Real Estate Leads - Top Concern Among Agents

Generating leads from a real estate website is one of the top concerns among real estate agents and brokers these days -- at least for the agents I speak to in my line of work. So I thought I'd publish a short series of blog posts on the subject of real estate lead generation online.



But first, let's start with some basic terminology so we are all on the same page. When I refer to website lead generation in this context, I'm referring to the act of generating inquiries through your real estate website. In other words, getting names and contact information from people who are interested in your services or the properties you have listed.

When it comes to Internet marketing, real estate leads are the first step to gaining clients via the web. And they come in many forms. A person might leave a comment on your blog (with their name and email address), they might fill out an-information-request form on your website, or they might email you directly. These are all forms of web-based leads ... and they are extremely valuable to your business.

You might have heard the term "conversion" used in marketing circles. In some respects, this term is synonymous with lead generation. An onsite conversion takes place when a website visitor goes from being just a visitor to something else as well. For example, if somebody visits your real estate website and subscribes to your email newsletter, an onsite conversion has taken place. The person has "converted" from a casual visitor to a newsletter subscriber.

With that definition out of the way, let's talk about the first (and most important) step to real estate lead generation online. Let's talk about the way you define your conversion goals.

Define Your Lead Generation Goals

Now this might seem a little obvious, but you'd be surprised by how many real estate agent are stumped when I ask something like: "What are your top three conversion goals on your website?"

Some will explain that their goal is to get more clients. But this is not a specific goal for website lead generation / conversion. Of course you want new clients. Every real estate agent does. But that's just the end-goal of your Internet marketing efforts. It's not a well-defined conversion goal.

Once in a while, I'll encounter a real estate marketer who has this concept figured out. He or she will respond to my question by saying something like: "I want my website visitors to do one of three things ... download a neighborhood report from the home page, click on the big green 'chat' button to contact customer service, or contact us by phone or email."

Now we are getting somewhere! This hypothetical real estate company has really thought about their goals for lead generation, and they have some things in place to help them achieve those goals. But before they could create those enticing neighborhood reports or integrate the online chat tool within their site, they had to define their conversion / lead generation goals.

As we progress through this tutorial on real estate lead generation via the Web, we will talk about some other techniques and tools you can use. But you can't
You cannot move on to the other conversion techniques mentioned below until you have clearly defined your website conversion goals, and how they will ultimately lead to new business.

Commercial Real Estate Marketing - Steps to Success

Marketing commercial real estate is not much different than marketing a home to residential buyers. Sure, the property is different. And sometimes the price tag is larger. But the general principles of real estate marketing success apply to commercial properties and residential properties alike.

With that in mind, I'd like to offer a few tips that are specific to commercial real estate marketing and sales.

1. Use Existing Networks

In ever city and major metropolitan area, there is already an existing "attention" network for commercial real estate properties. In 0ther words, there is probably a magazine, newspaper, or website that lists commercial properties. Potential buyers already know these channels exist, so that's where you want to be ... where the attention lies.

Your commercial real estate marketing will be more successful is you leverage existing networks, instead of trying to divert people's attention elsewhere.

2. Increase Your Internet Visibility

You should start your commercial real estate marketing program with known channels, as mentioned above. But it certainly doesn't hurt to create your own marketing channel, and to slowly attract attention to that channel. You can do this by creating a strong web presence focused on commercial real estate in your area.

Combine web marketing, blogging, and search engine marketing tactics to make a highly visible web presence. It will help you market your own properties, and who knows ... you may even grow the site into the premiere commercial real estate marketing site in your area. There's a lot of potential advertising revenue in that, on top of everything else.

3. Match the Marketing to the Property

Industrial properties may not need the ultimate "high gloss" treatment, as far as your real estate marketing materials are concerned. You might get by with bare-bones information pieces to promote this type of property. But a high-end office building requires a bit more polish. As with residential real estate marketing techniques, you should match the promotional materials with the property. Keep the audience in mind, and give them what they're used to seeing.

4. Promote the Intangibles

With every commercial real estate property, there are tangible selling points and intangible selling points. Square footage, recent renovations, new A/C units ... these are the tangibles.

But many brokers forget to mention all of the intangible selling points when marketing commercial real estate property. This might include easy access to parking from the street, proximity to popular lunch spots, a view of a nearby lake, etc.

I hope these tips have given you some new ideas, and I wish you well in your commercial real estate marketing program.

Real Estate Business Cards - Lessons Learned

Article summary: Real estate agent business cards are easy to obtain and even easier to use. And even as "low-tech" as they are, biz cards are an essential part of your real estate marketing toolkit. Here's everything you need to know about getting some real estate business cards for yourself.

In a former life, I worked for a commercial printing company in Austin, Texas. I've also designed and purchased my fair share of business cards over the years. So this combined experience puts me in a position to offer you some tips for creating, ordering and using your real estate business cards.

Do Agent Business Cards Still Matter?

In a word, yes. Despite the rising popularity of all things "e-business" related, real estate business cards are still very much a necessity. After all, not all of your clients are going to find you via the Web. You will meet many of your potential clients in person. And having a nice-looking business card handy can make the difference between gaining them as a client or losing them forever.

The Convenience of Online Printing Shops

The Internet has not made the real estate agent business card obsolete. It has simply made them much easier to come by. These days, there are hundreds of web-based printing companies that can produce your business cards in no time at all. In the pre-Internet days, you had to visit the print shop in person with your design on a disk.

But these days, you can design a business card online using the web-based design tools of printing company. You can also design the card yourself (or have a graphic designer do it) and then upload it to the printing company's website. From there, they handle the rest of the process for you. They'll print the cards, package them, and ship them to your doorstep.

