that different states have different roles regarding the use of a notary in real estate transactions. Some states allow notaries to close real estate transactions and some states require attorneys to do this.

What is a notary? A notary is someone who has been legally empowered by their state of residence to administer oaths, take acknowledgements, and certify documents.

What does a notary do? The role of the notary is one of legal witness that the person executing a document is the same person named in the document. This makes the verification of the identity of the signers of paramount importance. The notary attests that they have verified this by signing and stamping or embossing the document. This does not mean that the document’s content is “true and legal’.

Be sure to check with your state’s commission to determine the role of a notary in real estate transactions in your state.