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What is AmericanTowns.com ?
AmericanTowns.com is a site that provides community information and more importantly local events, seminars, etc for specific towns. Consumers can search by town, then by date, type of event, venue, etc. It is a really great resource for agents and can be used in a several different ways.
As a Real Estate Agent/Broker, How can you use it?
1. Do you host any type of class, seminar, or event? If so, you can add it to this site for free. It displays nicely with your web address and information, and appears when anyone searches for that city or particular type of event.
2. Having a community events page is a great way to add constantly changing information to your website. Become a resource for leads searching for community events and things to do! This is a great site to check when adding events to your site, and provides all the right info, place, date, time, etc.
Don’t have time to update an events page – no problem! AmericanTowns also offers a widget, that you can add to your site for free, which posts the community calendar of your choice. See the screen shot to the right for how it displays. To use this feature, simply go to your preferred town on AmericanTowns.com and click the “Add a Community Calendar to Your Site” icon. This will provide you with HTML code to add to your site! So SIMPLE!
3. You can also find and submit community videos to this site. Have you created a community tour or perhaps a video of a condo complex? If so, you can add them to YouTube and follow some simple instructions (it all has to do with the tags to you add), then your video will show up on AmericanTowns.com .
This site has proven to be a helpful resource for my clients and me so far, and I would recommend utilizing it for your own business! I encourage you to add events, research local events or just have a look!
Need a Real Estate Virtual Assistant to help you implement these ideas? Contact us today. We're a team of real estate specific Virtual Assistants and because we're in the industry working with Top Producers every day, we know what works!
Jen Miller, Marketing Manager
RealSupport Inc.
Phone: 847-705-1655 x202
Email: Jen@RealSupportInc.com
www.RealSupportInc.com
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Recently, I was looking for the address of a place that I was going to host a baby shower at. When I did a google search for the address, a Yelp Review came up! It actually gave me all the information that I was looking for so I didn’t even have to find the “official website” of this place. I saw there was a review so of course I read it.
This personal experience opened my eyes to the power of Yelp. I’m trying to summarize what it is and why I think you as a Real Estate Agent or Broker need to know about it, but please post comments if you have any other questions and of course share your own personal experiences too since I’m new to “Yelping”.
What Is Yelp.com?
Yelp is an online city guide made up of reviews from real people. Users can search for what they are looking for by type (tacos) or by category (Hotels) or actual business names (StartingPoint Realty). Searches are all local by city or zip.
As a Real Estate Agent or Broker, Why Do YOU Need to Know About Yelp?
There are many opinion websites out there but Yelp has thrived while others have generally petered out. According to their site, as of February 2009, more than 20 million people visited Yelp in the previous 30 days. That is pretty significant.
How to Get Started on Yelp...
You can be on Yelp as a Reviewer or a Business (or both). For the purpose of this blog post, I want you to get your business up, so here is how you can proceed. No time to get this set-up? RealSupport can help. Ask us about our services. This is the type of project we handle for our clients all the time! If you are a techie like me and you want to proceed on your own, here is what you need to do:
During both steps above, you’ll be asked to sign up as a Business Owner and you’ll also be asked to confirm your connection to the business. After your all set-up, you’ll want to be sure to populate your listing on Yelp with as much information as possible. They allow you to upload a photo/logo, add change your contact information, add content about your services, and links to your site. Fill it ALL in, the more content and information the better!!
In Addition:
You can also post sponsorship ads (like pay per clicks) if you want to use your advertising dollars on this popular site. You may get more bang for your buck here than a large site like Google.
They also provide a Yelp Badge, which is very cool. You can display this on your website, email signature, etc. I think this would be very powerful since it shows how many stars your Yelpers have rated you.
Need Help?
If you’re not up to the task, please contact RealSupport. We can help you set-up and manage your Yelp Business Owner page. In this day and age, it is so important to take control of your online reputation and take advantages of these well traveled sites. Call us, we can help!
Carrie Gable, President
RealSupport Inc.
Phone: 847-705-1655 x200
Email: Carrie@RealSupportInc.com
www.RealSupportInc.com
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RealSupport Inc. - Providing superior Real Estate Virtual Assistant services to Real Estate professionals nationwide since 2000.
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Frustrated?
Running out of ways to attract quality buyer leads?
Maybe you just need some fresh ideas!
Idea #1: Turning Renters INTO Buyers... Here's How! 
Target RENTERS! RealSupport can design a custom 12 week postcard campaign targeting renters in a specific area of your choice. We would send out 1 card a week to the same group of renters for 12 straight weeks. Most renters are sick and tired of making their landlord rich, but don't think they can afford to buy a home... These cards will hopefully convince them otherwise and after receiving your cards for a consistent 12 weeks, ideally, the next step would be to contact you for more information. Bonus!! You can talk about the $8,000 tax credit! Now that's enticing!!
Idea #2: Host Educational Home Buyer Seminars!
Several of our clients have started to host (FIRST TIME) HOME BUYER SEMINARS.
These seminars are typically hosted by a real estate agent (you) and a mortgage broker. They are meant to inform the first time home buyer of the process and steps involved in buying their first home. Refreshments and snacks are typically offered. Clients are hosting these seminars either in their office, at a restaurant, a library meeting room, etc.
It's a casual NON-THREATENING way to get buyers in the door and make them feel comfortable working with you.
The marketing that we find to be most effective for these seminars is postcards and Craigslist ads. The Craigslist ads are re-posted weekly by us with the upcoming dates and locations. Our clients are also of course listing the seminars on their website as well. Free information on a topic they're already interested in. You've immediately become an expert in their eyes and they're likely to work with you vs. Joe Agent who just hopes they'll call and doesn't feel the need to educate his buyers.
Need a Real Estate Virtual Assistant to help you implement these ideas? Contact us today. We're a team of real estate specific Virtual Assistants and because we're in the industry working with Top Producers every day, we know what works. Let us put our experience and expertise to work for you while helping you take your business to the next level!
Warmest regards,
Erica Parpan, Operations Manager
RealSupport Inc.
Phone: 847-705-1655 x201
Email: Erica@RealSupportInc.com
www.RealSupportInc.com
Our Real Estate Client Testimonials
Our Real Estate Marketing Samples
Real Estate Virtual Assistant Team
RealSupport Inc. - Providing superior Real Estate Virtual Assistant services to Real Estate professionals nationwide since 2000.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
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