When TV Host Charissa Thompson visited The Boutique Real Estate Group, a worldwide luxury real estate brokerage firm, her ideas and the lightning-fast HP OfficeJet Pro 8720 printer helped to make an open house a success! She easily printed from her smartphone and took advantage of two-sided printing for superb productivity. Get your OfficeJet Pro printer at Staples: http://hp.tl/60548Pox2
via Resaas Blog
Earlier this week we announced the 2016 Real Estate Rockstars winners and nominees for branding and real estate websites.
We’re only getting started.
Now it’s time to reveal the nominees and winners for social media.
It’s a no brainer that by now everyone knows social media is crucial for today’s real estate agent.
This year’s competition was steep. Brokerages, firms and coaches all came out swinging in hopes to be recognized as a 2016 nominee and ultimately the winner for social media.
Let’s walk you through the criteria.
These days, it’s easy for anyone to hop onto a social media platform, create an account and post their lives away. It’s these special few that are able to keep their growing audience engaged by dishing out valuable, share-worthy content.
Let’s have a closer look at the criteria we used to shortlist our nominees.
Someone that knows their way around social media knows how to expand their reach through their social media presence.
Are they active on multiple social media channels?
Do they have a larger social following?
Are their users engaged?
The rule of thumb for content is the ‘80/20’ rule.
80% of the content shared should be of use to followers and NOT a hard sell. The remaining 20% of content can be those “sales-y” posts. But, it should be kept minimal.
Does the account follow the 80/20 rule?
Sure, you have social media accounts but what are the quality of your posts?
YouTube
RESAAS
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Here’s a brokerage that just gets it. The Boutique RE Group makes an effort to use their social media marketing to its full potential – posting beautiful photos, high-quality videos and selling a luxury lifestyle through their content. Let’s not overlook their hashtag game. Boutique RE Group makes great use of hashtags on each one of their listing photos to increase exposure of the neighborhoods of their listings.
Activity: 10/10
Content: 10/10
Quality: 10/10
Score: 30/30
Via Inman News
The Inman Influencers List salutes industry professionals who shape, change and influence the industry. They bring a mix of credentials, viewpoints and backgrounds from all walks of the real estate business. Some are creative, intuitive and gifted. Some have power, reach and charisma. And some are controversial, rabble-rousers and disrupters.
All of our influencers contribute to change in one way or another.
The list is both young and hardened, made up of connectors, power brokers, high earners, CEOs, hackers, troublemakers and startup founders. It’s a list of entrepreneurs, big and small; the old-school and the new; controversial and quiet plodders.
“They are not cut from the same cloth, they do not speak the same language and they do not always necessarily share the same values. But they influence the industry by their work, through their followers and by expressing their opinions,” said Inman publisher Brad Inman.
In selecting this year’s Inman influencers, we considered recommendations from Inman readers, editorial staff and outside suggestions. Yes, thousands of real estate professionals make a difference in the real estate industry every day, but these are some we believe stood out this year.
via inman
Things progress toward chaos — that’s just how it is. It is the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
But it doesn’t just apply to physics. In the world of real estate and online lead generation, the chaotic state is increasing.
Most international telecommunications agencies estimate that more than 3 billion people are using the internet. Between smartphones, tablets and desktops, there is a good chance that your next client is online right now.
But with a bombardment of banners, popups and ad word choices filling the margins of their screen, how are real estate agents going to grab potential clients from cyberspace and bring them offline, where the lead becomes your client?
Is your head still lingering in the circa 2006 cyberspace, where you register a domain and start a website with a landing page that forces people to register?
An obituary for this bygone process might read like this: beloved agent bought a lead capture website from one of the hundreds of real estate website providers, ran some Google AdWords or general Facebook ads that linked back to a landing page and watched the leads roll in.
Some very successful agents still swear by the simplicity of this method and utilize a widely cast net of web presence. Expert agents build sites with offers to buyers and sellers and then run their offer everywhere — Craigslist, Instagram, Facebook, blogs and search engines.
