It’s an old saying but with the advent of all the high-resolution digital cameras being included on smartphones and tablets, it’s more relevant than ever. At 8 megapixels of resolution and steadily improving optics, almost anyone can take stunning still images using nothing more than their new smartphone. Just surfing the web reveals that many websites are taking advantage of faster processors and larger broadband connections to deliver eye-catching images to their visitors. This is why we are seeing a greater number of websites using high-resolution image galleries that rotate through multiple images of their products, company and services.

Realtors now realize that the first impression most potential buyers will have of their listings is a picture from the web, often pulled from their MLS. Our local MLS here in Santa Clara County has reacted to this demand by offering the ability to upload more images than before and even at higher resolutions. The best real estate websites are leveraging this content by using images of current and past sales to create an engaging and attractive image gallery right on the homepage of their website.

At Baynet we offer custom designs with these large, high-resolution image galleries that can be updated without the need of an independent HTML designer. Just add, remove or update your gallery from any computer with images you wish to display on your website. So ask yourself: Does my website provide pictures of homes and the community that get visitors thinking about purchasing a home with you?

-Ted King
Sales
Ted@baynet.com

There is plenty of debate on this subject with technology experts insisting on things like search engine optimization (SEO), a web 2.0 platform, mobile application, videos or live chat function. The fact is that consumers care far less about any of these things than the actual inventory itself. Let’s remind ourselves that listings are at the core of this business and the means by which almost all realtors and brokers are paid. Trying to compete with Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow or RedFin for those top search result positions on Google is simply too difficult, time-consuming and ineffective for an individual agent or broker. And building a website from the ground-up on a platform like wordpress or intuit can be an exercise in total frustration even without integrating a feed from the appropriate MLS(s). Baynet solves this problem by making it easy to create a website with an automatic connection to the MLS for listing syndication and customizable home searches. This gives your clients and visitors to the website easy access to the inventory on the MLS with options for automatic email alerts about listings matching their interests. ANSWER = HOMES

“How can I keep visitors on my website longer and capture a greater number of leads?”

The best way to keep clients and visitors on your website longer is making the listings easy and fast to find. This means going a step above and beyond offering a customizable home search with fields that need to be filled in order to receive results. Web browsers want to use their mouse or finger to click on buttons or links to lists of homes rather then enter criteria and get prompted to leave contact information. Our e-agents websites make it easy for the agent or broker to setup instant searches for farm areas, local hotspots, bank-owned homes, short sales or even luxury properties in any area of the MLS. These searches don’t need to be updated or managed and since the results are displayed within the website, all matches are highlighted in a manner that directs the lead to the website owner rather than the listing agent.  These simple searches also create a wealth of individual property pages that are often retrieved by Google for people searching a property address. Take a look at Laurel Jack in the east bay, Eddie Munoz in Santa Cruz, Ed Anderson in Sacramento or Michele Delfino in the north bay to see examples of these pages in action. Is your website serving up listings as well as these agents???

The functionality of the system remains the same. We did not move anything around, or tamper with the content.

Let us know if you have any suggestions or concerns!

Here if you need us,
BayNet World Support Team
support@baynet.com

So don’t forget to remind your contacts by sending them an eCard like the one seen below. We’ll make that task easy for you. Go over to the “Marketing/CRM Tools” tab >> Manage Newsletters >> Generate a new newsletter >> select a library article (eCard folder) >> find the “Fall Back 2011″ ecard >> insert the card >> select all your recipients >> send it instantly or schedule it for this Sunday.

(The eCard below is a new design. You can find this in your content library)

Did you remember to send your clients, past and present, a quick message for the holiday? Holidays like Halloween, Christmas, 4th of July and New Years give us an easy opportunity to touch our client base with a simple message. At Baynet we have drip-email campaigns built into the CRM (client relationship management) for most of the popular holidays that include a related image to spice up your e-card. The best part is that this system can be automated to send these messages at the same time each year without any action from the owner. Our esocialpro system even lets clients have these same e-cards automatically posted to their social media profiles just like the direct email messages. So scrub that database, update email addresses and make sure technology is working for you on the holidays.

First of all, Social Media and Social Networking are not some hugely complex and scary things, although they will require an open mind and a slight adaptation to use well. We have all networked, whether it’s through friends, at networking events, conferences, or within our personal connections. You, I, and everyone around us has approached another person said hello and established a connection. This is networking as we know it.

