The Two Most Productive Lead Generation Activities in Real Estate
Filed Under Real Estate Marketing, Real Estate Prospecting Ideas | 4 Comments
In June 2008, four Baylor University researchers discovered that referrals and IVR (Interactive Voice Response) technology rank as the top two most productive lead generation activities in real estate.
Researchers Pullig, Indergard, Blake and Simpson focused on lead generation as a three-step process:
- Lead generation. This step identified potentinal clients through efforts like direct contact, print advertising, list acquisition or referrals.
- Conversion of the lead to an appointment. This step established an appointment.
- Closure of the appointment to a transaction. The final step involved a listing with a seller or the buying of a property with the buyer.
What Real Estate Lead Generation Activities Really Worked
In addition to referrals and IVR technology, real estate agents in the survey rated seven other lead generation activites as significantly productive–that is, they had a higher return on investment than other activities.
- Repeat Business
- Open Houses
- FSBO Expired Leads
- Networking
- Signage
- Telemarketing
- Internet/Website
Where Do Agents Spend Their Money When Creating Leads?
The Baylor researchers identified 18 different sources that real estate agents invested their lead generation dollars into. The top nine sources for lead generation spending were:
- Direct Mail (23%)
- Internet/Website (17%)
- Print Advertising (14%)
- Referrals (10%)
- Signage (9%)
- Repeat Business (6%)
- Open Houses (5%)
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Technology (4.5%)
- Promotional Items (4.2%)
What Kinds of Leads and How Do Real Estate Agents Handle Them?
Five Characteristics of Successful Lead Generating Real Estate Agents
The Baylor researchers also discovered two things about those real estate agents who reported doing better or much better in their market. These real estate agents also reported:
- Significantly higher lead conversion rates to appointments
- Higher conversion rates from appointments to a transaction when compared to those who say they are not doing as well
Real estate agents who reported doing much better in their market tended to:
- Have higher lead and appointment conversion rates
- Spend less on open houses as a percentage of their total spending
- Spend less on promotional items as a percentage of their total spending
- Are more productive when using open houses
- Are more seeker oriented in their lead generation activities
The Not-So-Surprising Results of Faster Lead Conversion Follow Up
Characteristics of Successful Agents in Tough Markets
- Higher lead and appointment conversion rates
- Greater spending on Internet/Website as a percentage of total spending
- Greater spending on IVR Technology as a percentage of total spending
- Less spending on signage as a perentage of total spending
- Less spedning on open houses as a percentage of total spending
- More seek-oriented in their lead generation activities
In contrast, real estate agents in a healthy market tended to lean on attract-oriented lead generation strategies while agents in stable markets use a balance of both seek and attract-oriented activities.
What to Do Next
One way to approach this information is to use it as a baseline for your own lead generation investment.
Are you spending your lead generation dollars in the right places? More importantly, are you tracking, measuring and testing your lead generation activities?
Without question, IVR technology is the perfect tool for tracking and measuring the effectiveness of your lead generation activities. In fact, IVR technology can slach your advertising costs by 30% while raising the amount of leads you generate.
Second, determine which type of market you are in. Then, adopt one of the strategies pointed out above: seeker-oriented, attract-oriented or seeker/attract-oriented.
Third, develop an effective referral-generating system. Service-For-Life is a great, inexpensive tool.
Finally, if you are stumped on how to close more appointments into listings and more listings into transactions, seek help. Training by coaches like Bob Corcoran is priceless.
Did you find this article useful? If so, leave a comment. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
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Once upon a time a seller could price her home with the promise that she would get the full price.
She would review each offer as it came in. She would work with her agent to make a careful and calculated decision about which offer she should take. Then, she would select her buyer–normally above or at full price.
Unfortunately, in most markets today, this doesn’t–or can’t–happen.
The Death of the Typical Bidding War
Hot markets meant buyers made absurd, exuberent offers for just about every home that was priced. That doesn’t happen anymore.
In a slow market, a typical bidding war begins–if it begins at all–with the marketing of a slightly undervalued home. That means selecting a price that is at the low end of the expected selling price range.
This may not please your seller one bit–but it may result in multiple offers. And naturally, multiple offers tend–no promise, though–to drive the selling price up.
However, if you choose a low-pricing strategy, make sure that the property is adequately exposed to the market before you entertain offers. (And make sure you use the seven natural laws of prospecting I wrote about in August.) That’s the key to taking advantage of the psychological buyer quirk I’m going to share with you in a minute.
The New, Slow-Market Approach to Pricing a Home
Typically, sellers using this approach wait 10 days to two weeks before they entertain offers. During this time there is a broker open house and one or two public open houses.
Without this exposure, your home could sell at the low end of the range because only a limited number of buyers will have seen the property.
But if all the pieces come together, you’ll have an environment for a multiple offer situation–which can be very lucrative.
How to Correct Pricing Misconceptions of a Home Seller
In addition to stressing the benefits of setting a lower price to your sellers during the pre-listing stage, this time also affords you the opportunity to correct sellers’ misconceptions on pricing.
Some sellers might be tempted to choose another salesperson who quotes them a higher asking price.
This shoud make you ask: “Does the salesperson want your success or a listing?” A salesperson who gives an unrealistically high price is making an empty promise.
Why Overpricing Doesn’t Work
Other sellers believe that overpricing will work to their advantage because it will give them ‘bargaining room.’