Once stuck in the web, prospects are now tied to the landing page, pushing them right into the agent’s customer relationship management system (CRM).
But again, the system is getting increasingly chaotic, so simply spinning a web on the internet and waiting for a client to fly into it is not enough.
Funneling leads has gotten more sophisticated as attention has become an increasingly precious commodity.
Agents are establishing what are called marketing funnels. Think of sand through the hourglass (unless you are having a midlife crisis, then think of something else) — there is a lot of sand in the top of the hourglass, but only a few grains trickle down at a time.
For a moment, single grains are falling, unique and isolated, before they land and get lost in the sandy shuffle. So it is with the faceless, nameless and impersonal masses of potential clientele on the web.
Funneling, then, sounds a bit too automated. It is not so simple, and it requires the lead nurturing of agents and inside sales agents (ISAs) through phone calls, voicemails, text messages and emails.
You have only moments with your prospect — while that sand is falling from the mass of grains — to educate and nurture the prospect enough times to get them to choose to do business with you.
Your marketing funnel can have singular sources or many. There are the sources online that we discussed above.
Classic ads and print mail can also drive your leads to landing pages where, hopefully, the lead registers, and, generally, they get an automated response from the agent’s CRM.
This then sends the agent an alert, and the CRM continues to follow up with the lead until they respond.
But, in a recent post to the Facebook group Lab Coat Agents, Raj Qsar outlined a more complex (but comprehensive) view of the modern marketing funnel — the necessary paradox of appearing hyperlocal, but also everywhere.
Note the current web of interconnectivity necessary today to get in front of a prospect and stay there until they are a client.
This is where the digital lead machine comes to fruition. Qsar’s example is specific to Zillow’s platform:
At this point, it is time to get local — get seen! Take the hyperlocal campaign from the web, where your ZIP code specific prospects are seeing your presence, to the streets — to “real life” through local appearances and events.
We asked in the opening paragraph: how do you pluck a prospect from the web?
Well, sometimes you need to make your presence known on the web through focused marketing efforts, and then move yourself from cyberspace into the real world.
This is where the moment of realization occurs for your prospects: “Hey, I’ve seen those ads, those emails, mailers, listings, etc. Let’s talk.”
If the commodity is a moment of attention — the moment the sand is falling from the hourglass — then focusing your digital lead machine with the above-mentioned tweaks could make all the difference.
Dale Archdekin is the founder of Smart Inside Sales and the current director of lead generation for Global Living Companies at Keller Williams in Philadelphia. Follow him on Facebook or checkout his Facebook group.
The Boutique Real Estate Group will be hosting the 38th Annual Corona del Mar Christmas Walk 2016 at our Corona del Mar office December 4th from 11-4pm. We will have a photo booth, Taco Man, Margarita Machine, games & more. Come celebrate the holidays with us. We look forward to seeing you there!
https://www.instagram.com/premieragent/
via inman
You can’t open a trade publication these days without seeing an article urging real estate professionals to generate content in order to build their brand and get more business. It makes sense — who buys and sells houses? People. What do people like? To be enlightened, informed and entertained. That’s what great content does.
Why content?
Many real estate professionals ask whether content creation has any real tangible benefits in getting homes sold. Top producers tend to look at the bigger picture. Tim Smith of Smith Group Real Estate says, “High-quality marketing increases the perceived value of the property.” In other words, when you make a video about a house, you’re saying to the world, “This place is worth it.”
“When we show up at a property with a truck and equipment and actors and a tent, it causes curiosity within the neighborhood,” said Raj Qsar, principal and owner of The Boutique Real Estate Group. “It gives us a way to connect with the neighborhood on a hyperlocal level. Then they tell their friends and family about the house, and word gets out. It’s a long-tail plan.” Let’s face it: Nothing makes a seller happier than to see their home being given the star treatment.
“There’s a misconception across the industry as to why people do content marketing,” Qsar said. “Video is not just for the one listing — we make our video evergreen so it can live forever.”
And it sure doesn’t hurt to have an amazing video to show in your next listing presentation, either.
