Read the full article here: How Effective is Article Marketing

Thanks to Property Tutors for the information provided in this article.

The April sales figures for residential property in Auckland are again impressive. Sales volume in the Auckland region were up 16.3% over April 2011 and that in itself is a positive outcome let alone the other statistics presented by the REINZ.

The latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand data also confirmed an increase in property prices. The median price is up $10,500 (+2.2%) compared to April 2011. Auckland recorded its highest number of transactions in an April month since 2007 with 2,157 sales.

Other parts of the country did well too. This may be the news we needed to realise our economy is moving in the right direction. Often it’s said that the state of New Zealand’s economy is linked to the property sector. With the added news that many banks have began moving there 1 to 2 year fixed mortgage interest rates down – the Auckland Property Investment Market is looking strong.

Auckland’s population hit 1.5 million mark on February the 1st this year! Property rental rates have increased in major centres around the country and in particular Auckland as supply of property fails to keep up with demand. Auckland is one of the fastest growing regions of New Zealand and already its stretched both in roading infrastructure and housing. The good news the Government is investing in roading and transport infrastructure where outer areas are more attractive places to live.

Property Investment in Auckland appears to be rosy based on the data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand – with increasing property values and rental incomes, falling interest rates and a growing population. Less affordability to own your own home can result in higher demand for rental properties and a great opportunity for property investors in and around Auckland.

For Tips on Becoming a Property Expert – click here

The success of any marketing strategy starts with a well thought out plan of action.

In your article marketing plan we recommend creating a list of tasks and then commit to following through on your plan, consistency and volume of article marketing placement will help you achieve your marketing goals.

For every task list the day the task is to commence and the expected time of delivery (also known as ETA). Using Article Marketing as a strategy is not exclusive to the internet and is as popular in the print media as the online arena.

Here are some article marketing plan tips from Donna Richardson, Director of Mobilize Mail Limited

Article Publishing

Commit to publishing a minimum of 10 articles per year ideally at least one article per month. Article marketing is highly effective when executed on a regular basis as it creates a trusted advisor status for your business and hence improves your reputation and ranking in google.

Hyperlinks in your Article

Place a hyperlink to your website in your articles and review your website analytics every month to measure the results. Viewing the visitor traffic from your article marketing is encouraging and proof it works.

Articles Must Be Unique Per Publishing Site

Articles must be unique per site that they are published on – duplication of articles dilutes their effect and the results you are looking for especially in google key word searches.

Less is More – 300 – 600 words

Articles can be 300 words or more – but not a War & Peace in length. If you have a topic that you have lots to say about – spread it over a few articles of shorter length over a couple of days.

Article Marketing is one area of your marketing strategy that is relatively easy to do, is cost effective and can be put across online and in print.

Become a Contributor of Articles to our network (click here)

Building a New Zealand based Property Investment business is not for the faint hearted especially in the current economic climate.

Like most success in life it takes years to become an overnight legend. A lot of work, discipline and use of proven systems is required to get your property investment business off the ground and in good working order every year.

Sean Wood of PropertyTutors Limited has done the hard yards in building his own property investment business over many years and he has not only survived our recessionary times, h has flourished.

Sean’s mentoring business, PropertyTutors Limited is also proof hard work and commitment pays. It’s no coincidence that this business consistently produces students who reenlist for his Masters program year in year out.

“I’ve run the Masters programme since May 2008 with two groups per year (May and November) each with just 20 individuals at a time. Once the year is up, current participants can retain their spot by rejoining. I’m happy to report that 16 out of the original 20 in my first Masters group signed up for a second year because they’d been so successful.”
Sean Wood, PropertyTutors Limited

Sean has written one book so far. By his own admission writing is not his strength – however feedback for his book “$15 Million Dollar Man” suggests he needs to do a follow up book soon.

This book is jam packed with useful tips and experience that demands respect for Sean and his success in property investment.

