The Cutting Edge of Online Marketing

It’s been just days since the conclusion of the MHI Summer Meetings in Washington DC and already the Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are being lit up with reports from MHMSM.com taking top positions.

As a result of Teresa Payne‘s “Manufactured Housing Rocks!” exhortation at the MHI event being reported in the Masthead Blog, by MHMSM Editor L.A. ‘Tony’ Kovach, a Google search for “Teresa Payne Manufactured Housing”, the MH Program Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary at HUD holds the #1 and #1b positions. Can’t get much better than that for a first appearance in MHMSM.com.

But the ball has just begun rolling. A search for Elizabeth Cocke using the term “Elizabeth Cocke Manufactured Housing” also yields a #2 result. This article is also Liz’s first mention in the pages of MHMSM.com

George F. Allen is one of the best known and most respected names in Manufactured Housing. George has been mentioned in this ezine before and wrote a two-part article for the July issue of MHMSM.com. George’s appearance in the post Amazingly Allen, The IMHA and the Chairman’s Reception ranks #1 for the search term “George F. Allen Manufactured Housing” and the report on a previous SERP appearance associated with MHMSM.com ranks #1b.

In addition, Greg O’Berry, the COO and President of HometownAmerica, mentioned in the same blog post as Teresa Payne and Liz Cocke, drew a #2 SERP position for that appearance. Greg also wrote a guest post for MHMSM.com’s INdustry Voices blog – GSE’s Duty To Serve – and that post earned Greg the #2 spot in a Google search for “Greg O’Berry Manufactured Housing.”

It’s becoming readily apparent that having your name appear on MHMSM.com, whether as a writer, a guest blogger at INdustry Voices or giving an interview will increase your online visibility in the world of factory built housing.

Have a Press Release, Job Listing or Ad that you want to get noticed? MHMSM.com would be the place. Can you write article or a guest post for INdustry Voices? Have vacant homes or lots? Homes sitting on your sales lot? MHMSM.com is proving to be the absolute BEST place for your company to get the results it wants and needs.

You’ve attended the meetings. You’ve got your copy of The Manufactured Housing Revolution book. You’ve read Bob Stovall’s Online Marketing 1-2-3, Part 1 – the Website and Maria Cucchiara’s Six Reasons to Update Your Current MH Website in this month’s MHMSM.com.

May 2010′s sales figures from MHI show a 16.9% gain on the previous May. Momentum is starting to build. Now is the time to make your commitment to making more sales this month, and the next and the next…

No one else can do it for you.

We believe that Manufactured Housing has a very bright future. Market conditions are coming to favor the industry. See Ken Rishel‘s Why Does Globalization Favor Manufactured Housing? in the July issue of MHMSM.com for more on that.

Read the two articles mentioned previously… again, if you’ve read them already. Internalize what is being said. Then, take action! Without action, even the grandest plans will come to nought.

It’s said that “nothing happens until a sale is made.” The sale is the root – the production, delivery, installation, usage and service are the fruits.

Here at MHMSM.com, we have been planting seeds for nine months. In that short period of time, our website, podcasts, blogs and special reports have drawn huge numbers of readers from the industry in the U.S. and around the world.

We score extremely well in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for keywords relevant to our industry.

Page one positions 2, 2b and 5 held by us for keyword “manufactured housing online marketing.

Retailers and communities note: we can do the same for you.

We can build – or re-build – your website. We can add on a blog (ask us why this can be vital). We can run your email list for you. We can handle your social networking. We can create a comprehensive eMarketing program to boost your Search Engine ranking in your local market.

Now is the time to get started.

The Manufactured Housing REVOLUTION.

Make it your’s – make it now!

Did you know ? Human Capital Edition – 2009. How technology influences and is influenced by Human Capital Management. Music by Steve Skinner – Punch it up.

Make an enquiry at http://www.PeopleStreme.com for a Facts Sheet.

I was scanning the news feeds at MHMSM.com and came across this article from a local newspaper in western New York about one way a manufactured home retailer has used to get potential customers to come into their facility and give them valuable marketing information.

