Do you ever tick boxes for things, despite them not sitting quite right with you? But because it is a common step and a universally acknowledged and sensible thing to do, you just run with something anyhow.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. It seems like today, more than ever before, people have less and less free time and more things demanding time and attention.
Having a Facebook business page was a box that we ticked for some time. We had a page, it had our credentials on it, contact information, you know the rest.
We know that it is deemed to be a crucial, essential presence for a business.
We know that Facebook is a powerhouse and owns many apps that we love and use, such as Instagram.
We know that Facebook folk may find out that we removed our neat, friendly little business from its community and give us a big digital thumbs down (read: limit our reach on other apps!).
We know that it can be a phenomenal online space and community for businesses, groups and people to communicate from all corners of the globe to drum up business and projects.
We know that one day we may have more reasons to have a page, than not to, and may start one up again. This decision is reversible.
Facebook can do AMAZING things for people and businesses, we get it. Perhaps just not for us…
We even tried Facebook’s advertising, with several targeted campaigns. But – it did jack for us in terms of reach and numbers.
And really, although this lovely business of ours is growing and we find ourselves just loving new opportunities and where they are taking us, we just weren’t feeling Facebook as being key. It just isn’t key to our growth or an enjoyable facet of our work, if we are being honest.
We often gain new clients in person, through word of mouth, or by random chances. Tanya does plenty of work for clients in far-off places, such as the U.S.A. and India. These clients didn’t pop up on our Facebook Page.
Instead, we felt as thought our page was impeding on our family and friend’s feeds.
When people put their feet up and scroll through their feed for some mental down time and a switch-off from the real world, we didn’t feel like they wanted to see our latest listings, or musings about life as a hired writer.
Our clients and industry colleagues didn’t really need to spend time on our page – we have plenty of other means of communication. So really, getting a ‘like’ from my Mum, as kind as it was, felt like an indication that we didn’t have the reach we wanted, or needed really.
As copywriters, we sell a service, not a product. What we were showcasing on our page, specifically our organic content, really wasn’t being seen by anyone and wasn’t going to change anyone’s lives. Seriously.
We love our work, we are good at what we do, but we weren’t being rewarded by our time on Facebook and it didn’t feel like it was an avenue worth continuing.
We live in a world where people are shuffling around the streets like zombies with their heads down, finding imaginary anime characters (another post in itself!). We daresay that people really don’t want to trawl through the business page of someone who isn’t offering them a service relevant to them, when they can be spending time doing things they enjoy in their free time.
Ciao for now, Facebook.
There are plenty of articles floating around that weigh up the pros and cons of businesses breaking up with Facebook. Some of them had some really resonating points, but there was no particular literature that cemented the decision for us.
It just felt like a box we had ticked, but that our heart wasn’t in.
So we made a business decision to say goodbye to it!
Because when you run a business yourself you make these decisions and wear the consequences or rewards yourself. And it feels damn good to be authentic to our own thoughts and experiences.
So, we work in advertising.
We are professional marketing content writers.
We do use Facebook, in terms of having personal pages. It can provide a really wonderful space to make loved ones on different continents not seem so far away and, of course, to share messages, ideals and raise awareness.
But –
You won’t find The Property Writers creeping into your feed on Facebook (for now, at least!).
So see you elsewhere, folks! (Some not so subtle links below.)
A real estate listing popped up on my Facebook feed yesterday.It was, from the outside, an unassuming brick maisonette in a nondescript Adelaide suburb.So why was my friend, who lives interstate with no plans to move, sharing it? And then it popped up again. And again. It popped up on Twitter by that afternoon. I clicked on the link and looked at the home.
It was extraordinary, for all the wrong reasons.The carpets were brightly patterned and clashed spectacularly with the walls, which in every room were papered with pictures of cats.More pictures dangled from the ceiling in makeshift mobiles.There were shelves and cupboards lining every wall, stuffed full of dolls, toy cats, and more dolls.Bright frilly decor added to the effect, which should have come with a warning for anyone prone to epilepsy.
