Simply use your target Keyword in your website links on your profile page!

Here is a step by step on how to do it:

Phase 1: Go into your “Website” links and choose the edit. 9/10 your website label is probably called “Company” or “Personal,” change this to “Other.”

Phase 2: Next you’ll see a text field appear. Simply type in your Keyword there followed by your URL link.

Phase 3: Save and enjoy the new SEO pump!

Most people don’t realize that the Keyword is hyperlinked to the URL. This creates a link to your site from the high PageRanked LinkedIn; thus, adding a bit of jet-fuel to your SEO!

For example, my target keyword is Real Estate Flyers and Real Estate Flyer Templates. I simply labeled each keyword to my website http://www.TurnKeyFlyers.com and the other to my Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/turnkeyflyers . Literally within 24 hours I went from floating around the 4–5 in Google to a solid #1!

I hope this helps! If you have any other simple SEO tricks please share them in the comments below!

PS: If you’d like to learn more marketing and SEO insights or simply would like to read a few of my articles and posts, I’ve compiled a collection of my greatest articles into a free marketing ebook. You can download it totally free here: Real Estate Marketing eBook by Reuben Fine @ TurnKeyFlyers.com

I used to sit in awe watching the IT people blaze through my computer, rifle through the files, and manipulate the web like an Indian Snake Charmer. Speed and efficiency is the name of the game. The secret to their success is their ability to use “Shortcuts.” If you play close enough attention, you’ll see they don’t touch the mouse often. In fact, Deep, an IT master guru at my office, flips the mouse up-side-down and relies solely on the keyboard shortcuts. It takes years of practice to perfect shortcuts but understanding a few basic shortcut commands can help you master the keyboard!

Here are a few of the most popular shortcuts:

THE BASICS:

 Undo

•  PC: CTRL + Z
•  MAC: CMD + Z

Redo

•  PC: CTRL + Y
•  MAC: Shift + CMD + Z

Cut

• PC: CTRL + X
•  MAC: CMD + X

Copy

• PC: CTRL + C
• MAC: CMD + C

Paste

• PC: CTRL + V
• MAC: CMD + V

Select All

• PC: CTRL + A
• MAC: CMD + A

SURFING THE WEB SHORTCUTS:

 Open New Tab             

• PC: CTRL + T
• MAC: CMD + T

Open New Window

• PC: CTRL + N
• MAC: CMD + N

Open a Link in a new Tab

• PC: CTRL + Left Click
• Mac: CMD + Left Click

Quickly Close A Tab

• PC: CTRL + F4
• MAC: CMD + W

Quickly Close Your Browser

• PC: ALT + F4
• MAC: CMD + Q

SCREENSHOT SHORTCUTS:

Often we need to “save” what we see on the screen and send it to your web guy or save a portion of a website for future reference. Sorry PC users, but this is where MACs shine!

Copy Screenshot of the entire screen

• PC: Print Screen or CTRL+Print Screen
• MAC: Ctrl+ Shift+ Cmd+3

Save a Screenshot as a .jpg

• PC: (none at this time, sorry)
• MAC: Shift + CMD + 3

Save a “Section” of the screen

• PC: (none)
• MAC:  Shift + CMD + 4

EDITING DOCUMENTS SHORTCUTS:

Save

• PC: CNTL + S
• MAC: CMD + S

Save As

• PC: CTRL + Shift + S
• MAC: CTRL + Shift + S

Delete right of cursor 

• PC: DEL
• MAC: Fn+backspace

Delete word right of cursor 

• PC: CTRL+ DEL
• MAC: Opt + Fn + Backspace

Go to start of the line 

• PC: Home
• MAC: CTRL + A

Go to end of line 

• PC: END
•  MAC: CTRL + E

Go To Find 

• PC: CRTL + F
• MAC: CMD + F

Understanding shortcuts will help make you more efficient and effective on the computer; shaving precious time and money! Enjoy the keyboard charming!

Of the two, the most valuable and competitive asset you can have is EXPERTISE! It has high-perceived value with a moderate/high competitive barrier. So it only makes sense to exploit your knowledge, wisdom, and local experience as you can. This brings credibility to your personal brand and your business. Here are a few tips to boost your expertise power:

1. Give specific examples of personal experience, cases, and solutions you’ve provided to clients. Don’t just tell people you’ve been in business for 15 years; cite your ability to solve their problems, negotiate offers, and answer their questions.

