Have you branded your real estate business using your name? Does your branding reference what you do, where you do it, and who you serve? Do you have a brand that is hyperlocal or niched based? If not, you are losing potential customers because you are marketing with an ineffective brand. A great brand immediately calls the product to mind. To illustrate this point, how many of these brands do you recognize? The “UnCola,” the “Ultimate Driving Machine,” and the “Breakfast of Champions” (i.e., Seven-Up, BMW, and Wheaties). My personal choice for best-branded real estate brokerage is “Next Home.” Your name: the least effective way to brand your business when most agents and brokerages launch their businesses, they seldom have any training on what constitutes an effective brand. The result is they usually end up branding with their name. Here’s why branding with your name is a poor idea: Please Note: If you are currently branding with your name and have had success in doing so, do NOT disturb what’s working. Instead use the “niched” branding strategies outlined below as additional sources for generating more leads.
1. Interference – Do you have trouble remembering names? Almost everyone does and for good reason. Each day you are bombarded with thousands of names of people, places, products, and companies. All this incoming data results in what psychologists call “interference.” To illustrate how interference works, what did you have for dinner lunch yesterday? If you were able to answer the question, the information is stored in your long-term memory. On the other hand, can you describe what you had for dinner 365 days ago? Chances are you can’t. The reason is you have had 364 other dinners since then.
2. The Ebbinghaus Curve of Forgetting. – Ebbinghaus’s research shows that we lose half of what we learned within the first hour after learning it. Within two days, that number climbs to almost 75 percent. In other words, even if the potential client remembers your name, 48 hours from now there’s only a 25 percent chance they will be able to recall it.
3. Your broker’s brand is usually better known. – Broker brand alongside your brand. My home was heavily prospected by agents sending out monthly postcards. I don’t remember any of the agents’ names, but I do remember who they worked for: Royal Lepage, Coldwell Banker, Keller Williams, and RE/MAX. Brokerage names are usually more visible due to multiple yard signs, their print and digital advertising, plus all the marketing pieces their agents send out that are branded with the brokerage name. If your brokerage also brands with a name (i.e., Berkshire Hathaway, Coldwell Banker, Keller Williams, Sotheby’s etc.) it’s even harder for potential clients to remember your name. They’re more likely to remember your broker’s big For Sale Sign as opposed to your name rider.
4. Name branding usually makes a business more difficult to sell. – Branding your business with your name also makes it more difficult to sell. “Wade Webb Realty” doesn’t work as a brokerage name for someone named Tom Smith.
5. No reference to the real estate industry. A strong brand references “real estate” or “properties,” yet many of the major brands have confusing name brands as well. For example, is “Coldwell Banker” a bank? Before Prudential was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway, I had a number of clients who commented, “I thought Prudential sold insurance, not real estate.”
6. No reference to your city, state, province, postal or zip code. – One of the biggest mistakes agents make, especially on their websites, is failure to include the state and zip or postal code where they specialize. To illustrate why this matters, did you know that there are 22 places in the U.S. named “Paris”? Consumers typically search by street name, city, and zip code. Always include these on your website, social media sites, plus any digital or print marketing you do. People don’t remember names, but they do remember features and functions. To illustrate how this works, assume my niche is selling probate properties. If I were to meet you at an open house, you would probably remember me as the blond lady who specializes in probate sales as opposed to remembering my name. When you need me to help sell a probate property eight months later, you will probably remember you met a blond lady who specialized in selling probate properties in Austin. To find me, you would probably enter “Austin,” “probate,” “real estate,” or “properties.” If several agents are serving this niche, you could easily see my profile and identify that I was the agent you met at that open house. Use these steps to expand your branding. Here are the steps to take to make sure leads who don’t remember your name can still find you: Use words or phrases that show you are in the real estate business: “real estate,” “homes,” “properties,” etc.
Reference the geographical location and/or the market segments that you serve. For example, do you have a geographical farm or specific subdivision where you specialize? Do you specialize in specific types of properties such as luxury estates, new construction, relocation, resort properties, second homes, 55+ communities, etc.? Do you serve a specific profession or type of customer? Examples include home-based businesses, seniors, couples in transitions, distressed properties, people who share your religion or politics, charities, clients born outside the U.S., investors, green or environmentally friendly, military, loft living, Mommy Market, golf properties, etc.
7. Putting your new brand to work. – We’re still at a point in time where you can build a strong digital real estate presence at virtually no cost. For example, you can set up a Facebook or Instagram business page for each niche or specialty market you serve. Add as much data as possible to that page and post regular updates. It’s also smart to create a Facebook and Instagram business page for each listing you take. Be sure to include the street address, city, state, and zip code as part of the name. Your clients will share these sites with their friends and followers, giving you free exposure to their contacts. These are also a tremendous conversion tool on listing appointments. In terms of your website, you can set up a separate subdomain that redirects back to your main site, although you can set these pages up to look as if they are your home page. Alternatively, you can also set them up as landing pages. The secret in getting conversions is to provide property reports and other data that would motivate web visitors to give you their contact information.
The bottom line is while it may be tempting to keep using your existing brand, going hyperlocal and having the highly niched branding strategies discussed here will give you a huge advantage when it comes to potential customers finding you, no matter where you meet them.
2021 was another great year for Agents Boost thanks to you our readers. Again we had thousands of visitors from countries all over the world checking out our new and seasoned posts. Out of our years of contributions the 10 Ten read post by our agents for the year were as follows.
The real estate profession can be one of the most rewarding for many reasons. A few of the best things I love about being a professional real estate agent is the flexibility of my schedule, unlimited income potential, and of course, helping people with one of the largest transactions of their entire lives.
Most successful real estate agents are able to provide way more benefits than drawbacks of being a real estate professional. One thing that is rarely discussed about the real estate profession is the alarming percentage of agents who fail to succeed in the business. Depending on the source, the percentage of real estate agents that fail in the business within the first 5 years ranges between 85-90%.
When you think about it, nearly 9 of 10 new agents can expect to fail, which is an eye opener. I hear my coaching clients saying they were working with an agent who was brand new in the business. Long story short, the transaction didn’t go as planned and did not close. The buyer’s agent was pretty difficult to work with and certainly didn’t do his client justice with the service they provided which played a significant role in the deal falling apart.
