Increasing Traffic via YouTube

Understand that the software that I am about to describe is considered black hat, and as such carries the risk of having your IP address banned from YouTube. However, for those of you that are interested, here we go.

Before I begin, let me tell you that this is a software that I have not used and don’t plan to, but have read extensively about. My approach for my discount offer on the RedX expired listing lead system it to remain above board so this YouTube software doesn’t quite fit my model. However, it keeps popping up on the black hat promotion groups as a way to explode site traffic through YouTube so I thought it may be interesting.

The software is TubeIncreaser and what is does is takes any video on YouTube and adds thousands of fake page views over a set period. As I understand it, after videos have been posted a while, those videos with few views naturally fall to the bottom of the categories. However, those with a large number of views, or those with rapidly increasing viewership actually increase in visibility on the site and subsequently get more and more traffic. Apparently the TubeIncreaser software tricks the YouTube algorithm into thinking that more and more people are viewing your video over time. Subsequently, real viewership of the video rises as does the corresponding web traffic.

Authority Black Book for Better Backlinks

I was trying to update myself on the latest social marketing technology on Mashable.com when I found a link to an interesting e-book that I could use in my ever evolving online viral promotion strategy for my discount site of the RedX expired listing lead service.

The e-book is names the Authority Black Book and it explains the numerous approaches to increase the visibility and web traffic of your website. The e-book is fairly comprehensive, and with over 67 pages of data contains a great deal of data that can help to better understand the need and overall effectiveness of linking and membership programs with the myriad of online social networks. I know you have an Active Rain account, but do you have a facebook, twitter, stumbleupon, digg, reddit, etc.? Much of the information in the book can be considered common sense, but overall it is a good learning tool to help you grow your backlinks and increase your online presence.

Leveraging What the Profiteers Can Teach Us

There are a few approaches that stand out as completely applicable to the white hat world. An approach that more nefarious online marketers use to garner ad revenue from pay per click adversities is to find a set of keywords that are underserved by advertisers and highly trafficked by the public users. The black hat marketers capitalize on these niches by creating thousands of pages of content to penetrate each corner of that niche. These marketers use a variety of tools such as those described in the Micro Niche Tool to locate search terms with opportunity and then a myriad of other software products to penetrate the niche.

As I have discussed previously, I am doing this research to find new ways to increase webtraffic to 4MySales.com and my discount offer for the Expired Listing Lead System from RedX. As such I am learning about the blue, black and white hat world of internet marketing. We have all talked about finding a niche in your own market and leveraging it to differentiate yourself. We have also discussed creating single page websites to service our long tail of keywords that we believe are applicable. However, I don’t believe anybody has suggested that we use tools like those discussed above to locate high volume low competition search terms, the create unique individual sites to specifically service those keywords.

My thoughts would be the following: Instead of trying to compete on the term real estate, or even Salt Lake City Real Estate, use the tools to find specific terms that are underserved such as Lease to Own Houses in Salt Lake City. After identifying the desired search terms, buy a URLs with those terms as part of the name, “leasttoownhousesinsaltlake” Finally, create a keyword specific sites that services that niche (see my previous entry on the Ultimate Search Engine Loophole) Finally, make sure that my blogs link to those pages and start alternating my signature pages with the different links. If necessary, create a few new blogs that specifically service and target those sites.

I know that it sounds like a lot of work because you are now managing multiple sites, or at least multiple blogs, but the concept is simply to create a bigger print on the web which may translate into more people being able to find you.

Increasing SEO With Automated Article Submission

This week I was focused on finding a few new techniques that could be used to increase search ranking and web traffic. What I found in my research was that there are a number of affordable tools that are designed to automate the backlink process.

I am one for occasionally writing an article and then submitting it across the web (google Barrett Niehus) as part of my linking and web promotion strategy. I generally end up manually submitting my articles to around twelve article directories for republishing. This works great for me because the resource box for the article is always included which gets my name and links top the discount for the RedX Expired Listing Lead System in multiple places.

