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Recently, we responded to an S.O.S from a successful luxury real
estate marketing professional who put out this distress signal: I have
been blogging consistently. Why is no one commenting or following me?
Is there anyone out there? For those of you who are experiencing the
same frustration, here is an important tip: Discover and dominate an
under served market niche.
A niche is a specialized market. It is a market segment or a
particular market "space". An example of a niche in luxury real estate
would be historic homes. When we were in commercial real estate in
Beverly Hills we specialized in high end retail and the entertainment
industry. One of our jobs was to go to find potential tenants for
retail stores and shopping centers that we represented exclusively, on
Rodeo Drive, or surrounding areas.
In doing some research for an upcoming blog series we found an
excellent analogy for niches by Ray Wert on his Jalopnik.com blog. He
referred to niches as the spaces between the marbles in a Mason jar
that is full of marbles. If you were to pour sand in the jar it would
fill those spaces and there would be a surprising amount of room for
the sand. Only when you can no longer add sand is the jar really
"full". The marbles represent what everyone else is doing, the niches
exist in those spaces between the marbles that the sand fills.
To be successful as a blogger, as a luxury real estate marketing
professional, you must first identify an uncontested market "space".
The first place to look is for an under served consumer group. It must
be a niche about which you can write passionately.T It needs to be a
market segment for which you can offer an extraordinary promise of
value, value that cannot be found elsewhere. And, you must blog in your
own unique voice, your authentic style. That is, if you want to build
an audience and be follow-worthy over time.
Though blogs started out as personal journals, there is no limit to
what may be covered in a blog. It is customary for people to compose
blogs to express their work, their hobbies, their social or political
issues, and news or current events.
Real estate blogs have also become a trend in recent years,
however, not as fast or abundant as one may expect. Nonetheless, blogs
can be a very valuable source of up-to-date information on real estate,
especially in a time when real estate value is very volatile and
current information is what may make the difference between a
successful transaction and a losing deal.
Blogs have the advantage of presenting the top stories and the
latest news in a single place eliminating the need to surf the net and
search for multiple sources.
Another advantage of using blogs is they have RSS feeds from other
sources, such as newspaper articles published online, which are updated
daily with the latest news. These feeds give the readers the ability to
receive a variety of opinions based on which to construct a personal
opinion.
In some cases, valuable tools are offered to the users, directing
them to further sources to collect valuable information required to
make an informed decision, such as crime rates, air quality by
neighborhood and school ratings.
Here are a few ideas on how to use blogs to stay informed on real estate issues and trends:
- Search for relevant blogs. Google the name of your city along with the words "real estate blog".
- A valuable blog has frequent updates.
- A nice, clean look will make it easier to read the articles relevant to you
- Ensure that it has RSS feeds to multiple sources
- It should have an impartial tone and not try to sell the services of a Realtor
Bookmark a couple of the best blogs according to the guidelines
above and visit them daily. It will pay off in time saved from going to
a single source and in money gained by making informed decisions.
If you are a mortgage broker or a loan officer, you are
probably actively seeking leads for your mortgage marketing, or at
least you should be if you're taking your business seriously. If you
are not interested to share any mortgage lead with other loan officers,
purchasing them exclusively is a better option.
An exclusive mortgage lead must be exclusive to you alone and must
be immediately sold in real time, more often referred to as a fresh
mortgage lead.
It is often a discomforting thought when companies claim that they
sell freshly generated live leads and can be directly transferred to
your office. Then once you receive the lead, it is not what has been
promised to you.
This is due to the fact that they are getting Internet leads or
leads that were sold before, and then they try to pass these off as a
live mortgage lead. All leads can be created through banners and ads
online, direct mailers, emails, and even the voice broadcasting system.
However, the greatest and most expensive means of generating leads is
through telemarketing.
Live, exclusive mortgage leads are definitely hard to find. The
first reason is that it is an expensive process. Second, telemarketing
requires intensive labor as well as close management. On the other
hand, several companies try to make shortcuts and create scams that
leave us running for our money.
Here are a few things to consider so one can avoid scams regarding live leads.
* If you have to purchase Internet leads, check on the websites
where the leads are generated to see what sorts of offers they have and
are answering to.
* Try to purchase exclusive leads as some people will do anything
to close a lead before you do. Also, you should ask for a printed
exclusivity guarantee from the lead company.
* If you are to buy live leads, be sure that they do not come from internet leads as well as voice broadcasting.
* Make sure that they guarantee, in writing, their criteria filters.
* Finally, live mortgage leads differ from dealing with referrals.
Always be ready to give all your efforts and to earn their trust in
turn.
Bear in mind that you are working for your money so you have to be
sure that the mortgage lead company you are investing with will help
you achieve a return on your investment.
The Real Estate Business is a tough game. Given the difficulties
faced by potential buyers to jump through the hoops that the banks and
building societies are laying down in the current financial downturn,
it's difficult to remain positive, especially in a country like Spain,
whose unemployed are the highest in Europe as of the last quarter of
2009. However, there is a new breed of buyers entering the market who
have very few problems when it comes to employment, entertaining the
bank's needs and a thirst for a new home.
Older European cities such as Barcelona, for example, have shot to
the top of many lists as THE desired place to live and work in recent
years. London-based Real Estate Company Cushman and Wakefield published
a report in 2009 with great details about the Business Cities in
Europe. Barcelona had overtaken "European Business Capital" Brussels
into third place, and CEOs of companies interviewed regarded Barcelona
as the number one destination for their employees in terms of quality
of life.
