Protect Your Reputation and Improve Email Marketing Deliverability with Domain Authentication: a step-by-step guide

What would stop someone from sending mass emails to a list of recipients with your email address or domain?—as in, yourname@yourdomain.com. Technically, nothing—unless you take a preemptive action known as, Domain Authentication.

With Domain Authentication, you can rest assured that emails sent from your domain are from an authorized source (as in, you), thereby protecting your reputation.

More than that, though, Domain Authentication can also help to improve the deliverability of your email campaigns—that is, successfully reaching the inboxes of your email-list recipients versus getting marked as SPAM. Reason is, emails sent via an authenticated address give mailbox providers like Gmail and Outlook extra confidence in the legitimacy of your campaign.

Here are the overarching steps to achieve Domain Authentication, regardless of the email service provider you’re using (e.g. MailChimp, BomBomb, or omnisend):

1. Identify your email service provider (ESP) - This is the platform you use to send and manage your emails, such as MailChimp, SendGrid, or the like.

2. Look for the option to authenticate your domain - This may be found in your ESP's settings or under "account" or "security" options.

3. Add DNS records - You will need to add DNS TXT or CNAME records to your domain's DNS settings. This can be done by accessing your domain's hosting service (e.g. GoDaddy, Bluehost, Dreamhost) and adding the records as instructed by your ESP:

• Locate the option to manage DNS settings or zone files.

• Scroll down to the section for adding new records.

• Select the type of record you need to add (TXT or CNAME).

4. Verify the changes - Once you've added the necessary records, verify them with your ESP to ensure they are set up correctly.

By following these steps, you can ensure that your domain is properly authenticated and protected from unauthorized use. What’s more, you’ll be well on your way to significantly improved deliverability of your emails by increasing the confidence of mailbox providers in the validity of your campaigns. You don’t wanna miss out on the benefits of email marketing, one of the highest-rated marketing channels in existence, because of a lack of technical knowledge. Make sure to take the necessary steps to properly authenticate your domain and improve your email performance.

P.S. Wanna significantly improve your email strategy in 2023? Be sure to check out my new course,INBOX HERO:Tapping into the marketing G.O.A.T.

Maximizing Email Marketing Performance: How Incorporating Videos Can Boost CTR by 65%

Incorporating videos into your email marketing campaigns can significantly boost your click-through performance. In fact, studies have shown that the increase can be as much as 65%.

As video continues to dominate our feeds as the people’s “preferred media format,” it's important to ensure that you're taking advantage of this trend in your email marketing.

What’s more—given that nonverbal communication plays such a significant role in ALL human interaction—it is not surprising that videos can be so effective at increasing click-through rate (CTR) performance. Nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions (like in the thumbnail of the video) and body language, for instance, can convey a great deal of meaning and emotion, thus giving the viewer more reason to click.

By including a video in an email, you are able to take advantage of the power of nonverbal communication to grab the attention of your audience and convey your message more effectively.

Why Use Videos in Email Marketing:

• Videos can increase click-through rate (CTR) by up to 65%.

• Nonverbal cues in video-thumbnails (like facial expressions) can convey meaning and emotion to engage the viewer.

JUST DON’T EMBED THE VIDEO

That said, though—it's important to note that directly embedding a video file (like an mp4) in your email may trigger mailbox providers like Gmail or Outlook to flag your message as SPAM, thus impeding its deliverability. Your mass emails shouldn’t include attachments, flash, or other types of “rich media”—video included. To avoid this, include a clickable thumbnail image instead that links to a web page where the viewer can watch your video.

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Click-through rate, the way I see it, is arguably the most crucial metric in email marketing because it tells of the effectiveness of your campaigns in terms of getting recipients to take a desired action. Open rates, while still important, may not be as reliable—especially with the release of programs like Apple's Mail Privacy Protection, which can pre-load emails and report false opens. A click, on the other hand, indicates that the recipient wants more—thus, they clicked!

How to Include Videos in Emails:

• Do not directly embed video files, as it may trigger spam filters.

• Use a clickable thumbnail image that links to a web page where the video can be watched.

So, my advice:  take a moment to go over all of your email campaigns: newsletters, drips, automations, and more. Ask yourself, “How can I incorporate more video content into my emails?” And then do what you say to yourself and include more videos!