In my reading this weekend, I found a great new tool that is really going to streamline the process for me. The tool is a software package that automatically submits your article to over 350 different article directories. The software, Article Submitter, has a video that walks through the submission process, but essentially once you enter your article, author information and category data, the software goes to each directory website and populates the required forms and automatically submits the entire article. There are a few directories that require you to enter the captcha verification codes as part of the process, but it is pretty straightforward. Overall, the Article Submitter software allows me to increase the number of directory submission from around 15 to over 350!

Tags: SEO, Article Submitter, RedX, Expired Listnig Software, Automated Article Submission, Black Hat, White Hat, Blue Hat

Working With a Search Engine Loophole for MSN Live

I am still exploring and learning about the world of blue hat to promote my 4MySales Site and the $149.00 discount to the RedX expired listing leads system and discovered a few new tools that look promising. I recently learned about a loophole that a black hat group claims to in MSN Live’s search algorithm. I found an pdf e-book that details exactly how to exploit loophole and went ahead and bought it. The e-book “The Ultimate Search Engine Loophole” describes in great detail how to create a single landing page that funnels visitors into your main site and uses blog multiple blog links to increase the page rank of that landing page in the MSN Live search engine to a high level.

The approach that the e-book describes is straight forward, but does require a single landing page that is light on text, a keyword specific URL, and a number of blogs, preferably Wordpress, that you can update with a linking algorithm or plugin. This weekend I put up two landing pages for two targeted keywords and started updating my blogs as well as convinced a few of my friends to add the plugins with my links to their blogs. It is probably too early to tell if I have been successful, but hopefully the approach recommended by the Ultimate Search Engine Loophole will result in a huge increase in traffic.

If you are thinking about using this approach yourself, I do feel that I need to mention that the loophole e-book was designed for the web group that exploits these loopholes for black hat programs, so the actual e-book does make reference to other more nefarious approaches to SEO.

A New Apporoach to Creating Backlinks

In looking at the various web promotion techniquest that are out there, I have come across a few that seem to save a lot of time. I have been spending time posting bookmarks to the various social bookmark sites and I found a software, Bookmark Demon that has saved me hours of work.

Bookmark Demon is the one tool that I found that is actually very useful and completely automates the process of posting your real estate blog to all of the social bookmarking sites is Bookmark Demon the software is relatively simple to use and shows results within hours. For the social bookmarking sites, and there are a lot of them, it creates a user account, or use those that you have established, on the myriad of social bookmarking pages, then post the blog, website, or URL that you are working with on that site. For example, the tool will create a reddit.com and furl.com and del.icio.us, and stumbleupon account etc.and bookmark your site to each of those accounts.

I was trying to do this manually to get some attention to my site that features a discount for the RedX expired listing lead service. However, this is a far more simple way to save time and complete the task.

Let’s face it, in 2009 we need to save as much time as possible while increasing our real estate lead generation.

Expanded Expired Listing Lead Service

My friends at the Real Estate Lead Generation Service, REDX have just launched their FSOB service into Canada! The number of services that they provide and the number of MLS’s that they cover has certainly expanded in recent years. Recently, they have added FSBO leads in addition to their expired listing leads, and are now actively expanding their coverage to include more of North America. Below is the press release announcing their new expansion.

As always, you can waive the $149.00 start up fee by signing up here: http://www.theredx.com/signup/4mysales.html

The RedX Launches Expansion Into Canada

Real Estate Data X-Change (RedX), the industry leading provider of
Expired and For-Sale-by-Owner (FSBO) lead generation and management solutions, today announced the expansion of its services into Canada, with the opening of 35 areas of its low-cost FSBO service.

The RedX launched the FSBO product to meet the specific needs of the
Canadian real estate professional. RedX FSBO leads service is very unique from other FSBO providers because we the FSBO leads are delivered directly into a very user friendly lead manager system, which is included with a subscription to the RedX FSBO service. The lead manager system gives the subscribers a tool for more than just prospecting FSBOs. The lead manager gives the subscribers the ability to write notes, set tasks, create marketing campaigns and flag leads, and much more.