This led me to start asking myself, is this agent going to make it in the business? What could be the reason why the agent isn’t going to make it?
This week we look at the top 10 reasons why real estate agents fail. If you’re thinking about getting your real estate license, are newly licensed, or are a 20 year veteran, you need to keep in your mind why most agents are failing in the business. Being aware of these reasons why real estate agents fail can greatly reduce the chance that you’re going to fall victim to the startling statistic of the percentage of agents failing in the business.
1. They Don’t Work Hard Enough. – Being a successful entrepreneur takes a lot of hard work. It doesn’t matter what industry, starting a business is going to mean long hours and lots of blood, sweat, and tears. One of the top reasons why real estate agents fail is because they simply do not work hard enough. Successful real estate agents work odd and long hours. There are few successful agents who work “banker hours” of 8 AM – 5 PM, Monday through Friday. Being a successful real estate agent means working many nights and weekends and being available via phone or e-mail nearly 24 hours a day. Advice: Find out what successful real estate agents are doing on a daily basis. Learning the habits of top real estate agents can go a long way. It’s no guarantee that what one agent is doing to build their business is going to work for the next, but the work ethic of top agents is often very similar.
2. They Get Involved In Real Estate For The Wrong Reasons. – Selling real estate is not for everyone, end of story. Another reason why most real estate agents fail is because they get involved in real estate for the wrong reasons. One of the most common reasons why people attempt to sell real estate is because they think all real estate agents make boatloads of money. This is a huge real estate myth and actually is the furthest from the truth. The average real estate agent makes less than $40,000 per year. Another very common reason people obtain their real estate license is because they love “looking at houses” or like watching shows on HGTV. Being a successful real estate agent is so much more than being a professional door opener. Becoming a professional real estate agent for one of the two reasons above is not a good idea. It’s important to get involved in real estate for the right reasons, otherwise, you may be another real estate agent that fails in the business. Advice: Make sure before getting involved in real estate that you evaluate why you want to sell real estate. If the answer is that you have a desire to help people with one of the biggest purchases of their lives, than real estate could be a great career for you.
3. They Don’t Save Enough Money To Live On. – Successful real estate agents spend money to build their business because they know how important it is. Whether it’s investing in promoting themselves to their sphere of influence or using top real estate marketing strategies to sell homes, it costs money. Many real estate agents fail because they don’t realize that it costs money to run their business and when they realize it does, they don’t have enough money to live on. Not having money to make car payments, student loan payments, buy groceries, or to buy other necessities is another reason why real estate agents fail. Advice: Before selling real estate, it’s extremely important you have enough money saved so that you can pay your bills and have money to also buy lives necessities. It’s highly recommended that before you attempt to sell real estate full time with no other means of incoming capital, that you have at least 6 months of money saved to pay all your bills.
4. They’re Selling Real Estate Part Time. – Another popular reason why real estate agents fail is because they’re attempting to sell real estate part time. Now, before part time real estate agents lynch me in the comments below, I acknowledge that it’s feasible to be a successful part time agent. The reality, however, is that the majority of part time real estate agents fail to make it in the business. Why do many part time real estate agents fail? Well for one, many buyers and sellers have to decide whether to hire a part time real estate agent or not. Many buyers and sellers will avoid hiring a part time agent at all costs, simply because they’re not readily available like a full time agent would be. Nothing against part time agents, but this is the thought process of many consumers. Advice: If you’re going to sell real estate part time, remember, honesty is the best policy. If you’re interviewing with a buyer or seller, explain to them that you’re a part time agent so that there are no problems in the future. If your full time position allows you to answer phone calls relating to real estate, explain to them that you’re able to answer calls and inquiries. If not, make sure you’re upfront about that as well. Being honest with buyers and sellers about your part time position will get you many more victories than it will defeats.
5. They Don’t Set Goals Or Have Action Plans In Place. – Goal setting and action plans are a critical part of any successful business. Most real estate agents fail because they don’t understand how to properly set goals or create action plans. Successful real estate agents are constantly setting and reviewing goals and action plans. It’s not as simple as setting a yearly goal and not revisiting it until the end of the year. It’s constantly being aware of your progress towards your goals and action plans. Advice: A few of the most important goals for real estate agents to set for themselves relate to their sales. Goals such as the number of transactions and number of sales are obviously important. Other goals and action plans, such as, how many weekly prospecting calls will be made, are also critical. Bottom line, setting goals and action plans can make agents more accountable which, in many cases, will lead to better results.
6. They Don’t Know How To Lead Generate. – One of the best things about being a real estate professional are the numerous ways business can be generated. The problem though is that many real estate agents fail in the business because they don’t know how to lead generate. One common trait of successful real estate agents is that they understand how they’re going to generate new leads for their business. For example, there are many PROs and CONs of open houses, one benefit being that open houses can be effective for generating leads for agents. On the other hand, a successful agent may determine that open houses are not the way they want to generate leads and they’d prefer to get leads through online marketing or social media. The commonality is that successful agents will know how to generate leads which keeps new business opportunities coming in. Advice: One of the first things that new agents should do is decide how they want to generate new leads. Are you the type of person who wants to door knock? Hold open houses every weekend? Utilize Facebook ads to get real estate leads? Whatever the answer is, knowing how to lead generate will greatly reduce the number of real estate agents who fail.
7. They Don’t Understand How Or Where To Market Themselves And Their Business. – A fairly common reason why most real estate agents fail in the business is because they don’t understand how or where to market. There are dozens of places a real estate professional can market themselves and their business nowadays because of the internet. Real estate agents fail because they often use the internet as a “look at ME” venue. There are so many real estate agents promoting on their Facebook pages about their latest and greatest listing or about the number of homes they sold in a week. While this may seem like an effective strategy of marketing themselves and their business, it’s actually a great way to get unfollowed or unfriended. The majority of your connections on the internet aren’t in the market for your new listing or don’t care if you’ve sold 3 homes in a week, however, sharing with your connections helpful information relating to real estate may interest them enough to read it or share with someone they know who maybe making a move in the near future. For example, if you were to share on your social networks a helpful article you wrote on the most important steps to buying a house, there is a much higher probability your friends and family shares your post with their friends and family because it’s helpful, not self-promotional. The same can be said about a helpful video you create for first time home buyers in your area about first time home buyer programs and grants. Advice: Successful real estate agents, those who make it in the business for extended periods of time, aren’t always promoting themselves. Successful agents know the importance of providing value when marketing themselves. In the long run, agents who’re viewed as an authoritative real estate professional will be more successful. As your considering a new marketing technique, always ask yourself, is this going to be helpful for others? Is your marketing piece providing value? If the answer is no, resist the strong urge to use the marketing technique as it may end up making your look foolish or even worse, lose friends or potential business.