4 Tips for Crafting an Effective Welcome Email for Your Real Estate Business

Welcome emails are a powerful marketing tool that can significantly boost the success of your email campaigns. In fact, they tend to have a 4-times higher open rate and a 10-times higher click-through rate compared to regular-styled bulk emails. This is because welcome emails are sent to individuals who have already shown an interest in your brand and are expecting to receive emails from you.

Email service providers like MailChimp and ActiveCampaign, for instance, make it easy for businesses to create automated welcome campaigns for anyone who joins their email list. These platforms provide a range of tools and features that allow you to easily design and schedule welcome emails to be sent automatically to new subscribers.

To create an effective welcome email, follow these four recommendations:

1. Thank and Remind New Subscribers: Be sure to thank new subscribers for opting in to receive emails from you. This not only shows your appreciation, but it also serves as a reminder of why they are receiving your emails in the first place, affirming their decision to subscribe.

2. Let Your Subscribers Know What to Expect: Provide your subscribers with an idea of what they can expect from your emails in the future. This might include the frequency of your campaigns, the types of content that you will be sending, or any special promotions or offers that you have planned. By providing this information up front, you can help/prime your subscribers better understand how to use your emails to their advantage.

3. Share Some of Your Top Resources: Consider sharing some of your top resources or past edition emails with your new subscribers. This gives them a sense of what they have been missing out on and can help to affirm their decision to opt in to your email list.

4. Encourage Address Book Addition: Encourage your new subscribers to add your email address to their address book. This can help to prevent future emails from landing in their spam folder, ensuring that they receive all of your correspondence.

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Sidebar: As a real estate agent, it is common to purchase leads through sources such as Zillow, PPC advertising, and open houses. While these leads may have consented to receive emails from you, they are not the same as organic subscribers who have actively chosen to receive emails from your business.

However, leads can still be interested in your services and open to hearing from you. By sending a well-crafted welcome email, you can introduce yourself and your business, provide value, and potentially turn a lead into a client. While it may be necessary to tailor your approach slightly for leads compared to organic subscribers, a welcome email can still be an effective marketing tool in this scenario. Just be sure to follow best practices for email marketing, including obtaining explicit permission before sending emails to individuals who have not opted in to receive them.

Overall, welcome emails are a crucial part of any email marketing strategy. By following these recommendations, you can create an effective welcome email that helps to build a strong relationship with your subscribers and drive greater engagement with your brand.

How to "Fill the Funnel" and Stand Out as a Real Estate Agent in 2023

As a real estate agent or REALTOR®, it's crucial to stay on the lookout for new lead generation opportunities in order to fill your pipeline. With more agents in the market and fewer sales projected for the year ahead, competition is only going to increase. This means that it's more important than ever to stand out and establish yourself as a top choice agent in your local community.

Loads of agents, I fear, are gonna play it passively—doing what they’ve been doing like nothing’s changed. They’re in for a surprise.

One way to stand out is by utilizing tried-and-true tactics like hosting open houses or updating your profile on agent referral sites (e.g. Homelight, UpNest, and so on). These simple methods can help you connect with potential buyers or sellers in your local market.

Another key to success is to stay connected with your database, that is, your past clients and sphere-of-influence contacts. By consistently staying in touch and offering valuable information and assistance, you can become the go-to real estate agent for these individuals. Building mindshare is crucial for capturing market-share in the competitive world of real estate.

In addition to these traditional methods, it's also important to consider the role of personal branding in your lead generation efforts. This can include getting reviews, utilizing video marketing, and stepping up your email marketing efforts. By building a strong and recognizable brand, you can differentiate yourself from other agents and, as a result, attract more business.

Overall, the key to success as a real estate agent is to be proactive and constantly seek out new lead generation opportunities. By filling your pipeline with a steady stream of leads and building a strong personal brand, you’ll be positioned to dominate in 2023.

The Importance of Building Credibility with Video on Social Media: Don't Just Chase Followers

Are you a real estate agent who’s considering giving up on social media video marketing because you're not seeing the followers or views you desire? If so, you may be mis-measuring whether or not what you’re doing is working.

It's important to remember that social media success isn't just about gaining followers or becoming “social-media famous.” To the contrary, it's more about building a reputable brand and making an impact with your clients. Granted, it’s reasonable to expect hearts, likes, comments, views, and so on—after all, those are algorithmic signals that your content is resonating with users.

Notwithstanding, if you've ever had a client mention one of your published videos during an appointment, for instance, then your video marketing efforts are already working.