But for many Realtors, the thought of creating content tends to generate more guilt than inspiration. What kind of content should you be making? And how in the world are you expected to write a script or learn to edit video when there aren’t even enough hours in the day to generate leads and get deals done?
Good news: You don’t have to do it yourself. Here are four options to get great content.
1. Beef up your team.
Most brokerages that are serious about content creation begin by hiring in-house creative talent. “Content marketing needs to start with the leadership and culture of the brokerage,” Qsar said. “If the brokerage takes control and hires an in-house team, it only makes the agents and the brokerage more successful.”
Smith Real Estate has created a core in-house marketing team. They started out using outside production studios to generate their marketing materials but decided to bring production in-house in order to have more control over the creative product. “Outsiders don’t have direct communication with the sellers like we do,” Jade Schuck, public relations and marketing coordinator, said. “When the production is done in-house, we know the home, and we can do a lot more with the money.”
Pacific Union built an entire in-house journalism department to bring their clients the latest news via their blog. “We decided we had to become a journalism company,” CEO Mark McLaughlin said. And it worked. Back in January 2012 their blog had “zero traffic.” Now they have 5,800 unique users on their blog every month. McLaughlin puts this in context. “We sold about 5,700 homes last year. So, that means we have about as many people at our blog every single month as bought homes in a year … so we feel it’s a really relevant tool for our real estate professionals.”
2. Supplements are good for you.
Even with a strong in-house team, most brokerages bring in freelancers or even full production companies to round out their marketing team for larger listings.
“The content is all us, 100 percent,” said Qsar, who employs an in-house team that includes a social media manager, director of creative design, cinematographer and editors. They do bring in specialists as needed, such as drone operators and hyperlapse photographers, but they’re careful to set and maintain the creative tone and direction themselves.
The real estate team knows the home best, so it’s crucial that whenever you outsource, you communicate with the production company to convey the key selling points of the home and any details about the target demographics.
Schuck said when we get a listing, their process begins with a brainstorming session where they distill the essence of the home’s personality. Then they create different packages of marketing materials based on the sales price. They bring in freelancers with special skills as needed.
Schuck offers some advice for smaller real estate offices whose budgets might not allow an in-house production team: “Use your network to find good people to help.”
3. Be a patron of the arts.
If hiring a marketing team doesn’t work for you, there are other options. Any given neighborhood is packed with creators who just love to make content. They eat, sleep and breathe journalism, storytelling and photography. They’re constantly churning out videos and articles, blog posts and photographs. All you have to do is find them, and then work out a deal that works for both of you.
Try these sources:
Local bloggers: They know your neighborhood and what makes it significant. See if you can sponsor their work by making a small contribution. Being quoted in an article about the five best kid-friendly restaurants in town makes you an instant local expert.
School newspapers and videos: School newspapers can always use a few extra bucks to give their kids’ reporting a boost. Help them out and your name might be the one that shows up when prospective buyers search for their dream schools.
Filmmakers and videographers: In these days of YouTube, everyone from your babysitter to your mortgage broker has a script for a Web series somewhere on their hard drive. What they often lack is funding to get it made. Provide that and voila, you have yourself a grateful content creator who will mention your name, and maybe even give you a cameo role.
4. Ask your audience.
Another way to get great content is perhaps the most obvious: Just ask for it. User-generated content (UGC) is the buzzword, but what it means is getting your network to share their own photos, videos, articles and lists.
Consider holding a contest for the best photos of your local dog park, or give a shoutout to local bands to write a song in honor of your hometown. Then all you have to do is curate the best and put it online. People will come to your site to check out the latest and greatest — and they’re sure to notice your listings along the way.
At the time of this writing, Trails West Real Estate had just announced a competition asking students to create the best video about living in northwest Montana. They’re offering $12,000 to the winning school’s video and technology departments. This is a great way to get lots of content for your money, while becoming known as a local expert and supporter of the community. It’s likely we’ll see more and more content competition like this in which everyone comes out a winner.