If you run into sellers who want to overprice their home, tell them that althouhg overpricing in a rising market may be appropriate, no one has ever had a successful client overprice in a falling market.
Leaving bargaining room isn’t as valuable a negotiating tool as bringing in a greater number of highly motivated buyers.
The Secret to Creating Irresistable Demand for a Home
How do you lure in the greatest number of motivated buyers? By setting a competitive price. Seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t know this.
Explain to your client that an attractively priced home pulls in buyers. This sometimes means a home below market value.
Tough sell. But remind them, more buyers equals more competition. And more competition means that the home will actually sell–which, in reality, is the most important thing to keep in mind.
Tap Into This Psychological Quirk of Buyers
Did you know that a home usually gets the most attention from buyers just after it’s put on the market? That’s right. Immediately after a home is listed, its flooded by buyers.
These are the buyer’s who are highly motivated. They have agents. They have instant notification via email and text when homes go on sale. They scour neighborhoods weekly. They’re primed.
And they flock to new homes on the market–ready to make a bid on the drop of a hat if necessary.
If you could view the number of times a home is seen during the first four weeks, what you’d see is a spike in activity in the first two weeks–then a sudden drop.
That’s why it’s necessary to encourage sellers to take full advantage of this phenomenon by showing their home in the best condition and…setting it at the best price during the first four weeks of the marketing efforts.
You want this home to be something buyer’s won’t forget–even if they’re not ready to buy just yet.
Here’s why.
Let’s say you did this for two weeks…but no takers. After your careful research, you and the sellers decided it’s still priced too high because you got plenty of activity…but zero offers.
If you use a tool like Showing Feedback, all you have to do is log into your Email Center on your account and send an email blast to all of the agents who have viewed the home. This includes every single person who was in the first wave of buyers.
If the home is priced accordingly, then there’s a good chance that you have laid the foundation for multiple offers.
What to Do Next
Now, if you find that you still don’t get the activity that you expected–lower the price even further.
You’ll eventually get to a point where the house is priced at an acceptable rate for the market. Send out another email blast…and kick back…and wait for the calls to come in.
Because they will. It never fails
Remember: There are enough people in this world who are interested in your client’s home. As long as you have chosen your clients carefully.
You just have to make sure the price gets to a point that they crave. Then they’ll come out of the woodwork.
Did you find this article useful? If so, leave a comment. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
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Marketing. What is it?
It’s not about tactics. Promotions. Or advertising.These things are useless without a sound foundation of research and analysis.
Marketing is about consumers.
It’s about understanding how they think, behave and talk. It’s about proper communication, segmenting and powerful distinctions.
Most importantly, its about understanding what works–and why. Without this last piece, everything else you do is simply blowing in the wind.
To help you understand this concept of marketing in real estate, lets look at four of the most popular and proven ways marketing shows up in real estate.
Social Media
It’s hard to argue with what is hot. Right now, social media is hot. But is there a payoff?
Becky Boomsma thinks so. She says “If you are interested in defining your expertise in specific geographic areas or on specific real estate topics, social media participation is extremely effective in developing and differentiating your expertise and brand.”
On the other hand, Redfin’s Glenn Kelman wonders if this is the best way to talk to his clients.
Glenn quotes a New York Times article by Clive Thomson called Brave New World of Digital Intimacy that suggests social media like Twitter or Facebook is at best creating an awareness of your actions–that’s best suited for people under 30.
For a business, it seems rather absurd.
That’s why I like to go back to stalwart advice from online experts Brian Clark and Jakob Nielson.
Jakob Nielson said in his article Web 2.0 Can Be Dangerous, “AJAX, rich Internet UIs, mashups, communities, and user-generated content often add more complexity than they’re worth. They also divert design resources and prove (once again) that what’s hyped is rarely what’s most profitable.”
And in his article Blogging Is Dead, Brian Clark said, “Blogs that provide true value by teaching, informing and offering unique perspective are thriving….Value will always be key.”
Mass Marketing
Is mass marketing dead? Good question.
Mass-marketing used to mean making one pair of black Nike shoes and getting the whole world to wear them–even if someone wanted a pink pair and another wanted a red pair.
Today, we’ve moved into the world of target marketing. Nike makes shoes in every color for every sport. Anyone is bound to find a shoe that’s perfect for them.
But target markets are very large. So, target marketing is nothing but camouflaged mass marketing.
How does this work in real estate marketing?
Segmenting your audience into specific needs. Seniors who want to buy an upscale second home. Young urbans who want to buy their first home condo downtown.
For you, this means finding a niche–and owning that niche.
While you may market mass amounts of email, postcards or phone calls to this niche, I think it still means that mass marketing is dead. You cannot make money throwing large amounts of mud at the wall. The same holds true for the next real estate marketing medium.
Branding
Will anyone recognize your brand? This is the question Steven Van Yoder asked in his article on real estate branding.
That’s an important question.
Why? Establishing a brand is equal to defining who you are. Establishing your brand requires determining who you are, what makes you different than everyone else and why anyone should trust you.
Establishing your brand helps you focus on your business. It helps you identify what you can offer consumers that no one else can offer. And it will help you grow.
But you can’t focus on branding alone. Branding is very difficult to monitor and measure. That’s why you need a predictable and proven marketing strategy like direct response.
Direct Response Marketing
What can direct-response marketing do that social, mass and brand marketing can’t do?
It can tell you what works and what doesn’t. Quickly.
