You've heard the saying "You never have a second chance to make a great first impression" right? If you are selling your home or will be shortly, you need to take that little saying to heart. I'm going to share with you my top staging mistakes to avoid and hope that you'll apply what you've read today and be on your way to a successful sale.
Staging Mistake #1: BAD MLS Photos Did you know that over 85% of buyers are looking on the Internet first to find a house to buy? First Impressions start here folks! How do your photos look? I am amazed a lot of times when working with sellers that currently have their house on the market that they have not even bothered to take a look at their pictures online. I think it didn't even occur to them that this is a critical marketing tool that pulls those buyers in. GREAT PHOTOS are a must! Professional Photography makes all the difference in capturing buyers attention and getting them in the door. Great photos capture ALL of the room, have good color and clarity and show interesting angles of each room. I see bad photos all the time. Blurry. Dark. Boring. And the worst is when you can only see a small portion of the room. I don't know about you but I could care less what the sellers BED looks like...what about the room? Potential buyers want to see everything in the room in one shot. Do make sure you have at least 15 pictures advertising your house on the Internet/MLS. Buyer's really want to see as much of the house as possible.
Staging Mistake #2: Disappointing Curb AppealEver get fixed up on a blind date? Remember the anxiousness you felt as you anticipated meeting this person for the first time? If your date went anything like mine, I was REALLY disappointed with my first impression of her and wasn't even sure I wanted to proceed with the date. When selling your home, don't disappoint your buyer! When they pull up to the front of your house, they carry with them their hopes and dreams that this home could be the one! Shouldn't you do whatever you can to impress those buyers so they will want to come in for a closer look? It's amazing how a green, freshly cut lawn, new mulch, shiny new fixtures and a fresh paint job on the front door can sing "Welcome Home" to your potential buyers. Doing these basic items make all the difference! And don't forget a new welcome mat and doorbell too. Believe it or not, these are the 2 items that get overlooked all the time.
Staging Mistake #3: A Dirty, Cluttered HouseHave you heard this one before? "The way you live in your house and the way you sell your house are two completely different things." Sellers can throw up their hands and say, "But I have to still live here!" so remember...you're house is not YOUR home anymore. When you put it up for sale, it became a PRODUCT. In order to sell a product, it has to be packaged beautifully so it sells! Your buyers expect to see an immaculate house with no visible signs of dirt, dust and hair. It's no different when you go on vacation and you've decided to stay at a very nice hotel. You expect that when you walk into your room that the bed is made to perfection, everything is sparkling clean and they've even left you a little something that says "Welcome", right? What if you walked into the bathroom and you spotted hair in the sink and you couldn't tell if the towels were used or not? If that were me, I'd be calling the front desk and demanding a new room! Your buyers are really no different either. Dazzle them with a sparkling clean and clutter free house to buy! Clear away all your clutter so that the selling features in each room are highlighted and your house becomes the STAR, not the people that currently live there.
Staging Mistake #4: Making Your Buyers Feel Like A GuestEver walk into someone else's home and as you look around at their family photos and decor, it is apparent that this is "their" home. Their personality is in every room and even if you squeezed your eyes shut and tried really hard to imagine living there, you just couldn't do it. Trying to imagine your stuff over top of all of their stuff is just impossible to do. This is how potential buyers feel when they walk into a home that is full of family photos and taste specfic decor. Those buyers immediately feel like a GUEST in your house and this is one mistake you don't want to make! That is why it is so important to pack away your family photos and neutralize each room to appeal to a broad range of buyers. That also includes your collections, religious items, personal awards and trophies, your family calendar and those fifty million magnets, invitations and "TO DO" lists from the refrigerator. Don't forget your taste specfic decor as well. You may LOVE your kitchen bright yellow because it goes so well with your sunflower collection but its got to be neutralized so buyers can SEE your kitchen with its 42" cabinets and corian countertops. They need to be able to visualize themselves cooking and entertaining in there! See what I mean?