8. They Believe That Being Successful In Real Estate Is Easy. – Real estate agents fail to make it long in the business not only because they don’t work hard, but they also believe that being successful is easy. The top agents in any real estate market didn’t get to where they are easily, in fact, they’ve likely worked for years and years perfecting their skills and talents. For example, the top real estate agents in ________ didn’t drink a magic potion that made them multi-million dollar producers. These agents weren’t just “given” business, they’ve earned it. The same can be said in any city in the world. Being successful in real estate is anything but easy. Advice: Even though there is a common misconception that top agents often get to where they are easily, don’t fall for this misconception. Being a successful real estate agent is not easy and also doesn’t happen overnight!
9. They’re Difficult To Work With. – When you’re working in a profession that deals with other people, it’s extremely important that working with you is enjoyable. Another common reason real estate agents fail to make it very long in the business is because they’re difficult to work with. Whether it’s because buyers and sellers don’t enjoy working with an agent or other local agents don’t enjoy working with an agent, being difficult to work with is a surefire way to fail as a real estate agent. Advice: When working with buyers and sellers, always keep in mind that there are hundreds or even thousands of other agents in any given market they could chose to work with. If working with an agent is difficult, it’s easy enough for a buyer or seller to find a new agent that’s easy to work with. An agent who has a good reputation with other agents also has a greater probability of making it in the business. Many real estate agents fail because they’re difficult to work with and other agents will do everything they can to avoid working with them.
10. They Don’t Know How To Overcome The Tough Times. – There are dozens of reasons why real estate markets are different, in fact, markets can be significantly different even if they’re close in proximity. This means that one market could be strong while another is weak. Another reason why real estate agents fail to make it in the business is because they can’t make it through the tough times. While a real estate market is strong, it’s common to see the majority of agents doing well and thriving in the business. Since real estate is cyclical, it’s inevitable that a tough market is in the future, which is when you get to see if a real estate agent is going to fail or not. Many real estate agents fail because they cannot power through a poor real estate market. Advice: Always plan for tough times ahead. It’s extremely important to continually grow your pipeline, number of contacts, and your overall business even during a strong market. Successful agents are always learning and evolving how they can market themselves to strengthen their business further. Bottom line, don’t get complacent during a strong real estate market!
There is plenty of business to go around in the real estate industry. The percentage of real estate agents failing is way too high. It’s extremely important that all real estate agents, whether new agents or seasoned veterans, realize why real estate agents fail. If the number of strong real estate professionals entering the business increased, it would be good for the industry and profession. Stronger agents entering and staying in the business would mean a better experience for buyers, sellers, and other real estate professionals.
Social media is moving at a faster pace than ever before. Sometimes it feels like you are finally getting the hang of it, but then the next day, social media algorithms change again. It’s hard to keep up with how quickly social media evolves if you haven’t cultivated a routine that helps you regularly update your strategy. Since 47% of real estate businesses say that social media results in the highest quality leads, it’s important to consistently audit your Instagram and Facebook presence for better engagement, visibility, and lead generation. We recommend updating your social media channels every three months while doing a comprehensive audit every 6-12 months. Luckily, the six social media updates we’ll cover today don’t have to take hours of your time in order to implement. Let’s dive right in.
Make sure your branding is consistent. – Consistency shows how much you care about your client’s experience. Consistency can be measured in terms of how often you post or how cohesive your brand voice and tone are, but we can’t forget about your visual branding. You’ll need a well-established set of visual brand guidelines in order to stay visually consistent on every social media platform. Do you have a defined color palette? Have you selected fonts that look great when paired together? Do you have a library of graphic elements (like patterns, textures, illustrations, icons, etc.) that fit well within your visual brand identity? If you can answer “yes” to all of these questions, you’re on the right track with your visual branding. If not, locate areas of improvement and work with a graphic designer to improve your branding. The more professional you look, the more professional your client experience will feel. So, where should you start? Our first recommendation is to get into the habit of updating your social media profiles any time you update your website. This will give you better consistency over time since your website should match your social media channels. For example, if you have new team photos, be sure to update them on your website and your Facebook banner. If you decide to rebrand your business, update any previous profile photos with your new logo. Think about how you can add more consistency with your branded imagery and content as we move into how to improve your Instagram presence.
Update your Instagram bio. – When someone visits your Instagram profile for the first time, they’ll immediately notice your Instagram bio. It’s front-and-center on your profile and has to be written with your dream clients in mind. Ideally, your Instagram bio will give Instagram users an idea of who you are as a real estate brand, what makes you different, and how you can help them. Oh, and you’ll have to communicate all of this in 150 characters or less. It’s no easy feat! Let us help you by providing an Instagram bio framework you can use as a template. Real estate mention: It should be very clear from reading your bio that you work in real estate. Make sure you include “real estate” or “realtor” somewhere in your Instagram bio. Location: What local market do you serve? You’ll want this information to be front-and-center in your bio. Awards: If there are any awards or notable accomplishments that your team has earned, you can add them to your bio like North Group. These awards give you more authority and credibility. Bio link: Make sure you include a link to your website. If you decide to temporarily link to a new blog post or listing page, be sure to shorten your link with a tool like Bit.ly. Otherwise, you can link to your homepage or a Linktree page for the long term. If you create an Instagram post with the words “link in bio,” you’ll want to either update the link in your bio or update your Linktree page to include the new link. Call-to-action: Instead of only adding a bio link, you’ll want to include call-to-action (CTA) language at the very end of your bio. Emojis: To make your bio really stand out, use emojis as bullet points. Just make sure your emojis are on-brand, relevant, and professional.
