Thank you for your interest….
We appreciate your time and look forward to sharing the advantages of becoming a Windermere affiliate with you. We believe our partnerships provide benefits that go beyond traditional franchising and we are always looking for quality, like-minded individuals to grow our company. Windermere currently operates in ten western states with 325 offices and over 7200 real estate professionals. We offer support to our affiliates on a corporate as well as regional level. Both support levels provide a full staff of experienced professionals to assist our affiliates with all aspects of operating a successful real estate brokerage. To learn more about what Windermere has to offer in your marketplace, please contact us today. We look forward to sharing our story with you.
September 7th, 2011
Marketing Solutions At Your Fingertips
At Windermere Real Estate, we understand the importance of providing you and your agents with the marketing tools needed to grow your business and exceed your clients’ expectations. We offer an extensive toolset that encompasses all avenues of marketing in today’s real estate industry.
Whether you need marketing tools for recruiting or company branding or your agents’ need personal marketing or property marketing tools, Windermere provides all of these options, right at your fingertips. Below, are just a few of the options available to our Windermere Real Estate affiliates.
Custom Xpress – Direct Mail and Email Marketing:
You understand that it’s crucial to present your listings and yourself with the highest quality, but what can you do to set yourself apart? With Custom Xpress, we’ve created an assortment of marketing formats designed to cut the clutter and and enhance the visual impact of your marketing pieces. From postcards, flyers and sports schedules to brochures, trifolds and property calling cards, you can customize the ready to use templates and create your own unique marketing portfolio. This program is also integrated with Windermere’s Contact Management system making delivery of your marketing pieces easy and efficient. With the recent addition of XpressLinks, you now have the ability to share those marketing pieces across dozens of social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more. Are you using QR codes in your marketing? No problem….Custom Xpress offers a free QR code generator as well.
In addition to the direct mail marketing pieces, Custom Xpress also provides you and your agents with a fully-integrated Email Marketing program. We all know that email marketing works. When done right, email marketing is am effective way to reach clients with important, time-sensitive information as well as the latest news. Custom Xpress Email Marketing is affordable. Monthly tiered subscription options make this program an economical choice for any level of marketing need or budget. Use the detailed reporting toolset to track performance including delivery as well as create ever-improving campaigns by using the open and click rates to gauge your emails’ success. Segment your lists and reach your contacts using personalized templates with target messages that are relevant to them. Custom Xpress Email Marketing has been fully integrated with the Custom Xpress Direct Mail platform, providing you with one source for your print, direct mail and marketing needs. Proactively communicate with your contacts. And best of all….no technical expertise required!
Listing Xpress 2.0
Listing Xpress 2.0 has everything your agents need to drive a successful online marketing campaign while maximizing the exposure of their listings to potential buyers. Windermere’s Listing Xpress toolkit includes Craigslist Advertising and Lead Generation and Listing Performance Reports across all Windermere online marketing channels. Windermere’s online marketing channels include Windermere.com and other top real estate and search sites like Zillow.com, Trulia.com, Yahoo and ReloHomeSearch.com.
Listing Xpress 2.0 is designed to save agents and brokers valuable time and money. With its’ easy-to-use dashboards, one-click posting to Craigslist and other social media sites, property marketing flyers, single-property websites and QR code assignments for individual properties, your agents can spend less time on the marketing side of their business and more time on the relationship-building side of their business.
Visibility Plus
Windermere’s Visibility Plus program is a convenient, consistent and cost-effective marketing tool. Visibility Plus offers a full color, monthly newsletter containing insightful information that is timely and in-line with current real estate trends. All pieces are professionally designed and written exclusively for Windermere. You can choose to use the 12-month program or only one month at a time…the choice is yours. Marketing to your sphere can really be this simple.
The Windermere Real Estate eStore
No more hunting for a professional printer. No more choosing card stock or struggling to keep your resource room stocked with timely and professional pieces. Welcome to the Windermere Real Estate eStore. At the eStore, we offer custom stationary products that will help you create those extraordinary special and professional touches. From letterhead to envelopes, note cards to note pads, and even Windermere’s exclusive two-sided business cards, everything is available to customize and order on the eStore. We also offer ready-to-use professional presentation sheets on various topics such as Timing the Market, Pricing Your Property, Social Networking and much more. Everything needed to arm you with the best tools to impress agents and clients alike is available here. And because the ordering is online, you have 24/7 access to shop, proof and place your order. It’s never been easier to access the high-quality, professional marketing and branding tools you deserve.
In addition to the marketing programs listed above, Windermere also offers additional marketing opportunities through email/social media sharing, real estate content sharing from Windermere.com, an exclusive listing magazine called “Windermere Living”, as well as our Premier Properties program designed to showcase high-end properties.
Now that you have reviewed some of the marketing tools that Windermere makes available to our affiliates, I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you have questions about our tools and programs? What marketing tools are important to you and your real estate business? How important are easy-to-use, cost-effective tools in your marketing plan? I look forward to hearing from you!
