Over the past week, I have used it to declutter my desk.  Yes, I still have a little bit left to do, but this is a drastic improvement over what it looked like before – the only unpapered spot on my desk was the approximate 18″ x 18″ work area immediately in front of my chair.  So, here is how I have been using Evernote to declutter my life, and three ways I believe it can help you do the same for you in your real estate business.

1. Word Processing – Evernote allows users to write blog posts, notes from meetings with your broker or prospective buyers, etc. from any device.  GoogleDocs doesn’t work well on mobile browsers, but Evernote does.  Once you get to a stopping point with the document or you complete it, you can simply save the document and Evernote syncs that document with all of your devices, and your web account.  Pretty cool stuff.

2. File Cabinet – I store all my monthly invoices on Evernote now.  When a bill comes to me in the mail, I simply take a photo of the bill with my smartphone and send it to Evernote with a tag of the due date.  When bill paying day rolls around, I just search for the month and year in Evernote and all of the invoices I have stored in my account are there for viewing and payment.  I am also using Evernote as a rolodex to store an image of any business cards I receive now.  Take a quick snapshot of the card, upload it to Evernote and give the card right back to the card’s owner.  Some may think that is rude until you tell them politely that you are just trying to save them money, and the environment by using Evernote.

3. Receipt Manager – I used to save all of my receipts in a desk drawer until tax prep time when I would go through all of them to prepare information for my accountant.  Once I was through with them, I would store them in an envelope inside a box for 3 years only to throw them away later.  Not anymore, now I just take a picture of the receipt and upload it to Evernote, and then throw away the receipt.  When tax time rolls around, I will just search in my receipts folder for receipts from this year.  In addition to freeing up drawer space, I can easily search the tags I entered for a receipt that should I need to return to an item previously purchased.

These are just 3 of the countless ways to use Evernote in your real estate business.  If you have another really cool way of using the service, then please leave that in the comments section below.

We are fortunate to live in a time where, when done properly, we can generate real estate buyer and seller leads for little to no monthly expense.  In the “Good Ol’ Days” of real estate, we paid for printing and postage for newsletters and postcards, mail outs to our “farming” areas, etc, etc, etc.  While all of those processes are still very effective, they are quite expensive.  Today’s technology can generate leads for you at a fraction of the cost through the process of inbound lead generation.  Inbound lead generation involves generating leads by having the prospects contact you instead of you contacting suspects in hopes that some of them will turn into prospects.

So what exactly am I talking about?  Here’s a 4 step plan to generating leads using inbound marketing.

1.       Blog – Adding engaging and useful content to your website on a blog allows you to showcase your expertise and helpfulness to potential buyers and sellers.  “But I don’t… (enter excuse for not writing blog posts here)”  Then, hire someone to do it for you!  It is much cheaper than you think.  In fact, I know of a company who offers a program that you can subscribe to that will send you a “Done for You” blog post up to 3 times per week for a little more than a dollar a day.  All you have to do is copy and paste the post to your blog.  Click here for more information or to subscribe.

2.       Social Media – These amazing tools allow you to distribute your blog content to hundreds or thousands of people for free.  Socializing on these sites will help your business tremendously. 

3.       Webinars – You will have to spend a little money on this one to subscribe to a webinar service, but I promise you the expense is worth it.  A first time homebuyer webinar that you’ve promoted on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter is an incredible lead generation tool.

4.       PPC and SEO – Pay Per Click and Search Engine Optimization are tools that can help to increase the reach of your marketing efforts.  These two will help drive traffic to your website or blog.  We all know that traffic equals more buyer and seller leads.

Implement these 4 steps in your marketing plan to generate some very inexpensive leads to carry your real estate sales into the dog days of summer, and if you have an idea you would like to contribute to this topic, please leave it below in the comments section.

Photo compliments of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1708

The first, and probably the most controversial, way is to enable public subscribers on your post.  Facebook now allows you to post on your personal profile page and allow public subscribers to see your post.  Enabling this feature is done in the account settings area of your profile.  Some of you are going to say, “Now wait a minute, I don’t want everyone knowing what I have to say on Facebook. Not all of my posts are for people I don’t know to see.”  And to that, I say, “Hold your horses.  Read on.”  Once you have subscribers to your feed, you can determine which group of people sees your particular post by clicking the dropdown box next to the “Post” button.  Select “Public” and post.  That’s it!  You just sent that post to everone subscribed to your news feed whether they are a friend or not. 