Read this article – Why Property? Click here
The Masters Event – click here
PropertyTutors Blog – click here
PropertyTutors Website – click here

Mistake No. 2 – Not Knowing Whether You’re Making or Losing Money

Annual financial statements or accounts prepared once a year many months after your Balance Date are only really useful for working out your tax bills, yet for the majority of business owners this is the only financial information they see.

Prior to the introduction of computers for all and accounting software it was too expensive for most businesses to prepare periodic management accounts since preparing the accounts manually from traditional hand-written books and records was too time-consuming. However nowadays good accounting software is as cheap as dirt and easy to use and also is an essential business tool as it will also take care of your invoicing, customer and supplier databases, accounts payable, job costing, divisional or branch accounting, timesheets, and much, much more.

And what else will accounting software do for you at the click of the mouse? Yes, you guessed it, management accounts, both Profit and Loss Accounts and a Balance Sheet, both for the month or quarter as required, or the year to date, compared with your budgeted figures or comparatives from the previous year. OK they won’t be quite as accurate as your annual financials but probably 90% of the way there, assuming you’ve balanced the bank, got your Accounts Receivables and Payables right and are using Inventory tracking.

Armed with the knowledge of whether you’re making a high or low profit or even a loss enables you to react so much quicker to your circumstances, whether it be tax planning if you’re making good profits or cutting your expenses or your drawings if you’re not doing well. That is, of course, unless you’d rather stick you head in a bucket of sand in blissful ignorance until it’s too late and you go bust!

Keeping track of whether you’re making or losing money is just common sense business, so if you need a hand to work your profitability or otherwise, contact Nick on 0800 ASK NICK or email nick@abac.co.nz.

Mistake No. 1 – Not Knowing Your True Break-Even Point

We usually think of ‘relationships’ as being with people we know socially or work with closely.

Socially we choose to mix with people that are similar to ourselves and are generally like minded and who we enjoy.

However, work relationships are often more dynamic, difficult and varied and we need to rely on our communication and people skills to help us be effective with others.

Whether we like it or not we are always building impressions of and judging others based on a series of pre-conceptions and pre-formed ideas.

This ‘Filtering‘ can affect how we work with others and how we respond to them, and how they respond to us.

Some of these filters may be around the following:

• Status – whoever has the senior title may feel that they must be listened to over and above the person that has the expertise
• Work skills and education – The qualifications that we may (or may not) have, can impact on our perception on other’s ideas whether we see them grounded in reality, or fanciful ideas
• Race and Culture – This definitely impacts on our expectations of how we communicate and how we expect others to respond to us. Culture impacts on both the delivery and response. All cultures have different communication norms
• Age – Just because you are old, or young, does not mean you are either out of touch, or lazy
• Gender – There is such a thing as gender speak, men and women do relate to one another differently. A nod from a man generally means they have agreed to something, nodding in women means they are listening, but not necessarily agreeing!
• Reputation – How you have been perceived by others will follow you round. Guard your reputation and see it as your brand and what you stand for
• Class – Is this a strong factor in NZ? ( Let me know your thoughts on this one). Belonging to a certain ‘class’ can impact on our ability to mix and work with all levels within an organisation
• Last and not least
• Wealth – perhaps I should have put this one first? This filter has more impact than people often give it credit for, even as we pretend that it does not. Money or the lack of can influence our perception of others quite strongly

All of the filters above can impact on our communication and work with others.

None of them, in themselves are good or bad things, we merely need to be mindful that they are there and we need to manage our beliefs and viewpoints around these filters accordingly.

Are there other filters at play- I would be keen to hear if there are others.

Read the full article here: Newsletter Tips For Your Email Marketing Campaign.

Our LinkedIn group for New Zealand business has an interesting discussion on whether Facebook is worth the effort for the NZ SMEs. There is a clear split between those who think it is worth the effort, and can show proof that it helps their pipeline, and those who stated it was a complete waste of time.

