Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Advertising

When you get a search results page on Google, Yahoo, or MSN Live, you’ll notice a series of ads other than the regular search results appear at the top of the page and to the extreme right of the page. These are pay-per-click advertisements. With each search engine you can have ads appear in these areas whenever someone types out specific keywords (eg. “Brampton real estate”). Your ad’s positioning on these search results pages depends on how many other businesses have ads for those keywords and how much each is willing to pay per click. The best ad positioning goes to the highest bidder.

It’s best having your ads appearing for numerous different keyword phrases. Here’s the approximate number of times the following keyword searches occurred in October 2008 on Google alone as measured by the Google Adwords Keyword Tool:

“Canadian real estate” – 8100 searches
“Toronto real estate” – 18100 searches
“condos Toronto” – 5400 searches
“Toronto condo” – 9900 searches

Note that anyone searching for the keywords “Canadian real estate” is likely not located in Canada and may be an investor. This is proof search engine optimization exposes your real estate listings to a truly global market. Be creative with the keywords you use. Try putting your keywords in a different order as with the “Toronto condos” searches above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwmEJMVr0Ow

Toronto neighborhoods get lots of searches too, so you should setup pay-per-click ads for neighborhoods in and around your farm areas. Some of these keywords get a staggering number of searches because there are other places elsewhere in the world with the same name, so make sure your ad clearly states what area you’re offering properties in or you’ll get a lot of misdirected traffic which can cost you a lot of money. For instance, if one of your farm areas is the Swansea neighborhood in Toronto or is near Swansea, make sure your pay-per-click ad also mentions Toronto and High Park as there are many other places in the world named Swansea.

These were the number of searches on these Toronto neighborhood keywords in October 2008 along with how many Toronto area realtors were found on that search page with a pay-per-click ad:

“Roncesvalles” – 2900 searches – 1 realtor with a pay-per-click ad
“Stonegate” – 74000 searches – 0 realtors with pay-per-click ads
“Swansea” – 246000 searches – 0 realtors with pay-per-click ads
“Forest Hill” – 165000 searches – 2 realtors with pay-per-click ads
“Rosedale” – 301000 searches – 2 realtors with pay-per-click ads

My RECO approved courses Building Your E-Commerce Business and The Internet & Real Estate E-Commerce provide much more information on the finer points of search engine optimization and how having SEO makes you far more money.

Read Part 1 

The best way of showing your real estate listing prospects you’ll get top dollar for their home is providing very specific information on the amount of exposure you’ll provide for their home. Internet advertising is far more measurable than any other advertising medium. The better you quantify exactly how much exposure you’ll get your prospect’s home, the more credible your presentation will be, and the more likely you’ll win the listing. In this article I’ll talk about 2 online promotion tactics you can use to impress your prospects and win more real estate listings:

Your Personal Realtor Website

Your website is your face on the internet. If you don’t have your own website yet, get one. It’s simply not enough to rely on your brokerage’s site alone anymore. Many turn-key websites especially designed for realtors exist today including my Moneymaker website.

Show your prospect a history of the amount of traffic coming to your website. A good website provider can provide a plethora of data on your website. Some websites even record the number of visitors per day to your site by city, region and country! Be sure to show prospects the total number of page views your past listings received while they were for sale(Google Analytics). This is far more likely to impress a prospect than telling them you’ll advertise in a print publication claiming to have X number of readers because your information is so much more precise and (more importantly) provable.

