How to Convert Your Leads into Prospects, and Your Prospects into Clients

Jun 21, 2022

Good job on drumming up some future business. There comes a time, however, when you’ll need to start working on converting your leads into prospects and prospects into clients.

Listen, if you got into real estate to become a full-time lead generator, that’s cool. Not much money in it, but have at it.

If, on the other hand, you aren’t converting those leads into prospects and then into clients but want to learn what it takes, read on.

Snake oil doesn’t work

There are far too many agents who think that the snake-oil peddling coach, book, or podcast will lead them to prospect conversion heaven. Sure, there are a lot of great coaches, how-to books, and podcasts out there.

But, there’s no super-secret script or dialog. A magic bullet to close prospects just doesn’t exist.

Perhaps this is because real estate is a long game. The truth is, there is no one thing that leads to conversion; it takes a combination of personal qualities, habits, knowledge, and more.

How confident are you in your knowledge?

“Customers are more likely to trust salespeople who show confidence in themselves and what they are selling,” according to the experts with Business Queensland.

Knowing your business, inside and out, and knowing your “product” also help you sell the benefits:

Of working with you
Of buying this home
Of selling a home, right now

The southern California agent I once interviewed who took the time to visit every new listing, whether he had a buyer or not, exemplifies getting to know the product.

The Looking For Listings Series is shown above. To see more designs, Click Here.

The new agent who tagged along with a mentor for a solid year ended up with more real estate knowledge than many seasoned agents. That is what knowing your business is all about.

The listing agent who was presented with a problem that might impact a home’s market value, and came up with a solution in seconds, showed an impressive amount of confidence and knowledge.

Think about challenges that you and other agents have encountered and their possible solutions. Think creatively.

Get out in the market and view listings in your typical target clients’ price range. When someone asks about the home at 123 Main St. you can offer details, confidently.

Believe me, this is impressive.

When you can answer every question a prospect throws at you, when you can offer solutions to their problems, you’re one step closer to being the conversion king or queen.

As we mentioned earlier, we have a few other brilliant tips to help you convert your leads and prospects. Keep checking back because part two is coming up soon!

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine, with rich, full-color content, and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts, combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. 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 Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business-building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

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 Take a Listing Today Podcast

Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

Real Estate Market Headlines are Crazy Your Clients are Counting on You to be Calm

Jun 15, 2022

The following are several housing market headlines from the past few weeks,

“Is the US Housing Market Headed for a Crash?”

“Will US House Prices Go Down this Year?”

“This Might be a Housing Bubble.”

“Yes, this is likely the worst housing market ever for first-time buyers. But it still may be a good time to buy a home (really)”

Is it any wonder that American real estate consumers are confused? Even some who work in the industry (especially new real estate agents) are a bit befuddled, not knowing which way to point their marketing dollars.

Calm and focused are qualities to hang on to with all your might during these times of uncertainty.

This is your wheelhouse

Many people equate being calm in the face of adversity to being fearless. The difference between the two is that “… you can’t control your fear response. Remaining calm, however, is the choice to respond a certain way despite the fear,” according to Tanner Christensen at creativesomething.net.

And, frankly, this is something you have experience doing. Consider this, you decided to join the ranks of an industry that offers little certainty when it comes to getting paid. That, my friend, is the perfect display of a calm, focused individual if you ask me.

That’s a memory worth hanging on to and bringing to mind when you need a boost in confidence during these crazy market headlines and industry predictions.

The *Looking For Listings* Scheduled Campaign is shown above. To see more, **Click Here.**

Learn more about the stuff you should know

Becoming somewhat of an expert in the various aspects of your business will do wonders for your psyche, as well. When you’re confident in your answers to questions and solutions to problems, the unshakable factor is built-in.

So, what do you need to expand your knowledge about? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Marketing: A combination of online and offline marketing is an amazing strategy. They require, however, different approaches and may have different audiences.

Drill down to the basics, such as choosing to understand why so many agents are spending their marketing dollars on direct mail marketing as well as, choosing to automate their marketing. Once that’s mastered and direct mail marketing campaigns are in place, move on to the next marketing strategy.

Finance: Don’t count on your clients’ lenders to teach them about mortgages. Learn or brush up on, different forms of financing a home and what the various GSEs offer. Get to the point where you can explain the mortgage process, start to finish, in just a few minutes.

Construction basics: A NAR study finds that 60% of buyers want their real estate agent to be able to point out possible problems with a home.

