Tim's Blog

The World of Real Estate Marketing Has Changed. Forever.

Are you online? Or do you just have a website?

The world of real estate marketing has changed forever. And for the better.

Running ads, installing boards, printing fliers and having a website are still valid methods of marketing properties and attracting listings, however opportunities abound for the smart Agent who is willing to roll his or her sleeves up and enter the world of Web 2.0.

“Web what?!”, I hear you say. Don’t worry too much about the fancy name, Web 2.0 is simply the current incarnation of the internet that enables people and businesses to become much more involved via communication, collaboration and sharing of information. You simply need to know this…The web is no longer a static medium that allows you to post information in the hope that the right people will find it.

What today’s Internet allows is an amazing opportunity to interact with your Clients and prospects like never before. Here’s how:

YouTube: Google own YouTube. Google believes that videos enhance your Internet experience. So any business that uploads videos to YouTube will be looked on favourably by the world’s most popular search engine. And that’s got to be a good thing. Here’s some ideas of what you could upload:

• Tours of homes.
• Selling tips.
• Buying tips.
• Suburb overviews.
• Staff introductions.

Twitter: A simple way of getting your message out there in 140 characters or less. Twitter is a great way to share what’s happening in your business and industry, to enter conversations that others are having about your industry and to connect with prospects and others who are interested in what you do and have to offer.

Podcasts: These are simply audio programs that can be downloaded from your website or Apple’s iTunes store. Podcasts are a great way to position yourself as an expert and provide your prospects with valuable information. Once again, topics could include buying and selling tips, suburb overviews or special guest interviews with local personalities.

Google Adwords: There are two ways of rising to the top of Google. One way is to do everything within your powers to ensure your website is key word rich and highly search engine optimised. The other is to use Google’s pay-per-click advertising service. Basically, you ask Google to run your ad on the right hand side of their search results when someone keys in a search phrase relevant to your business – For example…Homes for sale in (insert suburb).

LinkedIn: There shouldn’t be an Agent in the world that doesn’t have a profile on this highly effective networking site. Over 45 million business people use it to exchange information, ideas and opportunities. It’s simply a great way of building your online personal brand.

Now, I don’t expect you to race off now and start doing all of the above…I know for some of you what I’m proposing is quite alien. However, the wonderful thing about all of the above marketing channels is this:

• When combined, they have a significant effect in building your online presence, so that when prospects do a search for a business like yours (and they do) you will rise to the top.
• A presence in everyone of them by default leads back to your website.
• They’re free…the investment is generally one of time, not money.
• Using them will put you way ahead of the game. And afterall, isn’t the idea to create a brand that’s so irresistible that it makes competing with you far less desirable? I think so.

So, are you online? Or have you just got a website?

Do You Expect A Response To Every Proposal You Submit?

Every now and then I send a tweet out that hits a nerve.

My most recent one was this “Am I wrong to think it’s rude when someone doesn’t respond to a proposal or simply says you’re “too expensive”?

Within minutes I had quite a number of responses. Here’s a few:

“You’re not wrong…. and ‘too expensive’ is such a lazy response – too expensive compared to what? The results you want?

“I think a thank you is in order for a proposal, as it does take time to prepare. Not all people are so kind.”

“No- it drives me nuts.”

“Perhaps honest. Ever considered that you are “too expensive”.” (Funnily enough, this is from a fun Client of mine who did a great job in getting me down on my rate!)

“No, I don’t think you’re wrong. Any ‘no’ could lead to confrontation, and people don’t inherently like conflict so just avoid u!”

“I think a thank you is in order for a proposal, as it does take time to prepare 1. But not all people are so kind.”

“ This really annoys me too!”

“Not at all!”

“Happens a bit in the travel industry, who’s 2 blame tho? Is it us not being able 2 highlight the true “VALUE” of our proposition?”

‘No you’re not wrong. You took time to compile proposal & they should take the time to give feedback. networking goes both ways”

“Give them a chance – they may have been inundated by *better* offers, taking time sifting through?”

“Not wrong…. and ‘too expensive’ is such a lazy response – too expensive compared to what? The results you want?”