The RedX utilizes advanced web and database technologies to deliver the highest quality and quantity FSBO lead in the market. The RedX scours local and national newspapers, real estate publications, and other public online sources to extracts the lead in its entirety.
In addition to interfacing with the lead manager, RedX FSBOs include:

• Real time FSBO lead delivery seven (7) days per week
• Customizable FSBO database search tool
• Reverse phone look ups performed on each FSBO lead
• No duplicate leads
• Free online training and scripts

“RedX FSBOs is a powerful enhancement to any real estate
professional prospecting, by providing them a tool that delivers new leads every day” said Curtis Fenn, Vice President of Sales for Real Estate Data X-Change.

About Real Estate Data X-Change, Inc.
Real Estate Data X-Change, Inc is a leading software technology and leads service provider for real estate professionals. The RedX assists real estate professionals in accomplishing their professional goals by providing them with accurate, timely and reliable data to aid them in building their business. We have designed powerful technology-based tools to help them access, manage, and utilize their real estate leads. Simply stated, the RedX's products and services help real estate professionals sell more homes while saving both time and money. http://www.theredx.com/

For more information about the RedX or to purchase RedX FSBO lead service, please visit http://www.theredx.com/signup/4mysales.html, or contact a RedX sales representative at
800-731-7339.

Viral Video Marketing

Dan Ackerman Greenberg , of the The Comotion Group posted an interesting guest blog on TechCrunch a while ago on how to make your video go viral. Although some of his recommendations are a little too nefarious for my tastes, I do plan to implement some of the more direct approaches into my promotion of the RedX expired listing and FSBO lead generation system for real estate agents.

Overall, Ackerman claims to be successful in turning a video viral in just a few days, and shoots for at least 50,000 downloads. His techniques are as follows:
“Content is NOT King”

• Make it short: 15-30 seconds is ideal; break down long stories into bite-sized clips


• Design for remixing: create a video that is simple enough to be remixed over and over again by others. Ex: “Dramatic Hamster”


• Don’t make an outright ad: if a video feels like an ad, viewers won’t share it unless it’s really amazing. Ex: Sony Bravia


• Make it shocking: give a viewer no choice but to investigate further. Ex: “UFO Haiti”


• Use attention-grabbing headlines: make the viewer say, “Holy xxxx, did that actually happen?!” Ex: “Stolen Nascar”


• Appeal to sex: if all else fails, hire the most attractive women available to be in the video. Ex: “Yoga 4 Dudes” "

Title Optimization
Post the video with a title that will grab attention and periodically change it if you are not getting enough traction.

Thumbnail Optimization
YouTube grabs the thumbnail from the middle of the video. Try to make the thumbnail contain a face, preferably a pretty female.

Commenting: Having a conversation with your circle
Make sure that all of your friends and colleagues are aware of the video and have a chance to comment, post. Ask them not to hold back on their opinions, a heated dialog creates attention.

Releasing all videos simultaneously
If you have a campaign, why make people wait to see the next installment?

Tag Strategically
I did not realize this, but YouTube uses the tags that you use to describe your video to populate the related content video block. If you have multiple videos, you can choose and obscure tag to make sure that all of your videos pop up when one is being viewed.

Metrics and Tracking
Dan recommended TubeMogul and VidMetrix both have the ability to submit your video to multiple online video networks with just one submission, and both have decent traffic tracking. TubeMogul seems to track with a couple more networks, but both are great tools.

Dan received a lot of negative feedback regarding his post, and has a much better description of his intention which he posted on his follow-up. Both the original post and the follow up are worth a read. Regardless, when the video marketing component of our RedX promotion comes online, I will be working to make the content viral.

TAGS: Redx, Dan Ackerman Greenberg, TechCrunch, Viral Video Marketing, Most Viewed YouTube, secrets of viral marketing, 20 million clicks, clandestine marketing

Great Post From Joes Journal About Prospecting Expireds

I found a great blog from Joes Journal this evening that shares some great approaches to overcoming common objections from potential real estate clients. I have excerpted his approach to using expired listing leads below. He details a complete system on how to effectively prospect expired listing leads for real estate on his marketing system blog

“What an expired listing client says:

This is just not a good time to sell my home because of the current market conditions.

What a skilled consultant would say:

Mr. and Mrs. Client, you sound very certain that the market conditions are not
right to sell your home. May I ask what is your source for that data and how
reliable has that source been for you in the past?

