2015-04-14 00:00
Almost from day one of running this blog, we've said that the number one under-used strategy for improving an agency's profitability is running a Google AdWords marketing campaign.
We run do… Read More
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The Modern Estate Agent | Brain Food For The Moder Blog
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The popular Modern Estate Agent blog. Regular brain food for improving your estate agency business.
2012-02-01 00:00
Regular readers of the Modern Estate Agent will know what big fans we are of agents who take the time to put together good, informative content for their customer base.
Whether that's… Read More
2012-01-20 00:00
One of the most common challenges we heard from letting agents last year was winning new rental business - finding more landlords.
If you're in the business you won't need telling that, as a… Read More
2012-01-12 00:00
Review websites are a big part of the internet these days - and the property industry is no different to any other. In the past few years, the trend has accelerated and the list of estate a… Read More
2011-12-16 00:00
I've often found that Christmas is a time of year when marketing people get inventive.
Kudos to Kimberley Lane at Berry Recruitment then, for scoring points by arriving unannounced at recep… Read More
2011-12-12 00:00
Eighteen months on from the ASA ruling against Spicerhaart and they are still struggling to come to terms with the personal Estate Agent model.
A new ruling against Century 21 conclude… Read More
2011-12-02 00:00
Those of you using Google Analytics on a regular basis might have noticed some great changes during the last few weeks, assuming you've updated to using the new version.
The new feature… Read More
2011-11-25 00:00
Graham Norwood is almost an industry nobleman these days, having written about residential property for over 10 years. He writes for the Daily Telegraph and Financial Times mo… Read More
2011-11-21 00:00
Thanks to everyone who has nominated us for the PrimeLocation.com property blog awards again this year.
Being aimed at agents, rather than the public, we've never won one - and we don't… Read More
2011-11-19 00:00
Look back through the archives and you'll see just how often I mention the power of showing a bit of personality in business.
Yet too many agents are still frightened about alienating proper… Read More
2011-11-11 00:00
Matt Gregory of CJ Hole Estate Agents in Bristol tweeted out a link to one of their Rightmove property listings this morning, reporting that using night photography had boosted their click-t… Read More
2011-11-04 00:00
It's that time of year when the annual Movember "moustache growing charity event" takes over the faces of many a gent across the country.
Simon Fisher of Absolute Estate Agents in Torquay ha… Read More
2011-10-30 00:00
When I think back to the houses I have bought and the viewings I have been on, almost invariably, the Estate Agents I have dealt with have been relatively poorly equipped with genuine sales… Read More
2011-10-10 00:00
Welcome to the new look Modern Estate Agent blog!
When we first started writing the blog in December 2009 – quite incredible to think that it's almost two years ago – our aim was… Read More
2011-02-10 00:00
There's little doubt, you have to be a brave or foolhardy business owner to get involved with a show like Mary Portas' Secret Shopper. That said, the doubters on EAT who are criticising las… Read More
2011-02-03 09:59
When I think about comments that advertising experts have made to me over the years, one of the things that comes up time and time again is that everything you include in your copy should ad… Read More
2011-01-28 00:00
How many agents who are using Twitter do searches each day to see what people are talking about?For instance, on seeing one agent offer up a lead outside of his area, I ran a quick search f… Read More
2011-01-16 00:00
While we were setting up a Google AdWords pay-per-click campaign for one of our customers last week, I thought back to just how few agents are using it effectively.Despite being one of the m… Read More
2011-01-04 00:00
Happy New Year to all you modern estate agents out there.So, it's 2011 already - a year of initial uncertainty where no one can quite predict the direction the economy is going to head… Read More
2010-12-20 00:00
Another two weeks have flown by without me managing a posting. I even missed an opportunity to wish the Modern Estate Agent a happy first birthday on Saturday just gone. For 2011… Read More
2010-12-07 00:00
I've mentioned in the past about how reviews and recommendations are an important part of how Google Places decides where to rank your business in their listing. The trouble is, not everyon… Read More
2010-12-06 00:00
Search engine optimisation, particularly for local search, is one of the topics I come back to on this blog time and time again - and for good reason. Many estate agents fail to u… Read More
2010-11-30 11:09
An amusing tweet from one of our local newspapers caught my eye this morning:
What a nice easy way to grab a bit of PR!I'm not sure I would normally have mentioned it, but over the last few… Read More
2010-11-22 00:00
Back in July, before Google changed the layout of its results page for local searches, I put together a post on how estate agents can get the most out of their Google Places account.It was… Read More
2010-11-15 00:00
