Technology Tools for Real Estate

Whether it’s on your own website or on a web page created by your broker, what you say about yourself in your online profile matters. Or more specifically, the words you use to describe yourself really matter.

In general, nouns and verbs are better to use than adjectives and adverbs.

Verbs are the action words in your profile. Select words that hone in on your skill as a real estate professional and indicate your ability to add value and get the job done even in a tough economy. Consult a thesaurus or visit a website like this one to get good ideas for verbs:

Closed more than $2 million in volume in 2010.
Enabled more than a dozen families to avoid foreclose by helping them find buyers despite the financial downturn.

Adverbs describe how you do what you do. Words like skillfully and effectively are adverbs, and though we often see them on résumés, they weaken the overall profile. It’s much better to choose a strong, accurate verb than to overload your profile with adverbs. In other words, it’s better to say “I enabled a dozen families to avoid foreclosure…,” than to say, “I helped a dozen families sell their homes quickly….” The phrase with the strong verbs sounds more powerful.

Also be wary of including overused words and cliché phrases: motivated, results-oriented, and problem-solver are among the overused words LinkedIn finds in the profiles on its website. Instead of these, choose instead words that are fresh and unique, words that help you stand out from the pack.

You’ve probably seen them, those square barcode-like symbols that are popping up on buildings, on marketing material, and even on people’s business cards. They’re called QR codes (short for Quick Response) and they make it easy for anyone to encode a great deal of information in a small amount of space.

You create QR codes using a QR code generator easily found on the web. At Zebra Crossing for example, you’ll find a free open-source one that lets you imbed a URL, contact information, GEO location, text, or a calendar event into your code. In order for prospects to read the information embedded in the code, they’ll need a web-enabled mobile phone and an app for reading QR codes. QR code readers are easy to find; they’re available in the app stores of all the major phone platforms. Once the QR reader is installed, a prospect simply snaps a picture of the code and their phone “translates” it for them. If the code contains a URL, the web-enabled phone takes them to that website. If the code contains text, that text appears on their screen for them to read.

QR codes have been popular overseas for some time, especially in Japan. They’re only beginning to gain popularity in the U.S. and there’s a growing buzz about them in the real estate industry. They can be faster and easier for busy people to use than copying and pasting a URL, and they have an added “curiosity factor” since passersby can’t know what the coded message says unless they take some action. For these reasons QR codes have great marketing potential and many possible real estate uses. Here are some ways you might use them:

Use a QR code on the outside of a building to provide prospects with a digital property prospectus—text they can read on their phone that describes pricing, floorplans, listing broker information and more.
Post a video tour or a slide show of the property to the web then use a QR code to let prospects see what the property looks like on the inside even though they’re standing outside.
Use a QR code on a sign outside the property to alert prospects to an upcoming open house. Create a buzz in advance by posting QR codes around the neighborhood.
Buyer not interested in this property? No problem. Use the QR code to direct him or her to other properties nearby that are also for sale.
Add them to your Facebook page or the sidebar of your blog to let readers know about new properties or special events.

The possibilities are endless. What else can you think of?

If you want to get the most from your online marketing, make sure your landing page is topnotch. Don’t know what a landing page is? It’s easy to find out by looking at actual examples.

Conduct a search for anything on Google. The ads you see along the side of the page are placed there by businesses using Google AdWords. Click on any ad and the page you’re directed to is the landing page for that ad.

Ideally, the landing page should hone in on the business’ marketing message and encourage visitors to take the next step. But many marketing novices make the mistake of using the company’s Home page or About Us page as their landing page.

Why is that a mistake? Well, consider this: If you were showing homes to first-time buyers, you would never just unlock a home, drop them off, and tell them you’ll be back to get them later. The same is true for prospects who are interested enough to click on one of your ads. You don’t want to just plop them down at the entrance to your website. Something about your ad got their attention. You’ve got to help them find what they’re looking for.

