Real estate agents can rank the quality of leads

In prior articles, I’ve gone over the necessity of consistently generating leads. I’ve shared that my own goal was always to generate 400 new leads per month. This article will turn the attention to the quality of these leads.

In this day and age, agents seem to be putting all their eggs in the basket of inexpensive leads. I have found, however, that inexpensive leads tend to be of lower quality.

Here is an interesting finding from my business:

Leads of lower-quality seem attractive because they are generated without spending a lot on the „front end“ to generate them. However, what seems to be happening is agents are spending more on the „back end,“ which is the process of attempting to convert leads to sales after the leads are captured. This „back end“ marketing includes sales letters, special offers, drip e-mail campaigns, postcards and more.

For my own business, the ranking of the quality of leads is as follows: (Ranked from highest to lowest quality)

1. Referrals

2. Endorsement from a joint venture partner

3. Leads who register to attend a class

4. Leads responding to an advertorial advertisement

5. Leads who respond to a „pay-per-click“ ad or „solo“ e-mail

6. Leads responding to a home buyer magazine advertisement or classified ad

7. Leads responding to a craigslist (or similar) advertisement

The problem is that most agents are now focusing on Craigslist or classified advertisements which attract the lowest quality leads. They then struggle to convert these leads into appointments and/or home sales.

To be successful, an agent’s marketing campaign must include leads from each of the sources listed above. I would evn suggest that more resources be invested in the top four or five categories, in order to capture higher-quality leads. The amount invested will be higher, but the higher-quality leads will mean less invested per lead to convert them into clients/buyers.

Follow this advice, and you’ll soon notice that you have less competition in your market. This is because the majority of your competitors will still be focusing on inexpensive ads that attract-lower quality leads. How many agents in your area are setting up joint venture marketing campaigns? How many are running advertorial ads? I’ll bet there aren’t very many.

Why is this the case?

Because focusing on the lower-quality leads will ultimately mean fewer sales. Fewer sales means money will get tight and agents won’t be able to afford ads to attract higher-quality leads. You will have a long-term economic advantage by putting your focus on higher-quality leads.

The bottom line is that a lead is not a lead. There are different qualities in the leads you generate. You should create a comprehensive marketing campaign that focuses on generating higher quality leads and let your competitors fight over the lower quality leads.

About the Author:

Get Paid To Draw – Selling Artwork

While there are often several creative methods that can be used to make a great income, artists often have a hard time selling their work as it often holds a special place in their hearts. By following a few easy steps, selling artwork can be very enjoyable and allow for a substantial money flow.

The first step that an artist must consider is what type of art they are going to sell and where they are going to sell it. This step requires substantial research because finding out what is popular can help an artist earn more. If there is no demand for a certain type of art, then there is no reason to create that type to sell.

If an artist is located in a certain area, they may want to look into what is popular in that location. People living by the ocean may love to purchase paintings of the local community with ocean scenes, whereas a painting of a snowy mountain top may never be purchased.

Setting up an efficient studio to produce the artwork is extremely important for an artist selling artwork. If they are unable to create several works of art at a fairly quick speed, then they will not produce enough to earn good profits. If an artist can create a piece in only a few minutes and sell it for just a small price, they will be able to increase their earnings. This also shows us that setting an appropriate price for each piece is another important factor. It is important not to under price or overprice any piece that must be sold.

While these are all great points to consider, the last thing an artist must do is just sit down, create the art, and sell it. Whether the selling will be done at trade shows, festivals, or a shop on Main Street, the only way to start selling artwork is to have a supply all set to go.

About the Author:

Expanding Your Market Through the Internet

Decades ago, when an interconnected network of computers was first conceptualized, having this technology integrated into the business world was rather unexpected. Today, the Internet has made a significant impact on marketing, wherein businesses and technology experts have devised ways to integrate the power of the information superhighway and the dynamic world of marketing.

We understand internet marketing as the process of creating, communicating, exchanging, and delivering offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society over the internet. Internet marketing has an interactive nature in terms of giving immediate responses and eliciting responses, making it a unique business medium. The scope of internet marketing includes not only the Internet but also e-mail, wireless media, digital customer data management, and electronic customer relationship management systems.