Staging Mistake #5: Decor That Fails To Connect With Your Buyers
I see this one a lot. A homeowner has lived in their home for the past 15 years and the last time it was decorated was when they first moved in 1994. Lots of oak furniture and dried flower arrangements. Dated decor, empty rooms and random furniture pieces scattered throughout can make any house no matter how nice the selling features feel TIRED, DATED and OLD. Think about it this way. You know how it feels when you get your hair done? Not just a trim but when you go all out and get a new hair color and a trendy haircut? When your hair designer is done, YOU look and feel like a million bucks, right? You look YOUNGER and FRESH and everyone you see that day smiles and their eyes light up as they take in the NEW YOU! You know, you're house is really no different. It is amazing what a few key decorative items can do for a room too. You want your buyers to have that same reaction...their eyes lighting up as they view the room becoming more impressed as they tour your house.One of the biggest misconceptions about staging your house is that you need tons of new furniture and decorative items to make your house look like a model home. You can relax now when I tell you that it isn't true. If you are living in your home while it is for sale, working with what you have plus maybe a few new items with a minimum investment is all you need. Consider working with a professional Stager that are experts at working with what you have using their creativity to re-purpose it and sometimes blending it with a few newer items. This gives older furniture and decor a fresh new look and feel. I am always amazed at how a few key accessories can make all the difference in highlighting a selling feature and breathing new life into a room! Slipcovers, new pillows that pop color, updated lamps, a rug or some inexpensive window panels might be all that is needed to turn unimpressive decor into a fabulous new room that your buyers will love and connect to! Of course, I will say that if your house is vacant or you have empty rooms because you never got around to buying that dining or living room set, you will want to consider options like renting furniture. Most professional Stagers carry beautiful furnishings you can rent and will work with your budget.Stage For A Successful Sale Selling your home and getting it ready can be a pretty overwhelming task that is stressful to say the least. Did you know that working with a professional Home Stager can take that stress away and let you focus on the other important things about your move like finding YOUR dream home? They can create a staging plan for you that is unique to your property. You can have complete confidence in knowing that you will not be making any major staging mistakes with a Stager on your team while you sell your home!
Happy Staging From Your friend Tony Barone!
-This article was written by : Teresa Meyer ASP Owner/Accredited Staging Designer of Stage a Star Staging & Consulting . You can read her blog at Blog: www.activerain.com/stageastar or visit her web site at www.stagestar.com
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
10 Facebook strategies everyone should know
Facebook Pages present a massive opportunity for brands to directly engage with their existing and future customers, even the occasional passer-by. This conversation brings with it the power that all other social media tools and platforms provide which is why this latest release of Facebook Pages is so important for brands. Yes, changes will come to the Pages product over the coming months and years but as many early adopters know, it’s often best to wait until the second version of a product arrives. Now that the second version of Facebook Pages has launched, it’s time for you to take your brand to the next level.
Below, I have outlined 10 tips for creating engaging Facebook Pages. These are only the top 10 and there are many other lessons to be learned but this should serve as the ultimate starter guide for any brand/company looking to make their entrance into Facebook.
1. Develop Custom Tabs for Custom Ads
Advertising your brand’s page is always extremely important. One of the greatest features of Facebook’s new pages product is that you can link directly to specific tabs. That means you can separate which pages a user views by default based on the ad that they clicked on. For example, perhaps you’d like to target two groups of users in different geographic locations. You would display one advertisement for people in Ocean County and those users will land on a page which is specific to users from Ocean County. A different page would be displayed to users from Middlesex County for example.
While this system isn’t necessarily the most scalable (for example having 500 tabs doesn’t really make much sense), it can instantly increase the conversion of new visitors into fans. This method also requires a bit more investment in customization but I’d argue that it’s well worth it, especially for smaller brands and companies.
2. Don’t Let New Users Land on the Wall
Why on earth would I tell you not to let users land on the wall? Well, my biggest concern is that they’ll bump into humpty dumpty. Seriously though, there is a huge opportunity to present users with engaging information and while the content provided by fans of your brand can be engaging, you have absolutely no control over it. That’s why it’s much better to have new visitors enter a controlled environment and then proceed to navigate through areas with less structure. Yes, the wall can be extremely valuable for letting users talk to you and your brand but such unfiltered waters are the last place you should force a new user to navigate through. Provide your users with a safe entrance to the muddy waters we call “social media” and they will forever thank you for it, trust me.
3. Create a Unique Page Image
I honestly believe that this is one of the most important components of a fan page. It’s a simple component yet within the confines of a 200 pixel wide box, you would be surprised with the creative ideas that people come up with. Recently Rob Banagale, a guest author on AllFacebook, published an article entitled “5 Creative Ways to Hack Your Facebook Profile Photo“. If you haven’t read it, I suggest you check it out. More impressive than the photos included in the tutorial are the photos that numerous users posted at the end.
