By way of introduction, The Location Based Marketing Association is an International organization of marketing and ad professionals dedicated to studying, education, sharing and growth of location specific opportunities. Founded by marketing and tech startup veteran Asif R. Khan, the LBMA conducts research and distributes case studies such as the recent one dealing with local engagement for Q4 2012 across the restaurant, retail and hospitality sectors. LBMA also conducts and attends key conferences around the world, as well as producing highly informative podcasts like the one you see below, “This Week In Location Based Marketing – Episode # 117″. 

Later on we will offer more information about Asif, profiles of members of the association, and data aimed at helping professionals in the property industry better adapt to the rapidly changing marketing landscape. For now, I hope you glean good information from Asif and guest Rob Woodbridge, Founder of Untether.tv.

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The concept of electronic mail, or e-mail as we know it, was first developed in the early 1970s and has since been transformed into how we now send messages, documents, photos, or even videos. The combination of scanning and e-mailing has virtually left fax machines non-existent and there’s no denying that e-mail still has relevance in both the business world and your personal life. But for marketing purposes, is e-mail really still effective?

I remember receiving endless promotional e-mails from retailers, my favorite sports teams, credit card companies, and yes, even from you real estate agents trying to sell me a home. And while that hasn’t completely stopped, between the increased technology of spam filtering and the rise of social media, I find myself opening very few e-mail marketing messages.

In fact, when was the last time you “signed up” to receive updates or e-mails containing coupons or discounts? In today’s world, it’s more about “following” companies as opposed to signing up to receive information on all the latest trends. If I want to get a jump on a sale or a great deal, I follow all my favorite businesses on Facebook or Twitter. Rarely do I voluntarily sign up to receive promotional e-mails when, instead, all the information I need is just a scroll away on my Facebook News Feed.

So while e-mail marketing may be losing its luster, all still may not be lost for agents still using this medium. Real estate is unique in that there are so many different product types, price ranges, and preferences when shopping for a new home. Are your clients searching for an affordable 1 bedroom condo for $200,000, a single-family home in the suburbs with a large lot and garage space, or a luxury waterfront property worth well over $1 million?

In other words, it’s not just like shopping for a t-shirt online. It’s because of this reason, and perhaps this reason alone, that real estate e-mail marketing may still be stronger than ever. If you have a sophisticated real estate website, you likely have the capability of sending listing e-mail alerts or custom IDX e-mail updates with listings that specifically meet each buyer’s criteria.

When The Gap runs a 20% off sale, that information is useful to everyone shopping at The Gap. If a price drops on a 4 bedroom home and I’m searching for a 2 bedroom apartment or condo, that information really doesn’t apply to me. That’s where custom IDX e-mails come into play. As a real estate agent, if you’re going to send out marketing e-mails, you should always modify each individual message for each individual buyer. Take it from me, the only thing buyers want to see in an e-mail are home listings which meet their needs and budget—that’s all.

Save the market updates and tidbits for your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Buyers really interested in the state of the market or increased interest rates, for example, check reliable websites and publications. Although the information may be the same, the presentation between CNN’s real estate page and your generic, spammy e-mail is really no comparison. E-mail marketing may still be effective in the world of real estate; but unless it’s a customized IDX or a listing update, e-mail marketing is nothing more than a dying newspaper trying to stay afloat. Simply put:  if you want to use e-mail marketing, use it in the only way it’s going to benefit you and leave the rest to social media.

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and also holds a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working as a Market Research Associate and writing published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence in Chicago, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and is a managing partner at Real Estate Web Creation, LLC.

Image via Freedigitalphotos.net

Then I had one of those V8 moments. (Where you slap your head and say, “Now I get it.”)

I realized I was leaving money on the table by not looking creatively at how to leverage relationships in my real estate business.

So I came up with an idea…a 3-way win-win-win. Maybe you’re already doing it or know someone who is, but if it’s a new idea to you, then give it some thought.

Spice Up your Strategic Alliances Using “Special Offers”

First of all, you have to understand the power of strategic alliances. A strategic alliance is a partnership with a business person who has clients who could be your clients, and visa versa. Many agents think of their lender as a strategic alliance partner.

