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south of the borderOn a recent trip south on I-95, I came upon those familiar billboards that begin in North Carolina.  You know the ones I mean…the sombreros, Pedro and the excitement they build as you get closer and closer to South of the Border in South Carolina.  Many are the same signs I remember as a child as the family headed down to Florida in the station wagon.

South of the Border has been beckoning tourists in the same manner for 6 decades.  You won’t find them on Twitter.  You won’t see Pedro offering his forecast of “Cold Today, Hot Tamale” in any vacation guides.  They don’t have a Facebook page.  Their website is more about information than a sales pitch to come visit.

South of the Border has been sticking with what works for them for over 60 years.  But, does it really work?  The place is a tired looking side show with cheesy t-shirt shops and empty buildings.  Yes, I did I personal visit to see what has changed…and what has not.

Seems someone at SOTB is trying to modernize.  There’s IS a website.  They even have a blog (though there are very few entries and it hasn’t been updated in over a month).  But, what if they REALLY modernized?

  • SOTB has a Foundation that directly supports the local community.  Did you know that?  Probably not and you won’t see it on any of their billboards either (WHY?)
  • SOTB advertises their Motor Inn featuring jacuzzi’s in the rooms.  Seriously?  The image that puts in my head is not a comfortable, quality night of sleep.  It’s time to contract that puppy out to Marriott and let consumers book their rooms online!
  • SOTB has been a mainstay along 301 (and I-95) for over half a century.  The history of the place is actually, quite interesting.  Where is the museum to share this with the world?
  • Engage the car traffic with those billboards!  ”Text “PEDRO” to “quatro, uno, tres” for a special offer”
  • Get a Facebook page!  After all, it’s FREE!  Consumers have already created a Facebook group – they want to engage with SOTB and you should listen to them!

Tried and true marketing efforts can still work; but must be modernized to avoid becoming tired marketing efforts.

Thank you to Brad Andersohn for putting this great presentation together!

more about “Top 40 Resources For Information & Ed…“, posted with vodpod

 

There.  I said it.  Every year, the same real estate agent sends me a tacky “junk up your refrigerator” calendar magnet.  Every year, I throw it away.  I’ve never even had a conversation with this person.  If she actually knew me, she would know that I am also an agent and sending me her calendar is a complete waste of time and money.  To top it off, I also get calendars from my doctor, a few title companies, some mortgage lenders and a financial advisor I’ve never met.  I don’t want them – they are of absolutely no use to me.

I haven’t used a paper calendar in years.  Most people I know use a calendar on their computer, smart phone, etc.  Send them a paper calender?  You may as well send them rabbit ears for their TV….totally useless.

If you MUST send something to your SOI for the holiday season, wolkia has a few tips and suggestions:

1.  only send stuff to people you know – they’re less likely to toss it

2.  try something different and something that doesn’t have your mug plastered all over it – like some cool Moo Mini Cards made into gift tags

3.  how about a note telling them on a certain day, you will be collecting used coats for a “Coats for Kids” program or the like?  you will be helping the community plus maybe even getting face to face contact!

4.  even better…”On Saturday, December 5th, I will be sorting food at the food bank with my family.  Please come join us..I will be treating everyone to lunch afterward”

5.  whatever you do, make it about someone besides yourself.  you may just be thrilled with the results!

 

Educating Real Estate Agents On How To Use Modern Technologies To Better Their Business Will Never Be The Same!

On November 17th, 2009 dozens of the most respected educators in the real estate industry converge to host the first of its kind, Virtual Real Estate BarCamp.

Virtual Real Estate BarCamp is a 1-Day Learning Extravaganza.
From 9am until 4pm PST, three concurrent webinar “rooms” will each host 9 different sessions, for a total of 27 different presentations.
There is something for everyone and everything for someone, and best of all, IT IS FREE and attendance is unlimited!

Click below to:
Register.
Learn more.
See who is coming.
Check out the Session Calendar.
Get sponsorship info.

Attendance is projected to be at least 1000 agents, nationwide.
Do not miss out on being part of this ground-breaking event.

Session topics include:

  1. Social Media Risk Management
  2. Flickr for Real Estate
  3. Developing Your Brand
  4. Online Advertising Secrets
  5. Facebook for Real Estate
  6. WordPress Training
  7. Daily Goal Tracking
  8. Starting a Real Estate Blog

…and much more, with new sessions being added every day.

And if that wasn\’t cool enough, individuals from around the country are volunteering to host In-Real-Life MeetUps for after the event.
Learn all day, and then meet to have a beer with local participants. This is going to be a blast!

We hope to see you there!

open house signWould you plan a party and not invite anyone?  Of course not!  The same holds true for open houses.  Having an open house without planning and advertising is a waste of time.  Here are 15 websites where you can advertise your open house effectively and for FREE!

1.  Trulia.com

2.  Zillow.com

3.  Zipvo.com

4.  Realbird.com

5.  Iwantanoffer.com

6.  Craigslist.com

7.  Kijiji.com

8.  Backpage.com

9.  Findmyroof.com

10.  Seealllistings.com

11.  Facebook (on your business page)

12.  Your Company’s website

13.  Listingvue.com

14.  Houselist.com

15.  Onlyopenhouses.com

more about “Google Reader in Plain English“, posted with vodpod
RE Bar Camp Lynchburg

Photo courtesy of jsheehan on Flickr

Today, at RE Bar Camp Lynchburg, Matt Wilkins led a group discussion regarding the future of the real estate brokerage. Jim Duncan asked the question, “What will a brokerage look like 5 years from now?”. No one seemed to be able to nail down an answer.

