Double your rent roll

Double your rent roll

We’re all looking for new ways to increase the rent roll. Sometimes all it takes is some fresh thinking applied to existing business practices and the results begin to show. Ian Grace takes a two part approach to doubling your rent roll.

 

Lesson 1: They are not “landlords” – and you are not “property managers”
If you are serious about dramatically increasing your rent roll, then for almost all “property managers” the focus needs to change completely, as does the relationship with “landlords”. Trust me, I can promise that no single person, or couple, woke up one morning with a burning desire to become a “landlord”. Rather, as in my personal experience, a decision is made to invest in property for reasons of accumulating wealth, for use as superannuation and security for the future, to provide for children’s education and future etc.

 

So, they are “property investors” not “landlords”. Now for “property managers”, when I ask a room full of them what they do, I get an extremely long list of duties, all related to looking after the property and ensuring in turn,  revenue for the office. So, instead of “property managers” managing properties for “landlords”, rather think of approaching these customers of yours with a view to working with them to increase their property investment portfolio, because that is what they would like to do.

 

Now when you think of it, who is better suited to work with them to do that? Who has all the knowledge about property, values and potential? You! Now you have become, and are thinking like, a property investment manager.

 

Now, think how often you could sell them another investment property (and then manage it for them)? On average, in most markets the answer comes back – around about every two years. So, "Not only have you made a large amount of extra sales, you effectively double your rent roll every two years and that will keep compounding!" Now, what also happens is you pick up other properties they may own, that were currently being managed by other agents. Because, as you are working with them and they now trust you, you need to know about everything they own, to assess whether they may be ready to acquire their next property (obviously, their financial adviser or bank would finalise the financial advice).

 

In one office alone, this amounted to almost 60 per cent increase in property managements, just by acquiring their existing customers’ other properties to manage. Finally, it also plugs another hole, when investment properties are sold off and lost to the office. Now, you can sell the property to another one of your property investors you are working with – which leads to the whole business of referrals, which is potentially massive.

 

Lesson 2: Referral riches
In my previous lesson I emphasised  that, as in many industries, we often need to change our traditional way of thinking – sometimes with astounding results. When I talk about referrals, in conversation or to any audience, everyone always agrees they are great to receive and that they guarantee almost 100 per cent conversion, normally at full price or commission.

 

Where we need to change our thinking instead of feeling it is “rather nice” when a referral “comes along”, we can actually set a target for referrals each year."  something that most businesses, whether real estate or not, do not do.

 

Firstly, look back at previously acquired managements (over the past year or two if possible) and determine what percentage of them have been repeat or referral business. Put this on a graph on your office wall, with the target you have set for repeat and referral business as well (e.g. you might currently be running at 20 per cent repeat and referral business and the target you have set is 65 per cent).

 

If the top 10 per cent of salespeople achieve around 65 per cent or more, of repeat and referral business, then I think we would be safe to use that as a benchmark for property management as well. Think carefully as to whether, in this instance, this would be a one year target or perhaps an 18 month to two years target – don’t set your target too high.

 

Now, put a system in place, to have a meaningful dialogue with every “landlord” (property investor) every three months, at which stage you ask them if there is anyone they can refer (and document that this has happened). Just the mere fact of doing this, will generate business – purely by asking the right question at the right time. Make it easy for them – when you ask, either verbally or in writing for a referral, break it into mental bite sized chunks such as:
* Family and relatives
* Friends
* Business colleagues and contacts
* Social, sporting and school contacts

 

When you just ask for “a referral”, they know such a lot of people, it’s hard for them to get their heads around it. This way, by breaking it into these smaller groups, it’s much easier for them to virtually put faces with names and you’ll find your response factor increases dramatically.

 

Now, ask yourself how often you could get a referral from each of your current “property investors” – would one only per year be feasible? If so, you have just set a target – of one referral per “landlord” per year. Simple isn’t it? If you have 300 landlords, your referral target is 300 and we know what that will do for your business (hopefully with 100% conversion).

 

Just follow those simple tips above and you are now on your way to targeting and managing referrals, which most businesses don’t do, thereby leaving your competitors far behind.

 

Known as “Mr Real Estate Advertising”, Ian Grace is an international authority on real estate advertising and customer service, for both sales and property management. He is author of the book Hundreds of Real Estate Customer Service Ideas, is an international keynote speaker and his articles are published around the world. www.iangrace.com.au
 

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5 Link Marketing Strategies for the Holiday Season

Looking for some link marketing strategies to give you the last minute edge on your competitors this holiday season? Some of these strategies are bold and some are simple. But all of these strategies will create direct links, while others are about creating conversations that will lead to others linking to your site.

1. Viral Contest

For the bolder, start a viral contest centered on your product or brand. Offer advice to participants on how to use social media to promote their viral material. To keep costs low, offer a gift certificate to your store as the top prize.

You could further incentivize it by offering a large cash prize if a viral material gets the attention of mainstream media. Of course, be very specific when describing what you consider mainstream media (e.g., major television and news networks, Oprah, national morning talk shows, etc.) when outlining the rules of your contest.

If your goal is mainstream media, then make sure to check with your hosting company about adjustments that can be made to handle a rapid increase in traffic. Nothing would be worse to get the exposure and then traffic overloads your site.

2. Giveaways

This is all about creating buzz and exposure. Give away an item every day for the next month, or right up until Black Friday.

Design your giveaway to get users involved promoting it. Maybe they get an extra entry if they tweet about it on Twitter or recommend it on Facebook. The more they're involved, the more others will participate.

Reduce your cost by finding an item with a low cost of goods or something in overstock. Talk to your suppliers about items they want to move. They may even drop ship it for you making this even easier.

3. Local Organization Sales Promotion

Budget cuts are happening worldwide -- from local fire departments, to police, to teachers. Reach out to one of these in your community to sponsor a fundraiser.

Offer to donate a percentage of each sale they send. Give them a promotion code, or a special URL. Some shopping carts may even allow them to remotely host the store on their Web site. This strategy will work particularly well if you cater to mass-market items, such as clothing, gifts, etc.

4. Get Customers Talking

Ask customers to share their experience about your product online. This is about generating conversation and buzz. Although some of the places they talk about your product may not have much link value, it still creates conversation. It also creates opportunities for others to read about it and create secondary links (i.e., blogs, columns, articles, newsletters, media, etc.).

For example, say you get people talking about your handbag store on fashion blogs, forums, and social media. This grabs the attention of a couple major fashion bloggers who then mention your store. Results equal great links, quality traffic, and even more exposure from others in the fashion industry.

