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Should You Use Live Chat Apps on Your Website?

Live chat apps are literally popping up everywhere. In this week’s real estate agent marketing tips, we’ll take a look at this talked about tech, and whether or not it might be right for your business.

Put a Bug in Your Ear
You spend countless hours driving traffic to your real estate agent website. But in your business, and with today’s instant-access lifestyle, it’s easy for first-time visitors to feel ignored. Let’s face it, as much as it would be great for initial client contact to be one-on-one with you, the nature of the realty business makes a prompt, live response tough to tackle.

Live chat apps can be a boon, stepping in to offer real-time answers to potential clients. Doubly-effective, this virtual back-and-forth can also lead to follow-up conversations, providing valuable client insight.

Listen Up!
Live chat apps are highly effective in real estate agent marketing. Despite the industry’s typical lag-time in response to tech, agents and brokerages are jumping aboard due to the bountiful benefits:

– Increased Opportunity
Brokerages leveraging live chat apps see a 36% increase in leads, on average – more than lead sources from prominent listing portals and website contact forms.

– Quality Leads
For each lead garnered through chat services, about 49% are sufficient to qualify for agent follow-up.

– Higher Conversions
REAL Trends points to a conversion rate of 7.5% with live chat – 3 times the average for general online leads, at 2.7%. Triggered properly, these rates could increase as much as 11%.

Are You Leaving Potential Clients Wandering in a Virtual Desert?
By taking advantage of live chat services, you can quickly snag clients before they go elsewhere in search of answers to their questions, keeping them right where you want them – with you.

Stop struggling with conversion. Up your real estate agent marketing ante with the latest tools and technology on the market from Properties Online today.

Tips on What to Include in Your Real Estate Agent Website Privacy Policy

Who’d have thought real estate agent marketing would be fraught with such peril? Post-Facebook election snafu, privacy policy updates are bombarding customer emails nationwide. Aside from thanking Mr. Zuckerberg for adding to your endless to-do list, you must also ensure the compliancy of your agent website with an updated policy.

What Should You Include in Your Updated Agent Website Privacy Policy?

In real estate agent marketing, in light of recent events, it’s imperative that your privacy policy be easy to read and understand, including the following general facets:

– A general introduction noting how strongly you value and respect client privacy and safeguard data.

– A listing of the information you will collect, including:
Personal information provided by the client
Registration information
Email/phone information
Website use information (cookies)

– A section on how you will use client information (marketing, promotion, payment processing, to improve content/services, etc.)

– What information, if any, you share with third parties

– A section disassociating your business from websites linked to yours

– How you will protect information (physical/electronic/managerial measures)

– It’s also useful to provide clients a sort of technical dictionary post-policy. Information that defines cookies, dynamic ads, retargeting, etc.

– Opt-in/out procedures

– How you’ll handle privacy policy changes (email, post-to-site)

– Consent for use of website (that lovely box everyone has to check)

I’m No Shakespeare – Where Can I Find a Good Example?

A great example of a privacy policy that includes this information can be found here. Or if you prefer an easier approach, check out this free privacy policy tool. With about 15-minutes, give or take a few questions, you can ensure an understandable policy that safeguards you against liability, and adheres to most state/federal privacy laws and third party initiatives.

Changing Internet privacy policy laws have you ducking your head? Properties Online has your back with the latest real estate agent marketing tools and tips.

Video Usage in Real Estate, the Stats Are In

How Blockchain Technology Could Transform Real Estate Listings and Marketing

Tired of the redundancies, errors, delays, waste, and exorbitant fees that have been part and parcel of real estate sales transactions since the dawn of time? From portal conundrums that create property search snafus, to transactional miscommunications that lead to seemingly endless delays, it may finally be time to stop the insanity.

Meet Blockchain Technology
The latest advancement in real estate sales, blockchain tech could allow for the creation of a universally accessible real estate information and records database – once an international standard for the collection of property data is created.

What is Blockchain?
Originally developed as an accounting method for Bitcoin, blockchain is now used in a variety of commercial applications. Utilizing distributed ledger technology (DLT), it allows participants in an industry, such as the extended real estate community, to track digital transactions without central recordkeeping. Any document can be inserted.

