When it comes to the sale of any commercial property today, there is plenty of competition to contend with. In most cities and towns, there are many good properties listed and being actively marketed. The biggest frustration in selling commercial property today is in finding the right buyers who can act with appropriate finance. In simple terms there are fewer buyers around; the experience and expertise of the real estate agent is more important than ever before in the sale process.From the outset of the property marketing campaign, the specific target market should be the focus. All of the advertising should be written with a view to the targeted buyer. Clarity is important here.All of the advertising for the property should be structured around the target and what they are looking for today; the advertisements, promotional material, Internet listings, and direct mail campaigns should all be similarly structured.To understand this target market ask yourself these questions.
Where is the buyer for the property coming from?
What is the buyer looking for in selecting a property?
How much can they spend and on what terms?
What are the real features of the property that the advertising should be built around?
What is the best time of year to attract a buyer to the property?
What is the best method of sale that will attract the buyer to enquire and then to purchase?
What are the negative issues relating to the property that should be addressed prior to the campaign commencing?
What are the comparable properties nearby that frustrate the marketing process?
So these questions are critical to the property promotion strategy. The buyers in today’s property market are selective and fickle. There are fewer buyers around and negotiations take longer. That being said, the experience and skills of the real estate agent in the promotion, inspection, and closing of a property transaction is now more important than ever before. Knowledge and practice will help the process.Every marketing campaign has to address the target market and promote the individual property. The days of generic marketing are gone. Specific target marketing with dedicated advertising that really encourages enquiry should be the main focus of every campaign.The best ways to increase the levels of enquiry in every commercial property campaign include the following:
The buyers of commercial property typically come from the local area. This means that your campaign should be directed to the local property owners and the local business owners. To achieve this focus, it is best to direct mail and telephone the owners and the businesses that own or occupy local property. Every piece of direct mail should be followed up to optimise the enquiry and the information.
When any property comes on the market, within the first 24 hours ensure that flyers and information brochures are personally delivered to the neighboring properties and businesses within a radius of 500 metres.
Place a prominent signboard on the property at the start of the campaign. This is perhaps the best and most cost efficient way of promoting any property. If possible ensure that the signboard has specifically been created with property information and sale details.
When you draft your advertisements for the property promotion, use the keywords that apply today to the property type and location. These keywords will help the Internet Marketing and Internet listing. You can research the keywords from the larger search engines on the Internet. These keywords will be the words that the buyers of property are entering into the search engines when looking for properties to purchase.
When the promotion of property commences, make personal contact with the database within your office. This means telephone calls and meetings with the appropriate people. The information and leads that you gather from the campaign will be helpful in other property promotions at a later time. All the information should be entered into your database.
E-mail marketing will be a useful tool for every property promotion. Most agents are selectively sending out e-mail marketing each week. Any property promotion can be merged into this process.
To sell a property today, the best method of sale should be selected. That will be the method that buyers respond to and act within. Do not choose a method of sale that can frustrate the potential purchasers. The
Vendor paid marketing remains the normal and sensible alternative in every marketing campaign. Any serious property vendor will commit marketing funds to the promotion of their own property. Always ask for vendor paid advertising to comprehensively cover the target market.
Create an inspection process and strategy that covers the property and its features. Understand exactly how you will take people to and around the property. Identify the right things to talk about with buyers, and get market information to support your presentations or inspections.
Even in this tougher property environment, good properties will sell. It is a matter of the agency working hard to locate the buyers and then promote the property effectively. This is a personal process when it comes to each and every property.Open listings are generally a waste of time today as they always take longer to sell. Every serious vendor that needs to sell their property should commit to an exclusive listing and marketing campaign with one specialist commercial agency for a period of at least three or four months. If the property is unique then that time line will be longer.
