About Walworth County, WI

If you don't have time to blog, vlog, podcast, socially network, face your consumers belly to belly, email or call your prospects and current and past clients, list houses, show houses, write contracts or close on houses it's because you are draining your solopreuner resources on tasks that aren't revenue producing.

Even if you have a business plan you can become TRAPPED in the unproductive money sucking tasks that don't bring you in any money. Free yourself from the cycle now by delegating or outsourcing,

• Listing Coordination- Setting appointments, providing detailed reporting feedback to the sellers, Creating open house flyers and packages
• Marketing Collateral Design- Creating flyers, brochures, postcards, email newsletters
• Lead Management- Managing a database of prospects, sending e-newsletters, delegating leads to team partners, following up on referrals
• Website Design-Creating a website and managing a website, SEO, PPC Campaigns
• Marketing- Creating and executing a marketing strategy, keeping up with marketing trends, analyzing marketing.

If you will not delegate or outsource any of these activities don't be surprised that you don't have time for the activites that make the money like,

• Vlog
• Blog
• Podcast
• Socially Network
• Belly to Belly meetings
• Personal Emails
• Call Clients and Prospects
• List and show houses
• Write Contracts
• Close on Houses

It's not about spending money to make money. It's about using your resources wisely and concentrating on the money making activities. Ask yourself one question....Where do you want to be? What activities will bring you closer to where you want to be.

Connection to Close doesn't come from remaining passive on the backend.

Step out of the venus fly trap and concentrate on the money work. You will be glad you did.

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Real Skillz loves it when real estate professionals devotes their time to the money work. Want to learn more about outsourcing some real estate marketing tasks while maintaining control of your brand and your business? Call #262-203-5231 or email rebecca@realestateskillz.com

I have been reading many different posts, articles, watching videos and my eyes are starting to blur. I see there is another $15,000 tax credit being discussed for first time home buyers that some want extended to all buyers, all investors, with no required payback.

Borrow, borrow, and more borrowing.

California is ready to issue IOU's for state tax refunds...not sure if they will be sending checks for education or welfare at this point. Wisconsin is down to it's last 1 1/2 days of operating capital.

Yet still we want to spend more.

$850 TO $950 Billion to $1 Trillion....I read somewhere today a figure of $1.5 trillion. Last evening they announced an unemployment rate that was double that of last year. At 7.6% officially, unofficialy at 13.9%. The lifeblood of any economy, a working population, is quavering in the wind.

So we can keep on throwing pieces of paper at the economy to try to bring back a false foundation....OR we can start looking in the mirror and prepare for the ride. We can learn that in sacrifice a cleansing can occur or we can continue to live in fear and prolong this smoke and mirrors economy.

My vote, though it's tough for me to concede, is the first....BECAUSE I don't want to live in fear based decision making. Whatever happened to "Change?" I don't like the idea of my grandchildren shouldering a burden that my generation helped to create.

That just doesn't seem fair.

Someone show me how we are not setting up for an even worse downturn and relying on borrowed money that we don't have. AGAIN.

I've been on a website kick lately.  In the evolving process of having my website built, and my eight years of exploration into real estate websites I find that my blog serves as a great platform for me to lay down the tracks for a real estate evolution.

I am talking about a website revolution.  Come and join me.

What is the gab that keeps most real estate websites in a state of past grace?  Statistics that tell you,

"Eighty-seven percent of all home buyers and 94 percent of buyers aged 25 to 44 years used the Internet to search for homes."- NAR Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers 2008

Home buyers are online in droves and they are looking for real estate listings, home value information, community information.  Who am I to disagree?  I don't.  What I do say is why be ordinary when you can be extraordinary.  Home buyers (and sellers) expect to see the staples on your website.  Real estate listings, home values, and community information are staples and they should be prominently placed, beautifully displayed, and updated often.

Can you name any business that was hugely successful by remaining ordinary?  I can't.  Even Krispy Kreme was hugely successful by selling ordinary donuts in an extraordinary way.  When they stopped selling warm Krispy Kremes at stores and started stocking the shelves of grocery stores with cold, ordinary donuts they eroded their branding and became a muted label.  Dunkin Donuts, on the other hand, has re-emerged in regular street conversations.

Are you with me now?  Be an outkast.  Build a website meant to last and outlast the competition. I'm reaching inside the archives of my blog to give you a step by step and show you how.

 

STEP 1- Research

You are never going to get the results that you desire unless you realize what a website can do for you.  What do you want to offer to your customers? Dream and think big.  If you were buying or selling a house what kind of information would you like in one place without searching a million places on the internet?  Write those down. 

Get educated on what website offerings exist to satisfy your needs.  Write those down.  Your list should be full now.  Take that list and start shopping for website vendors.  Interview at least three.  Remember this is your prime storefront real estate.

