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Zillow Veteran Joins Tech Leader MoxiWorks to Continue Strong Growth
SEATTLE, December 3, 2019 – MoxiWorks, the leading real estate technology platform, today welcomes thought leader Bret Calltharp to its business development powerhouse. Calltharp previously served as Zillow Group’s Industry Outreach Director and brings over 15 years of extensive real estate knowledge to the team.
“My greatest joy over the years has been connecting with incredible broker and agent entrepreneurs and helping them improve strategy, systems, and bottom lines,” said Calltharp, now Director of Business Development at MoxiWorks. “I knew I wanted to get back into the trenches and work more closely with the people that are the heart of this industry, so over the past few months, I met with a wide array of franchises and PropTech firms searching for the right opportunity.”
“After meeting with York, Georgia, and the rest of the team, I felt right away that MoxiWorks was my new home,” continued Calltharp. “MoxiWorks’ people, products, and most of all, passion, made it feel like the perfect fit. They’re in amazing growth mode, especially with the recent acquisition of Imprev, and I feel incredibly aligned with the vision of helping brokerages and agents via real estate tools that agents actually want to use.”
A Kansas native, Calltharp entered the real estate industry in Southwest Florida, first in luxury property management before moving to residential real estate in 2004. He worked driving business development and talent attraction at RE/MAX franchise groups in the U.S. and Canada, later joining Realogy/Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate as Director of Talent Attraction and Consulting before moving to Zillow Group in 2018.
Calltharp is an Inman News Contributor and has been featured in the National Association of REALTORS® REALTOR® Magazine, REAL Trends LORE Magazine, and the Huffington Post. He is a five-time Inman Ambassador selection and has spoken at multiple RE/MAX, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, and other Realogy-brand conferences, as well as Inman Connect.
“I’m so thrilled to have Bret join the MoxiWorks family,” shared Georgia Perez, VP of Business Development and Product Evangelism at MoxiWorks. “Bret will be adding his considerable talents and deep knowledge of the Real Estate industry to the Moxi sales team. In Bret’s prior roles at both Zillow and BHG, his primary focus was developing productivity, profitability and success strategies for their affiliates. This is exactly what we do at Moxi, and we are delighted to have Bret. His experience in the industry allows him to understand the challenges
that brokers, and agents face every day and recommend flexible solutions that are tailored exactly to their needs. He’s going to accomplish amazing things.”
About MoxiWorks
MoxiWorks is a comprehensive open platform system for large residential real estate brokerages that serves over 260 brokerages and 340,000 agents nationwide that account for more than 13% of the transactions in the U.S. MoxiWorks’ customer retention over the past seven years stands proudly at 96%. Their integrated tools are centered on sphere methodology that increases agents’ repeat and referral business by 54%, while lowering overall technology, training, and support costs for the brokerage. The open platform known as the MoxiCloud has tools from more than 50 partners such as RealScout, DocuSign, Buyside, QuantumDigital, MoveEasy, and more that create unique brokerage solutions. MoxiWorks also powers the LeadingRE Cloud. Find more information at moxiworks.com.
MoxiWorks – Let’s sell more homes together
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For more information on this topic and other press inquiries at MoxiWorks, please contact Jordan Barrish at jordan.barrish@moxiworks.com.
MoxiWorks Acquires Imprev, the Best-in-Class Marketing Automation Service
SEATTLE, November 12, 2019 – MoxiWorks, the leading real estate technology platform, today announced it has acquired Imprev, the best-in-class provider of real estate marketing automation services. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. This follows the recent addition of Vector Capital as a significant financial investor.
Imprev’s marketing service fully automates the creation of digital, social media, and print property marketing materials throughout the lifecycle of a brokerage’s listings, ensuring optimum marketing practices and brand consistency across the brokerage. Imprev and MoxiWorks already share a deep integration and will now operate as one entity.
York Baur, CEO of MoxiWorks, said, “This unique partnership is highly strategic and benefits Imprev and MoxiWorks’ employees, and most importantly, our collective customers. It is in the truest sense, a win-win for everyone.”
