News for agents

a la mode news & tips — posted March 16, 2005

Start spreadin' [your own] news

Gaining exposure through media outlets is an effective way to generate credibility about you and your company and, ultimately, capture new business. One way to get the media's attention is by submitting press releases. You should write a press release with two goals in mind: To inform editors that you have news worth reporting and to persuade editors that you are worth interviewing for an article because of your expertise or perspective on the industry.

Note what the two have in common: You're writing for editors. Editors won't run your news unless they think their readers will be interested, but editors are the "gatekeepers." This makes press releases different from traditional advertising, targeted directly at your customer or client. Keep that in mind as you push your news.

The editor is not someone who is seeking to buy your product or service; rather, he or she is looking to fill a news need. Whether you're targeting the local newspaper or an industry trade magazine, for a release to be considered newsworthy it must have a broad, general interest to the target audience and a strong news angle. And rather than answering the question, "What's in it for me?" as you would for an ad, you should ask the question, "Why would [publication] readers care?"

Study the publications that would benefit from your news. Who is the target reader? What is its circulation? What types of articles do they publish? Find out what the guidelines are for submitting releases and what form (electronic or paper copy) they prefer. For an industry publication, you may want to review the hot topics it is currently covering and tie your release into that. For a local newspaper, incorporate how your release affects the community. Example: "Local agent donates $1 million to local charity."

Still not sure what to write about? Here are some more ideas:

Announcing a new hire or promotion,
Celebrating an anniversary or other major company milestone,
Opening up a new or branch office,
Receiving an award or recognition,
Participating in a charity event or making a donation,
Announcing that you will be serving in a leadership position in a community or professional organization (such as your local Board of REALTORS®), or
Sponsoring an educational seminar (such as a first-time homeowners workshop).

Your Agent XSite's content includes customizable press releases on topics such as "Website Launch," "New Staff," and "Milestone." You can edit them to reflect the specific topic you'd like to publicize or create your own press release from scratch. Select My Content from your XSite Wizard's Content menu to view your online press releases. Remember that you can copy and paste the text from the Content Editor into your word processor if you'd like to create a custom printed version.

You will also need to compile a list of editors for the publications you wish to pitch your releases to. Call or write them personally and explain why you feel your press release would be of interest to their readers. Most editors prefer to read the press release before they decide to run it or not. If the editor declines your release, ask him or her if you can keep them on your list for future press releases.

Even if the editor doesn't take your release the first time, it's important to cultivate a relationship with him or her so you can become reliable source for a future news piece. They say a prospect needs to see an advertising message multiple times before committing to buy. The same concept may be true of editors.

Don't give up or lose steam if your first release is declined. Even if you're turned down, make sure the editor knows about your expertise and your ability to speak on hot industry topics. Editors are constantly looking for experts to interview and what better way to gain exposure than by being quoted as an authority on an issue that affects your company?

Want to breathe some new life into your listings pages? Now you can

Your listings are the lifeblood of your website and now you have even more flexibility and options for your listings pages. But even more important will be the "wow" factor from your prospects who get to experience your dynamic listings when they use your Agent XSite.

Recently, we revamped your listing directory page to give you more ways to display your Flash listings. Now you can choose from three different views: grid, image and list view. We've also created different templates to choose from when deciding how you want your listings to appear on your site. There are beach themes, holiday themes and much more to spruce up your listings pages.

We've improved the usability and flow of your listings pages by incorporating animated loading effects. You can choose from several different types of animation such as "Pixel," "Fade," and "Blinds." The animation improves your XSite visitors' overall experience. To see all the new visual effects for your listings, click on "preferences" in your listings Wizard.

The release of your revamped listings pages is one step of a multi-step listing engine release designed to help you win more listings, gain more exposure and get the commission you deserve. Later this week, you'll get another release — a new feature that allows your visitors to create an account on your site, save their favorite listings and even enter notes on a particular listing.

Here's how it works: If a prospect visits your XSite during her lunch hour, for example, and sees listings she likes, she can then create an account, save her favorites and add notes to the listing. Then, when she has more time, she can log into your site again where her favorites have been saved and she's ready to contact you for a showing!

In the coming weeks we'll be releasing more new features, including the ability to share listings with other agents, which will give your listings broader exposure and allow you to provide even more valuable services to your customers. We hope you enjoy your new tools and please feel free to contact us with any questions or feedback.

Briefly Speaking

Quick Tips
Three new ways to gain exposure and new prospects:

Hire help. Want more FSBO business but you’re short on time? Consider hiring a part-time sales rep to make the first calls to FSBOs. Make sure your rep takes notes on each call and follow up on the leads.

Play ball. Sponsor or coach a children’s sports team in your community. Think of all the parents, relatives and friends that will show up to see their child play!

Advertise yourself. Post your business card on the community boards at coffee houses, delis and fitness centers, mass transit stations, churches and libraries.

Once you've reeled in your new prospects, our XSellerate marketing and communication solution makes it easy to follow up with a consistent, targeted marketing campaign that can easily turn those prospects into loyal customers.

For more information on XSellerate, click here.

A targeted XSite produces better leads
We've become increasingly aware of how frequently our customers purchase multiple XSites to cover the various aspects of their business. In fact, many agents have a website dedicated to a specific development, neighborhood, or even a single property to better target their marketing efforts. This way, they can better focus their site's content, resulting in better search engine rankings, a more focused experience for their visitors and a more qualified lead for them.

This marketing tactic, while effective, could become costly for any agent. But we see the start of a smart trend and decided to lower the price for XSite owners purchasing additional sites to $249 instead of $699. If you buy three or more, they're just $199 each!

For brokers with multiple agents, the $199 price makes it affordable for you to equip all of your agents with their own XSite. We'll also be releasing the ability to share listings across XSites, which would allow your broker site to aggregate listings from all your agents, while keeping them in control of the listing and the leads it generates.

This special pricing also applies when you purchase an XSite in one of our other markets. Our Mortgage, Appraiser and Inspector XSites each contain specific features and tools to facilitate work specific to that industry, allowing you to maintain a consistent business front to your customers. To purchase your additional XSites, call 1-800 ALAMODE today!

Let us know!
Do you have a marketing tip or idea that works well? Or, is there a feature on your XSite or XSellerate that you want to know more about? Let us know and we'll cover it in an upcoming Agent e-Newsletter. E -mail the editor at Amanda@alamode.com.

Contact us

For sales inquiries, contact sales@alamode.com or call
1-800-ALAMODE.

If you have an idea, tip or feedback on any of a la mode's products, we'd love to hear from you! Please e-mail us at info@alamode.com.