There’s no way any free real estate print publication can show exactly how many people picked up a copy of each issue, let alone whether they looked at specific pages in them and how often. If you’re not getting much traffic to your website then that’s all the more reason you need search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is getting your website ranked highly in the three major search engines: Google, Yahoo, and MSN Live. The best way of getting SEO is earning it. I explain how to do this in the SEO for Realtor Websites category in my blog and in my RECO approved courses Building Your E-Commerce Business and The Internet & Real Estate E-Commerce. The quick-fix solution for a low number of website visitors is pay-per-click search engine advertising campaigns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysbo3S5vIc0

Read Part 2

The days of just showing your real estate listing prospects a paper based presentation are over. Today you need a multi-media laptop presentation for impressing your prospects and closing listings just to be competetive. Here are some ways for getting an edge on your competition and scoring more listings:

Create A Real Estate Video Slideshow

A great thing to show prospects at the listing presentation is a video slideshow on DVD of your previously sold homes. A slideshow video of your current listings is a great addition to your handout package at open houses. Slideshow vieos are really easy to make, you don’t need any special computer knowledge or skills to create them, and you can create a great looking show in under 15 minutes. The best program I’ve found for creating video slideshows is Animoto.

Have your photographer go through the home and the home’s exterior and take lots of pictures. Take as many pictures as you want. A single DVD can store literally thousands of pictures. With Animoto you can easily create really impressive looking transitions between slides, and you can even add any music you want to the slideshow with an MP3 file.

Real Estate Video

Video Emails

A company called Benchmark Rich Media allows you to send video emails. As soon as someone opens the email a video starts playing with sound as well. You can easily make the video in this email one of your video slideshows. If there ever was a way of creating a viral effect with emails to your database this is it.

An ideal complement to the video slideshow is my Pro Presenter listing presentation tool. It’s free to demo and my website will make a personalized listing presentation for you. (This is best viewed in IE) It’s a vivid demonstration of how Pro Presenter can dazzle your prospects and get you more listings. My RECO approved courses, ” The Electronic Listing Presentation and Developing A Listing System” help you know how to best use these tools mentioned above for impressing your prospects and getting those new listings.

The National Do Not Call (DNC) registry is now in Canada, effective September 30th, 2008. If people don’t want to receive unsolicited phone calls from telemarketers or any other business, they simply get themselves added to this list. So if you want to make cold calls to your farm area you will have to see whether each prospect is in the registry before calling. The maximum penalty for violating this law is $1,500 for individuals and $15,000 for corporations. This is even more reason why you need the internet for acquiring prospects.

The same restrictions of the DNC registry have applied to email in Canada since the introduction of PIPEDA in the late nineties. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) is a Canadian law on data privacy. It governs how businesses collect, use and disclose personal information. PIPEDA requires businesses to obtain a person’s consent before sending them commercial solicitations. However, punishment for violating PIPEDA don’t even amount to a slap on the wrist, and in the 12 years PIPEDA has been around I’ve never heard of anyone getting in any trouble for violating it

The best way of ensuring you have a person’s consent for adding them to your mailing list and being PIPEDA compliant is using what’s known as a double opt-in procedure. What this means is you secure and also verify a person’s permission for adding them to their mailing list. The best way of doing this is having a form on your website where you offer to send people information periodically on real estate information that interests them. People then enter their email address and submit it to the website. They then get an email sent from your website asking them to confirm they actually signed up for your mailing list by clicking a link within the email. Once they click that link they are added to your mailing list. You will then get an email stating that you have a new subscriber along with their information. If you’re specific on exactly what type of information you send out and how often you send it you will get more sign-ups than if you simply promise a newsletter. Also, be sure to include your privacy policy near the opt-in area, telling them you won’t sell, rent or share their information with anyone else. Many people will not give you their email address unless you assure them of this privacy.

Some websites have a single opt-in procedure where a person enters their email address into a form but no confirmation email is sent. Some realtors do this as a way of enticing people to give up their email address in exchange for an article or something else valuable. The problem with this is the vast majority of the email addresses given in these situations are fake. The other problem with single opt-in is you are vulnerable to sabotage. Someone may input email addresses that don’t belong to them or don’t exist. Having confirmation of sign-up via email proves a real person signed up for your mailing list. If your internet provider or anyone else ever accuses you of spamming the subscriber confirmation emails you received prove your mailing list is 100% opt-in.

