To ensure that we structure training and events that are of most value to you, we have prepared this short, quick-question survey that you can complete in 2-3 minutes. And enter to win the $100 Card, right there and then.

Your feedback will shape the types of events to come, so be numerous. The survey closes February 10, 2012.

START HERE

Download the full PDF White Paper right here.

Today, my 70-year-old grandmother has an iPad.  Most pre-teens own a smartphone.  And the term “cloud-computing” is recognized and understood by a vast majority of the population.  Technology is such a ubiquitous part of our lives that most cannot comprehend or remember how to function without it.

Technology plays a comparably significant role for home buyers and sellers, who use the Internet, email, SMS, social networking, mobile computing – and many other technologies to improve both their lives – and the process of buying or selling a home.

Every consumer has some basic demands:

• Speed
• Convenience
• Choice
• Value Added
• Quality
• Service
• Discounts
• Information

Buyers expect a quick response from real estate professionals and quick access to listings of interest.  Sellers expect to know that their listing is online as soon as they have signed the papers.  Both buyers and sellers expect access to information quickly and easily.

Buyers want access to listings from the convenience of their computer or mobile phone while sellers want to be able to access their listing information and view any reports generated from it whenever and wherever they want.

Buyers want to be able to find listings from a website of their choosing, be that Zillow, Trulia, Google, etc.  Just as not everyone chooses the same flavor of ice-cream, not everyone searches for listings using the same website(s).

Virtual tours, downloadable listing brochures, and CMAs, are all pieces that add value to a listing from the buyer’s perspective.  Sellers see value added when their listings are distributed to as many places as possible.

Buyers want access to quality listing data, just as sellers want their home to be advertised in the best, most accurate manner possible.  This also ties in to ‘information’.  Consumers want access to feature-rich sites, and with as many details about a listing as possible.  Listings that display a single, grainy photo, with virtually no additional information are quickly passed over, regardless of their relevance to the consumer.

 Based on those demands, how does technology fit into what the typical consumer expects from a real estate professional today?

In an age when ‘technology’ means everything, and keeping up with the times simply means staying competitive, real estate professionals cannot settle for just ‘okay’.

So how does technology change your game plan?

There will always be a need for technology basics: a domain name, branded email account, and a web presence.  But what are the more specific needs of today, and more importantly, what will be the needs of the future?

Selective Online Marketing

The term “online marketing” is broad.  It covers everything from having a website, to advertising via email, to pay-per-click search engine marketing and search engine optimization (SEO), to participating online in blogs and social media channels.

Because online marketing encompasses such a broad range of activities, it is essential to select the ones that optimally enhance your business.

Is money best spent paying top dollar for a custom-designed website?  What about search engine optimization?  Do the DIY advertising options available out there such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads deliver enough bang for your buck?  There are no universal answers that apply to every agent.  Fortunately however, most online advertising options are fairly inexpensive and provide analytics to help determine the effectiveness of your efforts and your reach.  

Social Media Presence

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ – the list keeps growing, and will likely keep growing.  Once a means to share photos and connect with friends, social networks have been rapidly expanding their reach into areas of business networking, media, and communications.

The advantage of using social media platforms as advertising mediums is that typically the only cost is a little elbow grease.  Social media will continue to be a key channel for online marketing and advertising in the immediate future, and real estate professionals should look to this area for significant business growth opportunities in 2012 and beyond.

Generational and Niche Marketing

The preface to “Rocking the Ages” by J. Walker Smith and Ann S. Clurman states: “Understanding generational values and motivations has become essential because each generation is driven by unique ideas about the lifestyle to which it aspires.  And it’s these aspirations that determine the ways consumers spend and save their money.”

The book continues, “Marketers who use the principles of generational marketing to understand the factors that influence the values and buying motivations of consumers stand a much better chance of spotting trends way ahead of the competition and reaching customers first in profitable new ways.” 

Niche marketing may be equally important to a real estate professional’s marketing plan.  Since many real estate professionals focus on very specific market areas (e.g. condos, commercial, vacation, etc.), their applicable audience needs to be identified and marketed to accordingly.

No longer can there be a one-size-fits-all approach to marketing.  Get to know your audience and the various ways you can market to them.

Do More With Less

It seems like the days are getting shorter, or our time is filling up more quickly.  Either way, technology should help to increase efficiency, not over-complicate things.

Email, instant and text messaging, automatic listing distribution, social networking – all of these tools allow real estate professionals to quickly connect with customers and peers.