Direct-response marketing is the bread and butter for marketers who want to not only survive, but thrive–in any economy.
Think Bill Jayme. QVC. Billy Mays.
Obnoxious, you say? Think twice, as the Direct Creative Blog argues:
I think few would say they “like” to watch a Billy Mays commercial. He’s considered obnoxious by many. But that’s irrelevant. Just as people say they dislike catalogs while continuing to place orders, they say they don’t like Mays’ in-your-face style while emptying the store shelves of the products he pitches.
The one thing you should learn about direct-response marketing is this: learn from what works–not from what you like.
Here’s What You Must Learn
Your best bet? Train yourself to think like a direct marketer–then test new marketing mediums like social media. Or experiment with target marketing.
That way you can avoid the over-hyped. You can avoid flushing money down the toilet. You can avoid trying to keep up with an overwhelming amount of stuff.
When you test everything, you are making decision based on facts. And, I think you’ll agree, that’s the best way to do business.
Did you find this article useful? If so, leave a comment. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
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Tired of dealing with snobbish buyers? Getting walked all over? Losing? If so, what you need to do is create some competition using the same principles farmers use to grow crops. Let me explain.
Prospecting is essential to success in real estate. It’s a key ingredient that will help you earn and get paid the amounts of money you want to make each year.
Yet, so many agents disregard, forget, ignore or flat out neglect prospecting. That’s bad. Especially in this market.
What you need to do–instead of settling for whatever rolls in from the front desk–is create an arena of competition. That is, you must get buyers competing with each other for a home. That means, you must get a lot of buyers bidding for the same home.
How do you do that? Prospect, prospect, prospect. Even though that sounds easy, it won’t happen over night. You have to sow today, to reap tomorrow. Any farmer will tell you that. It’s the natural law of the harvest.
And part of the law of the harvest is to focus your efforts on prospecting. Just like a farmer plants, then waters, then fertilizes, then harvests…you also focus on the other three pillars of real estate–and prospect.
Follow these seven natural laws of prospecting to create competition and in no time you’ll harvest a bumper crop this year of leads, clients and commissions.
1. Prospect Enough
Prospecting is THE PATH to finding the leads that will become your successfully closed transactions in the weeks and months ahead. If you don’t search for and cultivate the best people to work with in your territory, your competitors WILL find these people…and successfully close transactions with them instead.
2. Prospect With a Good Attitude
People respond to you based upon what you are putting out to them. When you have a great, positive, fun-loving attitude people will like talking to you more.
3. Follow-Up With Prospects
Following-up on the leads you’ve uncovered and enrolling your prospects in follow-up systems is really what being a successful real estate agent is all about. Follow-up systems are essential.
4. Prospect the Right People
Are you prospecting the people you ideally want to be working with? Are you prospecting in the geographical area that has the properties you really want to list or sell? Make sure you’re prospecting the people who will be closing the exact kind of transactions you want to be working on.
5. Ask Your Prospects for Referrals
When you are prospecting you will maximize your results when you ask your prospects who they know that might be interested in buying or selling in the near future. When you ask the right questions you can also begin prospecting everyone else they know. Don’t be afraid. Just do it!
6. Mail to Your Circle of Influence Constantly
Mailing to your circle of influence keeps you “top of the mind.” You get their attention and remind them of who you are every single month. And the more you consistently mail the higher the probability that one of your circle of influence (or someone they know) will buy or sell right around the time that one of your mailers arrives on their doorstep.
7. Prospect Even After You’ve Generated Activity:
To be the best you can be in your real estate career you need to prospect constantly. If you get busy and stop, or substantially reduce your prospecting you will most definitely experience a gap in your incoming commissions in the weeks and months ahead. Don’t delude yourself about this. Know with certainty that whenever you slow down your prospecting you will substantially decrease your income for the year.
Final Thoughts
Carve each day you work into four quadrants and focus on one pillar in each quadrant. Especially prospecting. Don’t deviate. Always prospect and you’ll create competition and render those snobbish buyers humbled. Count on it.
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Around 1970, psychologist Walter Mischel launched the ground-breaking “Marshmallow Experiment.”
Mischel left a group of preschoolers inside a room with a bell and one marshmallow on a plate. His instructions: Wait 20 minutes and you’ll get a second marshmallow. If the child couldn’t wait 20 minutes, ring the bell and he could eat the one marshmallow–but not get another one.
Videos of the preschoolers show children squirming in their seats, hiding their eyes and kicking their legs. Some children couldn’t wait one minute. Others bailed at 15 minutes. And some waited the 20 minutes and got a second marshmallow.
What Mischel Did Next
Then Mischel tracked these children as they grew up. What he found was astounding–and could have a big impact on your real estate business.
According to Mischel, those children who waited 20 minutes ended up getting higher SAT scores, entering better colleges, learning more, earning more money and having a better social life.
Those who couldn’t wait the 20 minutes ended up becoming bullies, failing parental and teacher evaluations and using drugs.
What does this tell us? It tells us that self-control is essential. And here’s how you can use self-control to grow your business.
The Curious Secret to Self-Control
Do you know what the most popular alternative medicine website is? It’s Mercola.
Several years ago Dr. Mercola started his website and did nothing but give away great, free content–on his website and in his e-newsletter.
Over a period of three years he built his subscriber base to 1.2 million people. So, when he started offering books and other information products, his subscribers bought them in droves.
The same thing happened to David DeAngelo.
