Marketing Starts with YOU!

Active Rain (email me, tinagleisner@pobox.com for an invitation) is a wonderful community of 140,000+ people involved in all aspects of real estate, mostly realtors sharing ideas, success and helping each other grow their businesses. I visit often and learn so much …

Today I read a funny article, all about a reporter interviewing realtors. His agenda was set (he did all the talking and not much listening), and ended up berating this Active Rain member about … every realtor’s web site looks the same! He proceeded to tell her she needed to write about the community she served – what she loves, housing statistics, etc. It was obvious he hadn’t visited her web site or blog, as she does all these things and more.

Kimberly Wilson, Realtor in Dawsonville GA then wrote a great post, which she titled Your Website Isn’t Working! It reminded me of the MOST IMPORTANT element in any web site or blog, at least those belonging to small businesses. It’s all about why people buy from you?

Kimberly’s article reminded me of the saying … people buy from those they know, like and trust. So remember when you’re creating your web site, writing an article, sending a letter or any type of communication, speak from your heart and let me see and hear the real YOU! In fact one of the recent ideas I’ve discovered is write to a single person versus trying to talk to everyone.

Stand Out in a Crowd!

Here are ideas from Kimberly’s article (or read the original), all meant to make your online presence uniquely YOU!

• Write about your community often, focusing on what you love about living there
• Share even more about your community with photos and links to things of interest to you, i.e. include photos of your kids playing sports and a link to the schedule
• Introduce others in your community like the owner of your local paint or hardware store, a realtor or handyman you like working with
  • We’ll be adding community pages to member blogs soon, i.e. one of the best kept secrets is how local businesses support their communities. You’re giving back so share your passion, share your story and people will connect with you!
    
• Great idea – have an unbiased person give you feedback about your site
• …another great idea – interview people in your community like the President of the Home Builders association about housing trends