2. Gain the trust of your prospects. Most prospects will trust you if other people have trusted you; so this is where you whip-out your testimonials and past client cases. Testimonials add highly valuable social validation. Build a book of testimonials or cases. Place them in a binder or post them on your website as a digital PDF download.

3. Help your prospects get to know you, understand more about how you can help them. Educate them on your service, expertise, and insider/local knowledge. Give them something to remember you by. The worst thing you can do is expect your prospect to take the initiative to seek you out.

4. 360 Connection! Connect with your clients in every way possible. In my marketing firm we call this “360 degree touch points.” This means phone, mail, in-person, email, Twitter, Facebook, video, and all other forms of exposure. You never know what media your prospect will respond to most.

Knowledge and expertise is POWER! USE IT! It’s the most under utilized most valuable asset you have in your business. Becoming the expert will take your brand and personal perception skyward. Exploit your expertise in your pitches, presentation, brochures, real estate flyers, and online. Soon you’ll be chasing less and selling more!  

– Reuben –

Social media portals that connect with our customers and clients like Facebook and Twitter are increasingly becoming the hub for Q&A.  According to Conversocial, a social media management application, 49.5% off social media users would be far less likely to buy anything from the company that didn’t  answer questions/complaints on their social media pages.

Wow; 49.5% would stop doing business with you if you ignored them! Makes you want to check your twitter account how doesn’t it!

Client management is extremely important; now add the social media layer, and it’s gets critical! Luckily, we, as agents, don’t have multi-million users and customer; but the principle of keeping connected with our clients are still the same. As people start using social media platforms to communicate it makes it harder for us to keep track of questions and concerns. No longer can we sort through our private email inbox. Now, customer questions are open for EVERYONE to see.

Connecting on Social Networks is great for business. Just make sure you’re “connected” as well. Create a routine. Periodically check Facbook/Twitter/Email on specific times throughout the day. Don’t leave any stone unturned; and answer all questions/comments/concerns as fast as you can. Right now the average appropriate response time is 6-12 hours. Any quicker, you’re on the ball! But keep in mind, this lead time gets shorter as we layer in more technology.

(Sources: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008770, and http://www.conversocial.com/)

Communications skills are a huge advantage in sales; specifically real estate. There are two types of communication levels: Level 1 and 2.When I say communication, that means all forms: talking, moving, and listening. Level 1 is what 98% of us achieve when we interact with our clients. Getting to level 2 is where the magic happens. And believe or not, it’s pretty easy to get there. But first, let me explain what level 1 is:

Level 1 is like surface level thought, ie: what’s your name, where do you work, when do you need to sell your house by? These are questions and conversations that only skim the surface. At the end of the conversation ask yourself, do I really know this person?

Level 2, in its most simplistic form (since I love simplicity), is understanding and communicating your clients emotions and internal motivations. It’s what makes them tick. The deeper meaning why they want to sell. It’s understanding their FEARS, ASPIRATIONS, and ANXIETIES. Level 2 get’s us to a place where we really “connect” with people and truly understand where they are coming from.

We all engage in this at one time or the other without realizing it. Level 2 communicating is one of the most powerful skills to learn. Imagine the possibilities once you really understand the inner workings of people; negotiations will run smoother, sales will come easier, and getting listings will seem like a piece of cake. But how do we get to Level 2? It’s really easy actually. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Have empathy. As soon as you can understand what a person feels the greater chance he.she will become emotionally vested in you.
2. Ask deep questions. What keeps you up at night? What really is going to make you happy?
3. Reaffirm emotions. If someone confides in you and tells you their deep fear, acknowledge it and show gratitude for them sharing. It’s not easy opening up to a stranger.
4. Anticipate. You have to plan and think ahead. Pick up on small clues like the car they drive, clothes they wear, specific word choices. Thinking and anticipating what they feel will help connect you faster.
5. Keep it confidential. Trust is a huge issue. Keep the conversations confidential at all times. Explicitly say it to, “…I just want to say that I appreciate you opening up; trust me, everything we discussed is totally confidential. I’ll never speak it to anyone.”

