writing and marketing magic

Web 2.0 for Real Estate Agents: Content, Collaboration, Creativity

king and queen playing cardsWeb two-point-oh. You have been hearing about it several years and in 2007, it was EVERYONE’s favorite online buzzword.Now it’s 2008 and all you know is that you are supposed to be more “involved” online and that you probably need to sign up for a bunch of “social networking” sites and get some cool widgets to make your site score more visitors.

You also know that you don’t have the time to send messages to people on MySpace (and you don’t really want to). So, if you can just find the right tool, the right technology, that elusive “thing” you are missing — you can conquer this Web 2.0 frontier. Right? Continue reading »

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Contact

Angela Allen Parker, Kentucky Writer at Wicked WordCraft Wicked WordCraft
P.O. Box 206
Dunnville, KY 42528

1.800.WICKED.8

Angela Allen Parker is the “Wicked” behind the “WordCraft.” She is the resident keyboard jockey and fountain pen scribbler — marketing consultant and web entrepreneur. She has a B.A. in English and a background in journalism, advertising, public relations, political media coordination, marketing, fund raising and small business administration.

Angela is a Kentucky writer who embraces her life-long love affair with the English language. She enjoys finding new ways to bend and manipulate, tame and train words into useful service for her clients.

She is on a mission to improve your success — to help you put your best foot forward in traditional and Internet marketing venues, to improve the impact of your daily written communication, and enable you to seize the best words when you find yourself face-to-face or “online” with your target audience.

She is an active member of online communities for real estate agents and mobile professionals. She has served as managing editor of an industry news publication for Virtual Assistants world wide and has been a contributing writer to several virtual, technical and professional publications.

Angela has been active in the virtual community for several years and continues to promote professional outsourcing. She is a partner in www.RemoteProfessionals.com, an elite network of career outsourcing professionals offering highly skilled niche services on a contractual basis to clients world-wide. She served two terms as Vice President before being elected to serve as President of the International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA). Angela volunteers online and offline and has served on a number of professional and community boards of directors.

Wicked WordCraft, specializing in Writing and Marketing Magic, is a small business consulting and virtual assistance practice located on a 25-acre farm in southern Kentucky. Wicked WordCraft serves international clients, including those in the US, Asia, Canada, Spain, Bermuda, and the UK.

For more information on professional writing services or to discuss your marketing needs, contact Angela Allen Parker:

contact Angela Allen Parker for Internet Marketing and Writing Services by email

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Making Connections: 3 Golden Rules of Social Media

Social mediaWith the constant droning buzz about social media and Internet communities, it can be pretty overwhelming to determine where you should spend your limited time and even more limited energy.

If you are considering joining some now, you should:

Select only a few - it’s better to do a few things really well than to “sort of” do many things. Choose carefully based on your interests, the others involved whether or not the layout/setup makes it easy for you.

Participate - social media doesn’t work if you don’t work it. Signing up and staying quiet is like going to a dance and propping up a wall all night. It’s no fun and it doesn’t help you become more visible to your potentials.

Advertise - if you are a member of a social network and you don’t tell anyone — how will you be found? Many of the people you already know (or those who know you) may be interested in becoming involved with you on a social network — if they know which ones you use… Continue reading »

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Is Your Business Having An Identity Crisis?

Business Identity and Branding Graphic - Mirror Image of ModelThe energy and enthusiasm of youth is amazing. It utilizes the leverage, strength, and sheer “force of will” to grow, mature and eventually to become self-sufficient. The same is true of your small business.

You watched in awe as your business grew. (Never mind the lack of sleep and the volume of work you endured to make it happen). Every tiny success made you work harder and kept you moving forward.

Then you were breaking even (or maybe even making a small profit) but the business needed your constant, careful guidance. Later, you were forced to endure a stretch of “business adolescence” complete with the inevitable identity crisis.

You were forced to make difficult decisions about the direction your business should take. You knew benign neglect wouldn’t work and even your focused diligence didn’t prevent some small details from wiggling out of your grasp. There was so much to juggle!

Now the business isn’t quite so needy. Finally, it has matured enough that you don’t have to tend it 24/7 and you are officially playing with the “big boys.” A mature business obtains the power of experience, professionalism and polish.