Here are several mindful questions you might ask a person whose listing has
expired.

• What do you suppose will happen if you choose not to sell your home now?
  


• If you do put your home back on the market with the same agent, what do you suppose will be the result of that choice?


• Because marketing, conditions and price positioning are the three reasons a homes sells or does not sell, what do you imagine you will do differently when you re-list your home?


• Imagine if you could create the perfect scenario – what would it look like, sound like and feel like for you?


• How can you use what you have learned in the last six months to improve the chances of selling your home the next time you re-list?


• Given what you have learned, what is the most obvious change you would make first, the next time you re-list your home?


• As you think about whom you will re-list your home with, what are some things that will be important to you in your next relationship with an agent?
  


• How do you know the characteristics you’re looking for in an agent are the right ones to achieve your goals?

What is Reframing?
When reframing a belief or idea, it is important to change the context so the listener has more choices and options regarding how to look at things. It’s like using a different lens to get a wider perspective on the picture before you.

Reframing Client Objections

You should anticipate client objections. Below are different ways you can reframe a client’s objections using dialogues containing magic words and mindful questions.

Client Objection: This is not the right time to sell a home.


We want to wait until prices go up!

Example #1
YOU: Are you saying in general it is not the right time to sell a home or are you saying it’s not the right time to sell your home?

CLIENT: I’m saying the market is slow; it is not a good time for anyone to sell.

YOU: Well, it’s more accurate to say that people who are clearly focused on what is important about selling will be successful in selling a home in today’s market. May I ask you what is important about selling your home to you?

(Now go seven levels deep.)

Client Objection: This is not the right time to sell a home. We want to wait until prices go up!

Example #2
YOU: That could be true for some people without certain goals. Now for those who have a goal like your five, six, and seven, this may be the perfect time to go for it.

Example #3
YOU: Every coin has two sides to it. For example, in the price range of $250,000, prices have dropped about 10 percent and in the $400,000 range, they have dropped 10 percent. So now, when you sell your $250,000 home you get $25,000 less but when you buy the $400,000 house you pay $40,000 less, so that is a net gain of $15,000.

Example #4
YOU: If I said that it is a good time to go for your five, six, and seven, and if I could show you that in the last 60 days, 49 people within five square miles of your home have sold their home, would that mean I’m lying to you?

Specifically, what proof would you need to know that your thoughts that you can’t sell right now are just not true and it is the right time for you to go for your five, six, and seven?

Example #5
YOU: Wow, you sound so confident in your information! Did you actually try to sell your home within the last 60 days to arrive at that conclusion, or are you repeating something you heard from the TV, newspaper or a neighbor?

Example #6
YOU: Well, if you really want to know who should not be selling their home, it’s the people who are either not serious about moving or the ones who owe more on it than it’s worth. Which category do you fit into?

Example #7
YOU: So, are you saying that every seller who is listed now should just quit and take it off the market?

Example #8
YOU: I know the current market situation really seems like a big deal today…and maybe that’s the problem. Just for the fun of it, imagine you and your family twenty years down the road. You look back to this day when you had the opportunity to sell your house and make your next investment. Within this context is the current market situation the most important factor in making your decision to re-list now?

Example #9
YOU: I know you believe that this is not the right time to sell your home, but not everybody thinks this way. Many homeowners in your neighborhood have benefited from my skills as a consultant, negotiator, and overseer of transactional details during their home sale -- especially now. Why don’t you call this number and listen to what your neighbors have to say about selling their home under these market conditions?

Here is another example of an objection you may hear from a prospective client with several ways to reframe their perspective using magic words and mindful questions.

Client: Will you cut your commission or reduce your fees?

Example # 1
YOU: That is a good question. And before I could make that big of a decision, I would have to ask you a few thought-provoking questions, listen intently to your answers, and only after I clearly know what is important about selling to you, could I then better suggest how you can compensate me for my consulting, negotiating, and organizing of the details.

Example # 2
YOU: That is an interesting question. What it means to me is that you don’t think my skills of consulting, negotiating and organizing of all the transactional details are worth what I would charge you to make your five, six, and seven come true.

