The Ultimate Guide to Web Marketing for Real Estate Agents: 50 Free Resources

Posted in Featured on May 18, 2009

Are you waiting for the real estate market to pick up again? If so, why not use this slow market time to promote yourself and your home-selling skills? Although some marketing services might cost a pretty penny, you can find many other ways to promote yourself using some time and effort instead.

The following list of fifty free Web marketing resources are categorized by activity. Some resources require reading and doing, and other resources are provided for you to share your knowledge and gather followers or ‘fans’ of your services. The links within each category are alphabetized. This method assures readers that we do not favor one resource over another.

Tips and Advice

  1. Luxury Clues: This blog is dedicated to real estate agents who represent luxury properties. Their posts include timely training tips, updates on the statistics you need to know, as well as strategies for providing the stellar service ultra wealthy clients require.
  2. Real Estate Business Guide : James Kimmons’ column focuses specifically on real estate business and how to market that business. Kimmons is a real estate broker in Taos, New Mexico.
  3. Web-Centric Real Estate Marketing Blog: Kathleen Allardyce offers tips and tools that will provide your real estate business a competitive edge. Allardyce also maintains a real estate marketing ‘lens ‘ at Squidoo.
  4. Real Blogging : This is a blog about community and how that real estate community can drive markets to your business. A variety of agents blog about coaching, specialty services, technology and more at this site.
  5. Real Estate Marketing Ideas : Brandon Cornett is the author of many real estate marketing guides, having earned a reputation for ’spilling the beans’ on marketing secrets that other experts hold in reserve.
  6. The Real Estate Blog : David Cowgill created this blog in 2006 to help others already investing in real estate to pick up a few more ideas, and for those who are beginners and want to learn exactly how to get started.
  7. Real Estate Marketing Blog : The Real Estate Marketing Blog team is dedicated to providing the hottest news, most sought after advice and the top real estate marketing best practices.
  8. REALonomics : The real estate professional can learn much from this blog’s various business models, including how to analyze business models for the most effective and profitable ways to conduct business.
  9. New Home Marketing : Bo Gilbert, Senior Consultant at Mitch Levinson Consulting, has over 12 years of experience working in the new home construction industry. He focuses on Internet marketing and blogging for the home seller.
  10. Future of Real Estate Marketing: This blog, brought to you by Joel Burslem, examines the impact of Web 2.0 and the Internet on real estate and real estate marketing. Burslem has over ten years’ experience in high tech marketing and consumer public relations.
  11. Geek Estate: GeekEstate Blog was founded by Zillow.com as a resource for real estate professionals who want to learn more about how they can grow their business through smart use of technology.
  12. Mike’s Corner: According to Michael Price, “This blog exists to bridge the gap between perception and reality as it applies to Real Estate 2.0.” In this world, brokers and agents prepare to replace charisma and charm with humility and grace.
  13. Transparent Real Estate: This blog reflects news, technology marketing strategies, innovation and new business models for real estate professionals.
  14. The Real Estate Tomato: The Real Estate Tomato’s goal is to provide readers with superior advice at all times. Their expertise and extensive real estate marketing experience aims to be your benefit whether you are a new agent or a seasoned pro.
  15. Viral Marketing with a Real Estate Twist: Learn how to market your real estate business through social and/or traditional media.
  16. On the Avenues: Although the blog provides generic yet valuable SEO information, Bonnie Burns also provides web site analysis and search engine optimization services specifically for real estate web sites.
  17. Base 10 Web Solutions: The purpose of this blog is to assist their current (and future) clients in getting the most out of real estate marketing on the Internet. It’s a good motive, as the tips are easy to digest and implement quickly.
  18. My Thoughts on Microfinance, Life, Web 2.0, Blogging, and Business: Drew Myers’ various perspectives on real estate and real estate marketing.

List Your Properties

The following list includes a number of places where you can post your properties free. What better way to try to reach the largest audience possible?

