seo-tips-that-work

Real Estate Lead Generation- Changing Your Mind Is Allowed

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:37:33 +0100

Real Estate Lead Generation - Changing Your Mind Is Allowed

Since most of our subscribers have been following us for a while you may well know how important I think and know blogging to be for real estate agents. Blogging is great for building relationships with sellers and buyers.

You also know that I am one who believes that blogging does not create massive leads but rather a few 'perfect fit' people who have chosen to work with you prior to them ever even calling you or emailing you. The few are very real people and that cements the connection and relationship.

Since Nestor and I work primarily with sellers my focus has not been on writing content to attract buyers. Yet, we still have attracted enough buyers to keep our buyer agents busy. However, we want to bless the lives of others and one way we can do that is to provide business to real estate agents. We have chosen to build our company in a much more aggressive way in order to feed those hungry agents who want to make a better life for themselves and for their families.

Now with that all being said, you should ask yourself; how much business do you want? What can you do with more business? How much business in the price ranges you work can you handle? What is your growth strategy?

Depending on what your answer is will determine the different lead generation systems you will want to put in place. Blogging is fantastic, you must blog to communicate but then you must convert that traffic.

One of our websites is a magnet to the search engines and gets a lot of traffic. But our means to convert that traffic into prospects and ultimately buyers and sellers well, was poor to say the least. Yes, we did get calls, yes, we did get business but compared to the traffic numbers it was a shame that more did not convert.

Then we decided to give a lead generation website a try and placed the widget on our website and overnight, the traffic started converting.

In fact, we are hiring new agents just to keep up with verifiable good buyers who want to get qualified, they want to look at homes and they are giving their phone numbers without a forced optin to leave their phone number! The trust relationship is being build in great follow up and vetting processes. In less than 30 days we had close to 50 buyers search for homes on our site and 3 so far have changed their minds about moving to Florida. So out of the 47 left in the lead funnel 12 of them have responded and are actively working with our agents. Every day we get 2 to 3 more that are ready to go and look and are qualified to look at homes.

I am eating my words about lead generation sites. Of course not all of them are equal, most are below par. But this site that I got turned on to is nothing short of amazing. If you want to know about it you can call me at 561-502-1577 or email me. I don't want my competition all to know about this technique so I am NOT going to be sharing here. Many agents in our market read our blog. If you are looking to expand your business, add on agents to your independent brokerage or just work with the buyers yourself you need to call me.

Dislosure: I am NOT a reseller of this product. I am NOT an affiliate of this product. I am NOT being paid to write this about this product. I am only sharing what is working for us.

Business Blogging is for the Long Term- Building your Following

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 04:30:23 +0100

Business Blogging is for the long term- building your following

I was looking at our clustrmaps a few minutes ago and wondered if the numbers are going up or down. In other words, are we gaining readers or not. The second question that came to my mind is has our following been growing over the years I have been blogging.

I started blogging on ActiveRain in June of 2007. I had another blog on blogger before AR. Consistancy is one of the keys to business blogging. You can see by this chart that each month we have about the same amount of posts.

When AR members ask why no one is reading their blog or why they don't get any calls, etc, one of the common demoninators among those members is that they do not blog consistantly. If you post one or two posts a month that is not very consistant. People lose interest in your blog.

Then I went to look at our clustrmaps archive and noticed that each year our readership has increased.

Clustrmaps completes the maps in December of each year and then archives that year's stats.This is because otherwise many Clustrmaps would look like one big giant red blob.

You can see that each year the readership increased. Business blogging takes time. It is also a committment that you need to make if you are going to be a blogger. If you want to test the water by dipping your toes in that is fine, however, there comes a point where you need to commit or change gears. The more you blog, the more of an audience you will get and out of that audience will come referrals and direct customers.

Clustrmaps is a great way to track where your readers are coming from. This helps you to know more about your audience so that you can create content that resonates with them. It is free.

If you want to learn how to add Clustrmaps to your blog you can read my tutorial on Clustrmaps here.

