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Aug 24 2018

How to Boost Your Real Estate Business For Free

Technology Trends.

We know that real estate agents excel at listing and selling homes, but are not meant to be technology gurus. Much has changed since technology first entered the real estate arena. Today, it is more important than ever to have a full featured website as both a listing tool and a lead generator for buyers. With so many changing trends in SEO, you can actually position yourself to show up before aggregators like Zillow and Redfin with resources that are free. We keep our finger on the pulse of changing real estate technology so you don’t have to. Explore these articles to ensure that your listings are exactly where buyers are shopping.

You’ve built your website with an MLS feed that has excellent prospecting features. You can make the entire MLS work for you, but only if you can drive traffic to your website. The following tips will ensure that your website is discovered by those looking for a home.

Listing Pages

Many agents don’t realize that by creating a page on Google My Business and Yelp, they will show up on a map above the aggregators like Redfin, Realtor.com and Zillow. These services are free to use and only require that you set up and verify your business in a geographical location. We currently offer this service for $299.

Get More Reviews

Share your Yelp and Google pages with past clients and ask for reviews. The more reviews you secure, the higher up on the list you will rank. Set up a Facebook page and encourage clients to like and review you on your page. You can also ask clients to review you on sites like Trulia and Zillow. Reviews have begun driving SEO and website popularity so take the time to solicit reviews from your clients on these sites.

Social Media

Many agents feel that keeping up with Social Media is time consuming and they are not sure where to start. We offer a Social Wall that is integrated on your website that automatically feeds all posts in one place. I have found that Facebook is a good platform for sharing expertise, area tips and larger content with a relevant photo. A Facebook page is an excellent free resource to use a Call Now feature or other buttons that lead to your website. Twitter is a good medium for Just Listed, Just Sold or My Favorites with links back to your website. The content on Twitter is limited by characters, but by linking to your blog posts or listing pages on your website, you can drive traffic to read more on your website. Instagram is an excellent platform for sharing your lifestyle or photos of a more personal nature. If you are selling river properties, photos of your weekend boat adventure are perfect. Agents can come across as impersonal and posting photos of grandchildren or you enjoying the lifestyle you sell are great for Instagram. People want to work with agents they ‘connect with’ so share your personal passion for your business.

Be Creative and Consistent

Branding is important across all of these free mediums so ensure that your look and feel are the same across platforms. Don’t share posts just to fill up space. If the content isn’t interesting to you – it probably won’t be to anyone else either. Showcase your expertise and professionalism, but feel free to be human too. If you are selling ski in and ski out properties, posts about season pass pricing or snow forecasts are interesting to your audience. In terms of real estate information, don’t share the same content you are posting in the MLS. Be innovative and creative. Position two chairs and a cocktail in front of your listing’s spectacular view and invite your audience to: come live the experience. Identify one feature of your new listing and make it stand out. You might prop up skis, boots and poles in the snow in front a newly listed cabin with a caption: the only thing missing is you. Be creative.

Your Website as the Center of the Universe

You may have an agent page connected to your broker’s site, but the moment a prospect wants to search beyond your one listing, they can be connected with other agents in the office. Your office’s agent page is not a website. You need your own website that keeps you in the center of all information you share with clients. A website is both a way to generate buyer prospects, and a listing tool. Once you have a website, don’t forget to center all ongoing contact from your URL. Sure, you can send out MLS information through the software your Board of Realtor’s provides, but wouldn’t it make more sense to continually drive traffic to your site? Find the listing on your website and send that URL instead. The more you drive traffic to your website, the better it will rank in SEO.

Youtube is Free TV

As the world moves toward streaming music and movies, sites like Youtube are becoming popular portals for consumers to pass time. Additionally, a video on your website of you sharing your passion for your business is a free tool that allows you to showcase who you are and what you do. It is easy to create a video of a new listing from your phone and upload it to Youtube. You can then share the URL on Twitter and other platforms for increased exposure. If you are specializing in a market segment, share your expertise via video. Showcase new developments on your Youtube channel and become it’s conduit for buyers. When telling your story, Youtube is a free and popular way to do so.

Finally, search the names of top selling agents and notice the places where they are listed. This can help guide you to portals you may have missed. Remember that the old days of paying Realtor.com or Zillow to be connected to your listing are going by the way of the dinosaur. There are many emerging and free technologies where consumers are searching so be sure to check back here to learn more.

Happy Selling!

