Real Estate Internet Marketing

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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If you’re like me, you had a full plate during the holidays.  And now that you’re back to work, you’ve spent most of your time trying to plow through your email and inbox.  You’re finally ready to start thinking about your 2009 real estate internet marketing.

Well, I’m giving you the very first task to add your real estate internet marketing to-do list.  Change your dates.

Anything on your website or real estate blog with a 2008 date will make your site appear old and outdated.  That’s why you’ll want to make sure dates appearing on your sites are current.

For example, if you display copyright dates on your web pages (which you should), make sure they read 2009.

Same is true with content containing dates.  For example, the phrase ‘New for 2008′ already sounds outdated – while ‘New for 2009′ sounds fresh.

Change these date references in your postcards, flyers, email drip campaigns, brochures, listing presentations – in fact, everywhere.

These small changes can freshen the look of your entire website – and keep your site from becoming stale.

To success with your 2009 real estate internet marketing,

Kathy Goughenour

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This blogging tip is from Joanne Masterson of BlueJProjects Web Design

You don’t blog enough.  But you want to.  You know all the good reasons – better Google rank for your real estate blog – the increased traffic to your real estate website – building a reputation with your readers.

But still, you’re so busy you don’t know how you’ll squeeze out another blog post.

This post is NOT going to tell you how to manage your time, where to buy real estate blog content, or even try to motivate you to write more.

I’m going to tell you to surrender.

Leave your real estate blog alone.  Go check your email.  Take the next message from a friend or colleague that you respect and admire, and invite that person to write a guest post for your blog.

You may even know about guest posting.  But something stops you from asking.

I have a hunch it’s one or more of these show-stoppers

• My blog is personal
• My blog will look inconsistent
• I may not like what my guest writes

If you’re sweating blog upkeep, you deserve a truth that will set you free.  The truth is — what may be holding you back is treating your real estate blog content like it’s personal. I’m going to challenge you to re-think these objections one by one. (more…)

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A real estate blog is an essential business tool for agents who want to get more leads through real estate internet marketing.

A real estate blog gives you the ability to connect with countless potential clients. In your blog, you can share your expertise about your local area and the real estate market. You can also build your brand by helping your readers face and overcome problems as they try to buy or sell a home. For example, you can write a blog post about selling your home during the holidays.

Selling a home is a stressful situation, and this is only compounded with the added stress of the holidays. You readers can definitely use some advice about how to make it through the season with some semblance of sanity. This is a great post for a bulleted list, like “7 Ways to Survive Selling Your Home During the Holidays” or “5 Things to Remember During Holiday Showings” or even “10 Things to Do to Sell Your Home During the Holidays”.

No matter which topic you choose, you should remind your reader of the following: (more…)

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Although blog writing is not like writing a research paper, you do need to follow some basic English language rules in your posts. This will boost your credibility and make your blog more readable. More readable blogs get more readers. That means you will get more real estate internet marketing leads from your blog.

Here are some rules you need to follow in each post.

1. Abbreviations. You may think everyone understands an abbreviation that you use regularly.  Do not assume that.  Spell words out completely so the meaning is clear.  Abbreviations are appropriate when text messaging or instant messaging but not in a blog.
2. Avoid run-on sentences. Run-on sentences happen when you stick too many ideas into one sentence instead of breaking them down into smaller pieces and these are very hard for people to read and they don’t look right. See what I mean? Shorter is always better for online readers. (more…)

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You want a blog that generates leads and improves your real estate internet marketing, so you want to showcase your best writing. Writing a real estate blog post is very different from writing a research paper. Your readers are not deducting points for misspelled words. They are looking for valuable information. They are looking for something easy to read.

Throw these English writing rules out the window when writing your blog posts.

1. Starting a sentence with “because” or “and”. Don’t get into the habit of starting all your sentences with these words, but don’t write yourself into an awkward paragraph because you don’t know how else to phrase something. And sometimes starting with “and” just sounds better.
2. Ending a sentence with a preposition. Don’t waste another minute worried about how to end your sentences. It’s perfectly acceptable to end a sentence with “to” or “for” as long as it helps your blog posts sound authentic. (more…)

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Here’s a press release I thought you might be interested in with instructions on how to download my new free guide to help you generate more real estate leads and easily create real estate follow up marketing …

When homeowners go online for help in buying or selling their homes, their first stop is often a search engine.  For the real estate agent in, let’s say, Homewood City who wants to maximize the odds that the searcher who types in “Homewood City real estate” lands on their site, a free new beginner’s guide explains how to snag traffic through blogging.

“The least expensive, most productive method for real estate agents to get relevant traffic from search engines is blogging,” says Kathy Goughenour, author of Blogging 101: A Real Estate Agent’s Guide to Boosting Business and Getting Tons of Leads Online.  “But when I surveyed real estate agents about blogging, I found most didn’t know much about blogging and couldn’t imagine what to blog about.” (more…)

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One of the best ways to bring in more leads through your real estate marketing online is to blog a minimum of 2 times a week and preferably 3 times a week.

To assist you with this process, I’ll frequently post ideas for real estate blog topics. The topics will be geared to increase your opportunity to convert leads you get from your real estate marketing online.

Today’s idea can best be demonstrated by showing you an example of a real estate blog post on this topic: Sacramento Real Estate Gal’s post about buyers asking a variety of agents to show homes

How many times have you complained that home buyers simply do not remain loyal to you? Stop complaining and start educating. Tell them in your blog why it’s in their best interest to work exclusively with you as their Buyer’s Agent.

Your clients will appreciate it. Visitors to your blog will see you as the ethical, knowledgeable real estate agent you are.

Want more ideas for blog topics that will boost your real estate marketing online? Subscribe to this blog, and you’ll be automatically emailed new ideas as soon as I post them.

To boosting your leads,

Kathy Goughenour

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