Spent the past couple of days getting set up here in Show Low. JDE White Mountains is now official. Met the people at the Chamber of Commerce this morning and have sent out some marketing bits and pieces. Everyone's been really nice up here "on the mountain". I hope that will translate into some good relationships.
If anyone in the White Mountains is reading this, I'd love to say "hi". I'm offering free flyer designs for agents in the Show Low area. If you check our our site www.JDEWM.com, you'll see that these aren't the usual flyers. We can arrange for discounted printing too if you'd like.
Just a reminder, we are a small busines web design and marketing company. We do graphic design as well as business cards, flyers, brochures, posters and even vehicle decals.
I'm back and forth between the White Mountains and Scottsdale but am able to work in either location.
I stepped out onto my patio and saw the moon tonight and thought I'd give it a shot...
I'm delighted to publish the list of sites we've developed or upgraded this year. We've had the honor of working with a number of amazing clients.
www.MountainSkyDevelopment.com
Thank you to everyone for a productive year. We look forward to working with you in 2009!
For people who read my earlier entry - this is an updated article after a few months of use...
As a technical person and a natural skeptic, I was very dubious when I heard about this new product that would give you what amounts to free telephone service using your PC and high-speed Internet connection.
Unlike services such as Vonage, Magicjack is a small USB device that plugs into your PC. Plug in a phone, sign up for a number and hey-presto, you have phone service. The cost of the device is about $40 which includes the first year's service. After that it's $20 a year.
Sound too good to be true?
The online reviews are mixed. Some good, some bad. Some call it a great invention. Some call it a scam.
A neighbor actually recommended it when it came up in conversation. Turns out she'd been using it for a while and we (my economically savvy wife and I) had not noticed any call quality issues when speaking to her. So, especially given these trying economic times, we thought "what the heck..."
Our Magicjack arrived and we plugged it in. The software was all on the device already. After a reboot, the registration screen came up, we picked a local telephone number, hooked up one of our existing handsets...and got a dial tone. So far so good.
We called several people, both locally and long-distance. The product seemed to work as promised and has done so since. We are now getting local and long-distance phone service for less than $2 a month. Our Magicjack is hooked up to a PC that is connected to our high-speed router by a wireless connection so we figured we'd suffer a little for, but on the whole, it's been surprisingly good.
When traveling around, I've plugged the Magicjack into my laptop. My local number has traveled with me. Magicjack seems to work well in both Vista and XP environments.
Depending on the Internet service quality, the calls have varied from "wow are you in the next room" (90% of the time) to something that sounds like someone popping corn white shouting in a bathtub (yes, that's pretty far out). Voices tend to fade in and out a little. It's certainly not the 100% clear, crisp sound you expect from a phone service, but you can, for the most part, hear and be heard clearly and you don't have to strain your hearing or guess who you're talking to. If your computer / Internet connection is suddenly bogged down (ie sending/receiving email), the person you're talking to can sound like Max Headroom for a second (that's dating myself, isn't it...). But, quality issues aside, the Magicjack has thus far lived up to it's promise (cheap and easy).
The setup program registered our address for 911 calls. You can change this if needed, but it's worth remembering that if you're not at the registered address should you need emergency services...you get the idea.
We also tried the free voicemail and gave up. At least from our perspective, the Voice-over-IP (VOIP) quality just wasn't up to it. Their web-based recording system just can't provide sufficient quality to sound more-or-less human. Again, it's better than nothing (but not much).
Also worth noting is that, unlike some of the more expensive systems, if you plan on keep Magicjack as your incoming service at all times, your PC has to be up and running so don't let it go into standby mode or hibernate.
For $20 a year, Magicjack seems to be living up to its promise. It's been several months and so far, so good. I'll update this review in a few more months as we progress with our testing. We've still got our main home telephone number active. I suppose the true test would be to have that disconnected... Anyway for this price, it's a useful, low-cost, second number...for now.
http://www.magicjack.com/
Have a good one!
It's hard, especially in this industry, to spend money on marketing your listings. The return on investment is by no means guaranteed, in fact quite the opposite. As the market continues to tighten, I've seen less and less of the marketing techniques that were so common just a year ago. There are fewer open houses, fewer flyers, fewer "just listed" cards...fewer agents too, as I'm sure everyone knows.
That said, as in previous economic declines, there have been creative developments too and I thought I'd mention a few here...
Pooling resources - increasing your professional and social networking connections (including on sites like this one) can help with leads and referrals. Terms like "divide and conquer" and "two heads are better than one" really do apply in this market. Work more closely with other professional groups, contractors, mortgage brokers, home stagers, etc to offer "complete packages". Advertise their services on your flyers - get them preapproved if they're buying - hook up with a mortgage company. If they're selling and need some staging, network with a staging specialist. Again, by pooling resources and expanding networks, you increase exposure for everyone. Will it lead to a sale? Nothing is guaranteed, but I really believe that you get back what you put in - with interest.
Flyers - an obvious place to cut back. I've seen this part of my own business take a hit, and understandably so. Flyers can be expensive. What I've suggested to a number of agents is to try and use flyers more creatively...for example:
Newsletters and mailers - yes, the paper kind. Email newsletters are okay, but paper (in my humble opinion) is still the way to go. It doesn't have to be elaborate. Just some points of interest, some market information and an incentive (giveaway perhaps) to keep you in mind...
Email listings - I get so many of these that my spam filter is pretty well occupied all the time. I know there are people out there who will beg to differ with me, but spamming listings to other agents and consumers isn't my idea of good marketing. When was the last time you read one that you didn't delete immediately (there's bound to be someone who replies on this one)? I would save those precious emails for newsletters and important information...
Blogging - one of my favorite subjects to discuss. Still one of the best, most underused and FREE marketing tools out there. I'm not necessarily advocating putting all your listings into your blog...but - hmmm...maybe that would...naah...In all seriousness, however, getting involved with blogging, including here on AR and outside, is an important networking tool. Put your blog address in your email signature and on your card - and flyers - and anywhere else you can think of!
Follow up - Birthdays, holidays and anniversaries. Sign up with a company like Send Out Cards (www.cardeveryone.com). It's a small investment that can yield great returns. People love getting cards and they will remember you. Relationships, especially in this market, matter a great deal and it's nice to know that someone cares.
Use free marketing tools - where possible. Free online classifieds are sometimes worth a shot although some of the more popular ones have been the subject of debate as the source of fraud. So tread with caution.
Expand your horizons - I'm a firm believer that marketing overseas is a large, untapped oil well. We've seen an increase in Canadian and European investors coming into the US in search of properties. Establishing relationships with both agents and clients overseas could yield dividends. I'm working on a site for international agent "matching" to try and help this process along. More to follow in the New Year.
There is no silver bullet when it comes to marketing, whether real estate or anything else. Times are tough and money is tight. Most people are scared, many are hurting. Buyers aren't sure they're getting the best deal - what if the market goes down even more? Sellers are worried they're upside-down or at the break-even point. None of what I've suggested is a tonic or cure for any of this, but they might help just a little and that's about all we can ask for right now.
Thanks so much for reading!
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