But in my experience, most lender-REALTOR relationships only go one way… the agent giving leads to the lender, but seldom getting anything back from the lender. That’s because lenders get most of their leads from other agents and they’re not free to refer those leads to you.

But what about your plumber? She knows home owners, and I need to meet home owners. Perfect match. And she needs to meet new home owners who might need plumbing help. I know home owners, especially new home owners. Perfect match.

Now if we can figure out how to introduce one another to each other’s database in a way that benefits both of our databases, we’ll have a strategic alliance.

For example, I could provide an exclusive rebate (if legal in my state) to her plumbing clients. Or I could provide a free book or other “bait” to entice them to contact me to create more leads for my real estate business. In turn, she can provide a sharp discount on her plumbing service for my database. I win. My plumber wins. And both of our clients win.

Once you’ve set up one of these alliances, you can do it multiple times with multiple business partners, including your carpet cleaner, electrician, dietician, painter, auto mechanic, and so on. It takes a little creativity, and you may need to try it a few times to work out the kinks in the system, but if it can work for a multimillionaire like Jay Abraham, I’m pretty sure it can work for you.

Be consistent. Be bold. Be smart. Linda Schneider is a real estate business coach for smart real estate agents who want to be more powerful in their business. Drop by RealEstateBusinessCoaching.com for more about selling skills and real estate marketing ideas to take your business to the next level.

Screenshot of a sample website from www.realestateinvestorswebsites.net

This means that real estate investors can now actively engage with those visitors to their websites that are looking to sell or buy. Their aim is to attract leads through advanced onsite search engine optimization, targeting the local market. As soon as visitors land on the website they receive a welcome from a video speaking model. This gives personalized, helpful information, commanding their instant attention, adding credibility to the website and helping to convert more visitors to prospects.

The marketing process is carried out by inbuilt auto responders, sending out well-timed personalized information. The aim of these email messages is to convert more prospects into closed deals. Each website is fully customizable, and comes with a simple virtual back office that can be used by anyone with only a basic knowledge of computers. These websites can be ordered and ready for business in just one hour.

Image / freedigitalphotos.net

1.Relevant and useful content

The success of your generating leads online is dictated by your website and the content and information your web pages are comprised of. It’s often easier to produce a website with content that you think should be included. But this is not the right strategy. The better approach is to always put the interest of the end user in mind and don’t simply throw up words about your company/products/services. Ask yourself questions like:

Why would anyone visit my website?

What content would a visitor find useful?

Is the presentation of my content interesting?

If your website offers content that resonates with your web visitors, you not only provide value, but you also increase trust and the “stickiness” of your site that will help increase the chance of converting visitors into potential leads. Some examples of useful content include market reports, how-to’s, neighborhood guides, and resources for buyers and sellers.

2. Use a contact form

Although, there many ways to display your company’s contact information on your website, a contact form is the single most important entry point for users and the “work horse” for your lead generation activity. A contact form can be integrated with web a web analytics tool (see below) to offer rich data regarding who, when, where and how your visitors are contacting you so you can make informed, data-driven decisions on how to make improvements.

Tracking this data also allows you test elements of your contact form (layout, communications, colors, etc.) to optimize and improve for better conversions. You can apply the principles of a contact form throughout your website on various pages; don’t just focus on the contact information page. For example, property pages and product/services pages lend themselves very well to contact forms and can be a massive source for generating inquiries.

3. Optimize call-to-actions

Every page of your website has the potential to generate a lead for your business. Therefore, it’s important to think about the objective of each page and what you would want a visitor to do when they land on the page.  For a real estate business, site-wide call-to-actions like “what’s my property worth?” or “get the latest market information” can be very effective to help create interest and convert visitors to warm leads.

Once you have decided the objective of your pages, you need to optimize for performance. First and foremost, this means the main “call-to-action” of your page needs to be somewhere very visible, ideally above the fold (upper half of the page) as it will drive significantly more clicks than other placements.  Also, there are many variables surrounding a call to action that should be constantly tested and optimized. This includes testing different communications, buttons, layouts, colors, and styles… all of which can have an impact on conversion rates and the success of your overall lead generation efforts.