See, it’s not that hard. The main goal is to connect on a deeper and emotional understanding level. You can take this understanding and have a profoundly better response in your marketing by using key emotional words in emails, open house flyers, listing flyers, and/or brochures. By doing so, you’ll gain the trust of your clients, improve your relationships, and it’ll boost your business.

I hope this helps and you find it useful.

As more people rely on Facebook to deliver their content and news it’s now more important to have a presence on this global platform. For most agents that might mean creating a separate Facebook Page; however, just having a standard fan page isn’t enough anymore.

With so many companies and agents jumping into Facebook pages, consumers are confused with which brands to fan, follow, and like. Just like in “search” you only have a few seconds to grad their attention and invoke an action (i.e.: like, comment, or recommend). To do so takes a bit of art, science, and ingenuity. We’ll be discussing this during our very exclusive Facebook Page Optimization webinar geared around real estate on Sept 21 @ 7:00PM.

I’ll be hosting a FREE 45 minute online webinar with social media expert and a fortune 500 consultant Rosh Khan on Wednesday September 21 @ 7:00PM (PST) discussing the topic of Facebook Optimization

If you’re interesting in attending the webinar, simply submit your name and email below. In a few days I’ll send you a special invitation and instruction on how to catch the webinar.

Space is limited, so please submit NOW… within days you’ll Dominate Social Media!

PS: After you finished your submission, please feel free to leave us a comment below or “like” us. A questions we’d like to know is: How has Facebook changed your business? And, what can we do to help you?
Cheers,

Reuben Fine

Founder/CEO TurnKeyFlyers.com

• Your Bond
• Attitude
• Sincerity
• Confidentiality
• Consistency

Your Bond — There was once a time where a man’s word was his bond. Your clients entrust in you to deliver what you promise.

Attitude — Good people do business with good people. A positive–take charge attitude is #1 thing your prospects and clients notice first.

Sincerity — Your clients can spot a fake a mile away. Being genuine and sincere about your clients feeling, thoughts, concerns, and actions is paramount when building solid relationships.

Confidentiality — Can you really trust a ‘big mouth’? Exercising confidentiality is very important to your clients.

Consistency — No one like uncertainty; it makes us feel uneasy. Being consistent with your service and delivery is extremely important. Consistency is one of the key factors why In-and-Out burger is so successful; you know you’re getting a great hamburger each and every time.

Building your brand is more than just fancy logos, catchy slogans, and advertising; it’s about building a foundation of trust.

I want to talk about logos.  Sure, we all know how important a logo design is.  It represents the true essence of your brand, identity, and image. Many agents think that having their ‘broker’ logo is all they need; but have you given any thought to your OWN personal logo? Having your own personal logo is a great marketing tool and helps to convey professionalism, prestige, and success. You can have your own ‘stand alone logo’ like this:

Or Mash-Up your logo with your Broker logo that looks like this:

Your logo can be as simple or as complex as you’d like; but remember, “less is more” when it comes to design.

Here are a few things to consider when designing your logo:

• Keep it simple — less is more.
• It needs to be easy to read from a distance — it’s not go if no one can read or recognize it.
• Stick to 2-3 colors — too many colors can get a bit confusing.
• Choose a design or font based on your market niche — if you specialize in Victorian homes, choose scroll type font. If you’re into modern sleek homes, go with a design that’s clean and sleek (i.e.: the sample design above).
• Try to mimic your broker’s logo — as seen in the example above, it looks similar to the Sotheby’s logo. This will give off a “tailored” or coordinated look.

Your logo will speak to your clients and prospects more than words alone. So really give it some thought.

Once you have your logo, proudly display it EVERYWHERE! All your public advertising should have your logo displayed in plain sight. Your flyers and brochures should carry your logo. Your yard signs and websites should are also great place to display your logo.

So, how do you design your personalize logo? Well there are a few ways:

• Do it yourself (Easy Way) — Fire up MS WORD, MAC PAGES, or MS PAINT and simply type away! These programs are pretty simple to use. Est. Time: 20-30 minutes.
• Do it yourself (Skilled Way) — Use Adobe Illustrator! It’s the best program for vector graphics that will produce the best results.
• Outsource it — There’s a great service called 99Designs that you can contract designers around the world to make you a cool logo. It’ll cost you a pennies, but you won’t have to waste hours on the computer making it!

