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Create Your Online Strategy Your 12-Step Plan for Success

Step 1: Google Yourself ................................................................................................. 2

Step 2: Assess Your Brand’s Online Reputation ................................................................ 3

Step 3: Analyze Your Profiles ......................................................................................... 4

Step 4: Know Your Audience .......................................................................................... 7

Step 5: Know Your Competition ...................................................................................... 9

Step 6: Assess Your Hub ............................................................................................... 12

Step 7: Create Your Short List ....................................................................................... 13

Step 8: Set Goals and Schedules ................................................................................... 15

Step 9: Create and Curate Content ................................................................................ 16

Step 10: Monitor Your Online Presence .......................................................................... 17

Step 11: Measure Your Success ..................................................................................... 18

Step 12: Review and Refine Your Plan ........................................................................... 19


Step 1: Google Yourself

If you have a great online presence, you’re going to control at least the first two listings for your name, and you will also show up at or near the top of the rankings

for the parts of the market that you want to dominate.

Click here to open up Google in your internet browser.

Type your name into the search box, and list the relevant sites that appear on the first page:

1) 4)

2) 5)

3) 6)

What happens when you Google other key terms, such as your town + real estate, key neighborhood + homes for sale? Write down relevant sites that appear on the first page of the search results. Do your sites appear? Do your competitors?

Search Phrase 1:

1) 4)

2) 5)

3) 6)

Search Phrase 2:

2) 4)

4) 5)

5) 6)

What do these search results tell you about your current online presence? What themes emerged? What surprised you? What pleased you? What disappointed you?

https://crs.com/

http://www.google.com/


Step 2: Assess Your Brand’s Online Reputation

1) Make a list of your top 5 personal attributes. What words would your clients and

friends use to describe you?

2) Write down a list of your skills. What are you good at? What words do you want clients to think of when they hear your name?

3) Write down a list of your clients’ needs. Which of your skills are the most helpful to your clients? Why do they choose you to be their agent?

4) Comparing your answers above to your results in Step 1, how well does your current online persona match how you want people to perceive you? Where do you perceive disconnects that need to be improved? Where do you see strengths

that need to be leveraged?

Later, you will come back to these answers to assess how you want to be perceived and determine what sets you apart as the agent of choice.

https://crs.com/


Step 3: Analyze Your Profiles

Go to each of the following sites, and use the checklist below to review your profiles and assess how well they represent you.

Do you have an existing profile? Are you easy to find? Do you have a consistent “vanity URL”? Are you actively using the site, or have you neglected it over time? Is the profile and contact information on the site up-to-date?

Is your profile picture current and consistent? Is the branding consistent with the branding on your website/blog?

Facebook

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?

Up-to-date profile/info?

Consistent picture?

Consistent branding?

Notes:

Twitter

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

LinkedIn

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

Google+

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

YouTube

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

Instagram

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

https://crs.com/

http://www.facebook.com/

http://www.twitter.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/

http://plus.google.com/

http://www.youtube.com/

http://instagram.com/


Flickr

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

Pinterest

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

Yelp

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

Realtor.com

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

Zillow

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

Trulia

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

ActiveRain

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

Other:

Existing profile?

Easy to find?

Vanity URL?

Actively using?


Consistent picture?


Notes:

https://crs.com/

http://www.flickr.com/

http://pinterest.com/

http://www.yelp.com/

http://www.realtor.com/

http://www.zillow.com/

http://www.trulia.com/

http://www.activerain.com/


1) Based on your review of these sites, which of your profiles are the strongest?

Which are the weakest?

2) Referring back to Step 2, which sites best reflect the image that you want to

project? Did these sites appear in your search results from Step 1?

3) Is the information across your strongest profiles consistent? If not, what needs to

be updated?

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Step 4: Know Your Audience

The following list of questions will help you analyze your audience.

1) In your current business, identify which types of buyers and sellers generate most of your income. Feel free to skip client categories if they are not key to your business. Buyers Sellers Characteristics, Needs, Preferences

First-time homes

New construction

Investment

properties

Relocation market

Vacation properties

Empty-nesters

Short sales or foreclosures

Luxury homes

Historic or

architectural

properties

Other

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2) Among these various types of clients, which audiences would you like to grow

or connect with more deeply?

3) Based on their needs and characteristics, which of the skills that you listed in

Step 2 would be most helpful and appealing to these clients?

4) What sites do these clients use online? If you don’t know, you should start

asking them.

4) How do your current clients first connect with you? Which sites from Step 3

bring you the most business? Are they the sites with the strongest profiles?

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Step 5: Know Your Competition

Competitor 1:

Open up Google in your internet browser and type your first competitor’s name into

the search box. Write down a list of the top 5 sites that appear on the first page:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

Now, go to each of the following sites to see where your first competitor is active. Write down any notes on their branding, whether they are actively using the site,

and how engaged their audience is.

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Google+

YouTube

Vine

Instagram

Flickr

Pinterest

Yelp

Realtor.com

Zillow

Trulia

ActiveRain

https://crs.com/


htp://www.google.com/






http://vine.co/










Competitor 2:

Open up Google in your internet browser and type your competitor’s name into the

search box. Write down a list of the top 5 sites that appear on the first page:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

Now, go to each of the following sites to see where your second competitor is active. Write down any notes on their branding, whether they are actively using the site,

and how engaged their audience is.

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Google+

YouTube

Vine

Instagram

Flickr

Pinterest

Yelp

Realtor.com

Zillow

Trulia

ActiveRain

https://crs.com/


htp://www.google.com/






http://vine.co/










1) Overall, what do you notice about your competitors’ sites? How up-to-date and

coordinated are their profiles?