Social Networking is just taking this concept into the virtual world; specifically hubs such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Which brings me to my second point. Often in Social Media and Social Networking presentations I see the presenter almost try to intentionally confuse their audience by having a myriad of social networking icons up on the screen. Often 20-50 different icons, many of which are never considered when doing a Social Media Marketing campaign.

Now, that you understand that Social Networking is nothing different then Networking in person – you’ll have to understand where to go if you wish to successfully Social Network.

Facebook.com is by far the world’s largest and most successful Social Network. With over 800 Million users, and one of the only outside networks allowed in China – they are nearly synonymous with the term ‘Social Network.’

In Facebook you can have a personal profile, a page for a business, interest, or etc, as well as a private or public group for any interest or affiliation.

Your personal profile should contain connections to your friends, family, and possibly some great clients. You should post items about your daily life, interests, and general happenings throughout your day on your profile. Just as you would in real life, your friends and family know you’re a Real Estate agent, and the last thing they often wish to talk about is if they wish to sell their house.

Your Facebook Page or Group on the other hand is where you want to drive your current and potential clients as well as industry colleagues. This is where you want to update everything relevant with your business; new listings, current thoughts, market statistics, local happenings, and so forth – just like you would do in the office.

LinkedIn.com made headlines last year as they went IPO. They are also gaining a new user every second, and people on LinkedIn unlike Facebook or Twitter have a more professional vibe and are actively seeking to grow their professional networks.

LinkedIn is a great place to meet professionals in many industries and grow your professional network as well as establishing you as the Realtor for a specific geographic location, association, industry, or network. There are many facets within LinkedIn such as interests, private groups, associations and forums. People are moving for jobs all the time, you want to make sure that you’re there when they’re moving into any area you serve.

Twitter.com. I get more questions about Twitter then any other social network. Most of my clients can grasp LinkedIn, and a few Facebook but they all question Twitter. Twitter itself is a instant microblog tool which limits posts to 140 characters and involves a language entirely its own. Twitter is also where the “hashtag” first evolved.

You can search for trending topics with the hashtag, or people who are in search of a #Realtor in #San Jose, #Seattle, #SanFrancisco or #SF. Then you can reach out to these specific people by ‘tweeting’ their handle with “@(person’s handle)” or simple private messaging them. Or you can create twitter handles for properties you represent, updating their status, offers, etc via twitter feed. There are lots of uses, just open your mind.

Google+. Google’s third, and hopefully final, attempt at Social Networking. First it was Orkut which underperformed everywhere but Brazil, then Buzz which started off with a huge privacy concern and now with the help of an Apple UI designer, Google+ is out with a concept called ‘circles.’

As a Google+ user you can put your connections in circles, you can have a circle for your friends & family, a circle for your clients, a circle for your professional affiliations, etc.

Google+ is still in its infancy, and what we see 12 months out may be completely different then the Google+ we see today. However, what is exciting is Google+ is releasing business pages before the end of the year, this may be the game changer Google is looking for and the edge you may need to consider when putting together your social media strategy for 2012.

Finally, is there something that can simplify and empower all these social networks for you? Yes there is.

If you haven’t heard or seen yet, we do have a service called eSocialPro.com it is a Social Media Engine which allows you to pull a set library of content through an RSS feed and schedule postings to all of your social networks.

Although this may sound a little confusing, in layman it means that once you sign up and set it up with our support staff you literally do not need to worry about your social media networks again. eSocialPro.com will continue to maintain that your friends, family, clients, and industry contacts will see you on a regular basis.

For more information on social media, or eSocialPro, or to have us speak in your office contact us today for further information.

We have added a new feature to your e-agents.com website!

Your statistics report page will accumulate all the hits to your site within the week. It will then sort through the most popular pages hit, and the property with the most hits. This data is then displayed to you in a pie chart format.

This is disabled by default, but can be easily activated by following a few steps:

1. Log in to your account @ www.e-agents.com
2. Click on “My Website”
3. Click “Website Statistics”
4. Place a tick where it reads “Send me weekly website statistics report”
5. DONE!

Now you will receive an email on a weekly basis that will look like the image below.

Below the colored pie chart, there is a legend that identifies each color on the pie chart. The email will also include the name of the page visited, total number of hits the page has received, and the ending date for the week it is reporting for.

• The first pie chart displays data for the pages visited on your website. 
• The second chart displays data for the most visited property details.

Contact us by phone or email if you need further assistance.CUSTOMER SUPPORT PHONE: (408) 253-8090

We are available for e-mail support during regular business hours. Please send all questions to support@baynet.com. Your emails will receive a response within the hour.