  1. Find My Roof: List your real estate property online with total access and full control of your ad(s).
  2. HomeCheck: List homes for sale or rent.
  3. HomeFinder: HomeFinder.com delivers a suite of advertising solutions that enables real estate professionals to grow their businesses.
  4. HomeGain: Real estate professionals use HomeGain’s real estate marketing programs, products and tools to connect to consumers, promote their services and grow their business.
  5. House-Hunting: Create and manage a web page and listings for readers to find by state.
  6. Just Real Estate Listings: List your homes with easy-to-use self service or use their automatic listing and update service that provides your MLS feed.
  7. OLX: Some of the most popular searches here include homes for rent, furnished apartments and city apartments.
  8. Property with a View: Use this venue to stream your MLS feed.
  9. Rentomatic: Use this property management system to list properties and rent them if they’ve been open too long.
  10. ThisProperty: Users can build a professional ad in minutes and easily edit, activate and de-activate this ad in real-time across the Web whenever needed.

Write About It

The following sites present great venues for you to write and share your expertise and gain a following. You will not be paid for any writing you share with these sites, but they do provide a link back to your resources and other benefits as listed below:

  1. Article 99: Submit articles for other bloggers and publishers to use. With Article 99 you can submit blogs, eBooks, writing services and directory listings, too.
  2. Article Biz: Submit your articles and view your status. Tell folks that your article is up for publication on other blogs with your byline.
  3. Article City: Submit your articles and let people know that they’re free to use as content on other sites with your byline.
  4. Article Dashboard: If your article is popular, Article Dashboard may translate it into other languages. A resource for a link back to your site.
  5. Articles Factory: Submit your articles and keep track your articles views. Your contact details and a paragraph about you can appear with your published article.
  6. BestEzines: If you want to perfect your ezine or develop one during down time, this Web site can help you hone your skills. Submit your work and read critiques and ratings on your upload. The best ezines make it to the top.
  7. Buzzle: Each Buzzle.com author is given his or her own author page. This is where you can ’sell’ yourself with a photograph and a list of educational credits, experience and interests. Below your author biography, readers will find all of your articles.
  8. Ezine Articles: Write and submit, along with your name and any information you want to include with your article (such as your Web site or Twitter account).
  9. GOArticles: Submit your articles so others can republish them with your byline.
  10. iSnare: Not only can you submit articles, you can have those articles distributed to other sites and publishers. Distribution, however, is not free.

Social Media

If you’re already involved in social media, then spend time cultivating new relationships. If you’ve limited yourself in this arena, get started now. Building a following or a network takes time and effort.

  1. Facebook: Use the new Facebook to create pages and groups that will add interest to your real estate expertise.
  2. Friendfeed: Enjoy real-time flow of information. Use this tool as a means to an end to build community, or use it to post to other social media sites.
  3. LinkedIn: The business side to networking. Create a network with other real estate professionals here.
  4. Posterous: Use this tool to instantly create a Web site or to post to many other social media venues.
  5. StumbleUpon: Use this site to bookmark sites as well as to network.
  6. Technorati: Founded as the first blog search engine, Technorati has expanded to a full service media company providing services to the blogs and social media sites and connecting them with advertisers who want to join the conversation. Be part of the action.
  7. Twitter: The easiest way to build a following with 140 characters or less. Use this venue to share your wisdom about real estate.

Social Media Advice for Realtors

Lost with social media? Find some tips and advice here from people who understand the real estate industry or small business.

  1. 7 Tips to Getting SEO Value Out of Your Social Media Efforts: 4realz.net offers some great tips and even more social media resources to use.
  2. 12 Tips on Creating Content for Social Media: How to develop meaningful content for social media - for any business.
  3. Getting Started with Social Media in 2009: Cyberhomes author, Reggie, takes you by the hand to show you how to market yourself through social media.
  4. Homestomper: Use this blog to learn more about how to tie your social media marketing into your real estate business.
  5. Real Estate SEO and Social Media, working together: How many ways do you think Social Media can contribute to good real estate SEO? Find out.
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The Real Estate Agent’s Guide to Using Twitter + 10 Essential Resources

Posted in Featured on April 29, 2009

Did you know that Twitter is the new real estate frenzy? If not, now is the time to get on board. Plenty of real estate agents have trod the path before you, so you now have some gurus you can follow so you don’t make their same mistakes. Even if you are using Twitter for business and socializing, we hope the following tools and tips will help you drive your Twitter use up a notch.

