5. Mr. Professional

Only $500k - No, please take more...

The photo is small… so are your chances of landing a multi-million dollar sale. I’m sure you’re a nice guy, but I’d be much more comfortable entrusting you with my Corona than a $500k deal.

4. Big Advertiser!

Working for you or against you?

Ironically this advertisement is more likely to put a “working man” out of work than it is to net a few more clients.

3. Outer Glow

Halo of bad fortune?

Just because you can use the “outer glow” effect on your cellphone camera doesn’t mean you should. Even the photos of you on the roller coaster at a crappy summer carnival would be a better choices than this.

2. Fool me once, shame on you…

Artistic Mistake Echo

but fool me 4 times with a plethora of tastelessness? Shame on you as well. If including this on your key promotional material isn’t career suicide enough, then surely the cheesy poses are.

1. Bus-bench Surgery

The work of Michael Jackson's surgeon?

Probably thought no one would notice right? Wrong. You’ve simultaneously convinced me that you’re cheap, don’t pay attention to detail, and don’t have a clue about what it takes to make my house, or anything else, look good… And for that you are my DECISIVE winner!

But…

Bonus

Dang...

20-20 in retrospect.

Things to consider upfront

Successful partnerships are built on trust, an upfront understanding of roles and responsibility, and a well-written contract. Here are the top five things agents from failed partnerships have told me:

• Make sure you know who owns the partnership branding: logos, flyer/business card designs, letter/email templates, and customer service system
• Who owns the website? Remember that a high-ranking website is a valuable asset and both partners might lay claim if/when the partnership fails.
• How will the clients be split if the partnership fails?
• How can one party buy out/leave the partnership?
• In case of disagreement, who has the deciding vote?

Why they fail

Mixing work and friends – The oldest, but most common reason in the book. There nothing sadder than when friendships are pushed aside for money – I see it happen all the time. Two REALTORS^™ being friends is not a reason to form a partnership:

“A friendship founded on business is a good deal better than a business founded on friendship.” - John D. Rockefeller

Mixing work and love – Yikes! I’m still not sure which comes first: the divorce or the failed partnership – but in either case these are ugly. There’s nothing worse than waking up and seeing slanderous language on your website written by your former spouse who’s managed to guess your password. I should add that though many “spouses selling houses” end in disaster, some of the strongest and most successful partnerships I’ve seen are married couples.

Joint Liability – One partner taking a contractual shortcut or not playing by the rules jeopardizes both partners. Remember that both parties are jointly and individually liable for the business activities of the other. If your partner disappears, you’ll be liable for all the debts, not just half of them. If one partner considers the other to be a liability then the partnership will fail.

Commission Split – Here’s the number-one reason partnerships end: one partner feels they do more work than the other. Having a suitable mechanism to deal with this is imperative to success.

So why have a partnership?

Some of the most successful businesses in the world are partnerships. I myself have a business partner (my twin brother) and we’ve been working together for many years. Here are some of the reasons why having a partnership can be a good idea:

• Partnerships can be stronger because of reinforced support and motivation
• Partnerships can spend more on marketing
• Skills can be shared and learned by each partner
• Two people working together can accomplish more than twice the work of one

“But I DID try it, I just never saw any results, so I gave up.”

Unfortunately I hear that from many REALTORS^TM. The problem is that results from blogging can take a while – months and years, not days and weeks. Here’s a step-by-step guide to blogging effectively that will build traffic to your website and leads for you.

Step 1: Select Article Titles

Blogging effectively requires that you select the right topics to write about by ensuring people search for them in Google.

“How do I do that?”

Let me explain: The process involves close examination of “long-tail” keyword phrases in your market. Consider the following graph:

Long Tail Keyword Graph

The graph represents the search volume in Google for certain keyword phrases. More popular phrases, with fewer keywords, are on the left and represent the highest search volume. As you move right, the keyword phrases become less popular and generate less traffic.

As expected, competition for keywords on the left is generally MUCH higher than those further right (though not always… I’ll write another article about this at a later date).

Examples of keywords that would be on the left:

• Nashville Real Estate
• Nashville Homes
• Nashville Realtor

Example of Long-Tail Keywords:

• Nashville Real Estate Blog
• Nashville Real Estate And The Flood
• Nashville Houses In Foreclosure

The trick is to use your blog to rank for as many long-tail phrases as possible, and use other means to rank for the first few high-power keywords. You can use the Keyword Tool (from Google) to discover hundreds of “long-tail” keyword phrases. After you’ve selected a few, simply use these as your blog article titles.

