“World's Most Complete Neighborpedia”
Explore:   What's happening in your neck of the woods?

Halton Hills, ON

Day 1: Social Media Marketing Plan - How'd You Do?

03-12-12
Ness .
Ness .: Virtual Assistant in Halton Hills, ON

Good Evening Folks,

For those of you following along this weeks business challenge, I wanted to touch base and see how day 1 went for you.

Today, your focus should have been on your Social Media Marketing. I encouraged you to visit your current plan or start to implement a new one.

I also suggested that you create one of the following: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn Account, in addition to your website.

So, as the evening is upon us, I would love to hear your feedback on how today went for you.

The good and the bad, I would like us to discuss it.

I'm here for you,

Ness

As an added bonus to today's challenge, swing on over to Hubspot and down their free ebook - How to Monitor Social Media in 10 Minutes!

Sleep Tight Friends. You Will Need It.

03-11-12
Ness .
Ness .: Virtual Assistant in Halton Hills, ON

Well, I don't know about you but. This weekend sure went by fast.

This is your friendly reminder to hit the sack.

We have a busy week ahead of us.

You have one week to turn your business around.

See you in the am.

Ness

1 Week to Turn Your Business Around

03-09-12
Ness .
Ness .: Virtual Assistant in Halton Hills, ON

Well friends, here we are once again. The Friday evening before the March Break. You either fit into one of two categories.

  1. You’re reading this blog post which probably means you’re not travelling for the March Break. No worries. I feel your pain. *Smile*
  2. You’re reading this blog post AFTER the March Break because you quickly escaped the craziness of…er…life and work. God love you!

OR

Maybe, there is a third category here?

You ARE a groupie of category 2 but you haven’t left yet. In which case, stop reading now. Click on the cool icon at the bottom of this post and print this document, stuff it in your pocket. It is a great reading piece while you’re on the plane.

If you fit into category one, I have some March Break Madness tips for you. So, grab your java and keep reading. I will wait here for you and if you wouldn’t mind bringing me one as well.

That would be swell.

Boost Your Business Over the March Break

Ladies and Gentlemen, raise your hand if you wish to increase your leads, listings, and leverage.

We’re almost in and are about to go full swing into the spring market. Hard to believe, I know.

The market is picking up. Potential home sellers are starting to wonder what their home is worth and prospective buyers are starting their search for their perfect dream home.

Now is the time you want to make sure you have all your ducks in a row. Use this coming week to kick-start your business into the spring market the right way. Not everyone has gone to the land of beaches and sun. So, revamp and reach out now.

5 Days of Blood, Sweat, and Tears

We are going to write out your action plan for success. If you do the 5 days as outlined below, you will increase your chances of connecting with people in your community and your listings will soar.

Are you ready?

Day 1. Monday.

Create a Social Media Marketing Plan. If you’re not using social media the way you should be, you need to start now.

Put together an action plan that will start to merge social media into your everyday business. Folks, this is so important. How people do business now-a-days has changed.

Start conversations and engage with people and businesses within your community. If you have a social media plan but aren’t using it as you should, today is the day to revamp that plan and put everything into action.

You should have at least one of the following social media sites in addition to your website. (I’ve linked to my own websites to show you exactly what I’m talking about.

  1. Twitter Account
  2. Facebook Fan Page
  3. Linkedin Account

If you have questions or need help with this step, shoot me over an email at Ness@CreativNess.com – I would be delighted to help you.

Note to Self: Don’t forget to check your social media sites including your website to make sure everything is in working order and your information is up-to-date.

Day 2. Tuesday.

Database Recovery Day. When was the last time you went through your entire database? Not your assistant, not your team members but you.

Today is a great day to focus your attention on your database. Has everyone been recently contacted? Sending out a direct mailing is a nifty tool, but it doesn’t give you immediate results. Sort your database, if there are contacts that haven’t been connected with in a while, use the afternoon to start making phone calls.

If you don’t have an organized database. You need one. Like yesterday. Give me a call and I will help you with this task as well. 905.703.1793.

Tip: Sort your database into 3 different categories.

A – High Referral Client – These are contacts that refer you to family, friends and associates often. These are key players in helping you build your business.

B – Medium Referral Client – These are clients that sometimes refer you to family, friends and associates.

C – Low Referral Client – These are clients that rarely refer you to clients. Can you turn them into an A client? Have you asked them for a referral? Why don’t they refer? Find out!

Day 3. Wednesday

Advertising/Marketing. Do you now advertise your business? Are you keeping track of your advertising ventures? Do you know what works and what does?

It’s important to have a plan, but also to know what works. Create an advertising plan that is measurable. How will people know you exist if you aren’t showing and telling them?

If you already have a plan. Review your systems. What has worked in the past? Are your dollars being spent wisely?

Take today to check everything marketing and advertising related with a fine tooth comb.

Day 4. Thursday.