This acquisition furthers MoxiWorks’ mission to become the premier open platform for the entire real estate industry. Customers of both companies should expect to enjoy all current services without disruption.
“Imprev has always put brokers and agents first. Our focus on customers has been the key to Imprev’s success and was an absolute requirement when selecting the team to take Imprev into the future. In MoxiWorks we found the same entrepreneurial and customer centric DNA as Imprev and we look forward to seeing our technology continue to scale with the full support of MoxiWorks and Vector Capital,” said Renwick Congdon, founder and CEO of Imprev.
Robert Amen, Managing Director of Vector Capital, said, “We are pleased to support MoxiWorks’ acquisition of Imprev as it continues its relentless focus on its customers, client satisfaction, and deep, cross-industry relationships. Imprev enhances MoxiWorks’ technology and product offering and furthers the company’s ongoing mission to make real estate technology more automated.”
Adding Imprev’s marketing automation to MoxiWorks’ sphere-based CRM, MoxiEngage, leading CMA interactive presentation product, MoxiPresent, recruiting system, marketing suite, websites, intranet, and the renowned MoxiCloud open platform, will continue efforts to help brokers, agents, and teams increase productivity, lower costs, and better manage the home buying and selling processes.
Baur added, “We are thrilled to welcome each and every member of the Imprev team to MoxiWorks (as Moxians!) and are excited to start 2020 with all engines roaring. We are looking forward to seeing all that we can accomplish together.”
About MoxiWorks
MoxiWorks is a comprehensive open platform system for large residential real estate brokerages that serves over 80 brokerages and 130,000 agents nationwide that account for more than 13% of the transactions in the U.S. MoxiWorks’ customer retention over the past seven years stands proudly at 96%. Their integrated tools are centered on sphere methodology that increases agents’ repeat and referral business by 54%, while lowering overall technology, training, and support costs for the brokerage. The open platform known as the MoxiCloud has tools from more than 50 partners that integrate to create unique brokerage solutions. MoxiWorks also powers the LeadingRE Cloud. Find more information at moxiworks.com.
About Imprev
Many of the most respected brands in real estate trust Imprev’s Marketing Automation Services to set themselves apart from their competition. With Imprev, brokerages automatically create and continually update fully-branded print, digital, and social media marketing packages for all their agents’ listings, giving them a recruiting edge and driving unprecedented brand consistency. Launched in 2001 and constantly updated, the Imprev platform powers the marketing centers for hundreds of brokerages and franchises—representing over 20% of real estate agents in North America—including franchises RE/MAX, LLC, Coldwell Banker® Real Estate, Corcoran Group, and NextHome, as well as top brokerages including Douglas Elliman Real Estate, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, Edina Realty, and Hunt Real Estate. Imprev also powers marketing automation for Homes.com. Discover more at www.imprev.com.
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For more information on this topic and other press inquiries at MoxiWorks, please contact Marc Chouaniere at marcc@moxiworks.com.
API Nation: MoxiWorks Onboarding Just Got Even EASIER
By Tiana Baur, Marketing Manager
October 30, 2019
In our forever quest to provide the best tools, services, and experience to our clients, we continue to grow and expand the MoxiCloud open platform. For us, making onboarding easy is a major priority and we’re proud of just how easy that process has become. However, like technology, onboarding can always get better and faster as well, which is why we’ve partnered with API Nation to make our easy onboarding process even easier.
How it Works
Changing technology solutions can be hard, especially when you have to move over years and years of contacts, that sometimes even exist in different places. Now you can bid tedious file work adieu. Instead of having to go through the often-painstaking process of moving over your own contacts to a new CRM, API Nation quickly and accurately syncs them into your MoxiEngage CRM account for you!
Agents can bring over full contact information, including notes and custom fields (yay!), and API Nation automatically imports and ensures 100% integrity of that data, so agents can rest easy knowing that every important piece in their sphere is in MoxiEngage and ready to go. That means all of your client’s birthdays, house-iversaries, and more will seamlessly move into your new CRM.
