Real Estate Internet Marketing

If you were unable to attend Virtual Real Estate BarCamp on Tuesday, you missed out on many amazing presentations and tons of great real estate marketing advice. 

One presentation in particular that you didn’t want to miss was Steve Rosenbaum’s “The Best Free (and Nearly Free) Online Tools for Your Business.”  The good news is that he’s made his presentation available online.  In case you missed it the first time, or want to see it again, you will definitely want to watch and learn where to find the best web sites and programs.

Steve had hundreds of follow up requests for access to his $1,000,000 Rolodex of his favorite online real estate marketing tools and free software sites.  So, he’s made it available to all of you.  Just click on the link.

When you’re all done, make sure to download access to his list of the best real estate marketing resources.

To boosting your business,

Kathy Goughenour

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You’ve probably heard of Tim Ferris and his #1 New York Times Bestselling book The 4-Hour Work Week.  In that book, Tim shares ideas on how to build businesses using a minimum amount of of your personal time.

I like what Tim has to say for the most part, so today I’m giving you a link to watch his video for free on How to Build a High-Traffic Blog Without Killing Yourself.  This is a long video, but it has some good information on how to increase the traffic to your real estate blog.  Parts of the video are a bit too technical for me, and if they’re too technical for you too, just ignore them.

You’ll note that Tim uses Wordpress as his blog software.  That’s the blog software I highly recommend you use for your real estate blog.  If you want a reasonably priced Wordpress real estate blog created for you, go to www.sizzlingblogs.com.  Sizzling Blogs creates the best real estate blogs that look great and bring in a lot of leads.

One more thing I want to mention.  In my last post on real estate blogging, I told you about Matt Cutts, Google’s SEO guru and one of the most influential people on the internet.  You’ll notice that Tim talks about “Matt” in the beginning of this video.  He’s referring to Matt Cutts.  Oh, and by the way, Matt agrees with Tim that Wordpress is the best blog software to use. 

If you have any questions about the information Tim shares in the video, or anything else about blogging, just post a comment here, and I’ll answer fast.

To boosting traffic to your real estate blog.

Kathy Goughenour

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I have a suggestion for you today on how to create real estate marketing materials that will bring you extraordinary success.  But, you’re going to have to keep an open mind about this idea because it’s an unusual suggestion that many agents will immediately respond to by thinking, “I can’t do it.”

This is a marketing idea that I’m personally putting into action this year to generate leads for my own business.  So here’s the idea:  Self-publish a non-fiction book.

Did I lose you?  Give me one more minute to tell you how this will skyrocket your business.  It will:

1. Generate an amazing number of leads. Imagine having a book you’ve written on one of the most visited websites – Amazon.com.  Yes, when you self-publish a book using the method I’m going to recommend, your book will be on Amazon.com.
2. Educate people about real estate. I’m sure you’ll agree that a client who understands real estate and who knows what you do as a real estate agent is the very best kind of client to have.  What better way to educate them than through a book you’ve authored.
3. Provide proof that you are a real estate expert. Statistics show that of all the information products a book has the greatest potential to brand you as an expert and open doors that will boost your business into the stratosphere.
4. Become the very best gift ever to give to potential clients. Can you imagine pulling out a book that you’ve authored during your listing presentation and handing it to your potential clients?  It’s sure to impress.
5. Set you apart from other real estate agents. How many real estate agents do you know who have published a book?  I can’t think of a better way to differentiate you from your competition.
6. Supply you with another stream of income. When you self-publish, you get all the profits from the book, not just a royalty.  Who couldn’t use another stream of income?

I could go on and on but I think I’ll stop here.  If you’re interested in discovering more ways self-publishing a non-fiction book helps generate business, listen to this free interview Why Becoming a Book Author Can Change Your Life.

If you’re still with me, I’d like to recommend two ways you can learn how to write and self-publish a book:

• Least expensive figure-it-out-yourself method:  Purchase the book Publishize.
• More expensive, but more effective, coaching method:  Sign up for the 90-day Book Challenge.

If you want to start right away, sign up for the 90-day Book Challenge that starts on January 26.  You’ll be in the training with me because I’m already signed up.

If you need more time to think about it, check back in a month or so to find out when the next 90-day Book Challenge starts.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress of my book.  Please do the same for me with your book.  In fact, when your book is published, I’d love to promote it on this blog and do an interview with you about it.  So, let me know!

To creating your own extraordinarily successful real estate marketing materials,

Kathy Goughenour

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This morning I read an article from Susan Daffron, expert business writer, editor, trainer and marketer.  In her article Follow Your Own Path, she suggests that just because a marketing guru tells you that you “have to” do something because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean it’s the right way you should be marketing your real estate business.   She goes on to say,

“You are an individual with your own strengths and weaknesses. If you’re a great speaker, you may consider doing teleseminars or in-person events to market. If you are a shy hermit who wants to stay behind a keyboard, those options may not align with your personality. For you, sending out newsletters or writing articles may be better marketing options. Don’t try and be someone you’re not.”

I’d like to add one suggestion to Susan’s idea.  If marketing your real estate business is important to you, and there’s a method you’d like to try that isn’t easy for you to do, consider outsourcing it.

For example, I know that adding video to my website and blog is a great idea.  But I don’t know how to do that and don’t want to invest the hours and hours it would take me to learn how.  Instead, I’m outsourcing the video creation process to a Virtual Assistant who is an expert at creating video.

Here’s another example.  Do you want to market your real estate business by blogging but don’t know how?  You can learn how for free by downloading my guide Blogging 101:  A Real Estate Agent’s Guide to Building Business and Generating Tons of Leads Online.  Just fill out the simple form on that page (the form is on the right-hand side about halfway down the page).

If you already have a blog but are struggling to write the blog content, consider becoming a member of my Lead Booster Club.  As a member, you receive 20 pre-written, easy-to-customize blog posts each month for only $29.95.

To marketing your real estate business your way,

Kathy Goughenour

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As real estate agents scramble for listings and struggle to sell houses in today’s tough economy, they need to stand out to home sellers and buyers as savvy, resourceful, and in touch.  According to real estate marketing expert Kathy Goughenour, the easiest way to accomplish this is by highlighting pertinent, in-depth real estate content in blogs, newsletters, direct mail or tips.  Goughenour’s marketing service for real estate agents makes that method even easier by providing 20 customizable content pieces a month for just $29.95 (www.leadboosterclub.com).

“Whether they choose to distribute these content nuggets as articles, blog posts, postcards, part of a newsletter or ‘drip campaign’ tips, they’re easy to customize with the agent’s personality and local references,” says Goughenour, whose Lead Booster Club provides 20 content pieces a month as a benefit of membership in the program.  “With this timely, well-researched material on everything from saving money on home maintenance to pricing strategies for an economic downturn, an agent comes across as caring and knowledgeable – without having to spend time coming up with facts and ideas.”  (more…)

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If you’re like most real estate agents I’ve worked with, you’re constantly searching for the very best real estate Contact Management Software (Real Estate CRM software).

Really great real estate CRM software is hard to find. In fact, I hate to tell you this, but there is no perfect real estate CRM software out there. After years of trying to figure out the best one to recommend, I’ve finally come up with my recommendation:

• You should only purchase real estate specific Contact Management Software. If you don’t, you’ll waste time trying to figure out how to modify it for real estate.
• If you already have real estate Contact Management Software that you’re using and know how to use, stick with it. Don’t think there’s something else out there that is perfect because there isn’t. And they ALL have a learning curve. Some have a bigger learning curve than others, but you have to put time into learning all of them. (more…)

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