Wilson Real Estate West Richmond via realestate.com.au
Looking at it, I wondered what the real estate agent was thinking.Had he tried to persuade the vendor that she’d do better to clear out the personal items and pull down the ‘wallpaper’, only to be met with refusal?Or – and this is what intrigued me – had he decided to keep it as it was?
We all know the standard wisdom for home staging.Paint the walls a neutral colour.Rid the rooms of personal items.The less you have inside the house, the bigger it looks.People want to be able to see past your life and superimpose their new one onto the rooms.It’s usually good advice.
But those homes, unless they’re spectacular in their own right, don’t generate social media shares. So, faced with a completely ordinary home in a completely ordinary suburb, did the real estate agent make a very smart decision to leverage the one extraordinary thing about it?
Wilson Real Estate West Richmond via realestate.com.au
But Tanya, you say, if you’re inclined to talk to blog posts, what is the point of exposure if the house puts people off? Well, you’d be surprised what attracts people, for a start.I’ve already seen someone comment on how bright and kitsch the home is, and if she was looking to buy it would be right up her alley.For people who value quirky kitsch in their lives, it’s easier to imagine themselves in a home someone else has already demonstrated can be made to stand out.With hipsters entering the market, retro or ironic furnishings can be a drawcard.
And there’s a second group of buyers that listings like this attract: the bargain hunters.Never underestimate this group.They’re on the lookout for homes that are presented badly, in hopes that they’ll be the only ones who look past the decor to the bones of the structure.Ironically for them, there are so many people in this group that homes which look like bargains can sometimes go for more than the equivalent.
In February of 2016, a Sydney home made the national news when it was discovered that a dead body had been inside for eight years.The place was completely derelict, as the deceased owner had lived there alone and increasingly unwell until her lonely death.Photographs of the home’s interior, with layers of grime, mould and grim disrepair, were shared widely.
The place was auctioned as-is, with no attempts made to clean it up (save, of course, for removing the body).Bids started at $600,000 and were expected to finish at around $700,000.Instead, the tidal wave of publicity saw ten interested bidders turn up and compete fiercely, all believing that they were about to grasp a bargain – after all, how many places in inner Sydney would be in this bad a condition?In the end, the house sold for $1.1 million, not far below the median price for an equivalent home in tip-top condition.
Sometimes, a house which is poorly presented looks more attractive to bargain hunters than one which has been done up.So next time you’re landed with a vendor who doesn’t want to spend the money on staging, or a plain old ugly duckling, think outside the box.If nothing else, you’ll get a reputation for honesty, and you might just walk away with a fat commission to boot.
So a couple of weeks ago I wrote about the concept of propinquity, which basically says that the more people interact with you, the more they’ll be inclined to both like and trust you.Useful to keep in mind in an industry which is always struggling against the perception of untrustworthiness, right?
And I also said that I’d talk more about how to do that in the online environment. Because it’s no longer enough to sponsor the local Christmas Pageant or have your face on the side of a bus: both millennials and Gen Xers, are living their lives on the internet, and plenty of them are also looking to buy houses.They want to see that you’re a real person, and that you know your stuff, and you can do that by putting in some time online.
1. Make your website compelling
You no doubt have a website, with your current property listings available for searching.But what is drawing readers to your site in the first place?Why will potential new vendors click on that URL as opposed to the one down the road?Maybe they’ve seen your name on billboards around their areas or your shopfront has caught their eye, but you can also do a lot to make sure that your site pops up at the top of a generic search using great web copy with SEO-optimised content and a good web designer.
But great web copy only gets you so far.Remember, the aim here is to make you seem familiar before the vendor decides to find an agent.You already do this in the real world, so what you’re going for here is the equivalent of driving down a street and seeing your thoughtful, eye-catching billboards every day.
2. Make your content fresh
This is where content marketing comes in.Before a vendor has decided whether to list their properties, they’ve been researching online.They’ve costed out a renovation (too pricy!), they’ve looked at how much their area’s appreciated, they’ve done some thinking about where the best schools are or whether there are any beach suburbs that are still affordable.If your site is offering information on those peripheral issues (and the list is endless!), and they’ve read your articles, then you’re becoming both familiar, and an expert, in the back of their mind.
