Using Pinterest for Real Estate

Before you start rolling your eyes at me and commenting to yourself that I’ve jumped on the Pinterest Bandwagon a little late, hang in there.

I love Pinterest, and have for the past 9 months or so (I really have no idea) but I hated the idea of using it for real estate.  Every time I heard someone try to determine the ROI, I cringed.

All of that aside, I think that using it as a piece of your marketing pie a great idea.  Pinterest is so visual, so showing off your really good listings it’s great.  You can even post videos now, so pull out your camera and start filming your neighborhood.

There is of course a right way and a wrong way to use it, and there are tons of people who are doing it wrong.

I put together a free 5 day ecourse that walks you through using Pinterest for Real Estate Marketing that you can sign up for at the bottom of this post.

Examples of Agents Who Are Doing it Right:

http://pinterest.com/rajqsar/

http://pinterest.com/josetteskilling/

http://pinterest.com/lisaarcher/ (a good mix of business and life)

You Can Follow My Boards Here:

http://pinterest.com/april_sullivan2/

Sign up Here:

5 Days of Pinterest for Real Estate

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Creating A Real Estate Niche

Wanting to work with everyone is common.  You’re a Real Estate Agent, and you want to be able to serve as many people as possible, and that’s great, but you want to market to one specific group at a time.  When you Creating a Real Estate Nichecast a wider marketing net, you end up diluting your message.

Not only does your message end up getting watered down, but you also become just like everyone else in your field.  What are you doing to differentiate yourself?  How do you stand out in an overcrowded market that has everyone clamoring for the same business?

You need to speak to people directly.  Last week I wrote about getting face to face with expireds, but today is about speaking directly to a lot of people at once.  Creating a very specific target market that when they see your advertisement, they feel a connection with you.  For example, I was at an epropertysites seminar at the Mission Viejo Country Club last week.  As an example, Chris Bates threw out (as a joke) having a poodle niche.  That’s right, only marketing to people who have poodles.  Silly, yes, but apply it to your business.  Horse property, beach-front property, condos, retirement communities, vacation homes, military families.  You need to choose something that works with your demographics, your expertise, and your personality.

When you found this article, were you searching for a Virtual Assistant?  If you were a lawyer searching for a Virtual Assistant and you read the title “Creating a Real Estate Niche” would you have clicked on it?  No, probably not.  You clicked on it because I was speaking directly to YOU, the real estate agent.

My challenge for you:  The next blog post you write, your next tweet, or status update on your Facebook Page, direct it toward a specific group of people in your target market.  Does the house have a huge backyard?  Write a post to dog lovers in Huntington Beach, California.  Does it have a pool with a swim-up bar and a dance floor on the deck?  Call out to the party people.  When you write your message for someone specific, they’re much more likely to find it.

Best Social Media Marketing For a Real Estate Company – Ever

Sharing: 7 Reasons to Start Blogging More Now

Read it on Jimmy Mackin’s site, TheMLSApp.com to read his comments.

Hubspot’s 100 Awesome Marketing Stats, Charts, & Graphs highlights statistics on why every business should be blogging early and often.

Here are my favorites

#1. More Traffic

#2.  More Leads

#3 – Frequency Matters

 

#4.  Volume Matters

 

#5. Get Found on Google

 

#6.  More Indexed Pages = More Leads

 

#7.  Save Money!

 

 

This guide was packed full of AWESOME statistics on Blogging, Social Media, and SEO.  I highly recommend downloading it.

 

 

Filed Under: Facebook Marketing ·

5 Benefits You’ll Receive When You Work With Me

April Sullivan the Real Estate Virtual Assistant ChickI started going through some of the coaching material that I purchased in 2010, and began reworking some of the assignments in my home study system today.  Boy am I glad that I did!  Things that I thought that I had already done in my business had drastically changed in this past year.  My ideal client, my “benefits”, my USP.  Just about everything.  My business has taken quite a few twists and turns since I opened my doors in 2007!

My assignment was to create a series of statements that explain the benefits my clients receive when working with me.  Here are my top 5:

  1. A lot of our clients feel that they are able to take on more listings after trying out our Listing Coordination services.  We are able to automate a large part of the process and reach a very wide online audience with our Internet Marketing and Social Media expertise.
  2. 2.   On that same note, our clients are also able to work with more buyers.  Not having to worry about listings or paperwork frees up a lot of time for other more important things – like working with people who want to buy houses!
  3. 3.  Agents that aren’t rushing around and are confident in themselves and their support system are much more “Client Attractive” than other “busier” agents.  Don’t be busy, be profitable!
  4. In 2011, my role within my company is changing.  I’ll be taking on more of a Strategist/Consultant position, helping put actual systems in place for my clients that will be carried out by my team.  I’m very excited!
  5. As always, I really want to be the first and the last place an agent will go for real estate: from idea to implement.

The 4 main ways I help people are right in line with the top 4 reasons people are motivated to buy:

  • To make more money
  • To save money
  • To save time
  • To avoid effort

What benefits do your clients receive when they work with you?  Why should they choose you over the next Realtor?

Virtual Tour Tip: Let The Client Narrate

My husband came across this amazing virtual tour today that included running commentary and stories about the home from the owner.  I loved it.  It was so nice to listen to the homeowner tell the stories of building the pools (yes, multiple), how there were no trees on the property, the amazing views.  All of these nice little details were told in such a way that I really felt connected to the home.  The fact that it’s also an 8.5 million dollar home with an ocean view helps as well.

The thing is, you don’t have to be selling million dollar homes to do this!  It doesn’t cost extra money – only what you pay your VA to get it online.  Don’t wait for a property that you feel is “worthy” of this kind of exposure – little homes need love too!  Clicking the picture will allow you to view the actual tour.

Let your client narrate the virtual tour

Creating a QR Code in 7 Simple Steps

If you’re in the Real Estate industry, chances are you’ve been hearing about QR codes constantly.  They really are The Next Big Thing, but you may not know how to create one, read one or even know what to do with one.

These are the simplest instructions that I can give you to start creating and using your own QR code:

  1. Go to Goo.gl (I’m assuming you already have a google/gmail account.  If not, sign up already!)
  2. At the top you’ll see that it’s Google’s URL shortener, but it’s so much more than that!
  3. In the box, type in your website, a single property site, a YouTube video of a walkthrough, a welcome video – ANY web page that you’d like people to see.
  4. Click SHORTEN.  You’ll see that it generated a shortened URL for you.  
  5. Now go down a little further to where it says “Details” to the right of the URL you just added and click.
  6. This page will include all of traffic for the link, but it also has the QR Code that is now unique to that URL.  
  7. Now, simply right-click the QR code and choose Save As.  I have a folder titled QR Codes, and I simply save each code with the name of the web address that it points to.

And that’s it!  It really is that simple.

Now, to scan them.  Just go to your Smart Phone’s marketplace, search for QR Code and download a SCANNER.  Some are mobile creators, so make sure it scans.

That’s it!  There are tons of other QR Code creating sites such as Vyoo.it and Real Bird, but this process is designed to get you up and running quickly!

What are your favorite mobile sites?