In just under a week Orlando is going to become the coolest place for Real Estate Agents to hang out, network, and have fun.

Why?

Because there are a bunch of events happening and I wanted to know if You were going so we could finally meet

Michael Maher

To kick off the festivities Michael Maher, author of “7 Levels of Communication: Go from Relationships to Referrals” is joining us for tomorrows Real-TechGuy Radio Show.

(We’ll be Live at 9 am and in this show you’ll learn one of Michael’s best strategies for getting referrals without even asking for them.)

You might remember Michael from Real-TechGuy Radio #62 “Mastering the 7 Levels of Communication.”

The Generosity Generation

Event: Gen Gen Orlando
Date: August 23rd
Time: 9:15 am – 3:30 pm
Cost: $35-$65-$100
*Use discount code “rerg” to save $10

The 7 Levels Book has inspired a movement called the “Generosity Generation.” It’s all about helping the people around you in order to help yourself.

Bob Burg will also be there, author of “The Go Giver.” Apparently he’s a big deal too, so I’m looking forward to hearing from him and Michael at the event.

I’m not one of these ‘touchy feely’ types, but I’ve put into practice what I learned from the book and I’m already seeing vast improvements in my business.

If you can make this event, I have a feeling it’s gonna be great.

Central Florida Realty Investors

Event: Digital Marketing for Real Estate (Class)
Date: August 23rd
Time: 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Cost: $49-$69

If you want to learn how to use digital marketing for your real estate business, then I’d like to invite you to this class I am teaching. Some of the stuff you’ll learn:

• How to be found on Google
• How to create Your brand Online
• How to Get More Leads

Plus you’ll also learn about mobile marketing & some cool Craigslist marketing if we have time.

Where do all the Tech Savvy Agents Hang out?

Event: Real Estate BarCamp Orlando
Date: August 24th
Time: 8:00 am – 4:15 pm
Cost: FREE

Real Estate BarCamp is the Unconference.
You show up – vote for what topics you want to learn about and then they start sessions around the most popular topics. Seems crazy but everyone says it works.

I’m going to lead a session there, so if you’ve got ideas of what you’d like me to teach you, leave them in the comments below.

The Main Event for REALTORS™

Event: Florida REALTORS™ 2011 Convention & Expo
Dates: August 24th – 28th
Time: All day I guess?
Cost: Various Costs (I guess you have to be a member?)

If you’re up for a bunch of hobnobbing and schmoozing this would probably be the place to do it. I know they have tons of seminars and vendors – but I won’t be at this one, so you’re on your own

Today I want to talk to you about the New Media for REALTORs series I wrote last month, specifically What was the Point?

I’ve been telling you FOREVER that online marketing is all about the words you use, but if you’re like me you think talk is cheap.  So rather than tell you again How Important Keywords are, I thought I’d reveal exactly what I did and why I did it.

Why New Media for REALTORs?

When I started the New Media for REALTORs series I had three goals in mind

1. To inform REALTORs how to leverage New Media for their marketing
2. To take over the front page of Google for my chosen keywords
3. To show you how easily you can take over keywords in your area

Recently I noticed the buzz term “New Media” coming into play a lot.  If you’ve been around long enough you know this is the third iteration of this term.  It started out with Web 2.0, then went to Social Media.  I’m betting that by next year we’ll have forgotten the term social media and we’ll be phasing out the term New Media for something cooler….. Like just plain old “Media.”

When I started chasing after this long tail keyword I hadn’t even used it in this site at all, so this was ALL new to me.

The Plan to take Over the New Media for REALTORs Space

First I did some keyword research on the term “New Media for REALTORs” and found there wasn’t enough search volume for Google to have any data on it.  Then I went to google and typed in the phrase and found there were about 1,200,000 sites that came up with that term with only the first ten results being really relevant.

After the initial research I put together a game plane to take over which included:

• Nine blog posts with the keywords in the title
• Five Videos with the keywords in the title
• Six photos with the keywords in the title

(are you noticing a trend here?)