5. Ask Customers for Links

This is simple, effective, and often overlooked. Tell your customers that you're trying to grow your business and you need their help. If you've provided outstanding products and customer service, they'll be glad to help.

This could be incentivized to increase the results. Perhaps give them a percentage off their first order of 2011. Or create a custom T-shirt as a giveaway. Custom T-shirt printing companies that offer drop shipping make this easy.

 More Link Building Tips

• PR Tools for Link Builders
• How Monitoring Tools Aid in Link Building
• How to Find the Best Internal Site Pages Based on PageRank and Backlinks

These are just a few link building strategies retailers can use to increase their exposure and search engine rankings for the 2010 holiday shopping season. Some are bolder, such as a viral marketing contest, and others as simple, such as asking customers for links. There is something for everyone here.

What has worked for you? Let us know in the comments.

Remember, good link development is just good marketing

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10 Tips For Entrepreneurs And Start Ups Looking To Embrace Social Media

I’ve been involved in a couple of start ups over the last couple of years and in both, due to having very limited marketing budgets, social media has been the main form of our marketing activities. This is the same for nearly all starts ups these days, social media is often the first port of call as it is cheap (often seen as free), accessible and fairly easy for founders and small teams to embrace. It’s a fairly logical step to start promoting your start up through social media because most entrepreneurs will have a decent personal network anyway so getting the message out to them is a next logical step. I wanted to share 10 of the top tips that I have picked up about using social media for start up businesses…

You Have Incredible Freedom

Many large organizations are crippled these days because getting one Facebook update, a tweet or blog post has to pass through several departments before getting sign off from legal. The beauty of being a start up is that you don’t face these challenges. Whatever you feel like saying you can pretty much just say, You can give people sneak access to products, share interesting facts about your company, do short videos or talk to your customers in the way you see fit. As a start up you have the incredible luxury of being able to push your message out and engage in the way you see fit with very few limitations. Embrace that freedom and share useful information that big competitors can’t.

It Won’t Be A 3 Month Quick Win

I’d always urge start ups to take a long term view on social media. Chances are you won’t get much out of it in the first 3 months. Nobody will read your blog, your Facebook page will have a few friends and family as fans and it’ll feel as if you are talking to yourself on Twitter. Building a network takes a lot of time. It’s only after a year or two of networking online and building relationships that you start to see the real value. Most start ups and businesses jump in to social media thinking it will solve all their problems only to be disappointed by the results and leave. The one piece of advice I would have here is to really stick at it because it will work in the long run but it takes time and patience.

Social Media Won’t Help Your Traffic That Much

Too many start ups I see use social media purely as a function to drive traffic to their website. Special offers, discount deals, pointing to blog posts with awards or just coming in with the hard sell will never get you anywhere. You need to find an angle. I love small start ups that share stats for example or give me a glimpse behind the scenes of what they are building. I like to know about the personalities behind the company. I won’t click on a Facebook update where you try to sell me something but if you show me a picture of you and the team drinking beers after a hard week chances are I might interact with that content. For all the talk of social search and Twitter driving traffic it is still very much about search engines if it is traffic you are after, chances are 70-80% of your traffic will come through search engines with tiny amounts coming through social media.

Ask Yourself Will It Actually Drive Sales?

Business is fairly straight forward…you need to bring more money in than you have going out. If you are going to be spending money or time on social media then you need to ask yourself the hard question of is it actually going to lead to sales. This may seem confusing given that I say not to come across with the hard sell in the last point but at the same time you can’t be doing social media for the good of your health. If you have set out to market yourself using social media then you need to set some goals. Will the fact that you provide outstanding customer service via Twitter keep your customers loyal and mean they keep coming back to you? Can you give away lots of information that is useful to your customers via a blog so as they keep coming back and eventually buy your premium services or products. I’d have very clear established goals as to what you want to achieve from your social media activity as a start up and I would plan for them over a long period of time.

Don’t Get In To Thinking Social Media Is Work

I cringe at the amount of time I see some people involved in startups on Twitter every day. I was guilty of it myself in the early days but it’s important to remember that twitter is not work. Sure you can use it in some of the ways above to get a little bit of leverage for your business but sitting on there all day reading links and talking to people is not actually working. I know it sounds very obvious but too many people lose sight of that and get caught up in social media. It is as it’s name suggests a very social activity and can drag you in but I really see no need for most start ups to be checking Twitter more than a couple of times a day.Just like the pot about your friends and family above there can be a lot of backslapping on Twitter and false praise around you start up so make sure not to get dragged in while having your ego inflated while actually forgetting about the important part of running your business and increasing sales.

Compliment With Traditional Marketing

Social media is great because it doesn’t cost much more than your time. Having said that I don’t think it can service all your marketing needs. I’ve seen a lot of start ups be scared to invest money in traditional marketing. When I say traditional marketing it could be print ads, TV, direct marketing, mail shots, radio etc etc. It can seem daunting to spend a few thousand on marketing out of an already small budget and many instead focus on trying to get free PR or using free tools but I’d urge start ups to spend a little more on traditional marketing as well. The biggest most successful businesses in the world all have huge marketing budgets, Their products don’t sell themselves so how would your start up start selling immediately without a little marketing. There are a huge amount of start ups that have failed even though they have had spectacular products simply because they have not been able to get the word out and market them correctly.

Your Friends Are not Your Customers

I’ve fallen in to this trap way too many times. People I know through the online world or friends and family will tell me they love my product or would use it all the time as I hand them out freebies and sit back and lap up their praise. This is false praise. Of course they love what you are doing, they don’t want to hurt your feelings and the chances are they really want you to succeed, Would those same people buy from you? If they can buy from you now have they ever done so? Probably not. Your friends and family are simply not your target audience so don’t get sucked in to taking what they say too seriously. On the flip side they could be your biggest salesperson or advocate ever so make sure they are armed with the right information about your product or service should they be talking to a potential customer of yours.

Help Other People, It Really Works

It is very easy to get caught up in your own world when you are in a start up. Nothing matters apart from that next release, hiring that next person or getting that payment in to pay the wages and you can lose track of what is happening in the real world around you. Out of everything I have ever done that has been effective it is always helping others that has worked best. Go out of your way to do something that will help another person and the chances are it will come back to you 10 times over. It feels alien when you don’t have enough hours in the day to be helping others but building up a strong network of people who you have helped and who would do the same in return is priceless.

