It takes 3 memorable touches (direct mail, phone call, in-person, commercial) for someone to remember your name.
7 touches for them to put your name with your business.
27 for your name and business to become a brand.
Think about the number of times you watched the following popular commercials (below) before their jingles become a permanent fixture in your mind for long after the commercials stopped.
Oscar Mayer “I Wish I Was an Oscar Mayer Weiner”
State Farm “Like a Good Neighbor”
Lucky Charms “They’re Magically Delicious”
Alka Seltzer “Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz”
Band-Aid “Stuck on Band-Aid”
Now THAT’S BRANDING!
How many people in your Sphere of Influence and Farm can you reach out to today to get closer to your goal of being branded?
Remember, people do business with people they know, like, and trust.
Start the process of becoming branded today, by launching a marketing campaign to your Sphere, Farm, or a specific niche.
Real estate agents have done an amazing job pivoting their businesses in 2020. You’ve got that Zoom thing down like a pro and have figured out what makes a winning video walkthrough.
And, just as there was no way we could have predicted a pandemic back in 2019, who knows for certain what 2021 will look like.
Regardless of what’s to come now’s the time to get dialed in on what will provide optimum success in the New Year based on best practices.
After researching what other agents are considering we also feel the need to urge you to come up with a content marketing strategy.
It’s easy to get started and it doesn’t have to crush your pocketbook. It all starts with getting clear on your audience and then creating and distributing content to them, consistently, according to the pros at the Content Marketing Institute.
Get More Listings Scheduled Campaign
Who are you trying to reach?
Think carefully about who you are targeting, buyers or sellers, and what niches within those groups.
Figure out their most pressing concerns and questions. Then, deliver content that offers solutions specific to them.
Content creation
Creating content can be accomplished by your own fingers on the keyboard or graphics software or by hiring a writer and/or designer.
If you have more time than money, the DIY solution is perfect.
However, if your time is better spent on another part of your business, and money is tight for you, consider visiting Upwork.com or Fiverr.com to choose from among the thousands of freelancers looking for work.
Once you’ve figured out which topics would be of the most value to your audience, it’s time to get them out of your brain and into an easy-to-read and understandable form.
That “form” will depend on how you’ve decided to distribute content. For instance, if you’ll be writing blog posts, remember to organize your thoughts in a logical manner and use lots of white space, bulleted lists, subheadings, etc.
Content Card Series Scheduled Campaign
Direct mail marketing pieces should follow best practices as well. To ensure this happens, take advantage of the plethora of professionally designed marketing templates available on ProspectsPLUS.com.
All of the marketing available on ProspectsPLUS! is created by their in-house direct response marketing experts, ensuring you deliver the right message, to the right audience, at the right time.
Which leads us to a related question:
How will you distribute that amazing content?
Content distribution tactics vary and include not only direct mail, mentioned above, but also:
Blog posts
Ebooks
Infographics
Newsletters (either via email or direct mail)
Social media content
Videos
Podcasts
Whichever vehicles you choose, ensure that you can use them consistently, based on the 3-7-27 Law of Branding. That’s the key to a winning content strategy.
To make consistency easy, take advantage of scheduled campaignson ProspectsPLUS.com. Schedule an SOI or Farm campaign for up to one year in just minutes.
You don’t pay until each mailing goes out, and you can cancel or change your order at any time up until the night before your mailing.
Watch this video (below) to learn more about just how easy it is to launch a scheduled campaign.
PLUS: When you have time…here are some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.
1. Become a Neighborhood Brand
Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically each month to an exclusive carrier route. Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.
2. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide
The Real Estate Mailing List Guide outlines the top tools for generating targeted prospecting lists including Baby Boomers, Empty Nesters, Investors, Lifestyle Interests, High-Income Renters, Move-Up Markets, and more. The Guide also defines done-for-you marketing campaigns to match these markets. –Click Here
3. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan
The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. –Click Here
4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan
Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan. – Click Here
5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook
Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here
6. The Free Online ROI Calculator
Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! –Click Here
7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”
The “Crush It” Guide includes easy steps to launching an effective direct mail marketing campaign, how to create a targeted prospect list, the perfect way to layout marketing materials for success, seven opportunities available to target in your area right now. –Click Here
If you sell real estate in Minnesota, Wisconsin, or some other snow-prone state, you may feel you can’t be as busy in winter as you are in spring. But, if you play your cards right, you’ll find winter can be just as profitable a time of year in real estate.