Include cover images on your Instagram highlights. – Your Instagram feed will often determine your audience’s first impression of your real estate business, but Instagram stories will make a lasting connection with followers. Instagram stories are used by 500 million users every day with one-third of all Instagram stories created by business accounts. When you add a video or photo file to your Instagram story, it will only be available to view in your story for 24 hours. That is, unless you add it to your Instagram highlights. Instagram highlights allow you to save selected stories for public viewing at any time. All users need to do is locate a relevant highlight cover to begin viewing the curated collection of stories. It’s best to create a strategy around what you want to create Instagram highlights for and how they can be useful to your followers. Think about what content your audience is looking for and how you can communicate what your highlights are about through custom cover images. Ready to utilize Instagram highlights? Here’s how to create your first one: Go to your Instagram profile and click the “New” button with a plus sign right underneath the “Edit Profile” button. Once it opens, select past story videos or photos you would like to feature by tapping on the ones you want to add, which shows a blue checkmark when clicked. When you’ve selected your featured stories, click the “Next” button in the top right corner and give the highlight a new name. Make sure it is short enough to read on your profile. Then edit the cover image by clicking “Edit Cover” underneath the circle-cropped photo.
Add a variety of Instagram content. – Updating your Instagram profile is important, but updating your content strategy is even more important. Posting consistently shows how much you value educating your followers and building a community. Since Instagram is a fast-paced social media platform, you need to provide a variety of content types to stay engaging and interesting. Now that your Instagram story highlights are set up, let’s talk about your feed. Instagram has gone on record to say photos and videos are equal in terms of how they prioritizes posts in the algorithm. This means adding long-form IGTV videos, Instagram stories, and Instagram feed photos are all needed in creating a well-rounded, engaging Instagram presence. Instagram says their post rankings come down to six main factors: Interest, Relationship, Timeliness, Frequency, Following. Usage. You can read more about how your Instagram feed works here, but remember these factors as you update your Instagram content strategy. Let’s start brainstorming new content ideas for your Instagram feed. Add animated graphics to capture more of your audience’s attention than a static image can. Include team-focused content of group meetings, team retreats, volunteer events, and more. Record video interviews with your team members so Instagram followers can learn more about the people behind your real estate brand. Create a photo slideshow with relevant statistics that will better educate your audience. Host an Instagram giveaway during a special event or holiday to help you increase brand awareness and give to your local community.Share behind-the-scenes photos of video shoots, virtual tours, and more for a day-in-the-life look at your team’s work. Celebrate work anniversaries of each team member with a dedicated video, like this example from North Group which features personable photos and kind affirmations from other team members. We hope these ideas will inspire your own Instagram content strategy. If you need to make additional updates to your strategy, here are 7 things to master when improving your Instagram presence. Once you have this nailed down, we can start talking about your Facebook presence.
Edit your Facebook bio. – When updating your Facebook bio (or “About” section), the good news is that you don’t have as many character limits as Instagram. You’ll have more room to explain the mission and specializations of your real estate business. Even though you have more creative freedom, you don’t want to make your Facebook bio too long to read. It should be easy to skim as someone scrolls through your profile. Keep it simple by introducing who you are, what you do, and how your real estate brand is different from others in a few short sentences. Make sure you keep jargon terms to a minimum so you can better connect with clients who may not have a previous understanding of real estate. Think about how to simply communicate what you do. You may also choose to add awards and other accomplishments in the “Awards” section on Facebook to strengthen your bio.
Increase your credibility by asking for Facebook reviews. – Did you know when someone visits your Facebook page, they see your recommendations and reviews before they can scroll through your Facebook posts? That is Facebook’s way of telling us that reviews are incredibly important on their platform! More than Google or Yelp, Facebook is the number one website consumers use to review and recommend businesses. This is because people typically trust recommendations when they come from family or friends. The same is true since 70% of people still trust recommendations from like-minded people they don’t know. Facebook, then, is the perfect place to boost your reviews, especially when you are using Facebook ads to promote your listings. If you have hundreds of reviews on home search sites like Zillow, ask past clients to leave a review on Facebook too. It tells Facebook that your real estate brand is trustworthy and experienced. Once a past client leaves a review on your Facebook page, be sure to like and comment on it with a personal thank you message. It will not only improve your relationship with your past client, but it will also show others the kind of care you put into every client’s experience. 92% of consumers consider reviews when purchasing a product or service, and the average consumer reads around 10 reviews before making a final purchasing decision. Do you have at least 10-15 reviews on your Facebook business page? If not, follow up with past clients and kindly ask them to review you on Facebook. You can also give them an example of a past client testimonial if they’re looking for help on how to write a review. These reviews can then be repurposed into client success stories which you can use for quality social media posts and website features. This is the best way to build a sustainable real estate marketing plan that you can easily update over time.
Take the time to dig into each of these social media updates and let me know how some of these work out for you in the future. To your success!!
How many of us are still scared to go in front of a camera and embrace the “video” world we are living in today? Video is so powerful that google bought Youtube the second biggest search engine machine on the internet just to keep the top 2 spots on the internet for searching. Whether we love it or hate it as real estate agents we need to embrace it so let’s dive into video topic ideas that are easy to make and will position your real estate brand for success in your marketplace. We’ll start with some listing attraction videos.
Video Idea No. 1: Selling in [Your City]? Avoid this $25,000 Mistake!
What’s the most costly mistake homeowners tend to make when selling a house? Surely you can think of something compelling. Then make a video about it and tailor it to your market. It doesn’t have to be long… Grab the viewer with an alarming stat or statement. Establish your local expertise. Explain the problem. Show the solution. Get in, get out… one video done!
Video Idea No. 2: How to Sell Your [Specific Property Type Here] Home for Top Dollar. Does your marketplace have properties that naturally differentiate themselves from other homes? Do you want to get more listings in those markets by positioning yourself as the expert? Then make these videos! Maybe it’s waterfront homes. Maybe it’s gated community homes. Maybe it’s mountain homes. Maybe it’s golf course homes. Maybe it’s equestrian properties. Maybe it’s all of those and more! Yes, you’ll need to invest some time researching what makes those properties different, but the vast majority of advice you provide can be suggestions that apply to selling a home anywhere. By segmenting them out individually, you’ll establish yourself as an expert for those product types and those homeowners will feel you have a stronger understanding of their needs.