Internet marketing is not just merely the marketing of products and services through the internet; it is also the placement of media along various phases of the customer engagement cycle. This can be done through search engine optimization or SEO, search engine marketing or SEM, e-mail marketing, banner ads, and Web 2.0 strategies. Internet marketing is also associated with the following business models: e-commerce, publishing or the sale of advertising, lead-based websites, and affiliate marketing.

Compared with the ratio of the costs against the reach of target audiences, internet marketing is relatively inexpensive. Through internet marketing, businesses are able to reach a wider audience for only a small fraction of conventional advertising costs. With the internet, consumers are able to research and purchase what they want at their own convenience. In this type of marketing approach, businesses can take advantage of making an impact to customers in a medium that is able to deliver results quickly. When evaluated, the success of an internet marketing campaign strategy and its effectiveness can be gauged with the business goals as a guide and cost-volume-profit analysis as a tool.

Internet marketing can also measure statistics easily and inexpensively. Advertisers can use a lot of methods in marketing their offers through the internet. They can choose from pay per click, pay per play, pay per impression, or pay per action campaigns. These different campaigns make it easier for internet marketers to determine which offerings are more attractive to their audience.

More recently, new strategies have been added to the world of internet marketing. The process now includes article marketing, social media optimization, inbound marketing, lead scoring, classified advertising, in-text advertising, media transparency, and online identity management. ioVentures is one of the many companies who have used the power of the internet to help their clients. The company offers internet marketing services that include SEO, pay per click, blog marketing, reputation management, conversion rate optimization, search engine friendly web design, and site analysis and recommendations. ioVentures is confident that it can help businesses in their internet marketing strategies in one way or another.

About the Author:

Dissimilar types of Lighting in Signage

Different types of lighting are used in signage, and the most popular lighting used is neon. Neon lights contain neon or any other inert gas at a low pressure. When electricity is applied to the gas, it glows. Glass tubing is bent by craftsmen in the required shape and made into neon lights. Neon lights are popularly used in bars, shops, and for advertisements. Different gases are used for different colours.

A blend of changed colours of neon lights is used to construct a present. By using a timer close to the neon signs, altered lighting effects can be created. The nagative-part of neon is that if one of the neon tubes fuses, the exhibit looks ugly and what’s more replacing it may take pretty some time.

For displaying names of shops and other business places, a translucent plastic board with the business name cut in different coloured plastic shapes is glued on top of the translucent sheet, and this is then installed on a frame. A set of tube lights is then installed at the back. The letters, logo etc, glow in the colours of the plastic sheets. Signs used at petrol stations usually use this type of lighting.

An added universal type of lighting that is used for signage present is to throw light from lamps on to a poster. Depending on the lighting effect essential, halogen or mercury bulbs are used to light up the display. Another type of lighting used in signage is the use of the flaming colours to make a signage, and when light is thrown on them they flame. A number of incandescent colours can also blaze without a light basis falling on them.

Neon, halogen plus mercury lighting sources are power hungry and guzzle a lot of energy. Currently, there are novel technologies being used for lighting sources. Light emitting diodes frequently known as LED’s are now becoming trendy as they consume less electrical energy and have a rather longer life. Another type of technology used for lighting signages is electroluminescent. In this, a phosphor panel is sandwiched between two panels and when energy is abounding to it, the phosphor glow. The brilliance of the glow depends on the electricity abounding to it.

LCD or liquid crystal displays are also now being used to light up signages. In this, a combination of three lights, blue, red, and green are used to create colours. The technology is the same as that used for lighting flat screen televisions and display stations. The advantage of using an LCD display is that it can be hooked to a multimedia source, and short movies and add displays can be run on it.

Halogen lights and spot lights are also used in signage. Technology is advancing, and different inert gases and other materials are being used to create signage lights. The technologies are aiming at reducing the electricity consumption in signage lights and increasing the life of the lights.

Signages are feat fancier, and now and then combination of different lights is used in them. For instance, a false board may well have common lights that switch on and off and throw a timer on its edges. The illumination source is decisive by the kind of display that is necessary.