I cannot tell you how many standard Facebook Pages I’ve seen in which the basic logo is displayed. There should be no excuse for not creating an engaging photo for your Facebook Page. It’s one of the first things users look at and it has the potential to leave a lasting impression so make it good!
4. Integrate Applications To Increase Engagement
The last thing you want is for users to land on your Facebook Page and leave immediately. The greatest opportunity you have to capture their attention is through engaging applications. There are currently over 55,000 applications on the Facebook platform and a relatively large portion of them can be directly integrated into your fan page. Over the coming weeks there will be numerous applications that are built around the soon to be updated Facebook Page API which will make it easier for brands to launch a relatively engaging Facebook Page within minutes.
For larger brands I highly recommend that you develop a more robust experience for the user. Games, quizzes, and other types of dynamic content in general can help keep users on your Facebook Page for longer durations of time. As you know, we live in an attention economy and that means you want to get all the attention you can from consumers. One thing you should make sure is that your application has a call to action so that when a new user lands on the page they are immediately engaged.
5. Join the Conversation, It’s Not Optional Anymore
As I stated before, this is the first time that brands have the opportunity to be a major part of a user’s conversation on Facebook so take advantage of it. That means every time someone comments on your new status, a photo, a video, a discussion thread, or anything else, you need to comment on it. Gone are the days of a one-way conversation in which the brands talk down to their customers. We are in the midst of a conversational revolution and your company needs to be part of it. At this point, you don’t have the option not to participate.
Failing to engage your customers and potential customers means less revenue, and it also means you’ll be losing to your competition who is engaging with their customers on a regular basis. Whether you are a small business (dentist, physician, plumber, restaurant, etc) or a large corporation, you need to be talking to your client and the only way to do that is through a two way dialogue. They’ll ask you questions that you can reply to and you can ask questions as well. Ask about what would improve their experience with your company. Also, ask them about the world in general because at the end of the day, they’re humans just like you.
It takes extra effort to engage your clients and going that extra mile will always keep clients coming back. You want to promote an exceptional brand right?
6. Publish Interesting and Relevant Content
Just like in other areas of social media (blogs, Twitter, etc), it’s extremely important to provide interesting content to your readers. Facebook is no different. By regularly referencing other relevant content, your fans will keep returning to your page. While attracting repeat visitors is not the single most important component of fan pages, repeat engagement is easily the second most important variable. In virtual economies, one of the most effective measurements of the state of an economy is repeat usage. Facebook pages and other digital content channels are no different. Users that return to your page regularly are significantly more likely to become home buyers and sellers
Even more important is that existing clients who return to your Facebook page are more likely to continue as clients. The bottom line is that a plain looking Facebook page is not doing your company any favors. Yes, having any sort of presence is always better than nothing at all but if you took the time to read through this guide, please do me a favor and make a little extra effort to create an engaging Facebook page. So how do you find interesting content?
While I won’t dive to deep into the details about finding interesting content, you should be able to find relevant content to your readers by doing a search on Google Blogsearch, and leveraging an RSS reader like Google Reader. Typically I would assume that most readers of this site know what RSS is but if you don’t it’s a simple way to read the content on sites without actually having to visit each site individually. If you want to learn more, check out Google’s Feed 101. If you want the short answer for finding interesting content: look for it. I wish I could say it’s easier than that but unfortunately it still takes time to find interesting content.
You can turn to other forms of content aggregators like Delicious.com and Digg.com but those typically only serve specific communities. If you are outside of the new media industry, you’ll have to use traditional sources like Google News, Google Blogsearch, and the mainstream media.
7. Repost Comments By Other Users
If you are on Twitter, reposting information is essentially the same as a retweet. By reposting a person’s information, you are complimenting them and they will be more likely to pay attention to you. I should note that I’m using “you” and “your brand” interchangeably in this part because in social media, you should be placing a face on your brand. Right now Fan Pages aren’t extremely conducive to putting a face on the brand but that will change overtime. Reposting the information that other users post is extremely valuable.
Don’t overuse this though! I can’t tell you how often I see people on Twitter retweet other users continuously, hoping that it will suddenly increase their follower base drastically. While it will help, this is not something which should suddenly drive thousands of users to your fan page. Instead, it’s a good habit to get into as overtime you and your company’s reputation will build for engaging users on a regular basis.
