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Wednesday, 17 April, 2024
writing-a-blog

Twelve Steps to Writing a Great Real Estate Blog

writing-a-blogIf you are having problems regarding blogging, you may be considering giving up. While walking away from blogging may seem easy to do, you need to continue blogging so you can improve website traffic and gain leads who will trust your skills. You can then convert those leads into paying customers. So, to sum it up, you have to blog if you want to improve business.

According to the 2015 report of the National Association of Realtors’ Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends, about 12% of home buyers said that they looked online to get the information they wanted about the home buying process before they made any other moves. When it came to millennials, that figure increased to 17%.

About 70% of consumers indicate that they like getting to know a company by reading articles and information rather than through advertising. The top real estate agents ensure that their real estate blogs are given the number one priority for making their online presence stronger.

Still not convinced that blogging is for you? Check out our article Real Estate Blogging – Why You Should Do It.

Instead of thinking of blogging as a life-altering trek up a mountain. Instead, think of it as a beneficial adventure. Here we will give you a guide on how to write effective real estate blog posts in a simple way that will help you create a compelling website. When you go about blog posts the right way, you can benefit greatly from them.

Step 1

Organising your realty blogs in an efficient and effective manner. You need to organise your blogs so people will be interested. There are two basic approaches to this. You write about what you are about or what your clients and leads care about. You can address both these things in a single post when done properly.

Step 2

You need to properly focus your post. Make it unique, and if you have used the topic before you can hyper-focus on specific areas. Use a title that will spark interest and draw in readers as well.

Step 3

Make sure the goal of your post is well-established and understood so those visiting your website will know what to expect. Be able to fill in the blank when you ask what your readers will be able to know or do at the end of the post. Struggling to come up with blogging content ideas? Read our 20 Time Save Real Estate Blog Topic Ideas.

Step 4

Ask yourself what and how much you really know about a given topic. Choose subjects with which you are familiar because you want to show off your skills and talents. Give readers a glimpse of your expertise. Providing your readers with value is important, so give our article on How to Provide Value On Your Real Estate Blog a read.

Step 5

Consider if you need to do additional research. Is it necessary for you to learn more about a topic so you are better prepared to write about it?

Step 6

After you have properly prepared yourself to write the post and you have done adequate research, you need to decide what information you are wanting to bring into the post.

Step 7

Now you have the topic decided and you have determined what information you want to include in the post, you should clearly establish what you want to use as the main points in your article.

Step 8

At this point, you are trying to determine what is the perfect length for your blog post. There is not a cookie cutter approach for blog posts, so you should write enough to be helpful but not go overboard to make it too exhausting to read. Not sure what the perfect length is? Take a look at our post on The Right Size Blog Posts for Content Market Purposes.

Step 9

Keywords! That word can be dreaded sometimes. If you are going to write a blog post you need to use the right keywords so people can find your post. Keywords should be relevant to the given topic, focus on short-tail and long-tail terms relating to the subject, and choose words with a significant search volume so you know users will be searching for it.

Step 10

Include visuals. Visuals make a blog post more attractive and more appealing. Choose a cover image for the top of the post and to show up predominantly on social media. You may want to include videos, diagrams, infographics, and body images. Selecting the right image for your blog posts is important so don’t forget to check out our help guide on How to Select the Right Social Media Images for Your Content.

Step 11

Determine if your post will include a downloadable resource like a buyer’s guide, moving checklist, guide for sellers, or something helpful like that. A freebie will increase blog engagement and get visitors coming back time and time again.

Step 12

Don’t finalise your post title until after you have completed everything else. That way, you will have the perfect title that will catch interest. Use an eye-catching title, include a keyword, and speak directly to your targeted audience.

Do You Really Have to Blog? Let’s Talk About Blogging and the Effect it has on Your Business.

Now you have everything in order and your blog post is complete, go over it to see what needs to be tweaked or rewritten. Spend the needed extra time to make your post stand out and generate more traffic. When it comes to a blog post, you want it to be as close to perfect as possible. This could be the first impression some people get of you.

Check out our blog for more helpful tips and information. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

iPropertyNewWebsite-01

New G.J McDonald & Co Website

iPropertyNewWebsite-01G.J McDonald & Co originally had their website provided by realestate.com.au, but due to REA ceasing this product offering. G.J McDonald & Co required a new website, that offered far more functionally than they had before, and one that would work on mobile devices. This is where the team at iDashboard stepped in, creating them a fantastic new website within a very short timeframe.

The new G.J McDonald & Co website is completely responsive; working on Desktops, Tablets and Smartphones allowing their staff and visitors to access any property any time.

