Welcome to the Short Sale Blog Ring Fast Start Guide. Play the video for an overview of our system, but do not skip the written guide below as it will be constantly updated for your benefit. This guide has enough information to get you up & running in no time.
Step 0: Confused?
1. If you’re here and wondering what this Fast Start Guide is all about, get the full story behind the Short Sale Blog Ring by clicking here.
Step 1: Get a Blog
1. If you do not already have a blog that works with our system, I highly recommend using the blog platform that I personally use and pay for myself. If you haven’t been contacted about this, please email info@shortsaleblogring.com and include in the subject line: Blog Needed
2. Choose a theme that is clean, so avoid any “extremes” in terms of style, fonts or color. Any theme you choose should have large “linked tabs” on the top of the blog, because this is how homeowners are going to sign up for your services. Also, there should always be enough space on the right side of the blog for a photo of yourself, a phone number and an email capture form.
You can either purchase a theme or choose a “free” theme. Here are a few directories with both premium & free themes:
For live examples, check out:
3. Once you choose a theme, have Ken (or your web programmer) install the theme for you and customize it with your photo, link tabs, email capture form, etc. I don’t recommend doing this work yourself, as your time is far better spent generating leads & closing business.
Step 2: Choose a Domain Name
1. Choose a city in your state or the state that you would like to take over as the leading short sale expert. This is not going to limit you to this particular city, rather, this is going to help you rise in search engine rankings, which will help spread your influence all over your state and eventually the entire US. Try to identify a city with lots of inventory and buyer activity.
2. Now, create a domain name that includes your city or your state and the word “short sale”. Anything else is up to you.
Examples:
“HoustonShortSales.com”
“LasVegasShortSaleExperts.com”
“FloridaShortSaleBlog.com”
3. The purpose of the above is to make sure that whenever someone searches for their city or state and the term “short sales,” that your blog pops up immediately. Statistics have shown that most homeowners will search for their city or state and “short sales” when seeking professional assistance.
4. Add your website to http://www.addme.com.
5. Register your website to Google Business (Places) and give yourself a physical address. Do not take this step unless your blog is completely prepared as you do not want to rank on top of Google with a blank website.
Step 3: Choose & Setup Your Profit Partners!
A majority of your income will and should come from closing short sales, so make sure you get acquainted with your exclusive short sale negotiator before anything else. If you haven’t done so, access our Short Sale Negotiations Section and get assigned your personal short sale negotiator right away.
Once you have your short sale negotiator on board, it’s time to turn your blog into a profit machine! Partnering with other companies on your blog is the key to passive income. The Short Sale Blog Ring is designed to make you real estate commissions, affiliate commissions & network marketing commissions (limitless income) all from one blog!
Your first step is to visit the Blog Partner section and sign up with our partners. While most of our partners are free of charge, others may cost you. Read carefully, because every single one of our partner descriptions include instructions on how to join . If there is a link, this means you can join on your own through that link. For our loan modification & debt settlement services, you must be manually placed in our system in order to generate commissions.
For Pre Paid Legal, you must contact the member assigned to your Agent Orientation. Should you decide to retail these services, you must place under the member assigned to your Agent Orientation to avoid immediate possible disqualification from the Short Sale Blog Ring. If you have not been assigned an Agent Orientation, please email info@shortsaleblogring.com and include in the subject line, “Agent Orientation Needed.”
Step 4: Setup Email Marketing
Email marketing is important! For an example, check out my email lead capture on my blog.
Email marketing allows you to “capture” all of the leads that visit your blog and follow up with them automatically. I personally use a follow up sequence that automatically follows up with clients for almost 2 months! In addition, you can send “broadcast” emails out whenever you’d like to your entire data base, allowing you to connect with them for whatever reason, whether it be to recommend a product or service (where you make commissions) or just to share a success story (which can convert “warm” clients into “hot” ones, seeking to use you for your services).
After experimenting with multiple platforms, I’ve decided to use Aweber. I’ve spent $200 a month on some services and have realized that Aweber does everything I need for a measly $19 a month.
Click here to try Aweber for a $1.
Once you sign up for Aweber, you can either create your own follow up sequences or use my 2 month default campaign. You’ll want to make sure that you replace my name with your name, so on & so forth. In order to use my campaign, you’ll need a campaign code (once you sign up for Aweber, you’ll know what I’m talking about). The default campaign code is: sssb. Make sure to carefully edit the campaign and substitute my name with yours.
Email marketing allows you to capture customers for life, and just because they do not work with you now does not mean they won’t work with you in the future or purchase any of your recommended products or services. Email marketing is the key to repeat customers & income for life.
5. Begin Posting & Optimizing Your Blog
1. Now that you have your blog setup, it’s time to start writing blog posts. Learn how to identify the specific topics that generate the kind of leads you want by using our Search Engine Optimization Guide. Find top keywords for short sales, loan modifications, credit repair, prepaid legal, debt settlement (anything related to the services you are providing) by using the Google keyword search tool. You’ll want to make sure that your posts are accurate & informative. Do not pitch your services too much, or you will posts will lose value.
2. Again, I strongly recommend using our Search Engine Optimization Guide for every blog post. In fact, I don’t think you should write a single blog post without going through this guide as it is absolutely crucial that you take the necessary steps to ensure that your posts rank highly on Google.
3. Make sure to go through Kevin’s Training Sessions & Videos. This may take you a week or a month, but do it. These videos alone could sell as a “product” for $200-$300, but I’m not going to sell them because I truly want to invest in your success. If you carefully study every video I have available, you will have the skills necessary to generate thousands of leads & passive income online. Videos & Sessions are currently reserved for a select group of agents.
6. Create an action plan
When it comes to blogging, it’s best to set yourself a schedule.
Here is a recommended weekly schedule for our Short Sale Blog Ring Members:
1. Get in touch with your personal short sale negotiator and make sure all of your profit partners are in place for your blog. You will only have to take this step once. Don’t waste your leads by having nothing set up for your leads to buy!
2. Create one post just once a week on your blog and use our SEO Guide to optimize it for Google Ranking purposes.
3. Network! Make business cards for your blog. They don’t have to be fancy, in fact, you can get free business cards from Vista Print. Make sure you include your blog URL address on the card. Having a blog and an email capture form is going to significantly increase the chances of retaining a client from your everyday, face to face encounters.
4. Add your email link to your signature, and “announce” your blog to everyone in your current email database. If they are interested in your services, they will most likely register their email address in your email lead capture form, where you’ll be able to follow up with them later.
5. Don’t forget to join Kevin’s Training Sessions & Videos for more exciting, in-depth Short Sale Blog & Online Marketing training. Again, these videos are well worth $200-$300, but as a member of the Short Sale Blog Ring, you get access to them for absolutely free.