DeAngelo is the founder of DoubleYourDating. It’s a website that helps men learn how to pick up beautiful women and get as many dates as they want. DeAngelo started the website in his basement six years ago. And in less than six years, he makes $20 million dollars a year.
How did he do it? The same way as Dr. Mercola. He gave away free, useful, unique, urgent and specific information. Information people could use. The moment he started offering products, his subscribers bought like mad.
Why Does This Work So Well?
I’ll tell you why. Reciprocity.
What is reciprocity? Reciprocity is the principle–noted by Dr. Cialdini–of returning a favor. In a nutshell, if I give you something, you have a sense to give something back to me.
Reciprocity was one of the reasons the Hari Krishnas were so successful back in the 80s. They gave flowers to people who then felt obligated to hand over a dollar or two.
What Does Self-Control Have to Do with Growing a Business?
Here’s the self-control part: Stop bulldozing people with requests for work, leads or money. Stop harassing people at parties, on the street or in church.
Instead, learn how to give–and give enormously–before you ask for anything in return
For example, give of your time. Volunteer your time at a soup line, homeless shelter or city hall.
Or, if you like to write, create substantial newsletters or articles. Give away free, useful information. Or pay someone to do it. Think valuable stuff that people can actually use–like breaking news on the mortgage crisis, secrets to avoiding foreclosure or insider tips on short selling.
Or, give up two hours of your week to consult with clients on a variety of issues like financial planning, gardening, do-it-yourself home repair or elderly care.
Find out what people want and enjoy–and give it to them.
Why You’ll Never Have to Ask for Business Again
Here’s the point: Avoid demanding people for work, leads or money before you give anything away. Delay your immediate gratification.
Like Dr. Bernie Siegal said, “If you spend two hours a week giving your time to people who aren’t your family, you’ll never run out of family.”
The same goes for your business.
If you invest just a small amount of time, money or effort–without strings attached–in other people you won’t have to ask for business. You can simply make an offer and people will respond immediately.
So, what are you giving away? Let me know in the comments. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
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Everyone must write. Whether it’s an email, postcard or blog post, you have to write. It’s one of the most important things you can learn.
Writing overflows to most of what you say or do. And it can make the difference between appearing like a Stanford graduate versus a high school drop out.
But if you want your writing to persuade, compel, encourage or convince everyone, all the time–then you need to write like Bill Jayme.
Who Is Bill Jayme?
The late Bill Jayme was one of the greatest direct mail copywriters of the 20th-century.
He wrote persuasive direct mail letters for magazines like Business Week, Smithsonian and Esquire. Commanded $20,000 to $40,000 per letter he wrote [this is back in the 60s, 70s and 80s]. And had powerful publishers flying to California begging him to write a subscription letter for their magazine.
Why?
Jayme had a way of making friends with the reader. Of respecting his intelligence. Of always being fascinating. And selling ever so gently.
Copywriter Gary Bencivenga said “I don’t think anyone could match his record of control packages in the magazine field. He had such an erudite flair for capturing the essence of a magazine and making you want to be part of its magical circle.”
So, how do you write letters, emails or blog posts that make people want to be part of your magical circle? Master these seven techniques Bill Jayme used religiously.
Arouse Curiosity with Mystery and Intrigue
In direct mail, your outer envelope is the place you arouse curiosity. In blogging, it’s your headline. Email, subject line.
Jayme’s teaser copy almost always compelled people to rip open the letter and read the copy inside. He did this by asking questions like the Psychology Today headline:
“Do You Close the Bathroom Door Even When You’re the Only One Home?”
Or leaving a cliff hanger: “The problem was Mrs. Eggers was no bigger than a minute….”
Understand, Jayme’s creative ideas came from tireless research. He studied to learn what worked and didn’t work. He didn’t depend on inspiration, whiskey or cocaine.
In the same way, hard work will help you create a promise or story line that people cannot resist.
Involve the Reader
Getting your reader to think about doing something is a great way to get readers into your blog post, email or letter. Getting them to actually do it will lift response even higher.
Think psychological profile.
Ask questions like: “Do you go to the movies alone?” or “Do you feel awkward when you are talking on the phone naked?”
Include two or three dozen yes or no questions and you’ve got yourself a winner.
Create Urgency
Jayme once said that the concept of urgency should be part of every package. Jayme’s favorite way to create urgency was through scarcity:
“Only so many copies printed each month, no more.” Variations to this theme abound.
- Only so many hours I can spare in a month, no more.
- Only so many invitations printed a year, no more.
- Only so many clients I can juggle a month, no more.
- Only so many subscriptions I can manage a week, no more.
The point: Create the impression that if someone doesn’t act now, then he’ll be left out in the cold.
Elevate the Status of Your Service to Something Else
This is by far the most intriguing Jayme idea: transubstantiation.
One of Jayme’s greatest examples of transubstantiation came through a letter selling a course on mastery of personal computers.
Instead of talking about drives, RAM, OS, coding or programming, Jayme focused on the deeper benefits of personal computing: Success.
Jayme’s letter begins:
You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. If you’re planning to succeed in business over the coming decade, you’ve now got just two choices left. You can come to terms with the computer. Or you can marry the boss’s daughter.
He’s not selling features or facts. He’s selling a new life.
Say FREE Six Ways to Sunday
Does the word “free” still work in on our sophisticated society? Undoubtedly. Even among luxury clients.