Here are a few key things to look for when shopping for technology and business solutions:

Flexibility

Mobile phone providers offer different package options to their customers for a very specific reason.  Not every person wants or needs all of the same features.  Some require a data plan, while others are happy with just a plain old telephone.  Some want call display, others call waiting, still others voicemail.  Mobile carriers are successful because they allow their customers to choose which features work best for them.

The same should be true of a real estate professional’s online marketing solutions.  Keeping up with the times means having the flexibility to choose the tools that work for each individual’s personal and business needs.  Gone are the days of being forced to pay for features that will never be used, all because “it’s part of the package”.

Online Education

Real estate professionals need to be able to further their education quickly, easily, and in small, digestible chunks.  What can be learned via online education?  Perhaps the answer should be, “what can’t be?”  Product demos, online marketing trends, industry trends – the list goes on.  Online webinars, learning platforms, and other mediums provide real estate professionals with the ability to learn affordably, from almost anywhere.  Taking advantage of these opportunities provides you with a needed competitive edge.

Automatic Listing Import

Time is money.  If real estate professionals are required to re-enter their listings multiple times to get additional exposure, value has already been lost.  Accuracy is also a concern when a listing is added manually to multiple sites one at a time.  Since technology should be increasing efficiency, real estate professionals need to research tools that will help them distribute their data to numerous destinations from one entry point.

Syndication

Exposure is a key piece to every real estate professional’s marketing plan.  Consumers want their listings advertised in as many places as possible.  Syndication is a key piece to the puzzle as it generates massive listing exposure at little or no cost.  Enhanced tools such as predictive marketing help identify the areas of interest to your audience and market to them accordingly. 

Control Over Listing Data

While syndication and listing exposure are important, significant value is lost when there is no control offered with regards to the flow of listing data.  Control should be provided to every stakeholder including agents, brokers, and MLSs/Boards/ Associations.  Reporting also needs to be provided to every level so each party can determine if the destinations to which they are distributing listings are serving their best interests.

Another factor to consider is data licensing agreements.  Make sure you are confident your technology and syndication partners are serving your best interests – what do they do with your data?  What is the licensing agreement?  Are you able to easily access their data agreements and terms and conditions statements?  Answers to these questions should be clear and easy to find.

Mobile Capabilities

Research suggests that the most valuable piece of technology is still the phone.  Today’s smartphone is portable, multi-functional, and easy to use.  Real estate professionals should be able to have access to listing information quickly and easily directly from their mobile device.

A staggering and increasing number of people are relying on mobile.  For the youngest generation, it is all they know.  The ability to deliver a seamless and enjoyable browsing experience on mobile devices will only become more important as the smartphone revolution continues to take root. 

Opportunity Awaits

While some have the time and desire to learn how to code and build their own tools for online marketing (including websites), the majority of real estate professionals view their time as better spent serving their customers.  For these, a full-featured, automated service that encompasses all of the above requirements is a must.

Some might be thinking, “Technology is not a new thing, this is the same information we’ve heard in the past.” And you’re right.  Technology as a whole is not a new concept.  However, effective use of technology is.  Many have chosen to jump on every technology bandwagon that has come around, without sitting down to evaluate its true value.

It is important to remember that no matter which direction a real estate professional’s online marketing plan takes him or her, effective use of technology should increase efficiency in the areas of workflow, listing advertising, lead generation, and contact management.  If the chosen solution(s) does not do this, it is time to re-evaluate.

To borrow a line from Bob Dylan, “the times they are a-changin’”.  The world of tomorrow is taking shape today, and now is the time to embrace change.  Adapting to the new world order can be a difficult task, but for the real estate professional who is able to stay in touch with the new breed of customer…vast opportunity awaits.

We, along with Get A Grip Audio and Web Solutions, are very pleased to announce their inclusion in the Qualified Website Desiner section of the Alliance Member Program (AMP)!

Barry and Cher have extensive experience, creativity, and energy to help you determine and obtain the design elements and marketing tools necessary for you to see the results you desire.

For more information about both the audio and website design serives, as well as view examples of their work, visit www.GetaGripAudio.com or call 250.545.2999.

Congratulations, and welcome to the Alliance Member Program in a new capacity!

Marketing properties is where the magic is, and owners evaluating your services want to know that you can do this better than anyone else.

You’ve supplemented your traditional marketing plans with Syndication, an automated way to advertise the client’s home on over 50 high traffic websites and search engines, and promised to allocate a budget towards Enhanced Listings. Two very powerful marketing tactics proven to boost exposure to more online buyers, and that can generate up to twice as much interest in the property, or more.

But just in case some of your local competitors are up to the challenge, here is another one that has ‘wow’ written all over it. An idea that can make any wise seller sit up.