To become that agent, learn all you can about construction regulations in your area. What permits are required for various improvements? If septic systems and wells are common in your market, get to know everything you can about them.

Much of the research can be done online. Just ensure that the source is credible.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

Is Your Postcard Campaign Ending Soon? Avoid a Break in Your Listing Activity!

Jun 7, 2022

Keep Those Listings Coming!

And, here’s how to do it:

By ensuring homeowners are thinking of you so they call you when they’re ready to list.
Reminding people in your sphere that you’re the area real estate expert so they’ll refer you more often.
Keeping the marketing activity going all year that will ensure you achieve your annual business goals.
Completing a multitude of tasks that need to happen in your business in the most time-saving manner because “time equals money”.

And, there is ONE THING that you can do that will help accomplish everything we’ve mentioned above,

Schedule another recurring postcard campaign!

Ready to launch your next postcard campaign and keep those listings flowing? CLICK HERE.

What if You Haven’t Launched a Recurring Postcard Campaign Before?

The *Get More Listings* Postcard Campaign is shown above. See more, **HERE.**

There’s NO Better Strategy for Kicking off the Second Half of 2022 than with a Recurring Postcard Campaign!

And, you can launch your campaign in just minutes.

Here are 5 ways a scheduled postcard campaign can help you meet your goals for the second half of 2022:

You’ll get More Done – now that your marketing is on auto-pilot, you can focus on other areas of your business.
You’ll Stay in Continuous Contact – your sphere and farm will get the attention they deserve throughout the year so YOU get the listings you deserve.
You’ll Stick to your Marketing Plan – you’ll reap the rewards that a long-term marketing campaign is proven to provide.
You’ll Build New Relationships – you’ll cultivate new clients and expand your business and earning potential.
You’ll Brand Yourself an Area Expert – through continuous touches you’ll become known as the neighborhood expert in a specific neighborhood or community.

So Choose a campaign From one of our 10 categories listed below:

SOI, Farm, Holiday, Absentee, Renters, Expireds, FSBO, Investors, Recruiting, Just Sold Follow-Up.

And, remember, you don’t pay for each month’s mailing, until it goes out (and you can cancel or change your campaign at any time up until the night before each mailing – no penalties).

To get started now and keeping those listings flowing, CLICK HERE.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine, with rich, full-color content, and a sharp, professional esthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts, combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

3 Quick-Read Books Every Real Estate Agent Should add to Their Summer List

May 26, 2022

Summer and books – why reading has its own season is a mystery. Perhaps it’s because we supposedly have more leisure time in the summer. You know, lounging by the pool, sunning ourselves on golden sands next to the sea, or lazing away the day in a hammock at home.

We know that although real estate agents love to keep up with the latest book trends, and crave ways to improve their work-life balance and lead generation, they don’t have a lot of time to devote to reading longer works.

So, we’ve narrowed down our choices to books that won’t take you months to finish reading but offer tons of value in as few pages as possible.

“The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick),” Seth Godin

“Winners never quit,” right? In “The Dip,” Godin makes the claim that it’s a “spectacularly bad piece of advice.”

“Never quit wetting your bed?” he asks. Never quit “… that job you had at Burger King in high school?”

His advice is to “… never quit something with long-term potential just because you can’t deal with the stress of the moment.”

Content Card postcards, shown above, are on sale 10% off right now. Use promo code: SPHERESALE (offer expires 5.28.22). Click Here.

For many agents, the stress of the moment may be that there’s no commission check on the horizon, or converting leads seems impossible.

Don’t quit until you consider Godin’s “3 questions to answer before quitting.”

“The Dip” isn’t one of Godin’s more recent offerings, but we think it’s one of his best. At only 96 pages, it’s a quick summer read.

Find it at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

“Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity,” David Allen

Another oldie but goodie, New York Times best-selling author David Allen shows the reader how to become better organized and, thus, more productive.

A few of the reviews claim that Allen seems to be stuck in the past with some of his tips—advocating the use of actual file folders rather than using the cloud or your hard drive. Overall, however, he garners 4.5 out of 5 stars at Amazon.com with glowing reviews.

Learn how to get things done in 352 pages. Heck, you can read this over at your Starbucks tomorrow morning.

Find Allen’s book at BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com.

“Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time,” Brian Tracy

For me, it was picking up the phone to make that first cold call of the day. For you, it may be something else, but agents seem to all have one thing they need to do that they just don’t like doing.

