So who is this Craig guy?

So who is Craig? And whats so great about his list? Do I even want to be on his list?

As some of you may or may not know there is an online community known as CraigsList. CraigsList, which was started by a guy named Craig in San Fransisco, was designed to be a community that is run and created by the people for the people.

CraigsList is free, and used in a multitude of ways. Here, people come to meet, sell items, promote events, post rentals, find rentals, and in this case sell real estate. Did I mention that it's free? Also, CraigsList cover all of the US, and many parts of the world.

So I'm sure you're telling yourself "So, It's not Realtor.com. I can get more traffic and exposure from there" Here is a list of things to consider:
1. CraigsList is the 9th most visited website in the US. Realtor.com is only 600 in the US. Click here to see the top 100 sites in the US.
2. Yes, you can pay for traffic from Realtor.com, CraigsList still free
3. CraigsList can also help with search engine placement by getting the search engine spiders to your website more often.
4. Did we mention that it's FREE?

There is one thing I would like to clear up. Realtor.com DOES NOT and I repeat DOES NOT carry all the available listings in your area. It's no secret that Realtor.com has had many issues in regards to listings and how current they are. Because of this, many MLS's have stopped feeding Realtor.com

To use, or Not to use? Zillow?

So I'm sure that many of you in the real estate business are fairly familiar with Zillow. For those not familiar with it, Zillow is a fun online tool that is used to estimate the value of homes in any given area. But I have a concern, and it's not with how accurate it is, but more so, is it smart to have your clients utilizing it?

In a recent article by the Wall Street Journal, they brought into question the capabilities of Zillow and it's estimates. Where a majority of the time, the values where with in a few percent. But as stated in the article, when Zillow was wrong, it was WRONG. At times over estimating by 50% or more.

Now, we know technology can only do so much. But is it smart for us to recommend clients to use this site? I have heard many clients in the past mention Zillow, and how they loved to send their clients there to play around with home values, and get a feel for the market. But with something so far off at times, I think this is doing more damage then good.

Clients looking to buy in an area could definitely get the wrong perception of what the area costs if they go by the Zillow numbers. People may begin to think that they can afford homes in an area that in all honesty is well out of their budget. The last think any one wants is a discouraged buyer.

Then you have sellers. Now for me, this is a nightmare. Especially for those of us that have worked with clients that think their home is all ready priced too low. They jump on Zillow, do a search, and get back a number that's 90 or 160k higher then what they're listing the home for. That's all you need right? A seller that now thinks what they see online is fact? It's not helping out the situation.

Here is a link to the Wall Street Journal article. Read it and let me know what you think...

Zillow Article

So how do you Market Online if you're in Real Estate or in General?

So how do you market your self online. Well it’s similar to what you do offline. You need to develop a brand, an image, and you need to get your self in front of people. That is what marketing is. No matter how you do it, where you do it, it all revolves around the same basic key ideas.

We’ll focus on branding and image later. Today is about what you can do to get your website, your company, in front of people on the internet.

Here is a list of the basics:
1. Pay Per Click (PPC)
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
3. Banner Ads
4. Press Releases/Articles
5. Blogging
5. Email Marketing

Now lets break each one down so you can see what they consist of.

PPC - Allows you to place ads on the search engines. They are displayed when a user does a search for your service, or in this case, a home in your area. Of all the advertising you can do PPC can bring you a higher ROI and the best part is, we can track all of it.

SEO - Is the process of increasing the traffic to your website, by moving up higher in the search engines. It’s a well known fact that 60% of people don’t leave the first page of a search, 25% wont go past the third page. SEO consists of adding a lot of content to your website, the use of links both to other website and from other website. And consistent updating. The biggest misconception is that SEO happens over night, and that there is a gaurantee that it will work. Google had stated in a new confrence that no one will ever be able to promise 1st page placement. But SEO will help improve your chances.

Banner Ads - Web banners function the same way as traditional advertisements are intended to function: notifying consumers of the product or service and presenting reasons why the consumer should choose the product in question, although web banners differ in that the results for advertisement campaigns may be monitored real-time and may be targeted to the viewer's interests.

Press Release / Articles - With the internet being the media monster that it is, there are many places online where you can writes press release and articles, and get them “published” online. The main reason for this is to generate buzz, and to get links from popular news sites back to your website. It will also help build credibility for the clients and prospects that find your site.

Blogging - Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as Real Estate, food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photo blog), videos (vlog), or audio (pod casting), and are part of a wider network of social media.

Email Marketing - is a form of direct marketing which uses electronic mail as a means of communicating commercial or fundraising messages to an audience. In its broadest sense, every e-mail sent to a potential or current customer could be considered e-mail marketing. Researchers estimate that as of 2004 the E-mail Marketing industry's revenues has surpassed the $1 billion/yr mark.

Free Online Classifieds - Craigs List, Google Base, Yahoo Listings, PropSmart, Trulia, Oddle, Edgeio just to name a few. These are free places o get expusure for your listings, and to get people to your website.

What should you already be doing if you're in Real Estate?

Here is a list of things that most Real Estate Agents should be doing to help promote their business. Now keep in-mind, this is pre internet. Everything you see below, is what you had to do to draw business. Now, the Internet can replace all these things, and bring an even larger return. The main reason for that, accessibility. The interest allows us to attract a much wider audience then any of the tips below. But, it’s always important to not lose sight of what was done previously. We have had tremendous success with incorporating the internet to these things below. But just remember, in our next post when we list the things done with internet advertising, it takes a lot less to do a lot more.

Print Marketing:
Magazine Ads (periodicals), Fliers, Postcards, Mailers, Proper use of Letter Head, and a News Letter

Tele Marketing:
Cold Call, Floor Time in Office, Contacting FSBO’s (For Sale By Owners), contacting Expired Listings

Signs:
Open House, For Sale, Bill Board, Car signs, Shopping Cart, Bus stop signs

Media:
TV, Radio, Call Capture (800 numbers), Movies

Face To Face:
Open Houses, Conventions and Trade Shows, Community Events, Walk-ins, Posting Parties, Public Speaking, Door Knocking