Something struck me when I watched Zillow’s latest tv ad, what they call the Find Your Way Home commercial.
Let’s rewind and cue it up…
SCENE 1. KITCHEN – MORNING
A mother sits at her kitchen table, mountains of dishes in the sink, looking at her iPad. Closeup of daughter sitting on her lap, face of her husband on monitor while they talk about a house they are both researching on the Zillow app.
It continues … in the car, at work, improbably even to purchasing the house so it seems.
So where is the realtor in all this?
How important really are those IDX listings on your website?
Ever notice that most buyers contacting you have already started looking for homes for sale on the Internet, and don’t need your help finding a home?
Bottom line: visitors to your website aren’t coming for the search experience anymore!
What’s more listing search activity is moving almost exclusively to apps.
It’s hard to fight the trends
Did you know? Zillow claims over 50% of the fast-increasing mobile traffic. It’s much easier to pull up listing details on a smartphone while in the car, than to “log on” to a website at home.
Some experts believe that local agents and brokers cannot compete with the big real estate brands when it comes to listing search.
What to do?
Think differently about your website. Focus on what you as an agent or broker are uniquely positioned to win. Showcase your expertise and knowledge of your local marketplace. Set yourself apart.
Embrace content marketing joyfully 🙂 Develop a gang busters blog with the latest news, tips and resources about your local market.
Make sure you have a mobile-ready website that will make you stand out from the crowd. I mean, you’re gonna look good – you just can’t help it!
Take a look at the Winning Agent Pro Theme.
Looks amazing on a full-sized retina display all the way down to an iPhone, shows off your listings with the IDX feed if you wish, and showcases your local content via your blog.
Today we’re in the midst of a real estate revolution driven by technology. Call Marcia to discuss how you can take advantage of this ever-changing landscape!
– By Marcia Coffey
Find Marcia on Google+
Call Marcia at 561.906.3436.
Follow @jmgroupdesign
Why You Need a WordPress Site For Your Business
It’s easy to fall prey to what look like simple solutions.
Some will tell you you don’t need a website for your business … you just need a Tumblr page, a Facebook page, or some other “ready in 5 minutes” solution. “It’s free! It’s quick!” they say.
But it’s also dangerous. And here’s why.
It’s rented land.
Bookstores, restaurants, and other brick-and-mortar businesses face this every day. Leases expire, rents go up, businesses can’t survive the additional financial pressure. The only way around it is to own the land your store is on.
Work for yourself … not Facebook. Facebook can change their terms of service whenever they want, without asking you. They can also delete your page just because they feel like it.
If the only place you get traffic is Google (either through organic search or pay-per-click), you work for Google.
If 80% of your new customers find you on Pinterest or LinkedIn, you work for Pinterest or LinkedIn.
You have a much better option. You can rely on yourself, and use Facebook and Google and Pinterest as outposts to support your business.
Don’t Build Your Business on Someone Else’s Platform
There are at least two assets you should be building today:
- A well-designed WordPress website with your own hosting account.
- A reputation for providing impeccable value.
Here are a few resources to get you started:
For professional-looking design right out of the box, as well as state-of-the-art code and security, take a look at StudioPress premium themes* for WordPress.
If you need a robust web host that uniquely offers WordPress support 24/7 and unlimited domains, I enthusiastically recommend BlueHost*.
You’ve put a lot of time and effort into your business. Don’t risk it by building your business on someone else’s land. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever before to create a site that you truly own and control.
– By Marcia Coffey
Find Marcia on Google+
Call Marcia at 561.906.3436.
Follow @jmgroupdesign
- Disclosure: We are a professional review site that receives compensation from the companies whose products we review. We test each product thoroughly and give high marks to only the very best. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.
Why A Car Wrap Beats Social Media
What is the difference between popcorn and a casserole?
Think. Fast and slow. Flash and substance. Simple and complex.
American small business owners are turning up the social web heat in droves, but seeing little return on investment. So maybe a flash and dash car wrap is a better ad vehicle …
… because social is a patience game and that can be a bitter pill.
If you think that setting up a Facebook page or Twitter handle (or even a LinkedIn company page) will open the floodgates to an Internet’s worth of sales leads, think again.