About the Author:

How To Earn Residual Income From Simple Sources

Figure out how you can earn residual income for now and later. You will want your residual income as a nest egg or for a much-deserved vacation. Think about the earning in terms of short-term goals and long-term goals. This adventure will take some initiative on your part as well as some real discipline.

You will be dealing with the money that is left over after you have paid on the bills. That is the residual or passive income. The first look will be at your earned income, then pay the bills, then the money left over is residual. If you live in a neighborhood more affluent than you are, there is no money left over. But living within your means and being modest in you living standards may just be the ticket. The little overspending on budget items swallow the hopes of any residual. The high cell phone bills, the lattes everyday could be expenses that you control.

But, there are some other ways to obtain residual income. This is also income from interest-bearing checking accounts and stock dividends and even income from rental properties. Hopefully with the original residual income, you made a few provisions for future earning. Maybe you bought a foreclosed house and fixed it up. You own it, you rent it, and you now collect a monthly fee from the renters. The expenses for repairs are made out of the rental fees, and the left over money is residual income.

Besides income for working, there are other ways to obtain some residual income. If you’re that modest spender, you may have something left over on payday. When all those extra dollars add up, try investing where you feel safe. The dividends will fluctuate as does the market, but it will still increase over the long run. When you have money to invest in order to assure yourself of some residual income, you may fall prey to the wrong money making schemes that cover the pages of some websites. Schemes are hard to pass up. They are appealing and cunning. Be sure you investigate before you invest.

When you do have little lumps of residual income, don’t fall prey to some schemes that are floating around on the Internet and passed around at the workplace. Some affiliate programs for residual income earning are great. Remember to question before you invest. Schemes such as pyramid schemes are very dangerous and need to be avoided. The person telling you about the plan will never tell you the down side.

Continuing to earn residual income after the original work is over is very natural thinking for authors and film makers. Every book that sells sends the author into the money making mode all over again. There are deceased authors whose estate inherits the residual. Actors in TV commercials may also be among those who often receive royalties for life. If the commercial is shown, the money comes in! What may seem difficult is simple!

Internet writers who associate with a specific website, may earn residual income on articles published on the site. When advertisers get exposure on a site, the residual income rolls in for the writer. Writers for small projects are usually paid in advance and do not own the copyright. But the writers that do own the copyright continue to earn. Small lumps! But this is still a simple way to earn!

Internet ads are on almost every web page you visit and residual income is being made hit after hit on those sites. Someone is earning, why not you! Set up on a site and get some advertisers to start sending you some residual income. How easy is that! The world is now your oyster. The prize is easily found after the hunt for the right animal. Whether you have rental property or a talent that you can use to obtain royalties, or the right investments, stay on the path and it’s easy. Don’t lose site of your goal.

About the Author:

Some Information on Facebook Marketing

Today, social networking websites are considered to be the fastest growing area of internet use. With social networking websites, you will see that the world is a much smaller place.

Keeping in touch with old school friends and co-workers has become a simple matter of joining the most popular of these social networking sites: Facebook. What started out as a friendship facility has quickly grown beyond this into something that businesses use in addition to internet marketers.

Facebook marketing is now one of the hottest trends among online entrepreneurs today. With tens of millions of members and still continuing to grow (about 10,000 a day), you know that this place is the place to market. Here, you will see that when you join, you will be able to readily use tools that can really help you advertise your products and services.

The first thing that you need to remember is that once you have an account you will need to fill out your profile. Once you establish a relationship, then you will be able to expand your network and improve your marketing strategy. If you already know someone who uses Facebook, add them and try to get them to promote the products or services you offer. If this isn’t enough to wet your appetite, consider the possibilities of joining other groups of people you may want to market to or even starting your own group. By joining or creating your own group, you will be able to make hundreds of contacts that can help you in letting your business grow.

It will also let you syndicate your blogs and website through RSS and will let you post on bulletins to announce or advertise your products, services and new events. With increased number of readers, you will get more leads which also mean more business.

With the targeted traffic you can receive using Facebook you will be able to increase sales and also continue to increase the amount of people entering your website. So, if you think that online advertising or marketing is not working for you, you might want to try out marketing on this site.

