I had the privilege recently of participating in a discussion lead by Dustin Luther at Inman Connect NYC that exceeded my expectations.  The topic was Web analytics – which I thought would have a high propensity to be exceedingly boring to the brave few who might wander in, perhaps because they had nothing better to do at that time.

I won’t reiterate the whole discussion here other than the part which I found most promising: that the room was mostly full of agents, and that these agents were already well past the point of knowing what Web analytics are and why having a basic understanding of your traffic matters, and even how to assess it.  Instead, we were able to move right to the practical application of “online intel” to the business goals of a producing and not necessarily very technology-savvy real estate agent.

Let’s start with a basic truism: most consumers online are not looking to buy or sell.  Statistically speaking, they couldn’t possibly be.  Look at this comparison of the number of sides nationwide each month in 2008 (in red) to the number of people cruising real estate information online during the same period (in blue):

Now think about your own business practice.  Do you only deal with clients who are in the market now?  This is not a trick question: one legitimate answer is, “Yes, I don’t want to waste my time with someone who’s not serious right now.”  You still probably have visitors on your Web site who do not fall into this category.  You may be buying ads on property aggregator sites (like Cyberhomes) which expose you even more to this segment of the audience.  Why are you doing that to yourself?

Read the full story

With the end of 2008 quickly approaching, I’m reminded it’s time for making New Year’s resolutions.  Each year we have an opportunity to look back and at our lives and see what, if anything, we would do different in the coming year.  I have a hunch that many real estate professionals may be thinking about the changing marketplace; and how to adapt their business accordingly. With that in mind, I thought I’d share 5 “Social” New Year’s resolution suggestions:

1. Include Social Media In Your Marketing Plan
Hopefully each year you take the time to create a marketing plan for your business…in 2009 try adding a social media spin!  Develop new ideas using new mediums…track the results and see what works.  This isn’t going to be the same for everyone, and you should always start with your goals and interests in mind.  Some real estate agents will use social media to monitor their brand, others to connect with past customers.

2. Don’t Use the Hard Sell Online
New users of social media may be overtaken by the frequent access to new contacts.  Even mistaking a new social network friend as a sales lead.  Instead focus on providing value, possibly offering solutions to the problems your audience is facing. But remember it’s important to be the same person you are online that you are offline.  You will be judged by your actions and friends, just like in the offline world.
Read the full story

When we need more information about a person or business, we regularly turn to search engines. As a business owner, do you know the results being displayed on a search of your name? Is there a chance one of your past clients may have said something negative that shows up in a very visible spot on the Internet? If you knew it was there… you could respond?

Today’s video post will cover a technique that involves saving the RSS feed from search results on sites like Google Blog Search, Technorati, Social Mention, Flickr, and Twitter. Then we can mash them together using Yahoo! Pipes. The result will be one RSS feed that you can review each day.

Read the full story