real/diaBlog - because real estate needs to change

Getting to Page 1 of Google in Less Than 60 Days

Google Juice - The Proof

So I got to the front page of a one word search in google in under 60 days.  Here is the google search page for Broadlands.  And here is the registration page for my url which is broadlands1.com.  I bought the url at the end of November of last year.  I put up a wordpress.org site on December 1st, 2009.  On January 27th the url first hit page 1 of google.  It has since been as high as #9 and currently sits at #10. 

These past 4 months have been spent working on a this project as well as 2 other projects that are focused on getting agents the one thing that they want more than anything else - high quality real estate leads.  Leads that are targeted and qualified.  Our main focus has been creating a program made up of duplicatable online systems that agents can use to generate leads that will drive their business.  Here is a preview of the program.

Option 4 Success - The Program

And we are working on being able to prove that these systems and techniques work and work well.  The first test was the 60 day SEO rule for web site creation.  We wanted to be able to claim that we can get to the first page of search results for a targeted google search.  We wanted the search to be real estate targeted but not so targeted that the traffic would be too low to generate enough leads.  We wanted to do it with a site that needed little input from the agent.  And we wanted to be able to do it multiple times so that we knew it wasn't just a fluke.

More Proof

The Broadlands site was one test of the program.  This search word was highly competitive with over 600,000 sites in direct competition.  It also gets a high amount of traffic.  There are between 200 and 1200 google searches a day for that one word.  And although this search is not real estate specific, it gave us a good idea of our upper limits of the 60 day rule.  

A more real estate focused search that we optimized for was Homes for Sale in Sterling.  This site gets much less traffic but it is highly focused.  Our site is currently #4 on the page and ranks higher than zillow and homes.com sites.  (Beating out these leads generating sites that charge agents for leads is one of our biggest goals).  Getting to page 1 for a search like this can take as little as 30 days.  And getting above the fold and eventually into position #1 can be done a lot quicker as well.  

And as an example of how little an agent needs to do to build a site that gets to the top of a google search here is an example using the search Brambleton Va.  Our site is currently in the #5 position and there is almost no content on the site.  

The Target Agent

The program has been developed with a certain agent in mind.  An agent that has been doing business but wants to have more control over their lead flow.  An agent that does 6-12 deals a year but now wants to step up to the next level and reach the 24-30 deal level.  An agent that knows that online marketing and advertising are the best tools for growing a business but doesn't have the time to write a blog post every day or keep up with the latest SEO techniques. An agent that wants to spend money but needs to know that what they spend money on will come back to them 5, 10, 20 fold.  They don't want to waste time or money but want to put resources toward building their future business.  

It is not for agents that like the technical aspects of internet marketing.  It is not for agents that have more fun with the online aspect of real estate instead of the deal making aspect of real estate.  It is not for agents that are new to the business and are starting from scratch (although it is great for a newbie working with a good mentor that is in the program).  It is not for agents that already have control over their entire lead flow with existing marketing.

This is the very first public description of any part of the Option 4 Success program.  There will be more details to follow about the other parts of the program and how all the parts work together to generate leads.  I will also describe some of the ways the program can be used to improve your current lead conversion and closing rates.  Who wouldn't like to secure 2 or 3 more buyers a year with little or no effort.  If you are interested in the program, drop me a line, and I will go over the details with you one-on-one.  Or you can sign up directly on the site and I will follow up with you.  We are currently looking for agents in certain geographical locations as well as sole-proprietor brokers that meet certain minimum criteria.

Get Your Brokers License You Slacker

Last Tuesday I signed up for the online version of the Virginia Brokers Licensing Class.  It represents 180 credit hours of real estate education.  It is one of the steps needed to get a brokers license.  The other two steps are:

1.  Actively engage as a real estate salesperson for 36 of the previous 48 months.

2.  Pass the exam

I just finished the 180 credit hours today.  In my case it turns out that 180 credit hours is in actuality about 30 hours, maybe a little less.

There is no excuse for any active agent in Virginia that has been in the business for 3 years or more to not have their brokers license.  

I finished all the practice exams and read over 400+ questions and explanations.  Time is not an issue.  It cost $850.  That should not be an issue unless you aren't actully selling houses.  I did it in my house.  Getting to the class is not an issue.  No excuse works except for you are a total slacker.