The first step to building a winter book of business is to let potential sellers know just how much they stand to benefit from selling when the weather outside is frightful.
The proof is in the numbers
More homes sell in spring than in winter, according to the NAR. No surprise there.
Unfortunately, this is where the media usually stops when they write about selling a home in winter. What they neglect to state is although home sales can be down in the winter,
…the likelihood of selling a home in winter is better than at any other time of the year, they sell faster and for more than asking price according to a Redfin study.
Fence Sitter Series
Interestingly, this statistic holds true regardless of market.
If you want to make more money this winter, you’ll need to get the word out to sellers. “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” isn’t just a song title.
Let other sellers buy into the myth of winter-is-bad
Dahna Chandler at themortgagereports.com wrongly assumes that “… most people shiver” when considering a winter home sale. “It’s likely the hardest to sell a house in most areas.”
Then, there’s Natalie Campisi at bankrate.com who, when explaining why “… fall/winter is the worst time to sell a house,” says that “December is when homebuying activity comes to a standstill and there’s little inventory available.”
“Little inventory” sounds like the real estate market in general over the past year. Besides, “little inventory” means less competition for sellers, which might be why homes in popular areas, in good condition, sell for more than asking in winter.
Our point is that this is the type of stuff that other agents are reading that scares them away as we approach winter.
It’s time to dust off your blogging skills and make sure sellers in your area know the truth: if you need to sell, this can be a profitable time of year to do so.
Winter buyers are highly motivated to buy
Fence Sitter Series
Think about it: Especially in frigid winter areas, to trudge around town looking at homes for sale takes a certain level of motivation.
It turns out that the rate of job transfers is quite high in the early part of the year. This winter, however, the pandemic-caused migration may still be underway. Those are two groups of highly motivated homebuyers.
Then, there are the nearly 3 million homeowners who are still in forbearance, many of them with mortgages not backed by a GSE. Will they sell rather than bite that bitter pill of the catch-up payment?
Let them know that they’ll do well to sell this winter.
Inventory is even lower
Our squeaky tight inventory of homes for sale doesn’t appear to be loosening up. When winter hits and sellers take their homes off the market, the competition will dwindle even more.
Urgency is the overall feeling you want to convey whether your writing a blog, and email, sending direct mail, or speaking to someone in person.
As all of us have learned in 2020, there is a lot that we have absolutely no control over. Urgency will get those fence-sitters off the fence and into the market.
Take your main “urgency” points and add them to a Fence Sitter Series postcard from ProspectsPLUS!, then send it out to your listing of Fence Sitters. If you don’t have a Fence Sitter list, you can create a list in minutes with the demographic search tool.
Direct mail marketing is such an affordable way to put something tangible into the hands of your potential clients. For instance, on ProspectsPLUS.com you can send 150 Jumbo sized postcards, standard class for only $121.00.
Consider the potential return on investment of these 150 postcards – and it’s truly all upside.
Make sure to include the Timing is Everything brochure in your listing presentation folder. In fact, here’s a promo code (FREEBROCH) for you to download the brochure for FREE, for a limited time.
If you send a newsletter, publish an article on the topic of winter selling creating the same urgency.
Then, start writing about ways to make their homes more attractive in winter via staging, sprucing up the landscaping, etc.
Winter doesn’t have to be the doldrums for your real estate business. All it takes is an effort to counteract the naysayers by getting the word out that selling in winter has definite benefits.
Fence Sitter Series
Send the Time is Running out postcard from the Fence Sitter Series to your Fence Sitter prospect list.
Use the Demographic Searchtool, from a desktop or laptop, to generate your Fence Sitter prospect list in just minutes.
Need help targeting a specific niche of buyers or sellers? Use our prospect list tools to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!
Follow the 3-7-27 Law of Branding and send a series of Fence Sitter postcards over a period of time. Use the “Schedule Orders” tool to schedule months of mailings all at once.
And, remember with scheduled orders YOU DON’T PAY until the order goes out!
Just click the “Schedule for Later” button and pick your mailing date – it’s that easy!
Because what GETS SCHEDULED, GETS DONE!
Watch the video below to learn how to schedule a mailing in just minutes!
