We all have our great listing marketing plans because it is easy to define which activities we should be doing to get a home sold but we don’t always understand it takes just as much marketing and strategy to support the needs of your buyers.  Give your buyers the WOW factor by implementing the “House Wanted” marketing plan for every buyer you work with.  This is how it works;  you have a pre-qualified buyer (very important to pre-qualify) who is looking for a home in a specific area and you want …

Relying on technology that is never truly implemented to bring you business is a waste of time and money so please stop whining about it.   So you bought the latest and greatest widget out there.  The vendor, in a hyped up seminar, promised it will bring you more business…now what?  This is the story I hear all the time.  Broker says, “I have this website that is supposed to bring me leads but I haven’t had one lead and now my business is tanking and it is the website and web provider’s …

See the ad…on the right sidebar?
We’ve all been logged into Facebook and then off to the right of our page seen one of those little “sponsored ads”, right?  They are often times things or services that you are interested in, rather than just vague, off-the-wall ad slams.  How do they do that?  It’s simple, but genius at the same time.  Facebook uses the information that we have all entered into our “Likes / Interests” area to send you ads that it thinks you might respond to.
As an example, for my …

What exactly is a lead capture gateway and how is that different from my website?
In this part, I’m going to explain how lead capture technology works. Just like in the example above, imagine that same real estate customer going to a search engine and clicking on a link to find properties. But unlike the previous example, this time the customer is diverted to our LCM Gateway technology.
Unlike a website, our LCM Gateway is designed to capture a maximum number of visitors, so instead of capturing …

One of the coolest and catchiest domains in real estate – cyberhomes.com – has just changed hands … again.

This successful national real estate website providing property data and valuations is in many regards one of the best real estate websites around. Yet somehow it has remained a step child in our industry, floating from one foster home to another. Let’s explore its unique journey and the reasons why, at the age of 15, this time it may be different.

In the Swanepoel TRENDS Report I regularly discuss trends in the printing and publishing world. For example trend #1 in the 2006 Report was titled “Electronic Devices Take Center Stage”, the 2007 Report extensively discussed “Web 2.0” and the in 2008 trend #3 covered “The New Digital Currency.”

My recent blog on ActiveRain titled “Is Print Finally Dead” drew over 150 comments with opinions from both sides of the isle, with the majority predicting the demise of newspapers.

For my final installment in this 20-part series, I’d like to leave you with one guiding principle that will make you more money, or save you more money, than all the rest. (Isn’t saving money the same as making it? My wife tells me it is when she gets back from the mall.) Anyway, here it is: Lose the overhead.
What do I mean? Think about it: If you want to increase your bottom line, there are really only …

There is a debate that still continues about using your name as your personal brand in luxury real estate marketing. Here is the best test to determine when it is advisable to do so: Ask yourself, “Are you ready to achieve celebrity status in your marketplace?” If you are prepared to have your name stand for a particular market niche that you can dominate, we say, “Go for it!”

Many luxury real estate marketing professionals believe that the primary purpose of blogging is to increase their website traffic. It is true that a great blog can actually account for more traffic to your website than traffic generated when search engines, like Google, display your website/blogsite at the top of their search results pages (and users click through)

Authenticity in your personal brand is essential when targeting high net worth clients in the realm of luxury real estate marketing. Pretense will not get your very far in the long run. For example, if you are representing that you are an eco-luxury expert, but you are not really passionate about all things “green”, people will eventually see right through you. However, if you are truly passionate about environmental stewardship, your passion will be palpable and your enthusiasm will be contagious to those who are also on your wavelength. Your passion is your natural resource and your greatest asset if you are willing to tap it.