Unlike CAN-SPAM, the US legislation governing email, PIPEDA does not address what you must do if people no longer want to receive your emails. If people on your list request you unsubscribe them it’s best to do it right away, or before you send your next mailing out at the latest.

If you want to develop prospects in the US, you are not as restricted as with PIPEDA. The law governing commercial email in the US is called the CAN-SPAM act. In the US you don’t need to obtain an individual’s consent to send them commercial solicitations. The only requirements of the CAN-SPAM act are:

- You are sending email from a real email address (spammers usually use false email addresses to cover their tracks)
- Your email’s subject line must accurately describe what you are offering in the email (spammers often try tricking you into reading their emails with misleading subject lines)
- You must provide a physical mailing address for people to send you unsubscribe requests
- You must honor all requests for removal from your mailing list within 10 days
- You must state in your email you are sending a commercial solicitation (have this statement at the very bottom of your email)

My Awesome Power Of Email course  helps take your business to the next level by showing realtors best practices for turning email inquiries into sales.

RE/MAX OA – @remaxoa – 1980 followers
Official Twitter page for RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada. As the #1 Brand in #realestate – Let us provide you with insight & info for all your #realestate needs

REMAX Western Canada @remaxwesterncan – 3474 followers

Sutton Group – @SuttonGroup – 2088 followers
100% Canadian Real Estate Company. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/suttongroup

Coldwell Banker – @coldwellbnkr – 25608 followers
Real estate news, tech and info tweets from Lindsay Listanski at Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC in Parsippany, NJ

CENTURY 21 Canada @CENTURY21Canada – 3387 followers
Welcome to CENTURY 21 Canada – Connected to More. Connect with local real estate experts across Canada; get news and views and more.

Keller Williams – @kwri – 16521 followers
The official Twitter page for the second largest real estate company in the United States. Tweets come from Amber P. at the HQ in Austin, TX.

sothebysrealty – @sothebysrealty – 2660 followers
Official Corporate Page for Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC____ (Image: The Yellow House, © Van Gogh Museum/Superstock Inc. used with permission)

ERA Real Estate – @ASmarterERA – 1538 followers
We are a Smarter Community of Agents and Brokers. Discover why at facebook.com/ERARealEstate

Popular Real Estate Brokerages

Remax Ultimate @RemaxUltimate – 1828 followers
Est. in 1985, RE/MAX Ultimate is a Premier Real Estate Brokerage with 185+ full service REALTORS. We specialize in Real Estate home & condo sales in Toronto.

Canadian Real Estate Investor Educators

REIN™ Canada @reincanada – 4713 followers
Real Estate Investment Network™ (REIN™) – Center for Real Estate Education and Research – tweets by @maddynorton

Don R. Campbell – @DonRCampbell – 4712 followers
Canadian Real Estate Insights from Best Selling Real Estate Author, Investor and Market Analyst

Sunil Tulsiani @TheWealthyCop – 31638 followers
Ex-Police Officer turned successful real estate investor, a certified business coach and a professional motivational speaker. Runs a Canadian REI club.

Canada REIC @CanadaReic – 25647 followers
Canada Real Estate Investors Club. Group of Real Estate Investors helping each other, networking, looking for deals. Come join us and You will expand network

TheRedPin.com – @TheRedPin – 1652 followers – #Toronto’s Only One-Stop Condo Destination. New & Pre-con Projects with Floorplans, Amenities, Schools, Local Info, Investment Stats etc. #RealEstateInvesting

RealNet Canada Inc. – @RealNet_Canada – 2213 followers

Building Industry & Land Development Association (BILD) – @bildgta – 1741 followers
We are the voice of the residential land development, home building and professional renovation industry in the Greater Toronto Area with over 1350 members.

VancouverCondominium @Vcondominiums – 224 followers
Condo Market Trends in Vancouver, BC

Popular Real Estate Sites (For Public)

Zoocasa Pros – @zoocasapros – 1823 followers
We help agents market their listings. Add Zoocasa to your marketing plan today! Buying or Selling? Follow @zoocasa for insightful articles, tips, and news.