OK, it’s nothing new, but how many of you are actually using something like this? And the extra publicity of having the local newspaper announce the winner increases the exposure.

Owl Homes of Fredonia announces June winner

Dominic Bellanti, President of Owl Homes of Fredonia, has announced June’s winner of a $100 gas card. The winner is Erik Kraft.

There is no purchase necessary to be entered to win. Just stop in, fill out and complete a guest registration form and be entered to win monthly prizes and the year-end grand prize.

Owl Homes of Fredonia is Western New York’s leading dealer of modular and manufactured homes. Owl has a product history over the past 45 years of providing affordable housing to residents throughout Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Erie and surrounding counties.

Please stop by and view the 12 fully furnished model homes that Owl Homes of Fredonia has on its sales lot. They are open Monday-Saturday, and other hours by appointment.

Call for hours today. Stop by 3752 E. Main St, Fredonia or call 673-1366 or visit www.owlhomeswny.com

Source: Dunkirk (NY) Observer

This is another example of how to obtain more info from walk-ins . It can also be used as the lure to get more personal information from prospects who have already given you minimal information (name and email address) on your website.

Send out an email to your list (you have a list, don’t you?) with an offer similar the one Owl Home uses. Get them to stop in and fill out an entry form that captures more information you can use in your marketing efforts.

Or take it one step further and have them fill out a more detailed form online. More will participate if the requirement that they stop in is eliminated, but you’ll also lose the chance to strike up a personal dialog.

Used in combination (smaller prize for online and larger one of those that come in), this could be a very powerful means of getting more leads.

An as with all good ideas, this one is simple, but you’ve actually got to do it to get results.

Optimizing your website for the best keywords is one of the most important building blocks of your online marketing strategy.

But how we see or describe our business can be very different from how our customers see us. And knowing how our customers see us and search for us online spells the difference between lackluster performance and booming success in our online marketing efforts.

Let’s take one example. “Manufactured homes” used to be called “mobile homes.” The industry has gone to a great deal of effort over the past several years to upgrade it’s image by re-branding with the better descriptive term “manufactured homes” or “manufactured housing.”

But the effort expended hasn’t produced the desired result because the majority of customers still uses the term “mobile home.” And they use that term for single- and multi-section homes, new and old, in a community or on ten acres. I’m sure most retailers and community managers are well aware of this.

A keyword analysis using the Google Keyword Tool reveals that searches in the U.S. on the keyword “mobile homes” out numbers searches for either “manufactured homes” or “modular homes” by a margin of more than 2 to 1.

Obviously, ignoring the “mobile homes” keyword could have a large negative effect on the number of potential customers who find you via a search on Google.

In terms of keyword usage, Google users are not much different than users of Bing, Yahoo or any other search engine. So you can expect results to be very similar across the board.

So, how do we continue to seek to upgrade the industry’s image while tapping into the huge numbers for whom “mobile home” is the preferred terminology?

That depends on whether you a manufacturer, retailer, supplier or community owner.

But no matter who you are, the numbers outlined above indicate that we have a ways to go in customers minds to replace the “mobile home” image with the “manufactured home” one.

There’s an old quote that says you can’t break an old habit – you need to replace it with a new habit.

Manufacturers need to keep plugging away at changing the perception. Trade associations need to help, perhaps by running local education programs aimed at consumers with the object of substituting a new habit for the old.

Retailers, suppliers and community managers need to address this issue from the viewpoint of their customers. They need to use the more desired term when communicating with customers, but recognize that to draw the widest range of prospects, some homage must be paid to the term “mobile home.”

This is where “online marketing” shines above all other forms. Your website, email marketing, etc. can be primarily optimized for “manufactured homes” while pages are created specifically for buyers who search using the term “mobile home.” You can even have separate email lists for those who locate you using either term.

After all, who wants to throw away over a million lead opportunities every month?

Once again, this brings us back to MHMSM Solutions, which has the expertise to set this up for you. Taking advantage of every opportunity is how we will thrive as the market improves.