2) Referring back to Step 4, do your competitors seem to be targeting the same audiences as you? What skills and qualities do they attribute to themselves and their businesses? How well do those characteristics tap into the needs and preferences of your target clients?

3) How do your competitors’ sites compare to yours, as assessed in Step 3? If your clients were evaluating you against your competitors, who do you think they would select based solely on online presence? What could you do to improve to increase your advantage?

https://crs.com/


Step 6: Assess Your Hub

1) What is the hub, or main focus, of your online presence? For most agents, it is

your website or blog.

2) Which of the following features does your website include? Do these features coordinate with your strongest profiles from Step 3? What information on your hub do you need to update or incorporate down the road?

Up to date

Need to update

Need to add

Notes

Contact info

Branding consistent

Updated bio

Updated picture

Searchable listings

Real estate

education

Links to social

media accounts

Testimonials

Widgets

Local market info

3) When posting on other platforms, are you frequently drawing people back to your

hub? What could you do to better reflect traffic back to your hub?

https://crs.com/


Step 7: Create Your Short List

Now that you have assessed your online presence, analyzed your target markets, and reviewed your competition, it’s time to make a short list of where you will focus your online efforts.

1) Use the checklist below to sort through your sites and begin setting your

priorities. Refer back to previous steps to help make your decisions.

Website Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

Blog Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

Facebook – Business

Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

Facebook – Personal

Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

Twitter Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

LinkedIn Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

Google+ Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

YouTube

Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

Vine Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

https://crs.com/


Instagram Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

Flickr Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

Pinterest Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

Yelp Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

Realtor.com Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

Zillow Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

Trulia Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

ActiveRain Continue

Establish

Enhance

Delete

Time Spent

Revenue

Notes:

2) Review the checklist above, and identify your short list of platforms where you will focus your efforts for the next year. Deactivate sites marked for deletion, and

make sure that your profiles are consistent across your remaining sites.

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Step 8: Set Goals and Schedules

Identify Goals for Website, Blog, and Social Media

For your website and each of social media platforms on your short list, identify who you will connect with, what you will post, and how often you will post and interact with your followers. The following frequencies are recommended:

Website/blog: Three times per week for optimal SEO Facebook, Twitter, Google+: At least once per day LinkedIn: Two times per month Others: As frequently as you’re able

You may find it helpful to refer back to the target audiences you identified in Step 4 to help you decide what to post to best reach your connections.

Platform 1:

Connections:

What to post:

Frequency:

Platform 2:

Connections:

What to post:

Frequency:

Platform 3:

Connections:

What to post:

Frequency:

Platform 4:

Connections:

What to post:

Frequency:

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Step 9: Create and Curate Content

Answer the following questions to plan your content curation and creation.

1) Establish sources: You will want to spend some time up front establishing your sources to curate content, such as setting up Google Alerts or Twitter lists, creating news feeds on LinkedIn or popular sites, or subscribing to newsletters.

Sources:

Up-front time:

2) Ongoing review: Then, you will want to schedule in time daily or weekly to

proactively review those sources to curate content for your sites.

Frequency:

3) Create original content: If you plan to create your own photos or videos, it’s

also a good idea to set aside dedicated time weekly or monthly. The same holds

true if you want to create blog posts and articles ahead of schedule.

Photo/Video Action Plan:

Frequency:

Blog/Article Action Plan:

Frequency:

Schedule ruthlessly: Get out your calendar and pencil in time for establishing alerts, ongoing content curation, and creation of original content. Also include plans for your website, blog, and social media in your scheduling.

https://crs.com/


Step 10: Monitor Your Online Presence

Now, it’s time to set up your monitoring plan.

1) Investigate the following tools to determine which ones will be most useful to monitor online mentions of you and your business:

Very

useful Maybe useful

Not useful

Notes

Google Alerts

Social Mention

Mention

Topsy

Social Searcher

TalkWalker

Twilert

Hootsuite

Other

2) Set up alerts to monitor your information on the site(s) you feel would be most useful. For example, you may find it helpful to monitor the following:

Your name and any variations of it, such as Tim Brown, Timothy Brown, Tim J Brown, Timothy J Brown, Tim Jacob Brown, Timothy Jacob Brown

Your agency name Your motto or slogan

Your social media handles Competitor names All of your websites and blog

3) Make a plan to be proactive and respond to alerts you receive. Get out your

schedule and dedicate a few minutes a day to review your notifications and respond accordingly.

https://crs.com/

http://www.google.com/alerts

http://www.socialmention.com/

https://en.mention.net/

http://topsy.com/

http://www.social-searcher.com/

http://www.talkwalker.com/en

http://www.twilert.com/

https://hootsuite.com/


Step 11: Measure Your Success

Now, it’s time to set up a strategy for measuring your success. Databases and lead-tracking tools are available to help agents track leads and conversions. If you don’t have access to these tools, you can use the following table to begin measuring what’s working for you. For each lead or referral, track the source (e.g., referral, direct mail, website, social media, etc.), whether it converts to a transaction, and revenue earned. Review this information quarterly to determine what tactics are bringing you the

most income, and adjust your online tactics accordingly.

Date Name Source Conversion? $ Earned

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Step 12: Review and Refine Your Plan

Note: This step should be completed in the future, after you have implemented Steps 7 through 11.

Your online strategy should be updated regularly based on the data that you collect in Step 11. Decide whether this is a task you want to complete quarterly, biannually,

or annually, then schedule in the time in your calendar to do it.

When you are ready to revisit your online strategy, use the “Online Strategy: Ongoing Review” document included in the course to help you review the data you collected in this document and make adjustments to your short- and long-term online strategy.

https://crs.com/

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