The second and probably the best way is to build an interest list.  This is a list that other Facebook users can subscribe to.  These lists are akin to an RSS feed for a particular group of Facebook users.  Use this tool to build a list around topics and draw people to subscribe.  You can also see the updates of only these list members, like a news feed, and interact with them that way.  Use this function by clicking on “Add Interests” under the menu section of your “Home” page (you may have to click “More” to find it).  You can build your list first and Facebook will also suggest people to add based on the topic.  Once you’ve added people to the list you can comment on their walls and posts to create much more engagement.

Try the above two functions and see if your Facebook engagement level increases.  Remember marketing online is about being top of mind with suspects and prospects.  Being engaging will keep you top of mind.

So, are you scared of the posting something for possibly the whole world to see as described in the first tactic?  Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below.

Today, I’m giving you 5 etiquette tips to help you get more enjoyment and buyers and sellers from using Twitter.

1. Do Talk Back – No, not the way a teenager does to his parents, but be sure you interact with those who correspond with you.  If someone retweets you, then thank them for the retweet or even retweet them.  Respond, retweet, or direct message soon after that person contacts you.

2. Spread the Word – If you are going to be tweeting a lot because of an office open house or holiday party, then let your followers know ahead of time.  You are far less likely to lose followers by informing them of an upcoming busy day of tweets.

3. Keep Your Personal Business Personal – Just like all social media platforms Twitter is all about developing relationships with your followers; however, you should refrain from sharing your personal affairs all over Twitterland.  You can share some info but don’t make any more than 10% of your tweets personal in nature.

4. Don’t Air Your Dirty Laundry – If you have an unsatisfied buyer or seller tweeting about you or your company, then get that conversation on the private side of Twitter by using DM’s or just taking that conversation offline (highly recommended).  No matter what you do, do not ignore the unsatisfied client.

5. Refrain from Over Tweeting – Do NOT tweet too much.  In a recent tech coaching session with a Realtor, my student asked me to help her log in to her Twitter and LinkedIn accounts to unfollow and disconnect with a few people who tweet or update their status on those networks too much.  So, how much is too much?  This is impossible to know for sure without asking your followers what they would like to see from you.  But, as a general rule of thumb, try to tweet no more than 3 times per day.

Whether your an experienced Twitter user or a Twewbie (Twitter Newbie), keep these 5 tips in mind when using the platform.  You’ll find that you and your followers enjoy using Twitter much more because of it.

If you have any Twitter gripes or tips, please feel free to leave those in the comments section below.  We can all benefit from reading them.

Mobile is taking over our world.  I discussed this in a blog post I wrote Thursday.  Read that post by clicking here.  The Realtors who are embracing mobile marketing are positioned to give consumers what they want when they want it and will reap the rewards because of it.  The Realtors featuring mobile marketing in their listing presentations will get more listings because they can offer more for their clients than those Realtors who are not.  The Realtors using mobile marketing to market their listings are in a position to pick up more buyer prospects than those Realtors who are not using mobile.  Ok, I know you’ve had enough, and you want to know more about exactly how you should be using mobile to market yourself and your properties.  Well, here are 2 ways to use mobile marketing to get more buyer and seller leads.

1.       Quick Response (QR) Codes – QR codes are those funny looking codes you can scan with your mobile phone or tablet to get more information about whatever the designer of the code wants you to see.  QR codes allow for far more storage capacity than a standard UPC code that we are so familiar with.  So, how should you use QR codes to get more buyers and sellers?  Generate QR codes using this website for each of your listings before your listing presentation.  Have the QR code take those scanning the code to the single property website for that prospective listing (or to the property listing on your personal website) and demonstrate how it works to the seller and then get ready to enter that new listing into MLS because not many other Realtors are using QR codes and single property websites to market their listings.  Using QR codes gets buyers calling you about your listings after they view your new listing on their tablet or smart phone.  From there, it’s up to you to put the charm/sales pitch on them to make them your buyer clients. 