The entire process only takes about two minutes to set up and one minute to complete. We know, how fast, right?! If you’re currently a user of MoxiEngage you can try it out for yourself here!
More on how this integration works here.
More on API Nation
The heart and soul of API Nation is very similar to that of MoxiWorks, which is what makes this partnership and integration that much more exciting! Since launching, API Nation has been working to connect software systems and expand their power and reach by building and automating workflows between them.
From sharing contacts with marketing systems, pulling real estate listings from MLSs into brokers’ tools, to automating e-commerce orders, invoices, shipments, and payments, each app they connect, and each workflow they build, saves thousands of hours and brain cells from mundane, tedious work.
We’re so excited to have you on the MoxiCloud open platform, API Nation!
Chase International Chooses MoxiWorks to Fuel Entire Tech Suite
SEATTLE, October 23, 2019 – One of the nation’s most successful independent real estate firms, Chase International, has chosen to expand its relationship with MoxiWorks, a leading real estate technology company. The expansion includes an entire suite of MoxiWorks products, including MoxiEngage CRM, MoxiWebsites, and MoxiHub intranet, which will accompany their existing tools, the best-in-class MoxiPresent interactive CMA tool and MoxiMarketing, easy online advertising for listings and services.
“We’ve long enjoyed working with Chase International, who have had incredible success with MoxiPresent, and are thrilled to be adding the full suite of MoxiWorks products which will have an immense impact on their agents’ productivity,” said Georgia Perez, VP of Business Development and Product Evangelism at MoxiWorks. “Julie Kozich, who joined Chase earlier this year as their Chief Real Estate Officer, has driven massive gains for her prior companies using the MoxiEngage productivity CRM, and we feel very fortunate to be working with Julie again to benefit Chase.”
Their new CRM tool, MoxiEngage, is proven to increase an agent’s business by 54% on average, while their existing CMA presentation tool, MoxiPresent, enables agents to enjoy 43% more transactions each year. Together with MoxiWebsites, MoxiHub, and the best performing ads tool on the market, Promote by MoxiMarketing, agents are guaranteed to up their productivity and in turn, their sales volume.
York Baur, CEO of MoxiWorks, said, “We’re very excited that Chase International decided to expand their partnership with us and onboard more Moxi goodness that will help their agents achieve greater success in their real estate businesses and help them delight their clients time and time again.” MoxiWorks’ dedication to their clients is proven through their customer retention over the past seven years, which stands proudly at 96%.
Perez added, “Chase International has a stellar brand that is equated with luxury and excellence in Lake Tahoe and the surrounding communities. They have an amazing corporate culture, and truly love and support their agents in building the businesses of their dreams.”
About Chase International
Chase International is the #1 real estate firm in the Tahoe-Reno region. Founded in 1986, Chase International is a dynamic real estate firm with a heart-centered approach, committed to the success of its clients, sales associates, staff and community. With more than 350 professional Realtors® representing homes at all price points, the company is proud to be the market leader, achieving the highest 2018 volume in the region with nearly $1.4 billion in sales. The company currently operates nine offices in Zephyr Cove, Glenbrook, Incline Village, Carson Valley, South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe City, Truckee, Reno, and Sparks, as well as a marketing and PR firm in London. With powerful international connections in place, Chase listings receive maximum industry exposure to potential purchasers worldwide. For more information about Chase International, visit ChaseInternational.com.
About MoxiWorks
MoxiWorks is a comprehensive open platform system for large residential real estate brokerages that serves over 80 brokerages and 130,000 agents nationwide that account for more than 13% of the transactions in the U.S. MoxiWorks’ customer retention over the past seven years stands proudly at 96%. Their integrated tools are centered on sphere methodology that increases agents’ repeat and referral business by 54%, while lowering overall technology, training, and support costs for the brokerage. The open platform known as the MoxiCloud has tools from more than 50 partners that integrate to create unique brokerage solutions. MoxiWorks also powers the LeadingRE Cloud. Find more information at moxiworks.com.