“When something is free, say it six ways to Sunday,” advised Jayme. “For example: ‘Free gift comes to you with our compliments gratis—on the house. It’s yours to keep as an outright present without cost or charge—not a penny!’”
Don’t ignore this copywriting staple. And if you don’t believe it has the power to persuade, go ahead and test it yourself.
Avoid the Boring
In other words, get provocative. Write stuff that elevates people’s blood pressure. Get’s them dreaming.
Use words like sex, death, naked or free.
Think “Confessions of a Naughty Negotiator.” Or “20 Reasons Why So-and-So Is Dead Wrong about Real Estate.” Or “Why Don’t Home Sellers Know These Facts?” Or “14 Things FSBOs Aren’t Telling You.”
Stir the pot and you’ve got yourself a killer blog post, email or letter.
Target, Target, Target
Know who you are talking to. And make sure you clear the mud from the windshield for them.
Jayme developed a knack for identifying the audience–and the reason why the magazine was ideally suited to them–in his copy, right up front.
For instance, the teaser copy for a promotion for Coastal Living straightforwardly says: “If you love the shore, this new magazine will do you a world of good.”
Five words–”If you love the shore”–told you if the magazine was for you. Do the same for your blog readers. Or email subscribers. Anyone you’re writing to.
More of Jayme’s techniques can be found in The Bill Jayme Collection.
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If you’re struggling to make ends meet, here’s some more bad news: Economists think inflation is here to stay. And it’s likely to get worse.
You’re only option is to make some serious money.
But it’s not that easy. Or is it?
Most people don’t achieve serious wealth because they make simple mistakes. Simple, easy-to-avoid mistakes that prevent them reaching their goal of building serious wealth.
What are those mistakes? Lets look at them.
1. Depending on someone else to make you rich.
Serious flaw, here. While it might be tempting to believe this, the reality of building wealth is this: You need to do it for yourself. You can’t rely on anyone else.
2. Believing you can build serious wealth overnight.
When it comes to real estate, it seems we’re constantly bombarded by claims and stories of people who’ve made a mountain of cash in a ridiculously short time.
But let’s get real: these stories are rare. These people are a tiny minority. Plus, they’re usually the recipients of some extremely good circumstances.
That’s not to say you can’t build serious wealth quickly.
I know dozens of real estate agents who’ve gone from near bankrupt to flushed with cash in a matter of months. The key is you need a plan. I’ll get to that in a minute.
3. Working hard is the path to serious wealth.
This simply isn’t true. Yes, you have to work. And at times you will have to burn the midnight candle. But simply working hard will not make you a wealthy real estate agent.
There’s something else you have to add to the mix, which brings me to my next point.
4. Being innovative is the trick to pulling in serious wealth.
Eh, what do you think?
My mind goes immediately to all the hoopla over Web 2.0. Yes, social media is hot. Yes, social media is innovative. Yes, it’s cool. But is it bringing in the bucks?
It could be. And I think it needs to be part of your strategy. But it in itself is not going to change the face of making real money in real estate.
Also, I’ve known people who spend all their time trying to make some new discovery that they miss the basics of real estate marketing: giving your audience exactly what they want.
Innovation, in fact, can sometimes prevent you from making money. Just walk through the dot com graveyard to see what I mean.
5. Play aggressive defense to build a mountain of cash
Super Bowl 42 was a game of defense. The Giants and Patriots pretty much kept each other from scoring. And in the end, the Giants won because they played exceptional defense.
But the Giants also put points on the board. And when it comes to building wealth, you have to do both. Defend and attack well.
Because if you lose money, you have to recover lost ground and catch up. This eats up time.
How to Accelerate Your Income
Yet, the key to making money in real estate–to steadily building your wealth so a dying market won’t kill you–is to use the power of compound marketing [name and email required]. And once compound growth kicks in, sit back and watch your income accelerate.
Compound marketing needs to be part of your overall strategy. Like I mentioned earlier, at times you will have to work hard. But combine that with a little innovation, some compound marketing and a dash of time, and you’ll begin to climb out of your hole.
The Secret of the Worlds Wealthiest Real Estate Agents
Remember when I said in order to compete in this inflation-plagued market you’ll have to make some more money? Well, that’s exactly the secret behind long time real estate stars like Roger Dawson, Howard Britton and Bob Corcoran.
Might seem simple, but they had a plan: accumulate wealth and pour it back into their business. The key, though, is they had a plan.
Do you see my point? I different times I’ve stressed this. I’m doing it again today.
Great Way for Mr. Average to Build Wealth with Low Risk
Now your probably wondering what is a good way to make money, that’s simple, easy, cheap and can make a tidy sum with low risk?
You may have never considered it before but it’s a response hotline.
Now, I know you’re not stupid. This is our product. And we’d love to do business with you. But more importantly, because we’re hearing that pain of so many real estate agents it would be dishonorable if we didn’t step up our approach.
See, I’d love nothing more than to see you succeed in today’s tough market and I truly believe that this a simple way to build wealth open to all. That’s my reason for my boldness.
Besides, I’ve been in your shoes before. I’ve struggled, swamped with debt and fought tooth-and-nail to bring in a few bucks so I could keep a roof over my children’s heads.
Furthermore, I wouldn’t be telling you this if I didn’t think this was a great way for you–whether you are an average agent or a mega producer–to build wealth quickly with such low risk. In fact, it’s our clients who are telling us this. Who are telling us its been the difference between life and emotional, mental and career death.