Bottom line
The industry agrees that offering great content is the ideal way to engage your audience more deeply and for longer periods of time. That translates to leads, listings, sales and clients for life. Now you have some ways to get your hands on amazing content while keeping your focus on what you do best: selling real estate.
What unique ways have you found to generate content? Please continue the conversation in the comments section below.
via homespotter
So, I did some heavy lifting for you to find some of the most influential real estate agents and influencers to learn from online. Then, I curated some of the best resources they created, as a one-stop shop.
Rather than list these experts in random order (or choosing our favorites), we took the time to rank each person based on their influence across social media, using scores from FollowerWonk, Klout, and our own judgment.
While not a perfect science, by ranking each influencer by their social impact, you will have a better sense of who you want to learn from as you master your craft.
As the Principal/Owner of The Boutique Real Estate Group, Raj has invested heavily in bringing all aspects of the real estate experience completely in-house. From custom design, professional staging, architectural photography, cinematography and social media to technology, internet optimization, cloud based transaction management and global listing syndication. This design & tech-forward approach has earned The Boutique Real Estate Group accolades & awards worldwide.
In 2016 Raj was named to the prestigious SP200 Honoring The Most Powerful 200 People in Residential Real Estate. Raj was selected as Most Innovative Real Estate Agent in 2014. Raj was also selected as 33 People Changing The Real Estate Industry by Inman News and was also named Top 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders For 2013.
Yorba Linda, California is no stranger to accolades. It’s been ranked as one of the best places to live in the United States. It’s also been singled out as one of the best small cities anywhere. Last but not least, it just so happens to be one of the wealthiest cities in the United States.
Life here is sunny, idyllic, and filled with opportunities for enjoying the good life. For starters, there’s the Black Gold Golf Course, a stunning, Arthur Hill-designed par 72 that stretches out over 219 magnificent acres and is widely regarded as one of the best courses in the country.
Yorba Linda is also home to the famed Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, which features a replica of the White House East Room, an immaculately kept rose garden, the presidential helicopter, and the former President’s actual boyhood home, complete with the pepper tree his father planted back in 1912.
Need more adventure? You don’t have to travel far. This quiet community is a mere 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles, 18 miles from Disneyland, and only 30 miles from Huntington Beach – popularly known as “Surf City.”
In Yorba Linda, six-figure incomes are the norm, and those who can afford to build their dream homes tend to do just that. That’s why the Yorba Linda area is home to so many opulent residential properties.
But even in this rarified Southern California enclave, 22750 Hidden Hills Road is a rare treasure. Find out why Pinnacle House is worth every penny of its $10 million asking price.
Situated on one of the highest peaks of Orange county with a commanding vista of Yorba Linda, the beachfront cities that lay farther afield, and the glittering Pacific horizon, Pinnacle House certainly earns its title.
But it isn’t just the jetliner views or prestigious neighborhood that make this home desirable. It’s the thoughtful design that’s apparent in every square inch of its 8,000+ square feet of living space.
DKY Architects’ David Streshinsky designed Pinnacle House exclusively for Yard House restaurant’s corporate executive chef Carlito Jocson.
You’ve seen Streshinksy’s work, whether you know it or not. After all, he’s worked on such large-scale design projects as the Jurassic Park and Jaws rides at Universal Studios. He’s also designed restaurants and businesses all over the world. But even though he’s worked for a who’s who of household names, he’s said that Pinnacle House is one of his proudest achievements.
It’s easy to see why. This home is a masterpiece of modern residential design. Here, forward-thinking architecture coexists with aloha spirit, and the resulting residence is both serene and supremely stylish.
Take, for example, the entryway. As you pull up to this stunning home, a waterfall greets you, and that waterfall actually flows into the home. Beyond the stately, 9-foot tall mahogany door, you’ll find a home that is as comfortable as it is elegant around every corner.
There are captivating views of the surrounding hills from nearly every room in the home, but the residence itself has a way of stealing the show.
Spend a moment in that sleek, modern kitchen. With its custom cabinetry and crisp lines, it’s a dream come true for those who know that making a great meal is wonderful for the soul. And as it was designed for a professional chef, you can bet that it has the very best appliances money can buy.
