Thursday, March 28, 2024

Lisa Gray

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Lisa is an accomplished marketer with years of expertise in direct response marketing, digital marketing, data analytics and business development working with both B2C and B2B.

    “There’s someone for everyone,” an old adage, but nevertheless accurate.

    And it’s true for houses as well. There’s a buyer for every house; sometimes, it just takes longer to make the match.

    But there are other reasons aside from being overpriced that homes don’t sell, as you well know.

    Dated homes, from layout to easier-to-fix problems like nasty wallpaper, ugly carpet, or just plain filth, may send buyers fleeing back out to their cars.

    It’s not only the home you’ll need to work with but your client as well.

    What is a problem listing?

    Aside from the obvious (filth, outdated features, bad layout), there are other reasons a home may end up on the hard-to-sell list. These include:

    Location of the home

    Unreasonable or unacceptable HOA rules

    Cosmetic problems

    Poor renovation choices

    Bad neighbors

    Yes, other problems may pop up that make a home a problem listing, but these are among the most common.

    Offer solutions

    “Some problems with properties require more work than others,” say the Chicagoagent.com editors. We would add that some require more money as well.

    Agent Jolenta Averill of Madison, Wisconsin’s Lake & City Homes knows this first-hand.

    Averill took a listing for a circa 1940s home. It had been gutted and remodeled, removing all traces of the charm of the period. 

    The Call to Action Series is shown above. The learn more, Click Here.

    In the process, the front door had also been removed and the space walled over, creating a major psychological barrier for potential homeowners. 

    The homeowner fired her original listing agent and hired Averill before leaving the state to get to her new job in Florida.

    With an absentee owner, the agent was forced to take control of the situation. She requested architectural renderings and price quotes from several contractors, tasking them with designing a walkway, a stairway, and, of course, a formal front entryway.

    Rather than becoming overwhelmed by how much work might be required, Averill reviewed her analysis with an eye toward what might concern buyers the most. In the end, “There wasn’t an objection I didn’t consider and couldn’t handle,” she said.

    Be their pillar

    Sellers of problem homes are often frightened, and can you blame them? They worry about how much work and money it will cost to make the home competitive in the market. They worry that the home may not sell at all. 

    They have no idea where to start the process. That’s where you come in.

    “You have to take the time to investigate and tell them nothing is impossible,” according to agent Julie Brown at chicagoagentmagazine.com.

    “Some things are harder than others, but you should be able to reach out and find resources to help you … It’s constant communication and just telling them that you’re there for them. You’re not just there to help them make a sale. You’re there to help them through the entire process, whatever comes up,” She concludes.


    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 Magazin

    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 and 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 6-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Planner

    The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 6-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

    3. The Free Online Real Estate Business Plan

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

    4. 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


      Marianna recently sent out Just Sold Postcards (shown above). To learn more, Click Here.

      Congratulations, Marianna on winning this week’s contest!

      Marianna had the following words to say about her success sending marketing out from ProspectsPLUS!,

      “ProspectsPLUS! has so many great options for postcards, newsletters, magazines, business cards, and more. I love sending their holiday-themed postcards to my past clients to help them celebrate the holidays and to remind them that I am still in the real estate business.”

      -Marianna Jacobs

      Marianna, thank you for your review. We truly appreciate you and your support!


      Don’t Forget to Enter For Your Chance to Win a $75 ProspectsPLUS! Gift Card! (see how below)*

      HOW TO ENTER: Just leave feedback regarding how using marketing from ProspectsPLUS! has impacted your business, and you’re automatically entered into our next contest.

      Leave feedback on Google HERE.
      Leave feedback on Facebook, HERE.

      *If you’ve already entered our drawing in the past and haven’t won, you don’t need to enter again. Your entry remains valid, and you still have a chance to win.

      Don’t forget to watch for next Friday’s email announcing the weekly winner!


      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 and 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 6-Month Strategic Marketing Planner

      The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 6-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

      3. 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

      4. 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

        Each year, the folks at realtrends.com release their annual real estate website rankings. Those rankings, regardless of the company compiling them, are always a fun read.

        Realtrend’s criteria for getting a spot on their list include websites with the “best design.” In fact, they’re looking for “show-stopping websites.”