The latest changes to Facebook Pages has made the effort to maintain a Facebook Page for your business much more involved. The changes now force you to focus on the interaction between you, the business owner, and your “Fans”. Before this major change you could at least get away with a “brochure-ware” format and maybe have a signup page for a free download or a Facebook competition application. This is now considered a waste of time unless you interact with your “Fans”.

There is no magic set of questions that when answered will tell you if your business will benefit from a Facebook Page. Considering some of replies within the group its not just B2C businesses making good use of Facebook – B2B are profiting as well.

One strategy we apply to our clients social media assets is to get their “Fans” details into a database they own such as an email marketing database. That way when Facebook and other social media sites become too demanding in their rules for business that you have the details of prospects in a datastore you own. A classic example of this is our own Facebook Page which offers a free business ebook – the signup details go straight into our email database.

Some of the comments from the LinkedIn discussion are pasted below.

We’ve got clients and formed good partnering arrangements from Facebook, as well as growing our database. We’re not selling consumer items but are business to business. It all depends the strategies you employ.

You can view our fanpage here:

http://www.facebook.com/AmazingBusiness

Or feel free to check out my personal profile here:

http://www.facebook.com/bairdandrew

Also I should point out like Ewen we get a considerable amount of traffic from Facebook, it’s definitely worthwhile for us.

Like you, social media is not where my clients spend time.

If you are selling a B2C product then social media is much more likely to be a useful channel but the key is on the word “social.” People go to FB etc to hang out,share their lives and make contact with froends, not to look for a new accountant or an excavtor hire company.

Personally, I like the new FB Timeline as it makes FB even less attractive for businesses so it removes a distraction and a confusion.

Great question, sorry I only just saw it now! We spend a decent amount of time on Social Media during the week (probably totaling around 5 – 10 hours per week depending on the week). Conversion rates are slightly lower on Facebook – higher on LinkedIn and paid advertising BUT we really enjoy Facebook and is also social for us so we’re okay with that lower conversion rate.

I agree for some client profiles social media is not going to work – but if your target clients are on social media then as a B2B business you can target them very successfully.

I spend approx 6 hours per week on my own SM (varying quite significantly depending on workload) and recommend my clients invest in a similar block of time.

In terms of ROI I definitely agree with you, Facebook can be a long haul and the new design requires a new strategy. My own approach is to use Facebook as an added value service, sharing relevant content with clients (and ‘non-clients’) who follow me.

While LinkedIn and blogging lead the way in terms of site visitors and converted clients, these same ‘prospects’ often mention they follow me on FB & Twitter and enjoy the content. For me it’s about raising your profile as an expert in your field and trying to convey a personality prospective clients want to work with.

In terms of Facebook, I have recently been participating in a ladder for NZ pages only. It’s proven effective in both increasing likes and connecting with Kiwi businesses.

https://www.facebook.com/IncreaseYourLikesNZ

I am at: https://www.facebook.com/yourva.co.nz

Justine Parsons excellent comment and completely agree. Facebook is one of the many mediums backed up by an array of other social media options. Some options more inclined than others to attract search engine traffic. However – your point of 6 hours per week is valid. Social Media is a journey not a destination and requires
” time investment “with a sometimes intangible return. You prospects comment / warm leads are people mentioning that they also follow you on a social media site and I would not hesitate to say that within the forums of facebook or twitter is where these prospects have built up and formed an association with and credibility for your brand. Many of my clients gather great feedback via their facebook presence and it certainly is a medium that should not be discounted. Video inclusion within your social media profiles can offer a point of difference and once again allow you to share your testimonials, brand information and so much more with your potential prospects.

I’m https://www.facebook.com/whysocialmedia

Like some of the others here, I agree that it’s all about who your target market is. If they’re on facebook then yes, possibly it’s worthwhile for you. But also, is your target market likely to follow businesses at all? There are certain groups that do and others that don’t. You’ll need to do some sleuthing to find out.

Generally, if your target is the younger generation, and B2C (business to consumer), then you’ve got a better chance of making it work.

But also, one of the most critical things to making it work is the time – it takes vast amounts of time. If you don’t have the resource or the desire to do it right, then I wouldn’t. There are so many online gravesites out there, and they’re quite brand damaging, in my view.