Online Business Coaching | SEO Blogging | Website Domination| Linking Campaigns | VA Services

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:57:02 +0100

Online Business Coaching | SEO Blogging | Website Domination | Linking Campaigns | VA Services

Google makes changes in the their algorithms and has been doing so quite a bit it seems as of late. There are some things that remain constant while others die out or become obsolete. It takes time to stay up with all the changes and then shift your internet marketing strategies to align with what is working today and then tomorrow and so on.

We get emails weekly from agents and brokers around the country about how they are not getting any or enough leads from their website and blog. We get emails from Active Rain members who have been blogging sometimes for more than a year and have yet to get a prospect to call them.

Most of the time it is because they are not using the right keywords and they don't know who their audience is.

I get a lot of requests for private coaching to establish an online presence, do the web presence analysis, to teach SEO and how to blog or how to do your linking or how to get prospects to call you or how to discover a niche that is hungry for information and not being fed.

I would love to help everyone but it is just not physically possible to do so. That is why I offer group coaching at only $97 per month. Ask anyone who has stayed in group coaching for a few months or more how they like the group coaching. Now it is beyond the basics so if you don't know anything at all about technology or having a hard time with the basics, then this is not for you. I am developing another program for super newbies but that is down the road.

Private coaching: If you are serious about moving your real estate business forward I have three openings for private coaching. I only coach on one day a week because it takes so much out of me emotionally. I do NOT multi-task when I am coaching and consulting you. My focus is 110% on JUST YOU. I want you to be the best you are meant to be. I want you to be a success. I want you to meet your goals. I had to cut down on private coaching sessions due to doctor's orders because of some physical medical issues going on right now.

If you have been waiting for a space to open up for private coaching this is your chance to get on board. I always have a consultation with you first because I may NOT be the right coach for you. I don't teach systems but I train you to create your own systems and I can help you do that. But I am a custom coach which means yes, you need to have systems in place but they have to be systems that you can work with and feel comfortable with it.

Call me to get on board with your coaching and get your goals moving forward!!! 561-753-0135

SEO To The Top, SEO Extreme and Group Coaching Clients- Please read this message

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:13:03 +0100

IMPORTANT NOTICE-

All SEO TO THE TOP Alumni and new students- All Group Coaching Students, All SEO EXTREME Students, All Private Coaching Clients-

Our membership site came up with an error message last week. We have not been able to resolve this issue as of yet because the tech support person at Premium Web Cart where my membership sites are hosted did not have the knowledge to fix what was causing the error message. He had to send it over to the programmers who of course do not work on the weekends. They have to look into the issue.

Do not try to access your modules right now because you will get frustrated!

Thank you to the IT experienced members of our group who have stepped up to try to help me fix this. This is way beyond what I know so I am dependent on the programmers at the membership site to fix this for us.

We have more Group Coaching modules edited and ready to go but I told Tami to hold on to them until this is fixed.

I appreciate your patience because this is SO stressful. Now I know how ActiveRain feels when they have site issues!!! NO FUN!!!!

Coach Katerina

What Do You Need Help With?

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:55:33 +0100

I need your help. I am creating a totally revamped program for you that is going to cover SEO for google page one domination, keyword research, discovering your niche and then creating a marketing branding campaign to speak to that audience and branding yourself as the agent in your market that dominates the search engines.

I want you to be a part of this product creation. This is going to be your product. I want to make sure that I get everything into this program that you have been asking for and that you need in your online website marketing. We have a lot of feedback from busy agents and brokers that you want a website that really works to be ready for you to use and we are thinking about including a website optimized for your niche keywords that will also have original articles written for the site.

The one thing that holds agents back from blogging and building the content on their niche sites and blogs is the fact that they are busy listing properties. They are too busy to be a DIY agent in blogging and niche content website building.

For instance, when I spoke in Cordova CA this past week- I met several agents who have over 170 REO listings and obviously that means they don't have time to blog or build sites yet they know they have to get their online marketing in order and on top because they don't know for sure how long those REO accounts will keep on coming. You can never depend or rely on one source of listings in any real estate market. They are hiring us to do the complete package for them from start to finish.

