Achieving Goals
Achieving Goals – How?
In my last few posts I have been blogging about business planning, if you missed them, check them out (Planning to Fail Posts).
The purpose of business planning is to create a roadmap towards achieving the goals we have set. With our goals in mind, we must set out our action plan on what we are going to do in the next 30 days. All must do action items must answer this basic question: Is this activity going to bring me closer to achieving my goals?
In the business of Real Estate sales, there are two action items that should always result in a positive answer to that very question.
1. I need to meet new people.
2. I need to communicate with the people I already know.
Action Items to meet new people:
1. Prospecting
a. Door knocking in my farm
b. Cold Calling Expireds or FSBO’s or FARM (better to door knock the farm)
2. Hosting an Open House
3. Wearing a name badge (or Company Polo Shirt) in public and being super friendly
4. Attending social functions
5. Traditional Networking
6. Social Networking Online
7. Marketing
Action Items to communicate with the people I already know
1. Social Networking Online
2. Phone Calls
3. Lunch
4. Email
5. Personal Notes/Cards
6. Social Events
I am sure I missed some things… what else can we do?
How many new people should an agent meet per day, and what qualifies as a met person?
Walking down the mall saying hello and handing out your business card to 5 people does not count as 5 mets. It doesn’t even count as 1! In order to qualify as a met person, the agent must get the prospects contact information and permission to maintain a relationship with that prospect. An email address is the absolute minimum and if that is all you get, further action must be taken for that person to count. A phone number, email address, and home address are the most ideal initial bits of personal information an agent must extract from a prospect in order for them to count as a met.
If all you get is an email address, you must send a Facebook friend request and that prospect must accept you in order for that to count. Or, they must respond, react, or engage to the email that you send…
If you are not using Facebook – I can almost assure you that your prospects are. I can also almost assure you that you are not the only Realtor they know… The question is who will be at the top of their mind when they want to make a move, the agent they see every day online or the agent that sends them a monthly newsletter?
How many people to meet? You cannot go wrong with 5 per day as a minimum, but you could answer that question by relating to your goals. If you only want to sell 6 homes per year, you need to add a few people to your database per week, if your goal is 60 – then you need to meet a lot more.
Why should people, complete strangers or acquaintances, give you their contact information?
Tune in next post.
Carving A Niche For Yourself
Do you have a specialty or a niche that you are working in your Real Estate Business?
Many agents are afraid to specialize because they do not have a lot of business as it is right now and they think that if they shrink their market or their focus they will have even less!
Is that the way you think?
Let’s take a look at this phenomenon from the consumer’s perspective…
If you were a first time home buyer, would you rather work with a first time buyer’s specialist who outlines in their marketing that they are willing to educate and “hand hold” a first timer through the process, or work with a real estate generalist?
If you were upside down on your mortgage and could no longer afford to make the payment, would advertising by a pre-foreclosure specialist who knows the process and can answer your specific questions appeal to you or would you just call the agent with a pretty picture and some 3-letter acronyms after their name?
Continue reading about Niche Websites
Ideas for Special Promotions
Why are special promotions important?
There are three major reasons for doing special promotions in general. First, you want to acquire new clients. Second, you want to remind your existing clients about your great service; and third, you are wishing for referrals. By offering something attractive to your target market, even strangers may suddenly be interested in what you have to offer. Same objectives apply to real estate agents.
Special promotions don’t have to be expensive and luxurious. It can be as simple as giving away tickets to a game, play or movie. Creativity is the key.
Here are just some ideas of special promotions that you can offer your buyers and sellers:
- Offer a free one year home warranty for each client that buy or sell his home with you.
- Go to a local restaurant and ask for coupons that you can scan and email to your leads.
- Conduct a monthly drawing for a home improvement gift card.
- Give away a book that might interest buyers or sellers. You can also do this via a monthly drawing.
- Offer a free trip or weekend getaway to those that buy or sell a home with you. There are tons of websites that offer inexpensive vacation package deals.
- If you are a big sports fan, you can probably offer free tickets to a game.
- Do the famous “on me” promo – your moving truck is on me, your first cable bill is on me, your housewarming is on me, and the list goes on.
Don’t forget the details.
Once you have decided on your promo, be sure to explain the rules to your clients. You can send an email with information such as the requirements, drawing date, contact method, trip destination, coupon attachments and more.
AccelerAgentTM Website subscribers are able to create offers like these in seconds through our Special Promotions tool. We encourage our existing website subscribers to take advantage of this feature. Please call our Tech Support Team at 800-743-5820 ext 2 if you need assistance. We also offer weekly webinar trainings for our customers. Click here to register.
For more information on AccelerAgentTM Website packages, free trials and demos, please call 800-743-5820 or visitwww.propertyminder.com.
Facebook for Real Estate
Build a branded social media community for your business.
In 2006, the total marketing spent on social media was $350 million, the forecast for 2011 is more than $2.5 billion.