Real estate is a know-you, like-you, trust-you form of business. If your videos are consistent with your brand and help to establish you as a credible and reliable source of information, then you are on the right track.

So don't be discouraged if you're not seeing the vanity metrics. They matter to a certain degree, of course—but only because the algorithms care.

Instead, focus on creating high-quality, informative videos that align with your brand and help to establish you as a trusted source in the real estate industry. Your efforts will pay off in the long run as you build a strong and reputable agent-brand.

The Magic of Multichannel Marketing: How to Boost Your Brand and Drive Sales in 2023

As a business owner or marketer, you know that the key to success is getting your brand and message in front of as many people as possible. And the best way to do that is through multichannel marketing. I call it multichannel marketing magic.

For instance, if someone sees your marketing across multiple channels versus only in one place, it forms an illusion 🤹‍♂️ that they’re seeing and experiencing your marketing more frequently than is actually the case. That means more bang 💥 for every buck 💵 in your budget.

You may, for example, spot a product on a billboard while driving, and then, that same day, see it again in an ad online. Now, suddenly, it has your full attention—as if you’re seeing it EVERYWHERE. That’s the illusion of multichannel magic.

So… If you had, say, a $1,000/month marketing budget—to spend it all in ONE place versus allocating it across multiple channels would be, the way I see it, borderline wasteful. The trick is for folks to see you EVERYWHERE, over-and-again.

Don't just rely on one channel for your marketing efforts. Embrace the power of multichannel marketing and take your business to the next level.

Google Ad to Promote Your Google Business Profile at the Top of the Local-Pack

Wanna run a Google Ad that promotes your Google Business Profile in the highly coveted “Map-Pack” section of Google’s search results page? Say “YES!” if you’re marketing a local business!

The Map-Pack (AKA the “Local-Pack”) is a section in Google’s search results that lists the top three Google Business Profiles adjacent to a square-shaped map whenever someone searches for a type of local service. If someone runs a search like, “Best REALTOR in Charlotte,” for instance, Google will display a Map-Pack.

The money—in terms of getting FOUND by prospective customers—is in the Map-Pack because customers are generally inclined to search for a type of business versus one in particular. If a customer looks up your business by name, for instance, they’re obviously not discovering you for the first time.

Up until recently, the only way to rank in the coveted Map-Pack was to have done so organically. However, Google seems to be testing a new ad placement top-of-list in the Map-Pack.

It’s called a “Local Search Ad,” which, technically, can appear in Google Search or Google Maps. It’s different from a traditional Google Search Ad in that it directs traffic to your Google Business Profile versus your website.

To run one, just search your business name in Google to load your Google Business Profile control panel, tap the “Advertise” button, and click-through the steps in Google Ads’ guided wizard. (If you don’t see a guided wizard, then your Google Ads account is probably set to “Expert Mode,” not “Express Mode.”)

When you come to the step that asks for “Keyword Themes,” choose terms applicable to buyers and sellers who are searching for agents, not houses, for instance.

Chances are, it’ll automatically incorporate themes like “ Houses for Sale,” et al. My advise:  remove those and add in themes like “Listing Agent,” “Real Estate Broker,” and so on. The point is for your ad to place in the Map-Pack, which appears when someone searches for a type of local business, not houses for sale.

Beat Social Media Algorithms by Establishing a Content Cadence 🔂

It’s never just ONE video — it’s a video show! Lemme explain…

The typical Instagram user follows between 150 and 200 accounts and spends, on average, 53 minutes a day in the app. Moreover, they divide their attention between multiple feeds:  Home, Explore, Reels, Stories, DMs, etc.

What’s more, the conventional Instagrammer posts four times per week (per Shopify research). Bearing all that in mind plus accounting for paid promotions and AI-suggested content, for instance, it all adds up to A LOT of competition for eyeballs and attention.

The fact is, your next post will only be seen by a fraction of your followers.

And so, consequently, it’s imprudent to put all your eggs🥚in the basket 🧺 of a single video or post. Why? Simple… because not everyone’s gonna see it. In reality, every video posted is merely a cog in the ⚙️ wheel, so to speak. You’re building-up a body of work.

That means you’ve gotta get super clear on the overall mission of your content. What’s your overarching/underlying objective? Odds are, it’s to generate business—i.e., buyers and sellers. Notwithstanding, you obviously can’t just say “list with me” or “buy with me” all the time. That’d get old real quick!

