Real Estate Industry Takes Leading Edge

With the big crunch in the American Real Estate market, and the subsequent Canadian market slow-downs, the Real Estate professionals across America are turning to Social Media to gain every advantage to increase their competitive edge.

Visiting a Sr Analyst at Forrester Research: Social Computing blog of Jeremiah Owyang, the post The Questions Corporations ask about Social Media had the following comment posted in response to the blog noting Real Estate has become an Early-Adopter of Social Media Marketing.

Well, in Arizona (a town of mid-size businesses), nobody gives a damn about social media (yet) besides tech companies. Oh — and real estate brokerages, who are desperate for a way to increase business in an abysmal market and think making their agents blog is a good way to do it. This provides fodder for me as a consultant and as a conference-organizer. The real estate companies are now asking “how can I get this up and running and producing customers for me before I am crushed by the weight of my own overhead from the good old days.

Video is the new web medium

Realtors need to get on the video tip. I've been telling them for a year now, and thankfully now some other people are starting to take up the chant.

Lets see you make some video's people, any camera will do, upload it to www.youtube.com if you can't afford a professional editor, get a copy of some basic consumer editing software (both adobe and corel have good ones) and you're in business.

Working the booth at the Real Estate Show

 
As you can see, we were hard at work, trying to impress the local ladies at the recent real estate convention in Vancouver. We spent a good deal of time introducing the concept of "bait site marketing" to people and generally having a lot of fun.

Interestingly, it was the other exibitors that were more interested in our products than the attendees. But that's alright, we'll take the business whichever way it comes in.

Internet Marketing Needs Holistic Organic Approach

Highway fog
Originally uploaded by Boby Dimitrov

A website is nothing other than a Billboard Sign in a Virtual World. The only people who see that billboard, are the people driving by. The question that begs for a Website Owner in a Virtual World is: What highway are they driving on?

In days of old it may have been true when stated, "All roads lead to Rome." This was, in fact, the strategy. Rome was the centre of the empire and all roads extended from there. In the world of Internet, that one-route-destination was SEO so the Virtual Traveler found your Internet Website Billboard while traveling the Information Highway. SEO specialists sold promises of ranking, effective keyword strategies, and most likely achieved remarkable results. Without retaining ongoing services, how long did those results last?

Today, not all roads lead to Rome and the SEO game has changed enormously. Google and other Search Engine leaders are continually altering and fine-tuning the search-rank-algorithms in order to normalize and level the playing field against SEO tactics that seek to boost rankings artificially. This is why it is more important to follow organic processes incorporated into your SEO and Social Media Marketing (SMM) strategy. Keep watch for more tips related to this in coming weeks and months.

Organic approaches include content creation, submitting articles to websites, having a blog that is continually adding new content for the RSS world of subscribers, a Facebook and/or other Social Media profiles featuring your sites, business, services, etc., and a host of other campaigns that seek-out the roads less-traveled. Why? Because that is what the Internet user is seeking; the road that is their own.

A Holistic approach, tackling SEO, Social Media, Link-Building, Content-Creation, Articles, Blogging, and others all combine together to create an effective Omnipresence in the Digital Realm of the Internet's Virtual World. Your website becomes the Billboard along many Internet super-highways.

If you would like to learn more, we invite you to visit us at StrataXL.com

BC Real Estate Convention 2008 at Canada Place

Yesterday and today, StrataXL Software Inc. was in attendance demonstrating their Technology and Marketing Strategies to both Exhibitors and participants of this year’s BC Real Estate Convention 2008 at Canada Place in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The BC Real Estate Convention 2008 had superb turnout, standing-room only speaker-series, and a wide-range of opportunities for Realtors, Investors, Developers, and many other industry-related professionals. For StrataXL, attendance turned into a treasure chest of discoveries of other potential markets and applications for our creative suite of technology and marketing strategies.

For a successful Realtor or Realty Office, our Technology Solution provides an extraordinary tool to develop and manage various Internet website Properties for upcoming, ongoing, and after-sales Community Development Projects. Take our Premiere Launch into our Pilot Project, graciously spear-headed and funded by our initial Investor, Rick Stonehouse.

RickStonehouse.com is a professionally crafted Realtor Website using our Technology Solution. This solution also permits the creation of additional websites from the same interface as RickStonehouse.com. In this case, LiveInStrathcona.com is the launch of the much anticipated Community Creation Vehicle.

Imagine: The imminent launch of a Real Estate Development project. Whether it is a building, a subdivision, a resort, or small-town, prior to breaking ground the pre-sales activities have begun. The LiveIn branding creates the immediate identification of a virtual community that will soon be built. The functionality of the Technology Solution provides a vehicle to farm sales-leads and manage ongoing communication campaigns for both marketing, sales, closing, ongoing bulletins to new owners, and so on.

The interactivity of the discussion forums create vehicles for ongoing question and answers during the sales cycle. As the transition from sales-building-move-in, the evolution and flexibility of the site allow the evolution to take it from a sales vehicle to move the Development Realty Properties, to an actual thriving interactive online community that enable neighbours to become acquainted before the project was even completed. The life-force allows local-business to advertise and the community to interact and thrive in various ways.

You see how it is being birthed in already existing communities. When you want to farm qualified leads, the LiveIn strategy will be life-long gold.

Contact us at StrataXL.com to enquire further. Let us help you succeed with our powerful Technology and Tools.

Blogging Builds Business: What, How, and Why.

Burman (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

More people than not know that blog(s) are great vehicles to promote and build your online reputation and brand. For years, we've been attached to brands, where the Internet audience is attached to you.

In the Internet world, the audience surfing the web are attracted by what engages them. Personality, expertise, reliability, and all the trademarks of personal-relationship building apply. If you're in business, you know exactly what I mean.

Community is Created

• Blogging allows you to share your expertise with a ready audience. The technology and proper application of Internet exposure strategies places your expertise in front of a relevant audience. Your expert content can connect you with these people as they respond to your posts. The more effective and skilled you become with engaging them, the more community you create.

Sell, Sell, Sell - Location, Location, Location

• Blogging is a natural conversation where an author expresses their opinion, their expertise, and so on. This casual online environment, whether business or personal focused, allows you to plug products and services in a natural way. Your expertise attracts them, your not pushing keeps them, and the value-add you offer creates trust.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Elevate Your Page Rank

• Google it! We've all heard it, we've all used it. This is how people find the information, products, and services they seek. Blogs by their very nature utilize Web2.0 technology, offer keywords for every post, and massive linking capabilities, and so forth. As well, comments to your blog posts will also contain keywords to continue enhancing your site.

Be an Authority and Keep the Edge

• There are believers everywhere. Simply publishing content online adds credibility
  to any story, person, idea, or business - even if it is just you. Your content, your expertise will attract the right audience. Keep them engaged! As you do, and as they comment, you will gain valuable knowledge to enhance your business-building and delivery of services.
  You offer the Integrity and Expertise and They will bring the Pulse!
  

This may seem like a lot to some of you. Take your time with it, and feel free to call upon us with further questions.