Online Real Estate Technology

Today I’ve just finished the second of the domain.com.au power breakfasts here in Qld and we will continue the series over the next few months with Bundaberg next Wednesday and then it’s off to WA & Perth during the second week in November, followed by Adelaide in SA just after that.  I know after the feedback that I received directly after the seminars had finished that there is still a real need for training and advice on internet marketing for real estate agents. One question that does come up quite frequently is getting your listings to work more effectively in driving both property views and email enquiries. As a follow up to this current seminar series, we have planned to run writing successful copy for the net seminars in each of the regions that we have been to so stand by for that, I’ll be letting you know via this blog the locations,dates and times for each of these follow ups. I’ll also then conduct all the Audits or Health Checks on the offices that have requested them of me.

I thought as a starter to this that I would look at publishing for you a Best Practice Check List that can be printed and placed next to your computer or given to your admin staff as a check list. This is by no means as complete as what I will go through for you during the copy seminars, but it will give you the basics on what to check and tick off before placing your property on line.

This is a starter to introducing a best practice policy within your office. The link is below, please click on it and print the list and place next to your computer, and don’t put a listing on line with out ticking every box.  As always have fun and let me know if this is helpful to you.      

Good-Online-Advertisement-check-list

Looking at the impact that new media and web sites such as Facebook and Myspace have on how people communicate with each other got me to thinking about how much impact they have on “Word of Mouth”.

Social media sites,Blogging and podcasting have had a huge impact on how businesses and individuals can get their message out to a ready and willing audience on the internet, Well, have you ever given any thought on how this might be impacting what you do on a day to day basis?

In my On Line Reputation management presentation I look at the impact of web sites that allow consumers to publish comments about you or your business and rate a service that you may have provided and how that comment can kill your business if it’s bad. In fact when planning my recent overseas trip, I frequently went to tripadvisor.com to check on a hotel or service provider and if it was given a negative review and there were a number of these about my choice, I would change my hotel based on those comments. I believed the consumer and these comments were published and available for everyone to see.  

So the question I ask is, if this is the impact of negative comments, what would the impact be of positive reinforcement of your brand, business or service and is the method of reinforcing this word of mouth advertising changing? To me the simple answer is yes it is bigtime, so are you or your business ready to really change the way you approach social media and the internet? Are you adopting new communication tools in your business?, are you aware of what comments are being made about you, your business or industry? If so are you gearing up to take full advantage of the power of the new word of mouth?

Here’s an interesting video about the change in Word of Mouth advertising from Gary VayNerChuk, Internet businessman and celebrity about brand building and the way that word of mouth is changing in 2008/2009:

Are you still using traditional marketing tools to generate prospects on your web site? Well the world is changing as far as web marketing goes and you need to make sure that the strategies in place in your office keep up with the changing trends and web savvy consumers. There is no problem in getting leads from your web presence, the big problem that you will face is converting those leads to business. In Australia approx 30% of all email leads generated by the 2 major portals go unanswered, that is , no response at all from the agents who receive them. The other factor is agents who receive leads from consumers with false names, incomplete email addresses etc and those who really don’t want to do business for the next 12 months or so. 

So using traditional thinking with these prospects is doomed to fail, traditional thinking dictates that we ”do business right away” and generally someone considering selling or buying in the next 6 to 12 months is classed as a poor lead or a tyre kicker.

The psychology of Web marketing is entirely different. The typical Web buyer or seller begins the home-search process up to 12 to 18 months prior to moving. The major portals research also indicates that over 39% of their traffic spends up to 9 to 12 months researching properties and constantly revisits the sites looking for and researching properties. The same can be said for the seller, up to 33% of all visitors to real estate portals are vendors looking to find an agent to market their property. So to cope with this situation, you must have a system to stay in touch on a regular basis or to motivate them to visit your Web site or blog repeatedly.

Using web 2.0, agents can now use the tools to communicate better or more effectively with these consumers and constantly be top of mind, so when the decision to buy or sell is made, you are the agent of choice. Email campaigns have being hampered by the large amount of spam mail over the past few years and have very quickly lost there effectiveness to the new web savvy consumer, who really wants to and does use the social networking sites as a form of communication. Whatever solution you come up with it, it is most important that you stay in front of your target market on a consistent basis.   

So what are those tools?

1. Blogging – This allows agents to provide additional information and post updates on their market. Set up a blog that reflects your area and constantly work that blog, advertise it in all your marketing as well as maximise your readership via RSS feeds. Syndicate your blog to other sites that help drive traffic to your blog.

2. Podcasting – Deliver your message in the recorded format and allow consumers to download information on a regular basis. Create a series of interesting podcasts, based on information that vendors, consumers and landlords or tenants will find useful. This week alone, my podcasts have been downloaded over 210 times.

