The Real Estate Tomato

About a month ago I received, in the mail (yes, the kind with real letters, bills and magazines) an envelope with 3 items in it. The first was a a New Blog Announcement, something like a Baby Announcement: It’s a BLOG! The second a business card showcasing the Blog Address and contact information for Michael Bergin and Virginia Amos (on the reverse), proud new owners (and authors) of GWSleptHere.com. For those not “in the know” – GWSleptHere is embracing the common local claim to various local destinations in greater Alexandria, VA, that the Father of our nation, President George Washington, slept on the grounds. The third item was a a faded $1 bill likeness (you know, the one with George Washington on it) offering a quick and easy was to receive a $5 Starbucks Gift Card: Subscribe to GWSleptHere.com. I found the marketing idea so clever and fun, that I...

Thanks to the recent frequency and quality of guest posts, I’ve had the pleasure of taking a little time off from shouldering the content on the Tomato. Keeping in stride, we have another treat for you. Todd Carpenter, ubiquitous RE.net participant, and owner and author of the globally appreciated mariah.com (a web 2.0 real estate network of websites), just emailed over this solid piece weighing the value of blogging for Search Engine exposure. Writing Your Real Estate Blog Primarily to Google is a Squandered Opportunity. By Todd Carpenter What’s the difference between a blogging expert and a real estate expert? Blogging experts may or may not understand how the real estate industry operates. Take, for example the theory forwarded that, for the sake of superior Google search results, bloggers should not write about their community. That instead, they should stick to posts that are only about real estate itself. You’ll...

When I started the Real Estate Tomato, in June of 2006, I had one reader, me. Before the first month was over, I was averaging 30 unique visitors a day. Within 2 months it was 135 unique visitors a day. How did we get out of the gates so quickly? We did it in part, with an old friend: The Email Database. To make a business blog a successful marketing strategy, you need to have an audience of potential clients. Having been a consultant for online real estate marketing for 6 years before starting the Tomato, I had a mighty database of real estate agents, lenders, industry professionals and friends. If I was going to regularly write articles about leveraging the internet as a marketing tool for real estate, then this was the audience I would want to be paying attention. So I shoved it down their throat. Well, not...

Because the clients we work with have such a positive experience with their blogging, they commonly express the concern that they would prefer us to not educate others in their geographic areas of focus. Sometimes they ask in jest, other times they are actually dead serious and willing to pay for exclusivity. As unwise as this is from a business growth standpoint for us, this is not the reason I discourage this manner of thinking. Below are 7 arguments in favor of the growth of the real estate blogging community, in your town. And, selling more custom blogs and training is not one of them. 1. Coke Needs Pepsi. McDonalds Needs Burger King. Why? Because the consumer should not be discouraged to get more of what they want, just because they can't have their preferred product. Coke can't be in all places at all times. So Pepsi is there to...

No one is denying that there has been a shake-up in the real estate industry. Empty cubicles, where there once was a waiting list, tell the story better than I could. A thinning of the herd is always a positive thing for those staying put, but the bottom line is that there will always be more agents in the field than ready-to-act buyers and sellers. So we ask, what are you doing to ensure that you are a 'stayer' in 2008? There is common saying that I can't see being much more appropriate than now: Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Along with this national 'shift in the market', that has many agents looking for a new career, there is another 'shift' that will certainly lead to the frustration and demise of many seasoned and novice agents alike. The Digital Divide. In 1997, an agent having an online identity was...

Our resident Internet Marketing Specialist, Marc Grayson of Webographers fame, has just sent over his first Tomato contribution of 2008, and it couldn’t have been more timely. I hadn’t told him when he submitted the idea, but I have been meaning to write on this topic for the last week. You snooze, you lose. Perhaps I’ll save my banter for the comments along with y’all. Are You IN or OUT With Real Estate Blogging? By Marc Grayson You may have thought I was referring to, "are you in with blogging or out with blogging". Actually, what we seeing today are differentiations in blogging and communicating online given: your peers (Inside) and to consumers (Outside). Should real estate professionals stick to one audience...having more than 1 blog? Why is this important? Let's take a look at what service providers are up to. What were seeing today in Web 2.0 are lines...

7 Real Estate Marketing Powerhouses Team Up To Give Away More Than $16,000 Worth of Services, For Free! Our good friends over at Online Marketing Strategies had this crazy idea: Let’s get a bunch of very effective and cutting edge real estate marketing companies together to change someone’s life. The Real Estate Tomato was lucky enough to be chosen to be a part of this event, and we couldn’t be more excited. I can’t wait to see who wins. The Contributors To The Winner’s Package Include: - Online Marketing Strategies - This Web design and marketing firm will deliver a thorough review of the winner’s Web site, ultimately to design a highly targeted Web site incorporating the latest marketing techniques. The winner will also receive a custom, high-resolution print artwork branded from their Web site for business cards, letterhead, envelopes, Just Listed and Just Sold cards. VALUE $7500 - Jim...

Our goal here at the Tomato is to educate Real Estate Professionals on the fine art of successful business blogging. Now that our Active Vine of Blogging Clients has grown well past the 100 mark, it's obvious we have an army of savvy real estate bloggers. In an effort to bring real, first hand knowledge to our readers, we will be collaborating with the Tomato Bloggers in the form of a weekly post. Monday's articles are now the result of the collective writings of our clients around a Blogging Advice Topic that we discuss in a private forum. This weeks topic: What Makes Real Estate Blogging Better Than Pay-Per-Click Campaigns? 1. Longevity Online Presence and Self Preservation Pay-Per-Click advertising is an effective traffic generator while you are paying, but as soon as you stop paying, the traffic ceases, as does your increased presence online. There is a direct correlation between...