Platforms Come And Go But Blogs Are Forever

Remember Myspace? Bebo? The list goes on. Nothing is more sure than there will be a new platform poke it’s head up soon that everybody runs off and starts using. It’s a cycle and people spend huge amounts of time on platforms that are not their own. I am a huge fan of investing that time instead on your own blog or website. The content you create on your own website will be there forever. It will always add value to your business and be there as a resource to be found. By all means build social features around that blog and engage with those social platforms in that way but for me the blog should always be king. It’s your own platform that doesn’t change, you have few restrictions and you are pretty much free to do what you see fit with it.

Use Social Media To Shape Your Brand

Building a brand from scratch is tough, It’s very different to building a business and usually takes a lot of time, effort and money. With social media you have a unique position to build a brand from scratch and shape your business to appear much bigger than it actually is. All you really need is a logo and some good copy to make you start sounding professional and looking like a big business. Add in a couple of professional looking videos and a slick company blog and you have a platform to create a brand far bigger than your company actually is. Think of the likes of Coca Cola, Guinness and Levi’s. They are all brands and the reason you buy in to those products is because you have grown to love and adore the brand. Social media affords you the opportunity to compete with bigger companies on a level playing field and really put your start up on the map.

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How Businesses Are Unleashing Their Employees' Social Media Potential

Josh Bernoff is Senior Vice President, Idea Development at Forrester Research and the co-author of Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business (Harvard Business Review Press, 2010).

We know it’s a brave new world for consumers and brands. If United breaks your guitar, or your Maytag doesn’t work properly, you can take on the company that messed with you via social media — and you may well win.

But technology empowerment works both ways. Consumers can take a stand against poor business practices, and brands can empower their customers like never before.

Mobile is a hotbed of innovation in this department. Point your phone at a restaurant and see if it’s worth an evening out. With the addition of cloud services, you get stuff like the iPhone app from UK car dealer Auto Trader, which can tell you the make, model and the price of used cars just from snapping a license plate photo.

To take it one step further, companies that invest in technology and innovation can not only sell more products with digital tools, but empower their own employees. Below, we’ve highlighted some examples of businesses that are using technology creatively to solve customer issues and spur innovation.

Workers Already Use Third-Party Tech for Business

Based on a survey we did late last year at Forrester Research, 27% of information workers regularly use login-required web sites that the company doesn’t sanction, like LinkedIn or Google Docs, for work purposes. Around 12% download and use their own applications not provided by the company, like video editors, and 8% are using smartphones they pay for themselves for work purposes. Unlike in Dilbert’s office, IT doesn’t control technology within corporations any more — workers do.

I argue that this lack of control inside and outside companies isn’t a sign of the apocalypse; it’s the beginning of a new way of working — one in which employees know their job is to use technology to solve customer problems.

Don’t be surprised if this proposition elicits echoes of The Cluetrain Manifesto. Ten years ago, this idea was radical, and people who espoused it were screaming in the wilderness. Now it’s actually working, even at large companies.

Principles at Work

At Best Buy, CMO Barry Judge encourages staff to come up with “half-baked ideas,” which the company works on and then rolls out. For example, Remix is a project which opened up the company’s website API so others could build sites or apps on top of it. Using Best Buy’s wealth of product, pricing and image data, developers could implement useful third-party applications to track rapidly dropping retail prices, for example.

Twelpforce, a shared Twitter support service, was programmed by Ben Hedrington, a Best Buy website staffer, in his spare time. It was rolled out by John Bernier, who solved problems like how 2,500 hourly staffers (Blue Shirts, Geek Squad, and the like) could share a Twitter service without violating labor laws. These are empowered employees.

At Vail Resorts, CEO Rob Katz radically shifted the company’s media policy, embracing short-lead advertising and social media. He hired social media staffers instead of buying magazine ads, and trained the staff on how to turn pictures, videos and tweets into fast-spreading, word-of-mouth ads.

At Dell, there are so many social initiatives going on that Manish Mehta, who reports directly to the CMO, runs a council of high level execs who share best practices weekly.

The Rise of Empowerment “Heroes”

The companies that work like this act quickly. They blunt customer complaints and turn detractors into promoters. They innovate as a matter of course. The reason is that all the employees feel empowered to create and contribute, rather than leave it to their research and developments departments.

I call these people “HEROes:” Highly Empowered and Resourceful Operatives. They typically know more about customers than they do about technology, and companies need more of them.

HEROes need tools to understand the challenges they face. They need managers who support them rather than squelch their initiative. They need IT people who give them technology advice, resources, and help them to see pitfalls and risks, and identify when their projects are ready to scale up.

This isn’t a pipe dream. I’ve seen HERO-powered companies innovating, and there are more every day. This mentality is the future of daily work, and it’s an inversion in the power structure of companies. The companies that have figured this out have a head start on the rest. Does yours?

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HOW TO: Build Your International Business Network Online

The International Business Series is brought to you by UPS. Discover the new logistics. It levels playing fields and lets you act locally or globally. It’s for the individual entrepreneur, the small business, or the large company. Put the new logistics to work for you.

International business requires an international network. But, unless you own a private jet, there are obvious obstacles to networking in person with people who live in other countries.

Thankfully, the web is truly worldwide, and these obstacles can be easily overcome with a little online networking and social interaction. We asked people who have successfully accumulated large online international networks about their recommendations for getting started. This is what they had to say.

Add your own tips for building an international professional network via the web in the comments below.

1. Join International Groups and Networks

Participating in online discussions that include international voices is a primary way to make connections and expand your international network. E-mail lists, online groups, and networking sites are easy ways for getting involved in these discussions.

Shel Horowitz, a publishing consultant who started an international business ethics pledge that includes signers from more than 30 countries, says he’s met most of his international contacts through online discussions.

“Over a period of time, people exchange information, answer questions, pontificate on whatever is going on in the publishing world,” he says. “And not only did I develop an international network of friends and colleagues through this, but also a considerably greater expertise in the publishing consulting I do.”

What kind of discussions you join will depend upon what your networking goals are. “You have to find a niche and decide who you want to meet,” says Vinil Ramdev, an India-based consultant for entrepreneurs. “Because if you’re an actor and you’re only meeting entrepreneurs, that’s not going to help.”