8. Update Regularly!
While it’s extremely important to monitor the conversation that users are having within your branded Facebook Pages, it’s also extremely important to help spark the conversation. By posting questions to users, creating new topics within discussion forums, and performing other activities that create dialogue (such as the previous one mentioned), you’ll keep users coming back to your Facebook Page. This is similar to the concept of posting blog posts regularly (which by the way can be automatically imported to your Facebook Page) on your company blog.
Just as I’ve emphasized the importance of quality content and engagement with your fans, the most important thing is persistence. Unless you keep engaging your fans on a regular basis and continue to post interesting content, you are going to find it difficult to continuously attract new fans.
9. Post and Tag Users in Photos and Videos
Tagging users in photos and videos is probably one of the most effective promotional activities that you can do. The only challenge is coming up with content to tag users in. The best way to get photos and videos of your fans is through hosting events as I mention in the next tip but if you can’t host events, you’ll need to come up with creative ways to tag your fans. So how do you do that? That’s a bit more complicated but nothing that a creative marketer can’t figure.
One way would be to introduce a contest to your fan page and then tag the winners of those awards in a trophy photo. If you want to take that idea a step further you could actually integrate your fans’ photos into the trophies. This is just one idea though and there are a limitless number of ideas out there. Tagging users is a naturally viral process because as soon as you tag one person, their friends see it and then users are driven to that album which in this case, resides within your fan page.
There is one extremely limiting factor about fan page photos though: you must be a friend of a user to tag them! Yes, it’s unfortunate and honestly I don’t think it makes much sense. While Facebook should enable fan pages to tag members of the page, they haven’t done so yet. Theoretically I could suggest leveraging “guerilla tactics” or overly aggressive techniques to tag members. What are these “guerilla tactics” that I speak of? Well you can figure it out on your own but one example would be adding a fan as a friend for the sole purpose of tagging them in a photo.
I don’t recommend using this technique or any technique similar to this though because you may end up in Facebook jail (a.k.a. getting banned from the site). For the time being I would recommend posting as many relevant photos as possible and tagging those users that are in them. The more tagging that takes place, the quicker your page will spread.
10. Leverage the Power of Facebook Events
Events provide an amazing opportunity for brands to reach out to their fan base. Best of all, these events don’t actually need to be in person events! While it’s not possible to view the network density of the fans of your brand (you can’t easily see how many fans are friends with each other), when multiple people RSVP to an event there are increased odds that your event will be distributed through the social graph, in turn driving new users to your brand’s page.
Like previous tricks or tips that I mentioned, there are inherent limitations. The primary one being that messages sent out to an event created through a fan page do not end up in a user’s inbox. Instead, those messages are sent via page “updates” which are displayed in a separate area. Fortunately, Facebook’s redesigned homepage, which is launching this week, includes updates at the top of a user’s homepage, making them more visible.
So Where Are My Millions Of Fans?
I know that I started this blog by suggesting that you could attract millions of users to your Facebook fan page. I firmly believe that it is possible but it will take a lot of effort. Putting forth that effort though can produce substantial rewards. I’ve only touched on ten strategies that can be used to drive new fans to your page but ultimately, the more time you invest in your brand’s Facebook page, the better response you’ll get.
Yes, you could choose to simply set up a page and let it stand there because your brand alone can attract hundreds of thousands if not millions of users. If you’ve read this far in the guide though, I’m guessing your brand alone will not cut it. Instead, through persistence and consistent attention to your branded page, you will be able to generate new customers and retain existing ones. Note, a Facebook page should not be the end of your company’s social media strategy but with 180 million or more Facebook users and millions more joining every week, there is no excuse not to be on the site.
Below, I have outlined 10 tips for creating engaging Facebook Pages. These are only the top 10 and there are many other lessons to be learned but this should serve as the ultimate starter guide for any brand/company looking to make their entrance into Facebook.
1. Develop Custom Tabs for Custom Ads
Advertising your brand’s page is always extremely important. One of the greatest features of Facebook’s new pages product is that you can link directly to specific tabs. That means you can separate which pages a user views by default based on the ad that they clicked on. For example, perhaps you’d like to target two groups of users in different geographic locations. You would display one advertisement for people in Ocean County and those users will land on a page which is specific to users from Ocean County. A different page would be displayed to users from Middlesex County for example.