Brian Tracy has the cure with 21 strategies to get around procrastination. “Read the book, eat your frog by 10:00 a.m., and then feel free to find a restaurant that serves cocktails at lunch,” sums up Laura Vanderkam at FastCompany.com.

Tracy teaches us how to avoid common distractions, especially prevalent when so many agents are working from home.

All that, in 144 pages.

By the way, get the 3^rd edition (published in April 2017) because it contains two chapters that the previous editions don’t offer.

Buy Tracy’s book at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

New to Real Estate? Let’s Bust Two Myths About Building Your Business

May 23, 2022

Welcome to the real estate business. You’re joining more than 1.3 million other professionals, at varying stages of their careers.

In fact, nearly 30 percent of agents in the U.S. have less than two years of experience (and the largest share of that group is aged 45 to 54), according to the NAR, so you are in good company.

Your first few years in your new broker’s office will be an eye-opener. Some of your misconceptions about being a real estate agent will be corrected and you’ll hear conflicting advice on everything from how to generate leads to how best to construct your new website.

We’ve gathered some of the most common misconceptions new agents harbor and dragged them into the glaring light of reality.

By the way, since the majority of real estate agents are female, we’ll be using the feminine pronoun throughout. (Sorry guys).

SOI scheduled campaigns shown above are on sale 10% off the first month. Use promo code: SPHERESALE (offer expires 5.28.22). Campaigns shown from left to right are Recipe I, Get More Listings, Quotes, and Inspiration Series, To see more campaigns, Click Here.

Myth #1: Your broker is your boss

Reality: One of the hardest habits that new agents find hard to break free of is the “employee mentality.”

Sure, a handful of brokerages across the country hire agents as employees, but the vast majority of agents are independent contractors. They are, in reality, small business owners.

As an independent contractor, working under a broker’s license, your broker is not your boss. She cannot (according to the IRS):

Direct and control your work
Tell you where and when to work
Dictate which tools you use or where to purchase supplies and services
Limit your ability to seek out business opportunities
Guarantee a regular wage amount
Provide employee-type benefits, such as health insurance, vacation or sick pay, or a pension plan.

As a small-business owner, you create your schedule, budget, marketing plan, health insurance, and anything else required of the typical small business owner.

In other words, you are your own boss. The growth and success of your business are completely up to you.

Build a robust SOI with the Free BusinessBase Tool, **Here**

Myth #2: Your broker will provide you with leads

Reality: This one goes hand-in-hand with Myth #1. Unless your broker is your employer, you can typically count out getting leads handed to you.

As a self-employed agent, you’ll need to drum up your own business and fill your own pipeline.

How to start?

Get your real estate website up and running and fill it with hyper-local information
Offer to hold open houses for other agents’ listings
Fill your CRM with your sphere’s contact information and start calling them. Download the FREE Businessbase, HERE, for help building a robust SOI list. Then launch an SOI scheduled campaign, HERE.
Determine an area to start farming near where you live or in your own neighborhood. Launch a Farm scheduled campaign, HERE, to start branding yourself in the neighborhood.

One of the biggest myths that the public holds about real estate agents is that anyone can do your job.

Succeeding as an agent, however, requires far more than just getting your license. That being said, we know you can achieve success with the right tools and attitude.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

Three Ways to Endear Yourself to Your Clients and Stand Out From the Rest

May 19, 2022

A couple of years ago I watched an online video about things that buyers do that “Realtors dislike”.

The writer opens the video with this statement: “… there are things that buyers do that I absolutely hate.”

Yes, those are her clients and potential clients she is talking about.

To this day I still can’t quite wrap my head around why an agent would post something like this. Can you imagine the CEO of Olive Garden or JCPenney dissing his or her “bread and butter” in this manner?

Instead of bemoaning the things that real estate consumers do that drive agents nuts, why not think about what agents do that drives them nuts and vow to not be like those agents?

1. Work on your empathy

When you’re empathic, you have “… the ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling,” according to Greater Good Magazine, published by the University of California at Berkeley.

If you feel yourself slipping into an empathy void, try to look at the situation from your client’s viewpoint. For example, the agent in the aforementioned video thought that her clients were being petty when they voiced displeasure about the color of the tile in the bathroom.

