Canadian Realtor Email Blasts

Realtor® Listing Marketing Solutions

Pro Tips

Have you looked at your own website, lately?

I hadn’t.

Seriously! I look at my clients’ websites all day long, and I only recently went to my own website for the first time in way too long.

Thankfully, it was still standing! But it reminded me how easily we can get caught up working in our businesses and not on our businesses.

overstuffed-inboxYou get me.
You’ve heard that expression before.

So, here I am (and at least I’m posting a new blog)!

But what ACTUALLY prompted me to write this post is that I emailed my clients about this, thinking my confession about website absence it would strike up some good conversations. I asked what people had been meaning to work on for their businesses, but hadn’t.

I had one client reply with at least TEN items on her to do list, and I loved that insight.

You see, I almost exclusively only hear about the things that clients are delegating to me, and I rarely get the backstage pass to what else they feel they’re behind on.

Her to do list could easily be split into three categories:
1) Money making opportunities (interacting with past clients and prospects)
2) Productivity opportunities (improving internal processes)
3) Self-improvement opportunities (updating bio/brand/website)

My reaction and reply to her was instant: prioritize the actions that will make you the money.
(She probably wasn’t even looking for feedback, but if you know me at all, you know I can’t help myself.)

So, here’s my question to you. If you listed out your top ten business to-dos, what are your categories, and are you focusing on the actions that will move your business forward?

Email me – I’d love to know.

~Dara

 

Hot topic: Responsive Ubertor Templates

During the past few months a lot of the work we have been doing was upgrading existing Ubertor sites to one of their new responsive templates. If this is something you have not considered yet – keep reading!

As you know, everyone is surfing the internet on a variety of devices these days. Whether it’s on an iPhone, an Android phone, an iPad or other tablet, or a laptop or desktop, on screens of all sizes – it’s important for your website to look great for every visitor, no matter how big or small their screen is!
This is such a hot topic these days, that Google has announced that it will be rewarding mobile-friendly websites. 

Ubertor has recently released a series of Responsive Theme Templates that we are encouraging all our clients to move to so that everyone’s website benefits from looking “right” on all devices, all the time, and that Google will send visitors to your website.

If you are interested in hearing more about this and would like to have a look at the sample sites for the available themes that we have set up, just pop me an email today to get started!

Now that we’ve settled that – I have two tips for you today…

FIRST TIP – Google My Business
We have always thought that having your business details listed on Google Places is a great idea. It’s like a yellow pages listing but for YOU, and it’s free!
Places has recently been changed to Google My Business. Still the same concept and the one place to list your business details that will be shown on Search, Maps or Google+. If you previously used Google Places your account has been automatically upgraded – now is a great time to check if your details are up to date! If you are not listed yet… get onto it!

SECOND TIP – Keep in touch!
We love keeping in touch with you and sharing helpful tips and news. Have you thought about sending a Newsletter to your database… But the thought of having to learn a new procedure and deal with the technical aspects of doing that are just daunting? Let us do it for you! Check our website or contact us to find out more.

Success Story: Reciprocity Listings

We recently set up a series of Reciprocity pages on a client’s Ubertor website, and I wanted to share the results with you.

Their website visits increased to almost 200 people per day, as you can see below:

I’m so pleased with this success! I wanted to show you the power of having these listings (properly set up) on your website.

Here’s how it works: Reciprocity Pages are pre-established property search results that display on a series of pages on your website. Ubertor does not charge any monthly fee for this, and we have a successful formula figured out when we do the setup for you, including optimizing the pages for Google to index daily, and adding a Call-To-Action to invite visitors to contact you for details on the listings displayed.

We set up different pages and optimize them differently for each client, so as to maximize the impact for each individual agent, based on their target market and areas.

This functionality is available for the REBGV and FVREB.
We would be happy to discuss what we can do to increase your website visits, so pop me an email today to get started!

Now that we’ve settled that – I have two tips for you today…

FIRST TIP – Do it well, or don’t do it!
Many of us use the start of a new year to renew our focus on the objectives and goals we hope to accomplish. We believe it is also a great time to look at the things we should stop doing! Revaluate your marketing strategy, what works for you and what doesn’t? If you do something well, keep doing it, if it doesn’t work for you – don’t waste your time on it!

SECOND TIP – Attract attention!
Have a special property you want to really stand out? Think about setting up a Single-Property Website. This product is ideal for the agent who has a high-end listing with professional photography, looking to appeal to the high-end buyers, and other luxury home-owners.

Stay away from directory scams and reverse billing!

Have you heard of reverse billing? Have you ever gotten a call from someone asking you to confirm your information for a listing in a directory?

This scam is nothing new, but there seems to be a resurgence lately!

My colleague, Stef from The Social Host, posted on Facebook:
“WARNING: To small businesses and employees – these stupid directory scams are BACK. I received 2 calls from 411businessmedia.com today. DO NOT give them your info, DO NOT pay their invoices – their services are fake. Report them to the FTC (if in the US), RCMP, Police, BBB, etc. Threaten legal action and maybe you’ll never hear from them again.”

I thought it was sage advice, and thought it was good enough to pass along.

Own Your Own Email Address

Not to be confused with having your own email address. What I mean is – not relying on your internet provider or brokerage (@telus, @shaw, @remax, @sutton) or a free service (@gmail, @hotmail) – for your email. Having [email protected] is a lot easier a task than you’d think, and the benefits are ongoing. My reasoning in making this suggestion is 3-fold:

1) Continuity. If you own your own email address, it won’t matter who your internet provider or brokerage is over the years. Make a change now, before you’re forced to, to give yourself the time to ease your contacts into using your new info.

2) Professionalism. I think that an @yourdomain.com looks much more slick than @telus.net or @shaw.ca or @gmail.com. If you were dealing with a company, and received email from an @gmail.com email address, wouldn’t you notice that?

3) Portability. Use your email on a variety of devices, no matter where you are in the world. Not all applications allow for this. Travel the world, and have the same email control and access as you have at home.

You may have guessed that I already have a solution in mind as I write out those reasons. I have been a Google Apps for Business user since 2006, and I can honestly say it’s been the best tool I’ve ever invested in. The storage alone is amazing: I can find every email and attachment I’ve ever sent and received, whether on my computer, phone or iPad. I don’t have to be at my own computer to do my work. I also use the other tools – especially the calendar and documents.
The cost? $5 per month per user to Google.

The best part is that if you are making the switch, we can actually set things up so that you still use email the same way as before, it’s just a different system running it in the background.

Interested? I can help.
Just ask. I’ll need to know what email address(es) you currently use, check how they’re set up, see what domains you own and what websites they are connected to, and ask what devices (how many, what types) you check your email on.
Work. I’ll set up the Google Apps account for you, then we will sit down together and hook it up to all your devices. We’ll also look at who you need to notify and where you need to change your email address.
Questions? Let me know what is most important to you in this transition and we’ll make sure it goes smoothly.
Cost? Setup time usually runs 2-3 hours @ $80/hr. I can come to your location(s) in the process.

Take the leap, and take your email on a move you won’t regret.