2.       Mobile Websites –  Mobile websites are websites that are designed to display perfectly on mobile devices.  Design a mobile website for that prospective listing and feature that mobile site during  your listing presentation and again get your listing agreement out because your competition is most likely not using mobile websites to market their listings.  As you know, anytime you can add additional value to your buyer or seller clients you are strengthening your odds of becoming their Realtor of choice.

If you are looking for some ways to increase your business, then consider adding mobile marketing to your list of services provided to your clients.  If you need some help building a mobile website, then please give me a call at 205-979-4412  or email me at andy {at} gaglianomtg.com.  If you are currently using mobile marketing in your efforts to increase your business, then please leave a comment with some of your success stories.

It seems like everyone and their brothers have smartphones and tablets these days.  It could be because they do.  Smart marketers have definitely noticed this trend and have completely embraced mobile in their marketing efforts.  So, what exactly does “Mobile” mean when it comes to marketing?

Well, mobile marketing is the process of marketing on or with a mobile device.  We all know that we live in a society of instant gratification and when consumers are mobile our marketing messages need to be mobile also in order to reach them.  What does this mean to you as a Realtor?  It means you need to incorporate mobile marketing into your current marketing efforts.

This is not just my opinion.  Here’s what the statistics from a recent survey completed by The Real Estate Book show:

1. 98% of all home buyers who use a mobile device in their home search process consider it a “valuable tool” – 46% of those surveyed state the device was “essential” to their search and 52% state the device as “helpful” in their search.

2. 68% stated they contacted a real estate professional to view a home based on their mobile search.

3. 85% of previous non users of mobile search will consider using a mobile device in their next home search.

So, hopefully, now you can see the importance of mobile real estate marketing.  Saturday, I’ll show you two quick easy ways to make sure you’re using mobile marketing so that you and your listings can be found on mobile devices.

Photo courtesy of Twobee

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2020

1. Omega Transcripts – For $8.25 per minute of video, Omega Transcripts will transcribe your video into a .srt file for you to upload directly into YouTube.  Or you can have them transcribe your video into a Microsoft Word document for $1.25 per minute for a 5 day turnaround.  You can then upload that Microsoft Word transcription file into YouTube using their Beta captioning upload – which I have had very good luck with.

2. Verbatim IT – These folks provide a video transcription service for a flat rate of $1.50/minute, and they will even upload the file for you.  If you have a heavy accent, no worries… VerbatimIT has you covered with no extra transcription charges.  VerbatimIT will also give you an hourly rate of $30 for transcription service for those long videos.

Don’t forget to checkout www.fiverr.com as well, but these 3 options are likely all you need to handle your transcriptions.  If you know of any other transcription sites that are awesome or do something very neat, then please leave those sites below in the comments section.

Search Engine Optimization – Yep, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  Google loves video, but it has one problem with video.  Google is a text based search engine, and video… well, it is not text based.  Captioning your videos gives the search engines text to read.  Once that text is read and your video is chocked full of your keywords, then your video will get ranked better on the search engines.  That is good!

Increase in Viewers – How well a video ranks on Google is determined in part by how many views you have.  Not just the number of views, but the number of complete beginning to end views.  By not captioning your videos you are excluding a very large part of our population – the hearing impaired.  I’ve read that there are more citizens of the US with a hearing impairment than there are total people living in Canada.  Captioning your videos includes a large sector of the market in your offers.

In one of my blogs last week I wrote about one way of getting your videos captioned.  Tomorrow I’ll give you 2 additional ways of getting your videos captioned very inexpensively.

I look forward to sharing those sources with you then.

About 2 months ago, I wrote a blog about a client named Vinnie who lives and works in Birmingham.  When I wrote about Vinnie back in January, Vinnie’s site was on page 3 of Google and page 2 of Yahoo. Today, I want to give you an update on Vinnie’s SEO progress because I’m particularly proud of what we have been able to accomplish.

Vinnie asked me to help him with search engine optimization of his website back in December, and I was more than happy to help him.  When we started our quest to own Google, Vinnie’s website was nowhere to be found on Google.  Google had not even indexed Vinnie’s site.  Well, we went to work, and when I say “we”, I mean Vinnie, Cindy (his assistant), and me.  After about 5 weeks, we had Vinnie’s site on page 3, and then things stalled.  Vinnie’s site sat on page 3 at number 21 for about 3 weeks with an occasional move up or down a few spots from day to day. 