Social networking sites like LinkedInLinkedIn

or community platforms like Groupsite.comGroupsite.com

host discussions that you can search by interest, meaning you can find relevant international topics with the right search terms. E-mail lists from your alma mater, professional societies, and any organizations you belong to most likely have international members, as well. If you’re looking specifically to meet international contacts, however, you might also consider:

• Viadeo: Like LinkedIn, but oriented for European business
• Ushi.cn: An invite-only business networking platform for China
• A Small WorldA Small World

  : Another invite-only networking site that links members with other members, discussions, and events related to their interests

• Internations: Connect with expats living around the world. Membership is invitation-based, but you can request an invitation, so you don’t actually need to know a member.
• XingXING

  : Like LinkedIn, but has a stronger presence in Europe

• Sandbox Network : Designed for the most influential people under age 30, this by-application-only social network has “ambassadors” in more than 20 cities.
• MeetingWave: This site allows you to search for networking events and meetings by interest and location. Look for international networking events near you.
• GeeksOnaPlane: Promotes cultural exchange through technology and entrepreneurship. You can request an invite to join the group on their international travels.
• OrkutOrkut

  : This is Google’sGoogle

  social networking site, which is quite popular in Brazil and India. You can target your posts by groups of friends, such as “Work Buddies” or “International Contacts.” All you have to do is create and name a category of contacts and add people. This feature allows you to keep your work and personal lives separate.

You may have noticed that some of these networks are invite only. But you should be encouraged, not intimidated, by the exclusivity, says Severin Jan Ruegger, the co-founder of the Sandbox Network.

“With LinkedIn or FacebookFacebook

anybody can join. And I don’t dispute that they’re helpful in certain situations,” he says. “But sometimes there is a lack of trust. And in any relationship there has to be some trust.” In Ruegger’s experience, people are more approachable, helpful and willing to talk to him in invite-only networks.

If you’re looking for an invite, Rawn Shah, the author of Social Networking for Business and a member of the Social Software Enablement Team at IBM, suggests that you check your existing connections to see if they are members of the group you want to join. Some sites, like Sandbox, have application-like invitation processes, in which case you can just apply.

Another option is to create your own e-mail list or group, which is what Horowitz did when the e-mail list he was on stopped meeting his needs.

“I just announced to that list that I was starting another list and that this was what was going to be different, and a critical mass signed up very quickly,” he says.

2. Don’t Forget About the Classics

While targeting international networks and groups is effective, networks that you may already belong to, like LinkedIn, Facebook, and TwitterTwitter

, can also be extremely helpful if leveraged properly. In fact, Horowitz says his first international speaking gig came from LinkedIn.

Ramdev uses these networks to stay in touch with people after he has met them online, at a conference, in a webinar, or by commenting on a blog. “E-mail is very hard to send because it’s one on one,” he says. “If I update my Facebook status, though, I have 30 or 40 people commenting on it.”

It’s important not to go overboard while inviting people to your network on these platforms, however. “More connections doesn’t necessarily mean better, stronger relationships that help you in business,” he says. “Work first on interacting on a regular pace with your peers in the group through the discussion.”

Shah also recommends limiting the number of groups you’re involved in on sites like LinkedIn as well: “You want a productive relationship, which means that you should interact with others in the group for some time (at least a few weeks), and decide for yourself if it is worth staying in,” he says. “This means that it will take time to form your relationships in each group. The effort is not wasted, however, if you decide not to stay. It gives you perspective into different views and mindsets. Also if you look across groups, you might find the same names appearing repeatedly as they post. They may be worth getting to know.”

It’s also worth understanding that different networking sites are popular in different countries. The above map uses data from Alexa and Google to show which sites are the most popular in each country.

3. Attend International Conferences and Webinars Online

Luckily, there are a lot of webinars and live-streamed conferences out there. Seek out these opportunities to connect with industry professionals, and when you attend, make sure you stick around for conversation. After you physically attend a conference or seminar, you generally make small talk with your fellow attendees and the host after it ends, right? There’s no reason you can’t do that online as well.

“It’s a little more difficult obviously, however, the approach is very similar to offline,” says Ruegger. “You might also do that by chatting or sending a quick e-mail to follow up. It can also be personal. It doesn’t have to be very stiff and business-like. Something that makes you approachable, that makes you nice.”

Shah suggests taking advantage of the bio and contact information that is usually posted for each speaker by making contact after the seminar. It’s also helpful to chat with the group in the group space during the webinar or contact individuals about a comment they made or a question they asked during the webinar.

Another great way to stay in touch with your online international contacts is to invite them to your own webinar, which you can create using tools like Supercool School.

4. Find a Way to Interact With Your Contacts

Collecting contacts internationally isn’t merely a matter of adding connections to your social sites. If you want a valuable international network, you’ll need to stay in touch.

Ruegger’s approach is to be as helpful as possible. “Send opportunities, links — anything that you know these people would value. Send it over, give a contact, introduce people, and bring people together,” he says. “[It’s] just like offline. Introduce people to each other. All these interactions over time will build you a network that needs to be nurtured.”

Ramdev stays in touch with his network, which is mostly composed of entrepreneurs, by linking to information that will be relevant to them on his Twitter feed (as pictured above).

5. Make Your Web Presence Internationally Friendly

When Horowitz started his first web page in 1996, he took very seriously the phrase “world wide web.” His page included an introduction that was translated in a number of languages and apologized for an inability to translate the rest of the page.

Today, he is able to use a WordPressWordPress

plug-in called Global Translator that automatically translates his site into 48 different languages.

Horowitz also started the International Association of Earth-Conscious Marketers and recommends using the word “international” in any discussion groups or e-mail threads you start. “Having the word ‘international’ in print says, ‘you are welcome, we want your input,’” he says.

6. Understand How Networking Differs in Other Cultures

“There are significant differences in culture that alter the way you network,” says Ruegger, who has spent time living in China and several European countries. “American people have a tendency to understand networking and its purpose as possibly useful, but it’s much harder on an Asian continent.”

Ruegger says the best way to learn about networking in other cultures is to live there. For instance, while living in China he learned that it’s not culturally appropriate to criticize people or make suggestions in a public setting like a forum.

Obviously, moving to another country isn’t an option for everybody. But you can still take cultural differences into account. “Even though it may be virtual, people instinctively transfer the work behaviors, norms and expectations from the physical world into the online world,” Shah says. “There are many books on working with international cultures which would be a good start. Search Google or Amazon for “Doing business in [country].”

You can also use a site like Forrester Research to learn about how people use social media in whatever country you wish to target.

Shah says one thing to keep in mind is that in some cultures, personal and business networking is strictly separate. Therefore, it might be advisable to exclude your beach photos from profiles that you plan to use for international business networking.

7. Meet Online Contacts in Person Whenever Possible

It’s great to have online contacts, but offline relationships are often easier to maintain. If you happen to be in the area of an online contact, ask to meet them in person.