Zillow – @zillow – 40135 followers
Your Edge in Real Estate.

Trulia – @trulia – 21400 followers
Timely information on homes for sale, apartments for rent, neighborhoods, markets and trends to help you figure out exactly what, where & when to buy.

Popular Real Estate Sites (For Professionals)

ActiveRain – @ActiveRain – 5968 followers
Real Estate Network

Inman News @InmanNews – 33687 followers
Inman News is the leading independent source of real estate news, commentary & education. Our events: @InmanConnect @AgentReboot. Tweets by @katielance.

Tim Smith @Inman_Tim – 2143 followers
Tim Smith is the CEO of Inman News – a leader in independent real estate news, info & technology. realestateconnect.com. agentreboot.com

Michael McClure @ProfessionalOne – 52930 followers
Believer, CEO of VerifiedAgent.com, 50 Most Influential in Real Estate, Inman NEXT Blogger & Speaker, MSU Spartan, 2nd City, CPA, Enemy of Status Quo

Real Estate Marketer @REMarketingTips – 24938 followres
Real Estate Marketing Hints, Tips, Tricks and News for Real Estate Agents and Brokers.

Popular Real Estate Companies

Royal LePage Canada – @Royal_LePage – 5776 followers
This is the official Twitter profile for Royal LePage Canada. Terms: http://ow.ly/5xbSI

RE/MAX @remax – 19677 followers
The Official Twitter Page for RE/MAX

Sources Of Real Estate Sales Professionals On Twitter

Since your fellow local real estate sales professionals should be your number one target for finding buyers and sellers you need to know where to find them.  I’ll focus on presenting sources for the Toronto and the Greater Toronto Areas but many examples will be applicable regardless of where you’re geographically located.  Many of these sources are also great places to find real estate investors and local buyers and sellers directly.

Below are the sources including their Twitter name, the number of current followers each source has, and the bio for their Twitter account:

Local/Regional/National Real Estate Boards & Associations

Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB)- @TrebHome – 3867 followers
Toronto Real Estate Board: Canada’s largest real estate board, serving more than 32,000 Members in and about the GTA.

Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) – @OREAinfo – 1074 followers
Follow the Ontario Real Estate Association. Helping Ontario REALTORS®, Member Boards & Associations succeed. Maintained by Georgia Sapounas, Community Manager.

Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) – @creanews – 8430 followers
The Canadian Real Estate Association represents more than 100,000 real estate professionals working through more than 100 real estate Boards and Associations.

REALTORS® – @REALTORS – 37942 followers
The National Association of REALTORS®

NAWRB – @NAWRB – 907 followers
The National Association of Women REO Brokerages (NAWRB) is committed to promoting the success and leadership of women within the REO Brokerage community.

Canadian Real Estate Market Research

Urbanation @Urbanation – 2641 followers
Urbanation is a real estate market research and consulting firm that tracks the Toronto CMA condominium apartment market.

BuzzBuzzHome – @BuzzBuzzHome – 9592 followers – The largest new home and condo website and community in Canada; your complete source of new residential real estate information.

Don R. Campbell – @DonRCampbell – 4712 followers
Canadian Real Estate Insights from Best Selling Real Estate Author, Investor and Market Analyst

Where To Look For Local Buyers And Sellers On Twitter

As we’ve mentioned earlier, there are three types of people you want to seek out on Twitter:

-    Home Buyers and Sellers
-    Real Estate Investors
-    Referral Partners

For now I’ll focus on where to find local home buyers and sellers.  The very best spot for finding these people is your competitors’ follower lists!  Do some research and find other real estate sales professionals in your immediate geographic area who have the most followers and look through their follower lists.  Once you’ve gone through these people look for real estate sales reps in areas adjacent to your farm area and then beyond, focusing first on the ones with lots of followers.

