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August 14, 2006

It's a Realtionship Business. Isn't It?

Q I want to increase my business. After family, friends, neighbors, my "sphere of influence", past clients and referrals from all of these, then what?

A Create relationships from other places. If over 75% of all consumers use the web for whatever reason to get real estate related information, why not start there. It is a huge pool of potential clients!


Q How do you create a realtionship on the internet?

A First, potential clients have to find your Website.


Q I have a Website but so do over 1,000,000 other real estate agents and they all look the same...how do I differentiate myself from the crowd? I've thought about pay for clicks, but it is costly and I'm not sure it is effective.

A Website content. Is your content you? What are you saying to over 75% of all consumers using the web before contacting an agent? If they CAN find you, what is it about you that generates a contact?


Q Content? I have content...my picture, my awards, my experience, I'm honest and full of integrity, client testimonials, MLS search, my featured properties, buyer and seller info, school reports, community info, About Me...why isn't that working?

A It is not you. The real you. What you think. What you believe. What opinions you have. People want to know the real you. Your content needs to express that.

Authored by Merv on August 14, 2006 08:36 AM | Start or join a discussion here.
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August 15, 2006

Blog Power

BLOG: WEBLOG or online journal

  • The "Next New Thing" that's not that new
  • It can be free (or cost very little)
  • Provides worldwide exposure for your business
  • Only requires your commitment and time
  • Enhance your search engine rankings
  • Develop on-line relationships that turn into...
  • Leads from serious buyers and sellers
There is a not so new tool available to every one of us; it can be free, it is a creative outlet for many of us, it can give you wide (as in worldwide) exposure for your business and, it only requires your time, personal interest and experiences. It is online journaling, or Blogging.

Blogging is rapidly becoming the "next new thing" real estate agents are exploiting to gain exposure for their business and, in many cases, their clients. We will demonstrate Blogging through real examples, how it works and how much it cost. We will also explore why Blogging increases website ranking with search engines. Most importantly, we discuss why the leads that you receive through your Blog are serious potential clients.

Learn how this one simple tool can and will enhance your real estate business.

Authored by Merv on August 15, 2006 04:08 PM | Start or join a discussion here.
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August 16, 2006

Trends

Any way you look at it, the numbers are simply astonishing!
  • Technorati now tracks over 50 Million blogs
  • The blogosphere is doubling in size every 200 days
  • It is now over 100 times bigger than it was 3 years ago
  • On average, a new weblog is created every half second of every day
  • About 55% of bloggers are still posting (publishing new content) 3 months after their blogs are created
  • Technorati tracks about 1.6 Million new blog posts each day, about 65,000 per hour
Real estate Blogging is only about 18 months old and growing rapidly.





Data and charts provided by David Sifry, founder and CEO of Thechnorati, from his Blog about Blogging and the data his company tracks.
About Technorati:
Technorati is the recognized authority on what's going on in the world of weblogs. We help people search for, surface, and organize bloggers and their daily posts.

Authored by Merv on August 16, 2006 05:14 PM | Start or join a discussion here.
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August 17, 2006

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

WHAT'S YOUR GOOGLE RANK?

If you don't know, you are not being found. Do you have the Google Toolbar in your browser? You can have it here.

OLD SCHOOL SEO

  • The URL rules supreme (eg; www.realestate.com)
  • Search engines use META Keywords to index websites
  • Keywords in webpages
  • Lots and lots of reciprocal links to other Websites

NEW SCHOOL SEO

  • New Content, new content and more new content
  • Fresh, frequent new content
  • RELEVANT links from high ranking Websites
  • Your links to other RELEVANT Websites
  • The RELEVANT TITLE of every page
  • Keywords in web pages
  • Longevity (develop a track record)

WHAT's RELEVANT IN YOUR CONTENT?

So, CONTENT AND RELEVANCY are key?
YES!

Blogging with good, frequent, relevant content will enhance your ability to be found by search engines! Why? Because of the New School SEO rules. Bloggers satisfy all of the above. No pay for clicks. No paid advertising to get seen on the "advertised links" area. You don't get a better ranking for advertising with Google or paying Google for any of their products or services. No tricks. No trying to beat the system. No paying a third party to "guarantee" high rankings (these schemes don't work in today's web search ranking world and may even penalize you). Google just looks for fresh, relevant information.

Authored by Merv on August 17, 2006 09:12 PM | Start or join a discussion here.
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August 18, 2006

Examples

Here are four blogs created at about the same time: Early 1995.


Rain City Real Estate Guide

Author: Dustin Luther
Location: Seattle, Washington
Focus: Real Estate Technology, Law and Real Estate Issues
Guest Contributors: 9 (Tech, Legal, Agents, Lender)
Google Rank: 5/10
Blog Rank: Consistently in the top 5 nationally

Real Central VA

Author: Jim Duncan
Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
Focus: Land use and development, General Real Estate
Guest Contributors: None
Google Rank: 5/10
Blog Rank: Top 20 nationally

Toronto @Home

Author: Fraser Beach
Location: Toronto, Canada
Focus: General Real Estate
Guest Contributors: None
Google Rank: 6/10
Blog Rank: Top 10 nationally

Northern Virginia Real Estate Guide

Author: Me
Location: Leesburg, Virginia
Focus: Market data and trends, General Real Estate
Guest Contributors: None
Google Rank: 4/10
Blog Rank: Top 20 nationally
Unique visitors/month: 5,000+
Visits/month: 14,000+
Page views/month: 65,000+

Authored by Merv on August 18, 2006 04:31 AM | Start or join a discussion here.
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August 19, 2006

Blog Rolls

Best of the Best: Guide Favorites

Authored by Merv on August 19, 2006 08:06 AM | Start or join a discussion here.
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August 20, 2006

Blogs about Blogs

Good Reference Material

Authored by Merv on August 20, 2006 08:16 AM | Start or join a discussion here.
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August 21, 2006

What is RSS?

Really Simple Syndication

Do you use myYahoo? myMSN? myGoogle?

If yes, How do you select the news/features for your personal page?

All news outlets provide feeds using this simple technology. Bloggers have the same capability built into the Blogging platform they use.

Example: myYahoo

This is how you can feed your Blog to the entire Internet world!

Good references on RSS:
Many people use RSS news (or feed) readers and several are available for free. A topic at another session.

Authored by Merv on August 21, 2006 09:13 AM | Start or join a discussion here.
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August 22, 2006

Getting Started

There are many Blogging platforms available and many are free. Here are the most popular:

Blogger by Google (free, hosted)
TypePad by SixApart ($49.50/year, hosted)
WordPress.com (free, hosted w/fee)
WordPress.org (free, unhosted)
MovableType by SixApart (free for personal use, unhosted | $150 for business use, one time fee, unhosted)
blogging systems Specifically for real estate. See web site for programs.

I use MovableType (as a business user) and host it on my own URL web servers.

Authored by Merv on August 22, 2006 10:18 AM | Start or join a discussion here.
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Blogging for Business
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