Step 2: Write Good Articles

This is the hardest part for most people, but don’t worry – if you can’t write good articles then consider out-sourcing to qualified writers in your area. Posting on Craigslist or Kijiji (in Canada) for a copywriter takes only a few moments and will save you tonnes of time. A professionally written article of 500-800 words shouldn’t cost you more than $50-$80.

Step 3: Write Consistently, Write Often

Many people know that Googlebot will look at the freshness of your website content, but most people forget that Googlebot also looks at how often your content is fresh when it visits your site. Consistent writing is better than binge writing.

We generally find that writing one article every 7-10 days seems to be optimal.

Web Asset vs. Web Presence

Consider: http://www.justinbiebermusic.com
Depending on the decade you were born in you either love or hate this guy – but that’s not important. His domain name represents a “web presence” and not a “web asset.” Here’s why:

• Without Justin Bieber this domain name is worthless
• As Justin Bieber mania fades (sorry, it’s inevitable), the value of this website will go with it
• Justin Bieber will never be able to sell this website to anyone unaffiliated with his brand

Of course Justin Bieber’s management team knows this – but that’s the point. Justin Bieber is a “temporary” brand and only requires a “web presence” while it’s functioning. Once Biebermania disappears, so will all remnants of the brand. Backorder his domain name now and in 20 years you’ll likely own it.

Now Consider: http://www.napster.com
Still in the musical vein let’s look at “Napster.” Napster was started in 1999 and is one of the industry’s most notorious websites. Despite numerous lawsuits and a major bankruptcy, Napster is still a recognized brand – worth enough to be purchased in 2008 for $121 million dollars! Napster truly represents the quintessential “web asset.”

Web Asset vs. Web Presence in Real Estate

In real estate almost all agents are taught to “self brand.” Though this may work in some capacity it requires huge investment, constant maintenance and forces the following questions:

1. What will happen to their brand when the REALTOR^™ retires?
2. How much cost, skill, and organization does it require to maintain the brand?
3. Can the brand/system be “sold” to another REALTOR^™ if/when they leave the business?

If the brand revolves around a personal name, then the answers are:

1. It will disappear
2. Lots of cost and organization
3. Likely not, unless it’s an inheriting family member

If the brand revolves around a trade name, then the answers are:

1. It will only disappear if it’s not passed to someone else
2. Lots of cost, brand-management-skill, and organization
3. Yes, probably for a substantial amount

Brand selection goes hand-in-hand with domain name selection, and the same rules apply.

Your Domain Name

If you intend on building a “web presence” then:

• your domain name can be anything, but preferably your name
• keep it as short as possible
• make sure it is easy to spell

If you are building a “web asset” then:

• your domain name must be independent of your name or your company’s name
• keep it as short as possible
• make sure it is easy to spell
• you can visualize any other REALTOR^™ using it

How it affects your retirement

Don’t worry – regardless of your choice you’ll still be able to retire, but if you’ve been successful at creating a website “asset” then it could be a MUCH more comfortable retirement. Consider this:

• After several years of hard work and investment you’ve optimized your website with content and back-links and have achieved a healthy search engine ranking
• Your website generates a healthy volume of new leads every year with little to no further advertising dollars
• If “worked” properly, leads from your website would generate a substantial income for any REALTOR^™
• Your domain name is not “you”-centric

Now you’ve got a “web asset” to sell! Check this article for an approximate valuation formula.

1. “But I didn’t realize that people liked waterfront…”

Check this out:

Good Shot, Too Small

And this:

Blurry is beautiful...

This waterfront home in Tennessee is one of the most beautiful I’ve seen… and these two photos represent the ONLY shots of the property’s best feature. This REALTOR^® definitely has a keen eye for beautiful properties, but no idea how to take a photo.

2. “Beautiful mansion, only floods once a year”

Beautiful home, includes flood plain - only $2.49 million

Here’s a great one near the Elbow River in Calgary, Alberta. An absolutely beautiful property, but probably only for buyers willing to take risks or who have lots of insurance. The gorgeous view and sunny day ‘almost’ distract viewers from the flooding river in the backyard.

3. “With a beautiful city view”

Here’s a shot from the balcony of a Chicago condo overlooking the river:

River View

Don’t worry, the cast iron bars come with the condo. Did I mention that they’re painted black? And if you look out over the city from this exact angle you won’t be bothered by the beautiful Chicago view.