After putting a lot of thought into Jim’s question on my drive home, I realized that the brokerage of 2014 will be determined by the changes a brokerage starts putting into place today. So, what does the real estate agent of today want their brokerage to look like in 5 years? Here are my thoughts:

Dear Real Estate Broker,

I’m your real estate agent of the future. I am a full time agent and plan to be around for a while. Real estate is not a passing fancy for me; it is a career from which I make a living. I am a lot more than a walking lockbox key, I am a student of my trade and am constantly looking for education and training to help me bring value to my transactions with consumers.

I don’t need, nor want, your brick and mortar office. Your “cost of carpet” for me is very low as I have no need for desk space, your computers, office equipment, and secretaries. I can work very efficiently from my home office, Panera, the local coffee shop, or wherever else I choose to do business on any given day. I can conduct an entire real estate transaction from my mobile phone.  In some cases, I may never even meet my clients face to face.

The MLS is no longer controlled by the Brokers. It is an open source, searchable database filled with rich content available to all consumers. My value as an agent is being able to interpret this enormous amount of information to help guide consumers through this important financial transaction. Consumers engage with me online and learn to value my role as a trusted advisor.  I haven’t mailed out a postcard, run a newspaper ad or made a cold call in almost 7 years!

You’re not going to see me very often in person; however, I want you to keep tabs on me. I want to know that you care about the business I’m bringing into your brokerage and also about me, the agent. Please read and comment on my blogs, message me on social networking sites, let me know you’re there. Let’s have office meetings or events, but please don’t make it a numbers game. I really don’t care that Susie Q is the top sales agent for the 6th month in a row or that we gave 14 referrals to your affiliated mortgage company. Teach me something instead. Give my brain some fresh new real estate material. Stay on top of the latest and greatest happenings in the real estate world and share that with me.

You have a great website; one that I could never afford to create or maintain. You spend a tremendous amount of money on search engine placement and online promotion. Fortunately, you have tripled the size of your technology department and now have a social media/social marketing department. Thank you for finally realizing that your real estate experts (aka your agents) should be actively participating on the brokerage’s website. By doing this, you now have more (free) content on the site, more traffic, and agents actively engaging with consumers under your watchful eye on the company website.

It’s great that you saw quality is better in the long run than quantity and stopped hiring anyone with a pulse and a real estate license. In order for consumers to trust us as a profession, we need to set higher standards for ourselves. I understand you are now recruiting agents who are recent graduates of the real estate program at the local university. The draw+commission format of compensation must be attracting them along with employee status and benefits.

We’ve come along way in just 5 years. I can’t wait to see what the next 5 have to offer! I plan to be around and hope you will too.

Did you know it is a violation of Facebook’s Terms of Service to promote your business on your personal profile page?  Did you know this violation can get you BANNED from Facebook?

Facebook Site Governance: Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (updated 8/11/09)

Section 4, Point 2 states “You will not use your personal profile for your own commercial gain.

Facebook Fan Pages (which are really Business Pages) are the correct way to promote your business the the fastest growing online community in the world.

One of my favorite people in the RE.net world, Mike Mueller, operates a wonderful website AreWeConnected.com.  He also creates engaging, creative Facebook business pages for a very affordable price.  In addition to just creating the pages, Mike includes online tutorials to help you get the most out of your Facebook business experience.

Click here to see a Flickr slideshow of pages Mike has created.

Here are 4 reasons why your business needs a FB page.

  1. Pages allow a business to “Publish to the Stream” (this shows up on your fans homepage)
  2. Pages allow a business to engage fans with Rich Media (video, pictures, events)
  3. Pages let a business analyze how fans are interacting with the Insights Dashboard (deep analytics)
  4. Pages let a business increase SEO (pages show up in higher Google keyword searches)

paneraI’ll admit it, I’ve always been an office junkie.  I’d enjoy going into the office to work.  I liked the brick and mortar and carpet.  I liked the discipline it provided to me and the idea that office=work, home=no work.

Since moving, however, I have stayed away from the office.  My husband helped me set up a nice home office which I love.  The light is great, I can open the windows and enjoy the mountain air…..it’s a great space.  But…I need socialization.  It gives me ideas, fuels my brain with new thoughts; observation can be a great educator.  Best of all, I get more work done, with less interruption.

Now, I find myself working where many of my home office cohorts seem to be congregating.  Have laptop and wi-fi, will travel.  Panera, the local coffee shops, a corner in the pizza place, outside by the Duck Pond.  Next Monday, I’ll be helping out at the local YMCA and will probably take a break on the floor in the corner to work for a few hours.

Now to think about:  agent A comes into ABC Realty and takes office space, uses the office equipment, passes out her office phone and fax numbers, parks in the office parking lot, etc.  Agent B hangs her license with the Broker and is only seen or heard from at office meetings.  She uses little to no office resources.  Agents A and B have the same sales volume.  Should they be offered the same commission structure/split?  Should there be an additional charge for the “cost of carpet” an agent utilizes?

Another way of putting it:  should agents who utilize the brick and mortar system get paid less than those who don’t?

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