Realtor SEO - Advice for Realtors

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

"The market is slowing down, so I need some Realtor SEO to help me get more leads from the Internet."

About once a week, I get a phone call about my Realtor SEO services from a person who says something along these lines.

That's not an exaggeration ... about once per week. Some people are just kicking the tires, so to speak. Some are not exactly sure what they need, but they think it might be this thing called Realtor SEO. Only a few are serious about (and informed about) Realtor SEO -- and these are the ones who often become clients. I would say it's about 1 in 10.

The other 9 are just scrambling for a solution -- any solution -- to the slowing real estate market.

In truth, the quote that I opened this article with is usually a red flag of some deeper misunderstanding about what Realtor SEO can do, and what it cannot do. So here's my effort to shed a little light on this thing we call SEO for Realtors, and how it can best be used.

5 Truths About Realtor SEO

1. Search engine optimization (SEO) cannot change a slowing real estate market. If people are not buying or selling homes, they are simply not buying or selling homes. No amount of marketing -- be it Realtor SEO or anything else -- can change that.
2. SEO is not a quick-fix solution by any means. Realtor SEO is a long-term strategy, so it should not be used in "spurts" when business slows down. This is one of the biggest misunderstandings people have regarding search engine optimization. You plant the seeds today ... you reap the rewards months from now.
3. Realtor SEO is not a lead-generation tool. Search engine optimization generates visibility, search engine rankings, and web traffic. But it does not produce leads. SEO can help you produce more leads, simply by giving you more web traffic to work with. But it does not produce leads by itself.
   
4. Most real estate agents have more than enough web traffic to support their business goals. But they are not capitalizing on that traffic by converting website visitors into clients. So before spending money on Realtor SEO to increase web traffic, it's critical that you put things in place to maximize your website conversion rates (turning visitors into leads, and ultimately clients).
5. Most of the techniques I use for my SEO clients can be handled by the Realtors themselves. So I say, why not take advantage of a slower real estate market to work on your website's visibility, search engine rankings, etc? In fact, I've written a book to help you do exactly that.
   

I don't say all of this to discourage you or dissuade you from pursuing Realtor SEO as a marketing tool. It's worth the effort, to be sure. But you need to understand how SEO works, what it can do for you, and what it cannot do for you.

Good luck with your web marketing!

-Brandon

Real Estate Farming Letters

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Do farming letters work for real estate agents? And if so, how do you go about writing a farming letter to introduce your real estate services?

Unfortunately, these are no absolute answers to these questions that apply to all real estate agents in all scenarios. Rather, the success (or failure) of real estate farming letters / introduction letters must be measured on a case by case basis.

For example, somebody selling a home in a slow market will not receive as many farming letters from real estate agents. So they will be less desensitized to such letters -- and thus more likely to pay them attention.

On the contrary, a person selling a home in a hot market will probably receive a slew of real estate introduction letters from agents farming via the MLS. In that case, there would be a lot more "noise" to compete with when mailing your farming letter to sellers.

So the market is the first thing you must consider before mailing farming introduction letters to homeowners. The second thing you must consider is your objective and your offer.

Tips for Success with Farming Letters

If you are planning to incorporate farming introduction letters into your real estate marketing mix, there is one thing you must do above all else. You must learn the basics of direct mail copywriting. You might not think of yourself as a professional letter writer or direct mail guru. But if you're going to send real estate letters to your audience, you better get used to wearing that particular hat.

Direct mail copywriters are expert at getting people's attention via the mailbox. Companies pay these people a lot of money to use tried-and-true strategies that have been proven to increase response rates. And let's face it, if you're going to start mailing out farming letters to introduce your real estate services, you need all of the responses you can get! It's a numbers game.

Here are some resources to help you polish your direct mail copywriting skills:

• Real Estate Letter Writing - 7 Tips
• Direct Mail Copywriting Tutorials
• 5 Deadly Sales Letter Mistakes

"But wait," you say, "I'm not a direct mail marketer. I'm just a real estate agent trying to introduce myself."

This line of thinking is where many real estate agents go wrong when creating farming letters for their market areas. If you send an introduction letter that simply says "I'm a real estate agent in your area," I can practically guarantee you where that letter is headed -- into the trash.

Think of all the mail you get on a regular basis. Now step outside your real estate shoes for a moment and be honest. Would you really give a vague letter like that the time of day? Most people wouldn't.

So it's crucial to start thinking like a direct mail marketer, because that's what you are doing -- marketing your real estate services by direct mail (in this case a real estate farming letter). Direct mail marketers have been honing their skills for decades, so why wouldn't you use their lessons learned in your real estate marketing letters? I can think of no good reason.

Get Professional Help for Your Marketing Letters

If you plan to rely heavily on real estate farming letters as a business-building tool, I would even go a step further and hire a professional direct mail copywriter ... somebody with a history of getting solid response rates from marketing letters sent to consumers.

I'm certainly not that person. I hung up my direct mail copywriter's hat when I stopped working in that industry. But I can tell you that there are plenty of talented direct mail letter writers out there, and many have solid track records.

How to Write a Real Estate Ad

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

If you've ever found yourself writing a real estate ad for a newspaper or magazine, but you found yourself stuck, then this tutorial is for you.

I was looking at my website server logs recently and noticed that quite a few people find the website by searching for real estate advertising types of phrases. But thus far the website has been light on advertising tutorials, focusing more heavily on general marketing advice, Internet marketing tips, search engine optimization and such.

So I've been busy creating some real estate ad tutorials lately, and the first one is now available online. This tutorial offers advice on how to write a real estate ad for best results. I went back in my time machine to the days when I managed the print advertising for a company called QuantumMail.com, and I poured many of my ad writing lessons learned into this new tutorial

You can check it out here:
How to Write a Real Estate Ad

Free Real Estate Articles

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

If you've been looking for free real estate articles to help expand your website, you should find this information helpful.



As some of you know, I publish a fairly large home-buying website (in addition to this one). That website has hundreds of real estate articles on it, and I wrote many of them myself.

This morning I created a Free Real Estate Articles section of the Home Buying Institute. Here, you can shop for articles on home buying, selling, mortgage refinance and more.

All of the free real estate articles listed on this new page are ones that I have written. I will be adding new articles as they are written, and I'll send a blog blast out to let you know about the new material.

Here are some of the titles currently available:

• The Adjustable Rate Mortgage - A Buyer's Guide to ARMs (a 1,300-word tutorial - recommended!)
• 101 Tips for a Smoother Home Buying Process
• How to Buy a Home With a Low Down-Payment
• How to Avoid Common Mortgage Problems
• How to Prepare for Closing Costs

There are a few articles geared for sellers as well:

• Why to Stage Your Home Prior to Letting Buyers See It
• Selling Your Home - 7 Tips for Proper Preparation

I hope you find these free real estate articles helpful. If you have any questions about publishing these real estate articles, just leave a comment below and I'll answer it for the benefit of everyone.

Enjoy!

-Brandon