Consumer Confidence Index down in August

NEW YORK – Aug. 28, 2012 – The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which improved in July, declined in August. The Index now stands at 60.6, compared to July’s 65.4. The Expectations Index that measures attitudes about the future – what might happen over the next six months – decreased to 70.5 from 78.4. However, the Present Situation Index that measures attitudes currently remained virtually unchanged at 45.8, versus 45.9 a month ago.

“The Consumer Confidence Index is now at its lowest level since late last year,” says Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. “Consumers were more apprehensive about business and employment prospects, but more optimistic about their financial prospects despite rising inflation expectations. Consumers’ assessment of current conditions was virtually unchanged, suggesting no significant pickup or deterioration in the pace of growth.”

Consumers claiming business conditions are presently “good” improved to 15.2 percent from 13.7 percent, while those saying business conditions are “bad” was unchanged at 34.4 percent. Consumers’ appraisal of the labor market varied. Those stating jobs are “plentiful” declined to 7 percent from 7.8 percent, but those claiming jobs are “hard to get” edged down to 40.7 percent from 41 percent.

In looking forward to the next six months, the percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve declined to 16.5 percent from 19 percent, while those anticipating business conditions will worsen increased to 17.7 percent from 15.1 percent. Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was also less favorable. Those expecting more jobs in the months ahead decreased to 15.4 percent from 17.6 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs rose to 23.4 percent from 20.6 percent. The proportion of consumers expecting an increase in their incomes, however, improved to 15.7 percent from 14.2 percent.

The Conference Board by Nielsen conducts the monthly Consumer Confidence Survey based on a probability-design random sample. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was Aug. 16.

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

Inside Indian Creek Island, Miami's Billionaire Bunker

This story appears in the September 10, 2012 issue of Forbes.

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Any mere multimillionaire can buy ocean views and build teak docks for 100-foot bespoke boats. The world’s richest pay top dollar for a far more exclusive amenity: security. Such is the case with Miami’s billionaire island fortress, Indian Creek. A Russian mystery buyer recently plunked down $47 million for a plot in Miami-Dade County’s most expensive sale ever (the price eclipsed hedge fund billionaire Edward Lampert’s record-breaking purchase in April for a home right down the street).
The barrier island touts only 40 waterfront property parcels arranged around an ultra private 18-hole golf course. Don’t think about washing ashore to sneak in a quick 18 holes: The sole entrance is heavily guarded, and a private police force patrols the island via boat, jeep and Jet Ski 24 hours a day. Super secure, unless you consider the Iglesias family a major threat.
Here’s just a few of the high-profile folks with Indian Creek Island addresses:

1 Indian Creek Drive
Owner: Norman Braman, car dealership billionaire
Sale price: $3.9 million in 1991
The home: County’s priciest sale at the time; 19,000-square-foot house with 8 bedrooms and 10 baths

3 Indian Creek Drive
Owner: Anonymous Russian buyer
Sale price: $47 million in August 2012
The home: Resortlike spec compound by Bal Bay Development; amenities include a spa pavilion, 7-limo garage, rooftop bar with Jacuzzi

7 Indian Creek Drive
Owner: Julio Iglesias, Latin singer and father of pop star Enrique
Sale price: $14.8 million in June 2012

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The home: One of 5 lots owned; razed house at 30 Indian Creek; living here while new mansion built next door

9 Indian Creek Drive
Owner: Robert Diener, tech entrepreneur
Sale price: $19.2 million in March 2012
The home: Sold by Calvin Klein Chairman Barry Schwartz; undeveloped 3-acre parcel

12 Indian Creek Drive
Owner: Leroy Schecter, chairman of steelmaker Marino/Ware Industries
List price: $45 million
The home: 22,000 square feet with theater, gym, 7-car garage and elevator is up for sale; Schecter to donate proceeds to charity

14 Indian Creek Drive
Owner: Edward Lampert, hedge fund billionaire
Sale price: $38.4 million in April 2012

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The home: Sold by PLC Investments’ Paul Cejas; 17,700-square-foot neo-Palladian manse with arrival court

16 Indian Creek Drive
Owner: Don Shula, retired football coach for the Miami Dolphins, and wife Mary Anne
Sale price: N/A; ownership granted to Mary Anne in divorce from late billionaire Jackson Stephens
The home: The 2012 tax assessment on the 13,300-square-foot home is$4.5 million

17 Indian Creek Drive
Owner: Charles Johnson, mutual fund billionaire
List price: $38 million
The home: 1997 purchase for ?$3.75 million; rebuilt 16,000-square-foot Mediterranean with boat dock

22 Indian Creek Drive
Owner:Adriana Lima, super model, and husband Marko Jaric, pro basketball player
Sale price: $9 million in 2009
The home: Built in 1958; 7,600-square-foot Regency-style house is fresh off a 2-year remodel

24 Indian Creek Drive
Owner: Carl Icahn, leveraged-buyout billionaire
Sale price: $7.5 million in 1997
The home: 14,000-square-foot vacation house purchased out of foreclosure

36 Indian Creek Drive
Owner: Alex Meruelo, real estate entrepreneur
Sale price: $7.05 million in 2008
The home: 8,500-square-foot house with twin staircases, domed ceiling, frescoes

40 Indian Creek Drive
Owner: Geert-Jan Bakker, chief executive of Dutch company Bakker Magnetics
Sale price: $9.3 million in 2010
The home: Sold by celebrity power couple Beyonce & Jay-Z; 7-bedroom, 8-bath Mediterranean with boat dock

Locksmith scam a new twist

DETROIT – Aug. 27, 2012 – Locks are supposed to keep the crooks away – or at least make them work harder. So who would imagine that there’s a locksmith scam out there?

If you need to change the locks, say someone stole your purse with your house keys, be extra careful when shopping for a locksmith. Some con artists advertise super low prices on the Internet, show up when you call, disassemble the lock and then say they’re going to have to charge far more than advertised.

“And here you are without a functioning lock now,” said Susan Grant, director of consumer protection for the Consumer Federation of America in Washington.

The locksmith scam is just one of the many ways for someone to pick your pocket – and your lock – these days. Keep an eye out for these scams:

Crooks love passing bogus checks, so they are hitting mailboxes and grocery carts.

The homeowner writes a check to the electric company and trustingly leaves the envelope for the mail carrier.

Bad move. The crook gets the envelope first, then tweaks the check – maybe even making the amount bigger – and cashes it.

Stick to electronic bill pay, automatic bill pay or mail bills directly at the post office.

Nationwide, con artists known as the Felony Lane Gang ripped off IDs and checkbooks in Nebraska, Alabama, Illinois and elsewhere. The Detroit Mad Hatters – a group of older women who wore hats – snatched wallets or checkbooks out of purses at supermarkets last year. Sounds simple: But don’t leave your wallet or purse in your car even when you make quick trips.

Fraudsters can scam you with a financial aid pitch, too.

Parents and students need to be skeptical about websites and schemes for quick-fix financial aid. The pitch could be tempting as students head back to college and wonder how to pay the bills. Some deals promise a money-back guarantee, but the Better Business Bureau said there are so many hoops that it’s often impossible to get a refund.

Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org and FastWeb.com, said students shouldn’t be paying $3 or $5 or $50 for a chance at a scholarship. Some of those deals are outright scams, where no scholarship money is paid. Others, he said, might pay out some scholarship money but raise thousands of dollars more in fees than the amount that is paid out to students.

