How Important are Business Cards?

Posted on by Ken Granger

Every respectable business person has business cards. But why? The easy answer is so that people have the means of getting in touch with you. However, in today’s world, with digital representation a must, everyone can be found just as easy on Google, Facebook, even LinkedIn.

Studies have shown that people throw away most business cards they are given. At the end of your day, do you want a pocket full of small pieces of paper? Nobody does.

However, the ones that are kept succeed in two areas where the ones in the trash can failed:

  1. They remind the cardholder of a good experience.
  2. Nobody is going to look at your card later and say “Wow that guy was a jerk, better hold on to this card!” But if their reaction is “Oh yeah, he made that funny joke!” or “We talked about that great business deal!” It is easy to connect those to “I should put this card somewhere important!”

People keep cards that look impressive.

Your card’s impact is controlled more by visual experience than information provided. Everybody has an email, everyone has a phone number, it’s how that info is presented that causes people to pay attention to it.

People also show off and talk about impactful business cards they’ve received. Your card can be so impressive and unique that it’s actively continuing to market for you, even after being handed out.

How do you achieve these two factors and regain business cards as a useful tool for your business?

To ensure that you’re represented uniquely and your first impression is a strong one, you have to have custom designed branding.

Is Your Real Estate Website Good… or GREAT?

Posted on by Ken Granger

As a real estate agent, your website is constantly in competition with larger sites like Zillow and realtor.com. And as homebuyers browse these sites, most of them don’t stop to think about the quality of the content they are looking at. If they see some house photos next to an asking price, they simply won’t think to look anywhere else. But you know that you can offer so much more than a generic real estate database. You have years of expertise, an understanding of local neighborhoods, and the ability to read your clients and grasp their needs. You just need your website to showcase your skills to the world. Here are three ways to create a great real estate website that will impress potential clients and bring in new business.

Use your brand to stand out from the crowd

The real estate industry is an incredibly crowded field. In any given town or city, you may be competing against hundreds of other realtors for client business. And in major metro areas, you’re probably competing against thousands of other agents. So how do you differentiate yourself? By creating a brand that distinguishes you from everyone else. Your brand is your motto, your commitment, and your expertise all rolled into one. Do you pledge to be on call for your clients 24/7? Do you promise to provide unmatched and unparalleled service? Or do you specialize in helping first-time buyers find their dream home? Then your brand needs to reflect those qualities that set you apart. And what about your niche or your area of expertise? Perhaps you know everything there is to know about the historic neighborhoods of your city. Or maybe you specialize in new developments and custom homes. Build your brand around those identifiers to help you stand out from other agents and other websites.

Provide real-world examples

You have something that generic real estate websites don’t have, and that’s a string of success stories. If you’ve sold 10 homes in the last month, don’t just trumpet it on your website; show it! Show examples of homes that you’ve sold, and display glowing reviews and quotes from your happy clients. Pictures are crucial to drawing in visitors and keeping them on your site, so try to include warm, personal photos of happy clients to give your site a personal touch. You can even integrate an Instagram or Twitter feed into your online strategy to help generate buzz and bring in new visitors. Whatever your method, show homebuyers examples of the success they could find if they decide to work with you.

Showcase your local expertise

One advantage that you have over gigantic websites and real estate databases is the fact that you have boots on the ground. You are the expert on everything local and you can provide advice that no monolithic website can offer. Perhaps the neighborhoods you represent have the best schools in the city. Or maybe you’re selling homes in a city that was recently annexed, so you can comment on all the new services that residents will enjoy. Whatever the case may be, you should find ways to bring your local knowledge to the forefront and draw your customers in. You can include links to local news stories, or highlight neighborhood restaurants and stores. Homebuyers should feel like they already fit into the neighborhood you are showcasing when they visit your website.

Your real estate website may be good, but it needs to be great in order to compete successfully in today’s real estate market. Pick your niche, build your brand, and show the world why you are the best real estate agent for the job.

The Importance of Social Proof for Your Business

Posted on by Ken Granger

Social proof is now a major factor when it comes to attracting more customers to any business. No one likes to be the first to try something. Most people are more comfortable when others try something first and recommend it. That’s why word-of-mouth and personal referrals are so powerful. When you can get these, you’re getting something you can never get from advertising. The next best thing is reviews. While people may not know the review writers, it still constitutes social proof that your business is worth trying. Let’s look at why this phenomenon is so important and explore some tips on getting more reviews for your business.

Set Up Profiles on Major Review Sites

You can only get reviews on Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, and others if your profile is set up with them. You can still publish reviews and testimonials on your own website, of course. However, many people trust third-party sites the most. Google is especially important for local businesses as reviews are tied in with Google Maps and search engine listings. People searching for your type of business will see reviews in the listing along with directions on how to get there. Yelp is important for many types of businesses as well.