How to Set Up Twitter

  1. Go to Twitter.com and click on the green “Get Started - Join!” button. Register as you would with any other site, with a username, password (which you want to change often) and email address. Click on the “I accept. Create my account” button and you’re ready to find friends.
  2. If you want to find your friends through your address book, your contacts would need to be in GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL or MSN. At this point, however, you may discover that many of your contacts already use Twitter. Before you go searching, proceed with the next step.
  3. Create your settings by going to your home page (http://Twitter.com/home) and click on the “Settings” link. Enter your full name in the “Name” field and make sure you “Time Zone” field is correct. Enter your location, but do not check the “Protect my updates” unless you want to approve everyone who wants to ‘follow’ you and if you want to hide your tweets (your 140-character microblog entry) from viewers.
  4. Create a 150 x 150 pixel headshot or image and upload it to your Twitter page. You can use the same image you use on your Web site or other site to help keep a consistent image. Go to “Settings,” click on the “Picture” tab to select your file from your hard drive and click the “Save” button.
  5. If you’re connected to the Internet through your cell phone, set up your phone to receive all or some of your messages and send your messages via text. Beware that your phone service may charge for this practice unless you’re on an unlimited text messaging plan. Go to “Settings,” click on the “Devices” tab, enter your mobile phone number and click on the “Save” button. If you’re located within the U.S., you can text message the code Twitter provides to you to 40404. Wait patiently while Twitter confirms and your device is registered.
  6. You also can set your background by adding an image or texture. But, before you do, you might want to take a look around at some of the sites in the linked below to get a feel for might work for you. When you’re ready to change your background, go to “Settings” and then to “Design.” You can pick a background shown here, change the background image with one of your own designs, or change the design colors to match your business card or other brand colors.
  7. Finally, download a tool like Twhirl to help stay on top of your posts, your DMs (direct messages), and to learn more about people who twitter about you. Twhirl allows you to see any “tweet” messages that contain your Twitter ID anywhere in the message.

Getting Started

Now it’s time to add people to your Twitter account so that you are “following” them - and, hopefully, they will “follow” you back. Here are some tips specifically designed for real estate professionals to make the best use of your Twitter contacts, design and strategies. The links below are in no specific order, but you might start with the first four links to learn more about how to use Twitter in depth:

  1. Welcome to Social Media for Real Estate 101: Twitter: Daniel Rothamel offers a more advanced ‘beginners’ tutorial for real estate professionals. Even if you’ve been on Twitter for a while, you might enjoy his links.
  2. Twitter for Real Estate - How to get started: Carolyn Gjerde-Tu, a Broker Associate with Lyon Read Estate, offers her experience, tips and advice on how to use Twitter to build up your real estate business.
  3. Getting Started with Twitter for Business: Chock full of links and advice for any professional Twitter user. You’ll discover links here especially for real estate Twitter beginners.
  4. 5 Rules for Using Twitter: Great advice from RealEsateZebra.com about how to use Twitter with style.
  5. How NOT to act on the Internet: If you follow only one rule as a real estate professional on Twitter, this might be the one.
  6. Using Twitter to Listen to Your Clients: Joel Burslem from the Future of Real Estate Marketing provides tips and advice for using Twitter for real estate professionals.
  7. Twitter and Real Estate: Lou Lynch explores why Twitter is a great tool for anyone in the real estate profession.
  8. Real Estate List Network: Meet up with other real estate Twitter users in this network designed specifically for you.
  9. Twitter for Real Estate: Who to follow? Here is a great list of people for real estate professionals to follow to learn how they use Twitter.
  10. Finding All the Real Estate Twitterers: Find another network here, through the RE List on Twitter.
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