Don’t send money to pay taxes upfront on a so-called scholarship, either.

Don’t lose sleep – and money – over a bogus tax lien.

Some fraudsters are targeting elderly people and students and frightening them into thinking they must address a tax lien. The Internal Revenue Service noted that the schemers can charge victims $5,000 or more to settle bogus federal tax liens. The IRS isn’t initiating contact by using Facebook or texting you.

The dirty secret about some so-called mystery shopping jobs is that you lose $1,000 or more.

Lately, fraud experts report some consumers have gotten caught after finding a secret-shopper job online and then receiving a document that includes logos from big-name retailers, such as Walgreens and Wal-Mart.

“It looks pretty official,” said Dianne Shovely, vice president at Comerica’s fraud services office in Auburn Hills, Mich.

It’s fake. The scammers also send a fake check, say for $1,983.25. The shopper is to spend $100 or so at a time at a store and report on the service and the product. Then, the shopper is to wire back $1,280 and keep the rest.

Well, it’s all a scam.

“They’ve sent you a counterfeit check,” Shovely said. You wire back money and you’re out what you spent shopping – and the money you wired back.

A store-bought prepaid card is a new twist in some scams.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office reported as part of a consumer survey that one man was asked to put $416 on a prepaid card and send it off to stop calls reportedly from the Legal Department of Florida that claimed he owed money on a payday loan.

But the calls kept coming. So he did more legwork. His payday lender said he only owed $390. He discovered the caller had no connection to the payday loan company. The consumer agency contacted the prepaid card issuer and found out the money was still on the card, thanks to a glitch. The man was able to get his money back.

Another person, according to the survey, stopped an elderly man at a store from putting $500 on a prepaid card so he could send it to someone and claim a $1-million prize in return.

“They really don’t understand what they’re doing is sending cash to someone who is untraceable,” Grant said.

The “Grandparent Scam” remains alive and well.

Don’t wire money to your grandson who needs help in Mexico – or a granddaughter who claims to be in jail in Canada. Contact a family member first to find out whether a relative is really facing financial trouble.

Watch out for someone willing to pay more than what you asked for that used car or that hardly worn engagement ring.

One of the top Internet scams is a fake buyer who offers a legitimate-looking check for more than the asking price. The so-called buyer needs you to wire back excess cash. Weeks later, the seller finds out that the check was bogus. The seller is then on the hook for any bounced checks, the money lost that was withdrawn from the bank and the loss of the item that was sold. Western Union warns that if a buyer insists that you wire money back from a legitimate-looking check, don’t do it.

Con artists like to drop official sounding names or deals to make a deal seem legit.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for example, doesn’t have a sweepstakes going where you can get a check worth up to $1.5 million – if you pay the “taxes” before you get the award.

President Barack Obama is not paying your utility bills.

Consumers nationwide have been getting telephone calls and text messages claiming that President Obama has a new federal program that provides credits or applies payments to electric or gas bills. All you have to do is give over your Social Security number and bank account information.

Of course, the bill doesn’t get paid. And you are very likely going to lose money from your account by scammers or be a victim of ID theft.

Consumers Energy said more than 2,300 of its customers have sought $1 million as victims of a nationwide utility scam. DTE Energy said it had about 3,500 customers that made payments with the fake number. DTE said it reversed the non-sufficient fees for customers who sent in such payments and has alerted customers about the scam.

Copyright © 2012 Detroit Free Press, Susan Tompor, personal finance columnist. Distributed by MCT Information Services.

Florida has 26% of all U.S. international sales

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Aug. 27, 2012 – Florida Realtors® released its “Profile of International Home Buyers in Florida 2012” today. The survey, conducted by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), found that almost one in five Florida sales in the 12-month period ending in June involved an out-of-country buyer.

Researchers say that the 2012 results closely resemble those in 2011. It’s based on a survey taken by over 1,500 members of Florida Realtors.

The international real estate market – defined as non-resident foreigners who buy residential real estate in the U.S. – is important to Florida. Nationwide, 51 percent of all foreign sales take place in only four states – Florida, California, Texas and Arizona. Of those four states, Florida has the largest share: 26 percent of national sales to foreign buyers closed in the Sunshine State.

Overall, 19 percent of Florida home sales (by dollar volume) went to foreign buyers.

Report highlights

• Nearly all international sales were cash – 82 percent of transactions.

• The median price paid by international buyers was $194,700 compared to an overall Florida median price of $125,100 and a U.S. median price of $167,758.

• Canadian buyers tended to buy in the lower price range; European and Latin American buyers bought at a higher price range.

• Foreign buyers see the U.S. residential housing market as a good value, thanks, in part, to favorable international exchange rates.

• In the 2012 survey, Canadians led the way as United Kingdom buyers faded a bit. Brazil and Venezuela have increased as sources.

• Condos account for 45 percent of properties, townhouses 10 percent and detached single-family homes 36 percent.

• 61 percent of surveyed Realtors said that they worked with an international client in the past 12 months, down from 77 percent.

The complete Profile of International Home Buyers in Florida 2012 is available online.

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

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Russian and Other Overseas Billionaires Buying Prime U.S. Estates

Roustam Tariko, billionaire owner of Russian Standard Bank and Russian Standard Vodka, completed the most expensive home purchase in Miami Beach since 2006 when he bought a $25.5 million estate on Star Island in April.

The transaction made Tariko the neighbor of another wealthy Russian with a taste for Florida luxury living. Vladislav Doronin, chairman of Moscow-based real estate developer Capital Group, paid $16 million in 2009 for the Star Island home previously owned by Shaquille O’Neal, the now-retired professional basketball player.

“In Russia, it’s a status thing now,” Jorge Uribe, a real estate agent with One Sotheby’s International Realty Inc. in Coral Gables, Florida, said in a telephone interview. “If you’re wealthy and you say you have a place in Miami, it’s like saying back in the old days, ‘I own a place in Ibiza or Monaco.’ It’s a cocktail conversation thing.”

International investors are buying some of the priciest homes in America as the broader housing market slumps and a weak dollar makes U.S. property more of a bargain. Sales of residences above $20 million are rising in New York, California and Florida, which are popular business and vacation destinations for foreigners, according to Miller Samuel Inc., DataQuick and real estate brokers who cater to luxury buyers.
Manhattan Record

More than two-thirds of the nation’s residences with asking prices of at least $20 million were in those three states, said Rick Goodwin, publisher of Unique Homes magazine in Princeton, New Jersey, which releases an annual list of luxury homes on the market each March.

Seven homes have sold in Manhattan for more than $20 million in the first six months of this year, up from five in the same period of 2010, data from New York-based appraiser Miller Samuel show. The median price of those transactions was $27.5 million, up 15 percent from the year-earlier period. The deals included a $48 million sale to Russian composer Igor Krutoy that set a record for a condominium in the city.

In Los Angeles County, 42 houses were listed for more than $20 million earlier this year, Goodwin said. Six properties sold above that level through June, compared with four in the first half of 2010, according to DataQuick, a real estate data service based in San Diego. Thirteen changed hands in all of last year, up from seven in 2009.

The DataQuick tally for 2011 didn’t include the priciest mansion sold in Southern California this year. In July, British heiress Petra Ecclestone paid $85 million for the late television producer Aaron Spelling’s Holmby Hills estate.

