My Projects
45 Portland Neighborhoods in 45 days
Focus focus focus…conversion conversion conversion! As some of you may have picked up from my recent posts and talks, I am becoming militant about conversion! There is so much talk in our RE tech crowd about SM, WordPress, blogging dead or not etc. and I contend that unless there is a direct connection than can be documented and repeated it is not all that useful to our industry.
What does this have to do with 45 Portland neighborhoods? …well an analysis of new how out team produces new clients revealed that a significant portion of our web registrations originate through a Google search that combines a neighborhood name with either “real estate” or “homes for sale”. We built and tested several neighborhood landing pages and a strategy to promote the pages with a series of posts. Now that the prototyping is done and tested it is time to switch to operation mode and get some shit done that makes us money. BAM!
I will be describing the process over the next 45 days showing the example neighborhood page and hopefully some insight on the keys to converting neighborhood content into new appointments and closed transaction.
Portland Neighborhood #1 of 45 – Portland Heights
Portland Heights Real Estate is on the high end for our area. I drive through it every day on the way to work and when our little brokerage really takes off I would love to buy one of the spectacular moderns. The page took about 4 hours to build, I walked the neighborhood for 20 min taking pictures and a video with my iPhone, I used next gen gallery, and embed video served from you tube. The listing are pulled in using our Homequest IDX plug in short code.
Conversion on this page happen when the 3rd listing view is attempted and from request showings.
There are numerous on page details and conversion strategies to discuss, but this is only day one so….see you tomorrow;)
Yes…the Real Estate Blog is Dead!
My opinion is based on several years of running sites for My wife’s team and working with agents at M Realty.
When it comes to generating leads from search, the past, present and future of real estate sites is SEO, not blogging, transparency, authenticity and finding your voice. The way to get clients is to show up where the most concentrated group of most motivated buyers/sellers are hanging out and ask for the business. This is why SEO focused content kills blogging…it is targeted directly at the relevant phrases and lands on pages designed to satisfy needs AND convert into conversation. Directing visitors interested in Portland Real Estate to our site generates appointments with new clients. People searching for Homes for sale in Sellwood neighborhood will register on IDX display of listing in the neighborhood. As I tailor most of my content to support the landing pages for valuable terms am I still a blogger or have I become an SEO focused content writer…is there a difference?
I am defining the Real Estate agent blog as an agent site to publish thoughts and ideas about real estate and possibly other things. A traditional agent blog can have solid impact in the direct support of an agent sphere relationships. It can become a dynamic newsletter of sorts that can be referenced in facebook and can be the content source of actual email newsletter campaign. This site will not (in general) produce quality organic traffic from search engines that will convert into clients at a rate that justifies the effort. Unless the site is used as a support to a more traditional campaign of meeting people IRL and direct marketing its ROI sucks. If you feel it is your calling to write and this is you outlet fantastic…do it because you love it. If you see a blog as a lead generator think twice.
IMO…the future of agent sites that have measurable ROI are hybrid site that use blogging platforms (WordPress) and employ very good on page SEO targeted to terms that convert leading to landing pages that generate registrations of some sort. The “blog” or “dynamic” content serves to supplement the high quality static landing pages that are the primary conversion points of the site. That is not to say the site necessarily must become a cold site with no agent personality coming through.
The future of web generated leads belongs to agents who become very proficient in SEO, understand conversion, and can write for the humans and bots that end up on the landing pages.
Don’t get me wrong I am all for transparency and authenticity. However I would suggest spending significant time and effort on the structure and conversion so your authentic, transparent voice will produce a significant number of transactions not just an opportunity to lead a session at Barcamp. WOW that was a tad snark wasn’t it 
WalkScore heat mapping
WalkScore is a data tool that allows you to look at a property as it relates to walkable places in the community. The heat map shows the concentration of walk scores as an overlay. You can use it as a guide to listings that have a high Walkscore…or low walk score if you hate walking:) Use the live version to search portland real estate with the Walkscore heat map.
iPhone Pano
Click the image to view in Panoramic viewerThis image was take with an iPhone I constructed a panoramic head to rotate the phone precisely. I will be adding a second axis of rotation to capture more vertically.
RMLS Tech Fair
This post is a test of our Panoramic viewer. Click the images below to view pano and regular images. Click here to view post in “Map” mode. In Map mode click the images and the lightbox should cover the map area and leave post image active for navagation.