Our Broker, Simon Warner, Named "Realtor Of The Year"

We're proud to announce that our broker, Simon Warner (Market Advantage Real Estate in Sterling, Virginia), was named "2007 Realtor® Of The Year" by the Dulles Area Association of Realtors®. This honor is given to the one Realtor® that has demonstrated active involvement in the community; active participation in local, state and national Realtor® association events and functions; education; teaching; etc.

Along with being named "REALTOR® Of The Year", Simon Warner was inducted into the 2007 Honor Society.

Pat Jensen, President of the Virginia Association of Realtors® drove up from Richmond to help present the award.

In addition to being a broker/owner of Market Advantage Real Estate, LLC, Simon is heavily involved with Virginia Lions Football.

"The VALions are helping to focus young men on productive goals using football as a metaphor for life. It is the intent of our organization to combat gang involvement, racial and economic division, and other threats to Loudoun County Youth by offering guidance, coaching, support, and encouragement in an open environment based on Christian principles.

Virginia Athletics Lions is a community, youth football organization. While the program is founded on Christian principles, it is not an exclusively Christian team and is open to ALL – We do insist that players and their families operate with respect toward coaches staff and special guests, and that they follow our code of conduct as part of the team.

We are quite fortunate to have received significant support from former Washington Redskins; Eddie Mason, Joe Mickles, and Cliff Russell, who have all given freely of their time to train and encourage the players. In addition, we have received massive support from Gary and Amanda Kidwell of the Lower Loudoun Boys Football League. Most importantly we are getting players in the games, instead of leaving them on the bench as is the case in many HS teams, while offering a full schedule each season.

We will be competing in combines as well as full season and Turkey Bowl in the 2008 season.

We are always looking for more players, more sponsors, as well as additional options for practice and game facilities."

We are very happy for Simon and honored to be a part of his firm.

More Proof That Real Estate Blogs = Clients and Success; L.A. Times Reports On REALTOR® Blogs

The L.A. Times has the latest in a string of discussions and articles regarding how real estate blogs, when done correctly, actually produce ready, willing and able clients and help agents achieve their goals and increase success.

The article interviews several agents such as Teresa Boardman of St. Paul Real Estate Blog, Larry Cragun of Real Estate Undressed and Diane Cohn of Reno Realty Blog that have had great success with their real estate blogs.

Diane says that "about 75% of those clients came from the blog," and that "the other 25% were previous clients or referrals from them." And she deals primarily with families looking for principal homes, not investors or second-home seekers.

One great point that the article makes is that a blog can be a place for buyers and sellers to get to know an agent without having to step out from behind the curtain of anonymity. They can watch from afar and determine whether they "like" the agent and what he or she has to say. When they are comfortable and ready to make a move, they pick up the phone and generally don't need to be pushed into a transaction.

Days On Market Standards Change In Washington, DC Metro Area

Earlier this month, we published a post entitled "The Debate Over Resetting Days On Market and DOM In General". To follow up on that, here is what the local MLS in the Washington, DC metro area, MRIS, decided to do regarding the matter of Days On Market:

"Effective Friday, February 15, MRIS will change the way that it calculates Days On Market Property (DOMP).  Currently, DOMP will not reset to zero until a property has been off the market for a total of 180 consecutive days.  Effective February 15, DOMP will reset to zero when a property has been off the market for 90 days."

(Note that the DOMP changed, but not the DOM, which is what agents/brokers "game" the most in the first place)

Here's the reasoning behind the change, according to MRIS:

"Inc." Names Social Networking and Blogging New Basics of Marketing

In their latest issue (February 2008), "Inc." ran a piece entitled "The New Basics of Marketing". Of the five "basics" they named, Social Networking and Blogging were two of them.

Yet, so many within the real estate industry view real estate bloggers and those of us on Facebook or LinkedIn as crazy or even a threat.

If you don't get it, you don't get it.

D

Virginia Association of REALTORS® Launches "VAR buzz"

The Virginia Association of REALTORS® (VAR), one of the more forward-thinking state level Associations around, recently launched "VAR buzz", their official blog. VAR buzz offers a wealth of resources and tools for REALTOR® members, consumers and the media. It also offers a way to look inside VAR that hasn't been available prior.

And what good timing! The topic of blogs has been at the heart of many discussions I've had with agents, brokers and Associations lately. One of the questions I get asked is "How can blogging be done effectively and safely?" Though I answer that question with facts, situations and ideas to back up my claims, only some believe it can actually be done. Well, VAR buzz serves as a testament to the fact that it can be done, effectively and safely.

Disclaimer: I am a guest author for "VAR buzz" and member of VAR.

