maze of technology presentation

Online Presence Lead Generation Client Development Closed Deals

www.realprosystems.com © 2008 Real Pro Systems

Navigating the

Maze of Online

Technology

Caine O’Brien

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Why We’re Here

The Internet is the businessMany agents, tomorrow’s Stars, are confusedThe maze of tools, claims, and counterclaims is overwhelming


Search Engine Optimization!

Stealth websites!

Blogs!

Drip Email!

Web domains!!

Vendors’ claims!

Pay per Click!

Custom site?

Lead Generation!

Online Showing Feedback!Lead Management!

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Goals of this Presentation

Start with the basics, then buildHelp you discern what matters and what doesn’tFilter the noise into actionable steps you can take

Disclaimer– Technical experts will find exceptions– Focus is on the rules, not the exceptions– We have limited time; this could be an all day class


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What do I do first?


Assuming you’ve chosen a brand/position/niche…

Website in your own domain (www.jimsmith.com)Email address in your own domain, branded stationery

• DON’T use a free email service! (Yahoo, Hotmail- nor AOL)• DON’T use a forwarder• Suggestion- GoDaddy.com ~$10 per year!

Business card has your web address and email addressBest if integrated with automated lead follow-up (discussed shortly)

EssentialFoundation

5www.realprosystems.com © 2007 Real Pro Systems

Which Web Presence Establishes You Better?

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Website: Things to Consider

Attractive brandingEasy to navigateFeatured properties

• Can you group them into categories?

• Attractive photo display

Easy to add your own content

• Bio page• Neighborhood pages• Links of interest

Designed to modern web standards (e.g. W3C)

• Findability- SEO• Flexibility,

customizability• Good user experience

(e.g. AJAX)

Lead capture• Smooth user experience• Properly placed forms

Listing syndicationOne website or more?


Website or system? Are you comparing apples to apples?

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Getting Web Traffic and Leads

Generating Leads Online: Web Traffic– Promote your website on every piece you print!

– Always include your web address in advertisements!• Promote a benefit: “Visit www.myaddress.com to see

more homes for sale” or “request your own customized home search”

– Search Engine Optimization (SEO) discussed later


http://www.myaddress.com/

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Advertising Examples


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Lead Capture and Automated Follow-up

Goal: Multiple touches per month of huge lead databaseAutomated lead follow-up and incubation

• Drip email (branded stationery)– Customizable campaign letters– Support for multiple campaigns, multiple groups of leads

• Newsletter• Whitelisted Vendor


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Why Incubating a Big Lead Database is Critical

Where will your business come from in the fall or next spring?

Incubation is effortless

You will get phone calls and emails out of the blue


“D” Leads

“C” Leads

“B” Leads

“A”

1 - 9 months or more

Web Leads

$$

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Generating More Leads: Stealth Websites


How much is my home worth?

Stealth Sites1 - 9 months or more

What homes for sale interest me?

Tire Kicker Prospect

“We needto talk!”

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Generating Stealth Site Leads


Agent-sponsoredStealth Sites

3. Pay Per Click (PPC)(Cost varies widely: $1.00 - $14.00)

1. Conventional Advertising(Can be very low-cost)

Newspaper Ads

Listing Flyers

2. Craigslist Ads

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Web Content Attracts Search Engines

Web content should be– Relevant– Preferably unique– Properly formatted (e.g. web standards)

Content can be web pages or informal blog content


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Examples of Unique and Relevant Web Content

Neighborhood pagesAgent Bio or team pages“Selling the area” pagesRelocation infoLifestyle contentIntegrated blog


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Search Engine Optimization

Games people play: Cat and mouse• SPAM the keywords• Mutual link exchange• Website vendor exchanges links for all clients• Note: Outbound links can actually hurt you

What do search engines look for?• Web site built to modern web standards• Relevant, unique, fresh content• Inbound links from other relevant sites/content

It can take months for changes to fully take effect


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Search Engine Optimization Myths/Caveats

Vendor X guarantees I’ll be on page 1 of Google for “$50 per month”

You can’t get good search engine placement with a template website

A custom website ($$) will always be better for search engine placement than a basic site

If I’m on page 1 of Google my business will ignite


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Search Engine Secrets for Success

Pick a lane! What is your business about?

What is your website about?– condossinglefamilyhomesduplexesinvestmentpropertieslots

newconstructionruralacreagehorsepropertycattlepropertyprefectgardeningsuburbanbestschoolsneighborhoodsandanythingelseIcanthinkof

Pick a term, any term! Focus is key!– Where do you do 80% of your business?

• Want a second (main) term? Get a second website!• Utilize that term consistently throughout the site


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Blogging to Add Content

Why blog?– Attract search engine

traffic– Better establish who you

are, brand– Show your personal side– Sell the area

Example: Integrated blog


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Get Listings Sold with Online Showing Feedback

If your seller wants to sell, they’ll do what the market saysHow do you get sellers to hear the market?OSF simplifies discussions and negotiations with sellers


20www.realprosystems.com © 2007 Real Pro Systems

Online Showing Feedback Sells Homes1. Listing Agent

Requests Feedback2. Email Request Goes

To Showing Agent3. Showing Agent FollowsLink and Completes Report

4. Report for SellerSummarizes Results

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Advanced Strategies


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Search Engine Paid Placement Advertising

Google, MSN, Yahoo are usually the main targets“Search term auction”– Area determines popularity– Pay by the click– Prices vary month to month


Main WebsiteStealth Website

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Paid Placement Advertising: DIY or Service?

Alternative: Some vendors offer a managed service where they collect a % fee out of your ad budget


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Search Engine Optimization Paid Service

Manually review and optimize site implementation– Optimize page titles, metatags, keywords, meta

descriptions navigation, etc.– Usually requires new pages of content– Can make a huge difference in visibility and findability

Caveats– If you’re not sure what to do, use a service– Some services charge a lot for really simple and basic

things– You shouldn’t try to put a Ferrarri engine in a

Volkswagen


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Blogging and Social Networking for More Traffic

MySpace, Active Rain, Facebook, etc.


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What do I do next?


EssentialFoundation

Capture LeadsIncubate Leads

Increase

Web Traffic and

Lead Generation

AdvancedStrategies

Paid SE Optimization

Search Engine Paid Placement

Ads

Online Showing Feedback

Web Content, Integrated Blog

Stealth Website Lead Generation

Website Lead

Capture

Monthly e-

Newsletter

Automated

Email

Lead

Follow-up

Your Own Website in Your Own Domain Name Your Own Email Address at Your Own Domain Web Address and Email Address on Your Business Card

Close Deals

27

Agent Systems from Real Pro Systems


Real Pro Silver Real Pro Gold

Upgradewhenyou’reready

28

Conclusion

What business problem are you trying to solve?– Online presence/web traffic?– Lead generation?

Choose solutions that solve your business problems

Technology is nice, as far as it goes

Don’t ignore the obvious while chasing the trendy


maze of technology presentation

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