About the Author:

Mainstream Companies Prefer Brochure Printing

Brochures are favored by mainstream companies in promoting their products on the ground that it describes details of information about the product or services of the company. The total information helps customers to understand the usefulness of the product and they turn out to be interested in them. Quality of the product is the spirit of efficient brochure printing activity.

Brochure printing has everything about the company in it so that customer is able to contact the firm at any time in future. This activity ensures better coverage of the public so that you are able to create a bigger customer base for your company. Brochures are generally produced to highlight luxury products for classy customers. With quality brochure printing, you are sure to hit the targeted customers for better business potential.

Online printing industry has made this pretty device, a natural choice for businesses to make useful promotional plans for their products. You can very easily contact a dependable printing house online to make brochure printing for your prized products. The question of choosing a capable printing company will come to your mind whenever, you decide to do so.

You should contact a company, which has a reputable track record. The qualities of reputed printing companies can be judged by their ability to offer organized design of brochures to you to seek you final comments on them. The choice should be done on the aptitude of the printing company to meet strict time deadlines of supply.

A reputed printing company uses the finest materials and high class printing methods to get the ultimate products ready in due time. Presence of skilled personnel in the printing industry makes it easy to realize the need of the customer and brochures are produced without any error.

Most of the reputed online printing houses create good quality work in brochure printing services with the help of expert persons in their production team. You will love to have efficient brochures for your promotional process from a prominent online printing company. Here, your target should be the high end patrons, who give value to this fashionable tool of promotion.

About the Author:

How to Find Clients To Call On

If you are a services provider and work through a staffing company, you are leaving money on the table that you could be putting in your pocket instead. This happens because people are not able to find clients to call on. This is not a phenomenon simply for one type of business people. Most people do not know who to call on. This article will explain why telephone selling skills are important and how this can help you in finding clients.

When you are thinking about your telephone selling skills, it is critical that you know who you want to call on. This can take many different forms. You can decide to purchase lists from companies focused upon your particular industry if you wanted to. You could focus on meeting new people through networking or on the telephone. To better understand this at first, take a quick step back to think about your prospects with whom you will talk with on the phone. What is the best time to get them on the phone and how do you make sure that they are interested in what you have to say? Your prospects are people and are interested in many of the same things that you are interested in. Once you have an idea of who your specific client is, see if you can continue to break this down even further.

Breaking down your client can start with this simple step. Describe who your specific target client is. This may seem easy but many business owners would not be able to tell you who their specific target is. Without having a specific target, you can not use your telephone selling skills on them as effectively as when understanding a group inside and out. You will say different things to different groups of people and find that you are not having very good results. If you can figure out your specific clients, you can work on delving more deeply into the client. This would include what the needs and challenges your targeted clients face. This will make you educated on the market and how what you bring to the table is relevant to the client.

You have identified your client and understand the needs and problems he or she has but now you have to find them. This can be as simple as going to conferences about the industry or calling on industry directory lists. You want to find a way to meet people and build lists of interested clients. This will allow you to put your telephone selling skills to work. This can be further broken down if you need business or personal clients. You could look in phone directories or clubs depending upon personal or business.

Talking on the phone to prospects is so important. Business is built upon communication and how are you better able to communicate in a fast and efficient way than over the telephone? If you do not take the time to develop good telephone selling skills, you are turning a great deal of money away from the table that could be yours. Selling over the phone simply comes down to speaking directly to your clients and providing solutions to what they need. This is so important.

About the Author:

Mindset: Student or Learner

You have likely already heard how important your education is, however did you know that it is one of the most important journeys you will ever undertake‘ When you increase your level of education, you will be amazed at the doors that open and how limitless life’s pursuits can be. This is because education does not merely teach you a subject; it also cultivates your talents. That being said you should also understand that your approach is very important to your success. You must know that there is a clear distinction between being a student and being a learner.

Simply put, there is a huge difference between being a student and being a learner. A student is more concerned or focused on the product of an education. That is, an education becomes the end result. With learning, the process is more organic, unrestricted, and capable of crafting a true individual.

