I am frequently asked, “Where is your office?” It’s like the location of my office means something. And to many people, it actually means a lot. It represents, in their minds, the not-so-subtle idea that you are limited to working only a short distance out from the geographical location of your desk.

And so, when asked the “magic” question, my response is always the same: “Where do you WANT it to be?”

Truth is, as a virtual agent, I do have an “office.” After all, our license has to hang somewhere for us to be legit. Although I have a great office in which to work, I’m not interested in “impressing” my clients with the size of the building or the fountain in the foyer. Instead … I meet them where THEY are.

In fact, I’ve discovered that “bringing them home to meet the parents” can raise questions you DON’T want them asking. Such as:

• “How much money does it take to run an operation like this?”
  • “Dang … this Realtor must be bankin’ BIG bucks … wonder if I can hit them up for part of their commission…?”
  • “If they have a building like this in this economy, are they in touch with reality…?”
  • “Why do I have to drive all the way over here when I live in ________?”

Virtual agents have virtual offices. In my “real” office I don’t even have a desk. Don’t want one. My “actual” desk, when meeting with clients, is any available table at the Starbucks closest to where my clients live. Or the table in their existing digs.

Here is why this is critical:

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PageRank (PR) is Google’s way of identifying and classifying web pages. Google assigns PageRank between 0-10. Web pages with a higher PageRank are regarded as more authoritative than those with a lower PR — and, here’s the best part — the higher your PR, the more likely you are to appear at the top of Google’s search results.

While PageRank is not a magic bullet or guarantee of success, it is a factor to help your real estate blog content ranking on Google.

7 Tips to Improve Your Search Engine Placement and PageRank:

1. Keep writing market specific content for consumers looking to buy, sell, improve, invest, or rent real estate in your local market. 
2. Use market keywords in the title of your posts and throughout the body.
3. Use synonyms for greater search coverage—instead of always using the word “house”, mix it up with home, single family house, real estate, property. 
4. Use abbreviations for your market—folks looking to buy in Long Beach Island usually refer to it as LBI. Use state abbreviations too.

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I don’t make New Year’s resolutions - at least not in the traditional sense that many of us think of. Instead, I find it more productive to set goals. Some are general, some specific. For example, it wouldn’t be wise to set a resolution to get more closings in 2009. That’s not going to actually help me achieve more closings that I actually seek.

Instead, I look back to see what I might have done wrong in the past and resolve to improve. For me, this would be that I don’t think that I seized on many of the opportunities to turn leads into clients and clients into closings. Considering the real estate climate last year and the likelihood that it will continue well in to 2009 or longer, I consider making the most out of each and every opportunity the highest priority for 2009.

In other words, conversion.

For many, 2008 was a transitional year while others laid the foundation for a successful career for years to come. Wherever you may be in your career, it’s time to put 2008 behind us and be prepared to seize all opportunities that present themselves to us in the upcoming year. To do this successfully, we need to be prepared.

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HomeGain is continually reviewing and working to improve our policies, products, and procedures with our current, past, and potential clients.  In doing this, one wise member of our team, Jim Ridley, uncovered a common trait of the agents and brokers who are successfully growing their business. 

This identified success trait comes down to the basic question:  Are You a Real Estate Professional or Online Business Consumer?

HomeGain has found that the Real Estate Professionals are more likely to be successful.  The Online Business Consumer clients have shown to have a higher dissatisfaction and failure rate. This distinction will affect HomeGain’s way of doing business.  I would highly recommend that you should review your business to see where you fall.

This brings up a few questions:

¨       What is the difference Real Estate Professional and an Online Business Consumer?

¨       Can Online Business Consumer agents and brokers become Real Estate Professionals? 

¨       How can this affect your success and allocation of your marketing budget?

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This year, like most, I wrote my business plan between Thanksgiving and Christmas. My overall business strategy includes a marketing plan and a technology plan. For 2009, I added a social media plan. Typically when New Year’s Eve rolls around, I throw in a few New Year’s Resolutions and then off I go, hoping that the year turns out as planned or at least close.

This year my plans and resolutions took on a theme. I didn’t start out with a theme or intentionally create one, and I didn’t even realize I had a theme until I stepped back and took a look.

It appears that “Use what I’ve got” snuck into my business plan when I wasn’t even looking.

Upon review, I discovered that I already have all the tools needed for a very successful 2009.  I have more than enough websites and blogs and I am registered and active on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. I can boast of all kinds of cool software and I have CD’s, books, and a del.icio.us account full of great links.  My file drawers are crammed with ideas that I’ve picked up at conferences and conventions. 

Unfortunately, I’m not using all of this good stuff to its full potential. If there was a “feature usage meter” on my technology tools, it would probably be reading less than 50%.  I even own software I’ve never used (that would be 0%) and books I haven’t read.  My websites and blogs require tweaking and my social networking profiles could stand an update. The task seems daunting but there is good news about implementing my business plan this year. The plan comes with a much smaller price tag than in the past.

I just need to “use what I’ve got” to accomplish my goals for 2009.

Louis Cammarosano, General Manager at HomeGain, will be speaking on a panel at Inman Connect NYC tomorrow, Wednesday, January 7, at 10:30am EST.

Louis Cammarosano will be addressing a topic important to Realtors in today’s market, titled “Directing Your Ad Dollars Online”, and will be joined by co-panelists, Ginny Cain McMurtrie of Mediatise.com and Jill Harnick of Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Inman describes the conference session as: “The Internet has opened new doors to new advertising opportunities and many real estate brokers are slashing their ad spending. How best to redirect what’s left? Should you be buying leads, exploring sponsored listings or spending on Search Engine PPC ads? Find out in this intensive session.”

What are your thoughts on this topic? Ad plans for your business this year?