“You actually try to physically meet the people who you met online … which then makes them much stronger connections in your general network …” Reugger says.

Series supported by UPS

The International Business Series is brought to you by UPS. Discover the new logistics. It levels playing fields and lets you act locally or globally. It’s for the individual entrepreneur, the small business, or the large company. Put the new logistics to work for you.

Image courtesy of iStockphotoiStockphoto

, lisegagne

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Leighton Walters - Business Development Manager - True Property

Leighton Walters - Business Devp Manager - True Property

Leighton Walters has a passion for people and service. He found that his role in property management enabled him to establish a charity and help less fortunate people. He is now urging other property management professionals to do the same.

 

Leighton, how has your career led you to your current role in property management?

Ever since I was young, I was exposed to the exciting real estate industry through my father, Bob Walters who worked for my Godfather, Robert R Andrew. My passion is people, service and relationships; property is just a great conversation starter.

 

What do you enjoy most about your job?

It is definitely watching the smiles and excitement of our clients when we achieve a successful result. In my job, there are a lot of first time investors that crave information. Mixed in with passion, a genuine smile and understanding of their situation ignites a special client relationship which sets a stable foundation of honesty to come.

 

You are the founder of Heart for the Homeless – tell us about this charity and what motivated you to initiate it.

Unfortunately, we live in a society where it has become increasingly easy and acceptable to turn a blind eye to people in need. I believe our generation is desperate for compassion, and not just the feeling, but the action. Heart for the Homeless is focused on empowering industries to be active in reducing poverty by utilising technology. We have launched an efficient initiative into the real estate industry named the Moving Cities Initiative. This initiative is an internet-based system where owners and tenants moving home can ‘register their move’ online. Prompted by the local real estate agency, what our system does is automatically communicate and synchronise these details with the local not-for-profit service provider in the area such as OzHarvest or The Salvation Army. The tenant or owner is then contacted by the local charity in the area to arrange the collection of any leftover furniture, clothing or non-perishable food. This effectively turns off the tap of wastage and dumping when people move home, and rather turns someone else’s trash into another person’s treasure. If we are going to get serious in helping the environment, we are going to need to minimise wastage at the source.

 

What is your long term vision for Heart for the Homeless?

We are definitely a vision led and inspired organisation. If we only believed what our eyes saw, we would never be able to see dreams become a reality. My long term vision for Heart for the Homeless is to see an organisational network of industries and businesses being hands-on in aiding those in need. In the real estate industry, I would love to see an internationally operating system that is saving billions of tons of resources to aid those in need. The exciting part is, it all begins at the feet of Australia’s real estate agencies.

 

How can other real estate agents and property managers become involved with Heart for the Homeless?

We have different opportunities for agencies to become a part of our organisation. We operate a tiered membership program which aids in motivating our members to proactively seek more resources. Heart for the Homeless is a practical way that an agency can become more hands-on in their community and also help be a part of the bigger picture. Anyone interested should visit our website www.heartforthehomeless.org

 

Which skills and attributes do you rate as most important in a successful property manager?

Patience, performance and professionalism. In property management, we know that we work in an industry that is highly emotional and is no stranger to conflict. More often than not, if you stop, listen and be patient, eventually the underlying problem will emerge. If you approach the problem with professionalism and understanding, your tenants or owners will learn to trust you as the professional. However, it is very important we perform and act on what we say. When we deliver on what we say we build a solid foundation for a trustworthy relationship, just like if we spend all our time focusing on the people who let us down, we will never appreciate the people who deliver.

 

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

“Obstacles are only seen when you take your eyes off your goals”. My dad told me once about the metaphor of a magnifying glass. If we see ourselves as a magnifying glass and focus and concentrate all of our energy on one passion, we are going to make a difference. Just like holding a magnifying glass over some dried leaves and concentrating the light from the sun will burn the leaf and start a fire, we too should aim to be the best we can be at what we are good at. We are not created to be the best at everything. Once we accept we are not born perfect, and that life is a gradual daily journey full of lessons and challenges, this will help give the freedom of understanding it’s okay if we fail, just as long as we get better.

 

What are some of the challenges in your job and how do you address them?

Naturally, there are challenges in every job. Unfortunately, people are not perfect and you will get let down or mislead every now and again. However, understanding that you also are not perfect will help you as a person humble yourself to approach every single client with a sense of honesty, integrity and sincerity that I feel is what both our clients and tenants need to see. People might expect us to be perfect, but never pretend to be. What shows a person’s character is not how many times we face rejection or miss out on a listing, but how we react to it and how we get back up. No one ever counts how many times we fail, only how many times we win.

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31 Points of Difference

31 Points of Difference

If there’s one thing you should do this week, it’s schedule “brain storm” time for your team to list your agency’s points of difference – then apply them in all your client communication. Simon Thomas offers the ultimate list of ideas to get you started.

 

"It is imperative that you and your brand have Points of Difference (POD) to think outside the square and stand out from the crowd."

 

"A simple get-together for drinks and nibbles will not cost you the earth; it’s a great way to say “thank you” and everyone there has YOU in common!"

 

"Everyone has a business card (which is often thrown out). Fridge magnets have a far better chance of being retained as people place a higher value on them."

 

Regardless of which industry you’re involved with, competition is a given. It’s fierce, it’s everywhere and it’s never going to go away. In real estate, it seems new competition enters the marketplace on a regular basis, at times weekly or monthly. It’s either experienced salespeople opening a new agency under a known brand, an independent with a “fresh marketing edge”, a franchise group re-launching itself after previous failures or a new hopeful with “sales, marketing and a financial background” who is dipping their toe in the water to have a crack in the local real estate scene. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter who your competition is, the fact is, they’re here and they’re here to stay. Without spending too much energy worrying about what your competition is doing, it is imperative that you (the agent) and your brand (your agency) have Points of Difference (POD) to think outside the square and stand out from the crowd.

 

It’s time to ask some serious questions:
What gives you or your agency the edge?
Why should a potential seller choose you over your competitors?

Why us? (agency) or, more importantly, why you?

 

If this is something you or your agency hasn’t really considered, time is well and truly overdue for you to reflect on these important questions seriously. If your competitors have done this, they are already a step ahead of you!