System Implementation. It amazes me how many clients come through my door that don’t have a systematic approach to their business. Making sure each of your clients, no matter the category they fit into, receive the same level of service is vital.

Here’s some food for thought. How often are you ‘touching’ your clients? Once a month? You need to make sure you are keeping in touch with your clients regularly. Hence why Tuesday’s work was important.

Make sure all of your contacts are on some sort of touch program. Make use of your database management program so that you can easily handle this task. If you haven’t sent out a newsletter or some way to keep in touch and let past clients know you are in business, now is the time.

Make sure you have a system to handle your new leads coming into your office. Clients questions should be handled in a timely fashion and receive the answers they need.

I’ve helped many clients make a systematic approach to their business. I’d be honoured to help you as well.

Day 5. Friday.

Party time? Nope. Sorry. Friday is not the let’s take off early for the weekend day. There is still work to be done.

Target Market. Many of my clients’ choose to run their business where they don’t really have a focus of clients they wish to work with. Some will just work within the Halton Region, Kitchener/Waterloo, Greater Toronto Area, and so forth.

It is valuable to select and market to a specific target market and/or farm area.

This will allow you to hone in on your skills and market yourself for all your worth. They say you need to show someone something 7 times before they actually remember it. If you’re attempting to market to an entire Region all at once, it can be hurting your leads.

Start small and grow big. Maybe there is a new sub-division in your area? Perhaps an older part of town, a particular area that caters to the elderly? What about an area that is filled with young families? Any empty nester area?

Use today to research your immediate community and find an area that you can use days 1 through 4′s work and put it to use in your new target area. Once you have targeted this area for a while, you can then start to look at branching out the scope of your business to more areas.

Note to Self: Don’t tackle the area of “everywhere”. Start small. Grow Big.

Day 6. Saturday.

Grab your favourite drink and put your feet up for the day. You deserve it.

Day 7. Sunday.

Use the evening to do a complete review of this weeks work. You want to hit the ground running come Monday morning!

Cheers to your success,

Ness

6 Tips to Capture the Best of Real Estate Listing Photography

03-08-12
Ness .
Ness .: Virtual Assistant in Halton Hills, ON

Photo Courtesy of http://ft2.ca/photography.html

I wanted to share with you today some great tips on how to capture the best images for your listing photography. I know some agents hire out this service and have a professional take their listing pictures. This is fantastic and truly does make a difference.

But, if you’re a new agent, or just a Sales Representative that enjoys complete the tasks independently, these tips below were written with you in mind!

I find it interesting the amount of marketing material I see out there that is horribly designed or the pictures on feature sheets aren’t suffice to show the true value in a home.

6 Photography tidbits for listing photography

  1. 1. Take pictures of your new listing when the sun is shining on the front of the house.
  2. 2. Know the direction the front of the home faces.
  3. 3. Use of digital equipment is essential. Not only are they user-friendly but they most certainly will give you the best quality in your pictures.
  4. 4. Not only is it important to use digital equipment. It is important for you to know how to use your equipment effectively. (Taking a quick course at your local camera store is well worth the investment.
  5. 5. Be sure to take a few pictures from different angles and distances. You’ll have a chance to check your pictures later and pick the ones that best show the features of the home.
  6. 6. Perhaps most important, make sure the home is ready for you to take pictures. Remove any clutter from the yard, close doors, and garages, make sure there are no drawers open in bedrooms, or closet doors. A quick check and tidy will make sure you capture the home in the best light.

If you’re not 100% confident in your ability to take the best images of your new listing, I highly recommend you invest in a professional. Pictures are often the first impression setter. Don’t leave a bad impression with your prospective buyers!

{NEW} Elegant Landscape Feature Sheet

03-07-12
Ness .
Ness .: Virtual Assistant in Halton Hills, ON

Front of Feature Sheet

I am proud to present our newest real estate template into our store. You can now buy our elegantly designed 2 page landscape style feature sheet.

Superior Quality to Showcase Your Hot New Listing

Stylishly designed template to showcase your hot new listing. Designated space for your headshot photo, company logo and contact details. 6 placeholders for listing pictures. Large section on front page for listing script with space for bullet points of features on the back. Template created in Microsoft Word for easy do-it-yourself customization. Includes section for disclosure. Made to be printed in landscape format, double-sided on 8.5×11 paper.

*Printing Tip: Print on high gloss paper to capture the beauty of this design.

Back of Feature Sheet

Buy Now and Get $5.00 off Until Friday Only

Swing on over to our CreativNess Designs store front and pick up your new feature sheet and receive $5.00 off until this Friday ONLY!

Would love if you could share this page and template with your Associates.

Any feedback would be most welcome. You can reach me directly at Ness@CreativNess.com.

I appreciate you,

Ness

P.S. Don’t forget to grab your elegant feature sheet here and share this sweet deal with your Associates so they too can buy their own customizable template.