4. “Largest river valley in North America”

River Valley View

Edmonton’s pride and joy: The river valley. And though apparently there’s a view from this condo, it certainly wasn’t showcased. But who wants deep river valleys when they can have brick and exposed aggregate?

5. “On The Sea Wall”

Seawall a la 2002 cellphone camera

This beautiful $598,000 property on false creek in downtown Vancouver is advertised as being on the seawall… this is the only photo providing any evidence of that and it looks like it was either taken through 3 beer glasses or with a very dirty cell phone lens. Nice work.

Floor-plans?

Yes, that’s right.

“But no one puts floor-plans on their listings…”

Exactly! And you should at least consider being the first. Here’s why:

• When combined with photos, floor-plans give buyers a vastly better impression of a property.
• Sellers will be extremely impressed because you’ll be the only person doing it
• It gives you the chance to advertise your listing expertise on your website, as well as any other website displaying your listings…

But making floor-plans takes too much time

You’d be surprised. Checkout the floor-plan I whipped up in 15 minutes on www.floorplanner.com:

15-minute floor plan 1/2

15-minute floor plan 2/2

Here are some floor-plan tools you can use to generate floor-plans for your listings:

1. Floorplanner.com
2. Diakrit.com
3. Sweethome3D.com
4. Gliffy.com
5. Floorplanonline.com

Email vs. Social Media

Social media has taken off in recent years and it’s easy to be convinced that communicating through facebook is equally as important as through email. Here are the statistics:

• 68% of consumers aged 18-26 use emailed coupons online
• The age range most reliant on e-commerce is the 27 to 38 year-old demographic
• People over the age of 38 are significantly less likely to use social networks to pursue product information or seek recommendations
• 43% of consumers prefer ads/promotions via email; only 3% prefer ads/promotions via social media

Some very interesting graphs:

Preferred way to receive ads

Use of social networks by age group

(Source: How We Shop in 2010 USA: Habits and Motivations of Consumers, Econsultancy, July 2010)

Who are your customers?

The statistics above indicate that email is still MUCH MORE relevant than social media regardless of your customers’ demographics. Even so, let’s take a look:

• According to the National Association of REALTORS^®, 39 is the median age of a home-buyer

Correlating with the statistics above, almost HALF of your potential customers are not even using social media!

Conclusion

A good command of email marketing is still an extremely important component of a successful real estate business.

“What are you talking about?”

Simple: get user reviews.

What are “User Reviews”?

User reviews are the most effective form of online reputation building. Check out some of these statistics:

According to a survey of 2,445 US online consumers, 82% considered user-generated reviews “extremely valuable or valuable.” (North American Technographics Retail Online Survey Q3, 2008)

The Trust in Advertising survey of 26,000+ found that Consumer Recommendations are the most credible form of advertising. (“Social Media Marketing: The Right Strategy for Tough Economic Times” Awareness, 2008)

As of October 2008, almost half of US online adults read ratings and reviews at least once a month, and 19% post them. Nearly twice as many read reviews compared with 2007. (The Growth Of Social Technology Adoption, Forrester, October 2008)

Need I go on? Ok, I will:

Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted – nearly 12 times more – than descriptions that come from manufacturers, according to a survey of US Internet users by online video review site EXPO.  (eMarketer, February 2010)

90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust opinions of unknown users. (Econsultancy, July 2009)

Online user reviews have the biggest influence on consumer electronics purchases, with 43.7 percent of purchases affected by word of mouth. (BIGresearch, December 2009)

When making purchase decisions, North American Internet users trust recommendations from people they know and opinions posted by unknown consumers online more than advertisements on television, on the radio, in magazines and newspapers, or in other traditional media. (Nielsen Online, April 2009)

Tired yet? No?

The survey (Conversations Among Consumers), which drew on the responses of 1,000 online shoppers, found that while 46% of e-shoppers find value in product recommendations from their friends, 47% look to onsite customer reviews when making a decision. (Manage Smarter, September 2009)

Some 70% of Americans say they consult product reviews or consumer ratings before making a purchase, according to an October 2008 survey by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, a research and consulting firm. (Business Week, October 2009)

81% consider the availability of customer reviews to be “very important” (33%) or “somewhat important” (48%). (Major consumer electronics retailer/iPerceptions study, January 2008)

Alright, hopefully I’ve convinced you.

How to get “User Reviews” in 5 Minutes

1. Ask every customer you’ve worked with to give you feedback and permission for you to post it to a third-party website identifying them only by their first name.
2. Go to one of the following websites: http://www.ratemyagent.com or http://www.rate-my-agent.com
3. Post the feedback with a link back to your website (if possible)

How to get “User Reviews” in 10 Minutes

1. Start a facebook page/group for your REALTOR^® business.
2. Ask your past customers to post their feedback

That’s it!