July 19th, 2011
In Their Own Words…
Since launching our 2011 Educational Initiative last month, I am pleased to report that I have been quite the “road warrior”!! The month of June was spent meeting new and wonderful people throughout southern and eastern Idaho as well as northern and central Utah. The response to our “Why Windermere?” initiative has been overwhelming and I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to share our Windermere Real Estate story.
In addition to the responses from non-Windermere offices, I have been equally overwhelmed by the responses from our existing Windermere-Mountain West affiliates. Many of our owners and agents have contacted me, offering to share their own Windermere experiences. Their eagerness to share their experiences got me thinking….why not film them sharing their Windermere stories….in their own words? After all, don’t we place more value on the information we receive if it comes directly from the source? I know I do.
Throughout the coming months, we will be posting videos of our owners and agents sharing their Windermere Real Estate experiences. We have amazing people in our Windermere family and I know you will enjoy hearing their stories…..in their own words.
To view this month’s video, please click here.
I would love to hear from you as well. What do you consider as a vital component to the success of your business? Is it cutting-edge technology? Advanced marketing programs? Business planning? Recruiting Tools? Let me know…..
If you have questions about Windermere Real Estate or would like more information on our 2011 Educational Initiative, “Why Windermere?”, please click here. I look forward to hearing from you!
May 17th, 2011
Why Windermere?
The Launch of the 2011 Educational Initiative
Since 2006, I’ve had the pleasure of traveling throughout the Mountain West region meeting great people with whom I can share the Windermere Real Estate story. It is a story of humble roots, big vision and a strong sense of community. One of a company built on a foundation of mutual trust and the unspoken responsibility to help each other succeed. It’s a story I never tire of telling and the reason we are strong and growing even after 39 years.
It’s no secret that our industry has endured challenging times over the last few years. With all the ups and downs of the economy, many real estate brokerage owners made the instinctual decision to switch into “survive” mode as a way to ensure they would weather the storm. As I’ve traveled throughout our region over the last several months, it’s become apparent that our markets are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. With that sense of stabilization and recovery in sight, many brokerage owners are now looking for ways to switch from a “survive” mindset to a “thrive” mindset. In doing so, they are re-evaluating current business plans, researching new technology, marketing and education avenues, and seeking business partnerships that will support and strengthen their path to continued success. We want to be a consideration in this process.
With that goal in mind, we are launching our 2011 Educational Initiative……Why Windermere? This initiative is designed to provide the real estate community throughout the Mountain West with the knowledge needed to understand why Windermere Real Estate is the business partner you need to take your business to the next level.
Beginning June 1st, we will be on the road in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming looking for opportunities to share our story in person. In addition, we will be posting blog articles on this website, sharing our journey via social media outlets, and providing informational literature via email and direct mail campaigns.
If you would like to make sure you receive this information, please click here.
We look forward to speaking to you soon!
August 24th, 2010
Becoming More Social
From Entrepreneur Magazine
Social media, web 2.0, social networking. These terms are mentioned in just about everything business owners read and hear, but the majority still doesn’t completely understand what the buzz is about. Yes, keeping up with emerging trends can seem daunting, but social media is one trend business owners need to keep on their radar.
Basically, there are two aspects of social media. The first aspect encompasses things like blogs, podcasts and videocasts, which many businesses have readily adopted. The other, more social aspect includes applications like Gather, MySpace, YouTube and Second Life.
Using the social side of social media to market your business can be tricky. Recently MySpace has gotten a bit of unfavorable attention from the media because of sexual predators taking advantage of the site. And while YouTube has become a favorite way to share videos online, you can never be sure as to what kind of video the service will show after yours plays. Some of them may be highly inappropriate for your audience.
So, as a business owner, how do you determine which sites to target, how to approach them and what returns to expect? Here are some nuggets for you to keep in mind as you consider leveraging social media in your own company.
Examine your target market. Are you marketing to finance types or Gen Y’ers? The more social aspects of social media may not be the best place to find and communicate with your audience if you want to do business with stock brokers. Yet if you’re marketing to a more casual customer, social media may be just the carpet ride your business needs.
Kathy Cano-Murillo, founder of CraftyChica.com and author of Art de la Soul, hit the virtual nail on its head. She first started a MySpace page to keep an eye on her teenage son who had a page on the site. She also had her first major book coming out and knew she had to do well on sales. “Once I created my MySpace page, I found people who were exactly in my target market who hadn’t yet heard of my website,” she says. “So I started introducing myself to people and making friends. I thought to myself, ‘This is magic.’”
Focus on the return and the investment. Because social media has garnered so much attention, many have gotten caught up in the hype of stories about businesses seemingly going from zero to 60 overnight. As a result, some companies have become much more focused on their return than their investment. Figure out well in advance what you’re willing to invest to get the return you want.
“I spent the whole month before my book came out introducing myself to people on MySpace,” Cano-Murillo recalls. “I didn’t just contact anyone, though; I took the time to specifically connect with women, other artists and writers. Yes, it takes a little bit of extra time but, I would rather do that than put money in expensive advertising, because I can’t afford it.” Cano-Murillo says she now has 6,500 friends on MySpace and that her website gets 1.8 million hits per month.