3. Video Profiles – This includes your office and properties. Upload to youtube,realestate.com.au,domain.com.au and your own web site and actively market these in your listing presentations. Read my earlier post about video and it’s impact on perceived property values. http://mikeandrewrealestate.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/property-videos-increase-percieved-property-value/

4. Use the social networking sites such Facebook and myspace to market yourself. Create user groups and invite people or your customers to join your group. You can even market to employer groups via these sites.

Those are just a few thought starters for you, if you would like to know more about these ideas, then come along to the Domain Power Breakfasts in Qld, tomorrow at Toowoomba, Wednesday Maroochydore on the Sunsine Coast and Bundaberg next Wednesday. I’ll be presenting all these ideas and discussing how you can really use web 2.0 to it’s fullest extent.

Another great idea is to include something that will keep your readers coming back to your blog or web site, so lets try this experiment. Have fun with this link, this game is Iphone compatible and I’m sure, like me, you’ll have a lot of fun with it.

http://www.psychicchicken.com/

If you would like additional information on anything included in this post, send me a comment or better still come and see me live at the breakfasts over the next few weeks. Information is listed below for you.   

http://mikeandrewrealestate.wordpress.com/2008/10/17/domaincomau-power-breakfast-location/

A report from the Inman blog has advised that on line search portal Zillow.com has cut 25% of it’s staff due to the global financial crisis. In a move designed to cut it’s expenses, the company says it is gearing up in anticipation of a prolonged recession. In an earlier post I wrote about Zillow and their relationship with key newspapers in the US, here’s a link to that story: http://mikeandrewrealestate.wordpress.com/2008/09/09/real-estate-portal-in-bed-with-newspapers/

Here’s quote from Rich Barton the groups founder:

“Unprecedented economic events … have made a prolonged recession likely, in our judgment,” said Rich Barton, Zillow founder, chairman and chief executive officer, ”We are a young company that is not yet making a profit. Despite having sizable cash reserves, we deemed the responsible course was to meaningfully reduce expenses, so that Zillow emerges from the other side of the recession in a very strong position, even if the recession lasts many years.”

Inman reports, Barton said the decision to cut staff was a difficult one because although the company’s revenues do not yet cover expenses, Zillow continues to grow. The 5.4 million unique visitors to the site in September represented a 42 percent increase over the same time last year, and revenue is growing “at a rapid pace.”

According to the online metrics company Hitwise, Zillow.com was the third most popular real estate related Web site in September, with 2.52 percent share of all traffic in the category.

If you’d like to read the full article here’s the link:

http://www.inman.com/news/2008/10/17/zillow-lays-25-percent-workforce

Hi All, you can now subscribe to my podcast via the email link below on the right hand side. Now you’ll be advised when I add new podcasts via email. That’s so you don’t miss any of the popular series.

Here is the location for the first of the domain.com.au power breakfast’s that I will be hosting next week. The first will be at the Toowoomba Royal Showgrounds at Glenvale Road Toowoomba on Tuesday 21st Oct. The event will start at 7:00am, the event is almost booked out however, contact David Foki on 07 3031 6229 if you would like to attend. This will be followed on Wednesday 22nd October with the breakfast at the Maroochydore Surf Life Saving Club on the Sunshine Coast.

This is well worth you coming along and you’ll walk away with some great ideas on social networking, blogging and podcasting as tools to integrate into your on line strategy.

The breakfast events are nearly at capacity now but contact David Foki on 07 3031 6229 and sweet talk him and I’m sure he’ll make room for you.

As a follow up to my previous post, I’ve included a link to a great web site that features an article on “Web Video Marketing – Best Practices”  The article goes in to some detail about why you should be using video, not only for your properties, but also for your office marketing. There are some great tips and advice for you and highlights areas where you can market your video.

Here’s the link to the article and I hope it creates a real passion in you to start to adopt video in your marketing efforts.

http://www.reelseo.com/video-marketing-best-practices/

As most of you who have seen my presentations will know, I’m a big fan of video tours on property. Well to back up my passion that this tool should form a mandatory part of your marketing plans, a new survey released in the US has found that online videos and professionally produced photography have on perceived real estate property values.  According to the study, the survey results show that the use of an online video tour in marketing real estate property increased the perceived value of a home by 6%. 

Additionally, users indicated that they would be more likely to actually be interested in and visit homes on the market that had online video or professional photography associated with the listing. Finally, The data also shows that individuals who viewed a video of a property felt the listing would be on the market for a shorter period of time when compared to similar homes.

Survey Results Summary:

• 320 respondents viewed homes in the $400,000-$600,000 range.
• Respondents that viewed listing information accompanied by professional photography valued the property at an average price of $460,735, an increase of 11.5 percent or $52,896 over the average perceived price of the description-only property, $407,839.
• Respondents viewing a video valued the home at an average price of $432,329, an increase of 5.7 percent or $24,490, over the average perceived price of the description-only property, $407,839.
• Survey respondents believed a home with professional photography was three times more likely to sell within the standard listing period than a home marketed with only descriptive information.
• When asked how likely they were to visit the homes listed with professional photography, seven times as many respondents indicated that they were “very likely” to visit the home as those who said they were “very likely” to visit a home with only descriptive information

The research was undertaken by a company called PropertyPreviews in the US.