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For more information on this topic and other press inquiries at MoxiWorks, please contact Tiana Baur at tiana@moxiworks.com.
Brace Yourselves: Industry Consolidation is Coming
By York Baur, CEO of MoxiWorks
October 22, 2019
As we race towards 2020, we find ourselves in the late stages of the longest market expansion in United States history, which has led to some of the largest sums ever invested into real estate technology. To put things in perspective, back in 2008 there was only $20 million invested, whereas today that number sits comfortably around $4 billion.
via Forbes
While this is generally a good thing, there is a major thorn in the side of it all: the fact that the early projections for many companies of the amount of investment it would take to achieve success was wildly inaccurate.
Assumptions vs. reality.
The data challenges in residential real estate, combined with the investment required for enterprise-class systems, mean that many companies have underestimated the investment needed to achieve scale and profitability. Not only that, but many technology companies chose to sell directly to real estate agents because to them it looked like a shorter path to revenue. Unfortunately, that carries with it a massive customer churn and high customer acquisition costs, both of which limited the ability to get to meaningful revenue.
All of this makes for many, many companies in the real estate technology struggling to raise money and remain viable. The problem is, how can you tell who will survive and thrive and who will be hanging on for dear life or worse yet, gone altogether?
Brokerages beware: You must vet your technology before you sign the dotted line.
To all brokerage customers out there, beware – you need to research the financial health and financial backing of your vendors or it might end badly. The key is choosing an open platform vendor so that you have flexibility to change products out easily if and when they fail. None of us, me included, can truly know who will win and lose in the technology race so you need to protect your brokerage and agents for whatever the outcome may be.
Industry Consolidation + Risk Aversion
With the recent news of the Soft Bank’s WeWork disappointment and a very uncertain future for their other real estate investments and endeavors, we are going to start seeing risk aversion on the part of investors looking at our industry. Industry consolidation is a natural thing. As everyone races one another, only a handful come out on top. When that happens, the best-in-class products will be acquired and/or merged with other best-in-class products, and those that have struggled will likely lose out.
That’s why a well-capitalized platform provider is also a safer choice because they are in the best position to acquire the companies that are struggling and produce future stability for you and your business. It’s obvious that risk aversion and industry consolidation is near, and everyone better be ready for it when it arrives.
The Hole in Your Brokerage Recruiting Strategy
By Jessie Trapp, Marketing Coordinator
October 18, 2019
We all want to like the people we work with. We want to make sure they’ll show up on time, fit in nicely with the culture, and include deodorant as a staple in their daily routine. But here’s the thing – recruiting solely based on likability and surface-level metrics while putting the data-driven side of things on the back burner won’t take your business to new heights, especially when it comes to the ultra-unique industry we call real estate. You need specific, tailored data – a piece of this industry’s recruiting puzzle that often gets misplaced or overlooked.
Here are a few tips for connecting the dots between knowing that you need to bring on new agents in order to reach your lofty goals, and using data to successfully recruit the right prospective agents to your brokerage. Use these tips to tailor your brokerage recruiting strategy:
Use real estate-specific recruiting technology.
Recruiting in real estate isn’t as simple as browsing through the endless names and grey faces on LinkedIn and sliding into a few prospects’ DMs. In fact, a survey by Capterra Talent Management states that only 36% of candidates are active on LinkedIn, meaning that using LinkedIn to recruit could actually limit your ability you find the right agents. This makes it that much more important that you use an industry-specific system that not only knows where top-producing agents can be found, but also what metrics should be used to gauge whether or not they’re a good fit for your unique brokerage.
Using real estate specific recruiting technology gives recruiters the ability to be more efficient and targeted in their recruiting efforts. It cuts straight to the chase, evaluating only the types of data that matters the most to your brokerage throughout the recruiting process.
Actually use a brokerage recruiting strategy.
It’s not enough to simply have real estate technology in your tech stack. In order to reap the benefits of this technology it must be deeply implemented into your brokerage’s recruiting systems and workflow. The managers using it must understand the expectations associated with it, and receive the training required to use it correctly.
