Where Can You Buy the Cheapest Auto Insurance? Which States and Cities boast the lowest auto insurance rates? Let’s look at the studies done and find the best and the worst, just so you don’t think your high rate is “just me.” Of course, the insurance companies are free to provide whatever pricing and coverage they…
California Homebuyers – Who Understands their Pain? A little empathy goes a long way. Our clients have hopes, needs, dreams and sometimes a frustrating reality. If you’re a realtor, mortgage agent, home renovator, home developer, building product supplier, or financial services provider, you probably need to get intimate with the pain of home buyers in LA, San…
First Time Home Ownership Your dream of owning your own home is a smart investment and it’s doable. It’s been that way for a century. With all the negatives you hear about the economy, home prices, huge down payments, and the cost of living, you may have been pushed into a state of denial and apathy….
Is Sales is a Game of Numbers? If you sell in the insurance, real estate, home energy, or mortgage sectors, I’ll bet you’ve heard that phrase a few times. It can be interpreted a number of ways, but all of them point to this idea, that leads and sales may be more the result of…
Market Value Appraisal for Homeowners Well, if you’re reading this blog, then you may be considering selling your home, and the market appraisal is one of the first tasks to get done. You’re wondering “what will we get for our old place anyway?” And then that will beg your next question: how do we increase…
Cheaper Mortgage Rates What’s the immediate forecast for mortgage rates? Lower and perhaps even lower. If you’re buying a home or condo in 2018/2019, you’ll want to buy your mortgage in the next 6 months. The economy is improving and mortgage rates will rise. Shopping online means time saved, no sore feet, no parking hassles or…
Sell Your Home for What It’s Really Worth! This home above sold for tens of millions of dollars in small city where the average selling price is $1.2 million. What gave the owners the firm belief that it was worth that much? It’s very likely they had no self-imposed limits on selling price and probably…
How to Generate Leads and Sales The Ultimate Guide to Combining SEO and Content Strategy written in 2017 educated readers on how to synchronize SEO and topical content to align with Google’s ranking signals and ranking hierarchy. SEO and Content have always been on separate tracks. And Google was able to filter out optimization attempts…
Houston Real Estate Market The housing market in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Fort Worth are seeing a dramatic change. I’ll be updating this outdated post shortly. Please bookmark or see the Dallas post for reference on the Houston market. Homes sales are picking up in Houston where homes prices hit an average $176,000…
Lowest Auto Insurance in Toronto Searching online is best way to lower your Auto insurance rates. Toronto drivers will get a better car insurance quote from any insurance company by searching for it via Google. Rates are high and that’s why you should search now for a better policy for your car or truck. Hopefully, this is the beginning of string of years…
The Newest Condominium Developments in Vancouver are Amazing If you could move anywhere in Canada, I’m betting that Vancouver or Victoria or Kelowna might be first on your list. For many young and old migrants they are the destination and that’s pushing up condo prices for houses and condos here. The climate, economy, lifestyle, culture,…
Los Angeles Dodgers on Historic Pace – World Series Champs? Something strange has happened with the Los Angeles Dodgers this year. In mid May, the team was 22 wins and 18 losses which is middle of the pack, but since then they’ve been on a scorching, unheard of winning pace. It’s an unusual event so…
Cool Mountain Bike Videos Just some way cool MTB videos to blow you away. These guys have just as much fun making the videos as they do with the stunts. So dangerous, yet they ignore the fear and that makes them very good. Enjoy some great videos with funky music! As you wait for the new…
Foreign Buyer Tax Didn’t Help Housing Crisis As Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced the new Foreign Buyers Tax in Toronto, she ignored recent stats that showed Vancouver’s use of the money grabbing tax was wearing off. Doug Ford has just picked up the old torch and kept carrying it. Any kind of tax can hurt…
You Social Media Listening Strategy – Techniques and Tools A good number of realtors pride themselves on their ability to listen and empathize with their clients wants and needs. That’s all good, but if you can’t even find your prospects or reach your inner circle of key clients, how will you hear their voice? Answer: social media media…
Complete Digital Marketing Services for Vaughan Companies Finding skilled digital marketing experts inToronto, Boston, or San Francisco is easier. Now that you’re here, it’s even easier. You’ve discovered an experienced digital marketing strategists with a broad skillset which you won’t find at any Vaughan Marketing Agency. With local agencies, you work with young account reps, interns, and unskilled labour. That’s the way agencies…
Complete Digital Marketing Services for Markham Companies Skilled digital marketing experts aren’t all living and working in downtown Toronto, Boston, or Los Angeles. And some digital marketing strategists have a broad skillset that provides the results you need at a fraction of the price of a Toronto agency, or a local one here in the Aurora, Richmond…
Making the Jump to Small Business Startup People who desire the freedom and autonomy of self-employment are usually an optimistic and visionary lot, however with SMB failure at high levels, it’s easy for entrepreneurs to fall hard on the path to small business success. I discovered this myself with issues ranging from client incompatibility, insufficient…
Toronto Digital Marketing Agency You’re on the hunt for a competent digital marketing SEO agency that will get the job done quick. Here’s a better alternative for SMB’s: a skilled freelance digital marketing strategist. My business Bay Street SEO has been born again, still with good old fashioned ethics: hard work and strategy. Yes, SEO is…
What is the MLS? MLS is the term you often see used on realtor’s websites casually or formally. It’s also referred to frequently in housing forecasts and Realtor sales reports. The multiple listing service or MLS is essentially a database of homes for sale. In the US, the National Real Estate Association owns the rights…
Toronto Homes for Sale To find the best of the growing number of Toronto houses for sale this spring of 2018, you’ll want to do more than hire a real estate agent. How about using a thorough home search strategy? A good number of people search Google for a real estate agent in Toronto because they’re…
BIG Kahunas Lead — And Make a Lot More Money Millions of realtors, mortgage agents, new home builders, custom home builders, dentists, insurance brokers, architects, medical specialists, and vacation resort managers are all competing to be the Big Kahunas of their markets. Some will, and from humble beginnings. The title graphic is courtesy of Inman. In the US,…
Digital Marketing’s “Big Three” The pillars of digital marketing are: SEO Strategy, Content Development/Strategy, and Social Media Strategy. They’re interdependent and very powerful when they work together. This post is about how to develop a social media strategy — easy to digest, giving you the overview you need before you go about Tweeting, posting and liking….