Facebook was launched as a way for founder Mark Zuckerberg to connect with friends at Harvard. Today, Facebook has exploded online with nearly 200 million users, and a million new members joining each week in the U.S. alone.
Social networking platforms like Facebook provide the business community an ability to get repeat exposure with the people within your network. Clients, peers, and prospects can make up your network, and you can promote events, sales, special offers and more through your Facebook profile. It also makes it fun to connect with old friends, family and co-workers. Sharing an old grade school photo can create an instant bond with those from your past. Even personal connections have the potential to become new business opportunities.
Reaching a market of 50 million people would take 38 years by radio, 13 years by television, four years on the Internet, and three on iPod-but only two years via Facebook.
There are many social media styles and types; however, according to Riva Richmond, blogging for the New York Times, Facebook’s traffic this year increased 97%. In February 2009 a Compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social network by worldwide monthly active users, Facebook can help spread your brand and propel your business into the forefront of existing and potential customers’ minds.
How to start on Facebook?
Create a Powerful Profile
You account or user name must be tied with your real name, not your company or anything else. You can use your resume posted on your personal website with photos to describe your business practice, philosophy, mission and what you do. You can also include links to your website, blogs and other business resources. Be sure to include your photo so that others can recognize you online.
Build Your Contact List
Facebook is based on the concept of connecting with friends. You can send and receive friend requests and once accepted, your friend can view your profile and you can view theirs. To begin connecting with people that you know, you can either import your contact database or you can search Facebook for individuals.
You can also view the friends list for each person you are connected to. If you know any of your them (or you would like to know them), send a connection request.
Facebook Pages – Facebook “Pages” (that’s with a capital “P”) were created to give businesses their own profile on Facebook. Pages give your business an identity. With a Page, those interested in following your brand can become “fans”, and when they do so, all their friends will see this. You can store photos, videos, and information about your Real Estate business on your Page. All activities on Pages get posted back to your Mini Feed for all your friends to see.
Here are some ways to maximize Facebook for your business:
Communicate with Wall Posts
Each Facebook member has a “wall” where friends can post messages. This is a great place to post a quick note to those in your friends list. In the business networking world, this is the online equivalent of picking up the phone to say hello.
Update Your Status
At the top of your Facebook home page is a status box. When you post a status update, everyone in your friends list can see your update on their home page. This is a place to share tips, promote events and even boost sales. Effective business updates may include: “found a great article on foreclosures in San Jose,CA : www….” or “Joe at XYZ Realty in Saratoga is hosting a special Open House! Check out www….”
Networking is best when there is a two-way exchange. If you can help a new Facebook friend, they will likely want to return the favor.
5 Summer Marketing Ideas around Your Neighborhood
It’s that time of year again. Most of us have already planned a nice summer getaway both from work and from school. When it comes to your business, this is also the perfect time for you to do some networking and have fun at the same time. The best part is doing all these just around the neighborhood!
Here are some ideas for you to consider:
1. What to do where?
Search for various activities such as festivals and summer fairs in your area. Use your AccelerAgent™ Website and email the list of events to your contacts. To get additional contacts, create a simple summer calendar that includes all the events that you found. Walk around your neighborhood and distribute the copies. It’s a great way to reintroduce you as the local expert.
2. Let’s do some BBQ.
Encourage your neighbors to bring their food and grill for a fun BBQ event. Note that you do not need to provide the barbecue for everyone. You can conduct a drawing instead. Prizes may include a new BBQ grill, family tickets to a water park, gift cards, movie tickets and more. Create a lead capture form on your AccelerAgent™ website and tell them to register for the event for a chance to win a prize. Your website automatically adds them into your contact list. Not in the mood for BBQ? How about a yard sale event? This is a great way for everyone to make some extra cash and have fun. Follow the same steps from Tip #2. Don’t forget to include your event on the calendar that you send out. Be creative and have fun!
3. Business for business.
How about those small and usually family-owned businesses? Get your smile ready and start building your pipeline. Get some small jars filled with cookies or candies. Drop one jar on each small business (be sure to get their permission). Do not forget to attach your card on the jar, including your website. Ask if you can leave some of your business cards next to the jar. If you want to go the extra mile, you can come back every month to refill the little jars. It’s a great way to keep in touch!
4. Become an Avon® or Tupperware® Rep… or not.
Remember that person who constantly ask you to buy an Avon, Mary Kay or anything similar? We say find those sales reps and hold a ‘Hosted By’ monthly meeting. Invite your friends and family. Pick your date for hosting. Be sure to have that sign in sheet for the visitors, collect those emails and use your AccelerAgent™ Website to keep in touch!
5. The family that plays together wins together.
Ask each family in the neighborhood to submit their favorite family summer photo to you via email. Make them go to your website to find the best picture winner. Whoever wins gets a prize. Tell them that the complete contest rules are on your website. Create a custom page on your AccelerAgent™ Website for the rules.