To illustrate this, let’s look at a common example of how the average student approaches his/her learning. The student signs up for a course. Takes notes in class. Studies for a test and then passes it. The student receives a grade and, in time, the student will receive a diploma. In short, the student is only concerned with a mechanical process. He/she is simple repeating memorized information in a classroom environment. That will only take a student so far.

A person who is a learner will absorb the information. They will engage in a class to see what they like and what they dislike. They will discover where their strengths and weaknesses are. They will develop an outlook on their potential profession as well as life in general based upon what they experience. In time, they become a fully realized individual thanks to their learning experience.

As you can see, there are many more benefits to being a learner as opposed to being a student. However, society in general places so much emphasis on the student aspect of the process, perhaps because of all the awards and certificates that come with it. Diplomas and degrees are valuable but this is a limited value when you consider their effect on the individual’s development.

Also, a student seems to cease to exist once he/she leaves an establishment of learning. Once the diploma or degree has been achieved, then there is no need to be a student. Again, a student is a role one plays more akin to a task than to personal development.

Learners are not restricted to a particular place or time. They will seek to broaden their horizons wherever they find themselves. Education to a learner is not limited to a semester or calendar year nor does it take place only in a specific building. For this reason and others, it is much better to strive to be a learner instead of the constant student.

Being a student is not all bad in fact, most people will have to follow the path of traditional education to some degree. The key is to blend the student aspect of the process with the capacity to become a seasoned learner. The greatest results will be seen when you can successfully master this process.

About the Author:

Isn’t There An Easier Way?!

Owning, running and maintaining an internet based business or a site needs articles. Plain and simple, every who has a site knows this. Even those who dont have sites but are frequent internet users knows this as well. Articles quench the thirst for information and knowledge of the people. Plus, the articles provides many other benefits for the site.

Owning, running and maintaining an internet based business or a site needs articles. Plain and simple, every who has a site knows this. Even those who dont have sites but are frequent internet users knows this as well. Articles quench the thirst for information and knowledge of the people. Plus, the articles provides many other benefits for the site.

Many articles are also beneficial to both company and its traffic. When the readers like the articles, they would tell more of their friends, family and peers and recommend your site to them, providing for a larger volume of traffic. You get bigger sales if your traffic trusts and believes in you. Your product or services would be much easier to sell when they know you know what you are doing and talking about.

So ok, we have established that articles are very important to a site and to business. Articles are crucial and to keep ahead in the game, a site must have an article, it is imperative. There is one dilemma though, not many people like writing articles.

Many website owners would rather spend their time on something else, and unless youre a big time company, you dont have the necessary resources to use on a pool of article writers. Plagiarism or copying of other articles is frowned upon and could easily get you into trouble, worst case scenario; a hefty fine and jail time.

So what are the other options?

Well, for starters if you hate writing articles and you cant afford to hire people to write for you then dont. Get free articles. The first place to look at for free articles is the public domain. Here you wont have problems with copyright infringement and the following penalties and fines if you get caught for plagiarism.

Public domain articles are articles freely given to the public for public use. You can do whatever you want with it. You can place it on your site, name it as yours, put it in a newsletter its you decision. Always remember though that you will have to choose articles that is very relevant to your site.

The downside to public domain articles is that since it is free for everybody, many of your competitors may have access to them as well. Since every site needs to be original and unique even though you have the same niche, this could be a predicament. You may also have to edit them a bit to place more keywords and keyword phrases to make them better.

Another way to get free articles is to allow other sites which has the same subject or topic as yours to submit articles to your site. This would be only to augment your existing content or else all your articles would be leading to other sites since these articles would have resource boxes with them that could link or direct the readers to their site. Thats why it is important to have your own articles; you cold use them to link your site to other sites as well.

The investment you made for these articles would be worthwhile because you could use them for all the benefits you could offer. You hold copyrights to them and you will be able to use them anyway you want. As your articles help you in building your business and your site, you will have more articles to write and maybe then you wont be having second thoughts about articles.

The investment you made for these articles would be worthwhile because you could use them for all the benefits you could offer. You hold copyrights to them and you will be able to use them anyway you want. As your articles help you in building your business and your site, you will have more articles to write and maybe then you wont be having second thoughts about articles.

About the Author: