Monday, October 7, 2024

Real Estate Door Hangers That Work

Door Hangers are the perfect tool for branding yourself as the neighborhood expert. They catch attention, provide the perfect reason for canvassing, and are an easy and effective leave behind.

Here are seven ways to SCORE BIG using Door Hangers.

1.  Content is key

The right door hanger for the right situation is key. Who are you trying to attract? Our Listing Inventory Series of Door Hangers are designed specifically to help agents find more sellers.

We also offer FSBO’s Door Hangers and Expireds Door Hangers, which are handy to have in the car when you come across a FSBO that just popped up or see an expired come off the market that’s close by.

In addition, you can use door hangers to brand yourself, spotlight a new listing, or advertise an open house.  The possibilities are endless.

 

2.  Include a call to action

Often agents will put time and energy into getting their message right, then forget to tell their prospects what they want them to do next.  Always make sure there is a call to action that’s simple and direct on your marketing pieces. For a memorable call to action select our Free Competitive Market Analysis Door Hanger.

3.  Know your neighborhood

Know how many homes are in the neighborhood you are canvassing. Then, based on the number of homes, come up with a strategic plan for conquering the whole area over time. An easy way to confirm how many homes are in a neighborhood is to use a tool available on our EDDM page (HERE). Once there click the “Get Started” link. On the next screen, there is a link to “choose your carrier route” this tool will allow you to find out how many homes are in a given area so you’re sure to order enough door hangers.

4.  Keep them readily available 

Keep a variety of door hangers available to address different niche markets so you are prepared for any opportunity that might cross your path. Many agents stock their trunks with various materials including, objection handling brochures, extra business cards, listing agreements, presentation folders, and door hangers.  As the saying goes, “To be prepared is half the victory”.

5.  Timing is everything

If you want to just get the hangers on the door without actually talking to many people, mornings (after people leave for work) are good.  If shaking hands and making connections with potential sellers and buyers is what you are after, then early evening after people have made their way home, is a smart choice.

6.  Blitz an Area

Take your team along and create a plan of attack that includes breaking up the canvassing in sections. Then blitz the neighborhood from all sides and begin the process of branding the area and officially introducing everyone to the new area experts.

7.  The layered approach

Prior to delivering door hangers to a specific neighborhood or in conjunction with this effort, make a few phone calls, send some agent introduction postcards or a community newsletter.  That way when you are meeting face-to-face, your prospects will be more likely to recognize you as the ‘neighborhood expert.’  If you’re using the listing inventory door hangers, we have Listing Inventory Postcards that compliment them nicely. You can find them here.

Get prepared for your next FSBO sighting by ordering 100 FSBO Door Hangers today to have available to leave on the door of the next home you see with a FSBO sign.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: Get Instant Access below to 3 FREE tools that will help you CONQUER Your Market this year!

1. An Easy & Effective Agent Business Plan – Treating your business like a business it is crucial to your success. Our one-page simple, yet powerful agent business plan is the answer! – Click Here

2. Marketing Dollars Success Tool – Enter your numbers into our Free online calculator to find out how to get the best ROI from your marketing dollar, instantly! – Click Here

3. Get a 12 Month Expert Marketing Plan – Get a free 12-month plan for What marketing to do when. Four key target markets included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here

Also…check out these cool tools created to make YOUR life easier 🙂

Turn One Listing Into Many – All From Your Mobile Phone, Click Here

Automatically Send Your Just Listed/Just Sold Postcards – Work Smarter Not Harder, Click Here

Become a Neighborhood Brand – With the Market Dominator System, Click Here

 

Nick

We recently linked up with one of Miami’s top Real Estate Agents, Nick “Tiger” Quay.

Nick was nice enough to share his expertise on the latest camera trends and how they’ve become essential to his success. Check out his thoughts on two camera types that have gotten some serious buzz over the past few years.

I run a real estate team in Miami within a highly competitive market. Offering 3D Virtual Tours gives me an edge for sure. As a 4 year owner and avid user of 3D cameras for 3D user controlled virtual tours, I feel they are much more immersive than 360 cameras.

I have closed several deals sight unseen with buyers using 3D, my sellers love it because they know the other listings they are fighting against aren’t getting even half of the actual buyer exposure they are receiving.

“Time is money and this has helped my ROI on listings exceed my own expectations many times.”  


Nick

I was an early adopter in 360 technology as well and received my first camera long before they were available in stores. The differences in the technology are that 3D cameras like the ones I use take thousands of different images and string them together in a seamless environment that enables users to literally walk around a space as if they were there.

“Like many things it’s only as good as the camera operator and editing”.

Most 360 cameras that you’ll see used by agents or hobbyists have 1 or 2 lenses that shoot in a fish eye type format then get stitched together automatically by the cameras software or software on a smartphone.

There are some that start around $2,000 that use 4 lenses which can shoot in gorgeous 4k however they require a much higher skill set to be edited and stitched.  360 cameras can also shoot video so it adds a motion and sound component not available with 3D VR applications.

360 cameras are by far easier to use and much cheaper to get into.