The new interactive home page contains a great list of ‘must-have’ features, this includes:

  • Property Search Panel
  • Featured Property Gallery
  • Latest Listing on Home Page
  • Recent Testimonials
  • Market Appraisal Request Interactive Form
  • Latest Sold Properties
  • Latest News and Updates
  • Property Videos
  • Buyer and Renter Email Alerts Signup/Login

Along with this fantastic new home page, the website boasts a revamped property grid list view, property information pages, interactive forms and many more professionally designed features.

We wish the team at G.J McDonald & Co all the best with their new website and look forward to our ongoing relationship.

If you are looking for a new website, wether you are starting from scratch or want to upgrade to a modern responsive design, contact iDashboard today.

MC_macMC_ipad

Blog Length

The Right Size Blog Posts for Content Marketing Purposes

Blog LengthIf you are writing blog posts or updates for your organisation every week, you want to know what length is right for your posts so you can get the most interactions, views and likes from your audience.

When it comes to post length there are no specifications on what is ideal, but social media updates on the other hand, have been proven to show some post lengths work better than others.

As well as catering your post lengths for each social network, its key to provide value on your blog, so read our helpful article on how you can provide value on your real estate blog, remember its important to keep your content fresh and fun.

Here are a few tips for getting the most out of your post. Remember, interaction is the goal and with this advice, you can get more results.

Blog posts should have a headline consisting of 8 to 12 words and no more than 70 characters. According to research, articles that have titles with 8 words perform better and see a 21% higher click through rate. When sharing on Twitter, the goal is no more than 90 characters for the title itself, 25 characters for the link to the post and no more than 25 characters for an image.

The appropriate word count for your blog posts can vary, but the best blog posts take less than 7 minutes to read, so that is about 1,600 words or less. Updating your Facebook status should not involve any more than 40 characters, which optimises engagement.

Ideal length for a tweet is about 100 characters. Tweets ranging from 71 to 100 characters will see more retweets and interaction than posts that are shorter or longer. Then last, but not least, Instagram posts should only involve two to three lines of content for higher interaction rates.

We understand it can be hard to come up with content for your blog, so check out our blog post on 32 Engaging Real Estate Newsletter Content Ideas or our article on 20 Time Saving Real Estate Blog Topic Ideas.

Still not sure if blogging is for you, make sure you read our post on Real Estate Blogging – Why You Should Do It.

When you use this advice, you can maximise your content marketing presence when online.

social media policy

Writing Your Company’s Social Media Policy

social media policyIn today’s technologically advanced world, the workplace has changed. It emphasises fun, a relaxed environment and the desire to be laid back and cool. As businesses tend to move toward more casual atmospheres and less rigid structuring, the line between professional and personal conduct becomes thinner and thinner.

There are numerous benefits to a work environment that enables your employees to be themselves, there are certain boundaries that need to be set for any organisation. Creating a social media policy will actually benefit your employees much more than it will hinder them. It shouldn’t be painful or stressful to write such a policy, so here are some simple approaches to get your policy together and in use.

Why is a Social Media Policy Needed?

While social media is relatively new, many organisations may wonder why a policy is needed. Regardless of the size of your business, you need a social media policy to prevent a variety of issues. With an actual guide in place, employees can show their personalities without having to worry that what they are sharing for the world to see on social media could have a negative impact on your job or career.

Three main reasons to implement a social media policy:

  • Implementing a social media policy can help you protect the reputation of your company. It specifies what employees can post about your company on social networks.
  • Reduce the chance of confusion regarding legal issues and let errors be prevented by entrepreneurs and managers.
  • Increase brand awareness by having clear guidelines on how employees can use social media to help them attain business goals and advance in their careers. The policy should specify how employees can comment on social networks or blogs to boost brand awareness and increase website traffic.

After you have the ideas of why small businesses need social media policies to protect their organisation. Use this information to help you build your own policy.

Reason for a Social Media Policy

You need to think about the purpose of a social media policy. Why does your company need or want a social media policy and do you have previous experiences that can help you learn how to avoid these issues from repeating. Use this as a starting point and tackle these problems first.

Regulations and Rules

After you have come up with a clear purpose, you can start creating a social media policy. This policy should revolve around a set of guidelines and rules allowing personal input as needed. You will want to discuss how employees use personal social media and how your company uses its social media to promote the organisation.

Standard Guidelines

Build your policy on the top priorities and always realise there is room for changes as it will not be complete. New social media platforms are constantly being introduced, so you need to constantly adapt. Check out our Tips for Creating your Real Estate Agency Social Media Policy for more help on creating your standard guidelines.