Example # 3
YOU: Mr. and Mrs. Seller, my goal is to make your five, six, and seven come true. Since we haven’t worked together before, how did you determine that my skills as a consultant, negotiator, and organizer of the transactional details are not worth making your making your five, six, and seven come true?

Example # 4
YOU: Your question reveals what you may not know about this current marketplace. What you really should be asking is ‘what bonus can we offer to get local agents more interested in showing my home to their best clients’. That way, we can make certain your five, six, and seven come true?

Example # 5
YOU: I’m glad you brought that up because it seems you really do care about getting the proper value from the services I offer. So I’m wondering, for what I’m asking you to compensate me, how much value do you want from me for making your five, six, and seven come true?”

Four more ways to attract real estate buyers in this down market

I have posted the new rules of real estate survival a couple of times in this blog, and the basic rule is to secure as many listings as possible. However, I have not yet touched on the demand side of the equation. Sure, if you prospect effectively for expired listings you will have a selection of properties to offer the new demanding client, but where do you find that New Demanding Client?

1) Opportunistic investors: Although many feel that we have not yet hit bottom, the investment market is starting heat up again. Many real estate investors (including me) are looking for that next great deal, foreclosure, or short sale. For real estate agents that can help investors with the minutia of buying a property with less than full equity, there may still be business to be had. Consider marketing your services and expertise to the investment market, either for direct real estate services, or even consultation and guidance.

2) Movers looking for a deal: It is true that it is now a buyers market, but that does not mean that there are no more buyers. The truth is that in contrast to three years ago, buyers today have their choice of what to buy and who to buy it through. To capture the attention of these clients, position yourself as an aggressive savings manager with expertise in helping buyers get the best possible deal and the home of their dreams. As for attracting these clients, place ads, co-op market with your local coffee shop, fitness club and small businesses, and host how to buy foreclosure webinars and seminars.

3) Business relocation: If you haven’t explored the opportunities with relocation specialists that service the companies in your area, now may be the time to strike up a conversation. The internet, yellow pages, or HR department of your closest multinational may be able to connect you with the right people.

4) REO Specialist: Both on the buying and selling side, the agents that deal with the banks have a ready-made inventory on discountable properties. Loss mitigation departments may be able to help you out with a listing or two. Also, if you are familiar with the requirements of the banks to purchase REO, you can position yourself as a specialist for both the investor and the movers looking for a deal.

Finally, don’t forget about the 30% discount on Expireds from RedX.

30% Off Expired Listing Leads, and a Few Marketing Ideas

My friends over at the RedX Expired Listing Lead Service have been doing a great job in some recent marketing endeavors, and I think I can leverage their activities to share some quick recommendations on how to better attract survival listings in this challenging market. Some of the ideas will translate to direct marketing, but a few may not. However, I thought I would list them out.

1) Discounted service (in this case 30%) in exchange for a larger commitment.
More and more we hear clients asking for a discounted commission in exchange for your dedication and hard work. If you are negotiating a discount in commission, get a bigger commitment for up-front expenses. If the client is taking your money on the back end, let them pay up-front for some of the marketing expenses.

2) If you are promoting yourself online, go where the traffic is.
I posted this on my Realtor Leads Blog, but if you see a politician making commentary on the recent sub-prime meltdown, comment on their site and be sure to include backlinks. They get plenty of traffic and may even improve you page rank.

3) Use multiple media.
If you don’t have a YouTube channel, a MySpace page and a presence on Facebook, it is time to register. Once again, be where your clients can find you.

4) Touch a prospect or partner many times.
RedX sent me a promotional flyer and sales PowerPoint to me today detailing their products and reiterating their promotion. This is part of a larger touch system where every time I take the time to touch them (call, respond to an email, click on a promotion) I receive one or two additional touches with appropriate calls to action. A REALTOR analog would be presenting to a local business group, getting the contact information for all of the attendees and sending out thank you cards with a referral request. Follow that up with an email reminding them of the specific takeaways of your presentation and an additional offer to do business.

5) Add a call to action on your email.
What’s the difference between an email signature that says “Barrett Niehus, REALTOR” and a signature that says “Barrett Niehus, REALTOR, Learn how I can save you $10,000.” A call to action can do a lot for a communication.