But social actually can be a powerful lead generator, just not in the way you think. It’s really a place to build loyalty, answer customer service questions and to build a community. Revenue will come. How? Through trust and loyalty. The best kind. Not popcorn.
Above all, social media is a brand builder on whatever level you do it, expending how much or how little time you can afford to develop your company’s presence on select platforms.
Visitors to your website EXPECT to see those little social icons in the footer or header. They automatically make your small business look bigger, they automatically showcase your expertise and establish your authority.
Small business owners also need to think of their social presence as an extension of what’s happening in their physical locations whether it’s a storefront or service business. Facebook is a great place to extend your personality online so that customers existing and new feel connected.
With a few subtle shifts in priorities and an adoption of the long view, small business owners can put themselves back on the path towards success … and sales.
– By Marcia Coffey
Find Marcia on Google+
Call Marcia, Genesis WordPress Web Designer, at 561.906.3436.
Follow @jmgroupdesign
How To Create A Tiled Mosaic Image Gallery
My cousin has an idyllic life! You can see why in the gorgeous photo gallery below.
He happens to be an architect with a designer’s eye and an iPhone. From lakeside still lifes to sunflowers in a field, John paints a detailed canvas of life on Deering Lake in New Hampshire.
His work inspired me to create this beautiful Tiled Mosaic Image Gallery which you can easily do for yourself on your own website.
How To Create A Simple Tiled Mosaic Image Gallery
A summary: This is a pretty simple process of installing and configuring the Jetpack plugin with Tiled Galleries and Carousel. After that you just need to create a standard WordPress gallery with specified settings.
Then you will just throw in a little code to your functions.php file to widen the gallery. Finally, some styling/css is needed to fine tune the carousel. And, you’re ready to go!
For the very detailed tutorial with all the steps, css and code snippets on how to set up this gallery, you will want to review the Minimal Genesis Themes page HERE.
– By Marcia Coffey
Find Marcia on Google+
Call Marcia at 561.906.3436
Why Email Marketing Works
Marketing has always come down to reach or what Mark Schaefer, Chieftain of the blog {grow}, calls “reliable reach”. Before the digital age, this was easier and far more expensive. And most definitely not DIY.
Email Marketing Works!
Just today I finished designing, writing and publishing a Mailchimp newsletter for a local landscape lighting client that generated immediate and amazing results! Within 24 hours, Harold had closed on three new customers. Now that’s REACH for you, with conversion! Read on …
Back To The Old Days and Comparisons
Prefer direct mail? Start by purchasing lists targeting those zip codes you need to reach for mailing your brochure, which is another expense (plus stamps).
How about television advertising? The most expensive media, it works when your goals are to reach a lot of people and build awareness with a budget to match.
Long-lived newspaper advertising can reach a large number of aging people who are 45+ at a cost based on frequency where frequency is key.
Then there is local topic-based magazine advertising that can be most efficient in reaching a select highly interested audience.
In this day and age of Everyman’s Marketing Universe, content channels which build your galaxy of credibility have replaced paid-for media for all small businesses. They are deceptively “free of charge” … except, of course, for the time and effort required for success.
But content marketing in the first half of the 21st century remains the best way to reliably reach your best customers.
So what are the best content channels?
Ranked in order of success, here is that list (What are the most reliable content channels to connect with customers?):
- Blog and video communities
- Podcast subscribers
- Print subscribers
- LinkedIn connections
- Streaming video
There is a reason email is #1 and my experience with Harold’s newsletter says it all. A warm audience (opt-in), immediacy, intimacy, frequency; above all, an audience primed to purchase.
There is a reason Facebook is #9! Facebook customers now see nearly 2,000 stories in their news feeds each day. So Facebook has no choice but to ratchet back on the reach, beginning with our businesses.
Surprises in this list? Pinterest at #2 and Google+ excluded.
Pinterest is a major, little known traffic driver, particularly for eCommerce sites and B2C products. Google+ is dumped by Mark Schaefer as he views the platform as only having SEO value.
Resources
A solution to the content marketing measurement puzzle
Need More Customers? 5 Ways to Get Them to Know, Like, and Trust You
What are the most reliable content channels to connect with customers?
– By Marcia Coffey
Find Marcia on Google+
Call Marcia at 561.906.3436