Having a professional logo is a great way to market, position, and brand yourself as a top producing agent!

I hope you enjoyed this article!

Reuben

TurnKeyFlyers.com

• Contracts
• Written Agreements
• Marketing Brochures
• Real Estate Property Flyers
• Personal–Property Websites

Why use templates? Templates are made to make real estate tasks easier, faster, and more convenient. They’ll become the #1 tool in your business and a key resource in dominating the competition. Take for example contracts; if you’ve every used WinForms before, those are a form of template. The legal verbiage has already been pre-written for you; the only thing you need to do is fill-in the blanks with your client’s information. Now image WinForms didn’t exist! You’d have to write or commission an attorney to draft listing–purchase agreements for each and every property. This can be time consuming and very expensive; which are the main reasons templates are so popular. They are the biggest time and cost saver for business.

For many of the ‘repetitive’ duties, like marketing, templates make light work of complex tasks. Chances are you’re not a graphic design superstar who can crank out marketing artwork and–or property flyers in 5 minutes. Actually, even hot-shot graphic designers couldn’t do that from scratch. However, if 90% of the artwork and layout is pre-loaded for you, throwing in a few photos and typing in text is a breeze. With the help of templates, Top Producing agents can create listing flyers in less than 5 minutes. That’s the power of templates. In fact, templates are the secret tool ‘custom‘ graphic designers use to make property flyers. It’s a short-cut they exploit and charge agents hundreds of dollars for. All they simply do is load-up a template and drop-in the property information and send you an invoice.

Websites are a great example of effective use for templates. Just like marketing flyers, you’re probably clueless when it comes to html and java-script website coding. Website templates (sometimes called ‘themes’) make creating personal, professional, and–or property websites simple and easy. Although website templates are a bit more complex than document or marketing design templates, they are less complicated than trying to create a website from scratch. Most website templates are free! The most popular platform for creating a professional looking website is WordPress.

Should you use templates? Absolutely! Well, unless you’re the sole heir to an oil company with an endless stream of income, you should definitely consider using templates. They save you time, money, and effort; especially for marketing and websites. Templates allow you to portray a professional and polished look to your clients and prospects. They’re especially important for new agents. They’re a cost effective way to enter into the market without looking like an amateur. Seasoned agents love them too, since they can basically eliminate the designer or programmer fees!

How about cost? Cost can vary depending on what template you’re looking for. WinForm is sold through your Realtor Association and is typically a monthly fee (it used to be a 1 time fee, but now it’s a monthly access fee which is another way for them to make more money). Marketing and Flyer templates can range in price from Free to $300. Prices are highly based on quality. Free templates are often simple and used as a “fish-hook” to get you in and upsell other products. An average price for a ‘single’ property marketing template is approximately $30-$40; which is very affordable since you can and will re-using them for your entire career.  Package templates, like Turn-Key Flyer Templates, are one of the better value templates at 50+ template designs for only $95. Do the math, that’s about $2.00 a template (or 94.3% off just buying a single template).

Website templates are a different story. I’ve found FREE is as good or even better than paid themes. Mentioned earlier, WordPress is the most widely used website platform and is very easy to use. There are real estate designed themes that are free. A quick google search will point you to the most recent themes that you can easily pop-into your site. However, one paid theme that I’ve liked for quite some time is the ESTATE theme by WooThemes. It’s purpose built for real estate and looks and functions very smoothly.

When researching templates, you’ll notice some companies like to charge a monthly SUBSCRIPTION fee. This is a decision that you’ll have to make based on your budget. The “subscription” gives you ‘access’ to online templates. Keep in mind you don’t own these templates. Once you stop paying your subscription, it’s over. Subscription based templates range from $9-$90 per month.

So which template system should you use?

That’s a tough question and depends on your level of business and sales volume. High volume top producers might find the cost to convenience factor is better with a subscription service. Newer agents trying to manage monthly cash flow, paying a subscription for a service you might or might not use depending on your listing frequency is a fee that’s hard to justify.