Set your goals.
Each and every one of your recruiting goals should map to your business and revenue goals, period. That means that every agent you bring on board at your brokerage should be a step – no, a leap – towards reaching those goals.
In order for your technology to assist you in reaching your goals, you have to set them in the first place. Be sure to input the specific revenue goals your brokerage has set for itself into your recruiting system before doing anything else. This will ensure accuracy and make sure that you’re able to leverage its features to their full potential.
Use data to identify top producers.
Now that you’ve imputed your goals, it’s time to use data to find the agents you need to reach them. Use the sales data provided by your real estate recruiting tech to evaluate how agents are trending. You’re looking to grow your brokerage, and it’s important to recruit agents who hold that same hunger for growth and success, too.
Use a recruiting flow.
Once you discover the candidates you should be recruiting in order to reach your goals, drop them into a data-backed recruiting flow. Competition for top-producing agents is hot and having these insights into how you should take action can be the determining factor in being able to successfully get them on your team.
This flow should include things like:
- Prioritized tasks, so you know exactly who you should be putting your effort into first.
- Prompted actions, so you know exactly what kinds of things you should be doing.
- Guidance on timing, so you know exactly when you should be making moves.
If your brokerage recruiting strategy and efforts aren’t taking you where you want to go, make sure you’ve checked these boxes off your list of to-dos. The more you leverage real estate recruiting technology, the more seamless and effective your recruiting process will be, and the harder it will become to picture life without it.
Side Partners with MoxiWorks to Add Best-in-Class Technology to its Fully Managed Platform for Top Agents
SEATTLE, October 17, 2019 – Side Inc., the only brokerage that exclusively partners with the best agents, empowering them with proprietary technology and a premier support team so they can be more productive, announced a new partnership with MoxiWorks, a leading real estate technology company.
Side is a unique real estate brokerage based in San Francisco, California that transforms high-performing agents, teams, and independent brokerages into successful businesses and boutique brands that are 100% agent-owned. While Side develops incredible technology in-house, they also partner with innovative technology providers such as MoxiWorks in areas where best-in-class tools already exist, giving their agents a competitive edge.
Nicole Solari, Side partner agent, Founder of Level Up Realty, and leader of the number one agent team in Solano County in transactions and volume said, “Having previously owned my own brokerage, I had to go through software and product selection on my own. Side has a team that does that for me, and I know that they’re thinking about what I do every day because they understand my business.”
All of Side’s technology delivers what top agents want; a fully managed, fully vetted, fully integrated platform that is customizable to each agent’s unique business needs. The entire platform is designed to help agents simplify daily workflows while saving time and increasing productivity.
“One of the biggest factors Side evaluates when considering a technology partnership is whether or not the tool will save agents a significant amount of time on what were previously manual processes. MoxiPresent does an excellent job of this,” said Side CEO, Guy Gal.
MoxiPresent is the unique real estate comparative market analysis (CMA) builder, which enables agents to be true consultants, winning them 43% more business on average. The easy-to-use tool can be used to create CMAs, as well as open house presentations, listing presentations, neighborhood tours, relocation presentations, interactive buyer tours, and additional flexible data-driven presentations to advise clients.
Additionally, MoxiPresent includes always up-to-date MLS data, on-the-fly editing, rich media, beautiful listing flyers, and commute times. Through a recent integration with Buyside, MoxiPresent has become even more powerful, helping facilitate listing conversations around pricing strategy with heatmaps, and bringing potential buyers to the table from the get-go with unique buyer data. Solari said, “I’ve had several clients tell me that they chose me because I came to the presentation prepared.”
“We’re very excited to be teaming up with an innovative technology partner and brokerage that is like-minded in helping make their agents more productive and even better with the people in their spheres,” said York Baur, CEO of MoxiWorks. “Our goal will always be to create great technology that takes the weight off agents’ shoulders and lets them spend more time on the most important part: building and nurturing client relationships.”