“It’s not rude, it’s just business, ideally you would like for them to discuss the alternatives”

“I don’t think its rude to say its too expensive, but its rude not to respond. But it depends on circumstances”

OK, so we all pretty much acknowledge that getting back to someone who’s provided you with a quote but hasn’t got the job is the right thing to do. It’s just common decency.

But there’s also a great learning here and it’s comes from Jake Hower…I’ve highlighted it above. The bottom line is that it’s incumbent upon all of us to demonstrate real value when pitching for business. Real value. For $X you get this, this, this and this. Oh, and I’ll include this as I think it will make a significant difference to your outcome for these reasons. To be completely literal, I think actually listing what it is you’re offering is the best way of showing value visually.

This tweet certainly made me stop and think if I was too expensive, but in the end it reminded me that what I have to offer is worth paying for…I just need to spell it out clearly.

What do you think? Do you think prospects should reply to your proposal? Or do you quickly move on to the next job?

What Are You Known For?

Twitter’s unexpected downtime today gave me some much needed time to reflect.

It made me think that hey, what if it never comes back up again? How will I reconnect with that wonderful tribe of followers I’ve established over the last 8-months. I’ve established some seriously valuable relationships with folk I’ve never met, and have no other contact detail for other than their Twitter ID. The first thing I’m going to do when it’s back up is bookmark (Delicious) all their sites.

Then, in realising Twitter was down I thought who do I go to to get the low down? Immediately I thought of Mashable (Peter Cashmore)…he’ll know. And sure enough, he had a post ready and waiting.

Now, this blog post you’re reading isn’t about Twitter being down…It’s about getting you to ask yourself this key question …”What are you the go-to-guy (girl) for?” In what circumstances do you want prospects and clients to think of you? In Peter Cashmore’s case he’s positioned himself as being the expert on all things social media…If I want to know something in that sphere then I go straight to him (well his website anyway).

For me, I want to be known as the go-to-guy for when a business wants to make themselves irresistible.

What about you…what do you want to be the go-to-guy for?

How To Rewrite Your Website Copy So That It Sings

Task 1 for this coming week is to rewrite my website. Yep…my entire website.

A big task in my mind…I’ve been mulling over it for weeks.

The thought of updating who I am, what I do, how I do it, why people should use my services…and making it all unbelievably interesting has been doing my head in. I do suffer from a certain amount of creative tension, however, this was getting ridiculous.

Then came the lightning bolt. That epiphany that you hear others talk about but that you never have. A little voice gave me these two bits of advice:

1. People aren’t interested in anything but what’s in it for them.
2. People have short attention spans…long copy is dead copy.

Phew! I breathed a long sigh of relief. A huge weight had lift off my shoulders.

So, when I embark on rewriting my website starting tomorrow I am going to spend all my energies telling you in a short, sharp way how I can make your business irresistible (‘case that’s what I’m good at)…and that’s it. Benefit-driven copy that’s all about how I can help your business…and if you want to find out about me…then you can simply check me out on LinkedIn, follow me on Twitter or Skype me (TheIdeasGuy). Job done!

What do you think about this approach…too simplistic or spot on?

Do Prospects Know How To Use You?

It often occurs to me that customers and prospects only know a little of what I offer.

Does this mean my offer is too broad? Or is it that I don’t make clear what it is I do?

I suspect it’s both…which is kind of ironic given I specialise in marketing communications of which Lesson 1, Term 1 is to be simple, clear and single-minded in all your communications! Ah well, nobody’s perfect.

But that’s OK…I’m in the process of fixing that up as I write this post. And I like to wear my heart on my sleeve!

The thing is, there’s a great opportunity awaiting all marketers and business owners to detail exactly what it is their business offers. And I don’t just mean in terms of products or services…although this is surely top of the list.

I’m talking about other things as well like:

• Payment terms
• Opening hours
• Contact details
• Payment options
• Guarantees
• Training
• Special deals

The list is endless. Why keep any powder dry when there’s a potential sale at stake?

Let your customers and prospects know all there is to know about your business…they can cherry pick the necessary information to make an informed decision…which is hopefully to buy…FROM YOU!

