Ebby went on former Arkansas Governor and presidential candidate’s talk show to discuss the company’s 65^th anniversary, her real estate journey and her book, Ebby Halliday: The First Lady of Real Estate. Having yet to retire, Ebby has been influential in the real estate industry.

Ebby’s guest appearance was reported as the highest rated segment from that night’s show and the responses have been pouring in ever since.

Below is a video clip from last weekend’s show in case you missed it.

Ebby Halliday Realtors has been an Enterprise Network Member since March 2008. With over 1600 agents, Ebby is one of the largest and best-known real estate companies in the country. Whether it’s Fort Worth real estate, Dallas homes for sale or properties in the surrounding communities, the Ebby team is a leader in the Dallas real estate market.

Over the years, Ebby has won numerous awards including a No.1 ranking for top independent real estate firm in both the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex area and the state of Texas, as well as being ranked No.10 in the nation. Having just had their best year yet, Ebby Halliday Companies continues to be a dominant player with a sales volume fast approaching $5 billion.  For more information about Ebby Halliday Realtors, visit their website at www.ebby.com.

Related Links:

Ebby Rocks The Huckabee Show

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By Amanda Stephan

blog.activewebsite.com

Keeping the customer at the forefront of their design, Milestone believes they are now better positioned to be the leading real estate company in the region. The new website features a variety of user friendly enhancements including advanced Individual Property Websites, the integration of multimedia services, and the ability to access real time data from mobile devices.

Milestone’s website platform also includes:

1. The integration of the “Where do I Go Next?” button that provides users with a pre-engineered path option for relevant browsing.
2. Established Agent Websites to aid in each agent’s individual branding while utilizing features from the home site.
3. The inclusion of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and a corporate blog.
4. The ability for customers to create a Property Alerts account in order to receive emails when properties match their listed criteria.
5. Tour our cities videos that stream community overviews directly from the homepage.
6. Community information pertaining to neighborhood statistics, school information, and links that may be of interest to users.
7. Syndication to numerous top real estate sites, including Zillow, Trulia and HGTV’s Frontdoor.

By focusing on the customer’s needs, this one-stop shop real estate company is dedicated to providing quality service. From their real estate division to their rental and relocation divisions, these experienced professionals will help consumers find a home with the help of the new website while increasing their SEO standing. To find out more about the company, visit www.milestoneky.com.

By providing sticky material to our websites, we are able to enrich the user experience as well as improve our company’s SEO. Today, we’d like to showcase Residential Properties and a few of the ways they’re reaching customers through various platforms and reinforcing the importance of content.

Earlier this week we posted a blog discussing the need for telling a story in regards to our property listings. We showed a great example of how good writing can increase SEO and create an emotional connection with consumers. At Residential, they’re taking this a step further. Below is a video posted on YouTube that provides a great description of not only the property listing, but the community as well.

Yet another way Residential is providing content to consumers is by hosting a radio talk show called, Real Estate Insight. Every Sunday morning at 10am Eastern Standard Time Sally Lapides and her team discuss today’s hottest real estate topics. By going to their website, you can listen to the live show or catch a past airing in the archives section on Podcast. This not only allows users to hear more about the world of real estate, but is another way Residential can keep people on their site. You can also find a more in-depth discussion on the show’s blog, www.realestateinsight.com.

Finally, we’d like to mention what Residential is doing to get the entire company involved in the process. Every Season, they hold an internal photo contest and everyone in the company is encouraged to submit a photo they have taken of the community. The winning photos are then displayed on their homepage slide show as well as the blog. Your blog is a great publishing platform and is a vital way to engage your consumer. Click here to see this year’s spring winners.

So take these examples as advice for advancing your company’s website. Social networking, blogging, and contests allow for dialogue with the consumers and are just a few of the ways you can reach them. The longer you keep a user’s attention, the better your odds that they’ll remember you!

This video features a first time homebuyer and single mom, Andrea Larocque, and Kathy Vaillancourt from Residential’s Narragansett office. With the tax credit, Andrea, who struggled to get out of debt after putting herself through school to become a radiology technician, was able to purchase a home for her and her nine-year-old son, Isaiah.

This is an inspiring video that tells a story about the importance of our customers. It’s about the emotional connection- what can we do to showcase our efforts in putting the customer first? Videos, blogs, and social networking sites can all be used to our advantage. With so many avenues for reaching out to people, we need to start finding new ways to utilize these great opportunities. Residential’s video didn’t take any expensive equipment to accomplish this task, just the desire to use these great resources to meet the needs of their customers. Follow Residential’s blog by clicking here.

While we were in Chicago last week John Sable and I sat down with John D’ Ambrogio of Rubloff to film a couple of short interviews. They are only 30 – 60 seconds each. But take a look at how simple a quick video can get you interested in learning more about an idea like relocation trends.