Learn more about this new partnership here.
About Side
Side transforms high-performing agents, teams, and independent brokerages into successful businesses and boutique brands that are 100% agent-owned. Side exclusively partners with the best agents, empowering them with proprietary technology and a premier support team so they can be more productive, grow their business, and focus on serving their clients. Side is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information, visit sideinc.com.
About MoxiWorks
MoxiWorks is a comprehensive open platform system for large residential real estate brokerages that serves over 80 brokerages and 130,000 agents nationwide that account for more than 13% of the transactions in the U.S. MoxiWorks’ customer retention over the past seven years stands proudly at 96%. Their integrated tools are centered on sphere methodology that increases agents’ repeat and referral business by 54% while lowering overall technology, training, and support costs for the brokerage. The open platform, known as the MoxiCloud, has tools from more than 50 partners that integrate to create unique brokerage solutions. MoxiWorks also powers the LeadingRE Cloud. Find more information at moxiworks.com.
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For more information on this topic and other press inquiries at MoxiWorks, please contact Tiana Baur at tiana@moxiworks.com
Press Contact
Kris Vann
Side
415-317-7209
twitter: @side_realestate
Real Estate Technology Trends That Can Impact Energy Transformation
By Ashley Lipman, Content marketing specialist
Did you realize that nearly 8 percent of the world’s energy is produced by solar panels and wind turbines? For years, environmental enthusiasts and eco-conscious business owners have longed for the day when energy transformation was a real possibility. As technology rapidly catches up with the visions of these entrepreneurs, energy transformation now seems just out of reach.
While there is still a long way to go when it comes to reducing the dependency on traditional forms of energy, definite strides are being made towards making renewable energy sustainable for all real estate owners.
As any real estate broker will tell you, one of the most common questions they get asked is whether or not a particular property is eco-friendly. Generally, business owners and consumers want to do their part when it comes to protecting the planet. This is why properties with solar panels or access to wind power are such hot commodities.
The following are just some of the innovations that are making impacting the world of energy transformation.
The Energy Storage Revolution
When it comes to balancing the supply of power and the demand a business has, energy storage is a crucial component. Without an energy storage solution, a business will struggle to keep their commercial space going smoothly. The energy storage solutions on the market provide a steady supply of power, even when conditions are not optimal for the production of solar or wind-power.
One of the most common devices to use for energy storage are batteries. As time goes by, professionals in the renewable energy field are finding new and more efficient ways to store solar and wind power on these batteries. With more businesses than ever before attempting to embrace renewable energy sources, the energy storage technology on the market is sure to improve.
The Falling Costs of Renewable Energy is Leading to Grid Parity
Saving money on energy is something most business owners are passionate about. According to EnergyBot, calculating your company’s EnergyScore is the best way to see how to improve efficiency and save money. One of the main hesitations business owners have had when it comes to renewable energy sources is the perceived higher prices of these methods. Grid parity happens when alternative energy sources, like wind and solar, can measure up to the cost and reliability of traditional energy sources.
Many regions have achieved parity when it comes to the price and performance of wind and solar power. The current energy market is based on a large top-down model. In this model, all power is produced at one central source and then distributed to a business. Renewable energy models are far different.
A renewable energy model hinges on evenly distributed power distribution. In the past, many analysts thought that incorporating renewable energy sources into the existing power grid was impossible. With the use of AI and blockchain technology, using renewable sources of energy in existing power grids is easier than ever. As this technology continues to develop, businesses all over the world will be able to embrace clean and renewable energy like never before.
The Rise of Microgrids and Artificial Intelligence
One of the biggest buzzwords you will hear in the business renewable energy industry is microgrids. In essence, these are local energy grids that are able to operate while connected to a larger traditional power grid or autonomously. Generally, these microgrids are used to provide both efficiency and energy independence for a business owner. The developers of these microgrids use artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure the operation of these grids continuously improves.