        These are not always the best-designed websites to increase organic SEO or capture leads.

        Nope. 

        It’s not just the prettiness factor that proves a real estate website “… has what it takes.” We beg to differ. The “best” real estate websites actually work for their agent-owners. 

        They do this by ranking in organic searches, helping to convert leads, educating visitors about the buying and selling process, and informing them about the area and its attractions. 

        The Quotecard Series is shown above. To learn more, Click Here.

        And they do it while not annoying the visitor, making them search for the information they need, by loading at lightning-fast speeds and more.

        There’s an old Duke Ellington-composed song that says it all: “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing).”

        The best real estate websites are not only pretty, but they’ve also “got that swing”

        A real estate website that has “that swing”:

        • Features responsive design (don’t yawn–we’ll explain, in plain English)
        • Is attractive in its simplicity
        • Converts visitors, or leads, into prospects
        • Attracts organic search engine traffic
        • Is user-focused 

        Let’s take a look at each aspect in more detail. Then, use this information when having your real estate website built.

        Responsive design

        This is one of those phrases that makes eyes glaze over. 

        What it refers to is a website that adapts its “… content based on the browser space available. This allows consistency between what a site shows on a desktop and what it shows on a handheld device,” according to Mads Soegaard at interaction-design.org.

        Why is this important? Responsive websites load quicker on mobile devices. And, since 76% of homebuyers use a mobile device when searching for homes and agents, responsiveness is critical.

        Attractive in its simplicity

        Think “clean” when it comes to a real estate agent’s website layout. Don’t let anything detract from your branding, from your CTAs, and from the user’s experience (fluff won’t be read anyway). 

        Leave a lot of white space, use short sentences and paragraphs, and take advantage of bulleted and numbered lists.

        “… make your website — especially your homepage — simple and clean with easy-to-navigate buttons and tabs,” suggests the pros at quicksprout.com.

        Simplicity is key, they say because sites “… with simple designs have higher conversion rates.”

        Check back soon for part 2 where we’ll show you how to build a website that attracts organic search engine traffic, ensures higher conversion rates, and the extra “goodies” it should offer real estate agents.


        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 Magazin

        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 and 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 6-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Planner

        The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 6-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

        3. The Free Online Real Estate Business Plan

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

        4. 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


          If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to be more productive this spring, look at two tips we’ve rounded up from productivity experts. We think they’re a good place to start.

          1. Quit focusing on the wrong stuff

          Which tasks that you perform in your workday produce the best results? Make a list. Those tasks should be your focus and the rest should either be discarded or handed off to someone else.

          They simply aren’t worth your time and performing them makes you less productive.

          If you need help figuring out what to keep and what goes, “Consider tracking everything you do, the time it takes to complete each task, and the results,” suggests CamMi Pham, at medium.com.

          “Then go back, assess your list to see what did (or didn’t) prove fruitful, and consider your findings to optimize for future tasks.”

          2. Eliminate distractions

          Many of us suffer from distraction-itis. For me, it’s the cute little miniature pinscher that sits on her own chair next to my desk. What a time stealer!

          For many, it’s the phone. The average mobile phone user picks up his/her phone 1,500 times per week, which works out to an estimated 3 hours and 16 minutes daily. (crossrivertherapy.com)

          When eliminating distractions, which is critical to becoming more productive, it isn’t enough to just put the phone in another room. It will still ring when you get a call and chime to notify you of texts and voicemail. 

          The First Time Buyer Series is shown above. To learn more, Click Here.

          Turn it off. The same goes for email on your laptop or desktop. Create a dedicated time to check the phone for messages, to check your email, and to attend to whatever else commonly distracts you during the workday.

          Why?

          “There is clearly a direct connection between the various distractions at work and productivity,” according to Juliet Dreamhunter, a certified goal success coach.

          And the reason we’re so easily distracted? Apparently, our attention span is 8.25 seconds. That’s less than a goldfish’s at 9 seconds, according to Steven Zauderer, CEO of CrossRiverTherapy.

          If it’s an irresistible pup, your kids, or coworkers, use those 8.25 seconds wisely and figure out how to minimize distractions and work at your full capacity.

          May this be the year your productivity soars!