Brokers with Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC sold about two dozen U.S. homes priced at more than $20 million in the first six months of this year, said Philip White, president and chief operating officer of the unit of Parsippany, New Jersey-based Realogy Corp. As many as 25 percent of those transactions were to international buyers, he said.

“We’re hopeful the second half of the year will be as good as the first in terms of the very high-end market,” he said in a telephone interview.

International buyers purchased an estimated $82 billion worth of U.S. homes in the 12 months ended March 31, a 24 percent increase from the year-earlier period, the National Association of Realtors reported May 18.

Forbes Billionaires

The precise number of foreign deals for U.S. luxury properties is difficult to calculate because many purchasers are registered as trusts or limited liability companies. Jed Smith, managing director of quantitative research for the National Association of Realtors, said the number of overseas buyers for multimillion-dollar homes is increasing, helped by the rise of emerging markets such as Russia, Brazil, China and India.
“There’s substantial growing wealth overseas,” Smith said in a telephone interview from Washington. “Just go to the Forbes list of billionaires and see that we’re no longer the only folks on it.”

Of the 214 newcomers to Forbes magazine’s annual global ranking of billionaires this year, 54 were from China and 31 from Russia. The Asia-Pacific region had more billionaires than Europe for the first time in more than 10 years and gained the most of any region, with 105 additions, according to the list. Moscow displaced New York as the city with the greatest number of billionaires with 79, compared with New York’s 58.

Aspen Sales

The Forbes list was topped for a second year by Mexico’s Carlos Slim, who in July 2010 bought a Manhattan townhouse known as the Duke Semans mansion for $44 million.

Foreign buyers are also turning to resort locales such as the ski area of Aspen, Colorado, said Tim Estin, a broker at Mason Morse Real Estate in the town.

“It’s a pre-eminent international mountain resort brand,” Estin said of Aspen, where luxury properties are selling at discounts of as much as 30 percent from the peak.

In the last three years, Aspen had at least five deals above $10 million in which the purchaser was from Russia, according to Craig Morris, president of the town’s Morris & Fyrwald Sotheby’s International Realty.
“Four years ago we didn’t have any Russian buyers,” he said.

In Miami Beach, Tariko’s home is the city’s only sale exceeding $20 million since three lots sold on Star Island for $27 million in April 2006, said Ron Shuffield, president of Esslinger Wooten Maxwell Inc., a real estate brokerage based in Coral Gables, Florida.

Tariko declined to comment on his purchase, his assistant, Tatiana Kapusta, said in an e-mail.

‘Tapped Out’

The seller of the property, Thomas H. Morgan, declined to discuss details of the transaction. Morgan, the founder of Morgan Energy Corp., a closely held oil and gas exploration company based in Englewood, Colorado, said it’s no surprise that foreigners are stepping up to buy while Americans hold back.
“Americans don’t want to put down 80 percent or pay cash,” Morgan said in a telephone interview. “A lot of Americans are tapped out.”

New York and Los Angeles were near the bottom of a list measuring luxury real estate price appreciation in 15 cities that attract “the world’s global elite,” ahead of only Moscow, according to a June 4 report by Knight Frank LLP, a London-based property consulting firm. In the year through March 31, prices rose 1 percent in Manhattan and fell 2.2 percent in Los Angeles. Prices in Paris increased the most, with a 22 percent gain, followed by Hong Kong, Helsinki, Shanghai and Beijing.

The firm defines luxury as the top 5 percent to 10 percent of the market in each city.

Surge in Interest

“Compared to other markets around the western world, the U.S., including New York and Los Angeles, lost significant value during the crash and are more fairly priced,” Liam Bailey, the head of residential research at Knight Frank in London, said in an e-mail. “There is no doubt a surge in interest in New York, particularly for people looking for deals.”

U.S. home prices in 20 cities are 32 percent below their peak in July 2006, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index. While luxury values haven’t been hit as hard, the sellers don’t always get what they want. The Spelling home in Los Angeles was on the market for two years at $150 million before selling at a 43 percent discount. The Miami Beach estate bought by Tariko fetched 20 percent less than its $32 million list price.
A weakening U.S. currency helps make the nation’s homes seem like a good deal, said White, the Sotheby’s president. The dollar has fallen against each of the 16 most-traded currencies in the past year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Among emerging-market currencies, the Russian ruble increased 7.7 percent against the dollar in the 12 months through yesterday. The Brazilian real advanced 12 percent, while the Chinese yuan gained 5.2 percent.

Making a Splash

For Russians, interest in luxury properties is as much evidence of conspicuous consumption as it is efforts to capture bargains, said Edward Mermelstein, a real estate attorney Rheem Bell & Mermelstein LLP with offices in New York and Moscow.

“Those trophies, they’re buying them to make a splash,” Mermelstein said in a telephone interview from New York. “They’ll definitely gravitate to a property that’s higher profile as much as to a property with a long-term investment potential.”

Yuri Milner, founder of Moscow-based DST, which invests in Internet companies including Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Groupon Inc., paid $100 million for a 25,500-square-foot (2,370- square-meter) mansion in Los Altos Hills, California, according to property records. The transaction is the biggest for a U.S. single-family home sale this year.

Milner’s spokesman, Leonid Solovyov, declined to comment on the purchase because it is private.

Razing in Hamptons

In Manhattan, Krutoy and his wife, Olga, bought their 6,000-square-foot condo at the Plaza hotel in March. The deal came six months after the couple completed the purchase of a $12.85 million home in Long Island’s beach area of the Hamptons.

The Krutoys razed the Southampton mansion and are building a new house at the site on Gin Lane, where neighbors have included designer Vera Wang, shopping-mall magnate Alfred Taubman and New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger.

“He was looking at Gin Lane because that’s what he knows - - it’s the Fifth Avenue of the Hamptons,” said Susan Breitenbach, a senior vice president at Corcoran Group, the Krutoys’ broker for the sale, one of five deals she handled this year involving Russian buyers. “That’s what they really wanted and that’s what they stuck with.”

Seeking the Best

Krutoy bought the Manhattan property because he was seeking a home in the city, rather than looking to take advantage of a bargain, said Ilya Bykov, principal at Protax Services Inc., a New York-based firm that provides legal, tax and property- management services for international clients. Bykov represented Krutoy in his search, negotiation and closing for the Plaza apartment, and helped provide legal representation for the Hamptons home.

Russian buyers “have the money and they always want the best in everything,” Bykov said of the people he represents. “Most of these people are buying pied-a-terres and it’s quite common that the person would buy a luxury apartment in New York and a condo or penthouse in Miami.”

Kirk Henckels, director of the private brokerage at New York’s Stribling & Associates, said he was approached by a would-be buyer from Russia seeking to spend $100 million on a Manhattan home.
“I said, ‘We don’t have properties that high,’” Henckels said in an interview.

Woolworth Mansion

The most expensive single residential property currently for sale in Manhattan is the Woolworth Mansion, a 1916 “neo- French Renaissance” edifice on East 80th Street. The sellers are asking $90 million, according to StreetEasy.com, a real estate listings website.

Buyers from Russia and China have expressed interest in the seven-floor mansion, said Paula Del Nunzio, the broker with Brown Harris Stevens who is listing the property.