Although 360 videos are a blast, remember they do require some time to edit as well as specialized equipment if you plan to do anything other than shoot and share. I use them for my “quick and dirty” marketing on social media.

360 is fun and a great way to share a new space with others.  I use it quickly to share things that I know my sphere of influence engages with.  It’s a lot of fun and everyone loves the novelty of it as well as feeling included in group photos and activities.

Many of my clients are major techies so showing them things they have seen before, but from a different perspective keeps them interested.

To sum it up, for social media 360 wins and for sales and marketing 3D VR is my go to. It’s really about being creative, loving what you do, and sharing cool things and experiences with others.

As an agent it’s really important to find your niche and know “who” you are. From passions, to experiences, to tech; it’s all relevant and equally as important if you’re truly savvy.

Both 3D VR and 360 tech are major parts of my business and two things that have absolutely contributed to my success.

Make sure to follow Nick on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with the latest real estate tech trends.

 

 

First the essentials

You may already be familiar with these tools, but are you really making the most of them? When strategically used, not only do they make your work life a lot easier, but they will help you generate new business as well.

The best smartphone for agents

Your smartphone is the one tool you’ll use more than any other in your real estate practice.

Most REALTORS® — more than half – use the Apple iPhone®, according to NAR, second in popularity is Android™. While a smartphone’s features are critical in an agents decision-making process, the types of apps it can run and their ease of use is important to consider as well. Again, the iPhone® gets the award – this time for the sheer number of apps, but the number and variety of Android™ apps are increasing.

When making your final decision, be sure to compare the audio quality on speakerphone and Bluetooth. This is important since you’ll most likely use the phone a lot while driving (if that’s legal in your area). And the audio quality between phones can vary greatly.

At the beginning of your career, you’ll probably rely on your phone to take photos and videos, take time to verify the photo and video display and resolution are high-quality. Most newer Apple iPhone® and Android™ phones do an adequate job of capturing images and video with high-quality resolution.

New smartphone apps that make work easier
  • RPR Mobile – easily search properties, create and send branded reports.
  • BombBomb – send personal video emails to your clients from your phone on the fly.
  • Waze – up-to-the-minute traffic updates by other users, great time-saving while on the road.
  • Open Home Pro – bring your tablet and get digital sign-ins at your next open house. Then follow-up with automated emails and text messages.
  • Videolicious – Make and edit high-quality videos in seconds, including watermarks and logos.
CRM’S have come a long way

From day one of your real estate career, you’ll be hitting the ground, drumming up business. Unless you plan on going through piles of scraps of paper to keep track of all the contacts you’ll make, you need a customer relationship management system.

The CRMs of today are used for a number of tasks – from automating some of your marketing to keeping track of your sphere, your prospects, clients (past and present) and syncing data between multiple platforms. A CRM system has become invaluable.

These systems are offered by a number of companies but look for one with at least the basics — property blasts, email templates and the ability to monitor client activity on your website.

If you’re on an extremely tight budget you might want to start with what the NAR calls “no-frills electronic address books,” such as Outlook and Apple Address book. You won’t get the integrated solutions that you will with the higher-end systems, but at the very least, you’ll get your contacts organized. Three CRMs worth investigating further, Contractually, ZOHO, and Apptivo.

Website & blog solutions made easy

“My websites are critical to my success,” claims Minnesota’s Kris Lindahl, named one of REAL Trends’ and Trulia’s “America’s Best Real Estate Agents.”

“While they’re not the only marketing tool we use, they’re certainly the easiest. There’s a lot to be said for effective inbound marketing. It’s painless.”

Sure, your broker may offer you a page on his or her company website, but you need your own, with your branding.

You can spend a ton of money on a website, or you can do what many smart agents are doing and use a ready-made solution. One example is setting up a WordPress site, using an attractive, agent-friendly WordPress theme, such as “Curb Appeal Evolved”. This theme runs under $50.00 and offers IDX plugins, which is the most important tool on any real estate site. Or, check the selection of templates available at Theme Forest.

Additional ready-made, agent-friendly website and blog solutions worth investigating include Placester, Websitebox, Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly.

Top tech tools growing in 2018

360 Degree Cameras – These cameras create a feeling of actually being inside the property and are able to capture every angle allowing for deeper exploration. A recent study by Magnifyre showed 25% of video watchers preferred 360 videos over traditional cropped format.

3D Cameras – places you inside the property as well allowing you the freedom to look around. There is said to be a greater feeling of depth with a 3D camera. However, you are not able to capture every angle with a 3D camera as you will with a 360 camera.

Chatbots – allow you to streamline communication on your website by answering routine questions before you talk to a client. Provides the client another option for information other than picking up the phone.  A few Chatbots to investigate further include, Automabots, Structurely, Botplan.

real estate community newsletterMake the most of your CRM, send a Community Newsletter from our Newsletter Series to your Sphere of Influence. Be sure to notate when the postcards went out in your CRM for tracking purposes.