Viral Idea and A Deal on Real Estate Leads

It occurs to me that next year is an election year and almost every candidate is trying to leverage the internet to gain attention and push their political platform. Most of the tools that they are using leverage Web 2.0 social technology which means there are plenty of high traffic areas to post. If I were me, which I am…. I would start posting comments around the candidates blogs. The sites likely rank high on the search engines, they have tons of traffic, and backlinks from these sites just might be useful.

On a completely separate note, RedX has authorized a 30% discount off of their expired listing real estate lead service through the end of the month. This is a huge offer to save money and have those all important listings flowing through your door.

Leads, Listings and New Activities

My friends at RedX are busy for the holidays and they have sent some great tools to help educate REALTORS about how to attract clients and listings through the RedX expired listing lead service. Personally, I am glad that they now include FSBO listings as a component of their service because it does expand the pool of potential new clients. After all, in today's market, you need as many active listings as possible, just to survive.
On the viral marketing front, I am implementing a number of touch programs to hit contacts multiple times through multiple media. For example, I am in the process of setting up auto-responders so that those REALTORS that attend a webinar receive three follow up communications with additional information, discounts and calls to action. I am going to start fully leveraging the signature function of my email with an active call to action, as well as begin posting educational videos on the 4MySales section of YouTube. Finally, the webinars themselves are going to be better utilized to educate real estate agents about how to attract leads and convert them to listings.

Back Online and Expired Listing Leads

I received a call today from the expired lead listing company that I have been working with for some time. They offered me a great promotion to share with all of the readers of this blog; a complete waiver of the $150 startup fee for anybody that signs up through this link: http://www.theredx.com/signup/4mysales.html Not a bad offer considering that the only way to survive right now as a Realtor is to attract as many listings as possible.

I’ll talk about viral marketing at a later date. I gave a seminar this evening and used the YouTube video entitled “Cool Wedding Dance” that is making the rounds on the mainstream media (Today Show, daily news, CN?N, etc.) Either way, there is a big world of marketing out there to explore…..

Marry Spenders and Sellers for a Viral Response

I can across this promotion this morning and I think it has the potential to be a great idea with a little additional directed promotion. The idea is the “Damn Receipt Project” and essentially it is an attempt to create a link between people who have receipts in their pocket and advertisers that want to target their specific brand to the owners of those receipts. The concept as described in the Damn Receipt Blog is

“Damn Receipt is a brand new original and buzzy project where advertisers from
all horizons catch attention and promote themselves by refunding people's
shopping receipts (rather than spending large amounts in impersonal
advertising)!”

The creator of this project is trying to create a link between advertisers and those individuals who have receipts in their pockets (it doesn’t mention what types of receipts.) The concept is that the advertisers will reimburse the receipt owners the amount on the receipt in a direct marketing approach instead of spending their cash on mass media.

There are a number of holes in the idea, specifically because it does not specify the types of receipts, and therefore provides no targeted demographic for the prospective marketing company’s advertising spend. However, overall, it could be a great campaign idea for individuals or companies that want to really target their prospective clients.

So how would you adopt this idea for your own use?

There are three components that I would put into place before launching this type of campaign.

1) Identify and create a cooperative marketing partnership with a company that wants to use this type of marketing. It may be difficult to get a national chain to participate, but you could get local businesses to participate and take the campaign online and offline. To save on the ad spend, arrange the promotion so that one receipt per day will be selected for reimbursement.

2) Identify exactly what type of client you are looking for and what receipts they are likely to have. Reimburse only those and spell that out explicitly in your campaign materials; once again, online and off-line.

3) Launch the campaign both online and off-line by letting local media and press know. Co-opt with your marketing partner to print cards, flyers and collateral. Announce the campaign in your local and online newspapers, and let some local bloggers know about the campaign. When you launch, go off with a rocket using multiple promotional mediums.

Finally, before you begin on this type of promotion, make sure that you explicitly spell out the rules of the promotion and have written agreement with your marketing partner.