The deployment of these grids is becoming easier and faster. Companies that are developing these software programs allow for grids to be setup up in around a day. If a business owner is interested in embracing the power of AI and microgrids, they need to do their homework before choosing a program to help them.
The process of creating and fully optimizing a microgrid is extremely difficult. Without previous knowledge of how traditional power grids operate, a business owner will struggle to complete their microgrid. This is why working with professionals who have knowledge of how these grids work is so crucial.
Renewable Energy Will Change the World
Staying on the cutting edge of technology is something most business and property owners are extremely passionate about. This is why you need to pay attention to the developments in the world of renewable energy. As the world becomes more aware of the power and benefits of renewable energy, the use of it will only grow.
Buying a home or commercial building that is already equipped with the latest renewable energy technology can be beneficial. Seeking out the help of a knowledge real estate agent/broker is the best way to find the eco-conscious properties you are after.
About Ashley
How to Start a Real Estate Blog
By Maddie Heye, Senior Marketing Manager
The hardest part is getting started. Yes, we’re talking about the real estate blog that should be live and active on your agent website. It’s a marketing tactic that many agents know they should embrace but are hesitant to. We know it can be intimidating. Especially for those of you who aren’t regular writers, starting with a blank piece of paper, producing posts, and then publishing them online for the world to see can be overwhelming, and therefore, it becomes an easy thing to put on the back burner indefinitely.
The fact of the matter, though, is that having an active real estate blog makes you more searchable, more approachable for prospects, and positions you as an expert in your neighborhood or your niche. Blogging is an effective way to instill trust in people, right from the start. It’s an opportunity to be a resource for your target audience, positioning yourself as the real estate expert that you are. Here are a few tips for finally starting your real estate blog.
First, let’s address the technical setup. Assuming you have an agent website already up and running, adding a blog should be simple (depending on your website provider). For MoxiWebsites users, it’s quick and painless. Here’s a tutorial to get you started.
Now, let’s dive into the content. To get your real estate blog started, first create a list of topics. That way, every time you go to work on your blog, you can look through your list of topics and pick one that inspires you or is relevant at that time so you can get started quickly and aren’t starting from scratch.
Not sure what to write about? Here are a few ideas for brainstorming blog topics:
- What are the frequent questions you’ve been hearing recently?
- What [relevant] topics are trending online? What’s your take on them?
- Do you have a recent client success story you’d like to share?
- What tips and tricks do you have for home buyers or sellers?
- What are your tips for things to do this season in your local area?
- Put together neighborhood guides for the different neighborhoods you work in.
- Feature small business owners in your local area
Need some more inspiration? Here’s our list of 52 blog-worthy topics your clients will love.
Set a dedicated time to maintain your blog. Maybe you get in the habit of setting aside two hours on Monday morning and use blogging as a way to restart each new week. It’ll become part of your routine which will make it less daunting each week.
Tip: Actually block this time off on your calendar, otherwise there’s a high likelihood of it not happening.
Then, make sure you optimize it. Making sure your blog is search engine optimized is key to enabling potential prospects to find you. Here are a few simple steps you can take to ensure your blog (and website as a whole, for that matter) is SEO friendly. Make sure your content is searchable in order to get the most out of your blogging efforts.
Finally, share your blog with the world. Leverage social media and email marketing to distribute your blog content to your sphere of influence. Your blog posts are perfect for when you’re feeling like you have nothing to say on social media. Share a blog filled with valuable content to drive people to engage with you. Additionally, pick and choose which blog posts are relevant to certain groups in your database, and add them to your email campaigns to add more richness to your email content and to drive people to your website.
Content is still king in the world of marketing and leveraging your real estate blog to serve up value is a simple way to engage with current and future clients. Serving as a resource for homeowners (or future homeowners) in your area is a great way to stay top-of-mind with them. All of this will show your expertise in the local market and your involvement in the community, further solidifying you as the go-to real estate expert.
So, there you have it. How to start a real estate blog in just a few intentional steps. And that’s the key – take it step by step. You don’t need to become a professional blogger in order for blogging to have an impact on your real estate business.