By the third day I was already showing up on the first page of Google because of one of my image tags.  See for your self by watching the video “How to Use New Media for REALTORs: Day 2 Photos.”

The Results of the New Media for REALTORs series

You can easily see the results of the series by typing the keyword phrase into Google, but just in case you’re lazy here’s a photo of the results at the time I’m writing this:

Google search for "New Media for REALTORs" as of 6:42 am 1-27-09

As you can see, by using a combination of videos, photos, and blog posts we’ve taken over the front page of Google for the keyword phrase.

Why should this matter to you?

I know it may seem like I’m tooting my own horn here, but the fact is that you can use these very same tactics to target keyword phrases in your market.  All you need to own is a couple of good phrases to get more traffic to your site and increase your reach into the community.

Checkout some of these results:

Using this new keyword phrase brought me an additional 68 visits

Here’s where the stats get interesting.  If you look at the number above you’ll find:

• The average visit from people using this search term was over 8 minutes (which was 200% higher than most other visitors)
• The average page views were 4 (which was 96% higher than most other visitors)
• The Average bounce rate was 54% (which was 20% lower than my site average <—a good thing)

What’s Next?

I’m hoping that sharing this data has inspired you to try it for yourself.  All you have to do is a little keyword research for long tail terms in your area.  Once you find something that works you can write a series of blog posts which feature your long tail terms and if you’re feeling really frisky you can even create some videos to go along with it.

In my next post I’m going to share the strategies I used for the videos that went along with this series, so if you want to know more I recommend subscribing to my feed so you don’t miss a thing

If I could offer just one piece of advice for REALTORs, it would be to Stop Sucking all the value out of every conversation and instead learn how to ADD value.

I’ve mentioned in past posts that social media is changing marketing and the first thing you need to understand is that No One Cares About You.  If you’re still working in that old school marketing mentality you’re doomed to fail online.

Everything you do online should have a clear value proposition for your network.  If you want people to listen you have to say something worth listening to.  If all you’re doing is advertising prepare to be tuned out.

Why am I writing this?

To help you STOP being lame.  Yesterday I posted a “Conversation Starter” on the Real Estate Referral Group which gave agents a chance to shine (if they said the right thing.)

Here’s how this works…  I post the question and the Fans of the page give answers in the comments section.  Pretty simple right?  What you have to keep in mind is the more replies we get the more people on Facebook will see this.  For those of you not in the “know,” that’s the real power os social media…Conversation.

Commenting on this thread does two things:

1. Gets the “thread” in front of more people.
2. Showcases a bunch of smart answers that homebuyers can use.
3. Gives REALTORs a chance to advertise (without advertising) <—more on that in another post

Here’s an example of Doing it Right:

Those are two solid pieces of advice that any buyer would be happy to read.  Now here’s an example of Doing it Wrong:

The one in the middle is good, however the ones directly above and below are LAME.  Please allow me to explain WHY these comments SUCK!

While the two comments on the first photos are adding value to the conversation the two comments on the second photos are SUCKING value from the conversation.  Do you think buyers will want to work with people who always TAKE or always GIVE?

Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

It looks like we’ve made it to the final day of the “How to Use New Media for REALTORs” series.  Thanks for following along.

The first 7 days we talked about:

1. Blogging
2. Using Photos
3. Using Video
4. Building Communities
5. Hosting Meetups
6. Using Twitter Lists
7. “The Secret“

Today I want to wrap the series up with some thoughts to get you going.  First I’ll share some things I think you should do to use New Media effectively and then I’ll follow with some things you shouldn’t do.

Things to Do

• Remember to be yourself online, people will always sniff out a fake.
• Budget time for New Media everyday
• Use the tools that work for you
• Write it into your marketing plan

Things NOT to Do

• Don’t try to use EVERY single network
• Work without a marketing plan
• Join a network without a purpose
• Try to do it all by yourself

New media is a team sport, so building a community online is vital to your success.  Make sure you take some time to plan out how you’re going to use it in your business and what results you expect to get.