My advice:  produce content that treats followers like clients. Share advice endlessly and nobody’s gonna call you salesy; they’ll just call you. 📲

A one-off video is, for all intents and purposes, invisible. On the other hand, VIDEOS—all working together—will build your brand.

How to Market Your Business on Social Media When it’s ALWAYS Changing

Social media is kind-of unstable. Hear me out…

Algorithms change at random, platforms rise and fall, media formats come and go. Instagram, for instance, is so hellbent on keeping up with TikTok, that it’ll practically abandon its core competences in reckless pursuit.

Nonetheless, content marketing IS modern marketing. It’s like I’ve said time-and-again:  marketing without content is like a bow without arrows. It’s empty! So don’t mishear me… because I’m definitely NOT advising that you cease your social media efforts. At the same time, don’t let it be the end-all-be-all.

End of day, WHAT are you building and WHERE else are you leveraging your content? For example, in blog posts, digital ad-campaigns, or repurposed in postcards? (Remember my “thumb-mailer” video? https://bit.ly/thumbmailer).

Frankly, content creation is way too much work to limit its distribution.

Given the ever-changing impermanence of social—it’s critical to have at least one foot of your marketing on a steady base. Like email, for instance—always there for you, steady as a rock. So build your list of subscribers! Video may be my favorite marketing “format,” but—as far as marketing channels go—email’s the G.O.A.T.

Try This if Google is Filtering Your Google Business Profile Reviews

Missing or filtered Google reviews⁉️

It’s a pretty common tale because of Google’s automatic review filter, which is ever-so super keen to filter out legitimate reviews and practically defective when it comes to filtering out the actual fake ones.

Seriously… have you ever tried to get a spam review removed? It’s darn-near impossible!

That said, here’s an approach to try if all or some of your legitimate reviews aren’t getting published.

In other words, you asked a client for a review, sent them your special review intake link, and then they submitted a review. However, unbeknownst to you or them, it was filtered by Google. Later on you might’ve followed-up asking for the review again—but they claimed they’d already done one. And, in fact, they can even see it on their end—but to anyone else, it’s “unpublished.”

If this is happening to you (and only if), instead of sending folks to your custom review intake link, try this:  perform a Google search for your business. Doing so should trigger your Google Business Profile to show in what’s known as Google’s “Knowledge Panel,” as if you’re a customer searching for your business organically.

From there, copy the URL in your browser, which will preserve your search query that triggered your profile to display in Google’s results page.

Finally, send THAT link to customers and ask them to manually select the “write a review” button about midway down your profile’s “Knowledge Panel.”

Typically Google filters reviews when it suspects a business is using some unfair means to procure them—like paying for them, for instance. It’ll mark ‘em as SPAM and then they’ll be unpublished.

Between you and me, though, Google’s a downright lousy judge of what is or isn’t a SPAM review. Kind of like my dog (Rosie 🐶) losing her ever-loving mind whenever a squirrel 🐿 glances at her funny—like it’s plotting to steal her bone 🦴… but  I digress.

This isn’t a guarantee by any means, however, it removes you, the business owner, from the equation. You may also wanna peruse Google’s official review policies. Here’s a link to do so: https://bit.ly/3ReseG1.

Google “Retires” the Google Business Profile Manager, Replaces with Control Panel

Google took something away they said they wouldn’t…

If you’re a local business, you probably don’t need any reminding of the importance of your Google Business Profile. It’s the gateway into getting discovered in Google search results by prospective customers. E.g. “Best Realtor in _____” and those types of search queries—the “money searches,” if you will.

Historically, you’ve edited and managed your profile via a backend dashboard and portal, dubbed, the “Google Business Profile Manager.” Everything was in one convenient spot! But now it’s different.

Roughly a year ago, as you may recall, your “Google My Business” listing was renamed a “Google Business Profile.” No sweat, though— it was just a name.

Sidebar:  despite the total rebranding of “Google My Business” to “Google Business Profile,” the mobile app wasn’t discontinued until this past Summer.

That’s when things really started to change. At that point, Google provided users with a means to manage their profiles directly in Google Search or Maps, on desktop or mobile.

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All you’d have to do is Google search for the name of the business (e.g. “Felicia Lewis Group, San Diego, CA” or whatever word-phrasing normally triggers your profile to populate) and a control panel would instantly appear directly in Google’s search results page.

So then, here we are… Google said it wouldn’t do away with the Google Business Profile Manager, but it lied/fibbed/bluffed/changed-its-mind/whatever-term-best-describes-it. Point is, the Profile Manager is gone.