We invite all our readers to test drive the AccelerAgent™ Virtual Office Websites at www.propertyminder.com. Ask us for a 30-day no risk trial by calling (800) 743-5820 today.
PropertyMinder continues to offer the TechMar Program to help agents to develop their Internet Marketing skills.
Since 2003, PropertyMinder has helped more than 30,000 Real Estate agents and brokers quickly adjust to post Internet revolution reality and take advantage of tremendous opportunities to secure success in Real Estate.
For more information about our TechMar Program, call (800) 743-5820 or visit us at www.propertyminder.com.
Get more online visitors and make them respond
Direct response marketing is the centerpiece of PropertyMinder’s money-making iMarketing System. The start of the Internet and its growing popularity has spawned a number of different marketing possibilities.
Direct Response online is built around motivating your website visitors to contact you at the very first opportunity.
Once the consumers are on your site, content is key to making them stay. Here are some ideas for content: neighborhood events, current market trends, newsletters, testimonials and local groups that you may belong to. Your AccelerAgentTM Website has so many lead capture forms available for visitors to fill out – from home search to free reports.
According to Aric Kazarnovsky, Executive VP and co-founder of PropertyMinder, “the most important aspect of Direct Response Marketing is the initial method that agents use to encourage visitors to give their addresses and contact info. Once this information is captured, agents can build a relationship with these potential buyers and sellers before they even personally look at a property or meet them in person.” Aric is also the creator of the iMarketing System.
Customers who took PropertyMinder’s TechMar Program report greater results from implementing direct response strategies.
“The TechMar clinics were unbelievable. I can’t believe they packed in so much information in such a short period of time. There are so many “secrets” that no one wants you to know and now I know why. My website traffic went from 50 hits per week to 1000 hits this week. I have gotten 15 leads that signed up on my webpage this past week.“- Joe Doman, Realtor®
There are numerous effective techniques for consumers to be interested and respond, but first, you need them to come to your site.
There are two primary methods of obtaining more hits or traffic to your AccelerAgentTM Website: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay per Click Advertising (PPC).
SEO is a way to increase your website’s organic or natural search ranking. By increasing organic rankings, agents gain more visibility, without having to spend on advertising. It does take time, but your traffic will definitely improve after you do some legwork.
Our TechMar Program covers SEO. It consists of two webinar-based classes that cover topics from identifying your vertical markets, modifying your meta tags, participating in social networking, getting more exposure for your listings, and much more. The program is built to ultimately get you more hits and let your site ‘exist’ on the web. You are given homework after each class so you get a hands-on experience.
Pay per Click is more for agents who do not have the time to make a lot of changes on the site and wants ‘immediate’ traffic from search engines such as GoogleTM and Yahoo!.
PropertyMinder valued customer discounts are available.
Marketing Ahead of Your Competition
Many agents who took advantage of PropertyMinder’s TechMar Program made the switch from image-based marketing to direct response marketing. Within a few months, they began to see fantastic results.
Image advertising is the creation of a particular perception for your service. According to allbusiness.com, “While there is definitely a role for image advertising in creating awareness, an entire marketing strategy built around image is not going to create loyalty because it is, by nature, a one-way communication strategy.”
Direct response marketing is designed to solicit a direct feedback which is specific and quantifiable. The delivery of the response is direct between the viewer and the advertiser (source: Wikipedia.com).
Any agent can start the road to direct response marketing by following these 2 tips on how to instantly generate interest through your website.
Numbers and Statistics: For example, if you save your buyers 12% on the purchase of a home on average, say it! Instead of having a slogan that says “I have the honesty, integrity and passion to make people’s dreams come true”, make your slogan “I guarantee to save you 10% on your next home purchase or you get $1,000.00.” Notice the first slogan is more focused on you, the agent, and the second is focused on the client’s desires.
In buyer marketing, a simple way to figure out your unique statistics is to go through the last 12 months of your transactions. Take the list price, subtract the final purchase price and the difference is the total savings.
Specialties: Become the expert. For example, you specialize in working with first time home buyers. Instead of having a slogan that says “Leading people to achieve their dreams with passion and expertise”, try using “An expert in saving first time home buyers thousands of dollars. It’s guaranteed”. Notice again that the first slogan is more focused on you, the agent, and the second is focused on the client’s desires.
It is also important to know where your audience is. List yourself on sites that get the most traffic, but most of all, those that are relevant to your real estate services.
PropertyMinder continues to offer the TechMar Program to help agents develop their Internet Marketing skills. PropertyMinder has helped more than 30,000 Real Estate agents and brokers quickly adjust to the post-Internet reality and take advantage of tremendous opportunities to secure success in Real Estate.
For more information about the TechMar Program, call (800) 743-5820 or visit us at www.propertyminder.com. Also ask us for a 30-day no risk trial today.
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