Thursday, April 25, 2024

Lisa Gray

677 POSTS 0 COMMENTS
Lisa is an accomplished marketer with years of expertise in direct response marketing, digital marketing, data analytics and business development working with both B2C and B2B.

    Finding the time in a busy schedule to sit at a keyboard and pound out blog posts isn’t an easy task. If you’re looking for leads, however, building organic search traffic for your website is an integral part of a well-rounded lead-gen strategy.

    The best way to build this traffic is by blogging and promoting the posts, consistently.

    The best real estate agent blogs offer something for everyone. Yes, this includes buyers and sellers, but also those readers interested in home décor, gardening, DIY projects, and more. 

    Let’s go fishing for topic ideas.

    Internet sources you may not have thought about

    Answering common real estate consumer questions is a good place to start when making a list of blog topics. You know the basics, such as “Should I sell my home before buying another?,” “What renovations should I make before selling?” and “What credit score do I need to buy a home?”

    Sure, these are common questions and, yes, they should be answered. But there are so many other topics that real estate consumers may find interesting.


    The Farm, Animals I Series is shown above. To see more, Click Here.


    Check out the Porchlight section at Zillow.com. They haven’t updated the section in about two years but there are so many posts there you’ll have no trouble finding evergreen stuff to help inspire you:

    • Interviewing Real Estate Agents: Best Questions to Ask Listing Agents
    • How to Reduce the Stress of Selling a Home
    • What Is Escrow?
    • How much is a down payment for a house?

    You’ll find more ways to get your creative juices flowing at Redfin.com:

    • How to Avoid a Delayed Closing
    • How Much Does it Cost to Stage a House?
    • How to Calculate the Square Footage of a House
    • 4 Low-Cost Remodels That Increase Home Value

    Find additional topic ideas at magazine.realtor, Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate, and realtor.com.

    Online shopping for blog topics

    Love it or hate it, Amazon.com seems to offer something for every shopper. Including you. But what you’ll be looking for won’t cost you a penny.

    When seeking consumers’ pain points so that you can help solve them, you can’t go wrong with Amazon’s best-selling products list.

    For instance, right now, the second-best-selling product in the Home and Kitchen category is liquid ant bait. How about a blog post for the homeowners in your CRM on how to get rid of ants?

    Get hyper-local

    Even real estate buyers and sellers enjoy local content. It’s also one of the best ways to build organic traffic.

    If your city boasts a regional magazine, head straight to its website to mine for topic ideas. For example, Austin, Texas is home to Austin Monthly magazine. Here’s a sample of some articles that would make excellent hyper-local blog fodder:

    • 15 Free Things to Do in Austin this April
    • Austin’s Top Doctors for Kids 2022
    • Five Essential Gardening Shops in Austin

    Hyper-local blog posts, most of all, make you appear to be connected to and knowledgeable about the community you serve.

    Ok, you’ve found some topic ideas. You’ve written and published your blog posts. Don’t skip the last step: push those posts out on social media, linking back to your website.


    PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

    1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

    Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine, with rich, full-color content, and a sharp, professional esthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts, combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

    Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card!Click Here


    2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

    The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

    3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

    The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

    4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

    The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

    5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

    Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

    6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

    Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here


      One of my agent friends, a veteran of the industry, once told me that to get agents to attend her broker opens, she would serve food. Not cookies and coffee, but actual buffet-worthy goodies. Now, this was way before serving food at these events became commonplace. 

      She explained that not only do agents appreciate something to munch on early in the morning but that they also LOVE anything that’s free.

      If you’re among the freebie lovers in the industry, take a look at the following list of free stuff that’s perfect for real estate agents.

      1. DottoTech Videos on YouTube

      Thanks to the amazing Melissa Zevala’s website for information on this freebie. Hosted by Steve Dotto, these tech videos seem custom-made for the real estate agent.

      A random sampling of his YouTube channel’s home page finds videos about Google Maps, Google Docs, Zoom tutorials, graphics tutorials, and more. If you’re searching for anything regarding tech, content creation, and productivity, stop by Dotto’s channel.


      The Looking For Listings scheduled campaign is shown above. To see more, Click Here.


      2. Zoom

      Ok, so it’s not new. It is, however, among the coolest and most useful freebies an agent can have. Virtual appointments free the busy agent from the time suck that is driving all over town to visit clients in person.

      “We’ve seen clients take multiple listings a day [via Zoom], and never leave their house. That’s amazing,” says Brian Icenhower at therealestatetrainer.com. He also suggests using Zoom for client check-ins, especially listing clients.

      “Simply share your screen and show your clients the numbers firsthand! This is huge for your customer service, and a huge value add for your clients.”

      Zoom offers several pricing packages and the lowest price one (which is free) includes:

      • Hold as many meetings as you want with a 30-hour time limit per meeting (yes, the website says “30 hours”).
      • Group and private chat
      • The ability to host up to 100 participants

      See the rest of what comes with the free package at zoom.us.

      3. Canva

      Created in Australia and launched in 2013, Canva is hardly a piece of new technology. And at almost 20 years of age, it’s hard to believe that most of its functionalities are free.

      A graphics creation app, or as Dotto calls it, a “template-based graphics app,” Canva is ideal for creating presentations, fliers, graphs and charts, social media graphics, business cards, photo editing, and more.

      If you’ve never used Canva, you’ll be happy to know that online tutorials abound. Canva, in fact, has an entire library, known as their “design school,” that you’ll find at canva.com. Need more? Head on over to YouTube.com.