If your business is in an industry that has specialized review sites, don’t overlook these. Avva and Lawyers.com, for example, are specifically for attorneys. Healthgrades if for medical professionals. Listings on such sites are very valuable when people are searching for a trusted service in a particular industry.

Request Reviews

While some customers will leave reviews without being asked, these are a minority. The best way to get more reviews is to ask for them. You can do this in a number of ways, depending on your type of business and how you interact with customers. Here are a few possibilities.

  • If you have a store, restaurant, or other brick and mortar business, hang a sign near the cash register or receptionist’s desk reminding people to leave reviews. You might specify a Google or Yelp review.
  • Place a link on your website to your review sites.
  • Request reviews in emails to your customers. This is one of many good reasons to collect email addresses and send out messages regularly. It’s best to link directly to your review page.
  • Ask for reviews on your business cards, posters, brochures, or anywhere that you promote your business.
  • Train your employees to remind customers to leave reviews. They should do this in a polite and low-key manner, of course.

Monitoring and Engaging With Reviews

If you’re listed on review sites and request reviews from customers, you should start seeing a greater number of reviews. It’s important to monitor your reviews and interact with your customers. You always want to stay informed about reviews about your business. You can do this by logging in to review sites regularly, setting Google Alerts, or by using reputation management software or services. It’s essential to respond to both positive and negative reviews. When someone says something complimentary about your business, make sure you thank them. This shows that you appreciate their comments and encourages other customers to leave reviews.

Responding to Negative Reviews

No one likes negative reviews but sooner or later you’ll have to deal with them. Even the most customer-friendly businesses have dissatisfied and disgruntled customers from time to time. When someone criticizes you, don’t take it personally and never respond emotionally. You definitely want to avoid getting caught up in arguments on public forums. This can only harm your business and reputation.

If the customer brings up a legitimate issue, do your best to resolve it. When appropriate, offer a refund, exchange, or coupon. If the customer says something that you don’t agree with or that’s blatantly false, state your position in a rational and polite tone. When possible, it’s best to contact the customer off-site if you have his or her email or phone number. In some cases, unscrupulous competitors or trolls may post fake reviews. Some sites, including Google, have a policy of removing reviews that they determine are fake. Others, however, such as Yelp, will not usually remove reviews.

Use Reviews and Social Proof to Build Your Business

Reviews are essential for attracting customers and growing your business. Make this part of your long-term marketing strategy. The more reviews you get, the more social proof you accumulate. Don’t worry about a few bad reviews. Most readers look at the overall pattern and base their opinions on what the majority of customers think.  If you track your reviews, engage with customers, and provide great service, you’ll find that positive reviews outnumber negative ones by a wide margin.

5 Ways Your Website Can Build Credibility for Your Business

Posted on by Ken Granger

As a small business owner, you face a unique challenge that many larger companies don’t have to worry about: how to establish your credibility. How does a new customer know that you are legitimate? Or that you do great work and are reliable? The first place customers will turn to look for these answers is the Internet. Do you have an online presence that’s easy to find and that will answer their questions? That’s exactly what customers want to know before they’ll give you their business. Here are five reasons you need to have a website if you want your business to be credible.

Help customers find your business.

If people hear about your business from friends or from an advertisement, do you think they’ll remember the exact name of your business or know how to contact you? Most people will search for your business online. But they’ll typically only have enough patience for one or two quick Google searches. As soon as a competing business or a business with a similar name catches their eye, they’ll move on to someone else. That’s why it’s essential that you have a well-branded, easy-to-find website, and that it uses SEO strategy to bring your company to the top of search results.

Show that your business is real.

If you’re relying on your Facebook page or a LinkedIn profile to be the face of your company, then you could be losing potential customers who don’t view your company as a real business. Your website is your virtual storefront, and as an entrepreneur, you need to build it just like you build every other aspect of your business. If a potential customer only has your Facebook page – or worse, nothing at all – to go by, then your business venture may look more like a hobby. The more professional your website looks, the more your customers will instinctively trust that you are a real business.

Showcase your product or your services.

A potential client may have heard that you’re a real estate agent, but does she know that you have 20 years of experience and that you’re an expert on the local neighborhoods? Or perhaps a family with children is looking for a new dentist. They may see your sign as they drive by, but can they tell you specialize in pediatric dentistry? Your website is the best vehicle you have to showcase your services or your products, as well as your expertise.

Stand out from the crowd.