TAGS: WOM, buzzy, co-operative marketing, damn receipt, word of mouth, promotional campaign, promotional idea, online newspaper advertising, local wom

Help others find this article: Digg It!, Reddit or Bookmark it

Be Everywhere For Word of Mouth

As a little experiment this afternoon, I googled 4MySales to see where the site and this blog were popping up. The search returned what I expected, about 22,000 references, but it also provided a unique insight into where to leverage your highest potential online. In addition to this blog and associated website, the highest ranking google returns were for the multitude of online social networks where 4MySales has registered.

The top returned searches for 4mysales were:
4MySales - MyBlogLog
digg / 4MySales / news / dugg
4mysales · 2k Bloggers - The Face of the Blogosphere (a blog of ...
4mysales's Participation » Netscape.com
4MySales Real Estate Agent Success - Feeds - Netvibes ecosystem ...
Barrett Niehus (4MySales and Expired Listing Leads) - Real Estate ...
4MySales REALTOR Marketing Blog
User:4MySales - InmanWiki

So what does this mean? Essentially, it means that as you work on promoting your blog and expanding your presence online, register for all of the online social networks that you can. After registration, identity those that naturally rise to the top of the search engines and spend your time syndicating content on those sites. Social networks are generally very search engine friendly, and in addition to creating social links (and traffic) within the community, you increase your search engine visibility.

TAGS: viral, wom, seo, online social networks, real estate references, viral traffic, returned search

Differentiate Your Closing Gift

Instead of giving your clients the same old “just moved” or “our new home” change of address cards, why not create a photo-collage (photomoasic) of their new home made up of pictures of the new residents, the various rooms of their home, as well as your picture, logo, and offices? The photomosaic can be embedded into your standard change of address post card, or if you are feeling unique, you can have a copy of it framed as a personalized closing gift for your clients. Personally, I would recommend you do both.

So how do you create a photomosaic closing gift? Actually, it is really easy. Purchase of download a dedicated photomosaic software. (Here is a list of them) and when you are ready, take a picture of the property in question (preferably with the new residents posing in front) and a number of other “family” pictures of the house and the new residents in it. Apply all of these photos to the software and send the output to a professional printer for conversion into postcards and farmable art.

As a follow-on, email your client a copy of the graphic with a thank you note. They will likely send it to their friends and family. Separately, ask if you can do it for them and get a list of email and mailing addresses. This is a great tool for referral marketing.

TAGS: photomosaic, photo collage, closing gift, referral tool, referral marketing, list of photomosaic software, just moved postcards, change of address cards, framed closing gift, unique closing gift

Help others find this article: Digg It!, Reddit or Bookmark it

A Little Fun with Photomosaics

Here's a fun little site where you can take your picture, apply a number of flickr photos to it and turn it into a photomosaic.

TAGS: Flickr, mozaiq

Viral Marketing and Making Use of Recent Media

I’m still gathering data for the Viral Book Project, but as I continue to surf, I come across more and more great sites that catalog different viral marketing techniques. One of the most recent is a site called the Adverblog which reviews a number of cool commercial viral campaigns.

So as I was perusing through the list of interesting viral marketing campaigns that the bigger corporations are launching; (check out the BMW promotion) it occurred to me that you can garner a lot of traffic by attaching your message to these other promotions. Now I’m not advocating literally attaching your URL to any of the forwards that you receive; although that in itself is an interesting idea. I am however advocating spoofing current media, and actively participating in online conversations about a campaign at the root of the campaign by leaving comments on the blogs that are sponsored by the company.

Here’s my idea for the day….
Aleve has just launched a viral marketing campaign using a number of Web 2.0 tools. Leave comments on each of the tools about the campaign. Do the same thing for the recent Viragra and Transformer campaigns.

Choose a hot local topic for the week, (for my area, the Orange County courts are having all of their traffic tickets processed in a small office in Mexico and there is no end to the discussion about identity theft and security risks to blog about.) Blog about the topic, post reader polls and create a widget or badge to express your opinion that like-mined visitors can also display. Also, express your opinion in the comments sections of the local online newspapers.

TAGS: viral, orange county mexico, widget, badge, viral idea, local newspapers, transformers, bmw campaign, Adverblog, viral opinion, online campaign

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