Set and measure your digital yardsticks. As the saying goes, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” Establish some basic goals for metrics that you’ll monitor regularly. If you’re starting a MySpace page, set a goal for how many friends you want to have within a certain period of time.
Contribute to the social network–don’t just market to it. When Text 100, a global public relations firm, decided to launch a presence in Second Life–for which they subsequently won an award–they really didn’t have a marketing agenda. As a PR firm, they wanted to scope out the scene and mitigate any possible risk for their clients by being early adopters themselves.
“Second Life is not a game,” says Georg Kolb, Text 100’s EVP of innovation. “It is a virtual world, and you need to have a strategy to move in there. Success in Second Life is less about first-mover bragging rights and more about contributing to the good of the overall community.” He advises participants to first listen to the community and understand what the issues and who the influences are. “Don’t just try to push your wares,” he says.
Protect your brand. The sad truth about the more social aspects of social media is that there are some not-so-savory characters that’ll be using the same medium to get their message across. Examine where you’ll be placing your brand and what types of companies are going to be sharing that space with you. If you discover that YouTube is not for you, try services like blip.tv or ListenShare.
Social media can have a positive impact on your business, if done right. You already understand the importance of networking; now it’s time to take it online.
June 22nd, 2010
2010 Windermere Community Service Day
Every year since 1984, Windermere associates have dedicated a day of work to complete projects as part of Windermere’s Community Service Day. This year was no different.
On Friday, June 18th, thousands of Windermere Real Estate agents and staff rolled up their sleeves and replaced their cell phones with rakes, shovels, paint brushes, hammers, etc. to assist organizations within their communities.
Each Windermere office selects a project that best serves its community needs and with help from family and friends as well as generous donations from local businesses, the work begins. From landscaping and painting to the complete construction of new parks, communities are transformed in a day. To view a video of just one of the many projects completed this year, click here.
It is truly an honor to give back to the communities in which we live and work. We would like to thank all of the Windermere Real Estate agents and staff, community businesses and volunteers who helped make the 2010 Windermere Community Service Day such a great success!!
February 18th, 2010
BACKUP???
Laptop Die??? A few years ago, when the price of laptops became affordable, many Real Estate Agents made a laptop their computer of choice. Listing presentations, searching the MLS and portability, (using the same laptop in the office and at home), are just a few examples of how agents were using the popular devices. I have now seen many agents purchase their second or sometimes a third laptop. Strange you say? Not at all! It is not a matter of IF a laptop will die, but WHEN. Invariably, the question is how I can get my data off of the old, (dead) laptop to my new one. In most cases depending on the failure, it can not be retrieved. There are services that retrieve data from dead hard drives, but they are very expensive.
Your salvation is BACKUP. A kind of insurance, prior to the inevitable crash. There are several choices today and each has their own advantages and disadvantages. One popular choice is the external hard drive (USB). These prices have come way down in the past year. You can purchase a Terabyte of storage for under $100 these days, (many of them portable). That is an amazing amount of storage, (more than the capacity of virtually all laptops and desktops). Many of these USB hard drives also come with backup software. So each time you plug your external hard drive into your laptop, it will “update” itself with the new information from the laptop. If you purchase an external hard drive that does not come with backup software, don’t worry. Microsoft actually has a FREE tool called SyncToy. It is used to sync data from a hard drive to an external one. This is a relatively inexpensive way to ensure the important information on your laptop is safe.
Another method of protecting your data is on line storage. There are several options available: carbonite.com, sosonlinebackup.com, (PC Magazine’s Editors Choice), mozy.com and many, many others. Most of these are fee based of course. Some have a minimal monthly fee while others charge annual fees. There are a few out that are free with minimal storage capacity.
To sum things up very briefly, BACKUP! Use whatever method you wish, it will save you in the long run.
This is the first in an ongoing series of article dealing with Technology and Real Estate
Thank You
Jim Lodato
Director of Technology
Windermere Services Mountain West
February 12th, 2010
Custom Xpress Email Marketing
It’s no secret, email marketing works. When done right, email marketing is an effective way to reach clients with important, time-sensitive information and the latest news. Windermere Real Estate is proud to offer Custom Xpress Email Marketing as a great choice to market yourself and your properties. Why is this program such a great tool to incorporate in to your marketing plan?
Affordable
This program offers various subscription levels to meet your marketing budget needs. Monthly tiered subscription options make this program an economical choice for any level of marketing need or budget.
Targeted
You can segment your lists and reach your contacts with a message that is relevant to them. Personalized templates allow you to create targeted messages with a personal touch.
Measurable
With a detailed reporting toolset, you can track performance including delivery, open and click rates to gauge your emails’ success and create ever-improving campaigns.
Fast and Easy
This program allows you to proactively communicate with your contacts – messages arrive immediately and provide a direct line of communication. There is no technical expertise required! Choose a template from a professionally designed template library of Windermere exclusive designs and then add your personal touch and messaging.
Start communicating with your clients using Custom Xpress Email Marketing today!