What’s the first thing you do before you eat at a new restaurant? If you’re like most people, you probably check out any online reviews. As part of building credibility, you have the power to showcase customer testimonials and positive reviews on your own website. Don’t take it for granted that positive reviews will find their way to your potential customers through Google or Yelp searches. Instead, make customer testimonials and glowing reviews part of your website and part of your overall marketing strategy.

Connect with customers.

As a business, it’s not enough to market yourself to the world. You also have to give the world a way to talk back to you. Whether it’s by Facebook post, Twitter message, email or phone call, your consumers need to know that they can reach you. And your website is where you can direct people to the best method of communication. Remember that your customers don’t need to know whether you are one person or ten people answering their questions; with a website, you’ll present a unified and professional image.

As a business owner, you have one shot at making a great first impression. Make sure your website is doing just that.

Must Haves for Every Real Estate Website

Posted on by Ken Granger

The age of waiting for calls from prospective clients is over. To be successful moving into 2018, real estate agents have to have an effective web presence. Most home buyers and sellers now start the process of listing their home (and finding homes for sale) online. To accommodate their needs and increase your visibility, here are 5 must-have tools your real estate website should include.

1. An Intuitive Home Page

Naturally, your homepage tends to be the first spot that both home buyers and sellers land on. That means it has to be intuitive, not keeping your visitors for more than a couple seconds before offering them ways to navigate deeper into the site.

The home page should speak to both buyers and sellers. Large buttons should open different opportunities for each audience segment. Our online attention span is just 8 seconds short, which means that you have limited time to prompt action. The faster you can get your audience deeper into your website, the better.

2. A Natural, Map-Based Search

Especially home buyers will come to your website to search for available properties above all. And even sellers will do the same, seeking to gauge the market before listing their own home. That, in turn, makes your search function a crucial part of your real estate website.

Offer more than just a search bar where your audience can enter a street name or zip code. Instead, a map-based search can be more natural to your audience, allowing them to browse neighborhoods and surrounding areas. Ideally, filters on home variables such as bedrooms and price can make the search function even more natural.

3. Large Listing Photos and Other Visuals

When it comes to highlighting your listings, visuals are key. Our brains function on this level; in fact, visual content can increase audience recall of important information from 10 percent to almost 65 percent. Information is processed faster and retained more easily.

As a real estate agent, you have an undeniable opportunity in this area. Listings just beg to be shown off using visuals. Simple listing photos are a great idea and is essential for every home on your website. But consider going beyond that. For instance, a slideshow or video tour can draw potential homebuyers in to learn more.

4. Detailed Listing Pages with Home Values

Speaking of your individual listings: when it comes to the homes you’re looking to sell, make sure you get as detailed as possible. The more you know, and the more you can convey, the more credible the home will become in the eyes of your audience.

That means listing not just number and size of bedrooms, but also details about the neighborhood, school district, and more. Showcase not just the price of the home, but also its current (objective) market value and the property taxes. Give potential buyers a full picture, and they will thank you by giving you their trust.

5. Responsive and Mobile-Friendly Experience

Finally, consider how your audience is browsing your website. In our age of digital connectivity, they’re at least as (if not more) likely to pull up your website while driving past a home for sale as they are on desktop computer or laptop. Your online presence needs to account for that fact.

Above all, that means creating a website that functions equally well on screens of all sizes. Most larger companies have turned toward responsive design, which adjusts dynamically based on whether it’s viewed on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop. Everything about your website, from its design to its navigation and text, should be designed with mobile devices in mind.

Yes, individual real estate agents and small companies in the space have a chance to stand out among the big guns. But to get to that point, they have to get their website right. With the above tips, you can create a website that helps you compete with and even compare favorably against alternatives like Zillow and Realtor.com.

What is a landing page?

Posted on by Ken Granger

In today’s online marketplace, the landing page has become indispensable. In a nutshell, a landing page is the first glimpse of your business a potential customer receives. Designed with the intent of calling the customer to action, your landing page will typically be accessed by a customer through an advertisement or referral link. It is your first chance to sell your product or service to the customer, meaning that an effective landing page can make or break an effective online marketing strategy. Below, we’ll cover a few reasons why small businesses with great landing pages have an edge over the competition.

A Quick Sell

When a customer stumbles on your page, they should not need to navigate an extensive website to discover who they are working with, what service they need, or how best your business can provide it. A landing page allows you to drive these principles down immediately, without risking the loss of a potential sale due to a short attention span.

A good landing page grasps the customer’s attention immediately– they are interested, and far more likely to invest more time exploring your business.

