Top 10 Most Popular Articles of October

"Communication" was the theme of October, at least judging from our list of the most read articles of the month. We offered tricks for getting leads to respond to your texts (see #9 in the list below), suggested a series of email messages to send to prospects after an open house (#8!), and even explored an artificial intelligence program that will write listing descriptions for you (#2).

And with Halloween on everyone's mind, we even put a spooky, seasonal spin on things. Article #6 on our list unveiled the communication missteps that lead to "home buyer horror stories." And, finally, our most popular article of the month offered 13 terrifying listing photos that will scare leads away (visual communication matters, folks!). Check out the list below to read all of the month's most popular posts:

1. 13 Listing Photos that Will Scare Prospects Away
'Tis the season for ghouls, ghosts, and all things that go bump in the night. However, if you're looking for something really scary, you need only look at some of the listing photos uploaded to MLSs around the country. Often, the most frightening thing about a bad property photo is that an agent thought it would somehow attract potential buyers. In the spirit of the season (and a good laugh), we've rounded up 13 of the scariest listing photos around.

2. Hate Writing Listing Descriptions? This App Does It For You
For many real estate agents, writing is a dreaded, but necessary, chore. If you're not a person to whom writing comes naturally, it can be a massive time and energy drain. Fortunately, there's a new app that takes that pain out of writing--by doing it for you! Wordsmith from Automated Insights can take data from a spreadsheet, like market analytics or property information, and automatically generate a reader-friendly article, report, listing description, and beyond.

3. 4 Fresh Networking Ideas You Haven't Tried Yet
Are your old networking activities not engaging you like they used to? It may be time for a change of pace. Or maybe you already volunteer or belong to the local chamber of commerce and are just looking to add something new to your networking repertoire. Regardless of your reason, we've rounded up four alternative networking ideas to try. Some may be a little off the beaten path of what you're used to--but that's good for those who need to be shaken out of a networking rut!

4. 'Like' It or Leave It: 8 Types of Facebook Posts for Real Estate Agents
Sharing top-notch content on Facebook can be a real estate agent's secret weapon and can help you position yourself as a trustworthy real estate brand in your market. Adversely, it can damage your reputation depending on the type of content you post. Here are 8 types of posts to share on Facebook for real estate agents that will help position you as the go-to brand in your market.

5. What's behind this agency's successful farming strategy? Relationship building
Belly-to-belly are some of the wisest words ever spoken about real estate marketing strategy, according to broker Claire Bisignano Chesnoff. A master salesperson, broker/owner, and founder of a two-office, 10 agent operation based in Staten Island and now in Brooklyn, NY, Chesnoff says one of her most successful strategies for earning new business is farming neighborhoods. Her technique is succinct, safe, and proven.

6. Home Buyer Horror Stories: 3 Things NOT to Do as an Agent
Buying a home can be an emotional ordeal; your job as the agent is to help the client keep calm. With Halloween on the horizon, we spoke to home buyers and sellers whose horror stories haunt them to this day. We've taken the information they provided and created a two-part blog series revealing the DON'TS when dealing with home buyers and sellers. We start with what not to do when working with home buyers.

7. 116 Common Real Estate Abbreviations
Sometimes real estate listings look like they are written in secret code. Even you veteran agents who are familiar with real estate shorthand can probably remember when you were just starting out and wondering what the heck an EIK is and why anyone would want an INLW. In the spirit of being helpful to young agents and real estate buyers alike, we have put together this list of 116 common real estate abbreviations.

8. 4 Email Series For Open House Buyers
These amazing follow up email templates are part of a bigger strategy to create an open house event that generates solid buyer leads. You can copy and paste these emails into any email platform you use. Here is how they should be used.

9. 4 Tips to Get More Leads to Respond to Your Texts
TigerLead recently analyzed over 20,000 text messages to find out which types of texts got the best response. The internal study found that clients that start texting their leads typically see 1 out of 5 leads respond to their texts. However, the best performing text messages get responses from 1 out of every 2 leads! Here are 4 tips to get more leads to respond to your text messages.

10. A "Lead-to-Lifetime" Solution: Popular CRM Now Includes Agent Websites
IXACT Contact launched a new agent website solution last month at a price that will please the budgets of agents everywhere. The websites are included in the subscription fee of the existing CRM solution, adding substantially more value both for current users and for prospects looking for an integrated end-to-end CRM and marketing solution. Let's take a closer look to learn more.