Real Estate Information Archive

I've had some great questions about Facebook business pages so I decided to write a quick FAQ. If you have other questions, please let me know and I'll update this post.  See other posts regarding Facebook Business page:
Why you need a Facebook business page.
Facebook business page examples and our setup process.

Can I use my existing Facebook account?
Yes, we are creating a separate page.

What if I already have a business page?
We can build over that page or create a new one.

Will my current "friends" and people that have already "liked" me see this page?

No, this page is for "new" likes and friends.

How can I get my current friends to see this new page?

1. Email an announcement or create a Facebook post that takes them directly to the new business page. This page can be found anytime on the left hand column of Facebook, under the link to your wall.

How can I see if people visit this page?

Facebook offers page statistics  with what they call "Insights".  These powerful statistics display in a graph format and include "Page Overview", "User", and "Interactions".  How many people viewed your posts?  How many people "Liked" your posts, photos, or videos?  How many people have "Liked" or  "Commented" on those?  How many people "Liked" your page on a certain day.

This year we released a new VideoMail tool, called RPS video. This allows our clients to email You Tube videos in a blast message or add them to a drip email campaign. I've seen several great examples like video testimonials and listing presentations. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's webinar. You and register for the webinar on our website.

I just got a sneak preview of our new UI that is coming soon. I'm so amazed at the elegance of the look and the ease of use. Our development team is amazing and talented.

We are still in the Alpha phase, but I can see that this will take Real Pro System's to a whole new level.... again.

I recently received and email reply that said, "I got your email. www.DriveSafe.ly read it to me. I will get back to you soon. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry"

I thought this was a great widget, expecially for real estate agents that drive all day long.

If you decide to check it out, be careful to not sign up for the paid service  unless you want all the bells and whistles.

Drive safely!

Jason O'Neil just did a very informative interview with us at Real Pro Systems. The call was centered around lead generation.  

I was surprised to hear that he said "print advertising is not dead" and he had a great magazine article to back up this statement. His approach is to blend traditional advertising with the internet.

He went on to share how he uses print to find Sellers. One techniche he shared is shown in this example.

An update to that post is that he has had 6 appointments, 4 listings,  and 3 closed deals. $25K on $2900 investment. Great RIO!

His magazine ad (25,000 distribution that he showed on the webinar) resulted in 55 CMA requests and 2 sales. Cost was $375. Need I say more?

You should hear what he says about targeting investors or buyers looking for bank owned properties.

I was also very impressed as to how he uses Facebook advertising to generate business too. He was able to target a very specific audience of golfers in his community.

The take away for me was if you are going to spend money, spend it wisely. To be successful you need to try new things, be innovative and think out of the box.

If that is not you, don't reinvent the wheel, just follow other successful agents. :)

Our development team recently enhanced our Silver, Gold and Platinum systems to include the ability to generate a Craig’s List post, in HTML, promoting your listings. All you have to do is copy the code and add it to Craig’s list.

Step one- Log in to your admin.

Step two- Go to “My Website” then your featured Property section and view all listings. You will see a link under a new column called “Craigslist ad” Click the “View” link.

Step three- Copy and paste the code into your Craig’s List post.

Here is an example of what the ad looks like.

Jason O'Neil gave me an update with regard to my previous post. "313 CMA requests in 24 hours."

Hi Charlee,

We received a total of 768 CMA requests on a mailing of 62,000. Not bad percentages. That was the last week in February and we have had 6 appointments 2 listings and one closed deal.

Jason

I think Jason had great timing with is marketing efforts. It was right before spring, just when sellers are starting to interview agents and prepare for the Spring and Summer markets.

Nice job Jason and thanks for sharing!

www.oneilrealtors.com

See previous post - 313 CMA requests in 24 hours.

I recently read a post on Michael Russer's Online Dominance blog, in which Carie Gable, of RealSupport gave a great summary of some simple enhancements that a virtual assistant can do to your website that will make it more engaging to your visitors.

 “Your VA can easily slim down or beef up the stock content, re-name the pages, write SEO’d content tailored for your market and even add in all of your social networking links. Make the site more than a marketing gimmick. Make it a resource with community pages, dining suggestions, tax credit updates, loan tutorials – whatever appeals most to YOUR ideal client. The result is a site map that fits your target market’s needs and interests as well as a website that you can guarantee no one else has”

Hiring a Virtual Assistant has several advantages:

1) Utilize a Virtual Assistant only when you need them.

2) A Virtual Assistant is an independent contractor with their own equipment - no overhead, no benefits, no payroll tax, no insurance.

3) You will not pay for the learning curve of a Real Estate Virtual Assistant.  They will already be trained on the tools you require.

4) Hire an expert - Real Estate Agents are being asked to wear too many hats.  They are spread way too thin and because of technology, they don't always know how to accomplish what needs to be done to stay on top.  A Real Estate Virtual Assistant is an expert and specializes in Marketing for Real Estate and Social Networking.

5) Utilizing a Virtual Assistant will free up your time to SELL Property or work reasonable hours.  

Rob Levy was recently interviewed by Maria Patterson of RISMEDIA. This interviw has some great points I know you will enjoy. Read Rob’s interview, click here.

I’m a big fan of Rob’s, not only because of his involvement with Real Pro Systems, but because all his interviews are informative.

Rob is know as the ”Tech Guru” amongst many of the top player in the industry. If you ever had a chance to listen to his 2006 interview Star Power interview with Howard Brinton, you would understand why so many look up to him for tech tips.

Don’t know about Star Power? Go to www.gostarpower.com and take advantage of an amazing network of top producing real estate agents that are willing to share their secrets of success.