Kari Brown

Aug 24 2018

Become a Top Selling Real Estate Agent Through Microspecialization

Marketing Tips.

If you rely on the same marketing message that your coworkers are using, your competition is an even playing field. The articles in this section include ideas on branding and microspecialization, guiding you to step out of the pack and deliver results that nobody else can. Effective and consistent branding along with a clear idea of differentiation can make your message unique and memorable.

Become a Top Selling Agent Through Microspecialization

Microspecialization means that the more you specialize or cater to a niche area of your market, the less competition you will have. Think of it this way: would you rather eat pasta in a Tuscan restaurant that specializes in unique, handmade pasta or in restaurant with a cosmopolitan menu of Chinese, Italian and seafood?

Apple broke out of the computer market by catering to artists and those seeking a more rich experience in music, photos and apps. Tesla developed a cult following on electronic cars because unlike other car manufactures, they only produce electric vehicles. They are not augmenting vehicles to squeeze electronic components in them – electric cars are their specialty.

When you examine the differences between real estate aggregators like Redfin and Zillow, you will see how Redfin has a consumer focused model of reduced commissions, where Zillow makes money through advertising opportunities to agents and brokers. When you step into any marketing arena without a clear plan of differentiation, you will actually have to work harder for less. On the other hand, your niche can set you apart from all competition.

There are a few things to consider when exploring how you can specialize in a segment of the real estate market:

What is Your Passion?

It is important to consider which aspect of the market is interesting enough to keep you passionate about becoming an expert. Perhaps you have a marketing background and will specialize in helping developers produce marketing materials focused on a specific demographic. You may resonate to luxury buyers and educate sellers on where to find them. Many agents choose specific neighborhoods and establish their community watch programs or become an expert about its history and architecture. You may love sports and cater your marketing message to skiing, golfing or hiking enthusiasts. In order to build a consistent message that makes you the expert, make sure that you are passionate about it.

Look at the Numbers

Does this segment of the market have enough sales activity to support specialization? An agent who focuses on entry level homes for first time homebuyers may be challenged when this part of the market dries up. The ability to talk to sellers about long term cycles of opportunity allows you to entice new sellers and build this listing inventory because you educate seller’s on changing trends. In other words, low inventory makes a seller’s market and is the best time to sell. Becoming an expert on horse properties can be affected by future zoning changes. You might benefit more by specializing in large ranch properties or acreage. The luxury and second home market seems to mirror stock market cycles. An expertise with jumbo loans can offset diminishing cash buyers, and aligning with a luxury brand might also be beneficial. If you place all of your marketing efforts into a single neighborhood that has a low turnover rate, you may be disappointed. Ensure that the numbers support your vision and have a plan of action to offset changes in the market.

Become a Recognized Expert

After breaking down the larger market into a niche you are passionate about, brainstorm on every aspect that affects it. If you are specializing in lakefront properties, learn about coastline, pier or buoy regulations. If you want to become an expert on large ranch properties, the internet allows you to represent properties across your state. Your site can become the ‘go to’ place to find resources about septic, well or other issues affecting land that is off the beaten path. Ensure that the blog on your website has weekly or monthly posts about the specifics of your niche. A luxury agent might write about changing trends or advertise where luxury buyers are shopping. Solicit guest article placements in local and regional newspapers. There are many podcasts looking for experts so explore a good fit and reach out for a guest spot. The most important aspect of specialization is that your message is consistent enough to set you apart as the expert. The second most important aspect is that you peddle your expertise in a way that clients discover you.

We’d love to help you develop your marketing strategy and unique brand. Contact us today!

Happy Selling!

Kari Brown

Aug 16 2018

Using Synergy as the Fastest Path to Selling More Homes

Business Coaching.

Our business coaching articles explore techniques that will allow you to dominate your market and take your business to the next level. Articles include time management strategies, synergy and focusing on areas of business most like to produce results. Whether it is effective conversion systems or making the most of lead generation, we’ll help you maximize your productivity and inspire your success.

Why Focusing on Synergy is the Fastest Path to Success

It’s Monday morning and you spent the weekend celebrating your Friday closing. You’ve worked to fill your buyer pipeline and have done all you can to solicit new listings from your farm area. Where can you focus your efforts today that will allow you to have something to celebrate this Friday?