Define the Roles

To be sure you don’t miscommunicate, define the roles within your organisation. When you have roles established before implementing the new policy, you alleviate potential problems.

Property Value

Four Ways to Show the Worth of a Piece of Property

Property ValueMany states have new underquoting reforms coming into effect, so agents may find themselves in a greater challenge and more stressed when it comes to determining an estimation for property value. If your property value estimation is not near the value the vendor is wanting, you could find your job jeopardised. However, if the estimation is too high, you could find yourself in an awkward spot with the vendor and the buyer both when the day for the auction arrives.

With our clear outline, we are giving you three options you can justify your property valuations effectively while also convincing both vendors and buyers of the property’s actual value.

Use the Data to Your Advantage

As an agent, one of the best tools you have is a lot of data. This data may have price listings for comparable properties, influential factors impacting the worth of property and more. You will have to explain this data in complete detail to both buyers and vendors in an understandable way so there is no misrepresentation.

For example, if a property that neighbours the property in question sold for a specific price and your vendor believes he or she can get more, you should draw the relative size comparison and covenants and make sure it is being compared accurately for a fair estimation of value. There are several websites that are valuable tools for showing sales data and statistics to clients so you can help substantiate your property valuation, such as onthehouse.com.au, Property Value and Your Investment Property.

Highlight the Best Assets of the Property to Draw Interest

Every property has its own best assets. Market interest is important in revealing a property’s true value. You can achieve market value by having more than one buyer. This will allow them to compete for the purchase outbidding each other. The market price is set when one person bails out after the other sets the price at an amount they view as too high for the maximum worth.

Two or more bidders who are highly motivated are needed to help you achieve market value. The home needs to have its kerb appeal, be tidy and clean, well marketed and staged to perfection to garner interest. Jot down three features unique to this property during your first inspection so you can share them with interested parties. These features may be the proximity to stores or schools, recent renovations or state of the art kitchen appliances. To drum up the highest level of interest, mention these items in your sales pitch at inspections.

Convenience is Important

Traffic problems are worsening, so living near schools, shopping, amenities and public transport system will help boost a particular property up higher on a homebuyer’s wish list. If a listing is near desired things, include that into the property’s valuation in regards to what the added convenience will worth in the daily activities of a potential homebuyer.

When determining the valuation to establish an asking price, make sure vendors are shown the walkability. Show them the walkability report and the given address’s walk score from walkscore.com. Walk Score has up to a rating of 100, which means 100 is a walker’s paradise because of easy accessibility to the close amenities.

State the Facts, Don’t Let Emotion Step in the Way

Unfortunately, many people can’t understand the value of property because they let their emotions and sentimental value to their home or property. They think the work they did themselves is much more than it would cost if you had paid to outsource it.

Be straightforward and honest in your explanations, if any work was outsourced you need to clarify that and the costs that were put into the project if it is added to the sale price of the value. You want to make sure the reasonable and best price is set for the property, regardless of the memories that you made there. Your emotions have to be kept out of the valuation.

Check out our blog for more helpful tips and information. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

 

crawl-walk-run

The Three Stages of Social Selling Program Implementation

crawl-walk-runA newer but popular term, social selling is more popular now than ever. While the term is well-known, few people may comprehend what it actually requires to implement a social media program for an organisation. This kind of program is about using social media to develop or to even nurture relationships while seeing a potential to convert those relationships into sales. With an effective framework, and a lot of effort, you can create a social sales plan that will be effective for your organisation.

Take the First Step

You need to establish a baseline but you can only do that after first understanding where your organisation sets today. Your first step will involve talking with your sales reps to see how they employ social media in their current jobs. Themes will begin to surface, helping you build a baseline. Sometimes you may have a rep say that they have been successful using social media to get sales opportunities.

You need to talk to the department leadership and get them enlisted with your plan. This includes management and supervisors from sales, sales enablement or training, security and compliance, digital marketing, sales operations, web analytics and so forth. You will then have the information to see where your organisation stands, and if you are in the crawl, walk or run phase.

Crawl

Not yet comfortable using social media, you need to assess profiles on LinkedIn, look for your organisation in Twitter biographies and scan social media. You need to first see credible and attractive profiles for your sales team on those two social media outlets. Click here to read our 5 Tips to Spring Clean Your Online Real Estate Marketing.

Having a well written bio is important, so make sure you check out our 10 Must-Read Tips for Writing Great Social Media Bios. Each social network is different, and what consumers expect to see on each network is not the same accross the board, so make sure you have read our article on how to customise your bio for each social platform.