The newest Manhattan condo building to catch the attention of foreign buyers is a 90-story tower under construction on West 57th Street by Extell Development Co., according to Mermelstein and Bykov. The property, known as One57, will be the tallest residential tower in New York when completed in 2013.
The 95-unit building will record “a number of signed contracts” in the next 30 days for units ranging from $7 million to “north of” $40 million, Gary Barnett, Extell’s president, said in a telephone interview. He declined to say where the buyers are from, but said inquiries have come in from overseas, including Russia.

Central Park Views

Among the contracts to be signed in the next month is one for a full-floor, 6,200-square-foot unit that offers panoramic views of Manhattan, including Central Park, Barnett said.

“Three-hundred-sixty-degree views, unobstructed. That’s something special,” Barnett said. “If you were worth $100 million dollars or you were a billionaire, this is something unusual. If you can afford the best of the best, why shouldn’t you do that?”

In the Los Angeles area, about 75 percent of the people looking at “super luxury homes” for $20 million or more are from countries such as China, Indonesia, Korea and Russia, a Beverly Hills broker. Forster Jones plans an October trip to China to seek potential customers, she said.

Asian clients prefer Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills, known as the Platinum Triangle of Los Angeles, with their palm-tree shaded boulevards and history as home to Hollywood celebrities, Forster Jones said.
“They prefer the West Coast, because it’s much easier for the Asian buyers to get to,” she said. “There’s a lot of glitz, a lot of glamour, a lot to do.”

Spelling Estate

Europeans also like Los Angeles mansions, said Forster Jones, who shared the listing of Spelling’s 56,000-square-foot estate. The buyer is the daughter of British billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, the president and chief executive officer of London- based Formula One Management Ltd.
Russians are among the best customers for luxury homes in the Los Angeles area, said Jeff Hyland, president Hilton & Hyland Real Estate Inc. in Beverly Hills, who shared the Spelling mansion listing with his partner, Rick Hilton, and Forster Jones.

One example is the 2010 purchase and resale this year of a $19.5 million mansion by Dasha Zhukova, art collector and partner of Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich, said Hyland, who wasn’t involved in those transactions.

“You have the new wave of the oligarchs with their big yachts they dock off the beach at Malibu when they’re here,” he said in a telephone interview. “It’s all about the weather here. It’s about the ease with which people can move back and forth in Los Angeles. They can get in their Ferrari or their Rolls Royce Ghost and drive where they want without need of security.”

Reseached by www.miamiforrussian.com and www.miamiforrussian.ru

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Businesses prepare for hurricanes

WASHINGTON – Aug. 24, 2012 – As Tropical Storm Isaac bears down on Florida, residents prepare their homes and businesses for a possible hit. It’s unclear whether Isaac will become a hurricane, but experts suggest that homeowners and business owners prepare for the worst, now and in expectation of future disasters.

The U.S. Small Business Association offers disaster preparation guidelines on its website.

Top business preparation guidelines

• Have an emergency communication plan in place before the storm hits. How will co-workers stay in contact if the physical location of a business is damaged?

• Turn off all non-critical work devices before the storm hits.

• Alert a third party about business evacuation plans in case a storm makes it impossible to get to your place of business.

• Protect important business documents that you may need quickly, such as property insurance policies.

• Have cash on hand to pay employees or contractors after the storm.

• Know which employees are certified in CPR, EMT, etc.

• If possible, disconnect a building’s main electrical feeds.

• Have a plan to notify all employees, post-storm, about damage and how you’ll move forward.

• Review contracts that are date sensitive and have a backup plan in place to handle potential problems.

• Assess all functions that could be impacted by a lapse in business – cash flow, bills, budgets and any upcoming events.

The SBA also offers webinars to help owners and office managers create a disaster preparation plan. For more info, visit the SBA website.

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

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Multiple offers possible in tight housing market, experts say

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Aug. 23, 2012 – Bidding wars are back as the housing market continues its recovery.

After years of lackluster sales and sagging prices, demand is growing while the number of homes for sale shrinks.

Those market conditions drive multiple offers in many areas, but real estate agents and other housing followers say sellers still can take practical steps to boost the level of interest among buyers.

• Price it as low as possible. Many sellers and their agents obviously underprice homes to attract bidding wars. Douglas Rill, a broker at Century 21 America’s Choice in West Palm Beach, Fla., refers to the tactic as “drama pricing.”

Rill said he was instructed by the lender to list a West Palm Beach home with a leaky roof and other problems for $37,600, even though comparable sales supported a listing close to $50,000.

“Do you know what that does to my cell phone?” Rill said. “It blows it up.”

The bank’s strategy worked. More than 70 potential buyers toured the home, which eventually sold for $51,000.

At the very least, sellers should list their homes at the low end of market value, which will draw in buyers who sense they’re getting good value, agents say.

• Pay for an inspection, lien search. Buyers typically cover those, but motivated sellers can go on the offensive to prove the home is in good condition and free of title problems that would delay closing.

“You may be able to attract multiple offers just because the buyers will know what they’re getting,” said Marta DuPree, a broker for Keyes Co. in Broward County, Fla.

• Offer owner-financing. This only works for sellers who own the property outright. But it’s an option to consider, especially for condominiums in which government financing is limited, DuPree said.

• De-clutter. Getting rid of all those books, magazines and board games you haven’t touched in years will help make the home seem bigger and more appealing.

“Buyers are visual,” said Judy Trudel, an agent for Balistreri Realty in Lighthouse Point, Fla. “Clean and crisp sells.”

Sandra Holmes, a professional home stager in Weston, Fla., said properties should be “Q-tip clean” and free of smoking or pet odors. “If you can smell it, you can’t sell it,” she said.

A paint job freshens up a room, and it doesn’t cost a lot. Even replacing a light bulb to improve a room’s brightness can make a difference to a skeptical buyer, agents say.

“When a buyer goes in and flips on the light switch and it doesn’t work, they think there’s an electrical problem,” Rill said.

• Spruce up the landscaping. Planting fresh flowers, laying mulch and keeping the hedges trimmed will make a solid first impression on a buyer.

“When buyers walk up to a house that’s (in poor shape) – even if it’s just the landscaping – there’s going to be a sense that the seller doesn’t care about it,” said Ron Rosen, an agent in Broward. “And the buyers will think that they can really lower their offer or they just won’t be interested at all.”

© 2012 Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Paul Owers. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

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Increasing scam: Out-of-country buyers

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Aug. 21, 2012 – Title companies and real estate attorneys have been warned to double-check out-of-country property buyers. While the scam doesn’t steal money from Realtors, it can cost time and money representing a seemingly legit buyer who disappears before closing.

While this type of fraud has been around for a while, it’s becoming more sophisticated, according to attorney Edward W. Hale with the Hale Law Group in Fort Myers.

“The fraudsters are now using the names of real people, mostly in the United Kingdom,” says Hale. “Two of the recent names being used are Dr. Timothy Perrin, an oncologist in Leeds, England, and Dr. Andrew Cowley, a pediatrician in Wales.” Hale says there’s no reason to believe the real Perrin and Cowley have anything to do with the scam.

A real estate agent is usually the first contact in the scam. An overseas buyer calls an agent or broker and says he or she wants to buy property. The buyer then has a “financial broker” send information showing that they have the financial ability to do so. Next, they ask for the name of an attorney.

The scam comes into play when the “buyer” sends a fake check – usually a cashier’s check from Canada – to the attorney to cover the cost of the property and possibly a legal retainer. They ask the attorney to deposit the check into a trust account right away and to verify the deposit once done.

