Jumping on the Dotcom Bandwagon:
Why Your Real Estate Business Needs the World Wide Web

Latest News

New Website Feature Updates

Be on the lookout for fresh new features we've updated on your agent or brokerage website. This section will keep you up-to-date on any improvements we have recently implemented to your site. Check out these helpful updated features:

• A Client Management System that will allow you to: manage clients; create/edit/delete client information; create/edit/delete groups of clients; assign clients to groups; create template e-mails to clients/groups; create drip campaigns with auto scheduling for clients/groups on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis; import/export clients/groups to/from the Client Management System. This feature is now implemented on all Gold & Platinum Package websites at no additional cost.


• The rotating Feature Property now shows the city a property is located in, as part of the visible details. This update is now implemented on all Gold & Platinum Package websites.

InCom Real Estate Web & e-Marketing Solutions is committed to bringing you the latest and most advanced features in the industry. Remember to check out next month’s e-newsletter for more new features.

It's 2008...If You're Not Online,You're Missing Out

REALTORS® and brokerages all across North America rely on the internet everyday to access relevant information for their business.  So do their clients, who are using the internet as a real estate search tool. Then why is it that many REALTORS® and brokerages do not yet have an online presence? Take a look at these statistics to see why taking your business to the World Wide Web is critical to your success.

[Results taken from the 2006 & 2007 REALTOR® Technology Survey]

• Approximately 2/3, of respondents had their own real estate agent business website, where 75% of respondents spent $1000 or less on building their personal or company website
• The 3 most popular choices that are considered “very important” in generating leads are: referrals, repeat business, and the Internet
• The most popular websites where listings are displayed are their own site, their broker site and their local MLS site
• Just over half of respondents, 55%, spend less than $500 annually on their website; 24% spend $1000 or more on their website annually
• In 2006, 36% of realtors took action to maximize traffic to their website

The most common activities included:


1. Advertising on printed marketing materials (flyers, letters, business cards, etc.)
2. Advertising in newspapers
3. Buying search engine keywords / Pay-per-click advertising
4. Optimizing website for search engines
5. Search engine submission
6. Direct mail
7. Adding dynamic content
8. Advertising on other websites
9. Including website rider on signs
• 50% of the respondents indicated that it took them less than two hours to respond to a lead, and only 2% indicated that it took them more than 24 hours to respond. REALTORS® are coming to understand the need to respond quickly to Internet leads to receive maximum benefit
• In 2006, 30% of respondents were receiving more than 10% of their leads from the Internet, and in 2007, that has risen to 42%

Success Story

See how our real estate websites and e-marketing tools are creating pathways to success for agents and brokerages everywhere!

“Dear InCom Real Estate Web & e-Marketing Solutions,

I’ve had my real estate agent website with your company for just over a year now. I wanted to express how impressed I am with the impeccable customer service, new additional updates and features, and the helpful ideas on how to promote my website. Since I purchased my site with InCom Real Estate, the traffic has been on a steady rise, with a good spectrum of visitors. I also receive many phone calls each month from customers who find me online. Many visitors fill out the lead generation forms, which helps to build my clientele base.  I feel that my website has kept me in line with the needs of today’s buyers and sellers. Thank you for the helpful support and kind service you have extended to me. I wish you all the best and highly recommend you to others so they too can benefit from your professionalism.”

Sincerely,

Anna Dinardo
Sales Representative
HomeLife Cimerman Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage*
www.annadinardo.com

Special Offers

InCom Real Estate FREE Educational Seminars!

Learn how to:

• Edit, upload and navigate your website with step-by-step instructions
• Utilize the meta tags, key phrases, and search engine optimization built into your site
• Utilize all the great lead-generation and prospecting features your website has to offer
• Promote your website with advanced search engine optimization, organic search results, pay-per-click advertising and other e-marketing tools
• Increase your search engine rank and website traffic

We design our websites with an ultra user-friendly interface that allows you to access your administrative capabilities and control the content of your website.  Although we make it simple and easy to edit, upload and change information, we would like to offer you, our valued customer, some extra one-on-one support, and an opportunity to learn how to promote your website. Find out how to make the most of your investment!

Take advantage of this FREE service and sign up today! Learning seminars are scheduled once a month, and since space is limited, we register customers on a first-come, first-serve basis.

To register, simply send an e-mail with your preferred seminar date clearly stated to learning@incomrealestate.com. You will then receive a confirmation e-mail with the date, time and location details of your learning seminar. Register today!

Upcoming Educational Seminar Dates:

Tuesday, July 8, 2008		2:00pm-4:00pm
Wednesday, August 13, 2008		2:00pm-4:00pm

*Check our next e-newsletter for more upcoming dates.