4. Track leads with Analytics

Google Analytics is essential for measuring the performance of your online lead generation activity and the overall success of your website. With Analytics you can set goals and events for a variety of conversion activities on your website. This includes tracking clicks of links, downloads of files, and successful completions of contact forms.  Tracking these conversion events gives you a laser focused view of what marketing channels are converting best so you can clearly identify where to spend your online marketing dollars and optimize your cost per lead.

Without Analytics and some measurable KPIs in place, it will be very difficult for you to gauge what’s working and how to scale your lead generation efforts. Ask your web developer to setup your goals in Analytics and create reports so you can start making decisions based on hard data instead of instinct.

5. Run targeted Ads

Google Adwords is a power house for lead generation and is the single most effective online channel bringing targeted traffic to your website.  With Adwords, you can run campaigns in a highly controlled and focused manner to target specific keyword queries your customers are searching for in Google. You may also run targeted banner Ads in relevant websites associated with your niche and market.

The beauty of running Ad campaigns on Google Adwords is that you are in complete control of your campaigns and can make changes at a very granular level. Coupled with Google Analytics, you can identify what types of campaign variables (keywords, Ad copy, frequency, demographics) work best in terms of traffic to your website and conversion to leads via your contact forms or other call-to-actions you have set as goals.

Bob Samii is an online marketing strategist and founder of inMotion Real Estate Media, a real estate marketing and web development agency helping companies generate leads and increase brand visibility. You can find him on twitter: @cultureslurp

One such tool, allows users to connect with thousands of investment opportunities. Dubbed as the “world’s largest social network of investors”, Connected Investors provides access to nearly 145,000 real estate investors!

Investors using this resource will be able to find other investors, find investment opportunities, locate cash buyers or partners, obtain investment data and even find mentors!

Marketing

Connected Investors places a $997 value on their services, which they offer for FREE. It’s possible to customize your experience with this tool, which is optimized for Google and allows you to link to your social media accounts. It’s also possible to do your email marketing and create an unlimited number of landing/squeeze pages with this service.

Education

Real estate investors should always be learning, and with Connected Investors, it’s easy to do so. Users will have access to books, step-by-step guides, case studies, courses, videos and more to enhance their investment knowledge.

The sheer number of opportunities in today’s marketplace is staggering, and can quite easily become overwhelming as you try to manage the information you acquire. With Connected Investors, all of your information can be conveniently stored in one location – your leads, investments and connections – all for free!

This is not a “fly by night” company. Connected Investors’ CEO was recently nominated by Entrepreneur® magazine as an Emerging Entrepreneur of the year. MSNBC reported that “Connected Investors focuses on the quality of members as opposed to the quantity” – a very important distinction that sets this company apart from the crowd.

Investors can be a key component in the viability of a marketplace, and Connected Investors is a useful resource which can help them be successful. One investor, Laney, was overwhelmed at everything Connected Investors offers:

“When I joined Connected Investors and browsed through, in my gut I had this feeling this might be it. When I saw all the information CI provided to my fellow investors and myself to succeed, plus the seminars, I thought CI has over delivered. However when you called this morning I could not believe you wanted to give more, and I thank you and CI so much. I want to personally thank you for your time, patience and knowledge this morning. I am a slow learner and I have to go over and over something to get it and you were really generous and patient and I got it. Thank you so much!”

Please share. Have you tried Connected Investors? I’d urge anyone interested in real estate investing to take a look at what this site has to offer. What do you think – would you agree?

Involved in real estate for more than 15 years, Anita Cooper is a freelance writer specializing in writing for the real estate industry. Her articles have appeared in the trade magazine “Real Estate Wealth”, as well as a variety of online venues. Cooper owns and operates a writing business geared towards assisting small business owners craft their own, unique message.

The ListHub Syndication Network is the largest online syndicator of real estate listings in the country. In addition to listings, the Network provides performance reports for brokers, Multiple Listing Services and franchises.

What does this mean for Trulia.com users? It means access to additional listings available from over 47,000 brokers, as well as listing data derived from 400 participating MLS services.

Matt Dollinger, Head of Industry Relations at Trulia, Inc. said, “Trulia is committed to ensuring the highest standards of data quality and integrity for the real estate industry. We look forward to working with Listhub as a trusted partner for syndication and communicating Trulia’s metrics through their reporting products.”