The good news, however, is that (nearly) all the functionality and terminology is the same — it’s just accessed directly in Google Search or Maps.

One lost feature, though, is that the built-in “Google My Business website” has been removed. Of course, you’re still able to link to your business’s domain/URL, no problem.

Also, if you manage multiple Google Business Profiles, you can still access them via business.google.com -- only, if/when you select any of them, it’ll open up a new browser tab and you’ll be in the same control panel as everyone else.

4 Tips to Power-Up the Performance of Your Instagram Posts

One of the top factors Instagram evaluates to determine whether your next post is gonna be widely distributed through the feeds or not is dubbed, “time spent on post.”

If someone sees a post of yours—in the Home Feed, Reels Feed, Explore Page, or wherever they might see it, for instance—do they immediately scroll past it OR do they spend a bit of time with it? That’s the question—because, if they park for a bit, it signifies INTEREST in your content. 

The way it works is that Instagram will essentially distribute your post to a sample-size audience, see how it does, and then, based on that, distribute it to a wider audience (or not) – and so on.

Fact is, Instagram is deeply motivated to retain users in the platform for as long and often as possible. The more cumulative time users spend on Instagram, the more abundant its opportunities to place ads that generate company revenue. That’s the game!

Hearts, comments, and post engagement are certainly valuable data points Instagram takes into consideration – however, time spent on post, is (in a way) tied directly to Instagram’s ability to make money.

What’s more, whenever you publish new content, the clock ⏳ starts ticking. Instagram is programmed to showcase “recent” posts — not old ones. That means, the quicker your next post is able to garner attention—while it’s fresh and new—the better it’s bound to do in terms of overall reach and distribution.

If you wanna ensure your next Instagram post is primed to perform, here are some tips and best-practices to keep in mind:

• Think about how you start your videos. Does it immediately hook the viewer? Recent Facebook research found that viewers who watch the first 3 seconds of a video are more likely to go on watching for longer durations. The battle of “attention” is in the beginning.

• Add eye-catching subtitles. Keep in mind, the sound is set to mute 🔇 in certain feeds, like the Home feed, for instance. If folks don’t know what you’re saying, they’re gonna scroll.

• Beef-up your post caption. If folks are scrolling and tap “more” to expand your caption, that’s just your post racking up the time spent on post points!

• Don’t neglect the comments thread. If you can drive comments, mentions, replies, pin different comments, and so on—that thread, in its own right—is a time-spent-on-post magnet. 🧲

TikTok Search VS. Google Search: a new era of SEO?

Bold prediction:  TikTok is and isn’t going to replace Google as the dominant search engine.

Per a Google exec, approximately 40% of 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 when looking for a lunch🌮spot, for instance, don’t go to Google Maps or Google Search. – they search on TikTok or Instagram. But there’s a catch…

And it isn’t just TikTok and Instagram encroaching on Google’s search-supremacy turf. For instance, 55% of product searches start on Amazon. And, let’s not forget about YouTube (Google-owned), which has been steadily gaining search volume year-over-year.


It’s funny… Whenever I post something about the importance of Google Search on TikTok, I always get angry comments about how TikTok is a more popular search engine and Google’s dead 🙄… blah blah blah. Not quite!

First off, that sort of commentary conflates terminology. TikTok isn’t the same type of search mechanism as Google. Google uses a more scientific process for ranking results by order of relevance. It’s an 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵-𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭 whereby I ask and it answers. TikTok, on the other hand, isn’t quite so linear. It’s more of a visually immersive “discovery engine.”

In other words, users don’t search as if TikTok’s a calculator solving a math problem. They search, in a way, without expectation—that is, they’re not necessarily looking for an “exact match,” which definitely signifies a behavioral shift in online search. Granted, if you’re hungry and looking for a lunch spot nearby, surely there’s some expectancy in terms hoping to find some decent dining options.

Nonetheless, relevance on TikTok is more about social influence—i.e. what a user thinks about a business’s posts or infers about that business by way of other users’ posts about it—versus Google’s system of empirically ranked results.

To be honest, though, I’d argue that method of usage is functionally no different than placing confidence in online reviews. What I mean is, searchers will still have to be able to find 🔎 that business on TikTok in order to decide whether or not  they vibe with it. I suppose TikTok search is more like a magic 8-ball… the results are a bit of mixed bag versus “exact-match”—and maybe that’s the fun of it.