What do you think? Should you keep some powder dry?

Handling Customer Complaints

How often are you pleasantly surprised by great customer service? If you’re like me, then sadly not very often. But recently, I had a good customer service experience that demonstrates the best way to handle customer complaints.

Last winter I had a fire grate made. For $170 I got what appeared to be a solid piece of craftsmanship. But after only twenty fires, it started to lose shape, bend in the middle and generally stop functioning.

Because I generally like to avoid conflict at all costs, I tossed up for a couple of weeks about whether or not to take it back, but I finally decided I should. I was of course expecting the worse – “Sorry mate, our guarantee only extends to 14-days” or “Sorry but you shouldn’t have kept using it.”

To my astonishment the fellow who made it apologised, offered to fix it and/or replace it and advised that it would be all done within two days. The end result was that it was fixed on the same day, at no charge and now works better than ever. And he didn’t even refer to me as “Mate”. As a side issue, I think referring to a customer in this way is very unprofessional. My favoured approach is to use their first name, but that’s another article in itself!

Now, back to my fire grate. Okay, so maybe the problem shouldn’t have arisen in the first place and they should pay more attention to their craftsmanship…but mistakes do happen. From a business owners perspective, the learning here is how you handle customer complaints.

I could almost guarantee the fire grate fellow has had no training in customer service, he just did what seemed right. He listened to the customer, made a judgement that the customer’s request was reasonable and then over-delivered. In fact he under-promised and over-delivered…even better!

This doesn’t mean giving in to every customer’s request – of course there are times when they are simply unreasonable. But it does mean being sensible and mature about your options for the best way to handle customer complaints.

How you handle customer complaints can create an opportunity to promote your business. Handled well, they are a great way to generate word-of-mouth. That said, I’d buy another fire grate tomorrow from Flash Weld in Mornington, Victoria!

12 Reasons To Use Social Media In Your Business

Many Clients ask me if they should be utilising the various social mediums available to them.

As long as they’re up for providing ongoing content, and they (or someone within their business) has an inkling about how to find their way around the web, then my view is GIVE SOCIAL MEDIA A GO. And here’s 12 reasons why:

1. To engage in conversations with their customers. (Do we need any more reasons?!). Assuming we do then…
2. To attract prospects.
3. To provide customer service (answering questions, giving advice).
4. To gain information on our competition.
5. To exchange information with others who know more than you.
6. To extend your reach globally (this may force you to develop a new offer).
7. It costs nothing but time (compare that to other marketing channels).
8. It’s fun (nothing wrong with that!).
9. It’s measurable and accountable (compare that to advertising, sponsorship, direct mail).
10. To attract quality employees, suppliers.
11. To attract media attention.
12. To position yourself as an expert…or at least someone who knows what they’re talking about.

Let’s create the ultimate list. Why do you believe businesses should use social media?

10 Things You Need To Do To Build A Healthy Brand

I speak to Clients and groups of business owners weekly about what it takes to build a strong brand.

The first thing I respond with is that BRANDS ARE EARNT…not bought. You buy a business name…you create a brand.

The second point is that it’s important to agree on a simple definition of a brand. For me…A BRAND IS SIMPLY AN EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT. Already we’ve covered some seriously important concepts that we’ll leave for another day.

So, in no particular order here’s the ten things every business owner must do to ensure they build a strong, healthy brand:

1. Know what your brand stands for…whilst I may be a marketing consultant in every day speak…my brand  is all about making businesses and charities irresistible. That’s what I stand for. Identifying what your brand stands for is actually the first part of my Brand Character process.
2. Do things properly…If this means do less, then do less. Avoid cheap, shoddy anything…Printing, design, packaging, photography, copy etc etc. If this means buying a cheaper office chair, then get a cheaper office chair!
3. Have one designer do everything…logo, fliers, website, signage, PowerPoint, stationary etc. Make sure they know what they’re doing though…particularly in regards to your website.
4. Know your core values…These should form the basis of all decisions you make in your business and around your brand.
5. Identify your prospects’ problem…As brand builders we are problem solvers. Make sure your brand clearly says “Hey, I can fix your problem!”
6. Identify your brand’s personality…Then ensure it comes through in all its marketing.
7. Be unique…Take a look at what the competition is doing, identify the gap and fill it with your brand. If all the brands in your category are black then be white. Great brands challenge their category.
8. Be consistent…Make sure you present your brand to the market place in exactly the same way no matter what the medium. You are creating one brand…not 10!
9. Socialise it…Make sure every person within your business knows what your brand stands for. It’s useless having everyone on different pages.
10. Make it visually really interesting…There are so many boring logos out there…Don’t be one of them. Be brave…it pays off.
11. Under promise and over deliver…All good brands do this. Remember, I promised 10 points…well this is the 11th ;0)

