November 2016 - Kim Hughes

Whether you want to keep track of personal tasks or large-scale team projects, using a project management app can help get you organized and simplify the process. The following project management apps are easy to use and offer plenty of great features…

Asana

A task management app that is great for project management too, Asana allows for an easy way to track work across teams. Review progress of tasks and projects easily, and cut down on the amount of meetings and emails needed. Share tasks lists with your team and keep track of conversations, simplifying communication.

Asana integrates with WordPress, Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, Harvest, HipChat and more. Cost is free for teams of up to 15 people, and premium cost is $8.33 per member/per month with reduced price for small teams.

Trello

This app is easy to use and is ideal for managing ideas, lists and projects. Trello is based on Kanban boards, a system developed by Toyota. It looks great, features drag-and-drop cards, and allows use of attachments, labels, conversations and checklists. Manage several project boards, assign multiple team members to projects and cards, and schedule due dates.

The basic account is free; the Business Class account is $9.99 per user/month and features app integrations, team overviews and more security; Enterprise account is $20.83 per user/month and is ideal for large companies with multiple teams.

Basecamp

A well-known, flexible project management app, Basecamp lets you organize everything you need to get projects done. The app offers a centralized schedule, docs and file storage, lists, message boards and comment threads, real-time chat, automatic check-ins and more. There are multiple project displays, and you can set deadlines, delegate tasks, get notifications, review reports, and easily search for specific information related to your project, team member, etc.

Cost is $29 per month for internal teams, or $79 per month for use with clients and allows separation of internal communication from client communication. Enterprise account starts at $3000 per year and offers lots of file storage, personal account manager, live-demo for your team, consulting on Basecamp, guaranteed uptime Service Level Agreement.

If you have been looking for a way to get your tasks and projects organized, these apps should do the trick. There are plenty of other project management apps out there, but these are visually appealing, user friendly, and offer great options to keep you on track.

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As a real estate agent, the importance of blogging fresh content regularly, can’t be stressed enough.

Blogs get picked up by search engines, drive traffic to your website, and eventually result in new leads. When people need information about your community or buying or selling a home, you want to be the one they turn to. Blogging can help establish you as an expert in your community. Provide great content on a regular basis, and your audience will keep coming back for more.

What makes up great content? We at Kim Hughes and Company research the latest trends for our clients, including information on local markets, in order to put together an effective blog strategy that gets results. We find that posting evergreen content that is informative, educational, entertaining or addresses problems and concerns really works to engage our real estate agents’ audiences. A blog article that utilizes keyword stuffing (overuse of keywords throughout the article) and too many links will come off as spam – this should definitely be avoided.

Blog Strategy

While it is important not to go overboard, your blogs should contain a few top keywords, active links, tags, alternative tags (alt tags), and your call-to-action. Include a high quality photo in your content that contains alt tags as well. There are several great royalty-free sites to find photos that can be used commercially.

Your blog should ideally be hosted on your website in order to drive traffic there. Share your blog articles on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. This is a great strategy to boost your blog and website visibility, and to improve your chances of reaching a wider audience through sharing.

Ideas for Blog Content

Here are a few topics that we post that really get results for Kim Hughes and Company clients. Consider posting 2-3 times per week. The important thing is to be consistent. This will help retain a devoted following for your blog and help it achieve a higher search engine rating.

Just listed and just sold properties
Listing price changes
Buyer topics such as first-time buyer information, mortgages, credit reporting
Seller topics such as how to boost value, timing the market, pricing, etc.
Homeowner topics such as renovations, home safety and maintenance
Current real estate market trends and local statistics
Community events and holiday information
Press releases for company changes and awards

Although blogging can be time-consuming and can require some strategizing to maximize its effectiveness, it is a proven strategy for boosting business that shouldn’t be overlooked. Hopefully you have gained a little insight and a few ideas to consider from the information above. Don’t have time to manage blogging? Contact me today for a consultation, and I will be happy to discuss how we can help.

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