Again… there’s this big debate that TikTok is a more popular search engine than Google and that it’s a totally new way of discovering businesses and content. While TikTok is definitely gaining adoption as a search platform, Google still reigns supreme. What’s more, online search still is and has been a two-step process:  A. find options, B. pick one.

So… here’s the moral of the story:  as the titans of search and social fight🥊 it out, keep making content and publishing it everywhere!—videos, blogs, reviews, and more! Be relevant no matter where customers may find and “vibe with” you.

Top Marketing Channels to Build Your Agent-Brand in 2023 (for Realtors)

If you wanna insulate your real estate business from peaks 🏔and valleys 🏜… then invest in your agent-brand.

As the real estate market continues to adjust, consumers will (naturally) become more scrutinizing of agents. They’ll wonder:  “Why should I listen to you?”

Notwithstanding, every time you share a video, publish a quality review, or, for instance, send an email that showcases your expertise and trustworthiness – it’s building your agent-brand.

I promise… your leads or any other would-be customer is gonna look you up online—Google, Instagram, and/or elsewhere. The question is, does your brand back-you-up OR hang you out to dry?

Here’s what I advice:  become the “I see you everywhere,” agent-authority in your local marketplace.... Or don’t… but don’t expect buyers and sellers to come running either.

Here’s a list of marketing channels you maybe oughta consider:

• Over-index on vertical ↕️ videos (Reels, TikToks, and YouTube Shorts).

• Every week or so, run a FB/IG ad-campaign that promotes your existing posts (those videos up there ⬆️) in your local marketplace as well as to your database contacts. (Tutorial)

• Knocks, drops, pickups, & pop-bys go a long, long way! Get yourself into hustle mode.

• Email Marketing is the G.O.A.T. 🐐—make sure to check out our #MarketingPRO course, Inbox Hero 📥

• Don’t miss out on YouTube In-Stream Ads – i.e., the commercials that play before, during, or after YouTube videos. (Tutorial)

• Google Display Network ads are, frankly, cheap & easy! Make ‘em part of your marketing mix. (Tutorial)

• Invest in EVENTS:  open houses, community get-togethers, buyer/seller seminars, investor meetups, client parties, happy-hours, and more. 

• Mailers, signage, publications, and other physical-marketing mediums—though on the pricier side—have distinct advantages. Don’t brush them off w/o serious consideration.

I could go on-and-on (and on-and-on… 🤣) — but that’s not my point. The point is to build your AGENT-BRAND.

Instagram Reels to Generate Repeat & Referral Business (for REALTORS®)

Pop-quiz:  What do you sell!?

You might respond that you sell “yourself.” Honestly though – what does that even mean? Alternatively, you may reason that you sell houses. Hmm… kind-of, sort-of. Technically speaking, you provide brokerage services to people who are doing the buying and/or selling. There’s a difference.

Fundamentally, the reason folks hire you boils down to your expertise (and how you impart it). That’s what you sell‼️And, bear in mind, EXPERTISE is a distinctive term. It’s not one-size-fits all. Like I’ve said before:  “Nobody does YOU better than Y-O-U.”

Real estate is a know-you, like-you, trust-you business—that’s the winning combination with consumers. Question is, when prospective clients look you up on social, for instance, does your page adequately showcase your expertise?

Take Jeffrey Sabel, for instance. Just over a year ago he started posting Reels almost every day in which he deftly demonstrated his competence. No surprise, his page started to gain new followers quickly. Why? Because folks follow accounts that confer value.

What’s more, his Instagram efforts kindled a frenzy of REPEAT and REFERRAL business from his sphere-of-influence contacts—most of whom were already following him. That’s the secret sauce, right there!

Lots of conflicting messages about the state (and future state) of the marketplace are competing to win consumers’ confidence. If headlines say X and you say Y, for instance, who are buyers and sellers in your market gonna trust?

That, my friends, depends on the strength of your agent-brand.

SEO is Social Media Afterlife 😇: How to repurpose your social posts as blogs

Social media algorithms (like Instagram) tend to favor your most recent post when distributing content through the feeds:  e.g the Home Feed, the Explore Page, the Reels Feed, and so on.

And it isn’t just Instagram. Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, and other social sites function similarly.

So here’s the dilemma. They (the gurus) say you’re “supposed” to post daily (or even twice-a-day) in order to reach the widest-possible audience. However, by doing so, each new post is essentially burying its predecessor post alive 🧟‍♂️ – one after the next.