Commercial Agents – Tips to Increase the Sales of Commercial Property Today
Discount Homeowners Insurance – Where to Get It
Homeowner’s insurance protects you against financial loss if your home or property is damaged by theft, fire, lightning, smoke, or other disasters. Thanks to the internet, you can easily find discount homeowners insurance that meets your needs. Here’s how …Complete Your InformationYou can get quotes for discount homeowners insurance by visiting an insurance comparison site. On the site you’ll complete a simple questionnaire with information about your home and your insurance needs, including …* How much coverage you want for your home and for your home’s contents. It may be helpful for you to make a detailed inventory of your home’s contents to figure out what coverage amounts you need. (You’ll also need this inventory if you ever need to make a claim.)* The deductible you want to apply to your homeowners insurance.* The square footage of your home and the year it was built.* The number of miles from your home to the nearest fire station and the number of feet to the nearest hydrant.* Any discounts for which you might be eligible. For example, many discount homeowners insurance companies give discounts to non-smoking customers, as well as for security features such as deadbolts and smoke detectors.Get Answers to Your QuestionsThe best insurance comparison sites will also have a chat feature available. With the chat feature, you can get answers to all your homeowners insurance questions from insurance professionals. (See link below.)Get Your Discount Homeowners Insurance QuotesOnce you complete the questionnaire, you’ll quickly receive discount homeowners insurance quotes from multiple A-rated insurance companies.What if the Quote is too High?If the quote for your discount homeowners insurance is more than you can afford, follow these tips to try to get it lower:* Lower your coverage limits and raise your deductibles. Note that your mortgage company probably requires a specific minimum coverage.* See if you can qualify for more discounts. Perhaps you can install more smoke detectors, burglar alarms, or buy fire extinguishers.* If your credit is poor, work on improving it.
Using Video To Market Your Business
Why Video?
Video is a big deal these days. Yet many businesses do not use it at all. Using video to market your business is a great opportunity. Part of the reason it’s a great opportunity is that so many people who could benefit from it are not using it! Much of your competition is not using video!
Video is a great online marketing tool. Many people would rather watch how something is done than read copy from their computer screens.
When you know the routine it’s easy to create videos. The process has a few tricks to maximize results. But it’s relatively quick and easy once you get the hang of it.
Video and Search Engines
When we talk about online video we have to talk about YouTube. YouTube is the largest video website in the world. YouTube videos are uploaded at a rate an astonishing rate. It is estimated that 60 hours of video are uploaded every minute! The site is growing fast.
Google often shows videos listed among their search results. They call this “Universal Search”. Many times there are just one or two among the 10 results listed on a page. But wow do those they stand out. Even if a video is listed at the bottom of the search page it seems to attract more attention than all the other text-only listings. Having your video on a search results page can be a great advantage.
Creating Your Video
Making your own video is easier than it’s ever been before. Thanks to the many choices of cameras and easy to use websites you can begin making videos right away.
Many smart phones can record videos. This is the handiest way to do it since you always have your phone with you. To get better quality you should use a camcorder. Digital camcorders are common and do not require tape or disks. They are easy to use. Copying video to your computer is easier too!
There are numerous resources and video tips online to help you with the creation of your videos. The biggest tip is to use an external microphone or separate digital audio recorder to get good sound. If you don’t try this you won’t even realize the difference it can make. Getting good sound really does add a lot of quality. Lighting is another obvious concern. For indoor videos you should have plenty of lights. Outdoor lighting is best on shady days because shadows can be tricky to control.
Editing Your Video
You can get by without editing your video. But if you want it to be a bit more polished then using a video editor will do the trick. Many editors are available in the under $100 range. I’ve used Corel Video Studio for several years. Other editors in the same price range include CyberLink PowerDirector, Adobe Premiere Elements, Roxio Creator, and Sony Vegas Movie Studio. Check the web for a review of video editor software. With a video editor you can easily cut out unwanted pieces of video, add music and narration, and add on screen titles. After editing you will end up with a polished version of your video. This is the version that will be ready to upload to the internet. I usually create videos in the MP4 format, then upload them to YouTube.
Getting Your Video Online
As mentioned in the previous paragraph I use YouTube. You must set up a YouTube account before you upload your videos to it. I recommend creating a Google account and using that account when signing up for your YouTube account. You’ll have one Google login that will get you into all of your Google products. Once your YouTube account is set up you should create your YouTube channel. Fill it in with all of your business information as completely and accurately as possible.
Use a video aggregator to publish your video to multiple video sites at one time. I don’t use aggregators but many internet marketers do.
I recommend putting your website URL (“http://www.yourwebsite.com”) in the description of your YouTube video. Also put the link to the YouTube video into your YouTube video description. The reason is that some websites copy videos from YouTube and display them on their own website. This helps optimize your Video and can generate more traffic as it gives you a back link.
Integrate Video on Your Website
After you’ve uploaded your video to YouTube the next step is to integrate the video in your website and other online properties. The video below shows how this is done. YouTube makes it very easy to embed videos on your website. Google places and other online business directories make it easy to include video within your business listings too.
More Reasons to Use Video
Besides that benefits of generating more leads for your business, video can make a much more personal connection between you and your potential customers. So much of the Internet is impersonal. There is a big lack of trust online, and rightfully so. To get customers and do business you must build a trusting relationship with your customers. Video can get this done faster than most things. I always recommend a simple, short welcome message on a website home page. One that greets the visitor and makes them feel welcome. Here’s more video tips that will help with your video creation.