Search Engine Optimization

A fantastic way to improve your search rankings is by providing locally-minded content. Customers searching for a new realtor, for example, are more likely to receive a listing with such content.  By including adequate amounts of local community-focused content on your landing page, and enjoying the subsequent traffic of users accessing the page, you maximize the odds of your landing page reaching a potential customer in your area.

Building Rapport

Similar to above, great landing pages often include content from social marketing platforms, enhancing the user’s connection to you. One of the first impressions these users receive is an insight into you and your network– this dispenses with the user’s need to do further research on you and your business, as your community, reputation, and personality are already in-hand.

Directed Action

An excellent use of a landing page is for referral links. As an example, consider a user looking for a new home browsing mortgage calculators online to see what they can afford. At the bottom of the page, a link to your landing page invites them to browse homes within their budget in the area– this link takes them to your page, wherein you can immediately show why you are the agent they should use. Use of landing pages through referral links pairs customers requiring a particular service now with the perfect provider of that service– you, and your business.

Maximized Traffic

Like any page, your landing page can also be customized to ensure exposure to the exact markets you require. Consider a landing page that provides resources a browsing user may be interested in– to follow the example above, your landing page could feature a free eBook on the best financing for mortgages in your area, or local events directed towards educating first-time homeowners. By including products, information, and keywords relevant to your business on your landing page, you can maximize click-through traffic from potential customers you may otherwise have missed.

Performance Insights

By using a landing page as part of a campaign, it makes it easy to track what content is maximizing the return on your investment. Tracking user behavior allows you to fine-tune the performance of your page, and identify what resources are commanding the most (or highest quality) traffic. Many landing pages will include, for example, a survey or contact form– besides promoting an immediate call to action, the data gleaned from this content ensures your marketing strategy is attracting the right clientèle, as well as providing a solid list of leads for potential business.

Summary

These are just a few examples of why landing pages are such a powerful marketing tool for small businesses. When devising your marketing campaign, ensuring your landing page is correctly tailored to your needs will provide high traffic, dependable business, and a stellar return on your advertising investment. For more information on polishing your landing page, contact us at BrandCo.

5 Tips for a More Consistent Brand in 2018

Posted on by Ken Granger

The success and growth of your small business hinge in great part on your ability to build brand consistency. Contrary to popular belief, your brand is much more than your logo or name. Building your brand requires dedication to developing a consistent strategy, call to action, and mode of communicating with your client. Below is a look at the key role of brand consistency and some effective ways that your small business can build brand consistency.

Why is brand consistency important for small businesses?

A key challenge for small business owners is building authenticity for their companies. Fortunately, this can be achieved in a cost-effective manner by promoting brand consistency. In order to be successful, brand consistency must extend beyond your products and services to every element of your organization. Below are some of the top reasons why brand consistency is important for small businesses:

  • Brand consistency builds your company’s legitimacy
  • Customers are able to recognize your company quickly
  • Consistency gives your business a professional image
  • Prospects are more likely to trust your company
  • Brand consistency helps keep all company employees on the same page
  • Your pitches to prospective clients are more apt to be well-received

How can a small business establish brand consistency?

Clearly, there are many reasons why small business owners should strive to establish brand consistency. From building company recognition to fostering trust, brand cohesiveness is vital to taking your business to the next level of success. There is no single step to take to achieve brand consistency. As a business owner, you must use a compilation of strategies to give your brand a unified voice. Below are some key ways that small businesses can build a consistent brand:

1) Create a brand guide for your company and employees. A brand guide is a helpful document that will help ensure that all of your employees are on the same page with respect to branding. Topics to reference in your brand guide include your logo usage, brand colors, media formatting, and signage.

2) Use the same font across all media. One of the best ways to create a cohesive brand experience for your customers is to use the same typeface for all client communications. As summarized by Wistia designer, Joe Ringenberg, this measure helps to give your brand a unified voice:

“For a brand to have a personality, all the things it makes need to look like they were drawn by the same hand,” – Joe Ringenberg, design lead at Wistia.

3) Keep colors consistent across all media. Maintaining consistency in your company colors is a critical part of the branding process. You can help keep your colors consistent by streamlining your vendors and using color management software.

4) Regularly review your media and update any inconsistent items. Performing an annual content audit helps to ensure that you correct any inconsistencies in color, font, or formatting. Your content audit should include a thorough review of your website, social media pages, business cards, and media.

5) Make sure to incorporate your brand into your company culture. Your offices, vehicles, and employee presentations should all reflect your company’s brand in the same fashion. Additionally, brand consistency should be integrated into all employee onboarding activities and training initiatives.