Brokers will also have a valuable way to track the ROI of their marketing efforts because Trulia will provide ListHub with performance data which it will use to create their ListHub Channel Scorecard – a marketing report which offers a comparison of 126 real estate websites – truly empowering brokers to create the best possible marketing plan for their business.

Trulia will also be included in the listing of publishers on ListHub’s syndication dashboard. This application allows users to rate and choose publishers according to criteria such as “no re-syndication”, “timely removal of inactive listings”, or “shows broker contact information”.

Luke Glass, general manager and vice president of Listhub stated that, “ListHub is focused on helping brokers reach large audiences of buyers through an easy to use managed syndication platform that respects their rights as owners of the content. By adding performance metrics from Trulia, brokers have even greater insights into the effectiveness of their online advertising, while clearly understanding how their content will be used on publishing sites. We’re very pleased to offer the convenience brokers and MLSs want when syndicating within a controlled and transparent platform.”

Source: http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/latest.jsp?resourceid=5355232&access=EH

Pamil Visions PR corporate website

According to this news, Pamil Visions’ core business strategies are employed for stretching beyond traditional press release stereotypes. What the company suggests is that PRide press releases target paths both traditional and non-traditional, sending and receiving a company message more effectively. The company’s press release tells a bit of how this is accomplished.

Traditional press releases have been a favored PR strategy for decades. But their impact has been drastically reduced in recent years. Some even claim the press release is dead as a media outreach tool. But this is nonsense, at least according to Pamil Visions’ Founder and Principal Partner, Mihaela Lica Butler,who offers advice on a new breed of release:

“A press release doesn’t need to be cold and aloof, at least not anymore. Since it will reach customers directly, via search engines or other channels, you might as well consider personalizing it. Write a story that takes your reader on a journey and that reader will invite others to join.”

Creative PRide – Click to view the program

The news goes on to tell of Creative PRide, and the evolution of the traditional press release strategy. Such concepts as social media optimized titles, which encourage clicks and shares, a focus on the core values of the news, appealing storytelling, losing the marketing hype, and no nonsense reporting style, not to mention social media support and blogging effort directed at news, are all discussed. Rather than “broadcasting” self serving announcements, Creative PRide builds on constructive interaction with consumers.

According to the company, Creative PRide is not about simply writing and submitting press releases via online channels like PRWeb, BusinessWire, and or PR Newswire, but a complete system that even guarantees some types of media coverage.

The final value proposition here, as Pamil Visions PR suggests, can be the businesses spread the news to broader audiences, and generating back links that carry SEO value, among the many other beneficial characteristics of such programs. Each editorial published, offers a unique branding and visibility characteristic. Mihaela Lica Butler describes how journalistic lattitude, transparency, and original content play a role in ultimate branding exercises.

“Creative PRide was designed to support small businesses and startups in their efforts to reach out to bloggers and journalists. We are so confident in this service, that the 10 outlets guarantee is our promise that the press release will be picked up and not lost among random headlines on a newswire news center. Rest assured, these outlets will all be reputed niche-specific sites, and not some random splogs. We will personally approach journalists and bloggers in our network to make them aware of the news, and we will continue diligently till we meet our promise.”

Creative PRide is available as a stand-alone service of the PRide family of public relations and social media services. As a welcome gift, first-time customers will receive Pamil Visions PR’s ‘Press Releases Designed for Effect’ whitepaper free of charge.

Pamil Visions PR is an international boutique agency, providing a range of professional services including public relations, social media, and content management and optimization to small and mid-sized businesses all over the world. The company works closely with clients to deliver measurable PR campaigns that build brands and reputations. Specializing in hospitality, startups, and travel PR, the company is known for aiding small companies in quickly establish brand awareness and customer rapport.

For those interested in learning more about Creative PRide, and the ways in which your company or organization might benefit, please review the original press release here, or visit Pamil Visions PR’s corporate website via the links above. Alternatively, interested parties can reach the company via the media contact Liliana Dumitru Steffens – at: +49 151 61010958 or by email at: lsteffens@pamil-visions.net

LeaseRunner

LeaseRunner recently released a rental industry report which revealed some interesting numbers about the rental market. As long time readers may remember, LeaseRunner is the brainchild of Joe Buczkowski, internet and business attorney and finance instructor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The report focuses on the difficulties that landlords, property managers and brokers face with handling all aspects of property ownership and/or management, including finding the right tenant, preparing leases, collecting rent, and every landlord’s nightmare, eviction.

