site will get into the search engines
and when a prospect is looking for
you or a specific neighborhood,
your name or your property will
come up. That is, if you take the
next critical online branding step.
2. Purchase your own domain
name to use with your free
website. All three of the blogging
platforms I mentioned allow you to
do this. Preferably, you should buy
a domain name using your own
name, such as JaneSmith.com.
This ensures that when a potential
client searches online for you
because they’ve met you at a PTA
meeting or at the mall that your
site comes up high in a Google
search. You can purchase a domain
name from such web hosting
companies like bluehost.com,
hostgator.com or godaddy.com.
They usually cost no more than
$10 to $15 per year. Sometimes
you can pay even less if you
search for a coupon being offered
online or the Domain Registrar is
promoting a sale.
estate prospects you want as
clients.
If you really want to turbo-charge
your social-networking integration
even more, then join Zillow.com,
which is a social network created
to connect real estate agents
with potential clients. You just
upload a personal photo, contact
information and a link to your
website. If you send your listings
to Zillow, it will link them to your
profile. You should also create a
free profile with Trulia.com, which
also connects real estate agents
with clients.
4. Now that you have connected
all the dots of your online
presence, it’s time to enhance your
brand and build your credibility.
You can do this by establishing
yourself as a real estate expert
by blogging on your free website
about specific properties, tips
for potential clients, or about
financing or industry trends. If you
write a post at least three times a
week and link them to your social
media accounts, before you know
it, you’ll become the go-to person
-- or resident real estate expert.
The out-of-pocket cost to
establish your online brand
holistically is minimal. But you
must commit to investing your
time. You’ll be amazed at the
results, if you do!
3. Take your website profile and
create a Google+ page, which is
integrated with your Google Gmail
account, if you have one. If not,
open up a free Gmail account.
Here’s a secret: If you put your
profile on Google+, your profile
will show up more frequently in
a Google search. Also open a
Facebook account and use the
same profile. Do the same with
LinkedIn. By doing this, you are
interconnecting your online
presence and creating a consistent
and powerful branding tool. It is
critical that your profile is crafted
to attract the exact kind of real
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