Take a deep breath and consider this:

These people are considering paying hundreds of thousands of dollars by going into decades of debt to purchase a home.
The down payment and closing costs alone most likely represent every penny they’ve been able to save for years.
Re-tiling a tub surround can cost up to $4,000 according to the pros at Angie’s List. Tiling a walk-in shower costs from $2,500 to $5,000, but “some companies charge up to $10,000.”

How long do you imagine they’ll have to save for that? Would you be willing to live with unpleasing aspects of a home for that long?

There ya go! That’s empathy at work.

Life Event Series postcards are shown above. To see more designs, Click Here. Send them out to older baby boomers and downsizing seniors.

Need a baby boomer prospect list? Right now get the first 100 prospects on a baby boomer list for free with promo code: BOOM100.

2. Avoid making excuses – for anything

This may sound rude, but it’s nevertheless true: Real estate clients, unless they’re family or friends, don’t care what is going on in your personal life. They only care about ONE THING: buying or selling a home.

It’s not their problem that an agent’s teenage son is acting up and she had to miss an appointment to deal with him.

The most unprofessional thing you can do is proffer a lame excuse for not following through on something you promised. If life happens (which it does) and you can’t perform, hire someone else who can. Pay another agent in your office to do it.

3. Become an excellent listener

In the digital age, the word “listening” encompasses both the spoken and written word. Nine times out of ten, not listening to a client will result in wasted time and frustration for you, your client, the listing agent, and the sellers.

Then there are the rest of the folks in the domino chain that might be affected, from the title rep to the lender to the inspector.

Slow down, and take your time when speaking with or reading texts or emails from a client.

If you listen to your client, with empathy, if you always show up and refuse to make excuses, you’ll have a client for life.

And they will be happy to share your name with others.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

It’s Listing Season, Vow to Leave These Dated Real Estate Practices Behind

May 16, 2022

Every industry has ineffective practices that should’ve been dumped long ago and real estate is no exception.

Going into the summer listing season, let’s vow to leave these four dated real estate practices behind.

1. Not making scripts your own

Yes, I know I may get flack for this one but I’ll be brave and use it anyway.

Do you have any idea of how many agents hound FSBO’s and expireds, using the exact same script?

I’ve been the victim of these calls so I can tell you that, more often than not, those unsolicited callers were using the same script.

Some delivered it better than others, but the words were always the same.

I get that there are certain turning points in some scripts that work to get the homeowner rolling in the direction you want them to go.

But even the best scripts don’t work if they are identical to every other agent in town or if they can’t be delivered in a natural way.

Sale: Get the first 100 prospects on a baby boomer list for free (offer expires 5/17/22). Use promo code: BOOM100. Start here.

2. Not customizing and localizing template websites

Templates are just another version of scripts. How do consumers feel about your template emails, texts, and direct mail letters? “They are just basically form letters,” one homeowner told the Austin Business Journal.

And what about the agents who spend time and lots of money on building a website that will hopefully generate leads and then not change the canned content that came with it?

All that time and money spent creating it is wasted. The agents who don’t take the time to customize their sites are missing out on valuable opportunities, chief among these are organic traffic and trust-building.

If you haven’t done so yet, make this summer the time you pay attention to your site, localizing it wherever possible, adding gorgeous local images, and using those testimonials for all they are worth.

3. Take listings without the budget it takes to market them properly

If you can’t afford to (or don’t want to) pay for a professional real estate photographer, virtual tours, and other marketing tactics, you are doing the seller a disservice by taking the listing.

Perhaps you can work with buyers until you’ve built up enough of a budget to work with sellers.

4. Not being social on social media

In case you haven’t heard, posting your listings and open houses, ad nauseum, is annoying. Not only that, it just doesn’t get results.

It’s not called “Marketing Media,” but “SOCIAL media.” Get social. Join pertinent groups and engage with people.

A new year will be upon us before we know it. Vow to leave the dated aspects of your business behind now and get a head start on taking your real estate business to the next level.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

Where to Find Inspiration for Real Estate Website Blog Topics

May 12, 2022

Finding the time in a busy schedule to sit at a keyboard and pound out blog posts isn’t an easy task. If you’re looking for leads, however, building organic search traffic for your website is an integral part of a well-rounded lead-gen strategy.

The best way to build this traffic is by blogging and promoting the posts, consistently.

The best real estate agent blogs offer something for everyone. Yes, this includes buyers and sellers, but also those readers interested in home décor, gardening, DIY projects, and more.

Let’s go fishing for topic ideas.