Once the check is deposited in the trust fund, the scammers come up with a reason to get at least part of it back, and they request that it be wired to a foreign bank account, usually in Asia.

Sometime later, the attorney’s bank calls to say the original check was fake, making the attorney’s trust fund short by possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“I will only accept wires for cash to close funds or lender funds,” says Hale. “Cashier’s checks are essentially obsolete now.”

While most overseas buyers are legitimate, Hale suggests that real estate agents can take one quick step to avoid wasting time on these fake transactions: Do a Google search with buyer’s name and the word “scam.”

“Usually someone else has been solicited by the scammer,” explains Hale. “I am seeing a lot of these now.”

Hale offers other suggestions that might help short-circuit a problem early in the process:

• Scammers tend to target vacant land, particularly waterfront vacant land, because there’s no occupant to expose the fraud. Hale says he won’t even write title insurance on vacant land anymore.

• Scammers who steal sellers’ identities often target legitimate foreign owners for two reasons: If both buyer and seller reside outside the U.S., they may make the same grammatical errors in emails; and any request to send sale “proceeds” to a foreign bank would appear more legitimate.

• To avoid problems down the road, agents should FedEx a letter to the owner of record listed on the county’s tax rolls. The letter should say that someone contacted the agent about the sale of the property, and that the agent is simply confirming that it is in fact the true owner. Avoid snail mail. It’s too slow, particularly in foreign countries.

• Scammers usually have an email address through one of the large services, such as Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc., rather than a personal website address.

• Scammers often pretend to be doctors or other professionals because the title immediately implies that they have a lot of money.

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

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Passenger train to run from Miami to Orlando

MIAMI – Aug. 20, 2012 – It’s full-speed ahead on a privately financed, $1 billion plan that will launch fast, hourly passenger rail service between downtown Miami and Orlando by 2014, Florida East Coast Industries officials said.

The All Aboard Florida project promises not just to revolutionize travel between the two cities – there will also be intermediate stops in downtown Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach – but to transform a long-vacant piece of downtown Miami.

FECI, the real estate arm of the conglomerate that also owns the Florida East Coast freight-rail company, will build a new, landmark station and a potentially massive mixed-use development on nine acres of fallow land it owns just north of the Miami-Dade County Courthouse. FECI will also own and operate the new train service, All Aboard Florida, executive Husein Cumber said.

The land is the site of the original train station built by Henry Flagler that gave rise to the city of Miami.

To design the stations, FECI has hired SOM, the giant, famed firm responsible for the new Freedom Tower at Ground Zero in Manhattan. SOM will work in collaboration with the downtown Miami firm of Zyscovich Architects. FECI expects to start construction on the stations and new tracks early next year, Cumber said.

The trains, which will be equipped with WiFi and provide a “quality” meal service, will cover the 230 miles from Miami to Orlando in three hours and three minutes, significantly faster than it takes to drive. Though fares haven’t been set, prices will be comparable both to the cost of flying and operating a car to get there, Cumber said.

Though not considered high-speed rail, the All Aboard Florida service would fill the breach left when Florida Gov. Rick Scott rejected federal funding last year for high-speed rail service linking Miami, Orlando and Tampa. Scott said the state could not afford to run the service.

After months of study, FECI concluded the new passenger service – to be built and operated without public money – would be not just technically feasible but also profitable, given that some 50 million people travel between Miami and Orlando every year, virtually all of them by car.

The studies found substantial “pent-up” demand for train service connecting the two, Cumber said. The service would be pitched primarily to business travelers and tourists.

“We’ve completed due diligence and everything has confirmed our excitement,” Cumber said in an interview. “This project is financially viable, and so we’re moving forward with it.”

Eventually, FECI said, the service could be extended west to Tampa and north to Jacksonville.

Cumber said the project would generate 6,000 temporary jobs and 1,000 permanent positions.

Though FECI had publicly disclosed that it was exploring the idea, the confirmation that the project had been green-lighted was made relatively quietly, at a jammed breakfast hosted by the Beacon Council, the quasi-public business-development agency. The speed with which the company intends to launch the service surprised many in attendance and generated considerable enthusiasm, said Beacon Council CEO Frank Nero.

“It would be a very exciting development. Going back to the future, so to speak, to the very thing that made this area, the Flagler rail line, would be very dramatic,” Nero said. “Look, we’re becoming a real city. It reflects the reality of Miami and the diversification of the economy here that we have a growing, sophisticated population eager to take rail.”

The service should provide a boost to business and tourism for both Orlando and Miami, Nero said. Tourists who often now visit one city or the other, but not both, will for the first time have a direct and convenient connection between the two, while business people could jump on the train for a meeting in the morning and be back home by evening, he said.

“It’s too close to fly and too far to drive, but this is a very happy medium. It’s terrific,” Nero said. “I can see tourists who might otherwise decide only to go to Disney, who now might decide to go to Miami for a day or two as well.”

Amtrak now provides twice daily service from Miami but can take longer than five hours to reach Orlando.

The All Aboard Florida passenger trains – 10 new diesel-powered locomotives with cars carrying 400 passengers – will use the FEC freight rail line’s existing right-of-way, which will be double-tracked, Cumber said. A new rail spur will be built from the existing line, which runs north to Jacksonville, to a new terminal at Orlando International Airport, the service’s endpoint.

With the opening of Metrorail’s new Orange Line service to Miami International Airport, the new service could also make it possible to travel from the Miami airport to Orlando’s airport, and to the city’s famed resorts and theme parks, without a private car. The FECI downtown Miami property runs along the Metrorail downtown line between the Overtown and Government Center stations.

The new station would be only a small part of an extensive new development on the property that would bring new life to the western portion of downtown Miami, Cumber said.

“Everything’s on the table. We’re looking at everything from residential to office and retail and hotel,” Cumber said, pledging that whatever the company builds will mesh with downtown Miami. “You want to make sure that what you build has a lasting impact on a community, but also fits into the fabric. You want to make sure what you build is something the community embraces.”

Copyright © 2012 The Miami Herald, Andres Viglucci. Distributed by MCT Information Services.

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3 Tips for Turning Phone Leads into Clients

Posted for www.miamiforrussian.com, www.miamiforrussian.ru

With Mobile taking over, it is more important than ever to be ready to convert your phone leads.
When it comes to phone lead conversion, your job is simple: answer the phone, build a genuine connection, learn your potential client’s needs, and quickly find a few ways you can help.
Here is a short to-do list to help you convert more phone leads:

1. Don’t wait; respond immediately.

One study from MIT showed that if you respond within 5 minutes, instead of 30, you are 100 times more likely to convert that lead to a client. Phone leads are hot, and nearly 70% will only interview one agent before they sign a buyer representation agreement, so pick up your phone and fast.

2. Create a conversation map.

Don’t wing it. It’s a simple new concept called ‘Flexture.’ You have to build out a structure, then overtime infuse flexibility. So here’s a quick structured approach. Develop a detailed road map for your first conversation.
Develop a detailed road map for your first conversations. To develop a map, use your past conversation notes and old e-mails to develop a list of common questions, objections, market facts, and closing lines to engage each lead.
Take this info and develop a list of talking points and cheat sheet to help you through your first talk. One great way to create great conversation map is to follow the “Intro – Probe – Position – Close” sales approach. Here is a model for a conversation map that might work for you:

Intro – Start your conversation map with three lines to help kick off the conversation. The key points to address here are; a brief introduction, express your eagerness to help, and find out where the lead found your information.

