a program that empowers REALTORS® to demonstrate their professionalism and commitment to conducting business at the highest standards.
I’m a huge proponent for fewer agents. More transactions per agent. Better service. Higher degree of ethics. More trust and integrity. It’s clear if those things were to happen, the industry — and consumers buying/selling — would be better off.
The reality of this program is if it’s optional — which it is — it’s a largely an irrelevant program/strategy to raise the bar on the real estate industry.
C2EX is not a commitment to success. It’s a commitment to the status quo:
If you want to be better as a Realtor, great. We’ll support and enable you. If you want to keep operating as you always have, that’s okay too. We’ll support and enable you.
There’s so much to love about San Francisco, besides the welcoming weather and a generous amount of green space. One of my favorite things about this city is its health and fitness scene, which is unquestionably one of the greatest in the U.S. From hip gyms, to holistic yoga, trampoline and climbing studios, The City […]
from theokbrowne digest https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/apartmentliving/lifestyle-apartmentliving/get-fit-in-san-francisco-8-unique-workout-spots-worth-trying-out/
There’s so much to love about San Francisco, besides the welcoming weather and a generous amount of green space. One of my favorite things about this city is its health and fitness scene, which is unquestionably one of the greatest in the U.S. From hip gyms, to holistic yoga, trampoline and climbing studios, The City […]
from theokbrowne digest https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/apartmentliving/lifestyle-apartmentliving/get-fit-in-san-francisco-8-unique-workout-spots-worth-trying-out/
Key takeaways: The median income provides burden-free access to 49% of all U.S. rentals, up from 38% in 2011. Access to rental housing has improved in 40 of the 50 largest cities between 2011 and 2017. Big paychecks, expensive homes and rent control have led to a unique situation in San Francisco. Ten years after the […]
In our latest real estate tech entrepreneur interview, we’re speaking with Kevin Klages from Planitar, the creator of iGuide.
Without further ado…
What do you do?
I am one of the founders of iGUIDE – a property mapping technology that creates floor plans, room measurements, floor area calculations, 3D virtual tours and photographs. My co-founder is the scientist behind the technology and development teams while I focus on developing our network of Operators, users and strategic relationships.
What problem does your product/service solve?
I believe iGUIDE provides access and information that was previously not available to realtors and home hunters. Actual property data (square footage numbers) were unreliable; floor plans were too expensive to produce for the average home and looking at homes required a significant investment in time; often wasted at a property that is not suitable. We solve all of these problems and more.
What are you most excited about right now?
When we launched there was very little demand for floor plans and measurement information; the cornerstones of our technology. We would often be evaluated and categorized as a virtual tour. We are starting to see the industry recognize the value and demand for our measurement and area information; which I am most excited about.
What’s next for you?
We have a lot of work to do. This year we completed our goal of offering iGUIDE from coast to coast in Canada. We are now focused on strengthening our position in the USA through expanding our network of iGUIDE Professionals.
What’s a cause you’re passionate about and why?
Outside of work I am passionate about being a dad. I coach my kids sports – I am a head coach of my daughter’s ringette team and I coach my son’s tackle football team. This pretty much consumes the rest of my spare time outside of building iGUIDE.
We’re constantly looking for great real estate tech entrepreneurs to feature. If that’s you, please read this post — then drop me a line (drew @ geekestatelabs dot com).
To the tech founders reading, applications are now open for the Moderne Passport 2019 Class…
The Moderne Passport Program is a industry immersion program which connects cutting edge technology companies to multi-trillion dollar industries: real estate, finance, insurance and home services.
Moderne Ventures operates the Moderne Passport program and provides its 700+ investors, partners and executives within its Moderne Network first look at technologies that are creating game changing applications into the industry.
The Moderne Passport is a seven month industry immersion program that provides:
Strategic go-to-market segmentation, planning and advice
Active mentorship from the 700+ Moderne Network executives (>1,000 one-on-one meetings were held through the Passport program last year)
Targeted Pilot programs with partners in the Moderne Network
Exposure at major industry trade shows and invite-only corporate events to showcase participants’ innovative solutions
The Moderne Passport is reviewing applications now for its 2019 Class that begins in January 2019.
What exactly is a content audit? Well, every time you promote one of your blog posts on social media, you are engaging in “content marketing.” And if that kind of marketing works for brands such as Procter & Gamble, Microsoft and Toshiba, it should work for any real estate agent, right?
If you’re still not convinced, consider this: Crowe Horwath, a major accounting firm, used content marketing to reach big financial institutions (those with at least $1 billion in assets).
“Their strategy consisted of generating nearly 50 different pieces of content centered around several topics of interest to their target customers,” according to Eric Siu, CEO of digital marketing agency Single Grain.
They formatted this content into case studies, infographics, video and executive briefs. It was one infographic in particular, though, that convinced the company of just how effective content marketing can be.
“This infographic generated nearly 800 new contacts, two of whom paid $250,000” for the accounting firm’s services, according to Siu.
When you decide to focus on creating relevant content, consistently, to attract real estate leads you must then also commit distributing or promoting that content.
Then, at some point, you’ll need to audit your content to determine, among other issues, if it remains relevant to your audience’s needs, that it’s still accurate, that it’s optimized for the current demands of search engines and, most importantly, that your “content is consistent with your business goals,” warns the pros at chainlinkmarketing.com. After all, neighborhoods change, advertising practices evolve… the world doesn’t stand still.
What happens during a content audit
The first step in a content audit is to create an inventory of all of the content on your site. For some agents this won’t be difficult, for others, it may be quite time consuming.
If you’re a member of the latter group, do yourself a favor and hire help. You can find inexpensive freelance admin help on sites such as Upwork.com, Fiverr.com and Freelancer.com. Have everything put into a spreadsheet.
“This content is then analyzed against a variety of metrics and given one of three ‘Action’ determinations,” according to Everett Sizemore at Moz.com. He offers an example:
He goes on to say that there are a variety of “combinations of options between the ‘Action’ of WHAT to do and the ‘Details’ of HOW (and sometimes why) to do it.”
The gap analysis comes next. What content is still needed and which formats are lacking? Do you need more videos, podcasts perhaps, infographics?
Analytics will tell you which topics perform best, as well as those that don’t do so well. Produce more of the former and, obviously, less of the latter.
You’ll also want to take a look at your calls to action. How effective are they?
Create engaging calls to action with Smart Pop-Up, part of every LeadSite. Learn more
Are your testimonials working as hard as they should?
Real estate agents, especially, should pay close attention to their testimonials during a content audit. As you go page-by-page, look for places to add them throughout the side, as well as more on a dedicated testimonials page.
For instance, an especially juicy testimonial from a listing client would do wonders for you if it’s placed on the main Selling page.
People generally don’t trust testimonials and reviews from anonymous sources, so get rid of them if you have any on your site. Yes, regardless of how glowing they are.
This includes those from clients who used their initials instead of their full name and their screen name (happens a lot with Zillow reviews) instead of their real name.
There’s a lot more to know about the content audit and if you want to more information, Marketingland.com has a walkthrough, Alexa.com offers a content audit template and Moz.com’s list of mistakes to avoid during the audit is quite valuable.
We get that you’re busy, but content audits can be done in bits and pieces. And you define its scope. Audit only the content from the past year if that’s easier for you.
In our latest real estate tech entrepreneur interview, we’re speaking with Kevin Klages from Planitar, the creator of 
Thanks to Kevin for sharing his story. If you’d like to connect, 