Internet sources you may not have thought about

Answering common real estate consumer questions is a good place to start when making a list of blog topics. You know the basics, such as “Should I sell my home before buying another?,” “What renovations should I make before selling?” and “What credit score do I need to buy a home?”

Sure, these are common questions and, yes, they should be answered. But there are so many other topics that real estate consumers may find interesting.

The Farm, Animals I Series is shown above. To see more, Click Here.

Check out the Porchlight section at Zillow.com. They haven’t updated the section in about two years but there are so many posts there you’ll have no trouble finding evergreen stuff to help inspire you:

Interviewing Real Estate Agents: Best Questions to Ask Listing Agents
How to Reduce the Stress of Selling a Home
What Is Escrow?
How much is a down payment for a house?

You’ll find more ways to get your creative juices flowing at Redfin.com:

How to Avoid a Delayed Closing
How Much Does it Cost to Stage a House?
How to Calculate the Square Footage of a House
4 Low-Cost Remodels That Increase Home Value

Find additional topic ideas at magazine.realtor, Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate, and realtor.com.

Online shopping for blog topics

Love it or hate it, Amazon.com seems to offer something for every shopper. Including you. But what you’ll be looking for won’t cost you a penny.

When seeking consumers’ pain points so that you can help solve them, you can’t go wrong with Amazon’s best-selling products list.

For instance, right now, the second-best-selling product in the Home and Kitchen category is liquid ant bait. How about a blog post for the homeowners in your CRM on how to get rid of ants?

Get hyper-local

Even real estate buyers and sellers enjoy local content. It’s also one of the best ways to build organic traffic.

If your city boasts a regional magazine, head straight to its website to mine for topic ideas. For example, Austin, Texas is home to Austin Monthly magazine. Here’s a sample of some articles that would make excellent hyper-local blog fodder:

15 Free Things to Do in Austin this April
Austin’s Top Doctors for Kids 2022
Five Essential Gardening Shops in Austin

Hyper-local blog posts, most of all, make you appear to be connected to and knowledgeable about the community you serve.

Ok, you’ve found some topic ideas. You’ve written and published your blog posts. Don’t skip the last step: push those posts out on social media, linking back to your website.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

Take Advantage of 3 Red-Hot Freebies Perfect for Real Estate Agents!

May 10, 2022

One of my agent friends, a veteran of the industry, once told me that to get agents to attend her broker opens, she would serve food. Not cookies and coffee, but actual buffet-worthy goodies. Now, this was way before serving food at these events became commonplace.

She explained that not only do agents appreciate something to munch on early in the morning but that they also LOVE anything that’s free.

If you’re among the freebie lovers in the industry, take a look at the following list of free stuff that’s perfect for real estate agents.

1. DottoTech Videos on YouTube

Thanks to the amazing Melissa Zevala’s website for information on this freebie. Hosted by Steve Dotto, these tech videos seem custom-made for the real estate agent.

A random sampling of his YouTube channel’s home page finds videos about Google Maps, Google Docs, Zoom tutorials, graphics tutorials, and more. If you’re searching for anything regarding tech, content creation, and productivity, stop by Dotto’s channel.

The Looking For Listings scheduled campaign is shown above. To see more, Click Here.

2. Zoom

Ok, so it’s not new. It is, however, among the coolest and most useful freebies an agent can have. Virtual appointments free the busy agent from the time suck that is driving all over town to visit clients in person.

“We’ve seen clients take multiple listings a day [via Zoom], and never leave their house. That’s amazing,” says Brian Icenhower at therealestatetrainer.com. He also suggests using Zoom for client check-ins, especially listing clients.

“Simply share your screen and show your clients the numbers firsthand! This is huge for your customer service, and a huge value add for your clients.”

Zoom offers several pricing packages and the lowest price one (which is free) includes:

Hold as many meetings as you want with a 30-hour time limit per meeting (yes, the website says “30 hours”).
Group and private chat
The ability to host up to 100 participants

See the rest of what comes with the free package at zoom.us.

3. Canva

Created in Australia and launched in 2013, Canva is hardly a piece of new technology. And at almost 20 years of age, it’s hard to believe that most of its functionalities are free.

A graphics creation app, or as Dotto calls it, a “template-based graphics app,” Canva is ideal for creating presentations, fliers, graphs and charts, social media graphics, business cards, photo editing, and more.