PLUS: Whenever you have a moment…here are 3 things to check out that will help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 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

2. The 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

3. The 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, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here

Also…check these out 🙂

3 Click Postcards – Just snap, tap, send all from your mobile phone

MLS Mailings – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

 

Building Blocks for a Hitting Your Goals

Top agents know that the key to longevity in this business is to build a better book of business.  Referrals are their stock and trade, but to keep them coming IN– they know they need to constantly be reaching OUT. Let’s take a look at some powerful and productive ways to do that WITHOUT a lot of stress or hassle.

Strategy #1
Commit to The List

Whatever database system you’re using, inputting your customer information is step one.  Even if you don’t have EVERYTHING you need , or all the information you want, start somewhere.  I’ve talked to agents who never get around to marketing at all because they feel like they have to do everything at once.  If it seems overwhelming – start SOMEWHERE.

Pick 50 or 100 people to add and knock it out in a couple hours – even if you’re simply using excel to add name, address, phone, email. Then pick another day and do the same thing so you can get your list to the 200 mark. (Virtual assistants these days are very affordable as well – so that may be an option for some of you.  College students are always looking for some extra money too – so ask around!

Strategy #2
Opt-Ins & Social

We’ve got some powerful tools in our resource section.  Terrific free reports that are a perfect addition to your website as an opt-in piece.  Here’s a creative multi-use way to use these tools to help you build your list, feed your social media stream and entice your customers and prospects to continually return to your site for more resources!

SaveDownPayment_thumb (1)You’ll become the go-to agent for information!  Simply click here to go to our resource section and download the free reports that will work best for you and your market.  Go ahead and download as many as you like and bookmark this page because we add new ones all the time.

These are going to now become part of the campaign you’re about to kick off!  Now, take one per week or one per month and break the contents down into bite sized pieces to share on your social media and on the backs of your postcards.

I’ll give you an example:  Take the How to Save for a Down Payment free report.  It has seven tips for saving for a down payment.  A fun strategy would be to kick off your Facebook posts on a Monday with a post something along these lines:

As a professional Realtor, it’s a privilege to help people invest in their future and find the home of their dreams.  Often times, it is the down payment that can be a sticking point.  This week I’ll share with you seven powerful ways you can save!  

Tip #1:  1. Get in the know. Like any good budget or savings plan, the first place to start is to determine where you are NOW in relation to your credit score, your monthly bills and assets. Contact me or a trusted mortgage professional to see how much home you qualify for and how much you’ll need to save to purchase your home. We can help you take a look at things like credit scores, loan requirements and interest rates now so you can be simultaneously doing ALL the things right during this savings period to ensure the most favorable rate and terms.

Say you made this your “Free report for August” in your business plan.  When setting up your postcard campaign on Prospectsplus.com – choose the alternate back and add a little verbiage to that fact.  Here is an example:

timing is everything cardAs a professional Realtor who specializes in helping people find the home of their dreams, I’m always eager to share resources that can help consumers just like you make the best financial decisions for their family!  Please visit my site today at www.yoursitehere.com and download a copy of my new free report:  How to Save for a Down Payment.  No cost or obligation and please share with friends!  Call me if you have questions at xxx-xxx-xxxx!

Then do the same for month two and three of your campaign.  This way your social media and your postcard marketing are all working in tandem.  Keep copies of each report on hand so you can mail or email them out easily.  (I would make a file on your desktop specifically to house all these reports to make finding them easier!)time is now card

Strategy #3
Commit To a Campaign

Even if you’re not sure which campaign is right for you – choose one to use for at least three months.  Breaking projects down into bite-size pieces makes the process less stressful and more manageable for most people.  I love the idea of a three month campaign because you can add your list, choose your card campaign and let that run for three months.

Then make whatever revisions are necessary to your list once a quarter such change an address, add a new customer or referral, change an email, etc.  This makes your database management less time-consuming as well.  By breaking your campaigns down into quarterly increments – you also have the flexibility to try a new campaign on for size.

Some sphere of influence favorites are:customer-appreciation-direct-mail-real-estate-postcards (1)

  • Listing Inventory Series
  • Holiday Series
  • Recipe Series
  • Call to Action Series
  • Neighborhood Update Series
  • Customer Appreciation Series

Strategy #4
Add a niche

One of the fastest ways to grow your sphere is to take what you’re passionate about, the people you like working with the MOST and create a niche for yourself.  I’ve always said it’s tough to be #1 in a geographic market – but not in a smaller niche that you are excited about.

From traditional (first time home buyers, fsbo’s, expireds) to out of the box (Health and wellness seekers, boaters, fishermen) – find something you love, then get out there and meet THOSE people and start putting them into your list.

The secret ingredient in a sphere of lifestyle interstinfluence is INFLUENCE.  Taking people from being “on a list” to knowing, trusting and liking you enough to want to do business with you.  That process happens fastest when you’re working with a group of people that you like and know about in return! Not sure where to start? Take a look at our Lifestyle Interest Series which helps agent match their messages to their favorite marketing segments such as boaters and golfers.

Now you’re ready to get STARTED!

Get Your Free 2018 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

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, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here

Also…check these out 🙂

Three Click Postcards – Snap, tap, send from your phone

MLS Mailings – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

Don’t forget – our inside account management team is here to help you make some of these decisions and walk you through the processes.

You can reach them at  866.405.3638 during normal business hours.