Walk

Graduation to the walk stage is permitted after your employees look credible online and regularly post content. They should also connect with their contacts throughout different social networks. You need to make sure they have relevant and approved content regarding your company to share, set up streams to monitor your company and its competitors online, teach them to engage with contacts on a regular basis and help them simplify their daily management tasks. If you’re still wondering if you should get into blogging, check out our reasons why.

Also make sure that you have read our 21 Social Media Tips for Successful Real Estate Agents, for even more helpful information.

Run

You have made it if you are sharing a great deal of content on social media, engaging in conversation and scheduling appointments with online contacts. In this stage, you should ask reps to start tracking social interactions, share the successes of social sellers internally, show how to transform online relationships into solid sales and introduce the team to additional tools to benefit them.

Now that your are up and running, make sure you check out our helpful article on Social Proofing and our Tips on Mastering the Top Social Networks.

Contact

How You Can Stay in Contact with Former Clients

ContactUnfortunately, past clients are untapped and go neglected in the untapped by many real estate agents. Many of your former clients will need a real estate agent anywhere from two to five more times during their lives, depending upon where your former clients are during their current stage in life. Those figures may even be more conservative than normal if those clients are renting for the first time or they are investors.

Potential clients may go online to check out your profile. They will look for all the information they can find, such as reviews and statistics. You should be a shoe-in with your former customers because they already know you and how you work. If you provided them with a positive experience, it won’t be too difficult to reel them in as clients again.

The better agents will establish strong relationships with their clients and hold on to those relationships for the long-term. Keeping contact with your former clients should be included in your yearly marketing plan. We emphasise ‘marketing plan’ so you don’t just send them spammy emails or useless flyers, but information that will be of value.

Make any contact valuable and meaningful. Here are four ways to keep in touch that add value when sending them information or marketing emails.

Use referrals to touch base with them

Getting a referral from a former client gives you the great opportunity to reach out. As soon as your former client is mentioned by a referral, you need to send a thank you message or call to them for sending you more business.

When you send that message or make that call, you should give your former client valuable information. Also gather some information from your client to see if there is reason for future contact. If they are interested in their home’s value, you can give them updates about properties that have sold recently in their area. Ask some open-ended questions regarding their property, job or family. If they indicate that they may be renovating or expanding, take the time to refer them to a contractor.

If the new referral does use you for services, such as buying or selling, you should send a small thank you gift to the former client such as a flowers or a bottle of wine. Seeing your appreciativeness and professionalism may encourage them to send more referrals your way.

Check out our blog article on How to Ask a Real Estate Client for a Great Testimonial for more information.

Updates with new listings and just sold properties

Send out postcards or emails with new listings or just sold properties to your former clients. Those who had a pleasant experience with you and your services will be glad to see you are still active, successful and busy in the real estate industry. Keep up with addresses so you can include former clients who have mailed to new neighbourhoods. They may want to move back to your area or have someone to refer to you.

Newsletters

Emailing newsletters can be a great marketing tool. You need to consider a couple of things when including your former client list:

  • Consider the frequency. Don’t send it out too often.
  • Make sure there are things of value in there for former clients.

You want to have an even balance between sending out quality content and making sure it arrives at the right time. Don’t send out the newsletters more than once a month, but you should send it out at least once each quarter. Consider what you can manage and what is realistic.

Don’t brag about your sales or focus on self-promotion. Include about four informative articles that provide the readers with value. Before sending an email, put yourself in your former client’s situation and ask yourself if you would find it helpful. If it is not helpful, don’t send it.

Have a quarterly market update that includes data and property stats for your area, including bargain buys and record sales. People love finding out how much their neighbour got for their property and how property prices have changed during the last three months.

Be Thoughtful with Gifts

You can never go wrong when you send a card or a small a gift on the anniversary of a home purchase or their move-in date. When you are feeling generous, many of your former clients would appreciate the generosity of a gift being hand-delivered to their home, but remember there are those who do not appreciate an unannounced visit at home. Sending holiday cards is a great tool as well.

Not all of your former clients want to stay in contact and that is understandable. You will determine throughout time which clients enjoy the contact and what strategies work best. By keeping some former clients in your loop can help you as build your referral business and increase your odds of long-term success.