The landing page lets you guide your prospects to the right place and then encourages them to take some action. To be most effective, it needs to be written and designed with these things in mind:

Your landing page should address whatever the ad promised. Make sure the title of the page and copy on the page are speaking to what the ad was about. For example, if the ad promised information on foreclosures, the landing page shouldn’t be about you and how long you’ve been in the business. It should be about foreclosures, about how they can get information on foreclosures, and about how your information on foreclosures will be superior to anything else they can find on the Internet.
Your landing page should have a goal. Do you want visitors to give you their e-mail address and phone number? Do you want them to register online to view properties? Decide in advance what you want from them and what they’ll get in return.
Your landing page should spell out the next step. Tell your visitors what you want them to do and make it easy for them to do it. The page should load fast and the form you want them to fill out or the action you want the to take should be quick and painless.
Your landing page should explain the benefits of what you’re offering. Why should visitors give you their contact information or sign up in your property-search portal? What exactly will they get? How will they benefit? There has to be something in it for them, and the copy on the landing page has to spell it out. The copy should also encourage them to do it now.
Your landing page should be easy to read with key information upfront. Internet surfers have many choices. If visitors can’t find what they’re looking for by skimming the page, they’re likely to move on.

An effective Internet ad campaign is not just about choosing keywords and placing ads. You’ll only generate prospects if the “back end” of your campaign—your landing page—is well thought out and well designed.

WordPress, the popular blogging platform, is challenging its users to publish a blog post every day in 2011. The PostADay Challenge is designed to keep you writing and posting regularly. And because the folks at WordPress know that’s a tall order, they’ve also created a blog called The Daily Post that will offer ideas and inspiration each day to help you come up with something to write about.

Posting to a blog each day is tough for many real estate professionals. Yet, posting regularly is one of the best things you can do for yourself or your brokerage; the process of regularly refreshing your website with new material helps you rank higher in search engines like Google. Plus, publishing fresh and engaging material on a regular basis builds your readership and, hence, your visibility in the real estate world.

When real estate was hot and new properties were coming on the market every day, consumers didn’t have to be “enticed” to visit real estate websites. The interest was already there. Today, you have to offer something of value. Consistency is important, too. If readers perceive that your material doesn’t change very often, they have little incentive to visit your site. But if they know you have something relevant and interesting to share on a regular basis, they’re more likely to check in from time to time to to see what you have to say.

Consider it a form of prospecting. Traditional forms of prospecting like cold calling always took time but used to be essential for success in real estate. In fact, the most successful people in real estate usually got that way because they had the discipline to carve out a set number of hours each week for prospecting. For some, it was the first thing they did each day.

Think of your blog in the same way; it’s a form of digital prospecting. Therefore, it needs to be done as frequently and consistently as any other sales or marketing activity.

For all of these reasons, you should take the PostADay Challenge. If once a day is too often, WordPress is also suggesting a PostAWeek Challenge. I’m already behind but I’m committing to once a week for both of my blogs for the remainder of 2011. Will you join me?

This is one of those Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do blog posts.

It’s been 18 days since I’ve published an article on this blog. I’ve spent a great holiday with family, I’ve eaten lots of good food, and I’ve gotten plenty of rest. But I haven’t written any blog posts. That’s probably not such a good thing because consistency and predictability go a long way when you’re building readership for your blog.

So here, in retrospect, is a summary of what I should have done to prepare my blog for the holidays.

Plan Ahead. Just like it’s not good to wait until the last minute to do your Christmas shopping, it’s not good to approach the holidays with no plan for your blog. Just like Christmas, you know it’s coming. So start preparing early. Write several extra posts and set them aside to be published while you’re on vacation.
Keep it Short. You don’t have to write a lot. Chances are your regular readers are on vacation too, and will be spending less time than usual on the Internet. A handful of short, to-the-point articles is all you really need.
Work in the Holidays. You may be writing in advance, but don’t forget that your readers will be reading during Christmas. So write about something that fits the season. You can even be specific by writing a special message to be posted on Christmas Day or a celebration-related story for New Year’s Eve. If your blog usually includes pictures, try to include winter and holiday-themed shots.
Post in Advance. WordPress lets you auto-post your articles. That is, you can write and edit articles today and indicate the date and time in the future you want them to be published. (Don’t forget to check for messages while you’re on vacation and to reply to comments, if necessary.)
Enjoy Your Vacation. Winter is often a relaxed time for real estate professionals anyway. So next year prepare your blog in advance and enjoy your time with family and friends.