      Once you create a direct mail piece on Canva you can upload your design to ProspectsPLUS! to mail out. To make sure you have the correct dimensions to upload to ProspectsPLUS! check out this easy how-to.

      While the above freebies are quite well-known, we’ve learned that they’re highly recommended among real estate agents. If you have never used them, check them out!


      PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

      1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

      Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine, with rich, full-color content, and a sharp, professional esthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts, combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

      Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card!Click Here


      2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

      The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

      3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

      The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

      4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

      The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

      5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

      This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

      Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

      6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

      Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here


        A postcard from Harold’s recent Get More Listings automated campaign is shown above. To see more of this scheduled campaign, Click Here.


        Congratulations Harold Vives on winning this week’s contest!

        Harold had the following words to say about his success sending marketing out from ProspectsPLUS!,

        “Great company and love the automatic campaign option to send postcards to potential future clients. I would highly recommend them.

        – Harold Vives

        Harold, thank you for your wonderful feedback! You’re 5-year Get More Listings automated campaign looks fantastic!


        Don’t Forget to Enter For Your Chance to Win a $125 ProspectsPLUS! Gift Card! (see how below)*

        What Can You Do With a $125 ProspectsPLUS! Gift Card? Here are 5 Things:
        • Launch and pay for the first month of a Sphere or Farm Scheduled Campaign consisting of 130 jumbo postcards.
        • Send 130 jumbo Just Listed or Just Sold Postcard to a radius surrounding your listing.
        • Send 130 Jumbo Get More Listings postcards to an area where you want more listings.
        • Create a niche prospect list (empty nesters, move-up market, etc.) and send a mailing of 130 jumbo postcards.

        HOW TO ENTER: Just leave a review regarding how using marketing from ProspectsPLUS! has impacted your business, and you’re automatically entered into our next contest.

        Leave a review on Google, HERE.
        Leave a review on Facebook, HERE.

        *If you’ve already entered our contest in the past and haven’t won, you don’t need to enter again. Your entry remains valid and you still have a chance to win.

        Don’t forget to watch out for next Friday’s email announcing the weekly winner!


        Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you in your success.

        We’re here to support you.

        Your ProspectsPLUS! Team


        PLUS: When you have time…below are some helpful tools to support your success.

        1. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

        The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

        2. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

        The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

        4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

        This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

        Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here


        The Take a Listing Today Podcast


          When real estate consumers visit your website they are typically searching for three things:

          • Listings
          • Knowledge of the selling/buying process
          • Information about what it’s like to work with you

          The latter includes answers to certain burning questions common among these visitors, such as will you sell their house for what it’s worth and in the time frame they desire? Will you make the process smooth and easy for them? 

          Oh, you may be thinking, “so all I have to do is fill my website with my sales stats, my tenure in the business, and brag about community expertise.”

          Nope. It’s not that easy

          We live in a world where consumers are overly bombarded with sales pitches and have learned to not only tune them out but to distrust them.  

          Tell them until the cows come home that you’re the “neighborhood expert” or the king or queen of local real estate and they may or, more likely may not, believe you.

          Steer them to a website full of helpful information that shows your expertise and provides a sprinkling of strategically placed client testimonials that prove your real estate chops, and now we’re talking.

          How to choose testimonials that will attract buyers

          It’s easy to get carried away when posting testimonials to your website. Many agents post all of their positive reviews, which results in a TLDR (too long, didn’t read) situation. The visitor becomes overwhelmed and, if they read any of them, it will most likely be the first three or four listed.

          Many visitors won’t read any of them.


          Real Estate Times Series is shown above. To see more, Click Here.

          If you’re wondering which of your testimonials have the most power with consumers, take a look at these takeaways from NAR’s Homebuyers and Sellers Generational Trends study:

          • “… an agent who is honest and trustworthy” is the most important criterion used when homebuyers choose their agent.
          • When working with a buyers’ agent, helping them understand the buying process “… was most beneficial to buyers 30 years and younger at 84 percent and for buyers 31 to 40 years at 71 percent.”
          • When asked about the most important benefits their agent provided, 61% said that their agents “Pointed out unnoticed features/faults with the property.” Slightly less than half appreciated their agent’s ability to negotiate “… better sales contract terms.” 

          You can find NAR’s entire study at nar.realtor.

          Now, go through your buyer testimonials and select only those that mention the aforementioned. For instance: “Jack helped us understand the entire process, from start to finish.” 

          Testimonials to attract sellers

          Now you’ll want to do the same with your testimonials from sellers. 

          When choosing an agent, homeowners look at the agent’s reputation, evidence of honesty and integrity, and the agent’s knowledge of the seller’s neighborhood.

          Once they choose a listing agent, they expect the following: 

          • the agent to get the home sold within the client’s timeframe
          • their agent to suggest an appropriate and competitive listing price
          • the agent to aggressively market the home to buyers

          Finally, go through all of your testimonials to find the very best, either buyer or seller. This is the one you’ll want to place, prominently, above-the-fold on the home page of your website.

          The rest can be sprinkled on your other pages.

          Sure, there’s a time and place for self-promotion, but when every page of your website is devoted to describing your accomplishments you become the Selfie King or Queen of real estate.

          Skip the self-hype and let your past clients speak for you.


          PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

          1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

          Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine, with rich, full-color content, and a sharp, professional esthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts, combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

          Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card!Click Here


          2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

          The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

          3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

          The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

          4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

          The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

          5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

          This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

          Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

          6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

          Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here