Once introduced, ledgers are permanent, unchangeable, and cannot be deleted, making them meddle-proof. The blockchain community owns/controls the information collectively, which is automatically distributed, making information easily visible, verifiable, and trustworthy.

How Could Blockchain be Used in Real Estate?
Enabling the execution of real estate transactions without the need for third parties via smart contract, blockchain technology could easily facilitate real estate sales proceedings digitally. Paired with IFPS, syndication of the world’s real estate network is possible. (Interplanetary File System(IFPS), is the technology that enables email/information transfer from one computer directly to another without the need for a third-party server, such as Google.)

Each property receives a unique identifier (hash) for permanent recording on a global ledger. Sellers will benefit from increased exposure, buyers receive access to localized, user-curated data – provided all parties get on-board. With universalized data standards, the sky could be the limit.

Could blockchain technology be the key to releasing the real estate sales chains that bind you? Tune in on new developments with this emerging tech with the help of PropertiesOnline today.

How to Creatively Get More Seller Leads

Highly coveted, seller leads can help you gain more control of your time, represent both sides of a real estate deal, easily take-on additional clients, and earn higher commissions, especially in today’s low-inventory market. Do you have the real estate marketing tips you need to snag these valuable, yet elusive leads?

Seller Lead, Where for Art Thou?
According to 2014 NAR stats, 64% of sellers look to an agent’s referrals. The remaining sellers turn to other channels. Finding an agent runs a myriad of ways ranging from open houses to simple website research. How can you home in on these new seller leads?

Attract More Seller Leads with these Creative Real Estate Marketing Tips:

– Leverage Home Buyers
Handing over the keys doesn’t mean the transaction is over. Never overlook the importance of keeping in contact. Steadfast follow-up, from closing gifts to holiday cards, are a great way to earn seller referrals.

– Set Your Sights On FSBO
90% of FSBO listings never result in a completed transaction, typically from lack of knowledge and resources, overpricing, and poor marketing. Offering your services in the form of a free, no obligation consultation can help you swoop-in and save the day for stressed-out FSBO sellers.

– Give Expired Listings a Second Chance at Life
Much like FSBO properties, overpricing and poor marketing can leave properties to linger on the market. Though expired listings on your MLS sheet may have previously worked with another agent, the lack of a deal may motivate them to explore new avenues.

– Find an (Extended) Friend on Facebook
Search the box at the top of your profile page using keywords associated with selling a home (“packing,” “house hunting,” “moving…”), reaching out and snagging seller leads on social media.

Referrals are the lifeblood of the business. Do you have the real estate marketing tips you need to survive? Forge a new path to success with the help of Properties Online today.

Market Watch: What's Hot and What's Not in Home Design

You Can Make Mistakes with Home Staging – What Not to Do

Home staging can be a seller’s best friend, slashing sales time and boosting profits when done correctly. Poorly performed, however, it could be the nail in the proverbial coffin of the sale. In today’s real estate marketing tips, we’ll take an up-close look at staging, and why what seems cut-and-dry can backfire on those who miss the details.

Home Staging Mistakes that Can Sink Sales

– Overwhelming Design
Good home stagers know the home should be the belle of the ball, not its contents. Look to staging pros who know how to subtly achieve a winning design, without smacking buyers in the face with it as soon as they walk through the door.

– Bland Schemes
On the flipside, those versed in real estate marketing know homes that don’t venture far from the realm of ivory/beige won’t stand out in the minds of buyers. You’ll need some pops of color here and there.

– The Lone Aesthetic
If you’re staging a Victorian, don’t place fainting couches and oil lamps in every room. Buyers won’t be able to see their things in the space. Instead, opt for an eclectic mix, or more traditional, timeless pieces.

– Fake-Outs
If a potential stager suggests artificial fruit or inflatables, run in the other direction. Keep it real. Fake items blast buyers with the message this is not their home.

– Poor Scaling
Not staging to the right scale can kill a sale. Furniture and accessories should match home scale and proportion. Too small, and spaces look barren and lifeless, not spacious. Too large, and spaces feel cramped. You need to show good use of the room. Ditto for artwork. Too small = visual clutter. Avoid items smaller than a softball.

– Closed Doors
While this might appear ‘neat,’ closing doors limits movement, and can lead to buyers missing entire sections of a home.

Stage yourself for success in the real estate marketing arena with the help of Properties Online today.

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