Showcasing these traits makes your business more appealing to the best clients and helps you to secure your place in your industry. It’s time your business “dress” for success… I’ll show you how in five easy steps! Continue reading »

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Keyword Tools and Tips for Real Estate Websites

You have learned about the importance of metatags and contextual keywords and are now ready to select a handful of your own. Would you like some help with the project?

I’ve assembled a list of resources to help you keyword your website by first researching keyword popularity. Since most tools only evaluate the popularity on a single search engine, you are going to need several to get a well balanced picture.

You should also remember that your content will drive traffic. If you offer helpful, entertaining and well-written information that your niche market seeks, you will gain readership. Adding keywords and keyword phrases will get you in the search results, but may not secure visitor loyalty. You need a sticky site that gives good information.

Now, back to the keyword portion of this equation… Continue reading »

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Marketing Real Estate During Tough Times

The real estate industry has experienced an amazing boom cycle during the past 11 years. Most of today’s agents have experienced only a raging market in the midst of incredible growth.

In 2005, according to recently published survey by NAR, 24% of all Realtors® have been in business one year or less and fewer than one third were in business last time the market took a dip.

Since the housing market has been a bit bumpy, some real estate agents have become alarmed. Newer agents, in particular, hesitate to spend any money to build their business. Even some “old hands” have cut or eliminated their marketing and advertising budgets and are running their offices with a “bare bones” approach.

Normally, I’m all for simplification. Usually, I would agree that if you aren’t making money, you should be wary of spending it. But in the current housing climate, I’d like to offer a few thoughts. Continue reading »

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Marketing Your Blog: Headlines, Story IDs, Feed Placement and Submissions

When you blog, you should always give serious thought to the headline.
After all, many RSS feeds will only pick up your headline for the
initial display. People browsing your blog won’t make it past a
headline that leaves them cold. And, from a search engine perspective,
the keywords in a headline are “weighted” much heavier than simple body
text.

Blog Headlines

  • Keep your headlines snappy (brief and interesting) for your readers
  • Use keywords, but don’t overuse them – this is the opportunity for
    you to use a variety of terms that relate to your specialty or your
    real estate niche as used in that particular blog entry
  • Capture the eye of searchers who may otherwise miss your primary keywords.
  • Be bold

Continue reading »

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Blogging for Beginners: Blog Consulting for Real Estate Agents

I have had more calls lately on the topic of blogging than I could ever have imagined. Even my current clients are calling me saying “So you blog for that ONE client? Why aren’t you doing that for ME?!?!”

It’s a sticky situation for a writer and marketer who makes a living capturing and communicating the “voice” of her clients. Saying “I don’t recommend hiring someone to blog for you” has resulted in a slew of calls asking for me to do exactly that.

Go figure. (I think “reverse psychology” may be a marketing technique I should have pursued in the first year of my business – back when I was “hungry” and struggling!) Ah, hindsight…

So, what CAN I do to help you if you are new to the blogosphere? What WILL I do to help you launch your first blog? Continue reading »

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Ghost Bloggers: Should I Hire a Writer to Blog for Me?

Let’s say you have decided that blogging really IS a good idea. And, you are ready to have a blog on your own website. The only problem you face is an innate abhorrence of writing.

So you are looking for an easy way out. You ponder the options… and determine that you should hire someone to do your blog. After all, this will get you blogging (that really “in” thing to do for your online marketing) and will make the whole process as painless as possible, right?

WRONG.

Since I am a blog advocate (and a freelance writer), I’ve had quite a few inquiries lately about blogging services. Writing about blogging has resulted in a page one ranking on Google for blog writing services. But, Google is a fickle friend, so I don’t expect to retain that ranking for long.

In the meantime, I’m enjoying quite a bit of web traffic on this topic and I get quite a few questions on ghost blogging. I want to address some of those questions here. Continue reading »

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Video Podcasts Offer Palm-sized Real Estate Virtual Tours

The virtual tour phenomenon has gone pocket-sized and portable in the form of Video Virtual Tour Podcasts. Cutting edge real estate agents are now offering virtual tours in new, smaller and easier-to-use platforms, says Internet Marketing Consultant Angela Parker of www.WickedWordCraft.com, who specializes in helping real estate clients find new, innovative ways to market homes.

“As our society becomes more mobile, our demand for information follows suit,” said Parker. “The real estate industry must meet these demands by creating new, more convenient ways to deliver what clients need and want when they are shopping for a new home.” Continue reading »

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