While this system isn’t necessarily the most scalable (for example having 500 tabs doesn’t really make much sense), it can instantly increase the conversion of new visitors into fans. This method also requires a bit more investment in customization but I’d argue that it’s well worth it, especially for smaller brands and companies.
2. Don’t Let New Users Land on the Wall
Why on earth would I tell you not to let users land on the wall? Well, my biggest concern is that they’ll bump into humpty dumpty. Seriously though, there is a huge opportunity to present users with engaging information and while the content provided by fans of your brand can be engaging, you have absolutely no control over it. That’s why it’s much better to have new visitors enter a controlled environment and then proceed to navigate through areas with less structure. Yes, the wall can be extremely valuable for letting users talk to you and your brand but such unfiltered waters are the last place you should force a new user to navigate through. Provide your users with a safe entrance to the muddy waters we call “social media” and they will forever thank you for it, trust me.
3. Create a Unique Page Image
I honestly believe that this is one of the most important components of a fan page. It’s a simple component yet within the confines of a 200 pixel wide box, you would be surprised with the creative ideas that people come up with. Recently Rob Banagale, a guest author on AllFacebook, published an article entitled “5 Creative Ways to Hack Your Facebook Profile Photo“. If you haven’t read it, I suggest you check it out. More impressive than the photos included in the tutorial are the photos that numerous users posted at the end.
I cannot tell you how many standard Facebook Pages I’ve seen in which the basic logo is displayed. There should be no excuse for not creating an engaging photo for your Facebook Page. It’s one of the first things users look at and it has the potential to leave a lasting impression so make it good!
4. Integrate Applications To Increase Engagement
The last thing you want is for users to land on your Facebook Page and leave immediately. The greatest opportunity you have to capture their attention is through engaging applications. There are currently over 55,000 applications on the Facebook platform and a relatively large portion of them can be directly integrated into your fan page. Over the coming weeks there will be numerous applications that are built around the soon to be updated Facebook Page API which will make it easier for brands to launch a relatively engaging Facebook Page within minutes.
For larger brands I highly recommend that you develop a more robust experience for the user. Games, quizzes, and other types of dynamic content in general can help keep users on your Facebook Page for longer durations of time. As you know, we live in an attention economy and that means you want to get all the attention you can from consumers. One thing you should make sure is that your application has a call to action so that when a new user lands on the page they are immediately engaged.
5. Join the Conversation, It’s Not Optional Anymore
As I stated before, this is the first time that brands have the opportunity to be a major part of a user’s conversation on Facebook so take advantage of it. That means every time someone comments on your new status, a photo, a video, a discussion thread, or anything else, you need to comment on it. Gone are the days of a one-way conversation in which the brands talk down to their customers. We are in the midst of a conversational revolution and your company needs to be part of it. At this point, you don’t have the option not to participate.
Failing to engage your customers and potential customers means less revenue, and it also means you’ll be losing to your competition who is engaging with their customers on a regular basis. Whether you are a small business (dentist, physician, plumber, restaurant, etc) or a large corporation, you need to be talking to your client and the only way to do that is through a two way dialogue. They’ll ask you questions that you can reply to and you can ask questions as well. Ask about what would improve their experience with your company. Also, ask them about the world in general because at the end of the day, they’re humans just like you.
It takes extra effort to engage your clients and going that extra mile will always keep clients coming back. You want to promote an exceptional brand right?
6. Publish Interesting and Relevant Content
Just like in other areas of social media (blogs, Twitter, etc), it’s extremely important to provide interesting content to your readers. Facebook is no different. By regularly referencing other relevant content, your fans will keep returning to your page. While attracting repeat visitors is not the single most important component of fan pages, repeat engagement is easily the second most important variable. In virtual economies, one of the most effective measurements of the state of an economy is repeat usage. Facebook pages and other digital content channels are no different. Users that return to your page regularly are significantly more likely to become home buyers and sellers
Even more important is that existing clients who return to your Facebook page are more likely to continue as clients. The bottom line is that a plain looking Facebook page is not doing your company any favors. Yes, having any sort of presence is always better than nothing at all but if you took the time to read through this guide, please do me a favor and make a little extra effort to create an engaging Facebook page. So how do you find interesting content?