Probe – In this section, write down at least three things you want to know about the lead. These could cover important facts like, “What would be your ideal outcome (home specs for buyers, pain points about their current situation, or price expectations for sellers),” “Where are you in the home buying or selling process,” and “What questions can I answer for you?”

Position – This part of your conversation is your chance to sell. Answer any questions that came up in the probe and be sure to work in information on the neighborhood or area to help show you’re an expert.

If you need a few quick talking points about the neighborhood check out Trulia Local for up-to-date market insights. You may also want to address what you, the agent, have to offer.

Close for the Appointment – Now it’s time to get the meeting or showing. On your conversation map, be sure to include the information that’ll help you close or get the appointment. These include your availability for showings and meetings, open house information (if the lead is responding to a listing ad), and a note to get all the contact information you can from a lead that could help you connect in the future.

3. Get feedback with practice and critiques.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. The same goes for converting online leads.
One way to do this is through role-playing with a fellow agent or colleague. You can also use the voice memo feature on your Smartphone to record yourself talking through your conversation map. Lastly, don’t forget all of the calls to your Trulia number are recorded and you can access them online or through the Trulia for Agents App.
Play the recordings of these activities while you are in the car, exercising, sleeping, etc. Committing your conversation map to memory will create habitual behavior. After a few weeks, when your phone rings you’ll be ready. Your subconscious will take over and your conversion conversation will seemingly be on autopilot.
Use these tool and tactics to improve your conversion skills and make sure you generate more business every time your phone rings with a new lead.

Buyers less happy with agents, companies

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. – Aug. 16, 2012 – J.D. Power and Associates released its fifth annual homebuyer and seller satisfaction study. According to the market research and forecast company, buyer satisfaction with agents and companies dropped to its lowest level since reporting began.

The study, now in its fifth year, gauges homebuyers’ and sellers’ attitudes if they worked with one of the nation’s largest real estate companies. J.D. Powers says it measures overall satisfaction by examining three factors: agent/salesperson, office and a variety of additional services. It examines four factors for the home-selling experience: agent/salesperson, marketing, office and a variety of additional services. The study is based on about evaluations from 2,790 respondents who bought or sold a home between March 2011 and April 2012.

Overall satisfaction among homebuyers hit its lowest level since the study began, averaging 789 on a 1,000-point scale, compared with 797 in 2011. Satisfaction among sellers declined as well, averaging 768 compared with 779 in 2011.

“A key reason satisfaction is down is that customer expectations are not being met, either in terms of sellers having to compromise on their listing price, or buyers compromising on the home’s condition and size,” says Christina Cooley, senior manager of the real estate practice at J.D. Power and Associates. She calls it “frustrating all around.”

Cooley says the current market has made many buyers and sellers unhappy with the home sale process. “At the end of the day, real estate companies may best satisfy their customers by keeping them informed, educating them on comparable sales information and following up with them after the closing.”

Additional findings

• Although an agent has the largest impact on overall client satisfaction, customers’ loyalty lies with the real estate company more than the agent. Less than 20 percent of customers say they “definitely will” switch real estate companies if their agent moves elsewhere.

• The highest-performing real estate companies consistently capture a greater proportion of the listing price. On average, sellers reported receiving 89 percent of their listing price.

• 60 percent of people surveyed said they’re repeat buyers, and 70 percent said they’re repeat sellers.

• One-third (33 percent) of customers said they’re likely to consider buying or selling a home in the next 12 months.

• Among homebuyers, 17 percent purchased a foreclosure and 14 percent purchased a short sale.

• Among sellers, 14 percent of sales were short sales.

© 2012 Florida Realtors®

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Bringing the heat

By ANDY WANG

Last Updated: 12:25 AM, August 9, 2012

Posted: 10:53 PM, August 8, 2012

 

 

The absolute highest end of the Miami Beach market is sizzling.

Broker Oren Alexander of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s the Alexander Group has just closed on a $47 million deal for the 30,000-square-foot mansion at 3 Indian Creek. Alexander brought in the unnamed Russian buyer after co-listing the mansion (built by Alexander’s father, Shlomi, and Felix Cohen) with Coldwell Banker’s Jill Eber and Jill Hertzberg. The price is a record for a single-family home in Miami-Dade County.
And up in Bal Harbour, Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Senada Adzem recently closed on a $24.6 million deal for a combined five units, a total of 16,430 square feet, at the St. Regis Bal Harbour hotel-condo development. The price is a record for a condo sale in Bal Harbour. Sources say that the buyer, an investor who is also Russian, might keep one unit and rent out the rest.

Allison Joyce

RECORD DEAL: 3 Indian Creek sells for $47M.

 

“We are currently in talks with them,” Oren Alexander says of the St. Regis buyer with the potential rental units.
And now that Alexander is done with 3 Indian Creek, he is focused on 252 Bal Bay Drive in Bal Harbour Village. He and his brothers have closed on a nearly $6 million deal to buy the vacant bayfront lot. As The Post first reported, Alexander has plans to construct an almost 11,000-square-foot “tropical modern beach house” — designed by architect Chad Oppenheim and built by Alexander’s father — on the lot.
The asking price for the mansion? $25 million. “Miami Beach has just started heating up in the past six months, with most buyers being from overseas and paying cash,” Alexander says. “I see no reason for cooling off anytime soon.”

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The First 10 Things to Do When Getting Started on Twitter

July 24, 2012 By Ryan Pinkham

For most things you want to accomplish in life, getting started is often the hardest part of the whole process.
The same is true for social media.
Whether it’s the anxiety of not knowing what to do, or the fear of possibly looking dumb—it’s easy to put off signing up for Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest until tomorrow … or next week … or next month…
So, to help you stop procrastinating and start achieving your social media goals…
Here’s a list of the first 10 things you should do to get started on Twitter.

1. Choose the right username

The first step in getting started on Twitter is creating your account. When creating your account, it’s important to remember that your username—or as it’s called on Twitter: your “handle,” is outward facing and will be what the public uses to identify your business.
Hopefully, your business name will be available (Constant Contact’s handle for example is @ConstantContact), but if not, you’ll want to come up with something that will still make sense to your followers (for example In a Pickle Restaurant in Waltham had to use @InAPickleRest).

You want your handle (@ConstantContact) to be around 10 – 15 characters so your customers can “mention” your business without using too many of the 140 they have to use.

2. Create a bio that captures your business

Twitter is widely recognized as one of the most open social networks, in that, most of the communication on the site takes place in front of people in the news stream (rather than on individual pages or groups). Keep in mind when creating your bio, more people will find you on Twitter that have no previous knowledge of who you are or what you do than on any other network.
If you had just a few seconds (or in this case 160 characters) to explain your business to a complete stranger, what would you say? That will be your bio.

Boloco’s bio perfectly captures who they are, what they do, and what they believe in.

3. Upload a photo or image that makes you stand out

Don’t underestimate the importance of picking the right picture or image for your profile (and please, please, please don’t send a tweet until you have uploaded one). For businesses, the perfect profile image will be one that your customers already know and associate with your business—like your company logo. For individuals, you’ll want to use a close-up head shot and make sure you are the only person in the photo. (You do have the option to change your profile picture in the future, but I don’t recommend it, at least until you’ve established yourself.)