1. John Gadeken- Using Social Networking to Search for Real Estate
2. John Gadeken- How the Web has Changed the Way People Search for Real Estate
3. John Sable- How Web 2.0 Affects Transferees to New Areas
4. John Sable- Using the Internet to Research Prior to Transferring to a New Area

Video is a great marketing tool, as it is easy to integrate into all of your social networking venues. You can start by creating your own YouTube Channel, then have it feed to your Facebook Page, and also post links to the video on your Twitter account. Spreading the video, and encouraging more viewers.

4 Tips for Making Videos

1. Speak to your Audience- Before filming determine who your audience is. Will it be agents within your Brokerage, potential customers, local community partners? This will effect the level you are speaking at. Using a lot of Real Estate terms for the average customer is not going to get them interested.
2. Put links in your Video- Announcing your website while displaying it at the bottom of the film will leave an impression for the general viewer to go and check it out.
3. Use a free site to host your videos- This is easy and cost effective marketing. YouTube is a free site where you can create your own channel and upload your videos. This way there are multiple areas other than your blog where your video can live and attract more viewers.
4. Keep it simple- Shorter videos with attention grabbing information and simple messages will keep the viewer engaged. There is no need to post a lecture when a simple 3 minute video can get the message across just as easily.

Check out our Enterprise Network Member, Rubloff’s YouTube Channel, RubloffChicago Channel.

How’d he do it? Well this was no small event. In fact for this 6 home tour- he had multiple sponsors, featured a wine tasting and also gave away a 2009 Mercedes Benz 550 S Sedan. The 53 Hour Open House featured actual open houses on location, as well as a live online feed of the event. Potential buyers could both take a tour of the properties as well as follow the event online once they were home. While a production like this may not be in your budget, we can still take a look at the lesser expensive and still important tools he did use:

1. Website: http://www.53houropenhouse.com/ An individual website branded specifically for the event gave all the information anyone would need. It is a simple 5 page site that features a countdown to the start of the tour and all the basic contact and event information. A rebrandable could easily be used for an event like this.
2. Video: While the 53 hour tour does feature a live video feed this isn’t necessarily a must have. Instead, include pre-taped tours that you probably already have created; or even your virtual tours.
3. Links:One of his smartest features is picture links to the original listings website. This way people can see the full information for the property. Also don’t forget to link to sponsors, if you have them. It is a great way to show thanks and also help your seo.
4. Contact Me: Make sure to have multiple areas where visitors can contact you. The 53 hour tour contact was based on email and featured a box on the home page as well as a tab with other email addresses. I would assume that they were constantly responding via email, so as not to loose a potential buyer. But if you have live chat capabilities this could be a great alternative solution for the site.
5. Social Networking: http://twitter.com/danpol The 53 hour tour featured a link to their twitter page as well. Using your other social networking venues to advertise for an event like this is a great strategy. Not to mention linking to those sources in another way to reach more people who would want to follow you later.

So in learning from the 53 hour tour you basically have two new open house options:

1. On Site & Online: This model of open house features an actual on site open house like any other weekend and couples it with a strong online presence. The online portion is used to advertise the event, as well as supplement the event with information and instant contact with patrons who do not want to walk the tour, but will view it online or who want to follow online after participating in the tour. Being available for instant online communication is key, and will require a team during the hours when the on site open house is also going on.
2. Online Only: Although this is type of tour was not set up in this example it might be interesting to try. Perhaps it will not lead to a sell but instead draw more interest and leads. An online only tour would be website based and offer the realtor experts for each property available to communicate instantly with leads who visit and partake in the online tour. This could require some constant updating to show visitors that you are online and available for questions.

What I know for sure is that The 53 Hour Open House is sure to strike some more creative ideas for open houses using technology. Here is the interview by Denver’s 9 News.

Denver 9 News: http://www.9news.com/

Have you or someone in your office hosted a similar event?

Say we apply it to Real Estate – maybe something like this could be used in a boardroom to view and show properties to a potential home buyer? You could simply flip through potential houses and be able to pull up pictures, watch videos and more.

What do you think? Would you use this technology or does it simply take technology too far?

The 4 Essentials

1. Phones- REALTOR® Magazine highly recommends smart-phones for Realtors on the go. The popularity of this phone reaches far beyond the real estate realm. Your customers too are using these devices. Did you know that Active Website offers Mobile Interface Technology for all of our Enterprise Network Members? This technology allows your customers to easily browse your website and your listings anytime , anywhere on their personal media devices.

2. Computers-  Not only are smart-phones being carried around but so are ultra-portable computers. Most real estate agents as well as customers are bringing their computers with them. Rapid expansion of wireless networks, compact sizing of laptops and dependability are spreading the use of laptop computers outside of the home and office. Make sure your website is readily available to these mobile customers with outstanding SEO Rankings. Did you know that Active Website guarantees first page search placement for all of our Enterprise Network Members? If you’re not popping up on the first page of Google or Yahoo, you’re not going to be viewed.

3. Cameras- We all know the difference a good camera makes in quality photos. Yet just as important as quality is quantity. Home buyers surfing the web for potential real estate want to see the house before they set up a viewing or attend an open house. Did you know with Active Website’s Individual Property Websites you can upload an unlimited number of property photos? Not only are you better serving the potential buyers on the web but you are also helping the SEO of the brokerage site, directing more leads to look at your listings.