If you’ve never used Canva, you’ll be happy to know that online tutorials abound. Canva, in fact, has an entire library, known as their “design school,” that you’ll find at canva.com. Need more? Head on over to YouTube.com.

Once you create a direct mail piece on Canva you can upload your design to ProspectsPLUS! to mail out. To make sure you have the correct dimensions to upload to ProspectsPLUS! check out this easy how-to.

While the above freebies are quite well-known, we’ve learned that they’re highly recommended among real estate agents. If you have never used them, check them out!

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

Make 2022 the Year You Get Your Testimonials Working For You

May 4, 2022

When real estate consumers visit your website they are typically searching for three things:

Listings
Knowledge of the selling/buying process
Information about what it’s like to work with you

The latter includes answers to certain burning questions common among these visitors, such as will you sell their house for what it’s worth and in the time frame they desire? Will you make the process smooth and easy for them?

Oh, you may be thinking, “so all I have to do is fill my website with my sales stats, my tenure in the business, and brag about community expertise.”

Nope. It’s not that easy

We live in a world where consumers are overly bombarded with sales pitches and have learned to not only tune them out but to distrust them.

Tell them until the cows come home that you’re the “neighborhood expert” or the king or queen of local real estate and they may or, more likely may not, believe you.

Steer them to a website full of helpful information that shows your expertise and provides a sprinkling of strategically placed client testimonials that prove your real estate chops, and now we’re talking.

How to choose testimonials that will attract buyers

It’s easy to get carried away when posting testimonials to your website. Many agents post all of their positive reviews, which results in a TLDR (too long, didn’t read) situation. The visitor becomes overwhelmed and, if they read any of them, it will most likely be the first three or four listed.

Many visitors won’t read any of them.

*Real Estate Times* Series is shown above. To see more, **Click Here.**

If you’re wondering which of your testimonials have the most power with consumers, take a look at these takeaways from NAR’s Homebuyers and Sellers Generational Trends study:

“… an agent who is honest and trustworthy” is the most important criterion used when homebuyers choose their agent.
When working with a buyers’ agent, helping them understand the buying process “… was most beneficial to buyers 30 years and younger at 84 percent and for buyers 31 to 40 years at 71 percent.”
When asked about the most important benefits their agent provided, 61% said that their agents “Pointed out unnoticed features/faults with the property.” Slightly less than half appreciated their agent’s ability to negotiate “… better sales contract terms.”

You can find NAR’s entire study at nar.realtor.

Now, go through your buyer testimonials and select only those that mention the aforementioned. For instance: “Jack helped us understand the entire process, from start to finish.”

Testimonials to attract sellers

Now you’ll want to do the same with your testimonials from sellers.

When choosing an agent, homeowners look at the agent’s reputation, evidence of honesty and integrity, and the agent’s knowledge of the seller’s neighborhood.

Once they choose a listing agent, they expect the following:

the agent to get the home sold within the client’s timeframe

their agent to suggest an appropriate and competitive listing price
the agent to aggressively market the home to buyers

Finally, go through all of your testimonials to find the very best, either buyer or seller. This is the one you’ll want to place, prominently, above-the-fold on the home page of your website.

The rest can be sprinkled on your other pages.

Sure, there’s a time and place for self-promotion, but when every page of your website is devoted to describing your accomplishments you become the Selfie King or Queen of real estate.

Skip the self-hype and let your past clients speak for you.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

How to Calm Your Clients’ Concerns About the Market and Maintain Their Confidence

Apr 28, 2022

According to economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal, they think there’s a 28% chance of a recession within the next year. This figure, by the way, is up from last year’s prediction of a 13% chance of a recession.

If you don’t think that your clients and potential clients are worried about a coming recession, did you know:

In a recent CNBC poll, “81% [of U.S. adults] say they are concerned the U.S. will face a recession in 2022.”

So, what will you say to your clients and potential clients when they express hesitancy to jump into the real estate market because they’ve read there’s a recession coming?

Here are some pointers to keep their confidence high.

Real Estate Times Series is shown above. See more, Click Here.

Can’t fault the housing market this time

Economists state that it won’t be a faltering housing market that causes the possible 2022 or 2023 recession. Instead, if it happens, they expect it to be triggered by the Fed’s efforts to curb it.

Those efforts to get prices under control come with a risk: “… the central bank will do too much, sinking the economy in the process,” according to Matt Egan at CNN.com.

Economists point to the differences between the market in 2008 and today. Think back to the Great Recession. That housing bubble, economists agree, was caused by the easy access to mortgages.

