Agent Preview is a real estate directory that includes multiple options for agents to be included. Being listed in industry directories not only allows you to add to your online exposure and bring some potential business in, but it is also one of the places Google specifically says you should be getting links from (source).

• You can have a free listing that will include your contact information, while not likely to send a lot of business it’s free so at the very least do this. This listing does not include a link to your site or profile page, but again it’s free.
• You can pay a small fee or link to Agent Preview and get a live link to your profile page and a link to your website. The link to your profile page is a clean link and will pass PR, the link in your profile to your website will also be a clean link and pass PR. (Example Agent Profile)
• The last and by far the most likely way to generate business for you is to become a featured agent. You gain a page that is highly likely to rank for major keywords. You submit the text for this page (reviewed by site owner) and there are direct links to your site and home search. While $199 isn’t cheap it is well worth adding a quality traffic source. (sample Featured Agent Page)

The owner of this site has a strong background in making his real estate directories rank well in Google. We have noticed that this site is just starting to rank for some important search terms and expect it to become a major traffic generator for those that are listed. Worth mentioning that the featured agent pages are first come first serve and there is only one per city.

So I hear time and time again “if only X number of leads turn to sales then the service will have paid for itself” when agents talk about Home Gain, House Values, or any other lead generation site/service. There is one major flaw in thinking like this. There is a little thing called ROI (return on investment) that should rule any advertising purchase.

A smart business person would ask how many deals are needed to create the ROI that I expect for each dollar spent on advertising. They would have NO interest in working for FREE and breaking even is just working for free. ….click here to read more

After returning from PubCon this year I had put learning more about Digg on a short list of things to do. The amount of traffic Digg can generate for a site is simply amazing and who can’t use more traffic. Most of the SEO’s agreed that it is very hard to make money from the Digg traffic, but also still felt it was worth the effort.

So as a complete newbie I first talked to some friends that have had great success at submitting stories that make the homepage of Digg (they go popular). This is a quick overview of the basics of Digg and how to start building up your profile. ….click here to read more

REALTORS have so many jobs that they have to do, but none more important then lead generation. New agents (and many seasoned agents) have argued with me many times that lead generation isn’t the most important thing and my answer is always simple. Without leads you don’t have anything else to do. You can be the best agent in the world and know the business inside and out, but without leads you will be broke.
….click here to read more

In the past few years web 2.0 has engulfed the way people interact on and with the internet. From the most basic of platforms to the content rich blogsites, there is now an engagement never before experienced on the internet and as a result consumers are looking for that interactivity everywhere they surf.

I have had the recent experience of converting my Snohomish County real estate website from antiquated web 1.0 platform to a SEO friendly Web 2.0 blogsite. It was an idea the company kicked around so we could stay ahead of the competition. But we did not make our decision until one day the Web 1.0 site crashed and our worst fears were almost actualized: loosing all web content. ….click here to read more

Being a real estate blogger and research enthusiast, I have had the privilege of watching news reports, reading blogs and articles on a range of topics. Within the last two years, my efforts have been concentrated on the real estate industry, from a business professional viewpoint and natural intrigue to better understand the factors which influence Washington’s housing market.

Through my readings a theme arises over and over which is rarely discussed; analyzing the housing market based on micro economical factors to gain a clearer understanding of what is really happening. The majority of the news reports, blogs and articles focus in on national statistics to apply generalities to many different regions.

In my opinion, the limited analysis and little attention given to micro market factors create ambiguity and confusion for the consumer. ….click here to read more

If you are a REALTOR in the following states Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas, or another state where real estate taxes are collected “in arrears” you might want to consider looking over your closings for the years of 2004 to 2006, especially if you represented a buyer.

It is estimated that in the State of Florida over $170,000,000 is due to over 600,000 buyers of real estate as result of the rapid real estate valuation increases, timing of assessor’s valuations, and setting of the real estate tax (millage) rates. The estimate was determined by the use of statistical information from the Florida Association of Realtors and State of Florida’s Department of Revenue. The estimates did not include new construction or vacant land sales, so the impact of this finding could be greatly understated. ….click here to read more

If you went through any type of “agent” training, most of the training classes out there available to Realtors(R) talk about your sphere of influence. By that we’re talking about your friends, family, past co-workers, your significant other’s co-workers, etc. As the sphere expands, you list your friends’ friends, their family, co-workers, and the list goes on. Marketing yourself can be an expensive business. The average listing in the yellow pages is several hundred dollars per month. Billboard and newspaper ads can be just as expensive and the rate of return for those advertisements? Depending on the area, they can be good investment or a total waste of money. So it begs the question, is traditional advertising dead? ….click here to read more

The Famous Agents blog has generated some heated discussion with a few of their blog posts. Following their own advice from “21 Key to Link Bait Success” the staff at Famous Agents has created news by buying a site that was designed to cheat the system at Digg (Digg Cheaters Get Caught) and they have attacked attached Craig Proctors advertising methods in a post titled “Craig Proctor Lied to Me“. ….click here to read more

Normally this blog is only about helping agents, today I need to give my team a huge pat on the back!!!

Without selling multiple homes to one investor our team sold 14 units today. This was our grand opening for our Skokie Condo Conversion and we had a good turnout, but what was impressive was our conversion ratio. We normally expect to sell 1 condo for every 10 visitors. This is a number that is still better then industry average, but the least that is acceptable for my agents. Today we sold 1 for every 3 visitors. With only 43 visitors my team sold 14 condos and that is just impressive by any standards.

Can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring.