I was talking to a long time agent this morning and he mentioned that he misses the face to face business that he used to know.  If you have been around for 10-20 years you may also remember the time when he could just call people and they would actually answer the phone.  Back when people would remember you and how good you are at the business.

He pointed out that he is better than ever at dealing with people once he can talk to them face to face, But his closings are coming fewer and farther between and he wonders if it’s him or just a slump in the economy.

I have good and bad news for everyone that feels the same way!

The good news! – Those face to face skills are more valuable than ever!  Your ability to close clients on the face to face level is the most important part of the Real Estate business and all the fancy technology in the world is not going replace you!

The bad news! – New technology has created a gap in our line of communication.

Once we are face to face with clients very little has changed, the problem we are having is cutting through all the noise and making that initial contact.  Caller ID has just about killed telephone prospecting and has made it very hard to get through to people, leaving a message on voice mail is just about as useless, and sending an email is less and less effective because people are sick of SPAM.

Here is what we need to do to bridge the gap in our line of communication.

• Make sure past clients: remember us, contact us when they need help, and refer us to their firends.
• Convince new clients to: ask us for help, give us their email address, or call us direct.
• Get noticed above all the other: websites, agents, and brokers fighting for their attention.
• Reply to inquiries FAST!  (less than 7 minutes)
• Don’t pester!   Too much and you will be blocked, ignored, or disliked
• Communicate on their terms – if they like text, send them a text…

The old way of closing business works just fine.  The old way of finding business is obsolete.

Contact us today and let us help you rebuild that lost line of communication.  We can get you up to speed even if the only thing you can do with your computer is turn it on.

I see agent photos all the time that are obviously 10+ years old.  Out of date; hair styles, clothes, and even technology will make you look like you are 10 years behind the times.

A good head shot can make or break that critical first impression.  Internet surfers will jump to a split second decision about you based on what they see (Your head shot).  This response is hard wired into human nature and in many cases we win or lose their business in a blink of an eye.

If you feel like you looked better in the past and are holding on to that glamour shot because it makes you feel better. Watch out, once you show up at the appointment – you might get accused of false advertising!

It’s easy to replace that old photo.  Read this post Use a Casual Photo and Look Great, to see how quickly that old shot can be replaced with no cash out of pocket.

We spend a lot of time and money marketing ourselves just to fall flat on our face with a old, dated photo.   Don’t make this and other simple mistakes when marketing on the Internet.  Contact The City Broker today and we will get you fixed up and looking great in no time.

If you’re an internet geek you probably already know that Google is in the middle of changing the way it decides what sites get top search results.  If Internet marketing is important to you, you should know a little about Google’s new Caffeine search algorithm.

There has been enough text written about this to fill several libraries so I’m only going to point out the major facts and how these changes will affect you (Realtors and Brokers).

Losers – many sites will start to fall off the first page search results.

• Design and forget websites will suffer!
• Websites with heavy graphics and/or lots of flash will suffer!
• Websites with no new content will suffer!
• Websites that load slow or have technical problems will suffer!

Winners –  THE NEW INFORMATION WILL RISE TO THE TOP!

• Sites with new and original content will rise to the first page
• Tweets and facebook posts will occasionally make the first page
• Blogs and social media posts will be seen on the first page.

Here are three things Caffeine really likes:

• Super fast websites – pages that load fast and menus that respond fast
• Consistent New Content!
• Good site design – links, URL structure, easy for BOT to index, etc…

The City Broker is Caffeine ready and looking forward to getting top search results for our clients.  Our sites are blazing fast and smart phone friendly.  We provide super fresh content and automatically send out Tweets and post to your facebook page.  Our sites have the best possible design with every i dotted and t crossed.

Contact us today and we will make you look great!   (…on the Internet)

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. Trouble is, I don’t know which half.”
.….John Wanamaker

The world has shifted and many of the things we have relied on for decades are not working anymore.  If your entire marketing budget is based on what used to work, I hope you will give us a shot.

• Newspapers are folding up and going out of business.
• The Real Estate magazines are expensive and losing ground fast.
• The yellowpages have been replaced by the Internet and local search on smart phones.
• Direct mail is almost a thing of the past.

The agents who have been working the Internet angle for 10 years have insured their future.  They are finding clients, closing deals and know where their next deal is coming from.  However; there are more ways to waste your time and money on the Internet, and Realtors have been the victim of crappy services for years.

• Flashy overpriced websites look great and will impress a few people.
• Premium listings on Realtor.com and Trulia.com are expensive and time consuming to place.
• Paying for directory listings for sites like Yellowpages.com is like throwing money into a black hole.
• Paying Google for traffic works pretty well, but you have to know what you are doing!

Don’t spend your time and money trying to figure out how to build an effective Internet marketing plan.  The City Broker offers a low cost, no commitment solution to on-line marketing.  No pie in the sky promises, just a proven combination of sites and services that give you a solid foundation to build on.  We cover all the main bases and offer training to get you up to speed with social marketing.   We know exactly what Google and the other search engines are looking for.  With consistent work we win top search results and make you look like an Internet pro.