So what it is that you really want out of a product about SEO, blogging for business and branding yourself to match your niche audience online? Let me know what your biggest obstacles are and what you want to see in this coaching program that we are about to embark upon. Leave your comments in the comment stream! Thanks!

SEO Blogging Really Works

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 03:26:08 +0100

SEO Blogging Really Works. You know, it is one thing when I can show how SEO blogging works for us in our market in our business. But it is more important for SEO blogging to work for you in your markets and in your businesses.

There is this post I wrote back in January of 2008. It seems like it was only yesterday but that was 3 years ago. It was called, Fishing for the longtail. This one post has garnered over 320 comments and still gets comments in 2011.

Back when I wrote that post the only real support I received was from Active Rain members and Bob Stewart and Jonathan.

Most people outside of ActiveRain did not believe in the longtail blogging techniques and SEO blogging down to this super hyper local level. Funny, Bob Stewart was right and all those who bashed us were wrong. And funnier still- all those naysayers about longtail keywords are now SEO blogging for the longtail!

There is a huge difference between getting a ton of crappy leads that you have to chase down draining out all of your energy because of the negative feedback and the constant pushing and the high quality yet not so many actual sellers that are ready to list their houses with you because they have already chosen you as their agent through your SEO blogging with personality and transparency sprinkled in.

It is like when I ask an agent this question:

Would you rather sell 300 houses a year for XXX amount of $$$ or would you rather sell 30 a year for the same amount of $$$???

That is a no-brainer unless you are some energizer bunny that is never going to run out of steam or you have some major system set up and you are not actually the one out there going to all those 300 houses in a year.

SEO blogging is much like that.

How good are you at follow up? How good are your systems you have in place to chase thousands of leads each month.

How many 100 calls do you want to make to get those 10 people that might be ready to buy or sell? Not my cup of tea. Hey, at least I admit it:)

First of all, I am not knocking the way anyone wants to run their business. After all, that is the beauty of being an entrepreneur and owning your own business, you get to choose how you will run it. You can to create your own visions, dreams and future of your business. You can do whatever you want to with your business. Whatever floats your boat is alright by me.

But for those of you who are NOT happy with your SEO blogging results and lead generation results; now is the time to hone in on your SEO blogging skills. Get to know your keywords. Get to know who your audience is. Get to know who your ideal client is. Understand your target market. Understand your buyer/seller persona/ Understand yourself.

This is the time to be on top of your game in your blogging efforts. Make the choice today to learn about blogging to get listings. Yes, you can get listings. We do and there are more on ActiveRain that are getting listings from their SEO blogging.

We are so blessed with some of the best agents on the planet in our group coaching and private coaching programs. They are learning so much taking it all to the next level in their businesses. The cream rises to the top. If you care to join us, give me a call!

Social Media Summit- Will I Meet You In Lehigh Valley PA?

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 04:11:30 +0100

If you are close to Allentown, Lehigh Valley, Breinigsville or even Philadelphia come join us at the Social Media Summit being held at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Breingsville on September 28th!

I will be among the social media speakers at this full day event including some great networking. I am excited to be a part of the social media summit because there are going to be real estate agents, small business owners and some not for profit groups in attendance all eager to learn how to improve their businesses through social media.

My focus for real estate agents will be blogging for listings on ActiveRain, SEO blogging and using YouTube to leverage your SEO. My topic is called, Secrets of Driving Targeted Traffic to Your Website and Getting Found using Powerful Social Media Tools.

And what is more powerful than ActiveRain as a social media tool!

In the afternoon there are workshops for you you to choose from. I will be hosting and running two workshops.

Driving Targeted Traffic To Your Website Using Blogging and SEO techniques.

Growing Your Business Strong Through Video Marketing.

You are going to have a full day of great speakers including Jane Wells Schooley, David Yunghans from Constant Contact and Eric Swanson and Daven Michaels.

I am looking forward to meeting all of you in this part of the country!

To register for the event click on this link. It will give you my discount for your ticket to the event.

I am bringing my little one, my shadow to show him the covered bridges and the fall leaves the night before the event and right after the event. If you live in the area and would like to take us on a tour of your beautiful country side, let me know. I want to take a lot of photos while we are there.