 

Don’t panic as it’s not all bad news. I am going to make it a little bit easier for you. I suggest you allocate some time, allow those creative juices to flow and start a list of things to include in your promotional information and pre-list kits. Here are some suggestions to get you started, either from an agent’s or agency’s perspective:

 

Experience – the combined real estate sales experience either in the industry or in your area can give you the edge in terms of marketplace knowledge

Website – there is so much relevant information that you can share on your website, remember this is your shopfront that is open 24/7. Look to add features that are unique to your site that will give buyers and sellers additional information (local schools, beaches, shopping centres, restaurants/cafes, places of interest, sporting clubs, local events etc.) Additional features could include Property of the Week, your monthly newsletter/e-newsletter or bulletin, CMA’s (for specific regions, areas or precincts), virtual tours, floor plans, professional property videos, recent sales (updated weekly), open house times, forthcoming auctions, your in-room auction calendar, community support, buyer and seller reviews or testimonials, recent awards or recognition for the agency/agent, principal’s blog,  local weather, tidal information, property previews and a list of preferred/recommended tradespeople, also how many sites you feature properties on (list them), although your own site should remain the main focus.

Location – is your office strategically located with prominent window displays/interactive video screens opposite a shopping centre, beach, cafe precinct or in the main street?

Profile – consistently having the largest advertising profile in the area (name the publications your agency appears in) means that your brand awareness outperforms the competition.

Auction specialists – use unique auction strategies and marketing plans to obtain successful outcomes for your clients, are your auction success/clearance rates well above the local and industry averages?

Open 7 days – this is an added advantage for agencies in coastal or holiday destinations.

Additional services – these can include in-house home loans, finance or mortgage broking service, property management, buyer’s agent service, commercial/industrial sales and leasing, holiday accommodation, removal service and insurance.

Personal profile – include your background previous to real estate (if applicable –  finance, sales or customer service), years of experience, recognition/awards, family (married/children) and your other interests outside the industry (sporting clubs, hobbies, charities supported).

Days on market (agency and agent) – promote compared to the local and industry averages.

 

Full service – this should be a given in terms of offering your potential clients all the selling options: auction, private treaty, tender or expressions of interest. To take it one step further, you should also have an in-depth and thorough understanding of all the benefits of each method in terms of how they can assist the seller.

Buyer match system – all new listings are entered into the agency’s database prior to marketing to potentially match any of your buyers to those properties new to the market (may save the seller time and marketing costs).

 

Email/SMS alerts for new listings – these can be sent out immediately to buyers on the day the property is listed to fast-track the selling campaign.

Brochures – use attachments as a tool to include additional information (local maps, points of interest, distances to schools, shopping and beaches, a list of things the current owners enjoy about the home/area and what attracted them to the house when they purchased it).

Property information sheet – as above to include additional information on the property such as age of the house, recent renovations undertaken, land size, hot water service, council rates, body corporate fees (if applicable), heating and cooling, insulation, inclusions, exclusions and estimated rental return.

Seller and purchaser gifts– this should always be a “wow!” moment for both the buyer and the seller. Make it memorable with a thoughtful gift they will always remember (not your standard champagne or flowers). Make the extra effort with, for example, a bow tied around the front door welcoming them to their new home as well as a complimentary house or garden clean-up in the first month. 

Community support – people like dealing with people; real people who are seen as part of the local community. Agents are often perceived as being “take take” so what do you give back on a regular basis? Which charities do you support or schools do you sponsor? List the organisations you support, for example, the local surf club, junior or senior sporting clubs, the door knock appeals you regularly support and the money raised over the years for these worthwhile causes.

Thank you cards/notes – send these out on a regular basis to your past, current and future clients as “touch points” so that your clients reference you as someone who cares about them. When was the last time you received a hand-written note from someone? It is far more powerful than an email or typed letter.

Fridge magnets – relative for both the agency and the agent. Let’s face it, everyone has a business card (which is often thrown out). Fridge magnets have a far better chance of being retained as people place a higher value on them. Hint: come up with something other than a house shape or a calendar as these ideas have been over-done. Think of something fresh, different and out of the box!

Coffee cards for clients – a great initiative for sellers in particular. What are they going to do during your weekly open houses? A complimentary coffee at your local favourite cafe will be well and truly appreciated by your clients (as well as the cafe owner – more business for them!)

 

Personal guide to moving – let’s face it, we don’t move that often and it is easy to forget all the things we need to check, remember and take care of. A check-list for buyers and sellers puts them at ease in terms of what needs to be done (eg change of address forms, electoral register, water/power/gas/phone/internet connection, transfer insurances, removalist quotes, drivers licence etc.)

House-warming gifts – an added “feel good” gift from you (for little cost) will go a long way to the purchasers remembering you. In addition to a general gift some examples include a dinner voucher (who wants to cook on the first night?), movie tickets or a month’s DVD hire at the local outlet.

Information pack – this is a great idea for purchasers; don’t assume they know the area they are moving to. Include the local schools, kindergartens/child care centres, shopping centres, post office, dry cleaner, doctor, dentist, parks, swimming pool, community events and other places of interest.

Client appreciation nights – hold these either monthly, quarterly or yearly to show your appreciation for those that have sold through you or purchased from you or your agency. A simple get-together for drinks and nibbles will not cost you the earth; it’s a great way to say “thank you” and everyone there has YOU in common! The referral business will flow to you as a result!   

Referral rewards – have a system in place to reward those that refer business to you, particularly on a regular basis. Wine, dinners, theatre tickets, gold class movie tickets, a night out at a five star hotel or weekend getaways are some great ways to thank those that push business your way (these are your raving fans!)

Anniversary cards/calls – this should be a given, yet not many agents seem to do it on a regular basis. A 12 month anniversary card and call is a nice touch; it shows you haven’t forgotten your past clients and they are more likely to refer you to their family and friends. A great tip is to send all your cards on the first day of each month then call them on the actual anniversary day!

Specialists – is there anything in particular that you or your agency specialise in? Apartments or investment properties, off the plan sales, waterfront, lifestyle/acreage, rural/residential, canal homes, hobby farms, weekenders, house and land packages, developments, project marketing etc.

Buyer assistance sheets – to help buyers find their ideal property (preferred area, land size, bedrooms, bathrooms, office, single level/two storey, rumpus room, pool, entertaining areas and distances to schools, beaches, shopping etc) 

Client reviews/testimonials – keep in a folder for potential clients to look through in your office reception area as well as listed on your website.

Personal notes/messages – sent out after market appraisals and listing presentations either hand written or via SMS.

Key marketing areas – an area or precinct where you or the agency have had a high degree of success and in which you specialise; you are the known expert and consistently market properties in that area.

