Tami Patzer has been telling me about a great new product called ‘SinoFresh.’ It’s a nasal congestion spray that’s mostly herbal stuff like camphor, that has no ‘rebound’ in symptoms after use. Her son has been using it and she claims it’s made a big difference. I sometimes get a little stuffy at night (I know, I know: some say I’m stuffy most of the time!), and so have been looking for it. That’s the problem: I can’t find it. I’ve been in a dozen drug and grocery stores looking for it and it’s just not there.
Of course, as in all things, I see a parallel here for Help-U-Sell. Clearly we have a product that works. Consumers love us and enjoy telling everyone how much they saved and what a great experience they had; but can those consumers then go find you when they look?
The easiest way would be to Google Help-U-Sell and find the link to the helpusell.com. The office locater there would help them find you, as would the property search feature . . . IF you’ve updated your areas served! If you are in Kansas City and also work in Lees Summit, are both locations reflecting your office? You know, when you become a Help-U-Sell broker you do a comprehensive Market Analysis and use it to help narrow your focus down to those 10,000 – 15,000 households you plan to target in your marketing. That’s different than areas served. You target your marketing to the areas you want to get listings. You are probably comfortable showing property over a much wider geography, and that’s your area served.
(Before I get hate mail: my statement about targeting your marketing where you want to get listings is a general statement. We all know to temper implementation when current reality intervenes. Today, your marketing targets might be more dispersed. For example, in addition to working your target area, you might also target homeowners in danger of foreclosure or those who might be candidates for Short Sale. They might be scattered beyond the boundaries of your target market. You might also be targeting buyers who live outside your target market but who might be likely to relocate there. The idea of staking your flag in the sand at the center of a well defined area in which you intend to do business is central to Help-U-Sell; but it’s not the only thing we do.)
Back to being findable: Consumers today use the Internet for their housing searches. When they find your listing on Zillow, can they then find you? Have you created profiles for every aggregator out there? Zillow? Trulia? Are the profiles in sync so that the contact information is correct and linked? One of the things that will happen when the new Broker websites roll out is that helpusell.com will begin to feed the aggregators. There are about 28 with which we will share your listings. Unless you change it, the email address used as we syndicate out will be your Help-U-Sell email address; so in order for consumers on those other sites to find YOU, the email address in your Zillow/Trulia/Whatever profile must match. As we get ready for the new sites, now would be a good time to check your profiles on various real estate websites and make sure they are up to date and share the same email address.
Have you optimized and localized your website? Have you done key word and key phrase research for your area and then incorporated those phrases into the copy of your site? Have you taken generic boilerplate copy and customized it to your local office and local area? This activity will make a big difference in where you appear when people use search enngines to find real estate in your area. Robert Stevens has made the process easy with the new broker sites and will be walking us through that at the Tech Summits, but it is important to do the same with any other websites you maintain.
Have you maximized sign exposure for your company in the local market? Does each listing homeowner have a set of directional and open house signs and have they been coached on how to hold an effective open house? Every one of your listings should be held open the same afternoon every week — whether Saturday, Sunday or some other day — plus whenever the homeowner is in the mood. This way there is a time every week when you have maximum signage in the area (and you know the consumer often subconsciously decides which real estate company is best by the number of signs he or she sees in the neighborhood).
(By the way: Landmark Signs has Help-U-Sell directional signs on clearance for $1.50 each with a minimum order of 5. Such a deal!)
Maybe this would be a good time to boost your sign exposure. Blitz signs have always been a good way to do this. Tacked on posts and fences, taped up in windows on staked in the ground, they clearly communicate that you are present and ready (careful: don’t break any local sign ordinances). I’ve been talking with our new sign vendor, Realty Sign Express, lately about developing a new line of very inexpensive blitz signs. They are in development and I’ll let you know as soon as they can be ordered, but meanwhile Blitz signs are available at both Realty Sign Express and Landmark.
Finally, do you have a wrapped vehicle? That’s a wonderful sign. You can park it anywhere and make an impression.
So don’t be a Secret Agent. Start today to do the simple things you can do to up your image in the local marketplace.
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http://www.sinusfresh.com
If you can’t find it in stores, you can order online at a discount.
And right on cue, you do exactly what we want our raving fans to do: be so happy with us that they go out of their way to help us find new clients! Thank you.