And finally, it’s that little bit of innovation you need to supercharge your business.
Take a peek at this innovative tool right today. Now’s a really good time with the offer we’re running. But you don’t have long. We’re pulling the offer Friday at midnight.
And if you have any questions about real estate or current market conditions, please take a few moments to enter your question in the comment box below. My goal is to provide you with some of the best marketing tips, tools and ideas to making money in real estate, but I can’t answer questions that aren’t asked.
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Are you wilting in a market meltdown?
If you’re a real estate agent, there is a good chance that a daisy chain of financial disaster–collapsing housing bubble, wave of sub prime defaults, frozen corporate credit markets–has become your worst nightmare.
In your head, you may think it’s about time to panic.
Maybe sell the boat. Get a second job (if you haven’t already). Something to stop the bleeding and make ends meet.
What follows is a strategy that I think can have a phenomenal impact on your business in both the short-term and long-term.
You Can Succeed in Turbulent Times
In the short term it will bring in interested leads. In the long run, a listing or two a month, once it’s picked up some steam.
You probably won’t have to wait that long for it to pick up steam.
I’ve seen this strategy work wonders for agents in two months. In fact, one agent gets 2-5% response each time he follows one step of this strategy.
What is it?
It’s an optimum follow-up plan for renters–buyers who are in a perfect position to take advantage of the amazing housing opportunity before them.
This strategy is simple: Lure prospects in with a free educational report. After that, you’re going to follow up with a series of provocative and proven postcards and letters to convert leads into house buyers.
The Fundamentals of This Automatic Strategy
When promoting the free educational report, you’re mailings will alternate every month. One month you’ll send an article. The next month you’ll send a letter. This goes on for six months.
The articles and letters you send will explain to renters different ways they could own a home for less than it costs them to rent a home. But these aren’t just any articles and letters.
The key is personalization.
First, tear the left edge of the article, then photocopy it. After you have all of your copies, write “Mr. Smith, I thought you might like this. Gary” on the top in a blue felt pen.
This sort of personalization is a proven method for boosting your response rates.
The letters are fine-tuned tools to effectively attract attention, create interest, provoke desire and get action.
The 3 Approaches You Could Take
Now, because of the number of leads you can generate through this approach, your follow up is crucial. There are 3 approaches you could take to follow up.
- Mail the follow up series and wait for phone calls.
- Limit the number of mailers you send so you can personally call each.
- Enlist the help of a lending agent, affiliate or telemarketer.
Each approach, of course, has its drawbacks. The ultimate scenario occurs when you have a hungry lender. However, no matter which approach you choose, consistency is key.
Here’s how the optimum plan looks for following up with these renter leads.
Six Automatic Steps to Eager-to-Buy Clients
When the prospect calls for the report, confirm their address and take the steps toward building a relationship.
Three days after you mail the report, call each prospect to make sure they got the report. At the same time, offer something free: a list of new homes for sale or a referral for a pre-qualification. Build value. You’re trying to reduce the barrier between you and your prospect.
For those who didn’t convert on the free educational report, mail the first letter. For those who didn’t convert on letter 1, mail letter 2. For those who didn’t convert on letter 2, mail letter 3. And so on until the six month.
Crucial Attitude You Must Have with Each Follow-Up Call
First, with each phone call, seek to understand your prospect. If they are being defensive, figure out why.
Second, never shoot for the jugular. Use soft language, non-committal language. Be patient.
Your goal is to get them to accept an offer for weekly home listing updates. Once you’ve got this, you can stop mailing them.
After Step 4, the Strategy Adjusts to Strong then Stronger
Three days after you’ve mailed Letter 4, you’re goal is simply to stay in touch. Let the system work. Eventually the time will be right.
However, three days after you mail letter 6, you may want to try a sharper angle.
At this point they’ve gotten several free things from you. Ask for some kind of reciprocity–whether it’s a promise to stay in touch or just a casual commitment to receive weekly updates.
If they are still cold, simply mail them every three months.
Here’s How to Take This to a Deeper Level
If you’d like to learn more about this strategy, I’ve fleshed it out in a 22-page comprehensive report called “How to Target Renters and Get Them to Respond.”
This quick and easy report is free of charge.
In fact, along with the report, you’ll also get access to a video detailing how I used Craigslist to generate 147 leads in 39 days with one listing and a interview with a real estate trainer who coaches 6 of Wall Street’s top 50 agents.
Get instant access to this report right now. Download the “How to Target Renters and Get Them to Respond” report.
And if you have any questions about real estate or current market conditions, please take a few moments to enter your question in the comment box below. My goal is to provide you with some of the best marketing tips, tools and ideas to making money in real estate, but I can’t answer questions that aren’t asked.
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It has come to our attention that we somehow landed on a couple of email black lists and as a result, many of you haven’t seen our most recent emails.
That’s not exactly the type of thing you want to hear when you’ve just sent out two emails with valuable strategies and business building information in them.
So, I decided to go ahead and create a post out of the email just in case we managed to miss any of you. If you’ve already seen these two reports, please forgive me, I just don’t want to leave any struggling agents out in the cold when I have the ability to help.
Over the past two weeks I’ve made two reports available to real estate agents, completely free of charge.
If you just want to jump right in, go to http://realestatemarketingmastery.com/renters-report, enter your name and primary email address, and you’ll be good to go.