Also, if your aim is just to use FB as a means of self-promotion, then it won’t work. You have to work hard for those likes, and then work even harder to keep them. Like anything, your ‘fans’ have to see something in it for them, whether that be exclusive offers or deals, tips or previews (depending on what you’re selling) – a one-way channel simply doesn’t work in social media. You also have to be willing to start conversations with your fans, do stuff that’s not directly linked to boosting your bottom line, and make it fun; interactive; engaging.

I do have business page in Facebook ( Gulf Waves Decor ) and I do really have some advantages as telling my clients to view my page and high mark the photo he and his family like me to do for there job , also it is free home advertising !

It’s like anything. If you study it enough and become good at it, it is likely that you will succeed. I have also come across people spending so much time on social media for little return, this would be far exceeded if they spent that time actually working on their business.

I think the key is to be present, spend a little on Facebook adverts and post relevant content. This will have a positive effect but dont let it draw you away from your main business.

You mention ‘Social Media … requires
” time investment “with a sometimes intangible return.’

Though you may not realise it, it is incorrect to say that we cannot measure Social Media return.

Such a fallacy is often from not being aware of the analytics side of Social Media, from incorrect sources, or inaccurate second hand reporting (in written sources and by paid speakers).

How can I know Social Media return is a reality?
1. From a practical perspective if you market on YouTube, you will get enquries there. If you post a blog entry then you will get enquiries from your lead gen tools.

I’ve seen the results for myself. Such results arrive multiple times weekly for websites I could case study.

How did the $4.2 million dollar lead generation I was associated with arrive? In online communications. Measureable and attributable to online activity? Yes.

1. There are also more specific ways to measure results. You need tools and you need to define KPI’s as part of the planning process.

After spending a fair time over the last few years, researching this topic, I presented on the subject at NZ’s Ad Agency / Marketers / Social Media industry event: SoMo (run by Conferenz) in June 2011.

I found that each of the 5 key categories of Social Media Analytics tools These tools manage, monitor, measure Social Media. These tools allow Social Media marketers to be really thorough about tasks that allow tweaking and improving results.

Although each are extremely purposeful, in their promo they are completely confusing the market about what they actually do for Social Media marketers. Each claims to be a Social Media ROI tool. Usually they are not.

I came across only one enterprise level Social Media ROI tool. The other one is way too light to do the work agencies and brands require: Klurig Analytics

It has recently been converted into a reporting service.

Social Media Myths like ROI must cease.

So please – let’s kill the notion that Social Media ROI is not measureable – and spread the news of how it can be measurable.

To join the discussion join us here

Being able to recognize a good deal when you see one and being able to act quickly once you have identified it are crucial. So how do you learn to spot the deals and become a market expert.

PropertyTutors.com believe the number one way is to become a market expert and to learn about property values, rental values, what type of renovations to undertake and know how much value they will add to your investment.

Serviceability

As you begin to build your Property portfolio you will need to be able to service your debts and make those loan repayments. If you don’t then the banks will not lend to you on future projects.

Cashflow properties are the way to create that serviceability. A cashflow property means one that makes more money than it costs to hold. A Negative cashflow property is one that costs more money than it makes – as the holding costs out weigh the rental income.

You will need 10 cashflow properties one capital growth one, many believe the ratio of 1:4 works, but when you are starting out be more flexible. Look for high cashflow properties that yield at least 10%.

Location Location Location

You need to become an expert in one area. You don’t necessarily have to pick an area that you live in, but one that is not too far from you will work. You might choose South Auckland, which is an area where most people rent their homes rather than own them – this means there will be many investment opportunities.

To become a property market expert you need to concentrate your efforts in one area and find out everything you can on that area, get to know all the agents that work in that area and keep up to date with what is moving and what is not.

Click here for further reading on Sean Wood Property Tutors and to learn more about us.

Read the full article here: Additional Features for your Facebook Page