Real Clues

[RealClues] #292: Vendor Consolidation (pt 1)

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This week at www.LuxuryClues.com: A Cool Way to Save Money on Your Phone Bill; Staging Tips for Luxury Properties using the "Three C's" from Frank McKinney; Lamborghinis, Steve McQueen's Ferrari, and other high end cars--can you afford the insurance? Space flight goes commercial with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic (and yes, the new space ship is named "Enterprise"). Custom Building Series: What Roof Do You Want Over Your Head?

*SNEAK PREVIEW of our new "Listen and Learn Real Estate" program "Get the Listing Every Time Teleclass"
http://www.profcs.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=35347&ProductID=3508879

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Table of Contents
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1. CoachingClues: How to Grow Your Business on the Web--As Easy as 1-2-3
2. Welcome Notes: Good News You Can Use with Buyers
3. Reprise: When Markets Go Down, Short Sales Go Up (Part 2 of 2)
4. Create a Better Life: The Top 10 Traits of Highly Successful People
5. Featured Products
6. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
7. Give Us Your Feedback on this Newsletter
8. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe

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1. CoachingClues: How to Grow Your Business on the Web--As Easy as 1-2-3
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Consolidation is one of key trends occurring in the real estate industry today. Are you ready to capitalize on this trend that will get you online as easily as 1-2-3?

I was conducting a new agent training class last week and wanted to illustrate how easy it is to set up a website to the class. Several years ago, you would have to invest several thousand dollars to have a quality website. Today, agents can create a website in just a few minutes and have an amazing array of services available from that site, all at no charge. Before you say, "I already have a website," remember that searching the web is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. The more places that you and your listings appear the more likely you will be to generate and convert leads.

Sadly, most agent and broker websites lack landing pages. The reason to have a landing page is to motivate leads to give you their contact information. The strategy works by offering your web visitor a free report or some other offer of service such as a complimentary CMA. Since your web visitor must supply a valid Email address to receive the information, you are now engaging in "give to get marketing." In other words, you offer a service and then allow your web visitors to determine whether they want the service. In exchange, you obtain their contact information.

An important part of your strategy in working with a landing page is to offer additional services each time that someone requests information. For example, if a buyer clicks through from your report, "How to Save Money on Your Mortgage," you could follow up with "Five Inspection Tips Most Buyers Miss." The idea is to continue to offer services until your web visitors decide to work with you.

The challenge for agents and brokers alike is that doing this process manually takes a great deal of time. New integrated technology solutions now allow you to do this quickly and easily. For example, when you sign up for one of the Point2 websites,

http://agent.point2.com/agent/partners/recoachFeaturesPage.asp,

you can create a website that is packed with landing pages, all of which offer services to your client. Once web visitors click on a report, the system automatically sends it them and then adds the data to your contact manager. Best of all, it takes only 10 minutes and again, costs nothing.

Point2's technology does much more. Once you post a listing on your Point2 site, it is syndicated to over 20 different websites including Yahoo Classifieds, CraigsList, Google, Oodle, Trulia, Live Deal, and PropertySmart. You can also elect through their "Handshake" program to syndicate to any of the other 140,000+ agents who are already in their system. Their "NLS" or National Listing Service, allows you to display your listings to the public as well. In addition to these resources, they also have a blogging product included in the package. The most exciting part of this package, however, is their new service that integrates into Facebook.

If you're not familiar with Facebook, it's a social networking site much like MySpace.com. Visitors post pictures, videos, and other information on their "wall." Social networking sites are similar to a town hall meeting where like-minded people can gather to share information about common interests. Facebook.com is well on the road to becoming more popular than MySpace.com because it allows users to control access to their network. What Point2 has done is to integrate a new application into their current website product that posts your listings on Facebook in the appropriate neighborhood. It also allows you to establish yourself as the expert Realtor(r) in the area by answering questions and participating in the Facebook community.

To establish yourself as an expert in today's Web 2.0 environment, follow these three easy steps:

1. Participate in a social networking site that is specific to your geographical location or neighborhood

2. Be a strong resource for community information

3. Post plenty of photos and videos about your location as well as relevant and interesting content.

Taking advantage of Web 2.0 is now easier than ever. If you haven't joined in, now's the time to do so!

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2. Welcome Notes
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Welcome to our new subscribers this week. Each week RealClues provides you with great strategies to improve both your business and your life. If you find this issue of RealClues helpful, take a moment to hit the "forward" button and send it to another friend in the business.

Bad market got you down? If so, sign up for our new on-line Listen and Learn program (http://www.ListenAndLearnRealEstate.com) and get some news that will put a smile on your face! This week in our "Positive News for Positive Agents" I give you four compelling arguments that you can use to get buyers to take action now. In addition to our "good news" weekly features, you will also receive eight or more new interviews each month plus the very best innovative tips and techniques in the business. This is awesome and the price is less than a $1.00 a day for BOTH our sales and marketing program PLUS the technology program. You can subscribe for a month and you can quit at any time. Listen at your leisure at your computer, on your MP3 player, or on your iPod. Put that dead time in your car to work and make it learning time. Also, with our program there are no long-term contracts and no hassles--we're here to serve you. To sign up, visit http://www.ListenandLearnRealEstate.com or see Resources for a list of some of our topics for September.

Have a great week!

Warmly, Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC
www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.RossdalePress.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com, and www.TeleconferenceLine.com

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3. Reprise: When Markets Go Down, Short Sales Go Up
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Last week's Reprise looked at Part 1 of how to incorporate short sales into your business. This week's Reprise gives you four additional techniques for closing a short sale.

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art200609_2short.html

If you missed part 1:

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art200609_1short.html

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4. Create a Better Life: The Top 10 Traits of Highly Successful People
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What does it take to achieve success? In this reprise, fellow coach and psychologist Philip Humbert outlines the traits that he has observed that consistently lead to success.

http://realestatecoach.com/toptenlists/agent/asab_d8.html

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5. Featured Products
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Here are just a few of the MP3 files we'll be posting in September that you can listen to 24-7 on your computer or download to your computer, MP3 Player, or iPod. Learn how to get buyers off the fence in this slowing market, including good news from the nation's leading business economists; Brandi Mahon discusses the secrets of closing short sales as well as how she works with deaf clients. Bloggers extraordinaire Jim Cronin and Teresa Boardman share the secrets of how to launch a successful blog. Mike Kelly discusses how to build your business using radio. Michael Edlen (with $110 million in closed sales in 2006) and Lester Cox (with $250 million in closed sales in 2006) discuss the secrets of building a successful team. Subscribe now to get the edge you need to today to make plenty of money tomorrow.

To sign up, visit www.ListenandLearnRealEstate.com

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6. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
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Looking for a well-trained coach who knows the real estate business? Our coaching team can help you increase your production and make your dreams come true! Send an e-mail to Shane@RealEstateCoach.com and we'll help find the right coach for you.

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7. Give Us Your Feedback On This Newsletter
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We want your feedback-to share your thoughts and suggestions, please e-mail us at Shane@RealEstateCoach.com.

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8. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe
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Visit our Web site, http://www.RealEstateCoach.com to subscribe/unsubscribe to RealClues.

Copyright (c) 1996-2007, RealEstateCoach.com and Teleclass4U.com, LLC. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute RealClues as long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the contributors to this newsletter is attached.

Contributors to this newsletter:
Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC, Owners, www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com; www.RossdalePress.com; and www.TeleconferenceLine.com
Shane Bowlin, REC General Manager

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