While I won’t dive to deep into the details about finding interesting content, you should be able to find relevant content to your readers by doing a search on Google Blogsearch, and leveraging an RSS reader like Google Reader. Typically I would assume that most readers of this site know what RSS is but if you don’t it’s a simple way to read the content on sites without actually having to visit each site individually. If you want to learn more, check out Google’s Feed 101. If you want the short answer for finding interesting content: look for it. I wish I could say it’s easier than that but unfortunately it still takes time to find interesting content.
You can turn to other forms of content aggregators like Delicious.com and Digg.com but those typically only serve specific communities. If you are outside of the new media industry, you’ll have to use traditional sources like Google News, Google Blogsearch, and the mainstream media.
7. Repost Comments By Other Users
If you are on Twitter, reposting information is essentially the same as a retweet. By reposting a person’s information, you are complimenting them and they will be more likely to pay attention to you. I should note that I’m using “you” and “your brand” interchangeably in this part because in social media, you should be placing a face on your brand. Right now Fan Pages aren’t extremely conducive to putting a face on the brand but that will change overtime. Reposting the information that other users post is extremely valuable.
Don’t overuse this though! I can’t tell you how often I see people on Twitter retweet other users continuously, hoping that it will suddenly increase their follower base drastically. While it will help, this is not something which should suddenly drive thousands of users to your fan page. Instead, it’s a good habit to get into as overtime you and your company’s reputation will build for engaging users on a regular basis.
8. Update Regularly!
While it’s extremely important to monitor the conversation that users are having within your branded Facebook Pages, it’s also extremely important to help spark the conversation. By posting questions to users, creating new topics within discussion forums, and performing other activities that create dialogue (such as the previous one mentioned), you’ll keep users coming back to your Facebook Page. This is similar to the concept of posting blog posts regularly (which by the way can be automatically imported to your Facebook Page) on your company blog.
Just as I’ve emphasized the importance of quality content and engagement with your fans, the most important thing is persistence. Unless you keep engaging your fans on a regular basis and continue to post interesting content, you are going to find it difficult to continuously attract new fans.
9. Post and Tag Users in Photos and Videos
Tagging users in photos and videos is probably one of the most effective promotional activities that you can do. The only challenge is coming up with content to tag users in. The best way to get photos and videos of your fans is through hosting events as I mention in the next tip but if you can’t host events, you’ll need to come up with creative ways to tag your fans. So how do you do that? That’s a bit more complicated but nothing that a creative marketer can’t figure.
One way would be to introduce a contest to your fan page and then tag the winners of those awards in a trophy photo. If you want to take that idea a step further you could actually integrate your fans’ photos into the trophies. This is just one idea though and there are a limitless number of ideas out there. Tagging users is a naturally viral process because as soon as you tag one person, their friends see it and then users are driven to that album which in this case, resides within your fan page.
There is one extremely limiting factor about fan page photos though: you must be a friend of a user to tag them! Yes, it’s unfortunate and honestly I don’t think it makes much sense. While Facebook should enable fan pages to tag members of the page, they haven’t done so yet. Theoretically I could suggest leveraging “guerilla tactics” or overly aggressive techniques to tag members. What are these “guerilla tactics” that I speak of? Well you can figure it out on your own but one example would be adding a fan as a friend for the sole purpose of tagging them in a photo.
I don’t recommend using this technique or any technique similar to this though because you may end up in Facebook jail (a.k.a. getting banned from the site). For the time being I would recommend posting as many relevant photos as possible and tagging those users that are in them. The more tagging that takes place, the quicker your page will spread.
10. Leverage the Power of Facebook Events
Events provide an amazing opportunity for brands to reach out to their fan base. Best of all, these events don’t actually need to be in person events! While it’s not possible to view the network density of the fans of your brand (you can’t easily see how many fans are friends with each other), when multiple people RSVP to an event there are increased odds that your event will be distributed through the social graph, in turn driving new users to your brand’s page.
Like previous tricks or tips that I mentioned, there are inherent limitations. The primary one being that messages sent out to an event created through a fan page do not end up in a user’s inbox. Instead, those messages are sent via page “updates” which are displayed in a separate area. Fortunately, Facebook’s redesigned homepage, which is launching this week, includes updates at the top of a user’s homepage, making them more visible.
So Where Are My Millions Of Fans?