4. Navigation- Whether built in the car or directed by phone, more Realtors and consumers alike are relying on navigation systems to get them around. With Active Website’s Mobile Interface Technology potential buyers can search your listings on the go. Our home search tool uses Google Maps, allowing buyers to get directions directly to your listed properties.

Tech Trends for 2009

1. Mapping- Just about every brokerage now incorporates mapping in their home searches. Many even have map based searches. REALTOR® Magazine projects that interactive displays of home and neighborhood information is the next step. Did you know that Active Website offers interactive map searching using Google Maps? Potential buyers can now search with a multi-polygon tool, choosing the areas they prefer; search by point of interests (perhaps schools or coffee shops) and when the property is pinpointed an information bubble appears with calls to action including contact the agent, set up a tour and print a properties detail page.
2. Virtual Tours- Sometimes consisting of still photos streamed together in a movie-like format and other times an actual video tour of a home, virtual tours are expected to expand into a more interactive media. Did you know Active Website offers Video Solutions with realtor branding and calls to action? Realtors can add their own captions, brand it to themselves or the brokerage and add calls to action including contacting them, setting up a tour, and emailing to a friend.
3. Social Networking- According to REALTOR® Magazine the online facet that Realtors struggle the most with is “connecting with consumers.” I agree that social networking is a great way to connect but with so many social media options out there it can be daunting to choose which ones and how to get involved. Did you know Active Website posted a 4 part series of blogs on creating a Social Network? Not only will Active Website provide you with technology tools but we will also take the time to teach you how to use tools on the web that can be beneficial for your professional development. Our annual Enterprise Conference is dedicated to giving you the steps to implementing the trendy tools of the year.
4. Text Messaging- It’s a popular trend among the “younger set” and is increasingly becoming the “preferred mode of correspondence.” While there isn’t a product for Texting, you will have to get that feature through your cell service provider, I can give you some advice. Don’t be afraid to text with a client you feel comfortable with. Texting is a much more informal mode of communication meant to speed up the conversation. Use this technology but use it wisely. Don’t text important and otherwise lengthy conversations. Instead save it for reminders about meeting times, locations, or changes to times and locations. Use it as a friend tool, a way of getting to know the customer, and not for the professional stuff like pricing, paperwork concerns or final words on anything. 

What I hope you realize by going through this list is that Active Website has all of your answers for moving into 2009 using all of the tech trends. We would love to chat about our product and services offered so feel free to drop us a note below.

If you want to read the REALTOR® Magazine article click here.

Here are Carmine Gallo’s suggestions for effective videos:

1. Keep it short…Keep your YouTube clips under three minutes.
2. Make it loud and clear…Use a microphone other than the one built in on the camera you use. 
3. Avoid bulleted PowerPoints…Presentations don’t transfer well on tape, if you have a presentation be sure to edit the video with full shots of the slide.
4. Use good lighting…You don’t need flood lighting, but be conscious not to deliver your message in a dimly lit room.

Seems simple right but more often than not people make videos cluttered and less interesting. In October the Kentwood Companies of Denver did a great job of posting video of their Real Estate and Economic Forum. They used their blog as a platform to give background on the topic and then posted the video of the presentation. This is a more formal use of video. See their videos here.

I also found a real estate company in Louisville, KY who posts web-casts on their website. Their videos are very basic and entail one of their agents talking about a subject important to their customers. It is easily filmed in front of their office and nicely edited. Take a look here.

Video is a great way to expand your digital footprint. Think about the creative ways your company can talk about important topics or any events that you might be able to film. Questions or topics that affect your local community are a great place to start. If you were a home buyer moving to your town, what would you be interested in knowing? Start simple.

To read the full Business Week Article click here.

This got me thinking… this is a concept that Brokers and Realtors should really consider. We hear all the time that the one thing missing from real estate companies and their online presence is the ability to distinguish themselves as the ‘knowledge experts’ in their market. Rather than following current trends and trying to hide the fact that the current real estate market is struggling, why not face it. Position yourself as the expert. Instead of hiding, educate people using these simple video storyboards.

Why not explain the home buying process to first-time homebuyers in a short, fun video that everyone can understand? Or explain the current market trends in your specific area? I realize that not every subject can be addressed using a video but the underlying message is…

Brokers need to start addressing the tough questions in clear and concise messages.

The last video we posted “Mortgage Banking Meltdown” takes a complex topic and explains it in a way that is easy to understand. You’re not left feeling confused or unsure, it helps you understand what is really going on. It educates.

What Real Estate needs to understand is that it’s not just about selling anymore. Brokers need to open up to the realities of today’s market and provide people with information. The Broker that positions themselves as a knowledgeable, informative resource on the trends and topics that are hitting our markets today bring a new level of respect to their brand.

If nothing else, it’s something to think about. Why are so many real estate websites not addressing any of the issues that buyers and sellers are facing? These simple, educational videos are one idea.