Is there a marketing channel that can boost site visits, increase lead conversions, and ultimately lead to more sales? Of course there is! Your blog is your way to get people excited about your brand and build it up. There are of course some key aspects to focus on. Making sure that you hit these several areas will ensure you get people coming back to your blogs for more.

It's so easy to join a social media network and set up your own platform. Just about anybody can make a Facebook page. The difficulty lies within taking the correct approach that helps you build relationships and generate real estate leads with people you have yet to meet in real life.

Branding is defined as, “the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumer's’ mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.” In other words, branding is one of the most important parts of building your real estate business. It doesn't matter what industry you are in, without branding, your business won't be known, and therefore you won't be successful.

Known also as Generation Y, Generation Me, and Generation Selfie, millennials comprise the largest generation in American history. And according to recent data from Nationwide Mortgages, 66.1% of millennials are expected to purchase their first homes within the next five years.

According to a poll conducted by Pew Research Center, roughly 70 percent of Americans use social media regularly to virtually connect with one another.

1. Should Real Estate Agents Always Foot the Bill?
2. If the Client Offers…
3. Going Dutch!
4. Snacks On the Go for More Showings!
5. Make the Seller Pay for It
6. It’ll Depend on the Commission Percentage

As an agent, your email signature is your trademark. As a small business owner, agents have more flexibility with signature choices. A lot can be told from an agent’s email signature. Leads will be analyzing your signature to get a feel of your personal branding and style. Whether you are a new or veteran agent, use our list of do’s and don’ts to see if your email address is up to par. 

Don’ts - Realtors® Should Never Include these Things in Their Email Signature

1. Difficult to read text or font color
2. “Sent from My iPhone”
3. Spelling & Grammatical Errors

It Depends - Realtors® May Include the Following in their Email Signature

1. Physical address
2. Flare
3. Social Media Icons
4. Fax Numbers

Do’s - Realtors® Should Always Include these Things in Their Email Signature

1. Phone Number(s)
2. Logo
3. Job Title
4. Call-to-Actions  
5. Designation and DRE License Number (i.e. Realtor(r), broker, CABRE XSSSS)
6. Your Picture
7. A Mobile Signature
8. A Link to Your Website
   
   

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again - Real estate is a referral based business. Your success depends entirely on how you conduct yourself, your brand and your business. With so many agents trying to vie for clients, it is easy to get overlooked by prospects - unless you do something to stand out. Thanks to the internet, you have the power to market yourself online. Focus on inbound marketing by creating an online presence with social media marketing and blogging while directing leads back to your own personal agent website.

Since Snapchat was launched in 2011, more than 100 million people have become daily active users. Why should you care? Snapchat is one of the most popular apps that allow you to send pictures or videos. While the images self destruct after a few seconds, you can utilize Snapchats filters, doodle tool, or captions to make the picture your own. Real estate is a business that thrives on the visual representation of homes, so why wouldn’t you take advantage of such a popular tool?

1. Establish a goal
2. Attract engagement
3. Cater content to each platform
4. Post a variety

For some agents, the hardest part about blogging or social media is figuring out how to use each individual platform. For other agents, however, the hardest part of blogging or posting on social media is coming up with content that will help to get leads to engage with them. Without content that relates to your audience, it doesn't matter how well you know how to use each platform because no one will be engaging with you anyways, right? Coming up with compelling content helps get your name and brand known in the industry and market as a real estate expert. How does your content creation stack up to the rest of the industry?