Outbound Calling

Strategies for Effective Outbound Calls

Outbound CallingIt is imperative to have a plan devised when making outbound calls and is more important than mapping out how to handle a company’s inbound calls. When receiving inbound calls, the individual on the other side of the line is already interested in what it is that you have to offer.   Since they already have an interest, they are more likely to want to hear what it is you have to say. Building a rapport with the person who called is important. Since they took the time to call, it is safe to assume they want to talk about products or services.

However, there are times when there are prospective cold callers and you have to be the one who makes the initiative. There are some effective ways to handle these calls so that you can eliminate any challenges and have better results when conducting outbound calls.

Don’t sound like a robot with a script.

Mix up what you have to say and talk to them conversationally. Variation with callers is more effective or otherwise the unwanted call might end with a hang up. Avoid any possible calls where you start out by saying, “Hello, sir. I have called today in order to discuss any property needs that you have and would like to talk to you about the services we offer.” When you make outbound calls, change up your approach and use call to action phrases and see which works best for you.

You may want to offer something that is valuable to them and offer an appraisal for free. Offer to keep them updated about the specifics regarding their home and the area’s market. Another way that a caller can be won over is to actually ask them for assistance because this helps to empower them. This gives the person that you have called the assumption that they may be more knowledgeable than you are. This is a top notch trick that can help build a stronger relationship with them.

Keep the caller on the line and try to keep track of time.

While you just need to get the phone call going when making outbound calls, you need to make sure that you engage the caller which helps them to also strengthen the foundation. When you are more personable and are genuinely interested in providing them with services, this can help stabilise the relationship for conducting business. Aim for a goal of keeping the caller on the line for at least three minutes. The more you talk and stay engaged, the more likely the conversation will continue and you can then mention what it is you’re offering.

Get rid of any anxieties.

Making outbound calls can make you fearful of rejection. They could get angry and tell you that your call is unwanted. Eliminate those fears and the chance that you could get hung up on. That is the only bad thing that can happen. For every person that tells you no, there are others who will be interested. Consider each call that you make a method of learning. Reflect on the call and see what you could have done better and the message that you want to convey. You will find ways that help you build a rapport sooner and keep the caller on the line to listen to what you have to say.

Just like everything else that may go wrong, any bad experience can be utilised as a learning experience. You can change up your approach and have much better results the next time. Do not let these thoughts, fears, and anxieties hinder you. Escape your comfort zone. There’s no need to assume that a call could go wrong and even if it does, acknowledge it, learn from it, and move on.

Try to have an engaging opener.

First impressions can count even on the phone. You need to be creative and compelling in your approach but still professional. Some people get tired of the same old phone calls that sound just alike. One thing you should note is to be professional in your mannerism on the phone and still call them Mr. or Ms. By using this tip, you are initially demonstrating that you are respectful and are polite and it is a compliment to the person on the other end. You can try different techniques and change up how you start your phone call off. Gauge how this works for you and how the person on the phone reacts to your greeting.

Acknowledge that their time is valuable but so is your call.

Express to the caller that you intend to be brief. Do not necessarily lead the person on the phone to think that you are not wanting to take up their valuable time because the conversation you are having is important to you. You want to make it seem as though your time is equally valuable. You made an effort to call and you want them to listen.

After your opening line, say something similar to, “I appreciate you for taking my call and I will be brief but I would like to discuss with you…”and then carry on with the main message of your conversation and what points and benefits you made the call about in the first place.

Have a goal for each call you make.

Always ask a person if they are interested in hearing what you have to say or maybe even ask them after you have given them a brief rundown of your key points. If the person says no, then so be it. However, the key to successful outbound calls is to have an itinerary planned out of the key objectives you wish to achieve on phone call. Actually write down each item that you wish to discuss.

When you make a call, let the person know who you are and what you do. Tell them your key point message and all of the important things you have listed. Let them know what you know about the market and any services you are offering. Keep in mind that the end goal here that will help make this a successful outbound call is obtaining an email address. If you get their email, you will be able to send them updates about homes, the market and other information.

For every call, think about what your goals could be.

  • Getting their email address
  • Getting them to subscribe to the company mailing list
  • To discuss all of the services that you have to offer
  • To provide an appraisal for free
  • To start your search for a home

These are just a few main strategies that have been proven effective for making outbound calls. They are a way to get a caller’s attention and start networking and laying a foundation for a relationship in hopes that they will become a potential customer. This also helps you to build the company brand but also helps you to enter other parts of the market that you haven’t otherwise been able to. You want to stand out from other agents who are also in the same market and the key of doing that is to building that relationship.

Check out our blog for more helpful tips and information. You can also follow us on Facebook.

At iProperty, we provide leading online property management and real estate software,  responsive websites, and more.

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