You see, just recently I discovered an absolutely amazing (no make that beyond amazing!) marketing strategy while attempting to sell my waterfront condo at Lake of the Ozarks, in central Missouri.
Here’s what happened.
I’d heard about a free online ad source called Craig’s List, but never used it. So I thought, “What the heck? I’ve got nothing to lose. Why don’t I try posting my condo ad there?”
Well, after one try I got nothing. Not a call. Not a hit. Notta.
So I thought “Hmm? Why don’t I take some of the ideas I’ve been teaching agents for the last 12 years and apply them to this thing?”
My next run?
One or two calls…nothing great.
So I tweaked my ad a little bit.
Then…three or four calls…a little better.
So I tweaked it on last time…and then it happened!
My ad started to gather some steam. This time I got 11 calls the same day I posted. That’s when I knew I had something. After three or four revisions of my ad, subject line and a variety of other things, I had, almost by accident, discovered a formula that generated 147 inbound leads for my condo in the next 38 days!
And the best part was it didn’t cost me one red cent!
I got good quality prospects calling me day and night from a source that didn’t cost me a thing, except 5-10 minutes a day to post and re-post my ad. What was even more amazing is the fact that I did it all with just ONE listing…my condo.
All I could think was… “This is CRAZY!”
I’m getting leads out the ying yang…they’re good quality leads…and I’m doing this all while agents around the country are literally dying and dropping like flies.
Armed with this new knowledge, I put together a quick video (don’t worry, it’s 100% free) that explains exactly how I got 147 Leads in 38 Days from just 1 Listing. More importantly, I take you step-by-step through this information, and show you how to apply it to your real estate business and start generating leads right now.
Again, let me stress the fact that there’s no sales pitch, no catch, I am simply trying to help agents around the country that I know are struggling right now.
To watch the video, just go to http://realestatemarketingmastery.com/renters-report and enter your name and primary email address. We’re trying to avoid any future black list issues so you’ll have to verify your request.
Once you’ve verified your request, you’ll be given the access code to both the “147 Leads, 38 Days, 1 Listing” video as well as the 22 page Renters Report.
The Renters Report is another potent, high-powered strategy for you that will help you grow your business even in the midst of this struggling market.
In fact, it will show you how to capture huge chunks of market share and grow your business like never before…because of this tough market!
You see, every market has unique opportunities to profit…if you know what to look for and how to go after the business.
And in this tough market right now…foreclosures…resetting adjustable rate mortgages…declining property values…it’s created a “perfect storm” in the housing market that’s been a nightmare for sellers but an absolute dream for buyers.
If you have a well-developed strategy for working with Renters you can exploit a very timely series of events and start generating those sought after buyers leads right now, at a time when your competition is searching for scraps.
Rather than just giving you a quick general overview of how to target, and more importantly convert renters into buyers, I wanted to give you something that you can use, something substantial that you can take and put to use immediately and begin to see results in your business. So, I’ve decided to provide you with a comprehensive 22 page Renters Report.
This report is absolutely awesome! It gives you step-by-step instructions, precise details, a six-part mailing program, six follow up mailers, and word-for-word phone scripts to help you follow up with the leads you generate!
Ok, that should bring all of you affected by the black list issue up to date. To request your copy of these two 100% free reports, simply go to http://RealEstateMarketingMastery.com/renters-report, and enter your name and your primary email address. Again, there’s no sales pitch, no hidden cost, it’s just solid usable information that will help you not only survive this market, but thrive in it.
The comments on this post will be closed, not because I don’t want your feedback on this, I absolutely do. I would just prefer it if you’d post your feedback over on the Real Estate Marketing Mastery blog so that we don’t fragment the conversations.
Thanks and here’s to your success!
How to Write a Damn Good Email Subject Line
Filed Under blogs, Email Marketing, Real Estate Marketing | 9 Comments
Stop. I know what you’re thinking.
You think email is lame, backwards and not worth your time. If that’s you, think again. I’m about to turn everything you knew about email newsletters on its head.
In fact, I’ll go so far as to prove to you that not only is email better than the “new” technology like blogging, but email newsletters are more essential than blogging. Let me explain.
Email: The Most Powerful Internet Marketing Tool for Real Estate
Don’t get me wrong: social media is important. James Carey, Columbia University journalism professor, said this about the absolute human need of community:
“Man is a diurnal creature. He’s up during the day. He sleeps at night. And he has to sleep somewhere. And because he’s vulnerable, he sleeps in a shelter. And then other people come and sleep in their shelters nearby. And before you know it, they realize they will be safer if they join together. Next thing you know, they have a police force, and someone picks up the garbage.”
This may explain why social media is so hot. Social media like blogs.
How hot?
In February 2007 the Gallup News Service estimated that 57 million Americans read blogs. Somewhat astounding in a nation of over 300 million.
However, to put that in perspective, read this: The same Gallup poll found that reading blogs is far less popular than email. Approximately 87% of Americans read emails.
That’s roughly 261 million people. And that makes email ubiquitous, relevant and one of the most powerful real estate marketing tools on the Internet.
Four Principles You Must Know Before Writing Truly Great Emails
Crafting an email is pretty easy, right? Slap some copy in a message and hit “Send,” right? Dead wrong.
There’s four basic things you need to know up front about writing compelling and powerful emails.
- Nearly half of email readers look at just the first few lines they see in the preview pane to decide if they want to continue reading the message. Less than a third will read the whole thing.
