Many of you are probably already registered for the next Secrets of Top Selling Agents Webinar sponsored by AgentAdvantage, “Short Sales, Real Results: How to Survive and Thrive in Any Real Estate Climate,” with Verl Workman and Michael Hellickson on August 27th at 1:00pm ET.

But if you haven’t registered yet for this FREE webinar (or even if you have), and you are a fan of The Dave Ramsey Show on Fox Business, you may want to take a look at this clip of Michael Hellickson talking about short sales on the show found on Michael’s website, theshortsalecompany.com.

If you attend the Webinar, you have the opportunity to have your questions answered LIVE by Michael and Verl. Don’t miss this opportunity to ask your short sale questions to one of the nation’s leading short sale experts…as seen on The Dave Ramsey Show!

Register for this FREE webinar at SecretsWebinars.com! 

Do you use social media like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to market your services and listings? You can add social media badges to your web pages so prospects and clients have several ways to contact you online. These badges (which consist of an image and an HTML link to your profile) can help users find you online and follow your activity. To download social media badges, visit the following sites (you must provide your login information first):

Twitter

www.twitter.com/badges

Facebook

www.facebook.com/badges.php

LinkedIn

See your account settings, under ‘Edit Public Profile’

Badges and widgets can be added to any online document where you can edit your HTML code such as your website, blog, profile pages, and more. Use them often and promote yourself online!

SEO – we seem to hear the term so often nowadays, but do we really understand what it involves?

Truth be told, SEO, short for search engine optimization, involves a vast internet landscape.  It begins with on-page content (content on your website) and branches out widely to off-page areas, such as a blogs, relevant real estate directories, and presence in such places as Wikipedia, Facebook, and Twitter. 

SEO works at getting your website high on the search engine results pages SERP’s, so that you are easy to find where most people search.  As mentioned, it begins with your website content, which should be relevant, clear and focused.  Without that healthy beginning, the off-page factors will falter as contributors to your position in the search engines.

Let’s just assume your website is SEO’d well.  Now, why not ask what is one of the most prominent off-page environments today?  I’d suggest Twitter. 

 While Twitter is often associated with a casual, chat environment, and often referred to as a micro-blog, it is quite adaptable to business-focused use.  Once you set up an account, (which is pretty simple), you can use Tweetlister.com.  Tweetlister allows you to advertise listings through the Twitter platform.  Suddenly now, you have another, very popular environment you can promote real estate in.  Wow, Twitter just became a lot more interesting, and think of the exposure!

What is the #1 most overlooked online marketing area? Your e-mail signature! The email signature, the small file amended to each e-mail you send out, is an excellent place to put your contact information, photo, and a brief description of your services without creating an obnoxious ad. E-mail signatures are a subtle, no-cost way to pass along your contact information to others and a practical way to save time when writing emails every day. To make sure your signature is a success, there are a few rules you should follow.

Signature Rules

As a neat alternative you can always pull all of your contact information (cellular, email, physical work address, social networks, blog address, URL, etc.) onto your AgentAdvantage ‘Contact Me’ page and just link to the page in your email signature.

• Don’t make a signature that’s too big. Online the size of your text/image is equivalent to the volume of your speaking voice…people shouldn’t have to strain to “hear” your message over your email signature. 5 lines of signature in a traditional (14pt and smaller) font size are more than enough.
• If you have room, use a tagline. Add a tagline explaining your services, service areas, or listing your designations. If your message is forwarded to strangers people will see your contact information and know what you do for a living.
• Shy away from animations and flashy distractions. Again, you want your message to be heard first and foremost. Also, many email clients and browsers will not display this type of information in an email.
• If you’re lacking in space you don’t have to include your email address; it usually goes in the email header anyway.
• If nothing else, include the URL to your website. That’s what your website is for, telling people all about you and what you do!
• Images: You can certainly add a headshot or photo to your signature, but make sure you keep it small. Also, be aware that some email clients are set to not download images automatically for safety reasons.