Kristin Stampini of Stamp TV, a real estate broker in Boca Ratan, FL and owner of Global Virtual Real Estate Assistant LLC interviews Barb Schlinker, Real Estate Agent in Colorado Springs about how to market on YouTube and get good search engine optimization. Barb how did all of this get started. I listed a home for sale that had a line out the door of the open house, it had multiple offers and got contracts well over asking price. When I Googled the address, you could not find me as the real estate agent representing the seller. So, I asked.. “How come you cannot find me as the listing agent online?” Many buyers, after seeing a home online will drive the neighborhood, then they won’t call the number on the sign – they GOOGLE it. We found we were suddenly getting very few buyers calling us about our real estate for sale. I got mad! We want buyers to call us. We found when other agents get a contract on our listings, they fight us all the way. I’d rather have my team handle the sale to benefit the seller with the most money and the best experience selling a house.
Because the real estate industry allows all the homes available in the multiple listing service to be shared with thousands of websites online, the agent that shows up on page 1 of Google – wins. I knew that Google owns you tube and google likes video. So, decided to start doing video on my listings. I studies search engine optimization on YouTube to learn how get to page 1 of google with my listings and videos.
Once we launch a house for sale in the multiple listing service (MLS), a majority of home buyers are made aware the home is available. I’ve learned to make sure the address is exactly the way the internet companies, who command page 1 of google, have the address written. Then I add a call to action to get the buyers to call me. Now, I’m starting to run ads on my own listings to beat be on page 1 of Google. I discovered that companies like Redfin are doing paid ads on google using my active listing address and offering a discounted commission. Some of these firms are offering to buy homes from sellers directly. I can see why home sellers think they do not need us now. Its quite a process to show their homes. I’ve had sellers desperate to sign a contract to stop showings. These Internet companies are making cash offers to sellers and asking them to pick their moving dates. Companies like Zillow, Redfin, Open Door and Offer Pad are not charging a commission. Yet they are charging a 7 – 10% “service fee” and their offers are typically below market value.
The real estate industry had allowed people to access to the Multiple Listing Service online. These internet companies using the access, getting leads on our houses for sale then selling those leads back to us – sometimes asking us to pay them 35% of the commission to them for leads on our own real estate for sale. It’s so easy in this industry to get caught up in the day to day activity that we lose sight of who are real competition is – these internet companies are buying real estate and flipping those homes for a profit.
When I became a real estate agent, I was completely stunned that real estate companies didn’t share with their own real estate agents – how to get business. I had just moved to Colorado Springs and knew very few people, so I did not have a list of people I knew to start working with in my new Real Estate career. My broker suggested I pick up the phone book and cold call people. Now days we cannot make cold calls from the phone book now. We could be sued because of the Do Not Call list. There is very limited marketing training in the real estate industry for real estate agents. You and I have invested in learning how to market by being a part of the Craig Proctor coaching system and now we are both International Coaches for Craig Proctor. Because the industry does not seem to be designed to teach agents how to market, there is an 80% turnover of real estate agents who enter the business, then leave because they are not making any money.
Give us some tips to use you tube as a lead generation tool. Match what the big box internet firms are doing online to get your video to page 1. I put the address exactly how the internet sites have it and add a phone number I tell the customer what I want them to do, if interested. I write a description with the address and top searched keywords in the description. Then put the video up on you tube. I not make the video public until you have finished all the optimization because Google will start to try to categorize where to place your video online.

How do we get in touch with you, you can call the office at (719) 301 1802 or my cell at (719) 499 3334 and visit my website: . If you like what you see, please subscribe to my YouTube Channel: TheColoradoBarb or search on YouTube for Barb Schlinker.