This is not the definitive list but we could make it one…What would you add?

Is This The #1 Business Mistake To Avoid?

This is a story about a small business getting it terribly wrong…and how you can avoid the same mistake.

My local Chamber Of Commerce recently distributed a brochure on behalf of one of it’s members. The brochure asked…“Does Google ignore you?” It then went on for 6 pages explaining how they could ensure this didn’t happen for your business. Fair enough…they made some good points…they appeared to be a local SEO company good at what they did. They even offered a ‘free Google website ranking check’.

At this point I’m thinking, I like the sound of these guys…they tell me they know their stuff, they have a core focus and are offering a nice little free entry level product. And they’re asking a question in ‘Does Google ignore me?’ which is clearly a question many business owners ask themselves.

So…before I call them I figure I’ll just check that they’re walking their talk. So, into Google I key in their business name…and back they come, front and center. Then I key in typical search terms that one would use to find them…I key in the most obvious…’SEO experts in (insert my suburb)’…NOTHING! I try four more obvious search phrases…NOTHING!

At this point they’ve lost me and a potential new client…instead I decided to blog about the experience.

Guys…if you make a claim in your business…BACK IT UP WITH REAL LIFE EXAMPLES. That makes sense, doesn’t it?

Oh…and just to make things worse here’s a few more things they got wrong and that we all can learn from:

• There was no URL in their call to action…just an address and phone number…Really!
• They had no social media involvement listed either…fundamental for an SEO business I would have thought.
• And when I did go to their website..they had an outdated blog (last entry May 2008!).

OK…enough bagging these poor guys. The lesson? Back up every offer you make with a claim..a case study…a testimonial.

In fact, live by the below saying and you’ll be well and truly on the right track:

“Don’t tell me you’re funny…tell me a joke!”

What do you think? Do you agree?

Message first. Medium second.

Too many business owners and marketers get carried away concerning themselves with where to place their message, when they really should spend more time getting their message right in the first place.

I couldn’t count the amount of times I’ve heard over the years new Clients say to me “Tim, I’ve got to get a website…I should have a blog…I need an ad in such and such magazine…I should be on Twitter.”

“Should you?” is my usual response. “Why?” Or “Porquoi?” if I’m in a French kind of mood.

The reality is…all of the above-mentioned mediums are best viewed as simply channels…ways if you like…of getting your message to market. And some may be right for your business…others may not be. I know it’s the fun and ‘sexy’ side of marketing…getting the website or the ad…but ‘sexy’ doesn’t sell (sex does! But that’s another blog post in itself).

So…let’s play real life for a minute. A Client of mine asked me this week to set them up with a Twitter account.

“Porquoi?” I asked.

“Well, I’ve been reading about it everywhere,” came her reply.

“So?” I asked (I’m a fellow of few words).

Then there was silence…I’d got her! I’d asked the right question and she didn’t have an answer. (Not really…I’m not harsh!).

Then I chimed in and told her the facts…nothing negative…just the facts about needing to constantly update, the need to have a breif and stick to it…the need to respond in a timely manner … blah blah blah.

“Oh…That’s not my style…I need something less demanding”, she said. We then went on and identified five mediums that were much more suited to her, her business and most importantly her customers.

Now this post is not about or anti Twitter…anything but (I love Twitter as a marketing channel)…It’s a post about spending more time focusing on what to say, not where to say it. Message first. Medium second.

What do you think?

(Author’s note: If you’d like to learn about how this applies to Twitter then register for my upcoming Webinar).