Buyer graphs – you consistently track buyer enquiry for each area or property type so therefore you know how buyers are finding the properties they purchase (internet, print media, signage, office enquiry, widow display or agent’s contacts). This then enables you to tailor a marketing proposal ideal for that area or property type.

 

Simon Thomas is a freelance auctioneer, sales trainer, business coach and mentor. His client list reads like a Who’s Who of the Australian real estate industry. Simon uses his experience, enthusiasm and passion for the industry to train and coach agents to reach their full potential. www.simonthomas.com.au

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Are Twitter Followers Better Than Facebook Fans?

Twitter more likely to induce advocacy and future purchases

Marketers looking to push out the most effective messages to opt-in recipients must understand how audiences differ across channels and what causes them to connect with brands. Marketing venues that seem similar may differ strongly if their users have different needs and motivations.

According to the final edition of ExactTarget’s “Subscribers, Fans and Followers” report, the differences between email, Facebook and Twitter also include their influence on customer loyalty.

Daily Twitter users who followed a brand were more than twice as likely as daily Facebook users who “liked” a brand to say they were more likely to purchase from the brand after becoming a social media follower. What’s more, Facebook fans were the most likely group to actively disagree with the question. Subscribers to opt-in marketing emails fell in the middle.

The pattern among Twitter followers, email subscribers and Facebook fans was similar when asked about whether they would recommend a brand. A third of Twitter followers said they were more apt to make a recommendation now that they followed a brand, compared with 24% of email subscribers and 21% of Facebook fans. Again, those who “liked” a brand on Facebook were most likely to actively disagree with the statement.

A February 2010 survey by Chadwick Martin Bailey also found that Twitter followers were more likely than Facebook fans to say they had an increased chance of buying or recommending the brands they connected with in social media.

These factors make Twitter followers attractive to marketers, but as the ExactTarget report notes, because of Twitter’s much smaller user base just 3% of US internet users follow a brand through the microblogging service. Those who do follow brands on Twitter are likely to be influencers in general, while Facebook users are more like the average consumer. And since Facebook users often become brand fans on the site because they are already fans in real life and want to use the brand as part of their self-image, it may be more difficult for them to actually increase their spending or advocate for the brand more than they did before “liking.”

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4 Reasons Your Website Sucks

I know, you've been working really hard on your website. You've made sure that every pixel is perfect, every menu margin magnificent, and every title titanic.  Unfortunately, it's entirely too easy to make a beautiful website that, well, sucks.

Here are four ways things can go horribly, terribly wrong:

1. Your website isn't findable. Some of the biggest companies in the world have websites that aren't well optimized and they still get found.  Unfortunately for the rest of us, that isn't an option. This is especially a problem for gorgeous sites that are all flash and only have one page for Google or Bing to index, but many new websites don't optimize page titles or URLs--key places for telling search engines what your pages are about.
2. Your website only displays the news about the cool stuff your company has done. Ummmm... that's nice, but if I'm a prospect, I don't care about how cool you think you are--I care about how you're going to solve my problems.  If your website only has navigation about who you are & what you do and a news feed, it sucks.
3. Your website is so slick and cool that people have no idea where to click. It's no secret that people have short attention spans when they surf the web, so making your page so "cool" that you've hidden all obvious navigation is a really good way to increase your bounce rate.  If you only have two buttons, they had better be the best two buttons and serve your prospects' needs exactly, or they're not going to engage.  Even better, though, would be to give your prospects enough options that you can address their varying needs, depending on where they are in the research or buying process.
4. Your website automatically plays sound. Maybe you have an auto-playing video or some funky background music, but it plays instantly. From a pet peeve perspective, this should really be #1, but it's less of a marketing problem and more of an annoyance.  Your prospects probably don't suddenly want a blasting presentation to come out of their computer speakers while they're sitting in quiet cube farms.  They'll quickly close the browser tab rather than becoming engaged, filling out lead forms, and eventually buying your product or service.

If you want to "unsuckify" your website, make sure it has the following:

• Enough well-optimized pages that people can find you
• How you're going to solve your prospects' problems
• Clear navigation & calls-to-action
• And for the love of everything, no automatically playing noise or video!

Taking these actions will go a very long way towards making sure your prospects stay on your site, interact with your company, and become customers!

Photo courtesy of Alicia Voorhies

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Link Building 101 - The Almost Complete Link Guide

A lot has changed since I got into link building a few years ago - link exchange is dead, ad banners are no longer all about gaining referral traffic, and buying links is more dangerous than ever before. Because of the changes mentioned and a whole load of others the majority of link builders don’t like to give away their secrets to sourcing links, even though it’s all pretty much the same at most agencies.

Most of the advice I will be giving throughout this post is most likely available from a large number of sources including SEOmoz but I felt it would be great to bring everything together under one simple guide.

Creating your link building strategy
Before building any links to a website it is important to ask yourself a few questions like:

• What kind of links do you need?
• Do you need nofollow and branded links?
• Do you have a wide enough range of anchor text and landing pages?

Sadly every strategy is different and people can’t answer these questions for you but hopefully you can use the following information to help answer the questions.

Link Placement
In recent times Google has started placing value in link placement, in-content links passing the most value and footer links passing the least, although a good link profile should make good use of every link type as going out and sourcing only in-content links would be a very big sign of an unnatural link profile.

Nofollow & Dofollow
A lot of people go out and source dofollow links, but in doing this they do more harm to their link profile. Every website should have a good balance of nofollow links - there have been cases where sites with a very low number of nofollow links have not ranked as highly as others who keep a good balance.

Branded Links
I believe Domain Authority and Domain Trust make up a fairly large chunk of the ranking algorithm. Even though there are loads of factors in measuring these attributes, one good sign of both is having a good number of brand based anchor text pointing to your website. Some people make the mistake of only building branded terms to the homepage, when in fact there is more value in building links using these terms to landing pages throughout your website.

Anchor Text & Landing Page Distribution
When working on a link building campaign, it is important to work on a wide range of landing pages, using a variety of anchor text for each. Working on a small keyword / landing page set can upset the balance of a website and can have a very negative impact long term.

Content Relevancy
Since the Google May Day update this year, relevancy seems to play a larger role in the ranking factors. Even though the days of keyword stuffing are over, there is still a need to reference your keywords within your content, header tags, URI structure and title tags. Content may not be king but it is one of the keys to a successful link building campaign.

Sourcing Links
Once you have your link building strategy done and dusted the next step is to find suitable websites to source links from. There are many techniques that can be used for this job, some of which rely on tools and others that use manual search queries.