Well, one day I got a call from Vinnie, and he sounded a little somber.  Something happened, and I’m not exactly sure what it was, although I have my suspicions.  Vinnie’s site moved from page 3 to page 10 literally overnight.  After a couple of days, Vinnie’s site moved from page 10 to page 14 to page 15, and there it sat for about 2 more weeks.  I worked frantically to get his site moved back up.  I gave Vinnie and Cindy homework to do to help move his site as well, but nothing seemed to move it at all. 

Then it happened!  Nope, “it” is not what you think “it” is.  “It” is the worst thing I think I could see happen for a client – Vinnie’s site disappeared!  DISAPPEARED!  Wow, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  There were restaurants that were ranking for Vinnie’s keywords “Birmingham Homes,” but Vinnie’s site was nowhere again.  Needless to say, Vinnie was not happy, and I was even more upset.  I didn’t give up, however.  I did my research, and Google had not banned Vinnie’s site.  So, I was hopeful that my strategy to get Vinnie moved back up to the ranks of those loved by Google would work.  I didn’t give up.  I put Vinnie and Cindy on hold with their homework I assigned them back in January, and I went to work to “fix” what I thought was wrong.

After about 3 weeks of working on Vinnie’s SEO, I got a call from Vinnie!  He called me to tell me that he just found his site on Google again.  Well, I was fired up when he told me this, and I had to ask where he was ranked.  I was expecting Vinnie to say he was on page 8 or 10, but he isn’t.  Vinnie’s site is now on the first page of Google for his keywords.  I’m not sure if Vinnie was more excited than I was, but we both had a celebratory telephone high-five.

As of right now, I’ve stopped doing anything else with Vinnie’s site to try to move him up the ranks with that particular keyword because I think I’ve done enough for Vinnie to get to number 1 on page 1 for that keyword.  I am now working on his other keywords.  We are still a work in progress with Vinnie’s quest to conquer Google, but I think Goliath may be getting weak kneed over Vinnie’s website.

If you would like some help with your SEO or you know of someone who needs some SEO assistance, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email.  I’ll be happy to help!

I opened my web browser (Firefox), and I typed the following in the address bar:  search.twitter.com.  I pressed “Enter.”  A screen came up that says, “See What’s Happening Right Now,” and there is a search bar underneath those words.  Below the search bar are the words “Advanced Search” with a hyperlink to the Advanced Search screen.

In the Advanced Search screen, I typed in the words, “buy a house” and “Landlord” in the “All of These Words” search bar.  Note the “Landlord” search doesn’t seem to pull up results that are as good as “buy a house” but the 2 results below are unhappy being renters (I love unhappy renters!).  I entered the words “Miami, Florida” in the “Near This Place” search bar, and I entered 25 miles as the number in the “Within This Distance” box.  I clicked the “Search” button, and all of the tweets from Twitter users within 25 miles of Miami that tweeted anything with the words “buy a house” in the tweet came back in the search results.

I found 2 leads there out of the many that came back.

I then changed the city to Phoenix, Arizona, and I searched again and quickly found one more lead there out of the many results that came back.

Again, this took me less than 5 minutes to search and screen the results for prospective buyers.

Well, what would I do if I was a Realtor?  I would follow them in hopes they would follow me back.  Once they followed me back, I would send them a direct message and initiate a conversation with them.  I would offer them a free report/ebook or some sort of ethical bribe to start with.  The key is to establish a rapport with them online without being pushy.  I’d eventually point them towards my website and then politely message them to ask if I can add their email address to my database where I would start my incredible drip email campaign that is designed to move suspects to prospects and prospects to buyers and sellers.  From that point, I’ll likely friend them on Facebook and then start trying to pull a phone number from them.  Once I get them on the phone they are mine!  They will be wooed by my charm and personality, and in 3 months they’ll be the owner of a home that I sold them.  That’s what I would do if I was a Realtor.

What would you do if you were a Realtor?  Don’t be the 90% and do nothing with this awesome tip.  Be a 10%’er, and leave me a comment below and let me know what you’ll do with this tip.  I look forward to seeing your responses.