What a strong headline title for an article that is.. Yet, just how many agents do you know that spend their lives looking for the latest and greatest gimmick, gadget or trick in estate age… Read More
2010-11-12 00:00
How long is it since you sat down and took a proper look at your company logo and how it helps to represent your brand?I'm often amazed at how old fashioned (and I don't just mean traditiona… Read More
2010-11-09 18:20
Today I am prompted back onto the topic of estate agency photography by a thread over on the excellent 4Networking forum. Indeed, a thread I might have accidentally helped to hijack from an… Read More
2010-11-08 00:00
Getting back to the local search optimisation theme, there is no doubt that having your company listed on Yell.com (the online Yellow Pages) is still a worthwhile thing - with or without th… Read More
2010-11-05 00:00
Readers of Estate Agent Today might have noticed a story about the newly launched firm Property Leads - a company who you can use to outsource your cold calling for valuation lead generatio… Read More
2010-11-04 00:00
Who can believe that it's November already? The cold, dark and early nights that make the life of an estate agent that bit tougher. Everyone wants to be in "in time for Christmas", or put o… Read More
2010-11-03 00:00
Google have introduced a new layout for their local search results, which should help those estate agents who are optimising for local generate more traffic.Note that the map has moved over… Read More
2010-11-02 22:56
I was interested to see that an agent not too far from us, Howard Cundey, has launched a new TV driven website http://www.howardcundey.tv/.I can see a lot of potential for video as an onlin… Read More
2010-11-01 00:00
September and October was a bit erratic for this blog, but the aim is to resume normal service from this point forward.Inspiration today comes from the Mouseprice local market update email… Read More
2010-10-05 00:00
It's always nice to be appreciated and Emma's flattering words on her recent Cases Xalo blog do not go unnoticed - thank you! :o)Emma has recently had a bit of a disappointing res… Read More
2010-09-30 00:00
Following the high profile news of an ex-Foxtons employee being sued on claims that they 'stole' large amounts of valuable property, vendor, landlord and tenancy information, data security… Read More
2010-09-16 00:00
Henry Yates (of EstateCreate fame) is one of those people with a knack for finding thought-provoking videos online. One of his tweets today was a link to another one.It was a talk by D… Read More
2010-09-15 00:00
The topic of writing a blog has come up quite often in my conversations with PropertyADD customers recently. I often enthuse about the effect it can have on the traffic an agent's website g… Read More
2010-09-14 00:00
There's a bit of a conversation thread ongoing over at 4Networking at the moment about estate agents who try to be a bit different with their boards. Something I've blogged about in the pas… Read More
2010-09-13 00:00
When Foxtons launched their branded Minis back in 2001, they were instantly recognisable and widely copied. However, as a branding tool, using cars does come with an element of risk.
I've l… Read More
2010-09-10 00:00
When I first met the chaps at Zoopla a year and a bit ago, they told me a bit about how they started out by targeting the first steps of house-hunters. The "how much is my house worth?" qu… Read More
2010-09-09 00:00
A quick thought for the day..For those agents who feel uncomfortable targeting other agents' stock, there was an interesting snippet of information in Richard Rawlings' RAT email this morni… Read More
2010-09-08 00:00
Every reader of this blog should know by now what a big fan I am of developing a niche for your business. A way of setting yourselves apart from the pack, so that you're the obvious choice f… Read More
2010-09-07 00:00
When you're starting up an estate agency, expanding into new areas or just keeping an eye on an existing strategy, it pays to be well informed. Particularly so when it comes to the volume o… Read More
2010-09-06 00:00
One of the most common ways that people use Google is to search for companies by name. It's actually one of the things Google are very good at - listing the right site at the top… Read More
2010-09-01 00:00
A great little idea this, from Marc on the 1000watt blog - adding local market stats to your window displays.How many of you are just displaying properties?You might want to try simpler, ea… Read More
2010-08-31 00:00
I think most web-savvy estate agents (and hopefully all of the readers of this blog!) are coming to understand the importance of social media in estate agency. And I'm not talking about Fac… Read More
2010-08-26 00:00
After the series we ran a couple of weeks ago, I hope that you're all still setting aside a little time on a regular basis to promote your business on directory websites?Even if it's just 5… Read More
2010-08-25 00:00
Great advert this, from a portal we have a lot of time for. I couldn't help but share it! Read More
2010-08-23 00:00
What a busy couple of weeks. It was good to get away and catch a bit of sunshine, but the one week break for the blog quickly turned into two with the length of the to-do list I returne… Read More
2010-08-06 00:00
Well, it's day five of our focus on your local search rankings. I hope you're keeping up with this - not only is it a valuable exercise in driving directory traffic to your website, th… Read More
2010-08-05 00:00
It's day four of the local search tips series!
