Post in the Category Real Estate
By Angelene
Posted in - Advertising & Media & Networking & Public Relations & Real Estate & Social Media & Uncategorized on January 14th, 2013
If you’ve been keeping up then you know that the final choice in the homebuyer’s decision-making process is most highly influenced by emotions. And for this reason, as real estate marketers, we must focus on lifestyle selling. Once you understand how important the lifestyle sell is to real estate, it then becomes increasingly clear why social marketing fits the bill. Here’s how: People love sharing exciting news about their lives on Facebook. This is the most natural place for buyers to showcase their new home purchase to their friends. The simple nature of sharing online and connecting with your closest friends and family falls perfectly in line with referral marketing. Never before was there such an easy way to reach…
By Angelene
Posted in - Real Estate on January 7th, 2013
Everyone thinks that purchasing a big ticket item is all about the value and the return and the finances of it, especially when it comes to real estate. Some even call it an investment. And it’s true, frequently, the home buying process can begin as a numbers game…What can we afford? What will the interest on our mortgage be? What are the taxes? How much are utilities? How much can I sell it for in the future? But when it comes right down to it, the final decision of which home you are going to buy is a very emotional choice. Home buyers ask themselves…Can I see our family spending Christmas here? Would I enjoy entertaining company in this kitchen?…
By Angelene
Posted in - Advertising & Real Estate on January 2nd, 2013
You’ve already been successful. Built a community. Built a following. Built a reputation. Built a brand. Now you want to build another community; should you use the same brand or create a new one? Building a brand is expensive; it takes money and time. Once you’ve spent all that time, budget and energy creating a great brand, shouldn’t you just use it again, leverage its power and your spend and name your new community with the same branding? It’s a question many real estate marketers are constantly trying to answer because the truth is, it depends. Is your newer product comparable to your older product? Will this new product sell for a lower price, thus lowering the perceived value of…
By Laurie Andrews
Posted in - Real Estate on December 18th, 2012
The rebounding Mexican economy is providing plenty of headlines for today’s final reporters. It’s hard to believe that not long ago, Mexico was in the news daily for the swine flu outbreak and endless drug violence. Today, words like “record-breaking” and “booming” are now being used to describe a thriving economy. It seems while the US was focusing on the 2012 election, Mexico quietly overcame many of its challenges. Although there remains much to be resolved, the country is now the world’s leading exporter of flat screen TVs and has also become a major force in the automobile industry. Surprisingly, one in 10 cars sold last year in the U.S. was made in Mexico. According to the Wall Street Journal, “next…
By Laurie Andrews
Posted in - Advertising & Media & Networking & Public Relations & Real Estate & Social Media & Uncategorized & Web on December 4th, 2012
As we all know, two-way communication is required to have a meaningful conversation. During the new home buying process, beginning the conversation sooner rather than later should be a primary focus of your website marketing initiatives. Of course, increased website visits are a positive indication of your marketing outreach, but it’s only the first step in the sales funnel that requires bringing the prospect through many steps prior to reaching a closed sale. Website interaction represents a golden opportunity to open a dialog with the prospective homebuyer. Consumers are busy people, and they are often researching their options late in the evening, long after your sales center is closed. They aren’t looking for direct person-to-person contact, but they are doing their homework to…
By Alexis
Posted in - Real Estate on November 27th, 2012
A good sales process requires one end result…conversion. What is the most intangible asset that you have as a business owner, developer, builder, or realtor? It is your “book of business” or your lead database. You’ve had great success in generating leads, but have you been successful in developing goals, defining your rating system and implementing action plans to qualify and convert those leads? Lead management is more than a process; it is the groundwork for assessment of conversion probability and determination of sales-readiness. It allows your sales team to focus the majority of their attention on the sales-ready leads, and not distract sales productivity with unqualified leads. It is a known fact that sales teams increase their efficiency and productivity…
By Laurie Andrews
Posted in - Real Estate on November 20th, 2012
As a hurricane approaches landfall, millions tune into television, Internet and radio, awaiting word from the meteorologist who stands ready to document the moment of impact. Unfortunately, that moment comes and goes, leaving unimaginable devastation behind. In the immediate aftermath, the world is fixated on the dramatic stories of rescue and recovery. The Red Cross and private charities step in to meet the basic needs of storm victims unable to provide for themselves. Now, three weeks later, many people in the northeast are realizing the impact of a storm like Sandy, may in fact last a lifetime. Life will continue to change over the coming months. After waiting for insurance adjusters to inspect the damage, monetary relief will begin to flow. Although many will rebuild, creating thousands…
By Laurie Andrews
Posted in - Real Estate on November 13th, 2012
1. Be Found Where People are Looking: They’re out there, and every day we see the increasing numbers of unique web visitors. A very positive sign for new home developers. Homebuyers are doing their research online, well before they reach out to the sales team on site. Your Internet footprint is critical and it goes well beyond just keeping your website up to date. Content generation and distribution require a focused effort that should be one of your top priorities. 2. Use Affiliate Database Resources. Data is king. You want to begin a conversation with the same people they do, so why not work on that together? While every company has digital assets, often the potential goes unrecognized. It’s time…
By Laurie Andrews
Posted in - Real Estate on November 6th, 2012
It seems every planning seminar and conference for the last two decades has been about the impact of the baby boomer on discretionary real estate spending. Now, following a historical down cycle and its tremendous impact on personal savings and investment, many new questions emerge for real estate developers. Although the market segment as a whole makes for promising demographic studies based on shear volume, it takes a closer look to unveil the psychographic profile that will most likely represent the next wave of real estate purchasers. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a baby boomer is a person who was born during the post-World War II baby boom between the years 1946 and 1964. Over 75 million strong, the market segment includes two generations…
By Laurie Andrews
Posted in - Real Estate on October 31st, 2012
It’s been quite the summer in Warsaw, Poland. We’ve enjoyed getting to know this country of proud people and its rich history that includes a period of Soviet Communist dominance from 1945 to 1989. Considering Cotton & Company opened for business in 1983, in some ways we had a five-year head start on an entire nation who only became capitalist following the Soviet fall. In contrast, we were humbled to learn that Poland’s Constitution is only second in age to the US Constitution, even though the establishment of a Polish state is identified with the adoption of Christianity in 966, far beyond the American Revolution in 1776. So what brings Cotton to the eastern bloc — JW Construction, the largest developer…