The Bottom Line

Brand consistency plays a vital role in establishing a small business as a legitimate organization. By following the tips above, you can create a consistent, professional company image that your customers will immediately recognize. For more information on bolstering your company’s online presence, you can enlist the guidance of an industry expert. By seeking the expertise of a branding expert, you can help your small business gain a competitive edge in your industry.

SEO for the Busy Entrepreneur

Posted on by Ken Granger

In the real estate business, SEO is the key to being discovered and to gaining user engagement. By virtue of the profession, a good SEO strategy requires a keen attention to detail, and using your location as a key component of the strategy to really drive users and gain a following.

A well-crafted SEO strategy will likely need some patience in the beginning, as well as a decent amount of tweaking in order for it to be really successful.

However, the best way to mitigate the number of edits needed after an SEO strategy is deployed to follow some of these key tips, and use these to design a strategy that will give you the following you need to be successful in digital marketing.

1. Original content is key

Many real estate agents often fall victim to their busy schedules and are unable to create original content efficiently. This leads to more copy-pasting and using social media sporadically to gain a following. Unfortunately, though, that is not an effective long-term SEO strategy.

Copy-pasting content will hurt your SEO rather than help it and will make it that much more difficult to stand out in the millions of search results being presented to users. Taking time out to develop original content might seem like a heavy investment of resources essentially, but it is well worth the effort.

2. Being hyper-local is essential

The key component of a good SEO strategy for real estate agents? Leveraging the hyper-local business of your nature. It is far more essential to invest resources in local SEO efforts rather than general. Local SEO efforts are able to yield great results and this will help you gain a local following that can be converted into loyal users.

Real estate is all about location, so think about search results in a similar manner. You want to ensure that you are the forefront of your local scene and that users are able to easily find you and differentiate you from the crowd.

3. Become a key provider of lifestyle information

You might be wracking your brain for original content ideas, especially from a long-term perspective. One of the best ways to develop original content for your SEO efforts is to really think about the lifestyle you are offering and how to explain that to users.

Whether it is providing information on amenities, location or just the general lifestyle – develop content that will help users feel like they are experiencing what the properties are all about without needing to be there. Once you gain a consistent rhythm in publishing this content, you will become a key provider that users will look to learn more.

4. Become a local expert

The earlier point also relates to this one in terms of long-term content ideas. Balance the lifestyle information with content that is geared towards positioning you as a local expert. This could include events in the area, fun restaurants and nightlife options, and just general information.

Users are going to look at your content to learn more about the lifestyle but also about the area, so use your content as a way to showcase that. This will highlight what makes these properties more unique compared to others based on the local events taking place, and drive your SEO efforts as a local expert.

5. Continually find ways to be helpful

At the end of the day, your SEO efforts will be successful if you are able to deliver value to your users. Use your content and website to be as helpful as possible, from the kinds of articles you offer to the text you use on your website landing pages.

A successful SEO strategy rests on the idea that you are providing real content and value to your users, and that is what will drive your popularity. Finding innovative ways to make your content more helpful and useful will be what really drives your success, so it is important to keep the focus on that.

It’s time to get excited about your Brand!

Posted on by Ken Granger

The excitement is real when we reveal your new branding package.  This is a video Bryan Dale shot after printing his package.  I’m super proud of this brand and want to say thanks to Bryan for trusting us with such an important part of his business!

 

Dreams are coming to life. I am very excited for what's coming next! #goldteam #branding #realestate #kellerwilliams

A post shared by Bryan Dale NYC???????????? (@daleproperties) on

NAR Announces Free Placester Websites for Members

Posted on by Ken Granger

Yesterday the news has hit that the National Association of Realtors will be including websites from Placester into their benefits packages at no additional charge. Placester is the home of IDX websites, lead management, and more in an all-in-one digital marketing platform for real estate professionals. Placester’s mission is to help real estate professionals work smart in a digital world. Their solutions enable individuals and teams to identify and benefit from more opportunities, all while providing an outstanding experience for real estate consumers.

The addition of all NAR members means there will be 1.2 million real estate websites hosted on Placester’s already robust platform. These new perks include a website with IDX integration, mobile-readiness, and mortgage-calculator. Not to mention, many more amazing add-ons within the platform.

BrandCo has been on the forefront of design integration within the Placester platform as the first Placester Certified Partner. Being one of three companies that have full ability to customize the website’s look and feel past the provided templates, we have designed and launched over 800 Placester websites in under a year. Having a custom design for your site has become more important than ever with the introduction of this new NAR benefit.

Do you want to potentially have a website that looks quite like the other 1.2 million real estate agents within the platform? Stand out with a design that speaks directly to your audience about your business. Take a look at what we have to offer to build the value of a website that can speak volumes for you.

You can read the full article here with an Inman subscription