Again, avoid following the people who seem to be following your competitors just for the sake of selling them something.  Focus on following the people whose Twitter bios indicate they aren’t focused on selling something.  They’re the people more likely interested in your competitors’ real estate knowledge and are therefore following them for that purpose, regardless of whether they’re planning to move soon or not.  Few buyers and sellers will explicitly state in their Twitter bio that they’re looking to buy or sell properties unless they’re real estate investors.

Another hot spot for buyer and seller prospects are people following local mortgage brokers or mortgage people from banks.  As you probably know some people go to mortgage brokers right at the beginning of their new home search, especially if they think they may have problems getting conventional bank financing for their next home for whatever reason(s).  So use the same tactics for following local mortgage brokers’ followers and primary lenders as with real estate professionals.

Other real estate professionals involved in the mid-later stages of real estate transactions are also worth following.  So look for local real estate lawyers, home inspectors, home stagers, and home appraisers, especially those with lots of followers.

Property Developers

Another prime spot for finding both buyers and sellers along with real estate investors are local property developers.  Some prospective buyers and investors follow property developers on Twitter, awaiting word from the developer of VIP buyer events, public launches or price reductions on remainder units in a development.  Developers are particularly good places for finding real estate investors as well.

If you identify any people you’ve followed who seem to be exceptions to these rules, or who have the great Twitter account attributes mentioned above, your best bet is to create a Twitter List specifically for these people, add them to this list, and then unfollow them.  Doing this allows you to keep track of these peoples’ activities on Twitter without completely severing your connection with them permanently.  You can still watch your list to see if there are any tweets from these people, indicating they are back from their absence.  

Assessing Your Unsolicited Followers

You will regularly get people following your Twitter account who you haven’t followed first.  When this happens you should assess whether this person is actually interested in who you are professionally and may be a prospective client or referral source, or if they’re just following people randomly because they are offering some sort of mass appeal product or service.  People usually don’t follow others just to be friends.

So on a regular (preferably daily) basis look under your list of followers and read each person’s Twitter bio to find out a bit about them.  As mentioned earlier, deep discount/deal of the day type offers and sites have exploded in popularity since the advent of Groupon and Living Social.  People offering such things will usually mention it in their bio.  A good way of identifying people just out to solicit a particular item is they’ll only mention that item in their bio and not reveal anything else about themselves personally or professionally.

There are two reasons why you shouldn’t follow anyone who clearly isn’t interested in your real estate expertise.  One, by following them you are needlessly using up valuable follower spaces at the expense of having those spaces filled by prospective clients.  Two, in following them you’ll receive their tweets which are unlikely to be useful to you professionally or personally.

After waiting a few days for someone to follow you back who hasn’t yet reciprocated your follow, it’s best to look at their overall Twitter profile and their history using Twitter to see if they’re worth waiting for a “follow back”.  Look at their Twitter profile overall and assess the following factors:

-    Do they have a large number of Twitter followers?  
-    How often do they send out Tweets?  
-    How many Tweets have they sent total?  
-    Do they follow lots of other Twitter users?  

High numbers in any of these areas are very positive things to have in a Twitter account.  The higher the numbers in any of these areas, the better.  The better a person’s Twitter account is, the longer they’re worth waiting for a Follow from them.

Inevitably, you will follow people that are simply not (under any circumstances) interested in you or your knowledge about your local real estate market.  If someone doesn’t follow you within seven days of you having followed them then they probably fit into one of two categories:

1) They don’t see any reason to have a personal or business relationship with you

OR

2) They don’t use use Twitter much, so they are not looking at the emails they’ve received from Twitter about new followers like you, or they’ve have disabled the option of getting notified by Twitter via email of new followers.  

I recommend Unfollowing these people 7 days or less after you’ve followed them.

There are exceptions to these rules.  Some people not readily following you may be on vacation or on some other type of extended leave of absence from work (eg. maternity, disability, academic sabbatical) and therefore not getting (or caring about) emails they’ve received while they’re away.  But when these people get back from their absence some may be more than happy to follow you on Twitter.