Boost your plan with a promise to create and launch an entire website just for the client’s property! Offer to give their property a home of its own on the World Wide Web. How much cooler value is there?

A dedicated website makes it much easier to find the listing on the Internet, enhances its presentation and bolsters its position on search engines. It’s important that the seller understands the relevance of this plan to the sale of their property. Emphasize the importance of search engine rankings and better presentation, as your seller may not be as Internet savvy and may not completely appreciate some of the ideas.

As well, explain that over and above online prospects, that many local buyers interested in the neighborhood typically drive around the area to physically check out inventory. That for this target, it’s inconvenient to stop to scan QR Codes or jot down the agent’s phone number.

Technically, this means that more drive-by prospects are likely to miss or forget the phone number, if they try to commit it to memory. The more determined would try various way to look up the property on the Internet or ask their agents to research it. However that is not as convenient for them, nor as promising for you. There are too many ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ involved.

Your single property website idea mitigates these risks, hardly costs anything per property and is as easy to set up as 1 2 3.

When a listing has its own website with its own street address-based URL featured on the lawn sign rider, such as www.123edwardsStreet.com, it becomes extremely easy for driver-by prospects to recall. Encourage your seller to distribute that URL to friends and neighbords.

Single property sites also help to differentiate a property within a certain neighborhood, make the agent behind it seem like a star, and sets you up to capture more leads for your client, more quickly.

With high end single property website solutions today available for pennies per property and can be set up in minutes, the only thing that’s left is to get out there and seal that new listing deal.

If it’s not Jeremy, it’s Alicia or Rob, or Jennifer. Everyone sells homes and they spend thousands each year repeating that message over and over in their advertising. You see that message on bus benches, local papers, postcards and business cards. The problem is, home sellers already know that. In the mind of a consumer, every real estate agent sells homes. It’s what they do for a living.

How do you differentiate yourself in your marketplace? What is the unique promise that the market should associate you with and that is going to make customers call you instead of the next agent? What is your most powerful strength as you see it and as told by past customers? Is it negotiating skills, is it speed of sales, is it your local network. 

Even if you happen to be the number one sales person in your franchise this year, building your advertising with that being the main proposition can leave you scrambling next year unless you retain the top spot again. Meanwhile the opportunity to build a sustainable promise would have been pushed out an entire year, with an extra year’s budget to go along.

Advertising works best when the promise it delivers i) hits a hot button, i.e. delivers a relevant, compelling benefit, ii) is something you can deliver on better than anyone else and can show for it, and, iii) it is consistent so that the association of the promise with you and your brand builds in your audience’s mind over time and eventually becomes synonymous with you and your service.

One of the hardest parts in creating a compelling selling promise is going about it methodically. It takes time, patience, consistency and a very objective mind. And when years later people think of you first whenever the subject of a top negotiator comes up, you would have hit the advertising home run.

Competitors would be hard pressed to try and compete with you in the same context. If they try, they’ll be seen as a ‘me too,’ and lose credibility

Find your ‘unique’ strength, make sure ‘you can deliver on it’ and push that message ‘relentlessly’.

For more on the subject, here are two articles we published over the past year about unique value proposition.

Are you an engaging leader or is control more your style? While a strong leader uses both styles, the engagement approach normally generates the best results.

When it comes to leadership styles, the Control Model is the most common. The Control Model places the focus on the leader’s needs as opposed to focusing on participant needs.

The challenge with the control model is that it mirrors the traditional classroom lecture situation. Adults, and especially Gen Y’s, dislike lectures where they they’re expected to listen and defer to an expert’s superior wisdom. The shift from control to engagement is important because it lays the foundation for creating trust.

To illustrate this point, imagine that you are leading a meeting where you must announce a fee or dues increase. You know that there will be serious resistance.  What would you do to best handle the situation?

The person who uses the control model will take the position: “Just live with it. It’s raise the fees or close the doors.” This often creates resentment because most people want to have a say in this type of decision, even if they can’t change the decision.

In contrast, the engagement model allows the leader to surface concerns and alternative solutions.

“We had to make a difficult decision between making major cuts in our services or raising our fees by 10 percent. We are going with the ten percent fee increase. What are some ways that we could trim expenses or increase revenues so that we can avoid future fee increases?”

When participants engage in the process, they own it. Best of all, this approach may surface new ways to improve your organization’s effectiveness while reducing costs as well.

Need more tips on how to lead effective meetings? Visit www.LeadGreatMeetings.com for more ideas on how to improve your leadership skills.