I know that I started this blog by suggesting that you could attract millions of users to your Facebook fan page. I firmly believe that it is possible but it will take a lot of effort. Putting forth that effort though can produce substantial rewards. I’ve only touched on ten strategies that can be used to drive new fans to your page but ultimately, the more time you invest in your brand’s Facebook page, the better response you’ll get.
Yes, you could choose to simply set up a page and let it stand there because your brand alone can attract hundreds of thousands if not millions of users. If you’ve read this far in the guide though, I’m guessing your brand alone will not cut it. Instead, through persistence and consistent attention to your branded page, you will be able to generate new customers and retain existing ones. Note, a Facebook page should not be the end of your company’s social media strategy but with 180 million or more Facebook users and millions more joining every week, there is no excuse not to be on the site.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
How to persuade buyers & sellers with authority
As a consummate student of the real estate industry, I am always searching to better understand its breadth and depth and I certainly couldn't get a good handle on that unless I understand well what motivates people to make decisions.
The engineer ( detailed oriented) type of personality is not easily motivated by the splashy hype or the bottom line type of decision making. They want details of how you arrived at any particular decision. They may be the only group that clings to Aristotle's concept of reason and logic with all the nuances that got you there.
Aristotle wrote once "The best route to persuasion is with logic and reason". It took experts 2500 years to disprove this belief.
We now better understand that people are mostly persuaded by emotion, not logic and reason. We have also learned that these emotional decisions have a number of possible triggers. Allow me to give you an example.
If you have a bad knee and the specialist says that you need surgery and it is your only hope to remove the pain, you will likely accept his/her authority and have the surgery. Authority is one of these triggers. You made the desision because you accepted that specialist as the authority.
This is the key trigger of the seven known triggers for decision making.
The reason I chose this trigger is that it is the trigger we most want to use in the real estate business to encourage people to make decisions.
The authority trigger requires that you be the authority. The best way to cause this trigger, is to be the authority. In order to accomplish that, it requires that as a local authority you must know the market, know the likely problems in that market and as many solutions as possible. People will be comfortable and accept your authority only by what you can demonstrate, not so much by what you say.
Some of the areas that will cause you to be known as the local authority is having a firm understanding of the neighborhoods characteristics, the demographics of who makes up the market, sales statistics, expertise in marketing properties, and consultation expertise in personalizing the neighborhood for the individual seller or buyer. Having a recognized presence in the neighborhood, on the Internet and in the media will also add to the expertise and present you as the authority figure.
Now think back on the last half dozen or so prospects. Did they take your advise as though you were the "authority" or did they have to reason through what you said and perhaps haven't made that decision as yet. If they did accept your "authority", you have utilized the most effective emotional trigger known and it has virtually no resistance when dispensed to a consumer that is actually interested in buying or selling real estate.
The engineer ( detailed oriented) type of personality is not easily motivated by the splashy hype or the bottom line type of decision making. They want details of how you arrived at any particular decision. They may be the only group that clings to Aristotle's concept of reason and logic with all the nuances that got you there.
Aristotle wrote once "The best route to persuasion is with logic and reason". It took experts 2500 years to disprove this belief.
We now better understand that people are mostly persuaded by emotion, not logic and reason. We have also learned that these emotional decisions have a number of possible triggers. Allow me to give you an example.
If you have a bad knee and the specialist says that you need surgery and it is your only hope to remove the pain, you will likely accept his/her authority and have the surgery. Authority is one of these triggers. You made the desision because you accepted that specialist as the authority.
This is the key trigger of the seven known triggers for decision making.
The reason I chose this trigger is that it is the trigger we most want to use in the real estate business to encourage people to make decisions.
The authority trigger requires that you be the authority. The best way to cause this trigger, is to be the authority. In order to accomplish that, it requires that as a local authority you must know the market, know the likely problems in that market and as many solutions as possible. People will be comfortable and accept your authority only by what you can demonstrate, not so much by what you say.
Some of the areas that will cause you to be known as the local authority is having a firm understanding of the neighborhoods characteristics, the demographics of who makes up the market, sales statistics, expertise in marketing properties, and consultation expertise in personalizing the neighborhood for the individual seller or buyer. Having a recognized presence in the neighborhood, on the Internet and in the media will also add to the expertise and present you as the authority figure.
