More and more the real estate brokerage’s brand is sinking into the background. Proctor and Gamble or Milton Bradley seem to do it right. They supply just the right amount of name recognition while spectacularly backing and advertising the brand of the individual products first. After all, it’s their *product* that sells, not the Big Daddy brand in the back ground. I certainly can’t tell by watching an agent on Youtube or reading their feed on Twitter what brokerage they are from. Like the big Daddy Brands of old, brokerages should be following suit along with their fee structure. That right there is the key. Let’s get back to that later.

The basic problem is brokerages aren’t selling homes. They are recruiting agents. The only way they can promote themselves is through the agent. Some brokerages have even gone so far as to provide “free” marketing for their agents. (You know who I’m speaking about?). There is nothing free about that. They are simply paying for advertising of themselves at the expense of the agent having no personal brand at all. It seems like a neat and tidy package that some agents just love. Nothing wrong with it just as long as we’re all clear and on the same page.

Back to the key point: Real estate agents get nickel and dimed at every turn. Some fees and insurances are real. Some are because they have to. The brokerage for the most part is a have to.

Here’s the part about turning it on it’s head. Many often suggest that the brokerage had better start providing more or they are going to be left in the dirt. But my thinking is why don’t they simply provide less in exchange for micofees?  This is the model the music business was forced to take. It works very well. You and I, we start an online virtual brokerage that simply provides the must have legal parts and charge fees in relationship to the service it provides. The brand is way in the background like Proctor and Gamble and we let the agent brand and sell the way they want to.

What do you say? Who’s in?

Let me know if you have a TV spot you want blogged about here. Contact us.

Keeping your website up-to-date is important for a number of reasons. One is security of your database and information and another is usefulness of the latest plugins and the browsers visitors use.

It’s much easier to stay instep with the updates than get behind. If you haven’t updated your WordPress platform for some time, it’s a good idea to check the comparability of your theme first.

The latest WordPress Version is called Sonny Stitt. The Version is 3.3 and it was released yesterday, December 12, 2011. You can update your WordPress website from the site’s back end. Please don’t forget to back-up your database first.

If you need help updating your WordPress Website, please contact us. We will:

• Back-up your data-base and store it in your folder.
• Perform theme compatibility check and report issues.
• Perform update to the latest version.
• Update all relevant plugins

We’re keeping our ear-to-the-ground for you. You keep on doing what you do best!

We discussed the first Transformer already which will stay on the market as an entry level model. However, the new Transformer Prime’s 64Gig storage with speedy performance via the Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor is starting at a mere $600. Both of these products set a new bench mark for, not just performance, but value. But here’s the big difference. The keyboard, dock adding more memory and 10 hours of battery life.

I am asked this all the time. I must sound like a nutty-internet-social-media zealot when I answer  those who have been successfully doing the old school sales thing for years and years without a real online presence. So sometimes my consultation is met with a glazed expression, silence at the other end of the phone or an email response about Mary Poppins; It doesn’t get very far and my creativity is superseded with the client’s own more excellent ideas. There are many reasons a website doesn’t work that are obvious from terrible design to poor content. That list is long. Here is a short basic list of how to hire someone to make a website that doesn’t work.

1. Place little value on creative marketing ideas involving the gain of website leads. Do not take any professional consultation seriously.
   Every business is different and every solution is different. Without an audit the quick answer to “Why isn’t my website working?” is always the same: Do the basics. Want to push past your competitors? Then for the love of all things don’t be just like them.
2. Spend as little as possible on the website marketing budget because it’s supposed to just get found in Google anyway.
   A nice looking store on the corner of a busy city street doesn’t always get the business it deserves if the sign isn’t clear, it looks closed, has no access and no parking. Whether it’s viral marketing or traditional marketing, at least have a plan. If the plan isn’t followed we’ll then know why the site didn’t work.
3. Have the website automated so you never have to touch it. Your phone number on the homepage should work.
   This is taking the view that the internet is not entirely real and a website is just a cost of doing business. Imagine walking into an open house where the agent is a cardboard cut out with a pasted on grin and a motorized arm waving  back and forth. The feature sheets are there with a “please take one” sign and we follow a roped off path through the home. Yea, it would work I guess.
4. Have the site created so it will be all things to all people. Avoid focusing on a target group of search terms.
   Specializing in Vancouver Real Estate is like a lawyer announcing they specializing in legal stuff. Come on. Have some balls and choose a market, geographic, demographic or caged monkeys. Choose it.

This internets stuff is a tough sell for some. Those who don’t like being on line, don’t have time for it or simply don’t care. They have been successfully doing the same thing for years. If they are in sales then it is probably a front loaded business which is to say, they have to jump through hoops, have meetings, drive people around, gathering documents and hold hands to get the sale closed. It’s a lot of free personal time with their clients before they close the deal and see any monetary gain. It’s no wonder the internet seems to contain little or no value to them. I understand this.

Just remember, online marketing is the most scalable choice for the small business. It’s measurable and most eyeballs start their search online for almost everything. Even if it’s something a prospect needs to see and touch in person before a final decision, the search will start online. Social media is getting easier for people to use – we are just at the beginning of what the internet might eventually be, and already is: A real space thick with engagement, communication and networking places.