I personally don’t like the subscriptions because I’m a stickler for cash flow. If you own a template out-right, the more you use it the less expensive it gets. Plus, subscription services like Imprev are full of extra fluff products that are used to justify a monthly fee; however, if you really look into it you might only use once in your career. My advice, try to find templates you can buy. Focus on the important templates that you’ll use all the time: contracts, brochures, flyers, and your website theme.

What about software programs?

Great question, and again, this depends on your skill level. Templates come in many file formats and some come in their own software programs. Stick to the file format that you’re most comfortable with. Contracts written in MS WORD .DOC or fill-able PDF file is good and easy to understand.

PDF format is actually a very understated technology that has make drastic improvements in the last few years. What most people don’t realize is that PDFs can be made into fill-able form templates. The main benefit to PDF is that most, if not all, computer are compatible with Adobe PDF and Adobe Reader (which is free). Since there are no special software to use like: WORD, PHOTOSHOP, ILLUSTRATOR, or PUBLISHER, you don’t have to worry about shelling out hundreds to buy or update your current software version. Adobe reader is free!

Website template are web based so you don’t need to worry about software issues.

Where can I find templates?

There are handfuls of great companies on the internet that provide templates and template services. You’d really have to do research to find the templates that best fit your needs. Contracts are pretty simple, use WinForms. Marketing templates take a bit of research. My company, TurnKeyFlyers.com makes PDF based property templates. However, they might not fit your exact needs. There aren’t many companies in the marketing template space. You can review them all within a few hours.

For website templates, I’d highly recommend looking into WordPress.com and WooThemes. They’re the most widely used and popular.

Templates are an essential tool for your business. They make your business run smoother, faster, and more efficient. They cut precious time, effort, and cost. Templates will help new agents look like rockstars, and help veteran agents perform like rockstars!

Happy marketing everyone!

Like Resources:

WordPress.com

WooThemes.com — Estate Theme

TurnKeyFlyers.com

Imprev.com

RealFlyer.com

No-brainers: Post an ad on your website and announce the upcoming open on your blog at least a week prior to the event. Include high quality photos and, if possible, a video tour. Send preliminary email notices to your database and include links to your site and/or blog. A series of two or three email notifications as the open house draws near is not excessive if each message if different, distinct and contains new information. Be sure to ask recipients to help spread the word.

Traditional advertising: Send out out postcards to your database and place classified ads in newspapers and local periodical publications. Community calendar websites often allow open house postings also. Make sure your print ads and written communications are accurate, attractive and professional looking. Plan ahead and be aware of media deadlines.

Preach to the choir: Other REALTORS® are your best source of leads and buyers.  Send out emails to real estate agents in the area and follow up with those who have shown the property previously.  Make personal contact with agents who have listings nearby.  Take advantage of your broker’s website and your local MLS.

For broader exposure, post on national real estate sites such as Zillow, openhomez.com and ActiveRain. Realtor.com offers an Enhanced Listings feature that has a place for open house information. By using data from Google Analytics, you can see where traffic to your listing has come from and focus your wide-area marketing efforts on agents in those areas.

Consider purchasing selected keywords on Google Adwords using the Google keyword tool.  If you can identify keywords that hone in on a property’s geography and key feature(s) (for example: “Beverly Hills mansion” or “Orange County seaside villa”) you can purchase the phrases for a set amount.

Craigslist: You can get lots of eyeballs using this free marketing forum.

Online social media: Create events on Facebook and LinkedIn. Post tweets and be sure to update your blog to highlight the open house. Make these posts conversational by providing information about the neighborhood, area amenities, shopping and restaurants in the vicinity, etc. Try to create a dialogue and offer value-added information.

Guerrilla marketing tactics: Post flyers at local shops and ask small business owners to stop by. Use word of mouth opportunities at networking events, community meetings and social occasions. Ask neighbors to help promote the event. On the day of the open, be sure to put out plenty of signage at the home and colorful directional signs with balloons and streamers at nearby intersections.

The goal here is to spread the word about your Open House as far and wide as possible. Leveraging the internet is an great tool, but not the only one. Effective marketing is a mix between online, offline, and between-the-line marketing. Getting your Open House packed will be worth all the effort.