The dining room features that ever-present skyline panorama, a custom chandelier with hundreds of Edison light bulbs, and a dining table that’s as much a work of art as a piece of furniture.
Down below, the wine cellar is a showpiece in itself. It’s a climate-controlled, glass-enclosed time capsule that will keep your favorite vintages in fine form while providing plenty of visual panache.
This home offers plenty of opportunities to entertain and to be entertained. There’s a home theater with a huge, Ultra-HD screen and seating for all of your favorite cinephiles. There’s also a billiard room and an outdoor kitchen equipped with imbedded walnut cutting boards, a pizza oven, and an oversized wok range.
But of all of this home’s many amenities, the outdoor infinity edge pool has to be the most captivating. With its forever views and glass-tiled fire pits, it’s the piece de resistance to this design tour de force.
At the end of the evening, you’ll retire to your 1,600 square foot master suite. It has a private parlor, an expansive dressing room worthy of a Hollywood starlet, and spa-quality master bath enclosed in expansive picture windows. In the bedroom itself, there’s a wall of sliding picture windows that open directly to the pool, so you can jump out of bed and into the swimming pool each morning before breakfast.
Listed by Raj Qsar & Christina Boladian, this is a California dream home in every sense of the word. Here, the world is at your feet, and nothing can intrude on your peace of mind or your ideal lifestyle. It’s everything a luxury home should be – a private escape, a trophy, and a work of art. And it can be yours for $10 million.
Listing information for: 22750 Hidden Hills Road, Yorba Linda CA, 92887
via The Orange County Register
Carlito Jocson, the top chef for Yard House restaurants, is selling his modern, five-bedroom Yorba Linda house on one of Orange County’s highest peaks for $10 million.
Set on 3.1 acres, the estate includes a full-size outdoor kitchen with a bar and wood-fired pizza oven. Two glass-tiled fire pits flank a zero-edge swimming pool.
In addition to an expansive parking area for guests, there’s space to add a helipad, says listing agent Raj Qsar of The Boutique Real Estate Group.
Built in 2011, the 8,320-square-foot home designed by David Streshinsky of DKY Architects boasts double-height ceilings, a restaurant-caliber kitchen, 1,200-bottle wine room and home theater. The house also has a solar-power system.
Grounds include drought-friendly landscaping and a meditation garden with more than a dozen olive trees. A basketball court and disappearing entertainment system are among the outdoor amenities, and the Pacific Ocean can be viewed in the distance.
The house is by far the highest priced Yorba Linda home offered on the Multiple Listing Service right now. The next most expensive one is a seven-bedroom, 9,411-square-foot residence built in 1995, with a $5.18 million price tag.
Jocson is a Yard House vice president and its corporate executive chef. He’s also an original partner. He said his favorite room is – of course – the kitchen, relishing the layout and plating his creations on the large island
“I wanted to build the kitchen with a sense of community,” he said. “It’s the (home’s) heart. From a chef’s standpoint, I love to feed people … I want them to watch me.”
When a chef friend created a seven-course meal at the house, Jocson added, “He didn’t skip a beat. It felt like (cooking in) a restaurant.”
He also savors how the master suite’s sliding glass doors open to the zero-edge pool. “I wanted to wake up in the morning and jump in the pool straight from the bed,” he said.
With four grown children out of the house, Jocson said it’s time to downsize.
Jocson and his wife Elizabeth for the past decade have been feeding homeless and needy Orange County residents through The Storehouse ministry of North Orange Christian Church, where they are members.
Yard House restaurants are known for their contemporary atmosphere, rock music, eclectic food and more than 100 beers on tap. The chain, with 13 states, was sold to Darden Restaurants by private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners in 2012 for $585 million in an all-cash deal.
Christina Boladian of the Boutique group is co-listing the house. A video of Jocson and the home is here.
Trying to be a better realtor, investor, and business woman is tough. To keep on top of your game, you know the value of learning from the best.