Great day at the tech fair. I have been on my feet for hours. Great to see so many friends each year. This is one of the best days of the years for us at HQ
[Gallery not found]Setting the Appointment
You have spent the time and effort to build good traffic to your site. People like what you have to say and they are obviously interested in Real estate because they are searching for homes, saving homes and sometimes even requesting showings. Congratulations!! Now the big question…are you doing any business?
If the answer is no or not much, there is a conversion problem. The first step to conversion is identifying motivated people, the second is asking for an appointment Yet many agents I see don’t take this step. Your conditioned knee jerk reaction to someone saying “I am interested in Real Estate” should be great “Would you be open to getting together for a cup of coffee to see if we are a good fit to work together.” Or something to that effect.
Of course many times the prospect does not come right out and say “I am interested in real estate please help me”. However, if you are consistently paying attention to the communication you will see “I am interested” conveyed in many ways. The key is to listen and ask questions this is a skill and some people have it naturally and some of us have to learn it.
Listen for any sign of “I am interested in real estate” then ask “would you be open to getting together to see if we are a good fit.” That’s the simple take away message.
DO NOT follow with. great let me run back to the office and send you tons of crap about me and the market to prove to you that I am a great agent and know what I am talking about…oh and I always put my clients interest first and some shit about my personal mission statements;…oh and here is a picture of me on the top of Everest with my shaman….oh and did you know I am not like all those other agents (who are Idiots) I always call back…oh and the ten thousand other things you could say.
Just meet with them to see if you would be a good fit to work together…then take it form there.
Operation vs Innovation
This dovetails with the production vs development idea. As you look carefully at your strengths and weakness it is very important to understand whether you like to create things or run things. Would you rather design your own sandwich shop with all the fixtures and new innovative topping and toasting methods OR would you rather buy a Subway franchise and run it efficiently like a cash machine.
If you are in the wrong place it will drive you crazy. I manage an active real estate team. I meet with agents every week at M Realty to work on business planning and action items. I created the software application Homequest and the company around it. I am the lead product developer for Homequest. I am responsible for the management of the software company. I am not saying this to puff I just want to give some background on what shapes my thoughts. For our companies to thrive we must simultaneously innovate and opperate, if we don’t we will die!
It is a very large amount of work and it is a big mix of creating things and operating things. I have learned alot about myself and a lot about what must happen to create and operate while keeping an eye on the bottom line. I do not claim to have it all figured out by any stretch of the imagination. But we have real knowledge that only comes from doing.
From this base we are looking at how to create an environment that helps agents find the right mix of operating reliable systems while innovating and creating. One size does not fit all each of us have unique strengths but there are consistent methods, strategies and tactics to both create and operate.
One of the understandings that must be in place for a successful long term real estate practice is the assessment of the agents as it relates to this question of operation vs creative strength. They can both succeed at a high level but they require a different structure to be built.
BTW it is way easier to be an oppertor and succeeed in real estate than to be a creator and succeed. You have to operate well to suceed but you don’t have to innovate to succeeed. Innovation without operation accomplishes nothing. Innovation with operation can change the world.
Embrace your Weakness
We all have strengths and weakness’. I am very strong in some areas and pathetically weak in others. If fact as I get older and more focused on my strengths I feel my weakness are getting worse. The good news is that to grow and thrive I don’t have to be strong at everything. As long as I am part of a team where we have complementary skills and talents I can overcome my weakness and hopefully continue to develop my strengths. This works very well in our software development company.
How about real estate? Building a successful and sustainable real estate practice requires a broad skill set. Prospecting, marketing, converting leads, managing a budget, managing a data base, juggling new technology, IT, negotiating transactions, managing paperwork flow, continuing education, and about 500 other things. In just about any other business there are specialists in real estate we are one our own. At least to start with.
I believe it is very important for us as agents to really look at ourselves to assess our strengths and weakness’ as we plan the business we want to build. If we know the places we are deficient we can work to create the support system needed to thrive.
Most agents I know have a strong desire to succeed and are smart enough and personable enough to have a shot at it. The determining factors are whether they have a plan, take action and have the proper support system to fill some critical areas of weakness. Understanding our weak spots can have just as much to do with success as understanding our strengths. They are just not as fun to look at:)
Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
All three of Malcolm Gladwell book are “must reads”. The Tipping Point, Blink and now Outliers. They all look at success and achievement in very uniques and interesting ways. The good news in Outliers is you don’t need to be a genius to succeed at a high level. The bad news is that its going to take 10,000 hours of work/study/obsession to be in the game then the world must shift in in your favor. at least if your looking for Bill Gates level success. If you are trying to grow and succeed you MUST read this book.
