MI: I
understand you have a background in real
estate. Tell us about your experience in the
field.
CY: I have been
involved in real estate for over 20 years.
I was licensed in Colorado as an agent and
worked in the mortgage industry as a loan
officer. When I moved back to San Diego in 2000,
I went back to school to learn html,
JavaScript and graphics, and was hired by leading real
estate website hosting company. Opened my
own virtual assistant business, hiring top
designers and programmers while integrating online
marketing skills.
MI: Why did
you decide to make the change from being an
agent to supporting other agents with their
businesses?
CY: When I was
involved in real estate, the internet was
just emerging for Realtors. It was difficult
to compete with the seasoned agents who had
a solid referral base, so I moved into lending
to round out my experience in real estate.
My desire was always driven by technology,
so the transition complimented my
understanding of computers and the internet.
MI: What are
the services you offer to real estate
professionals?
CY: Complete
online marketing strategies. From the
original concept of the website, including
design and layout, to driving traffic to the
website. This is a broad subject, as each
client has specific needs, and their
marketing needs to be evaluated and then
worked into an effective website.
MI: Why is
it important for real estate professionals
to have a website?
CY: Most agents
have heard over and over that 77-80% of
buyers are going online to search for homes
and many markets are now experiencing a buyers
market. The buyers are now more educated in
looking for a home online, and will sometimes
purchase the home without actually seeing
the home physically. You must have an
effective website if you want to stay in
business in the future.
MI: How do
you approach the task when a new client
first comes to you for assistance with a
website?
CY: I consult
with the client on their needs for a
website. We consider all aspects and what
will fit into their budget. It can be a
difficult task to encourage the client to
evaluate all their marketing strategies.
Many times they will be spending hundreds if
not thousands of dollars on traditional print media,
without a way to track or monitor the
effectiveness of their marketing dollars.
Because branding and creating a unique business
model is extremely important, we discuss
niche marketing and how to set their
business apart from their competitors who
may be spending money in the same
neighborhoods that they are also targeting.
MI: Can you
give us a list of the key elements/issues
you focus on when creating or updating a
website for a new client?
CY: The
following are the most important
considerations:
-
Giving the site a
highly polished, professional appearance
in keeping with contemporary Web design
trends.
-
Emphasizing lead
generation tools
-
Reformatting text
on key pages with CSS to give the
impression of professional typography.
-
Drawing attention
to "most wanted" features on a site,
such as making "search the local MLS"
easy to find.
-
Giving the agent or
team a friendly, professional,
approachable graphic impression
-
Creating a unique,
distinctive graphic identity (aka brand)
that carries through the entire site.
-
Emphasizing
memorable aspects of the agent's
personality that will help him or her
stand out.
-
Regionalizing the
graphics so that they are appropriate to
the agent's geographic location
(especially important for prospects that
are relocating).
-
For agents who are
targeting a niche market (my favorite!),
we use subtle and not-so-subtle design
techniques to help people in the niche
market identify with the agent's area of
specialization.
-
Developing an
identity for the agent that is separate
from his or her franchise and brokerage,
differentiating them to the extent
allowed by brokerage, franchise
policy and by law. We do this because
each agent is competing with other
agents in the same office. What's more,
agents change brokerages and brokerages
change franchises as often as I change
clothes.
-
Understanding what
key elements of a website are traveled.
An agent may not know that the buyer and
seller tips are clicked on. This is a
valuable tool. But a free reports
section may not be viewed. The hierarchy
of the navigation structure is critical.
Many of the top web hosting companies
provide hundreds of tools to use. It
doesn’t' mean they all work in a
particular market. You don't want to
overwhelm your visitors with useless
information.
MI: MLS
integration and MLS related tools can be a
critical part of an agent website. Although
these vary from region to region, what are
the most important considerations and trends
you see as you work with client websites?
CY: This is a
key component to making your site work.
Understanding what providers, if any, are
associated with your Board is one of the
first steps to a successful website. There
are vendors that I have developed
relationships with over the last several
years that have proven themselves capable of converting
visitors into leads. Many are intuitive and
understand how to capture a lead that comes
into the site by providing value before
requesting a sign in. Wolfnettech.com, and
1ParkPlace.com are two such vendors. Custom
IDX's can also be built in areas where ftp
access is granted to the individual agents
and there are other 3rd party vendors that are
equally as qualified. I suggest that all
agents get familiar with the Board's
policies regarding the MLS, and what is
available in their area. There are still
some closed Boards, which do not offer any
flexibility to the buyers and sellers
looking to search for homes online. I hope
to see this policy changed in the future,
which will enable all the listings to be
public. A big plus for the end user.
MI: How does
marketing tie in with website development
and maintenance?
CY: Website
development is important if you want your
visitors to stay on your site. The typical
bounce rate on template looking sites is
80-90%. If you are spending any money to
drive business to your site, you are losing
most of your traffic on a poorly designed
site. A great site will have as low as 40%
bounce rate. A good example is
www.BestSkiProperty.com. Well thought out
design, easy to navigate, niche marketing,
friendly to use. We specialize in Advanced
Access and Point2 sites as well, with the
same marketing techniques applied to
semi-custom and custom sites. Two good
examples are www.JoeJanus.com and
www.UtahsHomes.com.
MI: Having a
"user friendly" site is key in today's
market. In what ways do you consider this
aspect when developing real estate websites?
CY: We look at the
following:
-
making the site
easy to navigate
-
reasonably fast
loading
-
accessible to a
degree by the blind or visually impaired
-
providing state of
the art IDX search capabilities
-
making the site
pleasing to the eye
-
making the site
search engine friendly
-
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER
subjecting the user to music without
first giving the user the choice whether to listen to it.
MI: Tell us
something about the services you offer once
a website has been designed. How do your
clients determine if the website is doing
what it was designed to do in terms of
attracting visitors and delivering the
information those visitors are looking for?
CY: Once the
site is developed, we determine what will
fit best into the client's marketing budget,
and discuss options. There are great
products that work for REALTORS® and there are
many products that are a complete waste of
money. Purchasing keywords from companies
will not guarantee SEO placement. I work
with the client to help unravel all the
slick sales messages they get bombarded
with on a daily basis to buy some new gadget
that promises to deliver. We try to
fit some type of marketing into everyone's
budget.
MI: What
things do you look for or evaluate with
potential clients before you decide to work
together?
CY: We prefer
clients who value our work, respect our
expertise, and respect our time. We don't
consult endlessly via emails and phone for
free.
MI: What do
you like best about the work you do with
real estate professionals?
CY: I absolutely
love my job. There is nothing more
satisfying that having a client call or
email me that the site is working and they
are making money from it. This is not an
overnight sensation. It takes months of hard
work and evaluating every step of the way to
make a website work. The end result can be a
successful business!
MI: Cherie,
thanks for sharing your expertise and
insights with us. You've shared a lot of
great information.
CY: It has been
an honor to present what a full virtual
assistant team can do for Realtors!
To learn more about Cherie
and her services just send her an email at
cherie@cherieyoung.com or call her at
760-765-1511.
Always remember to do a
thorough due-diligence before hiring any kind of
assistant. This interview is part of an ongoing
series of VA profiles designed to help you find
the perfect VA or VA team to help you get
organized, profitable, and in control of your
business.