Video Idea No. 3: How to Prepare Your Home to Sell for Top Dollar. Simple… I’m sure you give people tips on how to prepare their home for sale during every listing presentation. Or at least once you take a listing and are preparing for showings. Right?
Whether they’re major landscaping tips or quick and simple fixes, take that information and make a video from it!
Video Idea No. 4: Selling Your [Your City] Home for the Highest Price. What’s hot in your market today? What drives certain home sales higher than others? Share the market trends and your tips in an informative video tailored to wherever you work.
Video Idea No. 5: Downsizing Your [Your City] Home – 15 Tips You Should Know. Are you starting to see a pattern here? Take any customer type – in this case, people looking to downsize – and create a video specifically for them that ties to your local market. Pretty simple, right? Just imagine you’re sitting face to face with people who told you they’ve lived in their four-bedroom house for the past 22 years and they’re ready to sell it and find a condo or townhouse. What advice would you give them? What questions would you ask? Put it on video and get that advice out into your market!
Video Idea No. 6: Selling in [Your City] & Leaving the State or Province – A How-To Guide! Again, pretty simple. What do people who are moving out of the area need to do differently than those who are moving within town? Share your best tips in a video and – if you’re part of a powerful referral network like our coaching ecosystem – demonstrate how you can help them connect with a world-class agent in their new destination. You got this!
Video Idea No. 7: Do I Have to Sell My Home in [Your City] When I Move to [New Location]? Some cities traditionally have migration patterns with others. If that’s the case in your market, make a video specifically advising those who might be considering that exact move. For instance, I know I’m not the only one who’s recently left California for Texas, and I would’ve loved to watch a video preparing me for that move. And it would definitely make a positive impression when choosing my listing agent who understands my goals and where I’m headed.
Video Idea No. 8: Moving to [Your City]? 7 Local Insights You Should Know. Now let’s transition to a few buyer attraction video ideas, and this first one will unquestionably establish you as the local expert. What would you tell someone who was moving to your town from out of the area? I’m sure you could come up with 100 things, but whittle it down to 7 or 10 or whatever catchy number works for you, and then create a video. You might want to mix in some local flavor like your favorite parks or restaurants along with tactical advice for their move such as what part of town they might prefer, current home price range, etc.
Video Idea No. 9: Buying an Investment Property in [Your City]: 7 Mistakes to Avoid. Working with investor clients is a great way to add diversity to your lead pillars, and making a video like this will surely attract them. Show off your local expertise and showcase your area to connect with locals and potentially attract out of town investors looking to buy in new markets.
Video Idea No. 10: Buying a Second Home in [Your City]: 6 Things You Need to Know. If you live and work in an area with lots of retirees and/or vacation homes, this is a perfect video to create. Walk people through the highlights of your area, what they can expect from the home-buying process, the taxes and local fees they might need to know about, local Airbnb regulations (in case they’re interesting in renting the property when they’re not there), local recreation and more.
Video Idea No. 11: What $[Dollar Amount] Gets You in [Your Town] This one has endless possibilities. You could create videos at all different price points featuring homes currently on the market or recently sold properties to give people an idea how far their money will go in your area. Better yet, create this video starting at the airport, showing them potential places they could stay when visiting town, and then walk them through various properties inside the MLS. Because of market fluctuations, this video might have a shorter shelf life than some of my other suggestions, but it’s worth it because it’s uber-compelling to those who might be interested. Once you create this video, I’d suggest you revisit it every six months or so to see if it’s still relevant. (If not, don’t take it down but DO create an updated version.)
Video Idea No. 12: Driving Tours of Every Community You Work. Now we’re getting into some more generic video ideas not necessarily targeting buyers or sellers, but they’ll still get you known throughout your community. This first one is an idea championed by L.A. Rockstar Christophe Choo, who created driving tours of all the West L.A. neighborhoods and all their distinctive differences, noteworthy properties and his insights. Even if your communities aren’t as glamorous as the Beverly Hills-adjacent neighborhoods Christophe serves, this is a surefire way to establish yourself as a local expert. And the beauty of these videos is that they live online forever, meaning more and more people will find you through them as time goes by. Simply mount your camera on your windshield, describe the community while driving through it, make any minor edits, and then post it on your website and YouTube for eternity. Then do the same thing for the subdivision next to that one. And so on and so on. Soon you’ll be the talk of the town and widely considered the local market expert.
Video Idea No. 13: 30 Questions About Real Estate in 30 Days. Here’s another simple one that has legs. I’m sure you can think of 30 thought-provoking questions clients have asked you throughout your career. Answer them one by one in a video series split over a monthlong timespan. Post them on all your social channels and create a buzz.
Video Idea No. 14: 22 Real Estate Lessons I’ve Learned Helping [Number of Past Clients] Families Buy & Sell a Home in [Your City] Maybe your number isn’t 22. Make it whatever you want. But sit down and think about some of the valuable lessons you’ve learned throughout your experience in the industry. Then share them with your community. This video has a dual benefit – not only are you educating and informing people with valuable real estate advice, but in the process you’re also demonstrating your strong ties to the community and impressive years of experience. Be sure to work in local references – what part of town you were working, etc., to further build those community ties.
Video Idea No. 15: How’s the Market in [Your City]? While most of the other video suggestions I’ve provided here have a long shelf life, this is a topic you should be tackling on a weekly (or monthly at the very least) basis. During this recurring show, provide a glimpse at the national real estate landscape, then localize it and talk more in-depth about market trends, happenings, and your take on it. You can also tell your clients’ stories and show how you help people move on to the next stage of their lives by achieving their home buying and selling goals.
Video Idea No. 16: How To Buy A Home Before You Sell. This is one of the biggest fears and reasons why we have no inventory all over N. America. Educate the sellers on how they can still list and be able to buy and not end up selling and being left out in the cold. List their home with contingencies like renting back, longer closing time or time to negotiate on something to buy.
Video Idea No. 17: How To Find Off Market Listings To Buy. Another great topic for buyers and sellers and share how you go and find the off market properties for them to buy versus all the other agents who sit and wait for something to come on to the market that most of the time doesn’t happen. Buyers and sellers are looking for the creator agents and not the waiters!