For some final thoughts on putting it all together watch this video

The last couple of Days we’ve been focussing on different tools and tactics that you could use to build your online community.

But there’s one thing that makes all this work…

YOU!

Watch this video NOW to learn more about The Secret to New Media Success.

It’s Day 5 of How to Use New Media for REALTORs, a series inspired by Chris Brogan’s “If I were a REALTOR.”

In Chris’ post he says, “I’d host Meetups and Tweetups for local residents, inviting people who were house hunting.”  I’ve found when working with folks in real estate they seem to forget the ultimate goal to their New Media marketing efforts.  Using Meetups is an excellent strategy to bring people from online into an offline environment where you have a chance to connect.

Meetups?

Meetup.com is an online network of local groups.  Although this may not seem like New Media, it’s a gateway drug.  The service allows you to either find groups that you’re interested in, or create your own.  It also allows others to join your group and even provides a system for RSVPs and messages to make communication easy.

Traditionally meetups are used to bring people from an online environment to an offline meeting, but I have a little twist for you.  Think back to day 4 of this training, you know the one about community.  In that post I quoted Chris, “I’d empower as many local businesses on the net as I could, and help them be successful.”

Using Meetups is also a soft sell way of empowering those businesses to start using New Media.

Strategy for REALTORs

One thing I’ve learned working online is that it’s hard to get people from offline to online.  I’ve found that using Meetups has been a great stepping stone to get people moving in the right direction.

For the most part people will avoid any change, that’s why it’s up to you to affect this change in your community.  The most successful strategy I’ve found for getting people to use Meetup is to do it for them (at least in the beginning.)

So here’s how you can get people to use it:

1. Start in your office:  Volunteer to post all your events and meetings.
2. Try the Chamber:  I’ve found that most Chambers have been open to new ideas, especially when they don’t have to do the work.  You offer to set them up online and they promote it with their offline marketing.
3. The Board:  If your connected with your local board (of REALTORS) you can offer to move their whole calendar to Meetup.  Again, you do the work and they promote.
4. Teach:  You can invite other REALTORs  and businesses from your area to learn how the service works and how they can use it in their business.

The idea here is to provide value to your local community, while encouraging them to use this online service.  This is the first step to breaking them in to the whole New Media world.

The great thing about Meetups is that they don’t have to be formal.  You can have them a local restaurants or coffee shop (I’ve even heard of people using local bars.)  If you talk to the managers ahead of time you may even be able to work out some discounts.  Just be sure to remind them that it’s free marketing for them.

More on Meetups

If you’re interested in learning more about Meetups and how to use them, I’ve got good news for you.  I’m going to write a series on this topic next month which will include everything from setting them up all the way to results from the campaigns I used to market.

Keep an eye out for that series in February.

Follow Up on REALTORs using Photos for SEO

On day two of “How to Use New Media for REALTORs” series I wrote about using Photos for your blog and how they can help with SEO.  The very next day I did a Google Search on my keywords and I found that the photo had been indexed and got me on the front page.

Watch this video to see how Photos can help your Search Engine Ranking.

Be the first to get all 8 installments of How to Use New Media for REALTORs

This was installment number three in a series of eight posts to help REALTORs leverage New Media in their Real Estate business.

This is the second installment of an eight part series inspired by Chris Brogan’s post, “If I Were a REALTOR.”

In yesterdays post we covered the importance of Blogging as a part of your overall social media plan.  The second thing that Chris suggested to REALTORs was to take lots of Photos of your area and post them on your blog.  So today I’m going to give you some tips on how photos can help your blogging.

Photos add a nice feel to your blog, that’s why it’s important to choose the best images to reinforce your story.  If you haven’t noticed, I use a photo in every post.

Why?

