Archives

Have you seen this?

Do you know you can customize it and make it USEFUL?? Like this?

IGoogle would be your internet HomePage – what you go to when you first log in AND it can be customized making it very very useful. IGoogle has gadgets and widgets.

My IGoogle as feeds from Realtor.com, my Twitter and Facebook accounts, weather icons for all my clients all over the United States along with their newspaper feeds (so I know what’s going on there). I also include feeds from Seth Godin, Jeffrey Gitomer, Wall Street Journal/Real Estate, and Google Translator. It’s pretty easy to set up and customize. Many of the feeds are already geared to be on your IGoogle account with their rss feeds – will ask if you want on Igoogle or Google Reader – I like them on my Igoogle so I can breeze through them at a glance.

What you can do with you IGoogle homepage is endless. Definitely put it in your tool box!

I was listening to Jeffrey Gitomer’s webinar on the Ace of Sales yesterday. He asked, “Have you Googled yourself?”

I Google myself and Google myself quite often to make sure I’m still there. I Google my www.BildaBetterBusiness.com and my “Bild a Better Business” name and my personal name. Try it, does yours come up?

I thought I would check out the web presence of several agents randomly throughout the country. I went to sites potential clients would use and acted like Janet Doe off the street. Realtor.com has done so much marketing, so I started my search there. Finding a Realtor(r) is not an easy feat on that site to begin with – it’s all about the property (and that’s good), but the “Find Realtor” link is there. I filled in state and started randomly looking. Wow – Almost no one has their information on that sight. No picture – just a grayed out no picture picture, no bio …. just basic (b-a-s-i-c) information. The Realtor Association has spent so much money marketing and it’s free for you to use! How would a person who wants to buy that perfect home you have listed chose you over the next agent who also doesn’t have their information? You all look the same.

You need to be found and you need to stand out.

I clicked their website link. The link went directly to their company site. I went a bit further and clicked “Agents” to see if I could locate them there. After scrolling and scrolling and scrolling, I finally found the agent. The information listed? Some bland generic bio. Blah blah blah.

I took this a step further thinking, “well, they just aren’t on Realtor.com” and Googled them. They were on a few obscure sites, but not their business web site – not their company website. However, I did find them on Facebook. Clicked there and low and behold – their personal wall was completely open and they were posting about the party from Saturday night. Not a pretty site – especially when this may be what a potential client may stumble upon.

I couldn’t find them on Linked-In, Twitter or You-Tube. (Yes, You-Tube may be used to promote your image and your real estate business and not just funny videos.)

This agent was very hard to find. If I was a potential client, I wouldn’t have made it past Realtor.com with the grayed out non-photo photo. This was NOT an isolated agent. Basically, it was the rule, not the exception.

You NEED to be out there!! You need your own website in addition to your company website. You need to have your website optimized. You also need a business Facebook page in addition to your personal Facebook page AND KEEP THE TWO SEPARATE! Sign up for Linked-In and Twitter. The best thing about these social media sites -they are all FREE! Start following and start making comments. You WILL start showing up. You will be easier to find.

If you have questions about Social Media, call me. I will walk you through how to make your Business Facebook page, get Linked-In or Facebook. Or, let me know when you have gotten signed up and I’ll “Like it”, link to it and I’ll be your “Friend”.

However, before you start anything, go to Realtor.com and fill out your profile.

I don’t know about you, but I get so many soliciting phone calls (and spam) from companies offering websites and front page placement on Google. Yesterday, I received one proposing for a minimum of $225 per month I would be “guaranteed front page placement on Google” by “a bona fide certified Google specialist”. Well, doesn’t that sound all official and everything? Pretty flashy, but that’s a lot of advertising budget dollars per month! Is this worth it to me? Would it be worth it to you?

I certainly believe in internet marketing and Google. I love Google – Google is taking over the world. I “google” every day to find everything. Is it worth paying for ads or placements? The word on the street (or in the “clouds”) is “Organic” Search Engine Optimization. Google engines are searching “organic” optimization (key words or phrases actually written into your site’s script) as a priority above clicks or ads. Who knew?  A savvy web designer who does specialize in organic search engine optimization will benefit your website MORE than paying anything monthly – clicks or “certified specialist”.

A website designer would do a complete and thorough keyword and phrase search for key text. This text would be inserted on your site. Additionally, you need to keep your content fresh for the search engines to find you – How? Blog Blog Blog and updating your content on your homepage. PLUS, your real estate listings need to on separate pages and not just listed through the MLS search engines.  WHEW!

As a side note: Before you can optimize your site with great content, you need your OWN website. It can be in addition to your company’s website.  But you need your own. How are your prospects going to find you when your domain name is www.YourComanies’Name.com/yourname? Worse yet, I have seen where instead of the agent’s name, there was a number! How in the world can Google, Yahoo, Bing or any other search engine possible find you??  If your company is providing a page on their site, that’s great and use it. But have your own built. Your clients deserve it.

When you are looking to have a site built there are many companies/designers and they all want your dollars promising you EVERYTHING.

Some companies have the same SEO for 500 agents. HUH? How can you compete with 500 companies then?

There are companies which have templates and your site looks MARVELOUS, (It really does); but if isn’t optimized and working for you, it’s not working.

Some companies have you purchase many many domain names to point to your site. That is a sign of a lazy designer and like having a hundred fishing poles in a pond with no bait.

What can you do? How do you know? Call me for a free (no strings attached) web site/building consultation. I don’t build sites – don’t like it. I like helping to design and maintain them, but don’t like to build them. HOWEVER, I do know what you should know when talking to site designers and even have some suggestions to help you “Bild” the best site for your Business.

So much technology and so little time! Don’t waste your time building it yourself or have your teenager build your site or waste your money on a company who cranks out the same site for everyone for an enormous fee. Hire a professional web designer and have it done right. You’ll pay for site building only and not for ads or placements.