Real Estate Industry Watch

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Archives for June 2011

TigerLeads, Market Leader, and Other Dangers Of Hiring a PPC Company – a Review

June 25, 2011 By Joe Lane 6 Comments

Publishers Note: This is the first in a series of Technology and Marketing Product Reviews that we will be publishing as part of Real Estate Industry Watch. We will provide equal space to those having opposing views. The views in each of these reviews are those of the author and not neccessarily those of Real Estate Industry Watch.

This summary is by no means a slam on any one PPC (Pay Per Click) company, but a discussion on the consequences of hiring a company to manage your paid search (PPC) campaigns.

We recently completed a relationship with TigerLeads and have no complaints with TigerLeads, and in fact, we can positively recommend them as lead generation company if you do not want to manage PPC, or AdWords campaigns. Like Market Leader, TigerLeads charges on average $2,000 – $3,000 per month and promises a certain number of leads per month. Of course, the monthly charge varies from plan to plan, and from market to market. The problem lies in the departure or termination of the service (when you decide paying $2,000 – $3,000 per month is not working for you). When hiring a company like TigerLeads or Market Leader (or similar companies), the leads are in their database. Although the leads are YOUR leads, what to do with the leads in the system becomes an issue when deciding to cease using the service. The backend of these types of lead generation companies is the company’s property, so the potential of losing clients that might take another 3 months to 3 years (for example) are lost when the backend you have been paying for is no longer available.

The Other Danger – Your Account, Their Data

Aside from hiring a company like TigerLeads or Market Leader, another option for REALTORS is to hire a person or company to manage YOUR Adwords account. This can bring up another danger, depending on who you hirie to manage your AdWords campaigns. The problem is who owns the analytics.

In other words, who owns the history of your AdWords account when you terminate a relationship with a PPC company. Unlike the TigerLeads and Market Leader scenarios previously discussed, you own the backend and will not lose clients (leads) when terminating the relationship, but what about all the history and insight gained from months or years of accumulated data? Who owns the account? An important issue, as you will pay Google less money on a seasoned successful AdWords account than a new account with no history of success.

My Conclusion – Be Your Own Manager

Be your own AdWords manager. Learning the in and outs of paid search is a tough road, but a very rewarding one. Very similar to renting a home versus owning a home. One requires payment with not equity in the end, whereas the other requires payment, hard work, but equity in the end.

Filed Under: Marketing, Technology

Pinnacle Quest buys Dave Beson Seminars

June 23, 2011 By John Paul Dauber Leave a Comment

Pinnacle Quest Consulting announced that it has entered into an agreement to buy Dave Beson Seminars, including its popular LetterWriter series.

“We have enjoyed a long-time relationship with Dave and are pleased now to take that relationship to the next level,” said Brent Gray, CEO and co-founder of Pinnacle Quest. “The addition of the popular Dave Beson LetterWriter series and other products to our current product mix adds a dimension to Pinnacle Quest that is a perfect fit.”

Dave Beson has been a featured real estate speaker for 30 years and according to the agreement, he will continue to support the Beson brand of marketing tools as well as to speak to limited engagements. He will also continue to consult with PinnacleQuest on the strategic direction of the brand.

The reseller agreements that are in place now will remain in place according to Pinnacle Quest.

Filed Under: Headlines, People

How to use Google +1 for REALTORS

June 8, 2011 By Joe Lane 5 Comments

As expected, Google announced Google’s version of the Facebook like button. The new Google +1 button can be a game changer for real estate websites. Unlike other ratings systems, Google’s +1 does not allow for down voting, or "1 out of 5" type star ratings like Yelp’s, so your competitors or other malicious visitors cannot high jack your ratings. Additionally, Google’s like button is intended to provide useful data to Google allowing Google to return relevant search results. Of course, it is too soon to tell what impact the Google +1 button will have on search engine rankings.

Installing the Google +1 Button
Installing the Google +1 button is relatively simple and there is an ample amount of information available for the Google +1 button. However, page speed (page load time) is an issue and the jury is out on this one at the moment. Probably my biggest concern about the +1 button is the time my Kennewick homes page takes to load due to the +1 script. I’ve already disabled the Facebook widget because of load time and visitors receive a click-able screenshot of the Facebook widget, as opposed to a functional widget. Aside from load time, the implementation of the Google +1 code is easy. Visit Google’s +1 button code generator and you will receive everything you need, including options to customize your website’s button between four different sizes to suit your needs.

Exercise Caution
If you have the time to monitor your site and also the time to monitor what is being published about the Google +1 button, then install it now. Otherwise, allow a week or two for bugs to be reported and fixed. As with any new shiny thing, there will be bugs.

Filed Under: Technology

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Brokers I look to for inspiration:

  • Gary Lundholm - Chesapeake VA
  • Phyllis Brown - Raleigh NC
  • Real Estate Facebook Groups You Should Join:

  • Real Estate Marketing All Stars
  • PCSMoves - Agent Network for Military Relocation Agents
  • Agents and Teams that Inspire me

  • Team Hensley - Midlothian VA
  • Eddy Kicker - Greenville SC
  • Rama Mehra - San Ramon CA
  • Carolyn Capalbo - Gainesville VA
  • Team Leading Edge - Edmonton AB
  • Tom Brewer - Mansfield TX
  • Jennifer Fahey
  • Kelowna Homes
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