Remember: If It’s Not on Your Schedule, It Doesn’t Exist. I’ve given you lots of ideas and you could easily get overwhelmed if you try to create too many of these too fast. My suggestion? Prioritize all 17 of these and slot them into your video shooting calendar, and then honor those commitments as sacred! Shoot one or two a week until you’re done.
What if I told you that there was an unlimited, free source of brand new Buyer and Seller leads out there that you could tap into at any time? And I’m not talking about a list you already have, or getting referrals from your existing sphere. I’m talking about using a platform with as many viewers as Zillow – or even Netflix – that you’ve probably heard of, but aren’t using to generate new deals on a consistent basis… sound too good to be true?
I’d like to introduce you to Craigslist – and before you write this off just let me show you why it’s one of the most under-utilized opportunities for real estate agents today. Yes….Craigslist. As I alluded to above, Craigslist is one of the top 15 most-viewed websites in the United States – going back and forth with Zillow currently sitting at #14, and far above Netflix positioned at #17. This is because communities throughout the United States and Canada still primarily rely on Craigslist to find professional services, jobs, goods for sale, community events and yes… even Real Estate. Also, did I mention it’s FREE? If you use Craigslist to your advantage, it can become a fantastic source of fresh leads to grow your Power List and generate deals. However, I’ll warn you – some of the methods we’re going to discuss in this article, and over the coming weeks, might seem unconventional… but they’re used with great success by agents across the country.
The Method is split into three parts:
1. Create “Listing+” Ads
2. Set Up a “2nd Opportunity” Email Auto Responder
3. Be Safe With Online Leads
Let’s break them down for you….
1. Create “Listing+” Ads. Craigslist is a great place to post active listings (for free!) and gain exposure for a property. However, you don’t need to have listings of your own to implement this strategy. As a side note, many agents who are already posting their listings to Craigslist aren’t structuring them correctly, so people don’t respond and they’re not getting the value they could. So, what do I mean by “Listing+”?
Posting a listing to get exposure for a property is great, but the real value of the posting is in the opportunity to generate new leads from it. That’s why if you don’t currently have any listings – or even if you do, but they’re not going to attract the type of buyers and sellers you’re looking to work with, it’s totally acceptable to promote another agent’s active listings. Sometimes you might even get better results than with your own.
You’ll need to talk to the listing agent before promoting their property, however it’s usually somewhat easy to find a colleague who would appreciate the extra exposure for their listing – think of it like sitting in on an open house for another agent. Once you have a property to promote, it’s all about giving people a “Dual Call To Action”. Normally, marketing experts recommend focusing on only one thing, but I told you we’d be covering some unconventional methods! To meet Craigslist’s Terms, and gain maximum exposure, your primary call to action needs to relate to the property. However, it seems you can add a secondary call to action with related information which often turns out to be more effective at generating leads than the property itself.
2. Set Up An Auto Responder. So far I’ve covered all of the value you can get directly from a Craigslist Cash™ Listing+ Ad, but that’s just one of many opportunities you’ll have to offer value and convert a client from a Craigslist posting. When viewers “Reply” to your post you’ll receive an email which you’ll want to respond to immediately. The best way to do this is to use an auto-responder which gives people information about the property, but don’t stop there! Present your lead with valuable information and a reason to contact you. The trick is picking the correct offer to go along with the listing you’re promoting and using the correct Direct Response Language to get people to work with you.
3. Be Safe With Online Leads. No strategy to meet new people is complete without considering your safety a #1 priority. I had to add this third part because I want to stress how important it is to be safe with any – and all – of your online prospecting activities. Here are a few guidelines to ensure that you and your clients stay safe out there: Verify any new lead is a real person by having a conversation over the phone before any in-person meetings are to take place. If you can arrange a video meeting, that’s even better!
Google the lead to verify that their social profiles, or professional profiles, match up with who they say they are. Always meet in public for the first time. Whether it’s at your office or a coffee shop, hosting a meeting in public will give you a good opportunity to assess the situation before moving ahead with a client. Another option is to find a “showing buddy” (another agent) who will show properties to online lead sources with you – obviously you returning the favor works wonders for the relationship.
Finally – Trust your gut 100% – if it doesn’t feel right for any reason or no reason at all, you don’t have to work with anyone. No deal is worth your safety.
Let me know if you are using this already and the success you’re having with it in the comments below.
15 Mile average between last home and new home purchased
Average price $372,500 and paid 99% of asking price
1,900 Square foot, 3 bed, 2 bath built in 1993
Expect to stay 12 years in their home
Home Purchase Process
43% Began looking online, 18% Began calling an agent
Looked 8 weeks and 8 homes
87% Property photos most important to them
64% Had a satisfactory experience
Home Purchase Agent
88% Used an agent to buy
6% Direct from builder
40% Agent referred by friend
91% Would use their agent again
Financing Purchase
87% Financed their purchase
88% typical loan to value ratio
58% Down payment from savings
46% saved down payment in 6 months or less
83% Purchased because it is a good investment
Home Sellers
56 Years of age
Median household income $107,100 annually
14% Home to small, 15% closer to family, 12% work reasons
Lived in home 10 years on average
89% sold with an agent
Sold 99% of their asking price
3 weeks on the market
44% offered incentives to buyers
Sold for $66,000 more than they paid on average
69% were happy with sales process
How Sellers & Agents
67% found their agent through a referral
77% only contacted one agent when selling
91% listed on MLS
77% paid the agent’s fees
Typical seller recommend their agent pnce since selling
88% would use agent again, 77% probably, 15% would not
Private By Owner
8% sold by owner
57 years of age
Average FSBO sale price $185,000
Average agents assisted sale price $245,000
66% sold in less than 2 weeks
70% sold to someone they knew 55% knew their buyer
COVID 19 Buying & Selling
#1 reason was to move closer to family
Urgency rose 7% when covid hit
27% increase virtual tour viewings
Home sellers years owned dropped from 16 years to 11 years in 2020
Average price jumped post covid to $300,000 average vs $270,100
Finding a property biggest challenge
So there we have it the road map of who we are looking for and what they are doing. Take the time to develop a strategic strategy with your business and stop aiming for nothing and hitting it with amazing accuracy. Instead be strategic and intentional with your marketing approach this year using this incredible resource and watch your business go to another level.