$1,000,000 Condo

I’ll go easy on this one because it’s ONLY 1 million dollars! This is the showcase (and only) “view” shot in the property photo gallery, and what a view it is! Nondescript, and with absolutely no point of reference. Anyone in Vancouver can tell you that if it had been zoomed out and angled slightly left there would have been perfect landmarks for anyone to get their bearings. But we (and the seller) will have to settle for a compressed view of the mountains obstructed by the reflection of a CD case.

Ghost CD Case?

$1,100,000 Condo

You’d think that with $37,000 in commission at stake the REALTOR® would keep his socks out of the shot.

At least they're white

$1,125,000 Condo

“Yes, this $1.125 million dollar condo comes complete with clutter, vitamin D deficiency and depression. Will you be making an offer?”

Dark, cold and cozy

$2,200,000 Condo

These four photos below represent the TOTAL contingent of photos for this property on the MLS®. Luckily these four photos tell that this place has everything including, power lines, poor lighting, small bedrooms, and cloud… lots and lots of cloud. Mr. REALTOR®: My hat is tipped to you sir for risking $43,000 in commission by not getting a professional photographer; those stakes are out of my league.

I don't understand...

The Winner: $2,250,000 Condo

Here’s a shot from one of the most exclusive condos in Vancouver. Your $2.25 Million dollar view includes cloud, grey, rain, smoke and sulfur. This represents the worst photo/listing-price ratio I found today.

At least there's color

Business is all about image, and every good business owner strictly vets everything a prospective customer sees during the course of a transaction. I speak to hundreds of REALTORS® in many markets around North America and one message I’ve heard loud and clear from top producers is:

“Image is everything. Every flyer, business card, website, etc. must look sharp and consistent – no exceptions.”

The photos below all have one thing in common: they’re bad – and not because of the way the subjects look, but because of the things they’ve done (or not done) to ensure that their photos are terrible. They all say the same thing to a prospective customer:

“Perfection is out of reach for me, so don’t expect anything special.”

So, without further adieu – here are the top 5 worst agent photos I’ve seen in the last 6 months:

#5 – The amazing oil-spill jacket

Shiny Jacket?

Is it leather or pleather? Neither: it’s a brand new fully-plastic jacket from “Armani GarBaj”. At least the over-powering red sign in the foreground distracts us from the most damaging part of this photo: the crappy point-and-shoot camera you’re so intently using to demonstrate to everyone that you’re not a professional photographer.

“I take my own photos…”

You sure do. And that’s why you chose this photo to put on your website.

#4 – The great-to-terrible machine

Flattering is so 2009

Advertisement: If you’re looking for a photographer who can remove your bothersome good-looks from any photo, then look no further! I specialize in cream backgrounds, tilted camera angles, poor lighting, cutoff arms, straight-on mugshots, and much, much more! Don’t get stuck with another flattering photo you can be proud of… Call me today!

There’s no reason this woman needed to look so bad! Worse yet, IT DIDN’T NEED TO GET ON HER WEBSITE!!

#3 – Unluckiest arrow

There's an arrow pointing at your... left.

The only thing that’d make this photo worse is if “home” was replaced with “fly.” Sign-aside, the brick-sized cell phone completes this masterpiece of “bad”.

Surprisingly I really like this photo. The sign is obviously well-intentioned, but so misguided that it’s startlingly hilarious. I’d also be inclined to list with this guy just to see if he still uses that cell phone. Well done sir – you’ve won me over by your ridiculousness.

#2 – The Impersonator

Rockalike

Apologies for the size of the image, but it was all that I could find. I’ll go soft on this one because it’s not all that bad. In fact, if it was on facebook it’d be downright great! Unfortunately it’s on your website, and unless it’s combined with a guest appearance of “the rock” at my open-house, then I’ll pass on your marketing expertise – sorry.

#1 – The winners! (losers?)

There were three winners:

Class of 85: Voted most likely to fail in real estate

Always the bridesmaid, never the top producer

In conclusion

Believe it or not, these are all genuine profile photos on active REALTOR’s® websites. The worst part is that it took me less than an hour to find them – along with about 20 that I didn’t use.

I’d estimate that at least 1-in-10 REALTOR® photos is absolutely terrible, meaning that there are at least 200,000 more photos out there that belong in this article.