PLUS: When you have time…here are some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.
1. Become a Neighborhood Brand
Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically each month to an exclusive carrier route. Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.
2. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide
The Real Estate Mailing List Guide outlines the top tools for generating targeted prospecting lists including Baby Boomers, Empty Nesters, Investors, Lifestyle Interests, High-Income Renters, Move-Up Markets, and more. The Guide also defines done-for-you marketing campaigns to match these markets. –Click Here
3. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan
The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. –Click Here
4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan
Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan. – Click Here
5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook
Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here
6. The Free Online ROI Calculator
Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! –Click Here
7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”
The “Crush It” Guide includes easy steps to launching an effective direct mail marketing campaign, how to create a targeted prospect list, the perfect way to layout marketing materials for success, seven opportunities available to target in your area right now. –Click Here
Competition hasn’t been this fierce in years so savvy agents are using every tool at their disposal to generate new listings, stay top of mind, and brand themselves as the neighborhood expert to call. Staying in touch with the VIPs in your sphere of influence makes sense. Those folks know you, trust you, and are already willing to do business with you. But how do you cultivate new relationships in markets that you really want to make an impact? You use smart tools that connect you with consumers in communities. You offer items of value. And you get out there and meet the people.
Todd Robertson recently shared five tips for making the most of your geographic farm and sphere:
Ask for referrals. Never be afraid to ask for new business. When you get comfortable with the level of service you provide, asking for the business gets easier. Get to the point where you KNOW that you have a marketing plan that helps sellers get the most from their house. Know that you can assist buyers in finding the perfect home for their family. Know that you are an advocate for consumers, and know that you are the best person for the job – then you have an obligation to let people KNOW that you are a real estate professional who can help.
Mail consistently (3-7-27 law). We’ve shared before the 3-7-27 law of branding, which is that it takes three contacts for someone to recognize your name, seven to put your name with your business and twenty-seven to become a brand in someone’s mind. If you are losing business to other agents in your market area, is it because they are consistently making more contacts and staying more top of mind than you are? It’s a tough question to ask, but if you can show up, and show value consistently, then sellers and buyers are going to consider you the brand to trust with their real estate investment questions and needs. Mind-share equals market share. Our Market Dominator members know that they are showing up month after month with the 12×15 Market Dominator to ensure this kind of consistency and value are creating that mind-share and market share.
Let people know what areas and price points that you service. Through your marketing and prospecting, let people know where you do business. If you’ve ever lost a listing because a friend or acquaintance said, “Oh, I didn’t know you worked that area,” you’ll get the message behind this step.
Train on how you take referrals. Let folks know that their referrals are important to you and how they can best deliver that information to you. “Shoot me a text, an email – or give me a call if you know someone who is looking to buy or sell a home.”
Thank your VIPs. Thank everyone for their referrals. Go the extra mile. Send a card or letter to them after the fact. Say, “Thank you for your kind referral. It’s the lifeblood of my business and no small thing, I know, so I appreciate it. Know that I’ll treat them with the highest possible level of care and you can rest assured they, and their interests, will be well taken care of. I’ll also keep you posted on how that referral is going so that you know your friends or relatives are in good hands.” Stand out in every way. People want to do business with those who they know can get the job done with the least number of headaches and the highest return on investment. They also want to work with people who are service-minded and extraordinary in their client care. That old adage, “they don’t care what you know until they know that you care” has never been more true.
Showing up in every way possible in your market place is critical to owning that market share.
Take the time THIS month to put your plan in place to ask for referrals. Can you make ten extra calls this week towards that goal?
Be consistent. The 12×15 Market Dominator is a powerful way to show up each month with value-added content and calls to action. Follow those mailings up with phone calls and door knocking in that geographic farm to help folks put your face with your name and know you are a resource they can count on.
Review your marketing tools, your website and social media. Are you letting people know the areas you serve?
Remember to let people know how to reach you if they have referrals. Review your business cards, email signature line, and marketing tools.
Send thank you messages weekly. We’ve got some easy-to-order Thank-You postcards that can streamline that process.
Make real estate farming a top priority this season and you’ll start to see returns on that investment. Stay strong, and let us know if we can help you.
If you’d like to learn more about the Market Dominator, call Todd Robertson at 702-683-1967.
Need additional marketing help? Contact our team at 866-405-3638.