New! Customer Referral Program

Now if you refer someone to our services, we’ll credit you 1 FREE month!  That’s right. Simply have your referral mention your name when they sign up, and we’ll place the credit on your account. It’s that easy. InCom Real Estate is committed to bringing you the best services, benefits and deals.

For more information or to refer a realtor, please contact our sales team at 416-477-2860 ext. 221 or sales@incomrealestate.com

Helpful Tips

Promote Your Website: The Power of Website Optimization

In today’s world, we want everything done NOW. We want instant meals, downloads and super-slim bodies. So, we all know that when people type a search query into a search engine, they want to find the results they’re looking for…instantly.

That’s where we can help. InCom Real Estate Web & e-Marketing Solutions offers an e-marketing technique called search engine optimization, or SEO. It’s a system developed to help your website end up in a top spot on all Internet search engines. SEO drives your website to the top of search engine results using a powerful combination of targeted keywords and specific Meta tag titles and descriptions. So what does all this mean? Well, we essentially tailor your website content and page titles to make your site more search engine user-friendly. This in turn generates more traffic to your site. 

If you’re still not a believer, than ask yourself this: How many times have you clicked passed page 3 or 4 when conducting a search? Sometimes? Never? The unsightly truth is, people dislike sifting through information to find what they want. They usually end up frustrated and disappointed when they are unable to find what they’re looking for in a timely fashion. They want their search to be SIMPLE and EASY. So, give them the results they desire.

Appearing in prime search engine spots helps your business appear credible, established and successful. It lets customers know that you are professional and run a reputable business. InCom Real Estate Web & e-Marketing Solutions can help implement this key e-marketing tool to your website today! Call us for a free quote.

Articles

Helpful Hints

Promote Your Website: Writing a Winning Bio

Marketing is the cornerstone of your business. If there is one place that you really want to place your best efforts, it’s in your marketing. Since your website homepage is a critical marketing area for you, writing dynamic copy on your website is a key element to your success.

Writing great copy is easier than you think. It’s about writing like you speak. Talk directly to your customers about why they should contact you to buy/sell their house. You are the expert on yourself, so no one can communicate who you are and what you have to offer better than you. Here are some tips to think about:

1. Determine what type of customer you’re trying to attract. What is their situation? What are their immediate wants? Put yourself in their shoes to see what they’re thinking.
2. Write down who you are. Why should someone call you? Are you a friendly person? Do you focus on service? Are you easy to talk to? Do you have a lot of experience?
3. Have a USP – Unique Selling Proposition. What makes you better than all of the rest? It can be that all your phone calls are answered by a real person. Or that you will always make an offer within 24 hours. Whatever it is that you do that makes you unique to the competition.
4. Compare the two lists and the USP. Write down some phrases that match what you have to offer with what they want. For instance, they’re intimidated to call and talk to anyone about their situation. They’re afraid of being judged. You feel that you are a nice person who is easy to talk to. A phrase you might use is: “If you’re looking for a down-to-earth person who will take the time to make you the best offer on your house, then call me now at _______.”
5. Since composing the copy is difficult for most people, consider just talking it out into a tape recorder. Just talk to your customers in everyday English. Tell them what you can do for them. Then re-play your recording and write it down.
6. After that, put it away. Come back a day or two later, and read what you wrote, and make revisions that make it a stronger message. You may want to repeat this step a few times.
7. Be confident and proud of what you have to offer, but don’t let it become arrogant, and do not over promise. It is much better to under promise and over deliver.
8. Be excited when you record your message, and allow that excitement to come through in the writing. You want your target customers to feel that excitement, and know that you are the person to call.
9. Test. Test. Test. Don’t feel that you have to get your copy perfect before you can send it out. Test it. See what kind of results you get. Then make improvements, and test again. Keep which ever version pulled the best results. Then test again with a new message, always keeping the best one as your control piece.

If you feel that your advertising is not pulling the number of leads it should, you may have one of the following trouble spots with your marketing. Critique your marketing and see if any of these apply. Or ask someone you trust and respect to review your marketing and provide their absolute honest feedback.

1. Your message is not clear.
2. Your headline does not grab their attention.
3. You have not clearly communicated the WIIFM - What's In It For Me.
4. You have not differentiated yourself from the competition.

The key is just get started. The hardest word is the first one, after that, each one is much easier. Just follow these steps and you'll write some persuasive copy that gets results.

Source: Lou Castillo

In Our Next Issue:
Search Engine Optimization: Does Size Matter?