Brandon's Pick

I've used a handful of online print shops. But there are only two or three I'd recommend. Here's one of them:

Printing Real Estate Business Cards Online

Here's the step-by-step process that takes place when creating your cards. Once you understand this process, you'll have a much easier time navigating your way through it.

1. For starters, you will either need a business card designed already, or you'll have to design one online as mentioned previously. Many web-based print shops offer design tools, such as fill-in-the-blank templates, stock images, and the like.
   
2. After the design process, you must proof your real estate business card before the company will print it. Once again, this is where the Internet makes things incredibly simply. In most cases, you can simply view the design online as a JPEG image or a PDF file.
   
3. Once you have given the design proof a "green light" your business cards will move into the printing phase. Obviously, you won't see this process take place, nor will it involve you in any way. The printing company will either use a digital printer (which allows for shorter runs but typically has lower quality) or an offset press (which offers the best print quality). Offset printing is commonly used for real estate business cards because it's cheaper with larger quantities. This means you'll get a price break for bigger orders.
   
4. Once the business cards have printed, they may be inspected by someone within the printing shop. Actually, this will depend on the quality of the company you use. A reputable printing shop will inspect all orders prior to shipping them out. A "low grade" print shop will ship just about anything, regardless of design / printing errors.
   

Here are some other things to keep in mind when obtaining real estate agent business cards:

• If you are paying more than 20 cents per card, you are paying too much. The last time I ordered business cards I paid $45 for a quantity of 500 (one-sided design).
• If you design your own real estate business card, be sure to read the printer's requirements regarding color mode (RGB vs. CMYK), resolution, size, etc. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you should have a graphic designer help you (or use a print company that offers online design tools).
• Choose a medium thickness card stock. The super-thin kind is cheaper, but it feels cheap when you hold it too. The thickest stock is overly thick and therefore a waste of money.
• Limit your design to the essentials -- a catchy image, your name, specialty, contact info and website address. There's no need to have any more than that. A real estate agent business card with too much info crammed onto it is likely to get tossed. Don't make people squint!

Business Card Marketing Ideas

Lastly, let's talk about some of the ways you can use your business card for marketing purposes. Sure, it's a simple, low-tech approach to real estate marketing. But it can also be effective in generating phone calls.

Remember, the more ways you market yourself the better. It's like financial investing ... you want to diversify your portfolio. Search engine marketing, direct mail, seminars, handing out business cards -- these are all good ways to generate business.

Why not have cards printed with property listings on them (in addition to your regular business cards)?

Why not conduct a free home-buying or selling seminar and give all the attendees an informational guide with your business card attached?

Why not give a handful of your cards to business associates in a position to refer business, such as home inspectors, mortgage brokers, etc.

These are just a few examples of how to use your real estate business card for promotional purposes. Use your imagination and you'll come up with a dozen more of your own.

Conclusion

I hope you've enjoyed this guide to real estate agent business cards (and the printing companies who create them). Like I said, the Internet makes it really easy to obtain cards these days, and the fierce competition among print shops keeps pricing down. There is no reason you cannot get 500 or more high-quality cards for somewhere around $50 these days. Good luck!

Related Resources:
Business Card Printing 101

What the Best Real Estate Websites Have in Common

What do today's top-performing real estate websites have in common? Shiny and sparkly? Great headshot photos? Nice use of font colors?

Hardly.

In fact, the superficial aspects of a real estate website hardly matter anymore. Ten years ago, you could put up a pretty website with basic information and wait for the phone to start to ringing. Today, that kind of thing is a fairytale.

These days, consumers expect a lot more from agent websites. They prefer useful content and data to shiny graphics and headshot photos. They want to get to the "heart of the matter" and view listings. The owners of the best real estate websites know this, and they build their websites around this knowledge.

In a new article just posted to the website, I've listed what I feel are the most important ingredients of a modern real estate site -- enhanced listing data, regular updates, consumer education resources, lead generation strategies, and organization / usability.

You can read the full article below:
Best Real Estate Websites - 5 Key Components

Free Real Estate Content for Websites

A real estate website without quality content is like the body of a car with no engine under the hood. It looks useful from the outside, but once you get inside you find it severely lacking.

That's why we have created a new section of the website that offers free real estate articles to agents and brokers. I wrote all of the articles myself, so I can attest to the fact that they're helpful and (I like to thing) well written.



You are free to use these articles as content for your real estate website as long as you follow the simple guidelines listed on the page. Basically, you can use any of the real estate content for your website as long as you (A) please publish the articles as-is without editing them, and (B) please include the author's note with hyperlink citation at the bottom of each article.

I like to think that's a pretty fair exchange, considering the amount of real estate website content I am offering.

So if you'd like to expand your website with helpful real estate content geared toward buyers and sellers, check out the articles page.

Content Strategies for Real Estate Websites

Here are some of the ways you could integrate the free real estate articles we offer with the existing content on your website:

• Create a "Library" section of your website and post the articles there.
• Publish the real estate articles onto your blog over a period of time.
• Develop a Q&A / FAQ page of real estate topics and link off to the articles.
• Use your imagination -- use the website content as you see fit.

Again, all I ask is that you adhere to the publisher's guidelines and the anti-plagiarism policy explained at the bottom of the articles page.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

-Brandon

Real Estate Internet Marketing on CNN Money

I recently contributed to an article on real estate Internet marketing that you might like to read. It was a piece for Fortune Small Business (part of CNN Money), and it was a question-and-answer series about reaching homeowners via the Web.

In truth, I misunderstood the nature of the question when I was interviewed by the FSB journalist who did the piece. I thought the question came from a real estate agent, but it actually came from a real estate advertising company.

At any rate, I thought you might like to check it out. Michael Russer also contributed some good advice to the article.

Read the full article here