D

The Debate Over Resetting Days On Market and DOM In General

Though it's been a topic of discussion for some time now, Days On Market (DOM) has really been picking up steam lately. There are debates going on all over the place at the moment regarding the practice of resetting DOM and whether DOM should be used at all.

The practice of resetting DOM is a fairly common one used by agents to make a listing "fresh" in the minds of other agents and consumers (mainly consumers). Since there is a negative stigma surrounding properties that have an above-average DOM, sellers and agents feel as though they need to engage in this practice to remain competitive, even if it means breaking the rules.

There are different sets of rules and guidelines regarding whether you can reset DOM and, if so, when and how. These rules are set by the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in that particular area, but most MLS' make it fairly easy to engage in this practice.

The other debate is over whether DOM should be eliminated altogether. Yes, DOM does help illustrate real estate market trends and is used for that purpose on the back end by agents, brokers, economists, the media, etc. But should it be used by buyers and sellers? What purpose does it serve? What are the pros and cons of DOM? These are all questions that need to looked at and answered honestly.

I personally think that DOM is a complete sham. Yes, it’s useful on the back end to track trends in the real estate market conditions. But we should keep it there, on the back-end. Having it on the front-end is completely irelevant and detrimental to sellers and buyers.

For example, I’ve had buyers who wanted to preview property "A" because it was “new on the market” (7 DOM) while they did not want to preview property "B" because it had been on the market for over 4 months and “was obviously overpriced or something was wrong with it”.

A REALTOR® or a Poser?

Yesterday, we received a comment on the post that started the ongoing saga regarding such items as the First Amendment, Code of Ethics, Tax Assessments, etc.  The comment was from someone who only identified themselves as "Realtor Jane".  This person claims to be the person that Todd Kaufman called a "member of the public" in his original request to remove our post. 

Here are some highlights from her lengthy comment:

In the comment "Realtor Jane" insults all the REALTORS® who commented before her as having too much time on their hands.  Then she proceeds to write the longest comment of anyone so far. 

She says we should take time to read the Code of Ethics regarding the use of the Net, yet she doesn't use her full name, never identifies what brokerage she is with and doesn't provide a link to a site where this information is located.  I did look through the entire roster of agents in our local mls and was unable to find her email address in a search through 104 real estate agents named Jane.

She insults the members of the Western States Constitutional Alliance because of the way they look.

She says the bloggers that are defending our position are "making a mockery of the hard working Realtors".

She says we should make an apology to the "pretty cute" Mr. Kaufman and the public.

Then she tops it off by saying she is going to tell on us because she knows our "boss" is unaware of what occurred and that we would probably just delete her comments.

She couldn't be further from right.  And I don't think there could be a better example of why the general public has no faith in REALTORS®.  Hopefully she will step forward and identify herself.

Here is "Realtor Jane's" comment:

"Well now. This has gotten pretty ugly based on some of the blogs I see attached to your site. Wow..too many REALTORs with too much time on their hands. Go sell something.

I'm not really following your constitutional stand as I'm not sure how your rights were threatened by any of this. Boys will be boys though. I read the emails and the guy was pretty clear about not demanding, but requesting that you clean up your info. I don't really want to try and tackle that issue though.

Here is where this all gets interesting, I think that I am the person that brought your articles and web page to Mr. Kaufman's attention. I am a long time local REALTOR. I know your boss and I know of the three of you (broker included). I was looking for some real estate stats on the Net and stumbled onto your site. I was confused by your articles so I called the Assessor's Office to get their side and actually spoke to Mr. Kaufman. He's was extremely friendly, professional, seems like a good guy, and from what I can see (my opinion of course), he's pretty cute based on his picture. Not the one of the horse that you have linked to your site. That's pretty tacky and petty. You guys should really take the time and read the Code of Ethics regarding the use of the Net...wow.

Anyway, I live in Loudoun and pay taxes like the rest of the world. By the way and nothing personal but, you don't speak for the people of Loudoun. Do you guys even live in the County? I was confused by what you boys put on your web page and wanted to make sure I understood the process as your numbers didn't make sense. So I clicked on the link you provded to the Assessor's site, then called the Assessor's Office. Mr. Kaufman was not aware of your site, but explained the process to me and referred me back to the Assessor's web page for a heck of a lot of good data. Your information does conflict with the info on the Assessor's page. Oh, and by the way, I checked the sale that you guys use in your $45 Million issue article. The example that you guys give was sold through MLS. It says in the listing that it is a "short sale". Any REALTOR with an ounce of sense and any good appraiser would not use a short sale in an market analysis....duh. It probably sold for far less than market value. He's right, that is misleading along with a bunch of your other stuff you guys present as factual information. Hello...hope you are listening here. Do your homework.