• Because even if my headline doesn’t draw you in, there’s a chance that the photo may be enough to get you to click.  On the web attention is precious, people make the decision whether or not they’re interested in what you have to say in a split second.  If you’ve got a good photo, you’ve just increased your chances of turning that attention into a click.
• Photos also make for easy blog post.  You can just post an image along with a small description an voila, you have today’s update.
• And last, but not least.  Photos can help with your SEO (Search Engine Optimization.)  If you’re not taking advantage of this little trick, you need to implement it NOW.  When you upload photos to your posts you should name them something similar to the Post Title.

For instance, you see the photo directly below?

When you move your mouse over this photo, what do you see?

You should see something that looks like this:

how-to-use-new-media-for-realtors-photo-1

That’s the name or the “tag” I gave the photo when I uploaded it.  Notice how the tag is the same as my post title which reinforces my keywords in this post?  Now you know the secret to using photos and improving your Search Engine Optimization.

Be the first to get all 8 installments of How to Use New Media for REALTORs

This was installment number two in a series of eight posts to help REALTORs leverage New Media in their Real Estate business. Get the next 6 delivered to your email inbox by subscribing to our feed.

Last week I read an interesting post by one of my favorite bloggers, Chris Brogan.  In, “If I Were a REALTOR,” Chris shares 9 ideas on How to Use New Media for REALTORs.

Over the next few posts I’m going to expand on each of Chris’ ideas and I’m even going to try to provide you with some examples.  The problem most Real Estate agents have is getting out of their own head.

It’s time to STOP thinking about you and start thinking about who you want to attract.  That means letting go of what you think you know about marketing and embracing the power of the new media to help you provide value.

NAR statistics show that 84% of home buyers begin their search online.  Are you doing everything you can to stand out from the crowd?  If you’re just sharing listings and advertising your business chances are you’ll get lost in the shuffle along with every other real estate agent doing the same.

Blogging

The first thing that Chris mentions in his post is blogging.  He recommends starting a blog about the  area where you’re selling.  Tons of REALTORs are missing this amazing opportunity to prospect on the web.

Basically you can break this down into a very targeted area which is sometimes referred to as your “farm area.”  If this task seems daunting at first, try thinking about it as a newsletter.  You don’t have to be the best writer to create good content.  Some of the things you can include in your weekly blog are:

• Local Events Calendar
• Local News
• Legislative Updates
• School Calendars
• New Restaurants and Stores opening

It’s not too hard to come up with content ideas weekly when you’re sharing neighborhood specific information.  I recommend you blog at least once a week because it helps with your search engine rankings as well as keeping your page up to date and relevant.

Blogging Tools for REALTORs

I thought I’d also include a couple of blogging tools to help you get started.  I’ll also give you my thoughts on each one of these tools.

If you want an easy to start blog which requires ZERO skill then I suggest you go with Blogger.com.  This platform is easy to use and gets indexed by Google very quickly.  The downside is that you’re limited on customization (which makes branding a problem.)

Another platform that REALTORs are using for blogging is Active Rain.  The AR community is full of smart Real Estate Agents using Blogging as a prospecting tool.  This is a great way to get ideas on how to create that “neighborhood newsletter” type of blog.  The downside to this network is that you have to pay to make your blog public (indexed by Google) and customization is limited.

My favorite platform for blogging is WordPress.  You have two options:

1. WordPress.com is the free hosted version.  This gives you a blog which is semi-customizable and indexed by Google immediately.
2. WordPress.org is a free download, but you’ll have get it hosted.  There are tons of advantages to using this version including the fact that you’ll own the domain, you have an unlimited amount of plugins to customize the look and feel of your site, and it’s built to be indexed by Google quickly. (By the way, this site is running on WordPress with a custom Thesis theme.)

Be the first to get all 8 installments of How to Use New Media for REALTORs

This was installment number one in a series of eight posts to help REALTORs leverage New Media in their Real Estate business.  Get the next 7 delivered to your email inbox by subscribing to our feed.