News and Articles - 2011

Tip Your Communications into Overdrive

RISMEDIA, July 14, 2011—You hand them out frequently to relatives, clients and others. You receive them, good and bad. What are they? They’re tips, and we get and give them regularly. You can use targeted tips to bridge your communication efforts and quickly help you develop your expert status on a particular real estate topic while optimizing your website.

Company Spotlight: Focusing on the Customer Experience Makes All the Difference

RISMEDIA, August 8, 2011—As many consumers would likely agree, a good or bad customer experience can change everything. This is a reality that Illinois-based Home Warranty of America (HWA) not only takes to heart, but actively implements into its everyday business practices. With a consumer-oriented mindset at the forefront, the company prides itself on being the home warranty company that serves up the greatest customer experience possible—all day, every day. By staying in tune with the needs of those it serves, HWA maintains a firm grasp on the fact that a positive, service-driven customer experience can make a difference in the lives of all involved.

Market Results to Build Your Brand

RISMEDIA, July 14, 2011—All too often we have a success and move quickly on to the next item on our agenda. It’s easy to forget these happy client comments, homes sold and other professional achievements, but they are some of the most important pieces to your brand puzzle you will ever have to market yourself.

Home Warranty of America Now Offers Plans in All 50 States with the Addition of North Carolina

BUFFALO GROVE, IL, July 12, 2011 – Home Warranty of America, one of the leading providers of home warranties and options in the United States, announced today it received approval from the state of North Carolina to begin offering home warranty plans in the state.

Your Real Estate Social Media Mantra: 'Give and Gain'

RISMedia, June 6, 2011—Make this your transformational mantra for engagement in social media. This means not just characters in tweets, but real actions and sharing with others—whether it’s your knowledge, cool tools or any other valuable information you can share. This will help you build new relationships and lead to more fans or likes, followers and others who connect with you; new business will follow.

Is Your Website Starting to Look Like Your Closet?

RISMEDIA, May 25, 2011—It’s difficult to keep certain areas of our lives neat and uncluttered, and what might look fine to us can be confusing and appear busy to others. Over time, your website can collect too much unorganized and old information, along with indirect paths to the things that matter—why they should engage you!

Scared of Your Shadow Inventory?

RISMEDIA, April 14, 2011—This big inventory of homes—90 days or more delinquent on their mortgage payments, currently in foreclosure or now REOs—at last count was 2.1 million. It’s enough to make you plop, plop, fizz, fizz, worrying everyone from the banks to the sellers and most of the rest of us in the real estate industry. Adding the shadow inventory to the current visible inventory at about 4.2 million units, creates a 23-month supply of potential homes for sale when a 6- to 7-month supply is in the normal range.

Is Your Brand Award Winning?

RISMEDIA, March 22, 2011—You’ve heard it before in the media, from companies and individuals: “We’re an award-winning [fill in the blank].” Whatever the language, it catches your ear and your imagination a bit. You’ve seen awards listed on everything from resumes to websites and every other communication possible. But what can they do for you? Awards add positive presence to your brand, especially if the award is from a well-known brand itself. Sometimes it’s explained in more detail, sometimes it speaks for itself. The point is it can elevate you and your company.

Maximize Your Smartphone for Marketing with Groups

RISMEDIA, February 5, 2011—Most of us have some brand of smartphone, whether it’s an Android, iPhone, BlackBerry or another brand. These phones can be powerful marketing tools if you maximize your utilization of their features. One feature we want to highlight this month is the ability to create groups with your contacts. When you create groups from your contacts, you can make your communications really count and deploy them quickly.

Tips, Time Savers and Hope for the Over-Connected - Part 3

RISMEDIA, January 10, 2011—Our past two columns have given you some of today’s tools to save you time when you are networking on social sites and posting content. We’ve got two more for those of you who post content consistently and want easier ways to spread that content to your network for brand building and business development. Our resident search and social media guru, Tracy Crane, has provided these tips for a more efficient tech experience.

News