Remember, video is portable content and can be used on Facebook,Youtube as well as all the main real estate sites, you can also use it in your listing presentations.

As always, any comments or questions, please ask.

There has been lots of discussion from real estate agents on what model they prefer when it comes to real estate portals, you’ve got pay per listing, subscription based charges, free listing models and aggregator sites. Well now in the US a new site called locallylocated.com has applied a pay per click model, where your initial listing is free and the advertiser only gets charged when a potential on line buyer clicks on your listing ton it and examine it in detail. The end result? The advertiser only has to pay for serious customers interested in looking over a specific property listing. 

Their media release states: “Locally Located.com will give the advertiser complete control over the number of clicks they want to pay for, the length of time they want the listing posted for, and the budget they want to spend. All of these parameters, of course, can be adjusted as need be, after the listing is posted. Advertisers will also be able to control how often they would like to receive account updates, which will allow the user to thoroughly test their marketing efforts.

Unlike most traditional PPC systems, however, Locally Located.com does NOT force the real estate advertiser to bid against other advertisers worldwide for the best placements. The playing field is level – and the PPC charge is equal for everyone, not driven up by big business wanting to squeeze the most money out of the small advertiser.

Another overwhelming advantage to LocallyLocated.com is that the site will post any type of real estate listing – making it a hub or “one-stop shop” for any potential property prospects, and anyone seeking information on a specific geographic area of interest to them .

LocallyLocated.com is also committed to being more than a traditional real estate search site. To attract a steady stream of traffic consisting of potential property buyers, the site will be filled with enhanced targeted real estate content – including news article’s, blogs and forums. This content will utilize the latest Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques, ensuring the site high search engine result rankings, which will bring about exposure to the greatest amount of online users interested in real estate and all the supplemental information they would need to make an informed decision .

Local Search will also be an important and integral part of Locally Located.com. Local search is now a close second to email as the most utilized function of the internet. By enabling specific geographic guidelines, Locally Located.com will be able to further target buyers on the lookout for property in specific areas with the assistance of satellite and map views, and many more free tools to assist its users in making the most informed decisions.

Local Searches are growing three times as fast as other kinds of online searches, as more and more people use the internet instead of print and other traditional media to find and research information on nearby neighborhoods. Obviously, this category includes real estate – a category that Locally Located.com is strategically positioned to heavily influence with its innovative new approach to real estate marketing.
Internet marketing has come of age – and Locally Located.com is determined to bring online real estate advertising up to speed in the most cutting-edge and cost-effective way possible”.

Here’s a link to the web site for you to look at and research, I’ll monitor this site to see how successful it is with this pricing model. Wonder if any of the Australian portals would go down this line?

http://www.locallylocated.com/

I’ve just completed a technology presentation on Hayman Island to members of the north Qld zone of L J Hooker and what a great bunch of people they all are. I had a lot of fun with them yesterday and during the follow up conversations with the team, the question of what constitutes a good listing on the net was asked of me.

I decided to revisit some research conducted by Yahoo some months ago about the changing nature of on line real estate search habits. An interesting point raised by Yahoo is that the consumer is now searching through the search engines and mainstream portals to delete properties from the search, not include them. In the early days, consumers would search the web to find properties, now it appears the pattern has changed.

So what can you do to make sure that you and your properties are not deleted from the search. First thing, is to make sure all your listings on the net are complete and that you include full and relevant descriptions. Include as many photos, virtual tours and better still video on your listing and change them regularly. Remember,frequently updated information is King. Heres the list of the 7 Sins of Listing Management below for you.

1. No Indication of Price – 92% of on line property searchers recently surveyed said they would not look at a property without a price.

2. No Photos or insufficient number – 72% want more than 5 photos, include as many as possible including virtual tours and video and floor plans.

3. No Street Address – 74% of property searchers indicated an address was extremely important and said they drove past the property before contacting the agent.

4. Tacky Headlines – Real Estate based headlines such as “ Will sell fast so you must hurry”, or “Be Quick” etc do not work, and remember the older the listing the more irrelevant the headline becomes.

5. Short Descriptions with Useless Information – Create a consistent approach within your office to providing the essential content that property seekers want. Make sure all relevant information including all features and benefits as well as your call to action and suburb information is included. Remember, you are the suburb expert.

6. Layout of your Listing – Using bullets points to highlight features and benefits makes your listing more reader friendly and make sure you don’t use long sentences, break them up into smaller paragraphs to make your listing easier to read.

7. Out of Date Information – Make sure your listing is up to date, remember consumers do not like seeing old or outdated information, make sure you have the latest available information on the property. It is you and your brand that will suffer if you don’t provide the best information possible.

If you find this helpful, I’ll add some copywriting for the web tips in a later post, so as always, let me know if you find this post helpful. Remember, always check your spelling before uploading!!!!

Good Luck

Mike