By now, I'm assuming you're getting the hang of things, so we're going to push the boat out and get you added to both FreeIndex and… Read More
2010-08-04 00:00
Day three in the drive to build your local search coverage then and today it's Scoot's turn. Again the listings are free and it'll take just minutes to do Read More
2010-08-03 00:00
Today is day two in a series of posts helping you to break down the process of increasing the number of citations for your website into quick and manageable jobs.Your next task is to a… Read More
2010-08-02 00:00
As part of the blog I wrote on ranking in Google local business maps, I recommended that you list your company on as many local directory websites as possible.Over the next couple of weeks… Read More
2010-07-29 00:00
Forgive me, but today's post is along the lines of what has become a bit of a recent theme, educating your audience.Following on from Neil Young's guest blog on estate agent how-t… Read More
2010-07-29 00:00
Forgive me, but today's post is along the lines of what has become a bit of a recent theme, educating your audience.Following on from Neil Young's guest blog on estate agent how-t… Read More
2010-07-28 00:00
Following on from yesterday's criticism of Primelocation, we loved the announcement from Zoopla that they are showing listing history on advertised properties. Here is a portal who consiste… Read More
2010-07-26 00:00
Following the guest blog from Neil on how-to guides for estate agents last week, Phil Spencer popped up and showed exactly how it's done with his top 20 ways to add value to your home… Read More
2010-07-23 00:00
A while ago now, I read an article on the excellent Sellsius blog about adding a feed of tweets onto your website, using one of Twitter's own widgets.Which is quite a nice touch… Read More
2010-07-22 00:00
The Young London property management agency in Central London is a company with an approach I really admire. CEO Neil Young, who founded the Young Group back in 2003, is one of those p… Read More
2010-07-21 00:00
Today, I wanted to post a link to an interesting article I found on the Dakno blog, putting together a Twitter welcome page.It's the same principle I've talked about a few times in the… Read More
2010-07-20 00:00
The maps that appear at the top of 'local' (location specific) Google searches are an important way of gaining visitors to your website. However, like with your website, getting listed… Read More
2010-07-16 00:00
Last Saturday, the Telegraph published a great article, Are you a Coke or a Pepsi?You probably know the Pepsi Challenge story - in a blind test, most people prefer Pepsi, but when it c… Read More
2010-07-15 00:00
Reports on the varied things people are searching for when they happen upon this blog are always an interesting read. The one that caught my eye most recently was "reasons to chan… Read More
2010-07-14 00:00
In January, Graham Jones blogged about firing up home-hunters by focusing on them and their needs, on how the property fits them - and not on the property itself.Of course, the majorit… Read More
2010-07-13 00:00
Reading an article yesterday, it struck me that while most people understand that higher search engine rankings are better, perhaps they don't realise just how much better!Back when Google… Read More
2010-07-12 00:00
Having seen a blog last week More evidence that online advertising does not work from Graham Jones, someone who has guest blogged for us in the past, when Zoopla's latest banner advert caug… Read More
2010-07-09 00:00
When I think about the companies I actually enjoy doing business with, either personally or with PropertyADD, it's almost as simple as saying that it's the ones who do what they say they wi… Read More
2010-07-07 00:00
Back in November last year, we added a 'tweet this property' function to PropertyADD to try and encourage more estate agents to get involved with social media in a way that didn't hit their… Read More
2010-07-06 00:00
In a business like estate agency, where only a minority of companies have a true USP or a locked-in local market, mostly you will find yourself competing on just two things: branding and&nb&helli…Read More
2010-07-05 00:00
Penny Haywood Calder is the MD of PR agency PHPR and is hugely respected for both her online and offline expertise, so I was delighted when she answered a call for guest bloggers that I… Read More
2010-07-02 00:00
Yesterday, Sally Asling at Surrey Lets posted a great article on Ecademy titled "Why I believe strap lines on your signature are so important". And she's absolutely right. Email is poss… Read More
2010-07-01 00:00
It's been a while since I last posted up a critique of a canvassing leaflet, but this one from King & Chasemore made it all too easy.For those who are familiar with the name, King &… Read More
2010-06-30 00:00
I finally managed to get a chance to catch up on some of the blogs I subscribe to this weekend - one of them well worth sharing. Six weeks or so ago, Guy Kawasaki wrote a great article… Read More
2010-06-29 00:00
One of the most common objections I hear against starting a business blog is not knowing what to blog about. Yet, your blog is the perfect cornerstone for your social media activity.Here's… Read More
2010-06-28 00:00