So many of my coaching clients feel guilty for not maintaining contact with their past clients and think it is too late, embarrassing and they don’t want to hear from them. This is the furthest thing from the truth and this week we are reactivating old clients, generating referrals, and building our relationship list. Many agents I know have a drawer full of old clients they simply forgot. Life gets busy and before you know it, it’s been months (even years) since you last contacted some of your clients. That’s why we created the “Never Too Late Letter ”… This is an easy way to get back in touch and harvest referrals and repeat business from your network, and this letter has worked for hundreds of agents all over the world. I’ll give you the letter to use and also give you an example of a Referral Coupon. This coupon is designed to work much like a “bounce-back” type of coupon that restaurants and retail stores use. The very same strategy will work for you if you just give it a try.
How To Use The “Never Too Late” Letter System…
STEP 1: Create a LIST of your past clients and friends, friends, family, and acquaintances from your files, phone contacts, email accounts and social media sources. Narrow your list down to the people you’ve not contacted in the last 6 months.
STEP 2: Send them a personal LETTER Here’s two pre-written letters for you to use and make your own.
STEP 3: Give your Power List a meaningful REASON to get back in contact with you using a “Referral Coupon” that goes with this letter and they may or may not use it, but it’s a stand-out way to remind them that you work by referral. (IMPORTANT: This coupon is designed to give a discount to the END-USER only. In most, it is illegal to directly compensate any unlicensed person for sending you business. This coupon only makes a discount offer to the end user, NOT to a person sending you a referral.)
STEP 4: FOLLOW-UP with regular contact (at least monthly) Agents tell me they start getting calls within a few days after this letter goes out. But you can also follow up by phone 7 days after sending the letter. Going forward, you’ll want to keep in contact in a meaningful way. This is very important. For every 100 people on your database, 14 of them will buy or sell a home in the next 12 months. And that doesn’t include the Referrals they could be sending you. Don’t continue to leave this gigantic hole of lost revenue in your business by not following up at least once a month.
This “Never Too Late Letter System” will help you get back in touch with your clients. Then you have make a commitment to not lose touch again by following up with your network each month with welcomed and valued contact. Would you like to use a marketing system that costs nearly $0.00 and can bring you a steady flow of quality, motivated buyers?
Knowing what the biggest objection you face over the next few months allows you the edge to be prepared when it strikes. We all know the #1 objection all agents are going to get from real estate buyers and sellers is “We want to wait until the spring to buy or sell our home.” So having the ability to change how the buyer and seller feels about waiting to buy or sell until the spring is imperative to your winter real estate success!! Don’t try changing their minds and building their defense mechanism up but educate them and change how they think and then they change how they feel about buying over the winter instead of spring. The fact of the matter is, the reasons and myths are endless so it’s our job as REALTORS® to be equipped with facts and a strong reality check to combat these reasons we hear every day. To help you educate the consumers through the winter season I put together some of my top reasons a client would want to choose this time of year to buy, sell and list a home.
Here Are The Top Reasons to Sell Real Estate Over The Winter
#1 – Only The Serious Buyers Are Looking Over The Winter – Yes there are fewer buyers, but those buyers are usually very SERIOUS about making a purchase or many HAVE to make a purchase. Who else would want to look at buying during the winter?
#2 – Fewer Winter Listings Means Less Listing Competition – Most sellers wait until the spring or summer to list, so your home will have far less competition. Spring = Greater supply = Same Demand = Less Money
#3 – January Is The Biggest Corporate Transfer Month – More corporate relocation moves happen during January than any other time of the year. Catch the corporate relocation buyers while you can.
#4 – Better Personal Prompt Customer Service – By putting the home on the market during the winter you experience better, personal and faster customer service from movers, lawyers, banks, insurance providers etc. Listing realtors have more time to better serve their sellers and get all the marketing strategies in place.
#5 – More Bargaining Time to Get More Money – By starting to market your home early, you may be able to secure a higher price with more listing exposure time. This season allows a seller to not be in a rush to sell and allow for more market exposure time and ultimately generate a higher price than in the spring.
#6 – Timing Is Everything. So Sell Now & Buy In The Spring – If your home sells quickly, you will be able to shop for your next home during the winter, a great time to find a bargain! More time to look and not pressure to shop and beat the other buyers. Sell first and then buy in the spring when the inventory and selection begins to rise for you when you are the buyer.
#7 – Standing Out In A Smaller Crowd – Most REALTORS® and offices have less inventory during the winter, enabling your home to stand out even more. Less marketing noise out there for the buyers and they see your home with ease now.
#8 – 20% Of Sales Still Happen During the Winter – Buyers and Sellers are usually quite motivated to get the transaction completed. We still have 20% of the business in the year occurring during the winter. This can mean less price haggling and fewer hassles during the process.
#9 – Buying Without Having Something To Sell First – By selling now you may have an opportunity to be a non-contingent buyer during the spring, when more houses are on the market! Less “subject to the sale” offers from buyers and you are not one of them when you are buying your next home.
#10 – No Yard Work When It’s Freshly Covered In Snow – Great time for a home that needs a yard make over to sell. No need to worry about your yard work. Snow makes it look fresh and white.
BONUS…..
#11 – Buyers Time Everything Too – Buyers begin the search and purchase for spring moves in January, February. Busy move times are March Spring Break, April Easter, May long weekend and July long weekends
#12 – No Pricing Wars With Others Sellers – Less choice for buyers means less sellers to play pricing against each other. Buyers will often make more concession in their buying decision with less choice
#13 – A Holiday Magic Feel To Your Home – Property shows well, almost staged with holiday décor adding to the ambiance. Tis the season for your home to shine!
#14 – Higher Quality No Looky Loo Showings. Little chance of quick showings and not being prepared to show your home. Easier time of year to make appointments and give sellers advance notice. Higher quality showings
#15 – Right Buyer, Right Time Odds – The odds are the same for the right buyer looking at your home regardless of the season. Right buyer, right time, right home
Here Are My Top 10 Reasons to Buy Over The Winter
#1 – Fewer Or No Multiple Offers – Little or no chance of multiple or competing offers for the buyer during this time of year
#2 – Better Personal Prompt Customer Service – Better service from all service providers like the agents, banks, insurers etc. Not as busy now.