Every client we work with has different real estate blog development needs. Often the concern is, “Do I need to replace the real estate website I already have in order to incorporate a blog into my marketing?” The answer: “It depends.” First, a quick look at the difference between the website, blog and blogsite: Website: Standard online presence; homepage, secondary pages, forms, listings etc. Blog: Database of articles appearing in reverse chronological order, sortable by category, keyword and date. Blogsite: The combination of the above. Let is be known, that I am a fan of the real estate blogsite. There are many obvious benefits: A single root domain (yourrealestateblogsite.com) for the website and blog. One branded look and feel. One hosting service. One development company. But it needs be explained that dumping your current real estate website to replace it with a real estate blogsite is not always the best...

1. Advertisements Will Cheapen Your Blog Nothing makes you look cheesier than having a bunch of ads next to your honest message. Especially ads that you really have no supreme control over. I can forgive some solid sponsorship that directly relates to the visitor's needs and interest. We showcase BlogJet on the TomatoBlogs site because we personally use it, and feel that it is a great tool that our readers should experience. 2. Lack Of Control Will Lead To Some Surprises Browsing around a real estate marketing blog that uses Google AdSense Advertisements to supplement their income, we stumbled across this completely off topic ad: Image to right. The message may mislead your audience. In an environment where readership and subscription are the goal, establishing the focus of your message is essential. 3. Your Keywords Attract Ads From Your Competition The GoogleAdWords ads are often generated by relating keywords from...

I didn't coin it (Burke Smith did), but I love to use it: Technology won't replace agents; agents with technology will replace agents. There's a ton of talk about the next generation of Realtors and their unique approach to the business. The most common theme is that their use of technology and embrace of the collaborative culture will change the landscape of the industry so drastically that it will effectively bury the Old Guard. This prediction is most likely true; it's hard to turn back the clock when a tidal wave of change is bearing down. Don't be so quick to embrace what's new without taking along what's tried and true. Learning from what worked well for the Baby Boomers will help you best understand how to not only reach them but also how to improve on these new tools. Your local audience responds to your local effort. The farm...

Again, we are thrilled to announce that we have another great article by the our own real estate blogging goddess, Teresa Boardman. Earlier this month she presented her strategy for 2007 with: Business Plan 2007: Blog For Leads. This week she spits in the tiger’s eye: Your Broker/Manager Hates Your Blog Maybe hate is too strong of a word, but chances are if you have been spending some time on your blog you are not getting a lot of support from yours peers in the office or the important folks at your real estate company. If this is the case I have some good news for you and some bad news. First the good news, you are on the right side of the new digital divide if you are reading this post on the Tomato. You came here because you wanted to learn or maybe take an idea you read...

The industry stats claim that it will take between 6 and 18 months to incubate the Internet Lead. Is a mean of 12 months too long? Can the real estate blog accelerate this? First, let's define the Internet Lead: A valid email address, acquired through your Internet presence (read: site). The obvious is that with an email address you are limited as to how you can communicate to them. Without a blog: If the direct communications (personal, direct email efforts) are ignored, you are left using email drip systems (canned?) and IDX listing updates (better). I can see that with only these options in your arsenal then 6 to 18 months of incubation should be expected. Email drip systems work well to continue to educate and brand, and IDX maintains buyers' interest, but neither really work the warmer lead, still hiding behind their email address. The Real Estate Blog is...

Most real estate agents are very specific as to the area in which they specialize when it comes to generating leads and operating their business. Even within a city, most agents will identify themselves with a radius that encompasses a only few neighborhoods. Their aim is to have the majority of their business generated from their local referrals and marketing efforts. Inquiries outside of their sphere will be referred out to another rather than spreading themselves too thin, geographically. So, beyond the obvious relocation business, why would a real estate blogger be interested in reaching a nationwide audience? I have no national blogging statistics to stand on, but I can safely say that the traffic one generates from successful blogging cannot be limited to a local range. In fact, I'd be willing to entertain the idea that most of the traffic one generates from business blogging is not local. If...

I received an unexpected response the day* I decided to start telling everyone I knew that I had started the Real Estate Tomato. Most people ignored the announcement.... but I expected that. What wasn't expected was that a colleague of mine that has also been making a living as a marketing consultant for real estate professionals, called me to tell me that I was making a big mistake with this new blog. In fact, he was very concerned; feeling that I was giving away trade secrets that I should reserve for leveraging the sale of websites. He said that we need to keep this knowledge close to us, this way we still have value to those whom we are pitching our wares. Revealing our insight for free, on a silver platter, would make our wisdom common knowledge, and therefore less effective when closing a deal. This got me thinking. If...

Is it safe to assume that you've have been to a Starbucks, and are familiar with the ubiquitous white cup with the round, green logo on it? Somewhere on that cup is their web address: www.Starbucks.com. How many of you have been to Starbucks.com? The response is almost always "none." The scarce few that have are checking the balance on their Starbucks Card. Most have never even noticed the web address on the cup (this is Starbucks' first mistake). It would be a safe bet that less than .01% of their loyal customers have ever been to their website. 1000's of worldwide stores and close to a million white cup holders every day… if I am right, it's a pitiful reality. How many white cups are brought back to work, to be left just inches from a keyboard, and yet, the website remains ignored? You should be thinking to yourself,...