Sorry, I digressed...Mr. Kaufman told me that the sales that you used in your articles occurred after the date of value so your stats are skewed..therefore your overall analysis of the issue is WRONG. I think other readers have expressed that to you already though. I don't have a beef with you guys and I like your boss, she's great and a top producer, but again, he's right, your web page is pretty darn misleading...yep Standards Violation. You need to clean it up. Its your responsibility to do that not his. He works for the taxpayers not your real estate company. From that perspective, I'm glad he selected not to get sucked into this.

You guys have a responsibility to get your facts striaght before you posted this kind of stuff. I sure hope you haven't put your's and the career of your broker at risk by taking a stand on shakey ground.

Oh, I saw your letter from the Western folks, whoever they are. Pretty interesting group....lol. Is it cactus or cacti...whichever, San Diego loves you guys. God Bless America. I clicked onto their link. Are the livestock in Arizona safe? The pictures of their Board and Officers are interesting to say the least. Nothing personal Western folks. I'm sure you are very nice people regardless of what your agenda is. Keep up the good work! We need people like you out there. They may want to check you out and leave Mr. Kaufman alone though.

I hope the local Board of Realtors steps in to clean this mess up before you and your band of bloggers make a mockery of the hard working REALTORS out there.

Fella's, just a suggestion. I'd at least apologize to Mr. Kaufman and the public for what you have done here.

I'm going to forward a copy of this to your boss and the owner of your company via email in case you decide not to post it. I'm guessing she is not aware of what occurred here and she would probably like to know."

 

Press Release: Danilo Bogdanovic Recognized as Contributing Author to "Real Estate in 2008"

Ashburn, Virginia (Best Agent Business) December 18, 2007 –- Danilo Bogdanovic, a top Realtor® in Loudoun County, Virginia, Real Estate Technology Consultant and Real Estate Blogger, joined with other top real estate agents around the country to write Real Estate in 2008, Book of Top Ideas for the Challenging Market of 2008.

Real Estate in 2008 (http://www.realestatein2008.org) helps buyers, sellers, and agents succeed in, what's sure to be, a challenging 2008 market by providing hundreds of ideas from top agents around the country. Chapters include ideas on how to find motivated buyers, how to assist buyers in making informed decisions, how to help sellers understand current market conditions in order to price/position their homes properly to sell and creative ideas from around the country. These are ideas from top real estate agents who collaborated in an industry-wide effort which was launched during the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) conference in November 2007.

Danilo provides a number of ideas as to how buyers and investors can take the most advantage of market conditions and trends in 2008 and how sellers can prepare, price and position their homes to be sure they get sold in 2008.  “Danilo contributed some excellent ideas to the book and shared his knowledge with other top agents and consumers,” said Steve Kantor, President of Best Agent Business and author of Billion Dollar Agent – Lessons Learned. “Over 1,000 top agents around the country brainstormed and contributed ideas to write Real Estate in 2008 in record time. We wanted to help agents, buyers and sellers make the most of the 2008 real estate market.”

Danilo Bogdanovic has been a Realtor® with the CC Sells Team of Keller Williams Realty for 4 years and is on the Dulles Association of Realtors® Technology Committee as well as the Virginia Association of Realtors® Strategic Planning Committee. Danilo is also a Real Estate Technology Consultant and Real Estate Blogger (www.LoudounStats.com, www.LoudounForeclosures.com, www.realdiablog.com)

About Best Agent Business:

Best Agent Business provides part-time real estate assistants to real estate agents. (http://www.bestagentbusiness.com). The virtual real estate assistants work from home offices around the country helping top agents grow their business using their unique talents. Best Agent Business is also the author of Billion Dollar Agent – Lessons Learned (http://www.billiondollaragent.com).

Contacts:

Danilo Bogdanovic, Buyer and Relocation Specialist/Realtor® and Real Estate Technology Consultant
Keller Williams Realty/CC Sells Team
Ashburn, Virginia
Phone: 703.582.6900
Email: [email protected]
http://www.LoudounStats.com, http://www.LoudounForeclosures.com, http://www.realdiablog.com, http://www.clipreal.com

Steve Kantor, President
Best Agent Business
http://www.bestagentbusiness.com
[email protected]