ActiveRain Meet-Up At E.R. Bradley's - West Palm Beach Florida In Photos

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:44:44 +0100

As soon as I finished presenting at ActiveRain RainCamp Online- we had to get ready for the AR Meet-Up because it was starting at 5 p.m. and we like to leave about an 1 hour before so we could be there as the hosts about 15 minutes before the meet-up started. I still had to get our little guy ready, get the camera ready and all the prep stuff that you do before you leave the house.

I was able to stay on to hear about 20 minutes of Chris' presentation.

We had about a dozen Rainers at our AR Meet-Up. E.R. Bradley's is a famous gathering place, bar, bands and great food on the waterfront of the Intracoastal - great venue for a meet-up and this place has a lot of Palm Beach history and charm. Their crab cakes are to die for. If you go there make sure you try them. They make a great salad too.

Barbara Martino-Sliva from Vero Beach andKaren Mathers from Vero Beach both drove down to West Palm Beach which was an hour and a half drive for each of them. They get the prize for biggest AR fans for driving so far to come to a meet-up!

Kathy Streib- home stager-from Boca was the second person to arrive at the meet-up. It was really fun meeting Kathy, she has a great personality and is very helpful and kind. She comments often on our blog and it was great to say hi in person.

Richard Zaretsky,AKA Active Rain's Most Featured Attorney and two of his staff members came to enjoy a good time. We have known Richard for a few years now. He has referred clients and we refer clients to him. We work well together as a team and we also get together a few times a year just to chat and catch up all that is going on in the short sale world.

Nikisha Jones and Eileen Burns drove up from the Fort Lauderdale area to join the WPB AR Meet-Up. I have wanted to meet Nikisha for a long time. She is just as sweet in person as she is online. Eileen has been one of my biggest cheerleaders.

Moira Murphy showed up also for the AR Meet-Up. She is a salesperson for software for real estate agents.

Of course, last but not least Nestor and our little guy joined us at the AR meet-up. I am so grateful to Nestor for always being so willing to help out and support me. I would not be able to even take the time to teach RainCamp Online unless he carried the rest of the load while I present and speak and coach. And last but certainly not least my little guy:) Oh how I love him being my shadow!

Active Rain Meet- Up For Palm Beach County Rainers!

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:48:08 +0100

We are looking forward to meeting you next week on Thursday September 8 at E.R. Bradley's downtown West Palm Beach on Clematis! Be ready for photos!

The address is: 104 Clematis St. West Palm Beach

E.R Bradley's is a fun one of a kind local hang out right across the street from the Intracoastal waterway at the end of Clematis Street.

We will be meeting from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Please RSVP on the form below so that we can reserve a table. If we don't reserve the table then we will be standing at the bar. We would like the meet-up to be a little more comfortable and then if you want to order something to eat you can. It is buy your own:)

Hope to see you there!

Just let us know by putting your name, email address and cell phone on the form below:
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Video -Blogging Tutorial -On Getting All Those Fancy Colors and Fonts on Your Blog Posts

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:07:55 +0100

SEO Blogging Tutorial On Getting All ThoseFancy Colors and Fonts on Your Blog Posts.

Over the years we must have written more than a half dozen posts on how to add the different color text, highlights, text sizes and other visual changes to blog posts. But as time goes on, newbies who wonder how to do this most often don't know where to begin to find this information. This is one of the most asked questions on ActiveRain.

Here is a video tutorial on using Scribefireto not just add variety to your posts with color and font sizes but also how to save a lot of time blogging. The video covers using Scribefire very fast for your WordPress blogs and any other blog that allows for auto posting but it also will work with your ActiveRain blog - you just can not auto post to your ActiveRain blog. So what you do, is copy and paste your posts you create into your ActiveRain blog from Scribefire. If you have a Mac, you can drag and drop.

Open up your Chrome browser before you watch the video so that you can follow along and do the steps I show you in the video. If you don't have Chrome as one of your browsers. Google it and the download is free. Have fun!