Link Building Tools
If you plan to use link building tools then chances are you will be looking at links going to competitors’ websites. This is one of the best ways to start a link building campaign and can lead to positive results, some of the best tools for this job are:

• Open Site Explorer (Free / SEOmoz Pro Members)
  • OSE
  • How to Use OSE

Competitive Link Research Tool (SEOmoz Pro Members only)

• Competitive Link Research Tool

Majestic SEO (Paid)

• Majestic SEO Website

Yahoo Site Explorer + SEO Quake Plugin (Free)

• Yahoo Site Explorer
• How to use SEO Quake
  

Manual Search Queries
It is said that it’s not the links your competitors have that will give you the edge but the links the competitors don’t have. To find these you will need to find link opportunities using manual search queries - the best way to do this is by using advanced search operators.

Advanced search operators are not as complicated as they sound but if used correctly they can provide a very nice set of search results. An introduction to advanced search operators can be found here and a short introduction can also be found on my personal blog under the post finding the links that matter.

One search string I would recommend when looking for suitable blogs for most niches is:

[search term] -site:Wikipedia.org -site:blogspot.com -site:telegraph.co.uk -site:wordpress.com -site:about.com -site:nationalgeographic.com -site:guardian.co.uk -"directory" -"add link" -"advertising"

Depending on your niche other domains can also be stripped from the results.

Directory Submissions
Directory submission is the most boring and repetitive job, but sadly it is an important task in any link building campaign. These links make up the numbers when it comes to branded links. Submit to the right directories and they will improve your overall domain authority.

Blog and Forum Commenting
Blog and forum commenting for links is seen as spam due to many people taking advantage of unprotected blogs and forums. If blog and forum commenting is part of your outlined strategy then some effort should be put into them.

The best way to act on this kind of link building is by using Google’s blog search to find the most recent articles published within your niche then make a genuine comment based on the content of the article, using the Name field for branded anchor text. This type of link building is best for increasing the number of nofollow links to your website.

Guest Blogging Communities
Guest blogging is a great place to find blogs within your niche, but instead of offering to do a guest post why not offer to write a few pages (I say pages as they are linked to via the top navigation) of content for them? After all these people want content and being able to source multiple pages not only saves time but can also lead to Google seeing the links as trustworthy, just remember to link out to authority sites within your niche as well.

Widgets & Theme Designs
There has been a lot of talk about creating widgets to increase the number of natural user generated links, which does work, but the widget you create does have to be unique and worth having so there isn’t a gap for this in every niche.

Another way to increase the number of user generated links is by creating a WordPress theme, a lot of people have said there is low value in this but if the theme is good enough it can generate 40k+ links (from previous experience). If you wish to go down this route the best way to market it is via your monthly newsletters, just put in a small section about it and wait for results, but remember to also submit it to theme hubs around the web for additional exposure.

Link to Us Pages
Link to us pages are not only great for increasing the number of user generated links but great for masking other link building activities. I would suggest having a link to us page displaying all the branded terms used within your campaign and have different types of links for each (Banner Ad, Contextual Ad, Text Link).

Competitions
If you client is running competitions contact bloggers in your niche and ask politely if they would blog about it. Although getting targeted anchor text through this tactic is harder it can help build the number of generic keywords linking to your domain.

Contacting Webmasters
Making contact with webmasters is one of the most difficult jobs - just about every email sent out needs to be personalised and in some cases contact is needed via social media before an email has been sent.

When sending an email to a webmaster, remember they are a real person just like you, so ask yourself a few simple questions before drafting:

• If you were the webmaster what would persuade you to link out?
• Would you rather a relationship was formed before receiving a link request?
• Should the email be from an SEO’s point of view or would it be better keeping it simple and to the point? 

Tracking Progress
Tracking the progress of your link building campaign is something that needs to be done. This can be done in a variety of ways but the best solutions I have found is using Raven Tools for overall tracking of performance and using an Excel document to keep a list of links built containing metrics such as Page Rank, mozRank and Domain Authority.

Having a list of metrics for each link enables you to display a variety of information relating to your link building campaign which helps when generating reports for your clients.

Conclusion
Although link building is a tough task in itself if you plan your strategy properly, build the correct links and track the progress of your strategy the job will become easier over time and you will begin to see what works and what doesn’t for your client.

Just remember every link building campaign is different, even if you deal with clients within the same niche as each website has a different infrastructure and domain history.

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3 Steps to Turn Happy Customers into Cheerleaders

A few weeks back, I got some work done on my car at a local dealership. In all honesty, I took my car to this particular dealership, because I’m the Mayor of it on Foursquare.  Even if I just needed an inspection, why not also use this as another check-in to continue securing my mayorship, right? So why is this important?

There was something very interesting about the bill that I received at the end of my service. Well, not the bill itself, but a postcard that had been stapled to the bill. A very simple postcard - a logo of the dealership, a picture of a VW Jetta, and a message from the Service Manager: “Thanks for your business. If you have a few minutes, please visit any of the sites below and leave a comment or review about us”.  Then there was a list of some shortened URLs that led directly to the dealership’s profile on various review sites like Yelp and Google Places.

There’s no reason for you to not being doing this with your customers.

Here are three quick tips for turning customers into cheerleaders for your business:

1 .  Ask for feedback and reviews - In some manner, you had to ask for the initial sale, so keep that up - explicitly ask your customer to go and leave a review. Like a call-to-action to get them to convert on your site, be direct and to the point.
 

2. Make it easy for people to get to your profile on the  review sites - 
 Provide short and easy to type URLs with your message asking for their review
. Every URL shortening service lets you create custom tags, or you could send them to a page on your site which links off to all the profiles you have
. This page could be www.yourdomain.com/customer-reviews for example.

3. Be ready for any and all feedback - If you’re afraid that people will post something nasty, get in front of it. When you ask for their review, include the contact info for a real live person to handle anything less than absolute satisfaction, and make sure to state "call this person if you aren't happy". If something nasty is posted, try to follow up with the poster by using the customer records you have available, and see if there’s any way that you could make up for the bad experience.
    
To get you started, here are some common online review sites where customers are able to leave feedback about local businesses:

    •    Yelp
    •    Google Places
    •    Foursquare tips
    •    Facebook Places
    •    InsiderPages.com

And here’s some places that would be ideal for specific industries:
    •    Angie’s List
    •    Dealer Rater
    •    Hotels.com
    •    Expedia
    •    LinkedIn Recommendations

What are some places where your customers have posted feedback and reviews of your business?

Photo Credit: altemark

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