7 Deadly Sins of Online Marketing
The 7 Deadly Sins of Online Marketing are some of the most common, and most tragic, mistakes that many newcomers (including real estate professionals) make all too often. Avoiding these 7 errors can prevent costly setbacks and help keep you on top of your internet marketing game:
SIN #1: Failing to Build Relationships – Marketing online is all about creating relationships and building connections; this is the cardinal rule of online marketing. This goes for any product, service or industry but especially for real estate professionals. Without those invaluable one-on-one relationships with your readers/viewers/clients, your whole strategy can fall apart. If you do anything at all make sure get out there and meet people every single day.
SIN #2: Spamming – We’re not just talking about the bulk emails offering cheap prescription drugs from Canada here, this sin includes anything that’s solely intended to promote your business and lacks value for your audience. Will it work to go on a message board and spam your service? It could. I have seen people who have become great at using spam to generate business. But there’s one outcome that I can guarantee: your real customers and clients (the honest, loyal, life-long customers you really want) will never work with you. Spam will alienate you from the community and ensure that your business is flaky at best.
SIN #3: Not Using Enough Platforms – If you could put your face on as many billboards in your city as you wanted for free; would you pick and choose one or two? No! You’d take them all. The same rule applies online. If you don’t have a Twitter account, a Facebook profile, a Myspace profile, an Activerain account, a website, a YouTube channel, a blog, a MyBlogLog account (etc. etc.), you’re missing out on huge opportunities to be noticed by potential clients.
SIN #4: Not Producing Enough Content – It’s not enough to have a pretty website with a smiling picture and a contact form. Content is king. If you’re looking for credibility as the real estate professional in your area, you have to be creating content that proves this. Sending a potential client to a blog with recent posts on your local market will establish you as someone with authority in your area, it is powerful. You must be creating content on a regular basis. Whether it’s a blog, videos, a podcast or anything else; pick a format start pumping out great content at least 2-3 times a week.
SIN #5: Forgetting the Community – Sin #1 is all about the individual. Sin #5 is about the community at large. I always try to make my content interactive, I ask questions and open topics up to discussion. At the end of the day, your content is not meant to be taken as the gospel truth, it’s merely a stepping stone for your readers to evolve on their own. Try to inspire your community to take what you’ve created and build something even more valuable. And more importantly, take part in the community others have created. Become active in the comments on other blogs, join forums on your topics and find any way you can to be a part of the community. This “community” will fuel your success online, failing to embrace the community will separate you from your true audience and no matter how great your work is, no one will care.
SIN #6: Failing to be Transparent – It’s only a matter of time before your secrets are out. With the speed of information in 2008, any stretch of the truth will be called out eventually. If you pretend to be something you’re not, if you claim a fact that’s even a little fuzzy…expect it to be uncovered. Period.
SIN #7: Setting Expectations Too High – Generating lasting results from internet marketing strategy will take time, there’s no way around it. Patience is a virtue in the online marketing arena. Chasing after that one viral video or blog post that will make you a superstar is a waste of time. It probably won’t happen. Instead focus on building community, delivering great content and adding value to the lives of your audience.
But it doesn’t end here. These are my top seven sins to avoid, but I want to hear from you. Do you have any sins to add? What are your rules for internet marketing? Let us know.
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[...] I wrote the 7 Deadly Sins of Online Marketing, one of the biggest questions I received was “How do I find the time to do all this?” And while [...]