Are Condo Buyers Different than House Buyers? Now in Spring 2017 we’ve seen house and condo prices in Toronto jump and should keep on rising The era of the condo is upon us and they may represent the best capital gain and rental income for investors and new deals for most realtors. With respect to your own…
Realtor’s Personalities and Ability to Engage Make them Perfect for Social Media Mastery I was just doing a search on Google for San Diego real estate. I clicked one agent’s link, but didn’t find much of interest. I clicked their Twitter link to see what they’re doing right now. Nothing. Dullsville. They didn’t much do much…
Wild and Wacky Real Estate Market The GTA real estate market is the best it’s ever been. Endless buyers and sellers. And prices have risen 14 to 18% in York, Durham, Toronto, Mississauga. Home sellers are getting whatever they ask. The US real estate market is growing well too. Is all this prosperity going to last? Realtors…
Improve Your Content Strategy Is there one marketing practice that can generate astonishing results in web traffic, leads, brand awareness, new revenue and customer loyalty? Oh yes. It’s called Content Strategy. Content strategy is the hottest topic in marketing because effectiveness is something everyone is struggling with. Excellent content that hits the mark generates everything from…
Tips to Help you Convert Visitors to Customers Improving the sales funnel is most digital marketers top priority today. And for two good reasons: 1) their traffic is much lower than previous years, and 2) doubling their conversion rate could triple profits. Years ago I had client websites rolling in traffic from Google and other search engines,…
Growth Hacking 101: Career and Personal Breakthroughs Usually Happen Together 2015 was another promising year in business and sales year for many people. How did you do? Have you been working very hard with little show for it? Well, it could be you just haven’t done enough networking, or worked on your unique value proposition,…
Are You Finding the Right Consultant/Agency for Your Business? Has the deluge of noise in digital marketing become too much for you to bear? Well, hang in there because all you might need is a few pointers and some encouragement to get some clarity. Since marketing is pivotal to success now, picking the right consultant or…
The National Realtors Association Websites Realtor.com the official website of the National Association of REALTORS which operates in the US. NAR as it’s known owns the copyright on the acronym REALTOR® and MLS® which stands for the association’s multiple listing service. NAR as an association has 1 million members practicing across all states. NAR considers…
Outreach and Link Building In life as in marketing, some things don’t get their due recognition and respect. In the realm of digital marketing and SEO, outreach is the weak stepchild. That’s because it’s not understood well and doing it well is a challenge. Admittedly, link building and outreach require confidence and tolerance for frustration,…
Exciting Trends and Business Opportunities: Solar Power What’s so exciting about residential solar power right now is not that solar panels are becoming inexpensive. It’s that homeowners can generate their own electrical power. As you’ll see in the video below, this wise entrpreneur is making a good amount of income from his installation ($5000 from 7000…
Redesign Your Unique Value Proposition What one business statement makes everything you’re doing make perfect sense? It’s your UVP. Creating this statement can be a fun and illuminating experience, if you’re passionate about your business. I hope you are. Most businesses fail or succeed due to this one factor: their unique value proposition. This statement…
Fascinating People Are you a fascinating person? Maybe you are and you don’t know it. But what is it about you that captivates others and makes them value you so highly that they are fixated on you? Understanding who fascinates you might be a key to understanding yourself. Why do they fascinate you? What is…
Best Business Books I discovered an excellent book that you’d be wise to read too. It’s called the Go-Giver, A little story about a powerful business idea. It’s about turning an old idea on its head; that being a go-getter, is really not the way to a better life or better career or business. This…
Wine Art – Amazing Artist Leanne Laine is an internationally renowned artist in British Columbia, who has been producing astonishingly beautiful artwork since the beginning of the last recession (and before). I talked about fascinating people with the intention of finding and introducing them to you. Here’s a fascinating person creating art in the world’s favourite city. Proof…
Visiting Mount Rushmore Whenever you travel, you’re hoping for something with its own special feel and culture. Places like San Diego, Vancouver, Banff have that. So does Mt Rushmore. (See pics on my Mt Rushmore Pinterest page) Mount Rushmore in South Dakota sees more than 3 million visitors per year. It’s a spectacular setting for…
Amazon’s Monopoly and Amazon Prime Walmart and Amazon: the Grocery Wars Continue. 2 of the biggest retailing giants are waging a war in the online grocery sector — a sector which has actually failed to launch previously. What both could never have conceived is the Corona Virus pandemic. It has introduced millions of new customers…
Rocky Mountaineer Train Trip When you talk about epic, best life experiences, Canada’s Rocky Mountains are one of the first to come to mind. Travelling through these mountains is a visual feast with quaint mountain towns, clean pungent mountain air, brilliant colors, amazing wildlife, soaring snow capped peaks that your mind can barely comprehend. Whether…