When asked to name the most difficult aspects of property management, the majority of respondents note that finding the right tenant is the biggest challenge they face:

• 58% Finding the right tenant
• 17% Property maintenance
• 8% Tenant eviction
• 7% Managing lease transactions
• 6% Collecting rent
• 4% Cash flow

Managing property can take a big bite out of your time, as the replies seem to indicate:

• 65% Listing and showing property
• 14% Lease execution
• 9% Background checks
• 6% Rent collection
• 4% Rental application
• 2% Paper signature process (drafting, reviewing, signing)

The most common reason why tenants were evicted comes as no surprise – past due rent:

• 47% Past-due rent
• 37% Never had to evict a tenant
• 26% Violation of lease terms
• 11% Disrespect of neighbors or property
• 4% Unlawful living conditions

An interesting statistic derived from this report reveals that of those respondents who took the survey, 59% of them were in the position of managing property by circumstance or obligation instead of choice. These “Accidental Landlords” often lack experience in managing property.

The solution? Paperless property management. In reply to LeaseRunner’s question about their clients’ experience with their service, a positive trend can be seen:

• 73% Yes – The online leasing process has strengthened my relationship with my tenant
• 27% No – The online leasing process has not strengthened my relationship with my tenant

As the need for rentals continues to grow, a solution such as LeaseRunner could certainly make the process of renting property easier for both landlords and their tenants.

“With the surge of renters entering the market, landlords and rental industry professionals, not all of whom have experience managing property, are pressed to deal with more rental applicants, screenings, lease executions, and payments,” said LeaseRunner CEO Joe Buczkowski.

“High rents and low vacancy rates do present difficulties for renters looking for a place to live, but we should be equally concerned about the challenges faced by landlords, brokers, and property managers – many of whom are also the consumer who has been forced into managing property by circumstance rather than choice.”

Are you a LeaseRunner user? If you have tenants – even if you only have one tenant – take a look at LeaseRunner – it just may be what you’ve been searching for!

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While there’s nothing wrong with this design style and having your name atop your website in no way affects the performance or usability of the site, it’s not the most effective way to grab a home buyer’s attention. When I first log onto a real estate website, I look for just a few things:

1) Does the site have a nice, clean design with a good flow?

2) Is it easy for me to search for the real estate I’m looking to buy or rent?

3) Is it filled with generic, bland content, or does it have the customization and personalization a real estate website needs in order for me to really appreciate what I’m seeing?

Looking for a new home or condo to purchase should be a fun and exciting experience. Yet, scanning through various websites can very easily go from being fun to an overwhelming, and daunting task. On average, homebuyers will go and click on 17 different real estate websites before initiating the first contact with a real estate agent. That’s why it’s extremely important to maintain a solid web presence that makes users want to stay on YOUR website!

What’s the first thing you ALWAYS notice when logging onto a nice, professionally designed website? I would argue that 99% of the time, it’s the company’s logo. It’s no coincidence that national real estate websites such as Zillow, Trulia, or hotpads are all successful. They all generally have the same information; however each web company has branded themselves in a creative and unique way. The logos associated with each company make them recognizable to almost anyone, which is exactly what you should be doing with your real estate business.

Hotpads have found a unique way to brand themselves

Having a logo designed is extremely inexpensive, especially if you use internet services like Elance.com, or even low-cost real estate logos on sites such as FreeLogoServices.com. Generating more traffic for your real estate website is about making sure people enjoy spending time on your site. So dress it up with a new and improved real estate logo that you can use to start branding your own real estate business and let local homebuyers start searching for property on your site; not Trulia or Zillow.

Joe Heath is a graduate of Indiana University and possesses a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate Development from Drexel University. After working in the market research sector and authoring published Market Snapshots for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, Joe now works as a Web Marketing Specialist and co-owns Real Estate Web Creation with his partner, Ted Guarnero, a 25+ year real estate veteran.