Austin Real Estate

Push a Button - Make a Sale!

2008-02-07T05:58:00.000-08:00

"Successful marketing campaigns have an obligation to push certain buttons of its targeted audience when trying to market high-dollar real estate to their customer."

Buyers and Sellers have similar buttons (other than the price point) and they need to have these buttons identified and pushed.

A home that sells for at least $750,000 is considered to be a luxury home. This pricing range has always been an active one here in Austin because of the affluent people that live here.

To attract this demographic, the best way to "push their button" is to take your sales message to the Internet. Afterall, this is the most likely search source medium that will be used by this up-scale client. In fact, 80% of all real estate transactions begin with the Internet.

Realtors use this medium because it gives them an arena in which to display their market expertise. It's a billboard on the highway.

Like well positioned billboards on the Internet super highway, the Austin Real Estate Network has already carved out these “Top Page” search positions for luxury homes, golf homes, and waterfront home properties on the major search engines like Google and Yahoo.

Monarch Tower - A Metamorphosis.

2007-11-13T07:39:00.000-08:00

Like the Monarch Butterfly, the Monarch Tower downtown high-rise is changing itself again into an apartment project.

This decision comes at a time when all eyes are on Austin's burgeoning downtown condo market and it's celebrated success.

Despite sales averaging one a day, the investors in the project apparently needed a faster turnaround for the expected R.O.I. as agreed to originally.

The fact that the investors were from Orlando, one could only speculate that their concerns were mostly fueled by a recent condo sales drop in that area coupled with higher than expected building costs, rather that a fear of a market slowdown here in Austin.

It should also be pointed out that there original plan for the project was for apartments in the first place, so their actions could be based on chasing a market entry point for the investment. This flip-flop reversal has more to do with market timing in determining the highest and best use of the project rather than housing demand in downtown Austin.

Whether or not the rental or the buying model for this project will prove best, one point remains - downtown market demand is strong regardless of the recent weakening credit markets, over-cautious media speculation or the inevitable "doom and gloom" scenario's of those who have not experienced the "mystique" of Austin, Texas.

Read This Blog .. or the Dog Gets it!

2007-06-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION ?
Well then, let's talk promotion.
Remember the "Shoot the Dog" issue of the National Lampoon magazine in the early 70's?

Some suggestions I've heard for increasing website traffic have been almost as radical in nature.

The dog gimmick sold a lot of magazines then and probably would work just as well today. Why ? ... well they knew their audience and they surmised that the animal rights advocates would create a firestorm of exposure for them. Likewise, they knew that their hardcore readers would buy the magazine just to see if the dog really got shot. Either way, the campaign was considered a success.

Attempts at exposure to potential home buyer clients require no less of an effort. Real Estate web marketing efforts have to reach a different type of consumer, however. Home shoppers these days are Internet savvy, very busy and mostly immune to earlier techniques that had them clicking on everything that moved, blinked, or even threatened them with whacking their dog.

Achieving this exposure surely begins with good search engine placement and a variety of other S.E.O techniques, but showcasing a superior product or service is actually a lot harder. If you stand out from your competitors, then make sure you have a quality- professionally designed website that indicates to your visitors that you are this superior option.

Designing and maintaining a web site of this calibre requires tons of effort and will require spending endless time in the trenches learning proper coding techniques and implementing good S.E.O. procedures. Once you have these basics mastered, (and you have taken time out to sell some Real Estate along the way) you might also consider joining a focused marketing network. Find one that covers the areas that match your property expertise in order to benefit from the additional traffic boost that they can provide. How do you find them? Well search engines ... of course.

Agents that spend the time required for success in Internet Marketing will certainly be amply rewarded for their efforts, but remember this...

Personal marketing is sort of like driving on the Autobahn. You have to know what you are doing - and keep watch in the rear-view mirror.

Animated Characters on Web Sites

2007-05-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

Research says that people are more comfortable with human type characters welcoming or directing their actions on web sites as compared to text forms of navigation.

Animated talking characters (A.T.C's) are visual, life-like talking personalities that can be embedded into any type of web site to provide introductory info or message targeting guidance to potential customers.

Acceptance by Realtors of this marketing approach and others including blogs and podcasts, will still require time -- and a proven degree of success.

A.T.C's won't make a sale ... but they will generate a lead, if you know how to construct your message to be effective.

Will Blogs and Pods make Bucks for Realtors

2006-07-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

Will Blogs and Podcasts become effective marketing for Realtors.
See what Austin's Top Realtors say about this subject.