Real Estate Websites and Online Marketing | Working The Magic » Branding

Sending Video Messages in Facebook

Gabe Hoggarth — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:25:59 +0000

Facebook is increasingly becoming the most popular way to communicate online. Here’s a quick demo of how to send video messages to friends and lists easily directly in Facebook.

Creating Online Content For Real Estate

Briddick Webb — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:05:09 +0000

In this video I chat about the importance of creating content online for your real estate business and how that content filters through the various networks.

The Power of Response in Social Media

Briddick Webb — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:34:10 +0000

So I wanted to share something that’s been driving me crazy lately and that is the perception of social media as it applies to marketing your business. There are some people who see social media as a stand in for print advertising and this is absolutely absurd. When someone posts on facebook, youtube, or twitter, they’re engaging in a conversation, an interaction with other people. However, that conversation is not nearly as powerful when it’s only one sided and you simply throw out posts, links, tweets and videos without responding to the people who saw those and engaged you. Business relationships are built on trust and likability and when you spend the extra five seconds to reach out to people, you increase both.

I first realized this when I had responded to something @garyvee had said. Now at the time, I had just watched his clip on Conan O’Brien and mentioned him in a tweet and within a few minutes, low and behold he had responded. I was so thrilled! In that moment, there was a strange paradigm shift for me because I realized that by taking the extra two seconds to respond, everything had changed. It made me feel important. It made me recognize how social media removed barriers for connecting with so called ‘unreachable’ people. But most of all, it made me really like this person because they took the time to respond to me.

Responding and taking the time to care is possibly the easiest way to give value to others. And really this is no different than how we socialize in the real world. We gravitate towards people who genuinely care about us, people who are willing to take a few minutes out of their day to listen and engage in what we have to say.

And here’s the kicker; as a byproduct of those conversations and caring, you gain loyal fans, prospects and clients.

So how does this translate into actions? When you post something on facebook and people reply, always respond back! It breaks my heart to see a post where there are 8 comments on a status update and the person who posted it didn’t respond to any of them. That’s 8 people who could give you a referral. That’s eight people who might be looking for a home. That’s eight people who may just be really awesome people who you can share a laugh with. But whatever the case, reach out and allow that likability and trust to develop.

When someone retweets something posted, give them a shout out or thank them. It’s so subtle and easy yet it can make all the difference. When someone mentions you in a tweet, respond. Even when someone is critical of you or something you posted, take the time to address what they had to say by responding. This alone can protect your brand.

So whether it be online or in person, make a point to reach out and respond to others because if you can’t do that, you will always get less than optimal results when marketing your real estate business.

The Website Trap, Do You Lease or Own?

Gabe Hoggarth — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:18:29 +0000

On a daily basis I am evaluating websites for search friendliness, researching effective keywords, title tags, content, lead capture and many other contributing factors to Google success. I do this for websites big and small, new and old with varying marketing budgets. My job is to create an effective personal strategy to move a website to the top of the search ranks for competitive keywords, ultimately driving traffic and generating leads. I want everyone to be successful but unfortunately I can’t help everyone and it’s not because I don’t have time (Our SEO system is scaled well and we have employed the talent to perform).

The biggest problem I see day-to-day are websites owners with little to no control of their websites.

This has happened for a couple reasons.

Template websites are priced right and consumers don’t necessarily know what they are buying. I’m not going to say every template website is bad, only the ones that restrict access to the website so much that even small changes are an added charge, a week delay, or impossible. For me as an owner of multiple websites myself, that is unacceptable. If there is one thing I have learned it is that Speed of Implementation is essential to success and survival in a changing Internet world.
Many web design companies have built a subscription based service into their revenue model. The client pays the monthly and the company evolves the platform. This can work if the design company is as enthused about change and the future as the client and they consistently evolve their services. The problem here comes when the company stops evolving and the site grows outdated while the client is stuck paying monthly. Now if the client wants to move away from the companies services (and monthly payment) their website is so entrenched, and possibly under design ownership rights of the company, that to really get away involves the client paying someone to build an entirely new site to making the switch.

TIP: Find a company that gives you FTP access to your website. It’s your own website and you deserve to have control. If a company insists that they can’t let you have FTP access, there are plenty of other companies that will.

An evolution of design and control

With new open source publishing platforms like WordPress designers can now offer clients a customized website built on a framework that allows for complete ownership and control. No more monthly maintenance fees. Open source means that community based collaboration has developed and will continue to evolve the platform, at no cost. As the web evolves, search engines evolve and design evolves the community as a whole participates in the growth for the benefit of everyone.

Here are a few examples of sites we’ve built on the WordPress platform:

SeattlePowerSearch.com – #1 on Google for Seattle Real Estate
PhoenixPowerSearch.com – #3 on Google for Phoenix Real Estate
MalloyVillage.net
YourIndyHouses.com
OrlandoBuyers.com