Gail Gibson is someone who really sees the value of business networking. She must do - since joining 4Networking almost two years ago, she's eaten 126 such breakfasts!Today, Gail's gue… Read More
2010-06-25 00:00
MoneySavingExpert.com (source of inspiration for one of our most popular blogs to date, 27 things the public want from the perfect estate agent) have had another interesting conversation&nbs&hell…Read More
2010-06-24 00:00
"Buy my stuff or leave, but make a decision."It's a great quote about response-focused copywriting from a blog posted by Nathan Hangen a couple of weeks ago on CopyBlogger.com.I've mentioned… Read More
2010-06-23 00:00
Today I'm going to mention two FREE and useful tools for working with photos that I sometimes recommend to clients.Firstly, a batch image resizer. Relentless progress means that your digita… Read More
2010-06-21 00:00
Over the weekend, I came across a nice way to increase the exposure of your own website on Rightmove. Think that the only way of doing this currently is to pay for their Featured Agent… Read More
2010-06-18 00:00
It's surprising how often we get asked for advice on logo design at PropertyADD. Possibly because our Express package and website combo is very popular with start-up estate agents.Of c… Read More
2010-06-17 00:00
When the latest issue of The Negotiator's email newsletter dropped into my inbox this morning, yet another article about the ASA banning a Spicerhaart advert caught my eye.Where Haart have… Read More
2010-06-15 00:00
2010 may well turn out to be a year of notable change in the property industry. As I've mentioned before in my blog on Tesco versus the local estate agent and a LuvTheCity interview, the inf… Read More
2010-06-14 00:00
Some of you may remember that, back in March, I signed up with StumbleUpon's paid advertising to test whether or not it was a cost effective form of pay-per-click marketing.As I noted… Read More
2010-06-10 00:00
Our monthly Google AdWords summary report arrived yesterday. Normally, I tend to just file these emails almost without looking at them, but just at the bottom of this one, I noticed some tip… Read More
2010-05-27 00:00
Today's guest blog is from Tim Muir of Rightmove. Tim works with agents to maximise their leads and presence on the industry's behemoth and you may also recognise him from presenting Rightmo… Read More
2010-05-26 00:00
Today rather got away from me, so my apologies for the late post. It's probably rather old fashioned of me, but existing customers must come first :o)
When I signed up to Twitte… Read More
2010-05-25 00:00
I don't know how many of you subscribe to Business Link email newsletters, but if you don't already, you should do. They're not always 100% interesting, but usually contain something useful… Read More
2010-05-24 00:00
Friday's post was the 100th since I started this blog back in December last year and so today I thought it would be interesting to put together a bit of a review of progress.Those of y… Read More
2010-05-21 00:00
When my wife is at the gym, she often grabs me a copy of Sport Magazine, a free weekly affair with a light-hearted outlook and the occasional interesting interview.Last week's edition had a… Read More
2010-05-19 00:00
The guest blog today comes from Jane Penson of Grammar to Go, a business born out of Jane's love of writing and focused on improving your writing skills."Is this a good headline?'… Read More
2010-05-14 00:00
Yesterday Rightmove announced the launch of Rightmove Desktop, an application you can install on your PC to browse listed properties, rather than using the website.Yes, I'm left wondering wh… Read More
2010-05-13 00:00
Following on from a thread on Julian O'Dell's 22 point checklist on the applicant qualification process, here's my A-Z of things estate agents should discuss with applicants.(Suggestions fo… Read More
2010-05-10 00:00
Six weeks or so ago, I kicked off a poll asking one question: how many of you are using SMS text messages to send out details of property matches.It's a fairly even split in customers of ou… Read More
2010-05-04 00:00
One of our core principles at PropertyADD is in developing good, long term relationships. We do whatever it takes, and then we do a bit more for good measure. Relationships and repeat busine… Read More
2010-04-30 00:00
Just occasionally, the FindaProperty Winging It blog has something quite interesting on it. This week, the launch of a potentially useful gadget for estate agents - a widget they've made to… Read More
2010-04-29 00:00
For those of you that don't follow the PropertyADD Twitter account, yesterday I posted a link to a Hubspot webinar on how a good blogging process can be compared to a factory productio… Read More
2010-04-28 00:00
Internet Psychologist and regular contributor, Graham Jones, is back today with a look at how you can make a valuable first impression."First impressions are lasting impression, so the song… Read More
2010-04-27 00:00
Just a quick post today as I wanted to share a blog from Marc Davison over at 1000 Watt Consulting in the US earlier this month: the language of benefits.Marc put it nicely as "connect… Read More
2010-04-26 00:00
Why would an estate agent want to bookmark a private seller website you wonder? Take a look back at a blog article I posted in March, turning private sellers into valuations.
http://ww… Read More
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