I coach agents to understand synergy when approaching any prospecting activity. Broadly defined, synergy is the combination of action, or the advantageous conjunction of pooling resources and efforts toward a shared aim. To me, synergy means that a new sale or listing is more likely to happen in a neighborhood where a new sale of listing has just occurred. Why? Because when a home sells, it has been priced in a way that meets demand. A well-priced home will generally have more than one buyer interested in the neighborhood. When that home is no longer available, chances are, there are other buyers who have become familiar with the neighborhood and are ready to buy.

Whether you are looking for new buyers or a new listing, riding shotgun on this activity and calling on neighbors can lead to a new listing or a sale. These sellers have probably already received postcards about the sale from the listing or selling agent. They know their home’s value. If they’ve ever entertained ideas of selling, this is the time to do so.

However, your job is to get face to face with every seller in that neighborhood, even if the neighborhood isn’t your farm. What will set you apart from those agents sending postcards is that you will be canvassing the neighborhood to educate sellers on how synergy works. You have a great story to tell.

After you secure a new listing, it will bring buyers directly to you. Remember to spend 70% or your time working on getting new listings. Your listing inventory will do the work of generating buyers.

Visit our Coach’s Box in the Locker Room and click on Kick Off. In this section, you will find a list of new sales and new listings along with a script that will help you craft a conversation that gets results.

Happy Selling!

Kari Brown

Aug 16 2018

Motivate Yourself for Real Estate Success

Establishing self discipline in a tough real estate market takes focus. It is easy to come up with excuses about why you haven’t taken a new listing. Developing a time management strategy and business plan will allow you to set goals, but your day to day activities will require something more fundamental.

The difference between being an independent contractor and an employee is that employees get a paycheck regardless of what they accomplish each day. They work like a cog in the wheel, doing tasks with sometimes, little knowledge of the company’s larger focus. Their tasks were given to them buy supervisors who learned the same tasks when they were hired. Even though you are self-employed, there are things you can learn from the employee employer relationship that can help you stay motivated.

Sure, you found a broker with a big name and national marketing materials, but real estate is more of a partnership and you aren’t working for a ‘company.’ You are an independent contractor and will still need to outline your own work strategy. You are the CEO, the supervisor and the employee wrapped into one.

As the CEO, you’ve developed a business plan that perhaps shows 5 listings signed each month. As supervisor, you develop the discipline to work a structured day of doing synchronized tasks that will achieve the goals of the business plan. However, the employee ‘you’ will need motivation if anything great is going to happen today.

This is where your passion for your business needs to be explored and brought into daily focus. There is really no difference between an agent who works in the real estate business because of their love for houses vs. an agent who sells real estate for the financial freedom it can bring. The first agent jumpstarts his business by attending tours, open houses and keeping abreast of the current inventory. He may use a new sale or a new listing to reach out to prospects in a neighborhood he loves or farms.

An agent motivated by financial freedom may be doing a numbers game of making ‘x’ amount of calls that will lead to ‘x’ amount of closings. His style may be such that he recognizes how a ‘no’ doesn’t mean failure – it is simply a response to a question he asks, as he sifts through possible opportunities he has set on his daily call list. When someone says no, he merely moves on to the next prospect.

You have to consider why you are in the real estate business. Do you love helping new home buyers move from renting to buying for the tax benefits? Have you become the ‘go to’ gal for any new developments? Before you can get your ’employee’ self to turn the cogs of the daily grind, you need a vision that makes you feel good about what you are doing.

It is important to understand that success in real estate is not a ‘one size fits all’ remedy. There are many pathways to success, but all require passion for what you are doing. Some agents do well working open houses because of the exposure to sellers it provides, and the added boon of getting a few buyer prospects. Less than 1% of homes actually sell during an open house, but an agent who knows how to work them has a set game plan. She may hold other agent’s houses open – but always includes her name on the sign. This gives her the benefit of exposure in a new neighborhood. She will begin each open house by meeting and inviting the neighbors to come by. Of course, they are not going to buy the house, but they may become a listing prospect once the home sells.

The point is – success is the outcome of passion applied daily. Some agents get nowhere holding open houses, but do better making phone calls to their sphere of influence. You need to feel good about the work you do each day and recognize how this is the key to your motivation and success. If you can understand your motivation for selling real estate, this can help you develop the right marketing strategy that microspecializes and differentiates you from the competition. You can find more about Microspecialization in the Marketing Tips section of articles.

Be sure to visit the Coach’s Box in the Locker Room to find the Tactical Playbook. This will help you explore your vision and set a game plan for your success.

Happy Selling!

Kari Brown