3. Write for other sources
It doesn’t just have to be your own website on which you’re sharing all of this: plenty of larger, high-traffic site will accept sponsored content from contributors.That means that instead of paying for an advert on a website, you’re providing them with an informative article.They save on staff writers and have quality to offer their readers, and you as the contributor have got your name out there for people to remember.
And if you’re blanching at the very idea of writing for a high traffic website, here’s the biggest secret of all: ghostwriters don’t just work with books.
4. Maintain a social media presence
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram…the number of social media platforms is growing all the time.Depending on your goals and objectives, you can maintain a social media presence across several platforms or just a few.The important thing is that you understand how each platform works, and you’re prepared to post regularly.The etiquette of social media requires that you interact with your audience, rather than just posting links: try and stick to an 80:20 rule where no more than 20% of your posts are promoting native content. Respond to posts by other people, thank them for their interactions with you, and forge connections.You’re showing people who you are, and the more natural that comes across, the better.You can outsource this work as well, by the way, but it’s important to maintain your voice, so if you can find the time to do it yourself, all the better.
If all of this seems overwhelming, remember you don’t have to do it all at once.Pick a quiet time of year – winter is coming! – and put aside some time to improve one avenue first of all.A neglected social media presence is almost worse than none at all, so start with the thing you’re confident you can maintain and add things as time permits.We’ll be publishing more how-to articles on each of these subjects, so check back in with us as you go!
A spike in online review sites such as RateMyAgent and ProductReview has consumers turning to the internet for guidance, and agents are worried. Your newsletter mailing campaign might be glossy, and your signage slick, but consumers are less likely than ever before to judge an agent by its cover. With the most recent Roy Morgan poll showing that real estate agents are amongst the least trusted professions in the country (even Federal MPs rated higher!) the power of online review sites is even greater.
Across all industries, buyers are completing more and more research before contacting a supplier.In fact, 57% of the purchase process is complete before you even hear from a potential vendor; they’ve done that part of the process by researching you, your competitors, their property value and expectations, and their findings will mean the difference between a phone call to you or to your arch-rival across the street.What you say and do after they’ve made contact is hugely influential, but it’s not the main part of the sales task.
So if the majority of the purchasing process happens before you make contact, and consumers are increasingly placing their trust in online review sites, you need a new approach.The good news is with a smart strategy in place, you can get out ahead of the pack and influence online spaces to drive more business to your door.
1. Be across your reviews.Knowledge is power, and although you don’t want to leap in and respond to every scathing comment (more on that below), you do need to know what’s being said about you. Google Alerts is a great tool to get notifications – set it up to email you if your name is mentioned, for example – but it can be spotty.In the end there’s no substitute for time; bookmark the major players in the review space and check them at least twice a week.
2. Be responsive.If there is a specific complaint online, respond to it politely.That applies whether the disgruntled consumer is posting on ProductReview or Facebook; either way, you have an audience that is wider than that consumer, and if it appears that you’re ignoring the issue, it doesn’t reflect well.Conversely, a quick and appropriate response is often even better for your reputation than if there had been no bad review in the first place; it shows that your reviews are genuine and that you are sincere.
3. Be brief and dignified.The above certainly doesn’t mean that online is the place to air your own views at length!Please, please don’t be one of those owners who posts a multi-paragraph rant in response to a customer complaint and finds themselves the centre of more attention than you’d wish.
4. Encourage satisfied customers to post reviews.To be clear, we’re not encouraging you to solicit fake reviews or pay people to submit things they don’t believe.But if your vendor has told you how thrilled they are with your services, why not ask them to post that opinion online?It is a truism in customer service that disgruntled consumers are more likely to be vocal than satisfied ones; a simple request is often all it takes to right that balance.
All of this takes time, and if time is short, consider outsourcing the tasks as part of your overall social media strategy.We at the Property Writers will monitor your online reviews and bring anything that needs personalised attention straight to you, all as part of the package! Contact us for quotes.