Essentially, the more frequently you post, the less time each respective post has in the feeds to garner engagement from followers and viewers (e.g. hearts, comments, etc.). Notwithstanding, if you only post infrequently, your content just won’t go very far. The struggle is real.

Fret not, friends… SEO is here to save the day!

SOCIAL NETWORKS VS. SEARCH ENGINES

On social platforms, users discover content mostly by means of scrolling through feeds. Thus, once an account posts something new, it takes its shift in the feeds until the next post. It’s the whole “buried alive” concept aforementioned.

On search platforms, though, users discover content predominately by way of search—meaning, a blog posted long ago retains its eligibility to rank in Google search results, for instance, so long as it’s relevant to the search query. This same idea also applies to YouTube videos because search is a considerable source of video views on that platform.

SEO IS SOCIAL MEDIA AFTERLIFE

So why not publish each of your social posts as blogs on your site?

1. Simply embed your video (or upload an image if that’s your post’s associated media) into your blog.

Embedded videos are actually posted/hosted on sites like YouTube, or Instagram, or Facebook, or wherever. However, they appear as if they’re within your blog—thus, viewers can click to watch the video without leaving your site.

Either your blog platform auto-converts the URL of the subject video for embedding purposes or—with Youtube, for example—you can simply press the Share button and copy/paste its embed code.

I generally embed the YouTube videos because it’s an easy process and, since Google owns YouTube, I figure it can’t hurt. 

2. The next step is to simply repurpose the caption of your social post for the blog copy. 

If you’re concerned the caption text lacks a sufficient word count to constitute blog copy, look into an AI copywriting tool like Jasper.ai. Literally, you can copy/paste your caption text and Jasper, for instance, has copywriting tools that’ll instantly lengthen your word count. Even if your subject matter is technical, Jasper’s a quick study.

The average post on social media lives a relatively short life – days, at most. Even so—though your posts may perish quickly—their blogs will endure in the SEO afterlife, ranking forevermore (kind of, sort of 🤣).

Use Google Search Console to Monitor Your Website’s Ranking Performance in Google Search Results

Have you connected Google Search Console to your website? If not, you oughta! 

At some point you’ve probably installed Google Analytics on your website—which shows you WHAT visitors on your site are doing while perusing its pages. Google Analytics provides data points like:  the average amount of time site visitors spend on any given page, the destinations they navigate to-and-from, buttons they click, and so on. Put simply, Google Analytics shows you WHAT visitors do while on your website.

What it doesn’t do is show you HOW visitors got to your website in the first place. However, Google Search Console, does exactly that—it shows you how website visitors navigate their way onto your website.

For example, it’ll show you the top Google search queries that rank your pages, how often those pages rank versus how often they’re actually clicked, and all sorts of other valuable insights.

In addition, Google Search Console is also a powerful tool to keep optics on which of your site’s pages are or are not properly indexed by Google. However, that’s not the focus of this video.

Point is—if you haven’t already done so—you should install Google Search Console so you can monitor your site’s performance in Google search results. Here’s how:

• Navigate to:  search.google.com/search-console/about and press the “Get Started” button.

• Enter your site’s URL in the Domain “property type” box and continue.

• Finally, you’ll need to verify that you own your website, which may require your site developer’s assistance. Follow the on-screen steps to copy/paste the unique TXT record into the DNS configuration, which can be located by logging into your website hosting service account. For example, GoDaddy, Dreamhost, etc. If you don’t have access to the DNS, simply send that TXT record to your developer with the same instructions.

Once you’re logged in, you’ll be able to see data on your top-performing web pages, Google search queries in which your site/pages rank, and a bunch more advanced SEO tools, like sitemaps, page indexing, and so on.

How to Generate Home Seller Real Estate Leads (Organically) with Your Google Business Profile

Here’s how to attract seller-clients on Google. After all, everybody knows you’ve gotta LIST to LAST!

Start by asking yourself—if you were in the market to purchase a home, for instance—what would YOU be Googling? The answer is… that buyers search for homes. For example:

• “Homes for sale in ____.”

• “Homes for sale near me.”

So what about sellers?—what do they search for? Many in our industry presume they search phrases like, “What’s my home worth?”

But have you ever gotten one of those “home valuation” types of leads? They have barely any intent to sell whatsoever. They’re leads, of course—just leads with characteristically very, very low intent.

So… what do sellers actually Google? In a word:  YOU.