Do you have a question or something to add? Please do so below or contact me today

I have a number of Youtube channels and a Vimeo Channel so I get your real estate home tour video updates as they are uploaded, if they are uploaded. So I go to your website to see how that same latest video is posted there. I click on the Video Tour Tab and notice that only an external link is offered to the video!!! Holey lost traffic Marketing Man! This blows me away!

Curiously, like a cat smelling it’s own up-chuck, I click the video link to see where it goes. As expected it opens a new window away from your website.  I am now on some butt-ugly video company’s website looking at your listing! Why? What kind of nincompoopish reasoning is behind taking me away from your website? Did you know you can display a video right in the listing’s details without sending people away from your site?

Link to Butt-Ugly Video Tour Website

I know what’s happened. You were sold the full java script enabled video package complete with galleries and mortgage calculators and map views and more; You already have all that available at your own website! Why pay for it twice?

Look, all you need is to embed the video into your website. And here are 3 reasons why…

Water Down your SEO Juice:

If you link to another site with your listing then there are now two website domains with that listing dividing up the Search Engine Optimization. Your website and the Butt-Ugly Video Company’s website and I am sure Butt-Ugly Ltd is very happy about all that traffic. Without you, they would have no traffic. Don’t let them sell this the other way. I bet they said something like “we’ll link it to your website so you’ll get more traffic”. No, not the case. I have also seen these sites without a link back.

Allow Your Customers to Drift away:

Many times I notice that the Butt-Ugly Video Company’s website offers all the same tools that your website has. Let your buyers discover the tools on your site so they can keep searching there. Don’t let your website visitors think (even for an instant) that your site doesn’t offer these tools. It looks like they are selling the listing and you are their assistant contact person.

Let them Mess up Your Visual Branding:

Your visual branding is completely different on the Butt-Ugly Video company’s website that you just sent your buyers to. Oh sure they add your name and throw up (pun intended) your mugshot but it’s their brand they are wrapping you around and it never works.

A couple of other things to consider

When a customer comes to your website and clicks the video tour tab, they really expect to see the video. No really. They expect that because every site can have video – including yours. If Butt Ugly Videos Ltd tells you their video tours can not be embedded, end the conversation.

Using something like Youtube to serve your video from is terrific because it is a strong social sharing website that is linking into your website. The video can remain after the listing is gone. Also, savvy users and newbies alike expect to see your videos there. The ability for them to comment, “like” and subscribe is very powerful and goes a long way to creating a tribe of followers.

How to solve this

Some video companies have different packages and perhaps they have a cheaper price for not offering the separate Butt-Ugly website.  I know that there are scripts needed to display some of these 360 degree tours that can not be embedded. My answer to that is don’t bother with it because nothing is going to replace seeing the home in person. All you need is a video so buyers will want to schedule a viewing in person and make an offer. I’m not seeing “Buy Now” buttons beside listings yet.

The best thing to do is save yourself some money and find a person who has a camera and some video editing skills. They make a video – you uploaded it to Youtube and simply embed the video into your website. Award winning music videos have been shot with less.

If you need help with any website administration please let me know. We do Web administration also becoming known as Virtual Website Assisting and used to be called Web Mastering.

Comments are appreciated!

When the iPhone first appeared I was often asked, “do I need to get an iPhone now?” The answer was of course a resounding no and I would go on to explain the ever changing landscape of other touch screen smart phones. So I thought this new category would would be handy. I work with Real Estate Professionals, Fitness Instructors, Doctors and Lawyers. If you are in one of those businesses and looking for tech tools that are cheaper and better than the standard everyone else is using. Keep checking back.

Our first entry is the first ever alternative to the iPad2 that is worthy of talking about: Asus Eee Pad Transformer

First let me start by saying I am not and this is not an Apple Anti love-in to counter the world Apple orgasm taking place at this writing. That’s why the category is not called Apple Alternatives.  At some point Apple may actually be included in this very category if everyone switches camp (remembering the Palm at this point).

It’s taken a while for anyone to catch up to the innovation of the iPad and Apple in general and wins on that account hands down. Any touch pad to be released into the wild from this point on will undoubtedly be compared to it. Just making something that does the same thing as the iPad is not enough. Why even look at such a product? No, What ever comes out now must be better and cheaper than the iPad to make any sort of splash in the slate/pad universe that Apple has created. The Asus Eee Transformer does that. If you are looking for an alternative to the iPad2, watch this review and you will see what I mean.

Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
RICHMOND/SOUTH DELTA/GULF ISLANDS DIVISION presents:

SOCIAL MEDIA

Don’t Miss this Dynamic Presentation & Panel Session about
How Technology & Personal Branding can Help Grow Your Career!
Learn How to:

Business
Card Draws
Great Prizes!

• Engage with people
• Build a following
• Build relationships
• Leverage your brand
• Add value to your business through online media
• Hear about the ROI of Social Media

Keynote Speaker:

Tom Everitt

Tom Everitt
is a dynamic speaker, a Medallion Club Master Member, a Big Brother and a family man. Tom believes that REALTORS® can achieve their goals and tell their stories using today’s technology and social media at a fraction of the cost of past marketing efforts.

Sponsored by:

Lisa Manwaring

Lisa Manwaring
Mortgage Broker/Owner, The Mortgage Alliance Meridian Southwest Mortgage.