Today’s market is influenced by supply and demand and, “… this time around, household finances are stronger and home values remain at historic highs,” claims Alcynna Lloyd at BusinessInsider.com.

So, how does this knowledge calm your clients’ nerves?

According to experts, there will be no housing bubble to explode in their faces. Therefore, remind them that anyone with a heartbeat could get a mortgage prior to the Great Recession. Today, lending rules are much more stringent, leading to far more qualified buyers looking for homes.

Finally, not all recessions are like the recession of 2008 and a recession doesn’t automatically equal a housing crisis.

Homeowners have nothing to worry about

If a recession comes to pass, homeowners should ride it out quite well.

They’re also sitting on a ton of equity right now – equity that isn’t likely to dissipate during the forecasted recession.

Huh?

During the five recessions prior to the 2008 recession, home prices actually increased.

Overall, the jobs market is so strong right now that a recession is unlikely to impact home prices and, thus, values.

If we listen to the experts, your clients have nothing to worry about when it comes to the real estate market. Don’t let them buy into the media hype and you’ll keep them in the market.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

Sending Mother’s Day Cards to Your Sphere? A Glimpse at How the Holiday Got Started

Apr 25, 2022

On Sunday, May 8, 2022, we celebrate Mother’s Day.

Women comprise 64% of the population of real estate agents in the U.S., according to the NAR, and 60% of licensed brokers.

With 57 as the median age of a real estate agent, it’s safe to say that among the ranks, there are lots of moms.

So, to all of the mothers out there, I wish you an early Happy Mother’s Day!

How the holiday got its start

Although it’s easy to assume that Hallmark created this holiday, it did not. In fact, this annual celebration of motherhood has an interesting path.

It was the brainchild of Anna Jarvis who was seeking a way to pay tribute to her mother as well as mothers across the globe.

A tireless campaign

Jarvis’ mother, who gave birth to 11 children had a dream that someone someday would found a memorial to mothers commemorating them for their service.

Jarvis, along with her supporters, started a letter-writing campaign to city officials. She also spoke frequently on the topic at her church.

However, nobody was interested in Mother’s Day. But, she kept at it and, in fact, was able to get assistance from John Wanamaker, a Philadelphia philanthropist.

It took them two more years to make West Virginia, Jarvis’ home state, the first in the nation to set aside a day to honor mothers.

Four years later President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day an official national holiday and set aside the second Sunday in May just for moms.

Retail hijacks another holiday

What should have been a happy ending for Jarvis turned to frustration when retailers jumped on the holiday as a way to increase their profits. From florists to chocolatiers to gift card retailers, Mother’s Day became a retail holiday.

An ironic twist

Anna Jarvis felt that her mother’s idea had been hijacked, so she decided to throw her energy into a campaign to have the holiday rescinded. She organized boycotts and spent the rest of her life campaigning to have Mother’s Day repealed.

Regardless, of how the story ended for Anna, I truly enjoy celebrating Mother’s Day and honoring the mothers in my life.

If you’re interested in sending out a celebratory greeting to the mothers in your sphere, there’s still time. Send Mother’s Day postcards out first-class mail by April 29th to ensure they arrive in time.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here

Lisa Gray

Snake oil doesn’t work

How confident are you in your knowledge?

This is your wheelhouse

Learn more about the stuff you should know

Keep Those Listings Coming!

And, here’s how to do it:

Schedule another recurring postcard campaign!

What if You Haven’t Launched a Recurring Postcard Campaign Before?

There’s NO Better Strategy for Kicking off the Second Half of 2022 than with a Recurring Postcard Campaign!

To get started now and keeping those listings flowing, CLICK HERE.

Myth #1: Your broker is your boss

Myth #2: Your broker will provide you with leads

1. Work on your empathy

2. Avoid making excuses – for anything

3. Become an excellent listener

1. Not making scripts your own

2. Not customizing and localizing template websites

3. Take listings without the budget it takes to market them properly

4. Not being social on social media

Internet sources you may not have thought about

Online shopping for blog topics

Get hyper-local

1. DottoTech Videos on YouTube

2. Zoom

3. Canva

Nope. It’s not that easy

How to choose testimonials that will attract buyers

Testimonials to attract sellers

Can’t fault the housing market this time

Homeowners have nothing to worry about

How the holiday got its start

A tireless campaign

Retail hijacks another holiday

An ironic twist