Push the Easy Button to Prevent Buyers Remorse

 

STEP 2- Plan

Real estate buyers are coming online primarily to research real estate listings.  Except for the national websites outside of the industry real estate buyers do not know that they can expect anything else from a real estate agent or brokerage's website.  The expectation for the home buyers just isn't there based on their general experiences.

You will get leads from having listing information on your site.  I am moving this conversation beyond the age old debate of the lead form.  Go one step further and give home buyers a pleasant surprise by giving them more than they had anticipated. 

 

The give and take away of real estate websites....How much freedom should there be?

 

STEP 3- Touch Up

Existing websites need maintenanceand touch ups.  Here are two posts with 7 ideas you can use for new or existing websites.  I hope they trigger your real skillz.  You've got some great information to share with home buyers and sellers who need guidance now more than ever.  Don't hold back anymore.

1-2-3 Easy Updates for Website Relevancy Today

Pre-Spring Cleaning:  How to Stage Your Internet Storefront and Create an Engaging Presence

Here's one more idea to round out the list to an even number eight (the number or prosperity, yes I have a lot of modern day hippie in me).  Continue to keep yourself abreast of trends in other industries that you can translate to your real estate website offerings.  You will find plenty of inspiration in other industries, read ReadWriteWeb,  WebsiteMagazine, and Revenue .

 

Three steps, a little reading, and an action plan.  Be an Outkast and build a website meant to last and outlast the competition.

Start a revolution and build a generation of new websites that REALLY connect with home buyers and sellers.

You have GOT THIS.  You know you'll be just fine.

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Beware Facebook Wall Messages About SinkStumble.com

by Ari Herzog on December 21, 2008 · 92 comments

UPDATED: January 7, 2009

If you received a message on your Facebook wall about pictures on sinkstumble.com or any of the below sites, it is a scam as I explain farther down. DO NOT VISIT THE SITES!

bakespoil.com
barkjump.com
blendgrowl.com
blinksnap.com
boaststing.com
broilwish.com
buzzpaddle.com
cackletoss.com
climbfloat.com
crawlwhip.com
cryhike.com
cutboast.com
dashpush.com
floatclick.com
frightenfrighten.com
groanhop.com
hiderush.com
laughbang.com
laughrattle.com
mixclang.com
passbump.com
poachbang.com
pretendbump.com
pretendtoss.com
ringgrowl.com
sailroast.com
screamcaw.com
screechclimb.com
spoilgiggle.com
spoilhike.com
spoilroll.com
spoilsail.com
sprayboil.com
stalkblast.com
stuffcrush.com
stuffrattle.com
swimhum.com
swimstroll.com
voteboil.com
voterub.com
wagfloat.com
waveshiver.com
wrestlegrowl.com

At some point over the past 24 hours, Las Vegas resident Victoria David (which I'm guessing is a fake name, due to the husband-wife Beckham couple) registered a domain called sinkstumble.com.

If you visit the site, a series of windows pop open (that my ad blocker did not detect), warning you about pictures, IP addresses, and asking you to type some data.

Do not type anything!

I don't know how it started, but in my own case, a high school classmate wrote the following message on my Facebook wall:

I don't know if you know but your pictures are on sinkstumble com

It's not a website link, so any victims are manually typing (or copying and pasting) that address into their browser location bar. If you do so, and follow the instructions, you will be typing in the name of the friend who sent you to the site, then your name and email address. Then... the phishing takes over and sends the same message to every friend of yours, writing on their walls what "my friend" wrote on mine.

Get it?

I initially visited the site from my primary browser, and was forced to shut down the browser. I then tried from a different browser of mine with more rigid security settings, using fictitious names and email addresses. At that point, there is a friendly reminder not to click random links. But to get to that point, you're spamming your friends.

Don't go there. Hopefully, the site will be shut down in the next day or two...

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For the past several years, and again, just recently, a customer has resurfaced that has strange behaviors!!!!!!!

Actually, this couple have imposed on more than 7 of our agents (that we know of), over time, to see an assortment of homes. They've played ‘games', in making verbal offers, but not following up in signing the written contract - getting info from you while you're on floor, but then showing up at a different office, expecting that agent to show the home - and most recently, lying about their name and address, so you'd have no ability to track them.

The lying has escalated their behavior to a new level of concern. I wouldn't expect that they'd cause harm to anyone or the homes they're looking at - but, they're sure wasting our time.

Just a heads up that if you find yourself in a position to show homes, to any customers you've just met, it would be prudent to ask to see their ID or driver's license.

When a Co-Worker of mine meets a customer she's unfamiliar with, she calls her home and leaves the Buyer's car license-plate number on her answering service, so that if something would happen, they can be traced. (great suggestion)

Just a heads up. From an Email I received from a Realtor in our area in Elkhorn, Wisconsin