The Economist also paired Spain as a whole country on a par with
Sweden in it's life expectancy index - a joint seventh, with life
expectancy as high as 80,9 years old. The Mediterranean lifestyle has
long been touted as a stepping stone to a healthy and happy lifestyle
and its secrets go back hundreds of years. Barcelona - the capital of
Catalonia - is no exception to this rule, with a fantastic gastronomy
paving the way for the likes of top chef Ferran Adrià, and his El Bulli
restaurant which was voted the best restaurant in the world for an
unprecedented four times in a row in 2009.
The accolades keep on coming. Not only does Barcelona have more
UNESCO World Heritage sites than European favourite, Paris, it was also
voted 5th best city in the world by Time Out travel guides in 2009,
too. Not to mention the city as a stage to host some of the most
important business conferences and congresses in Europe and the world -
taking as a prime example the 3GSM World Mobile Phone conference held
each February in Barcelona.
Barcelona is working hard at branding itself, and it looks to be
succeeding. The city's mayor recently revealed plans to bid to host the
2022 Winter Olympic Games. The city owes a lot to the 1992 summer
Olympic Games - widely regarded as the best and most successful in
recent times, until Sydney provided the world with another fantastic
games. Even then, similarities with Barcelona were numerous, and if
successful, it would be the first time a city has hosted a summer and a
winter games. All of these factors lead to a good mood in real estate
for Barcelona, who may just pull Spain out of the recession with its
business model.
It is common knowledge that renters are looking for apartments
online in rapidly increasing number. That's why rental websites have
become such powerful marketing tool. They give you the ability to
market and sell your product 24/7.
All landlords know that they need to have an online presence, but
many are often left frustrated once the website is launched. They often
feel as though their website is just not performing the way they
expected it to. It's not ranking with the search engines and not up to
par with the performance they had planned for. I'd like to look at why
this is happening and provide some tips on how to fix the problem.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the
volume or quality of traffic to a website from search engines via
changes within the website that are natural and un-paid. Over time it
is the cheapest form of traffic generation and if done properly it can
pay for itself in no time.
Consider SEO Before Designing The Website
It's not enough to go out and design a nice looking website. Pretty
websites without SEO don't necessarily rank in the search engines. You
need a website that is functional and one that can generate traffic.
That's why you should always consider SEO before building or
re-designing any website.
Make Sure You Hire A Qualified Designer
When searching for a website designer always apply due diligence.
It's not enough that they can make a fancy website; you need to make
sure they know how to incorporate SEO. Remember to ask for references
and be sure to talk to other clients to see how their websites have
performed. Are they satisfied with the final product and the results
(traffic) that it generates? Does the website measure up to their
expectations?
Most companies that sit high in the search engine rankings have
been playing the SEO game for years. They're constantly working on
adding content and they consider SEO with every new page they put up.
Don't be swayed by unfounded promises. It takes time to climb in the
rankings.
What If You Have Already Designed A Website?
If you've already spent money on a re-design, all is not lost and
it's certainly not too late. There are still a number of strategies
that can be implemented to improve your website's SEO. I'd suggest
searching for a qualified designer or consultant that specializes in
SEO. If you need a few referrals, I'd be happy to point you in the
right direction.
Understanding SEO Terms and Jargon
Search engine optimization sounds a lot more complicated than it
actually is. Let me be the first to say that it is easy once you know
and understand what you're doing. It's all about giving the engines
what they want.
Let me explain some of the terms and jargon you'll encounter when
discussing search engine optimization with an expert or a web designer.
Google Bots
"Google bots" are what crawl (scan) your website and read the text.
Yahoo uses them, Bing's got them, so on and so forth. "Bots" follow
every link and read every word on your website. They track how your
content flows and they see what keywords are used on your website. They
also follow every link that leaves your website to see what content
you're directing people to. Basically, they work to figure out what
your website is all about.
It's important to know that they are not only reading what a reader
sees, but they also read the code that's behind the text and images on
your website. They're looking for specific things like meta tags and
alt tags to determine what you've created this site for.
Meta Tags
Meta tags are coding tags that appear before the body text of a
website. They are the description tag and keyword tag. They are the
first thing the "Google bots" encounter when reading the page. This
means they are important because they tell the "bots' what the page is
about and what keywords to pay attention to.
Keywords
Keywords are simply a word that you're trying to be ranked on or
recognized for in the search engines. Google will search the text of
your site to see how often certain words appear. Take for example the
sentences, "Apartments for rent in London. You'll love renting these
apartments." The words that appear most often are "apartments" and
"rent". Google would read those and determine what your keywords or
content is about "apartments" and "rent".
Keyword Phrases
These are a series of keywords that your website displays. For
example, "We have an apartment for rent in London, Ontario. So if
you're looking for a luxury apartment for rent, look no further." The
keyword phrase "apartment for rent" appears in several sentences. The
"google bots" will read those strings of words and index the site as
having an "apartment for rent".
Keyword Links
Keyword links are also important with SEO. They are hyperlinks that
contain your keywords. The "bots" read these links and follow them to
additional pages. They place value on the text of the link. So when
placing links try to place them on important keywords as opposed to the
classic "click here".
Warning About Flash Based Websites
Flash-based websites are always neat to look at but they don't rank
well with search engines. It's because the "bots" cannot crawl the
flash content of the site. My suggestion is to use flash sparingly on
your website and use it only for visual stimulation.
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