Author: Tracy Thrower Conyers

This article was originally posted on Active Rain in August 2007.

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Need another idea for generating new business?  Consider this. The front page of the LA Times business section was dominated today by a huge article on the mortgage meltdown.  Nothing new, there.  But one little article tucked away in the corner about the stock market did catch my eye.  Titled Need a shrink?  Call your broker, it started out like this: “Is the crazy stock market driving you crazy? Don’t worry. To cope with the turmoil on Wall Street and beyond, financial advisors are forging professional alliances to provide their clients with psychiatric help. An advisor will work to keep a portfolio balanced while a psychologist will do the same with the client — and, on occasion, the advisor.” Why limit all the fun to the stock market?  I talk to real estate agents and brokers all day who tell me the market is making them crazy and I’m sure their clients feel the same.  Why should the financial advisors hog all the good business generating ideas? What do you say?  Does anybody out there have a good shrink I can put on speed dial? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A big shout out to Mariana Wagner and her post titled DIY: How To Make a Cool Border Around Your Active Rain and Localism Blog Posts for the inspiration and know how to create my cool beige background and border.  Thank you, Mariana!

This article was originally posted on Active Rain in August 2007.

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The Federal Reserve pumped $62 BILLION dollars into our financial system this week because the rate on bank-to-bank loans is significantly above the Fed’s benchmark rate.  Do you know what this means?  If not, take a look at this excellent, short article I saw in the Los Angeles Times business section this morning called A primer on the Federal Reserve.

Is this week’s action significant?  As the article points out, the second infusion on Friday ($38 billion right after Thursday’s $24 billion dollar infusion) was the Fed’s biggest corrective move since its move right after 9/11.

If the Fed’s actions make your eyes glaze over, I urge you to look at this article.  Our economy impacts world markets in significant ways and we as real estate professionals are sitting in the eye of the storm.  None of us can afford to not understand the basic mechanics of what is happening.

This article was originally posted on Active Rain in August 2007.

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Yesterday, we talked about the various sources of new business to grow your real estate business and the importance of marketing to search engine consumers.  Today, we look more in depth at two strategies for leveraging the search engines for generating new business.

Organic Ranking or Advertising — One, The Other or Both??

Having defined your audience (just like with offline marketing), your next step is to define your strategy for reaching this audience.  There are two marketing strategies to pursue with the search engines – organic ranking and Continue reading “Make More And Work Less With Smart Lead Generation And Development — Part IV” →

This article was originally posted on Active Rain in August 2007.

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Yesterday, we discussed the branding dance and I advocated that the primary brand for all agents should be that of a resource for information hungry consumers.  Not just any information, but the information that online real estate consumers really want — listings information.  Today, it’s getting those consumers to your website in the first place.

Where Do Your Prospects Come From?

It goes without saying that all the best lead capturing, incubation and conversion tools available are worthless if you don’t have any traffic (i.e., prospective clients) on your website, but where do these visitors come from?

Naturally your simple, clever, easy-to-remember domain name is prominently featured on all of your print materials, including your signage.  And of course this same domain name is referenced in your voicemail greeting as a place where callers can get immediate information about you and available listings.  You better be featured Continue reading “Make More And Work Less With Smart Lead Generation And Development — Part III” →

This article was originally posted on Active Rain in August 2007.

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Yesterday, we talked about the importance of keeping your business pipeline full, even when you’re busy handling “life.”  Today, it’s the branding dance.

May I Have This Dance?

Your best strategy for doing business with today’s online real estate consumers is to engage in a subtle branding dance, with you taking the lead.  What is the “brand?”  First and foremost, it’s you as respectful, helpful, resourceful, knowledgeable and responsive.  Secondarily, it’s you as an expert in whatever neighborhood, property type or other niche you enjoy or advocate.  This is the type of service professional that consumers universally want to work with. If you perfect the primary brand, you might even be able to get away without having a secondary brand, although I don’t recommend it.

How do you perfect this primary brand?  As a real estate professional, you Continue reading “Make More And Work Less With Smart Lead Generation And Development — Part II” →

This article was originally posted on Active Rain in August 2007.

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Ask any agent what her or his biggest business challenge is and you’ll hear a near universal chorus of “keeping my business pipeline consistently full with new business.”  As agents are all too painfully aware, it is easy to get caught up in today’s closing or deal gone sideways and wake up tomorrow without the next deal ready to go.  Wake up, that is, if he or she was able to sleep in the first place.

Life Happens

What’s a smart agent to do?  First, start by understanding and embracing that life happens.  And when it does, you have to react.  It may be a seller who needs to close his double escrow with a buyer whose financing just hit a bump, or your buyer that you worked months with to help find the perfect million dollar luxury condo who learns that she just got a major promotion — on the other side of the Continue reading “Make More And Work Less With Smart Lead Generation And Development — Part I” →

This article was originally posted on Active Rain in August 2007.

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Guestbooks have been around since the beginning of website time.  Originally they were used for visitors to volunteer that they visited a site.  I had one on my wedding website seven years ago.  Later, guestbooks morphed into a “lead capturing” tool by being placed over information with perceived value.  In real estate you often see these over listings information and occasionally still (perish the thought) over “free reports.”

Why do you still see so many guestbooks in real estate?  For low tech website vendors, it’s the best they can offer for lead generation and these vendors push them like crazy.  Don’t be fooled by these illusory promises of new business.  As explained below, today’s online real estate consumers won’t fill out these forms.  But that’s okay.  For realtors, another better solution is available. Continue reading “Guestbooks Are Lead Killers, Not Lead Generators” →

This article was originally posted on Active Rain in August 2007.

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There seems to be two distinct, diametrically opposed schools of thought out there among web developers about what agents should do with their listings information on their website.  In one corner is the group that advocates mandatory pre-registration before a visitor can see even a hint of listings information and, in the other corner, is the group that says, “hey, give it away because consumers will never register anyway.”

I’m here on my soapbox to advocate for the Green Party.  OK, who could help dropping in a little political joke with all the politicos in the news right now, Continue reading “Should You Give Away Your Listings Content On Your Website?” →