#3 – Sellers Are Motivated – Sellers motivated at this time of year if still trying to sell from summer or fall. Sellers willing to negotiate, been on the market for some time now. Give and take.
#4 – Expired Listing Inventory – Buyers can shop the expired listings market, which has the largest selection this time of the year.
#5 – Better Closing Options – Good time of year to make an offer and do the due diligence, buyers can move quickly now or slower in the spring if not in a rush.
#6 – More Alternative Housing Options – Easier for sellers to find alternative housing, not as much pressure finding a rental vs. the really busy spring and summer season.
#7 – Contingencies and Subject to the Sale Of Acceptable – Great time for buyers to make contingent “Subject to the Sale” offers and get them accepted and movement on the price.
#8 – Better Available Moving & Service Providers – Easier time for a buyer to move and find help and services like movers, cleaners, storage.
#9 – Smoother Mistake Free Completions – Better timing for buyers on completions with lawyers, banks land registry. Not that busy and time to attend to you now.
#10 – Buyer Competition Lower – Less competition for the same property from other buyers on the deals that pop up this time of year.
Bonus…
#11 – Having More Time – Having time to make a decision and not be pressured in to offers or pressured into removing conditions or speeding up your due diligence time.
Now that you’re equipped with ammo to overcome any objection, educate the consumers and debunk the myths and go out there and list and sell some real estate this winter season!!
When you think about it, there’s nothing difficult about picking up the phone and calling a few people. Right? It’s easy to do… and also easier not to do. And that’s the danger. So why do we have this reluctancy to picking up the phone and making a call? Why is it so easy for us to not make those calls? I talk with a lot of successful agents on a regular basis. And if I had to boil down what makes those people so successful, it’s not that they’re all insanely innovative and breaking new ground. It’s not that they figured out some marketing “hack” no one else knows. It’s not dumb luck. It’s one simple, common trait – they’re doing the work. They make the calls and contact the people and have the discipline to do it over and over and over even though it is not what they want to do nor is it glamorous but it is the key to their success. It goes back to one of my favorite quotes: “Do the thing, have the power.” –Emerson. Having the discipline to take consistent action is really what separates the winners from the also-rans in this business.
Today I’m sharing three ways to overcome that resistance to making your calls so you can start booking more appointments… consistently!
1. Get Prepared In Advance – I’m sure you’ve had this happen… You wake up with the best of intentions to make your calls. But before you actually begin, something comes up. Or you “remember” a more urgent task you should be doing (which, in reality, is just an excuse). Or you simply avoid it because you don’t feel like it. And over time, this failure to make your calls is absolutely killing your productivity. It undercuts your potential. It’s the biggest reason why agents ride that rich/poor rollercoaster and fail to create any predictability in their businesses. This often happens because you didn’t prepare ahead of time. A productive prospecting session begins the night before. You need to get everything prepared so there can be no distractions and no excuses to get started the next morning. The night before, be sure to gain clarity on things like: Who am I going to call? What’s the outcome I want to achieve? What scripts do I need to achieve those objectives? Answer these three questions at the end of each day, get everything ready, and you’re much more likely to follow through on your appointment setting calls the next day.
2. Get Yourself Charged Up – Half-hearted prospecting is not successful prospecting. Even if you’re not “feelin’ it” when the time comes to start making your calls, you need to know how to get yourself to a peak state. And it’s more than just mental. In fact, I think it starts with physicality. A great way to get that energy up is to move your body. Jump on a mini trampoline, do some jumping jacks or whatever it takes to get your blood flowing. Then comes the mental part of it… your affirmations and strategic questions to put yourself in a winning mindset. “I’m a lean, mean, appointment-setting machine!”“What do I love about my clients?” “What do I love about setting appointments?” Do this regularly and I guarantee you’ll have more productive call sessions and build some serious “appointment setting” momentum.
3. Share Your Results? – What’s your first response to the suggestion that you should actually publish the results of your prospecting sessions to the public? I suspect many agents will feel like, “I don’t want to do that. It makes me look desperate or like I’m a telemarketer.” Do you feel that way? Because if so, here’s my response: You’re looking at it all wrong, and your whole mindset around prospecting might be off base. Remember this: You’re not calling people to “sell” them something. You’re calling to check in, catch up, build rapport, answer questions, and inform people of market happenings. You’re calling because you care, and because that’s what trusted advisors do. Once you start thinking about it from that perspective, it becomes a no-brainer to follow up each session by sharing what you achieved on social media.
Imagine a post that says something along these lines in your Instagram Stories: “Just had 10 conversations with past clients and sphere… Keeping them informed on what’s going on in the market. Every day I do this to keep my clients informed. That’s what it’s all about!” Maybe you even sprinkle in some stats, like this: “70 calls made, 6 great conversations, 2 potential buyers and one homeowner considering putting their home on the market. Can’t wait to help them move on to the next exciting stage of their lives!” Not only does that show people that you care, but it informs people that you’re active and you have a system for finding buyers and getting first jump on listings… basically establishing that you’re the go-to “knowledge broker” for your market. A consumer who sees that every day in your Stories will definitely be impressed, and you’ll gain top-of-mind awareness in the process. So start doing it!
I am hoping these help build in some accountability for your prospecting sessions and make it easier for you to pick up that phone consistently and book more appointments! Let me know which one(s) you’ll start doing in the comments below!
Have you branded your real estate business using your name? Does your branding reference what you do, where you do it, and who you serve? Do you have a brand that is hyperlocal or niched based? If not, you are losing potential customers because you are marketing with an ineffective brand. A great brand immediately calls the product to mind. To illustrate this point, how many of these brands do you recognize? The “UnCola,” the “Ultimate Driving Machine,” and the “Breakfast of Champions” (i.e., Seven-Up, BMW, and Wheaties). My personal choice for best-branded real estate brokerage is “Next Home.” Your name: the least effective way to brand your business when most agents and brokerages launch their businesses, they seldom have any training on what constitutes an effective brand. The result is they usually end up branding with their name. Here’s why branding with your name is a poor idea: Please Note: If you are currently branding with your name and have had success in doing so, do NOT disturb what’s working. Instead use the “niched” branding strategies outlined below as additional sources for generating more leads.