Mercury Brewing Company’s Ipswich Ale has gained national recognition and its logo is well known to people who love their beer.

4. Introduce yourself by sending your first tweet

Some people may disagree with me here, but I think now is the perfect time to send your first tweet. It’s not going to be anything earth shattering, and you won’t have any followers (yet) to see it, but it will let people know you are a real person or business and not a robot or spammer. Make the tweet something simple; your introduction to the Twitter world.
I recommend something like this:

5. Find the right people to follow

Who you follow on Twitter will dictate the type of content you have access to and the quality of the relationships you’re able to establish. For this reason, you’ll want to set up some criteria, based on your experience, your industry, and what you’re trying to accomplish. People you want to follow could include: friends, professionals in your industry, other local businesses, colleagues, and even current or potential customers.
When you’re starting out, the key is to follow businesses, similar to yours that are doing it well—don’t mimic everything they tweet, but pay attention to how they are engaging and the type of content they share.

Keep your eye on Twitter’s “Who to Follow” feature (in the left column) for recommendations for people and businesses that fit your interests.

6. Tell your network you’re on Twitter

Before we go any further, I need to tell you something you need to know: growing your following on Twitter is not easy—especially if you’re starting from scratch. However, lucky for you, your business already has a following and many of those people that shop at your business, receive your email newsletter, or “Like” you on Facebook, could also be on Twitter.

7. Get the tools you need

Like anything else, if you want to be successful on Twitter you want to make sure you have the right tools. There are a number of tools out there including three you’ll want to have access to from day one.

• Monitor your profile on the go with the Twitter mobile app
• Schedule tweets and track your reach with Hootsuite
• Stay on top of your activity with Nutshell Mail

8. Create your first Twitter List

Twitter Lists are a cool feature provided by Twitter to let users organize the people they follow into specific groups based on industry, relationship, expertise, etc. When you’re first starting out, Lists won’t need to be a top priority because you’ll still be growing your community, but I do recommend creating at least one List to let yourself get accustomed to using them. It’s much easier to keep your contacts organized from the beginning than to try to organize them when you really need them.

9. Save some searches

Similar to Lists, Saved Searches let users organize their content, but do it based on a specific topic rather than on specific users. Saved searches work exactly like they sound. You find a topic of interest or relevance to your business, search for it in Twitter’s “Discover” tab, and then save it for future reference. After saving it, you can easily go back and see results as they appear in real-time.

Some ideas for searches to save include: your business name, your name, the city/town that you’re in, industry related topics, popular hashtags, etc…

10. Connect your touch points

A recent study found that 80.5% of small business websites do not link to social media networks. Please do not make this mistake. Connecting your website to your Twitter profile will help drive traffic and organically build your social following. You’ll also want to make sure you’re inserting a link into your email newsletter with a strong call-to-action.

The Open Door uses a call-to-action and a link to the profile to help grow their following on Twitter.

Don’t forget to have a plan!

Let’s rewind quickly to the point when you first decided to sign up and log on to Twitter.
What were you trying to accomplish? Were you looking to drive more business? Increase brand awareness? Establish yourself as an expert in your industry?
Just being on Twitter won’t be enough to accomplish those goals—even if you follow these 10 steps to getting started. What will allow you to achieve those goals is having a social strategy about the way you plan to engage on Twitter, the type of content you want to share, and the milestones you hope to achieve.
Your strategy probably will change once you get started, but without having one before you launch your first tweet, you won’t make it much further than these first 10 steps.

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6 Things You Should Know About Small Businesses in 2012 [New Research]

August 7, 2012 By Josh Mendelsohn 

One of the questions I get most often is, “How does what I’m doing compare to businesses like me?”
It’s a tough question to answer because every small business is unique. That being said, we recently built a research panel of small businesses to help us better understand and serve our customers’ needs.
One of the first things we wanted to do with this panel is to take the temperature of the small business community, and put the results out in the world for everyone to see and compare their own experiences.

So, what did we learn?

A majority of small businesses are experiencing revenue growth, however, attracting new customers continues to keep small business owners up at night.
Here’s a look at our findings:

1. 2012 has been positive for the majority of small businesses

When asked how their organization has done so far this year:
• 59% of SMBs say revenues have increased in 2012 (Tweet this)
• 30% of SMBs say revenues have remained flat in 2012 (Tweet this)
• 11% of SMBs say revenues have decreased in 2012 (Tweet this)

2. The continued outlook is positive, with 79% of small business owners expecting revenues to increase over their 2011 revenues

When asked what their revenue expectations are for 2012 compared to last year:
• 52% of SMBs expect their revenues to increase more than 10% in 2012 (Tweet this)
• 27% of SMBs expect their revenues to increase less than 10% in 2012 (Tweet this)
• 13% of SMBs expect their revenues to remain flat in 2012 (Tweet this)
• 4% of SMBs expect their revenues to decrease less than 10% in 2012; 3% expect their revenues to decrease more than 10% from 2011 (Tweet this)

3. Rising costs remain a challenge, with 45% of small businesses reporting their operating costs have increased

Further, a full 30% report their cash flow is inadequate and preventing them from growing their business. Of the 19% of small businesses that have sought funding this year, only 16% got some or all of the funding they needed.

4. Increased revenues have not yet translated into aggressive hiring

66% of small businesses are not planning to hire additional full-time employees in the next six months. Almost 20% said they need to hire more employees but can’t.

5. Though the outlook is brightening for small businesses, challenges remain, primarily around how to achieve growth

When asked about what keeps them up at night:
• 76% of SMB owners worry about how to attract new customers (Tweet this)
• 49% of SMB owners worry about how to connect with, and better engage with, existing customers (Tweet this)
• 41% of SMB owners worry about how to get referrals from current customers (Tweet this)
While attracting and engaging customers is a top concern, marketing spending has stayed steady for most of the small businesses surveyed. 60% report keeping their marketing budget the same as 2011, and only 29% have increased their budget.
When asked which marketing activities they find to be effective for their organization today:
• 83% of SMBs find email marketing to be the most effective marketing tool (Tweet this)
• 71% of SMBs find website marketing to be the most effective marketing tool (Tweet this)
• 68% of SMBs find in-person interactions to be the most effective marketing tool (Tweet this)
• 49% of SMBs find social media to be the most effective marketing tool (Tweet this)

6. 53% of small business owners ranked social media as the marketing channel they need the most help with

This means social media could play a more prominent marketing role if they were more confident in their social media skills.
Among social media tools, Facebook still rules the day. When respondents active in social media were asked which tool was most effective:
• 75% of SMBs found Facebook to be the most effective social media network (Tweet this)
• 10% of SMBs found LinkedIn to be the most effective social media network (Tweet this)
• 7% of SMBs found Twitter to be the most effective social media network (Tweet this)
• 1-3% of SMBs found Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, and Yelp to be the most effective social media networks (Tweet this)
Get the full report.

About the Survey

This Constant Contact-sponsored survey was administered in May 2012 to 1000 participants in the Constant Contact Small Biz Council—a research panel of US small businesses and nonprofits recruited from the Constant Contact customer base. This is the first installment of an ongoing study about the state of small businesses and the ways they connect with, and grow, their audiences. Results include responses from 728 respondents across a range of business-to-business and business-to-consumer industries.