Now think back on the last half dozen or so prospects. Did they take your advise as though you were the "authority" or did they have to reason through what you said and perhaps haven't made that decision as yet. If they did accept your "authority", you have utilized the most effective emotional trigger known and it has virtually no resistance when dispensed to a consumer that is actually interested in buying or selling real estate.
Weekly Affirmation from Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and assumed a role as an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an internationally prominent author, speaker, politician, and activist. President Truman called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements and she was one of the most admired people of the 20th century, according to Gallup's List of Widely Admired People.
This week’s affirmation is from Eleanor Roosevelt and is about overcoming your fears.
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
This week, do something you think you can't do and have a Great Week!
This week’s affirmation is from Eleanor Roosevelt and is about overcoming your fears.
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
This week, do something you think you can't do and have a Great Week!
Brick Office Recognizes T.J. Salvia
T. J. Salvia of the Brick office is the poster child for time management. T.J. Has closed 2 transactions over the last week and just wrote another contract last night. Working 1-2 days a week at real estate he has managed to generate a steady flow of closings with a minimum amount of time invested. Everyone should remember that being thorough and organized will result in a greater return on your time investment. My hat is off to T.J. Salvia for a great return on his time investment. Now if he could only learn how to use the fax machine he would probably increase his production by 200%. Keep up the good work T.J.!!!!
Mortgage Market news
Subject: market update
"Mortgage Bonds continue to trade in a sideways range above a floor of support at the 25-Day Moving Average. Stocks, on the other hand, have rallied several days in a row, but appear stalled at a ceiling of resistance at their own 25-Day Moving Average.
In the news today, Housing Stats for February came in better than expected. This was the first increase in 8 months and is due in large part to an 82% increase in the construction of apartment buildings.
Today, the Fed kicks off its two-day policy meeting, which will conclude with a rate and policy statement tomorrow afternoon. For now, I recommend floating to see if Mortgage Bonds can remain above support at the 25-Day Moving Average."
"Mortgage Bonds continue to trade in a sideways range above a floor of support at the 25-Day Moving Average. Stocks, on the other hand, have rallied several days in a row, but appear stalled at a ceiling of resistance at their own 25-Day Moving Average.
In the news today, Housing Stats for February came in better than expected. This was the first increase in 8 months and is due in large part to an 82% increase in the construction of apartment buildings.
Today, the Fed kicks off its two-day policy meeting, which will conclude with a rate and policy statement tomorrow afternoon. For now, I recommend floating to see if Mortgage Bonds can remain above support at the 25-Day Moving Average."
Sunday, March 15, 2009
First Time Homebuyers Seminar
If you are considering purchasing your first home you can't miss this valuable seminar! You will learn:
- How to choose the right mortgage product
- What is a FICO score and how does it affect my ability to obtain a mortgage
- Identifying properties that offer downpayment assistance
- Credit management
- How a home warranty can prove you with peace-of-mind
- MORE!
You will receive a free credit report and there will be gift for the 1st 20 attendees!
When & Where:
- March 25, 2009
- Woodlake Country Club
- 6:00PM to 7:30PM
- RSVP (908) 910-9029 to reserve your seat
I want to thank our sponsors, SunQuest Funding LLC and Woodlake Country Club for their gracious generosity!
Hurry and reserve your seat today!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
No Negotiation of Preforeclosure Sales Commission
On February 24, 2009 FannieMae sent out Announcement 09-03 which amends Loan Servicing.
There are 5 parts to the announcement but the most important part for the Realtor community which states, "Effective March 1, 2009 closing of preforeclosure sales may not be conditioned upon a reduction of the total commission to be paid to real estate agents to a level below what was negotiated by the listing agent with the borrower, unless the fee exceeds 6 percent of the sales price of the property in aggregate. Servicers are reminded that they must continue to obtain any approvals that may be required by interested third parties in connection with preforeclosure sales".
This is good news for Realtors, borrowers and buyers.
There are 5 parts to the announcement but the most important part for the Realtor community which states, "Effective March 1, 2009 closing of preforeclosure sales may not be conditioned upon a reduction of the total commission to be paid to real estate agents to a level below what was negotiated by the listing agent with the borrower, unless the fee exceeds 6 percent of the sales price of the property in aggregate. Servicers are reminded that they must continue to obtain any approvals that may be required by interested third parties in connection with preforeclosure sales".
This is good news for Realtors, borrowers and buyers.
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