InfiNET Marketing

Word of Mouth Marketing Needs to Come from Someone Else’s Mouth

Today I found out that our Danville San Ramon Real Estate Blog is ranked in the Top 100 real estate blogs by Technorati. It got me to thinking about marketing, rankings, blogging, branding – you know, the whole gamut of getting the word out about your business or service.

In the this fast-paced world of Internet everything, your business needs to be like a shark – no, not predatory – it needs to keep moving or die. Sharks need to keep moving to breathe. Business needs to keep moving, evolving, morphing to keep abreast of trends, tastes and innovation – try selling a rotary dial phone to a restaurateur, without the retro motif.

Inbound, Outbound, Upside, Downside – Marketing lives and dies by word of mouth. Sooner or later, the customer has the final say on success and longevity.

Walk the talk – we hear it over and over again – image and actions need to match the messages and the promises. It’s not a rare occurrence to find myself thinking – Who you are is speaking louder than words!

What’s in YOUR marketing message?

Driving sales is pointless (in many businesses) without the hope of repeat sales. Even in a business like real estate where it may be 5 or 10 years between home purchases, word of mouth marketing is the repeat sale.

Anyone can dress in a suit and present a professional image, but do their actions, words and integrity permeate their business deals and life. Success at business means success at life. We can’t turn our integrity on and off. That kind of belief seeps through our pores and eventually surfaces into the awareness of our clients and customers.

REALTORs share something with used-car salesmen – the general public’s bad opinion of them. These are two of the professions that are way down on the public’s confidence/integrity meter.

The gent in the pic above looks professional and reliable, though his message may be more about him than you. Spend a few minutes in a room listening to him and we might begin to see him like the gent to the right.

Be all that you can be.   Be the best that you can be.

These words sound great, even inspiring, but they’re just words – look at the difference in image behind them and what they are being used for – day & night.

I can’t hear you – who you are is speaking louder than words!

Internet Marketing is a Must Have for Any Business

Back in 1997 it was difficult to convince business owners that they needed a website. A website, at that time, was way down on the list of priorities for most business owners. It was unfortunate, because the early adopters are reaping the rewards of great search engine placement and will be for years to come – if they keep up with the ever changing face of Internet marketing.

We recently took on a guitar instructor as a client. These days, we don’t go seeking business as we are busy enough. Friends with projects keep approaching us and if it grabs our interest, we will help them with the basics of Internet marketing.

Internet marketing works for any business whether it is recycling used cooking oil, providing temporary fencing, or renting portable toilets.

Selling real estate in San Ramon & Danville CA remains one of our priorities.

Each business has its challenges and needs when it comes to Internet marketing as does keeping up with the ever evolving Internet.

Unwarranted Bank Fee Costs Chase Bank Another Customer

I had my brother write me a check on his Chase Bank business account to reimburse me for a business expense I covered. Thinking it would be no problem to cash the check at his Chase Bank in San Ramon CA, I headed over there.

It was no problem – as long as I was willing to let Chase Bank charge me a $6 fee to cash a check written on their bank because I didn’t have an account there. Is it any wonder that consumers are fed up with big banks? They seem to have a license to steal from consumers and the support of Congress to boot.

Big banks, like Chase, are in the news a lot these days as consumers and account holders vent their frustration and anger at an institution that seems to hold itself above accountability to it’s depositors. I closed my accounts at Wells Fargo, my father closed his at Bank of America.

Here is what my brother said when I called him and told him that Chase Bank was going to charge $6 to cash the check he had just written to me: “Ever since Chase Bank took over Washington Mutual, they have started charging unwarranted fees and nickle and diming us to death. I’m going to close that account and bank with USAA.”

Well, I’ve been banking with USAA for years now. It’s amazing how small banks can survive and thrive without picking the pockets of their customers. If you use your USAA ATM card at any bank – USAA does not charge a fee for the first 10 ATM withdrawals and refunds up to $15 in other banks’ ATM usage fees each month.

I can’t imagine why an average consumer would continue to do business with a big bank like Chase. They all had a big part in the subprime mess, they had the taxpayers bail them out and then have turned around and started charging their customers unwarranted fees to what? – continue rewarding their executive staffs for decisions that have played a big part in taking the economy to the brink of ruin?

Other than being too lazy to bother, why would anyone continue to bank with the people who seem to think the middle class is there for nothing more than to finance their lifestyle and guarantee profits… oh give me a break! It’s only 6$ here and $5 there and $3 there and…

Here Lies Yahoo – R.I.P. – Born a Visionary, Died Trying

Takeover talk swirls over Yahoo says the headline in USA Today and the first sentence of the article is a question – Is there a “for sale” sign on Yahoo’s front lawn?

Is “Rest in Peace” inevitable for Yahoo!? What a shame that would be. Yahoo! once a visionary and leader in online community dying a languishing death which in my opinion is the result of one thing – lack of real vision.

Like many Internet success stories, Yahoo! began with dynamic vision, but also like many Internet successes Yahoo! has fallen victim to a loss of visionary capacity that seemed unable to keep up with the light-speed evolution of the Internet and social networking. A little ironic given that Yahoo! was one of the pioneers of online community.

Having been in the business of creating websites and working with small businesses with online marketing since 1995, I have watched Yahoo! slide in relevance from “must have” to just another part of the mix. In accessing my gray-matter data bank, my search results say that I have used Yahoo! less than half a dozen times in the past year for anything of significance.

What Yahoo! needs to survive is a radical new vision and course of action that takes it off the “following everyone else” path (hoping to get a piece of the pie) and onto a completely new path that would have everyone else jumping tracks to get a piece of Yahoo’s pie.

How could they do this? Simple, in my opinion. But, then all I have is a simple vision, something that is hard to sell these days to businesses crowded with tenth-generation MBAs who know so much, but seem to lack the creative, dynamic vision to even save Yahoo! with all of its resources and talent.

REALTORS, Farming & the Cash Cow or Golden Goose

Seldom do we find money growing on trees, a goose laying golden eggs or the proverbial cash cow in our backyard. Many successful REALTORS have the next best thing, a farm that produces real estate transactions year after year. Successful farming in real estate takes commitment, consistency and perseverance. Read the rest of this entry »

Be a Niche Expert

Choosing the right niche market in real estate can be as easy as going with your established expertise & experience. When we are passionate about something, we generally become very knowledgeable about it. What are you passionate about? Where’s your expertise? Read the rest of this entry »

Real Estate Niches (Riches)

Four things to consider when deciding on YOUR niche:

1)   Is this niche enough to sustain your business model? Know your numbers.

2)   Can you easily access this target group?

3)   How will you connect with this group? How do they like to communicate?

4)   Do you have an affinity or commonality for this group? How can you build relationship with this segment? Read the rest of this entry »

Social Media Capital‘s ROI

The return on investment for implementing a social media marketing strategy for your business comes in two forms: 1) revenue and 2) social media capital. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s Your Social Media Value Proposition?

Every friend or follower needs to realistically represent real potential business and not just increased numbers. Why? Because social media is about building relationships and engaging people in ongoing conversations. This increases the time and attention demands of that relationship and exponentially increases the demands on your time and attention as your networks grow – unless you believe that broadcasting will grow your business. Read the rest of this entry »

Social Media and the Law of Attraction

Are you unwittingly applying the Law of Distraction to your online marketing efforts?

If we want to use social media effectively to bring in new business, we need to apply the “law of attraction” to our efforts. Simply put, the social media law of attraction is this – every action we take is intended to attract the attention & interest of potential clients. If our interest in using social media is to increase our business and branding, then this has to be our fundamental orientation. Read the rest of this entry »