Discovered by www.miamiforrussian.com, www.miamiforrussian.ru

15 Truths You Must Know To Create Almost Perfect Subject Lines

 

August 1, 2012 By Ryan Pinkham

Ah subject lines…
Those less than ten-word phrases that can often make or break an email marketing campaign that took weeks to put together—aren’t they a joy to create?
I wish I could tell you that somewhere out there is the perfect subject line, one that could send your open-rates skyrocketing and make opt-outs and spam reports ancient history, but I can’t.
I can tell you, however, that creating almost perfect subject lines is possible and it starts with understanding certain truths about your readers—15 truths to be exact.

1. People won’t act unless told to do so

Before sending your newsletter, stop and ask yourself: What action do I want the recipient to take?
That action won’t always be one that has an immediate impact on your business (buy now!) but it should be the first step in some path toward driving real results from your email marketing. Keep in mind your subject line will be the first impression you’re email has on your reader—making it your first call-to-action will improve the likelihood of that action being taken.

2. People are skeptical of most emails

The best way to overcome this skepticism is by thinking about why your subscribers signed up to receive your emails in the first place. (If you don’t know, then you may want to consider sending out a survey to your customers about the content they want to see more of or even start sending a survey as part of your initial “welcome” email.) Once you’ve figured that out, you can alter your subject lines to better suit their interests.

3. People do NOT like to have their time wasted

I don’t need to tell you how much people value their time. When it comes to your emails, you have at most, only a few minutes to get your message across. When it comes to your subject line, you have only a few seconds to capture their attention. It’s no surprise then that subject lines with less than 50 characters have open rates 12.5% higher than those with 50 or more, and click-through rates are 75% higher.
Keep in mind the typical inbox preview pane will only show 30 to 40 characters (the typical mobile device shows around 15 characters). If possible, shoot for 25 to 40 characters or 5 to 8 words.

4. People respond to numbers

Numbers help quantify any message and put the content people are receiving into terms they understand. Whether it’s a percentage (Learn how to grow your Facebook fan base by 400%) or a list (10 steps to getting more friends on Facebook) or a monetary value (How one business made $5,000 from marketing on Facebook)—numbers can take a complex problem like getting better results on Facebook and present it in a way people will respond to.

5. People are more likely to act when they feel a sense of urgency

Please do not take this as a call to add “ACT NOW!” or “LIMITED TIME OFFER!” to every one of your subject lines. But do take it as a call to consider using urgency to invigorate your customer base. This is especially true if you’re running a promotion, having a sale, or trying to drive attendance to an upcoming event. In these situations, the difference between using a subject line like: “Our annual end of summer sale is next week” or “Only 5 days until our end of summer sale begins” can be huge. One tells people you’re having a sale and the other tells people you’re having a sale and they better start getting ready.

6. People care more about the sender than the message

While the content of your email and the design of your subject line are important—nothing is more important than the relationship the recipient has with the sender (that’s you!). According to a recent Constant Contact study, 64% of people open emails because of the organization it is from; compared with 47% of people opening emails because of what is in the subject line.
Want the best results? Tell people who the email is from in the subject line.
Here are three ways to do that using my fictional business, Pinkham’s Pies:
[Pinkham’s Pies] We’re sharing our secret apple pie recipe
A secret pie recipe from Pinkham’s Pies
Pinkham’s Pies News: Our secret apple pie recipe revealed

7. People hate being misled

Even the most honest businesses can sometimes be guilty of unintentionally misleading their customers. It may not be your intention, but if your subject lines aren’t telling the whole truth or are structured in a way your customers may misunderstand—than you could be putting your reputation at risk.
If my fictional business is having a buy-one-get-one free sale, than I’m much better off using a subject line like: “Buy one pie, get a second pie FREE” than “Come in and get your free pie.” It’s still going to seem like a great offer and it comes without any risk of disappointing your customers.

8. People want things to be personal, just not too personal

There is a right way and a wrong way to personalize your subject lines. The right way is to add a more personal touch by using words like “you” or “your” (10 tips to grow your Facebook fan base). It lets people know there’s an actual person sending the email and that they understand their interests as a reader.
The wrong way to personalize your emails is by including the recipient’s name in the subject line. This is a practice that is most typically used by spammers. (Check your spam or junk folder for plenty of examples of these.)

9. People want you to share your expertise

Guess who thinks you’re wicked smart? Your customers!
It’s true, and many of them signed up for your newsletter just for that reason. So don’t just tell them what you’ve read or what you’ve heard—tell them what you know.
When it comes to subject lines that start with injected yourself into them with words like “my” or “our” and ends with sharing your expertise. Consider these from Pinkham’s Pies: “Our secret apple pie recipe revealed” or “10 baking tips from our kitchen”.

10. PEOPLE DO NOT RESPOND TO CAPITAL LETTERS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!

By far, my biggest pet-peeve in email marketing or social media marketing is the abuse of capital letters and exclamation points. To me, “WE’RE HAVING A SALE!!!” doesn’t convey excitement—it conveys a feeling you’re trying too hard to get my attention. That’s not to say they should never be used. If you hit a milestone for your business, are having your biggest sale of the year, or are opening a brand new location—than by all means, show your excitement, just don’t abuse it.

11. People are starting to think much more “socially”

Businesses aren’t the only ones looking for inspiration for content to share on Facebook or ideas for things to tweet about—your customers are, too. If you have a socially-savvy audience, thinking of your subject line as status update on Facebook or a tweet, can improve your emails shareability.
For Pinkham’s Pies, a subject line like: “A secret pie recipe from Pinkham’s Pies” is much more “tweetable” than “[Pinkham’s Pies] We’re sharing our secret apple pie recipe.

12. People don’t want to be left out of the conversation

Nobody wants to be the only person that’s not “in the know.” Whether it’s a TV show everyone’s watching, a movie everyone’s talking about, or a book series that’s become the latest craze—nobody wants to be left out of the conversation. Your newsletter may never get the Twilight or Hunger Games treatment, but using your subject line to make your content a must-read will generate more opens.

13. People actually do like being teased

There’s a reason why people hate commercials but love movie trailers—commercials are all about promotion; trailers are all about getting people’s attention and leaving them wanting more.
This is a commercial-type subject line: Our fall collection is now in stock
This is a trailer-type subject line: We’ve got a new collection … we think you’re going to love it.
One tells the reader exactly what you’re selling and the other leads them to want to find out more.

14. People have needs, questions, and concerns

If any of these truths is truer than the others it is this: all people have certain needs, questions, and concerns. Understanding that can help overcome one of the biggest email marketing obstacles: relevancy. In a recent study 56% of people credited a lack of relevancy as the number one reason why they choose to unsubscribe to a newsletter.
Think about your audience’s needs or the type of questions that might be on their mind when they’re going through their inbox—if month after month you’re answering those questions, your content will always be relevant.

15. People hate being sold to

If you want to drive real business results from your email marketing, you’re going to need to learn how to sell … without selling. That starts with your subject line.
Using an overly “salesy” subject line is like hiring an overly aggressive salesperson—they may get you results sometimes but for every one sale they make—they’ve chased ten others out the door.
Next time you’re thinking of making your subject line a sales pitch, consider these 15 truths first and try to come up with something better than sell, sell, sell.

Looked up by www.miamiforrussian.com & www.miamiforrussian.ru