I am relaxing here for a day or two at the Buccaneer Hotel on St. Croix after teaching the CRS 206 course here.  It was a wonderful, relaxed, information-packed course with 28 wonderful real estate agents in attendance.  Here are a few of my thoughts after the course in no particular order:

• The students’ favorite tools/strategies were Snagit, the Flip digital video camera, a real estate specific database, using a VA (Virtual Assistant), getting a business coach and blogging.
• When agents who have never created a video or posted one to YouTube see one of their classmates who has never done one either doing it front of them, it’s a Wow!  Reaction: I can do that, too!
• When agents who have never created a panoramic photo see one of their own do so in VisualTour.com, there is a similar reaction.
• Students tend to lose their fear of technology when they see how to market with it in the CRS 206…and how easy it is.
• Most see the need to focus on their Web sites and blogs as their core business tool after learning about what a money-making Web site should contain and seeing specific examples from successful agents.
• Most resolve to use the automatic followup systems in their real estate database or systems such as Gooder Group or Real Pro Systems.

As mentioned, this class was very enjoyable…relaxed and exciting at the same time.  My main goal in teaching it is to show attendees how to make money, save money and save time using today’s technology…mission accomplished here in St. Croix!

Two further points:

• Every agent wanting to build a more profitable business needs to take the CRS 206 technology course.
•  If your group wants to bring in a 206, I would appreciate your asking for me to be the instructor…I love doing the course, and the “non techie” approach I use seems to work well.

It’s a beautiful day here on the beach in St. Croix…hope it’s a beautiful day wherever you are, too!

Hopefully, you have a good consumer-oriented Web site.  Hopefully, you have started using videos attached to your site and posted on YouTube. 

These two tools have worked for members of my CyberStars® for quite some time now.  With 87% of consumers going first to the Web for information on buying a home or selecting an agent to sell theirs, you must have a good, deep Web site today.  With over 800 million search inquires a month, you must have videos on YouTube.

So…you have a good site and you post videos (listing, area tours, neighborhood tours, your listing presentation, etc.).  How do push consumers to these two great marketing venues?  There are many ways, but I’d like to mention one easy one: your real estate magazines. 

Too many agents use real estate magazines for the purpose they were first intended: to make the phone ring.  (You would think that all agents would have figured out by now that consumers do not need to call an agent: they have the Internet.)  Almost all agents I see today still have a single photo for each of ten or so properties, scant descriptions of each property (“3 br, 2 ba, ww carp, dream home, hurry….won’t last!”) and the agent’s phone number or email address. 

There is a better way! 

Today’s purpose for your ads should be twofold:

• To get the reader to your Web site, where you can really show off the property, especially if you use a dynamite single property listing site from AgencyLogic.
• To get the reader to your YouTube videos, where they can really see the property or whatever service you are promoting. 

Helen South's RE Magazine Ad

I have been preaching the “1/3 – 2/3” rule for years: the top 1/3 of your magazine should promote your site or your videos, stressing a particular service you offer (free Senior packet, free info on buying a home in a distressed market, free info on selling your home in a down market, free short sale info packet, etc.).  This means that you select only 1-3 of your listings to promote in the bottom 2/3 of the page. 

Some examples of what my CyberStars®, top marketers in their areas, have done with this better way of marketing appear here.  You, too, can shift the focus of your print advertising to accomplish those two all-important goals: get the consumer to your Web site and to your YouTube videos. 

Mike Manosky

The 1/3 – 2/3 Rule, when applied to your print marketing will yield much better results for your business….I guarantee! 

It’s a great day here on the lake in Reston..hope it’s a great day wherever you are, too! 

We are having a discussion on what tech tools we should use on our private CyberStar(tm) Google Group. Lots of ideas flying around from these tech-savy top producers. Here’s the list that CyberStar(tm) Sam Miller of RE/MAX Stars, Mt. Vernon, OH, shared with us today:

• Web cam
• MPEG video
• FLIP digital video camera
• Zip Forms
• Call transfer on office phones
• S300 Fujitsu ScanSnap
• TREO or Blackberry Smart Phone
• Skills of photo stitching, batch resizing and text messaging

There are many other tools, of course.  I have covered many of them in this blog.  The point, however, is that through Sam’s list and my tips, you have a pretty good shopping list by now.  Hopefully, you’re adding the right tools to your marketing arsenal…one at a time!

It’s a great day here on the lake in Reston…hope it’s a great day wherever you are, too!

I just returned from teaching a wonderful class in Medford, Oregon.  We did a lot on video marketing during our time together using the new FlipVideo.  A student who had never done a video before (much less posted one to YouTube) used the camera, took some videos during the day, stitched them together into one video and uploaded them to YouTube.  "Easy," agreed the class!

During group discussions on how to use video on sites such as YouTube, the following suggestions came out.  Perhaps you can use them to further your use of video on the Web in order to make more money and to provide better service!

1. Counseling interview (see CyberStar(tm) James Nellis’s great counseling interview here)
2. Interface with lenders for foreclosures & short sales
3. Client testimonials
4. Listing presentation
5. Buyer presentation
6. VIP buyer presentation
7. Tours of local attractions (golf course, amusement park, historical sites, etc.
8. New resident tours
9. General area tours
10. Special community event involvement
11. Preparing your home for sale
12. Listing tours
13. Previewing property for out-of-town buyers
14. Short sale education
15. Lender & broker price opinion presentations
16. Home inspections
17. Inspection before going to closing
18. Self-promotion of any type
19. Office recruiting
20. Promoting affiliates & business partners
21. Promote client appreciation events
22. Client weddings or other special events
23. Youth activity events
24. Family events
25. Vacations

You will be able to think of others, I’m sure.  The main point is that YouTube’s 70 million unique visitors per month make it a marketing vehicle you just can’t ignore!

It’s a great day here on the lake in Reston…hope it is a great day wherever you are, too!