Sellers search for you, the agent.

• “Best REALTOR in ____.”

• “Top listing agent near me.”

The question is… do they find you or your competitors? That depends on a couple particulars of tremendous SEO importance:

1. Your Google Business Profile

2. Your website/domain.

As far as the former is concerned, it needs to be a top priority to procure seller reviews on your profile. The keywords in those reviews are pure money. As for your domain—in blogs, throughout its pages, and all over your site—feed Google the keywords that sellers are searching and it’ll help you rank.

Your Community is a “Cash-Cow!” (for Repeat and Referral Real Estate Opportunities)

Your community is a CASH🤠COW. Per to the Nat’l Association of REALTORS®:

• 68% of sellers selected an agent-for-hire via repeat/referral business

• 60% of buyers selected an agent-for-hire via repeat/referral business

So roughly 2/3rds of your total business (statistically speaking) could/should flow from your database of past-clients and/or sphere-of-influence (PC/SOI) contacts.  The fact is, you simply can’t afford to overlook them! Now—don’t mishear me—I’m NOT saying you shouldn’t diversify your lead generation. Far from it.

My point is… real estate has been, is, and will remain a know-you, like-you, trust-you form of business.

So… If you’re not adequately nurturing your database, then—based on the numbers ⏫—somebody else is earning that business.

Notwithstanding, loads of agents are, for instance, apprehensive to ask outright for the referral. If that describes you, I wonder, is it perhaps due to a sense you’re not offering enough ongoing value?—that once the deal closed, for all intents and purposes, the job was done?

Author Jay Baer describes marketing as being… “so useful, people would pay you for it.”

Is your database marketing useful like that? If not, an opportunity tallying-up to more than 60% of your total business is perhaps awaiting your attention. Consider the following:

• Coordinate annual equity reviews whereby you meet with clientele to review the current market valuation of their home(s) once-a-year – strictly as a courtesy

• Publish social media posts/videos that supply valuable insight to keep your PC/SOI informed as to what’s going on in your local marketplace 

• Send out reoccurring email campaigns that give lean heavy on SHARING, not SELLING

• Run a (private) Facebook Group that’s there to foster community and keep you connected with your people

• Host special events just for your folks

My point is… Invest in your community and it’ll flourish!

How to Use Contextual Keywords to Improve your Google Business Profile Ranking Position

If you run a Google search 🔎 like, “Best REALTOR near me,” you’ll trigger what’s known as the Map-Pack (aka, the “Local Pack”)—a section of Google’s search results page that displays the top three local businesses respective to your search.

The money 🤑—in terms of getting discovered by prospective customers—is in the Map-Pack!

Trouble is, Google only ranks the top three business profiles (formerly, Google My Business) out of however many local competitors are in your marketplace.

So the question is:  What can you do to get yours to rank?

There are loads of tactics to get your Google Business Profile to rank higher. In fact, here’s a bunch of blogs I’ve written on the topic:

• https://www.jasonpantana.com/blog/tag/Google+Business+Profile

• https://www.jasonpantana.com/blog/tag/Google+My+Business

The technique described herein, however, is one that’s often overlooked.

Perhaps you’ve noticed underneath the three profiles listed in a Map Pack, Google often displays excerpts from reviews OR phrases like, “website also mentions…” that relate to the search query.

These snippets are called Local Justifications.

In essence, they’re Google’s defense as to why it chose to rank a given profile over its competitors—as if it was calling a super-tight race or something. Google will even bold and emphasize the keywords that match verbatim with the subject search—like “best realtor,” for example.

Words like BEST, TOP, LISTING AGENT, and so on are called contextual keywords and they’re displayed often in Local Justifications.

So here’s the idea:  incorporate those types of words and phrase throughout your website and, when you ask for reviews, try to prime clients (indirectly) to integrate some of that language.

Warning, though—Google’s adept to infer if a review was influenced by a business owner and, if suspected, it’ll quickly filter-out that review.

In terms of the keywords to prioritize, break ‘em into three buckets:  nouns, verbs, and modifiers.

• NOUNS:  your business name, your category of business (e.g. real estate agent, etc.), and where you conduct business (e.g. Nashville, TN)

• VERBS:  terms that describe the services you perform, such as “buy,” “purchase,” “sell,” “list,” “lease,” “invest,” et al.

MODIFIERS: terms that describe (e.g. adjectives/adverbs), like “best,” “top,” “number 1,” and so on.