- According to Loren McDonald at EmailLabs, 75% of email readers who use the preview pane use it in a horizontal format and most often see either 4-5 inches deep of content (44%) or 2 to 3 inches (41%).
- The average time allocated to a email newsletter after opening it is only 51 seconds says Jakob Nielson.
- People are highly inclined to skip the introductory, happy talk in newsletters. Happy talk, you know, “Welcome to my newsletter. Thank you so much for reading.”
The takeaway from these four bullets: your subject line and early sentences have to hit hard, fast and furious, or the entire email newsletter will not survive inbox congestion.
The Unique Relationship Between Email and SEO
Here’s something else to take into consideration: With more email services offering large amounts of gigabytes to store emails, users are archiving more.
However, doing this adds to their information overload. But, it enhances the value of email. That means email newsletters are now part of someone’s personal inventory.
How this can work in your advantage is that these emails will be found when people search their inboxes .
And like Jakob Nielson said, “And although your newsletters don’t need full-fledged search engine optimization, you should consider how users might want to retrieve old issues in the months or years to come.”
That’s why one of the most important components of successful email newsletters is the subject line.
Introducing the Art of Writing Microcontent
Subject lines are part of what online writers call “microcontent.”
In a nutshell, all microcontent needs to be clear, concise and compelling. Usually under 140 characters. Think summary. Think keywords. Think subject line. Think Twitter. These are examples of microcontent.
With the subject line you get about 40 to 50 characters to explain your macrocontent–what your email is about.
So no matter how persuasive and electrifying your email is, unless the subject line makes it absolutely clear what the email is about, people will never open it.
The Essence of Writing Subject Lines That Capture Attention
Subject lines should say something valuable, timely or important. It should say “If you don’t open and read this email, you’ll miss out on something big.”
Subject lines should also work in tandem with the from line. Save the From line for your or your company’s name.
Subject lines must intrigue people the same way a well written headline does. It must stroke the right emotions.
Indeed, subject lines are a major driver of click-through rates, as they “direct” people to pay attention to specific articles, offers and information. Every email you send should have an implied strategy behind it.
Subject lines must recognize this and “speak” to the needs and interests of your people as individual customers, readers or prospects.
As a result, the job of a subject line now must not only entice someone to open an email, it must discourage the recipient from deleting it as an unwanted email. You must plummet something deep into people’s psyche with your subject line. Something that makes people restless until they read your email.
To do that, follow these 13 tips:
1. Personalize
Don’t put something generic like “Loren, Your Personalized May Newsletter.” Make it specific to them, their business or their life. Know thy customer.
2. Segment
Each segment should receive appropriate and different subject lines. This is related to personalizing, but deserves it’s on line. Segmenting and creating subject lines to your readers’ interests should improve open and click-through rates.
3. Use a Consistent Style
After testing and learning what style works best for your audience, stick with that approach: humorous, provocative, incentive-based or tip-oriented.
4. Have Someone Else Write, Edit or Review Subject Lines
Have someone other than you write, edit or at least review the subject line. Use this person like a newspaper story editor who will push your copy to new heights of relevancy and interest.
5. Send Subject Lines to Yourself
One of the best gauges of the strength of a subject line is to send sample emails with different subject lines to yourself. What kind of response do they warrant when they arrive in your inbox: “holy mother of God!”, “Boring.” or “hm, interesting, I’ll read later”?
6. Watch Your Own Inbox for Good Subject Line Ideas
The greatest inspiration for writing subject lines may come from watching your own inbox.
7. Track and Measure What Works Best
Track and analyze the type of subject lines that produce the best open and click-through rates. Open rates are the most obvious measure of the success of subject lines, but click-through rates are also an important measure of how well the subject line drove people to take action and click on a specific link.
8. Tie Subject Lines Into Current Events
A news angle is especially effective when promoting real estate offers affected by current events on a daily basis.
“How to Stay One Step Ahead of the Latest Fed Rate Cut to Get a Deal of a Century” is a good example.
9. Test Short Versus Long
I’ve heard that subject lines of less than 50 characters achieve higher open rates than those of 50 or more characters. That being said, there is much debate about shorter versus longer subject lines.
If you can, test various lengths and words to see what generates the best results with you.
10. Avoid The Generic and Boring
Don’t be afraid to be very specific in subject lines. Broad and generic subject lines: Bad, terrible, lazy and emails with such subject lines deserve banishment. Your subject line should be as narrow and specific as possible to generate interest and action from a majority of people.
11. Write It First
Perhaps the most common mistake marketers make is waiting till the last minute to write their subject lines. Don’t. Jt down multiple potential subject lines for your email early in the game. Never start from scratch at the last minute.
12. Push the Frickin’ Envelope
Don’t be afraid to try subject lines that are more aggressive, creative, tantalizing, specific or controversial. Of course, test everything.
13. Test, Test and Test!
Like every facet of email marketing, the most certain way to know if something is working is to test it. And email subject lines are the easiest thing to test. Split your email subscriber list in two, send one list one subject line, the other list a radically different subject line. Once you’ve discovered the winner, continue to test and tweak that subject line.
Conclusion
Still think email’s a backwater cousin to blogging?
Consider this: outside of traffic, subscribers and click through, the real ROI of blogging has yet to be cemented. Email, on the other hand, can give you cold, hard facts about the effectiveness of your campaigns quickly.
Sure, blogging has important intangibles that you must cultivate. But I wouldn’t depend on it to feed my family.
Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
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