sphere of influence

Right Now, Your Real Estate CRM is Worth its Weight in Gold. Here’s Why!

Feb 28, 2023

Back in the dinosaur days of real estate, a simple Rolodex, populated with the contact information of people in an agent’s sphere, ruled the day in most real estate businesses.

As technology advanced from those tiny 2.25-inch x 4-inch Rolodex cards, agents demanded more bells and whistles, which resulted in today’s sophisticated Customer Relationship Management platforms.

With the market in flux, it’s a good time for the less-than-busy agent to get to know their CRM and reacquaint themselves with the gold mine it is.

How about starting a drip campaign to drum up some business?

One of the best ways to grow your business and stay top of mind with your network is by reaching out to each person consistently over time.

Many agents swear by their drip campaigns, sending either automated emails or direct mail out to selected contacts in their CRM. However, how frequently you contact these people sits on a fine line between reaching out and spamming.

Some experts claim that dripping on these folks once a week is going to eventually get your marketing materials tossed in the trash or blocked from delivery to your contacts entirely – especially if they don’t plan on moving for a year or so.

A monthly email is more appropriate – even longer is fine. Just making consistent contact without annoying people is what’s most important.

You have one chance to lure these recipients into reading your drip campaign, which occurs with your first attempt.

The Content Card Series is shown above. To see more designs, Click HERE.

Depending on your database’s size, you may have to create several focused campaigns. Some of the categories to think about include quick (the operative word here) information for:

Homebuyers
Sellers
Condo buyers
FHA or VA buyers

To stay top-of-mind with past clients, think about sending information on their interests:

Gardening
Interior decorating and design trends
Green living
Food
Birthday, anniversary, new baby, and other greetings

The Content Card Series offers many of the topics listed above. Whatever you choose to send, make it count. Wow, them – make the recipients look forward to the next one.

Face-to-Face

Sometimes a face-to-face encounter is called for. Many successful agents plan client-appreciation events periodically throughout the year or one splashy annual event.

One California agent uses her CRM to classify her clients according to how big their sphere of influence is. Those with a huge network of contacts she calls her “A” group and those are the ones she tends to go a bit above and beyond to maintain the relationships.

Her preferred method is to never miss their birthday by issuing a lunch invitation for birthday week. Pricey? Perhaps, but memorable and tax-deductible as well.

Follow up with industry colleagues

Stick all those people you do business with on a regular basis into your CRM too. Begin building relationships with them by attending networking events or even holding your own for title company representatives, escrow people, lenders, contractors, plumbers, home inspectors, and electricians.

Client retention is business promotion at its subtlest, and your CRM is the most valuable tool you have right now.

While letting people know you value them, you plant a seed that will hopefully blossom into a big, fat pipeline full of referrals.

Be sure to check out the CRM that we offer to our customers FOR FREE. It allows you to grab contacts from various customer lists, target them with specific marketing meant just for them, and keep historical notes and personal data (i.e., birthdays, family members, home anniversary dates, etc.).

To check out our FREE Contact Manager, 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 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 and when. Four key market segments include 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 these boxes but is also 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

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

It’s That Time of Year to Rekindle Connections with Your Sphere

Oct 19, 2022

I heard my first holiday song of the season during the first week of October this year. About two weeks later, the big box stores started clearing out their garden centers to make way for the thousands of pallets of holiday décor.

Even the biggest procrastinators can’t miss retailers’ attempts to start the winter holidays early.

If you aren’t in the spirit yet, it’s time to take a cue from the retail industry. Especially if your CRM is crammed full of contacts, the time to start was yesterday.

Add an extra blog post every week during the holiday season

In many cities and towns, the weeks between Thanksgiving and the new year are full of local activities. These are activities that folks love to attend, so let them know about what’s happening in your town or city.

What is the best way to do that? By blogging and promoting those posts on social media and emails to your sphere.

“Create a holiday gift guide featuring local vendors,” suggests Ada Ciuca with Keller Williams. She adds this brilliant tip: “If you can secure discount coupons as well, even better!”

Here are some additional holiday blog post topics you can punch out in under an hour:

Neighborhoods with amazing holiday light displays
A list of “Adopt a Family for the Holidays” charities in your area
Best hot chocolate spots in your town
Best places to ski, sled, ice skate
Local restaurants serving holiday dinners and brunches
Winter weekend nearby getaways
A list of holiday concerts and performances (the Symphony, the Nutcracker, etc.)
New Year’s Eve events
New Year’s Eve events for families
A rundown of top economists’ housing market predictions for 2024, niched down to your market
A list of New Year’s resolutions for homeowners, such as “work on increasing your emergency fund,” “routinely change HVAC filters (mention local retailers that sell them),” etc.

Remember to keep these posts focused on the hyper-local, include business addresses or website URLs whenever possible, and link back to any earlier, pertinent posts on your blog. Internal linking is great for SEO.

Finally, don’t skimp when it comes to photos

Shannon Johnson at hubspot.com discussed an experiment they performed that found “… the click-through rate of posts containing photos is 128% higher than the CTR of posts containing videos or links.”

She concludes that they “… also know photos on Facebook generate 53% more ‘likes’ than the average post.”

Speaking of Facebook, push those posts out to your followers. Hyper-local topics (which is what we’re dealing with here) are eminently sharable. The more your followers share your posts, the better the chances of increasing your website traffic.

We have more holiday real estate marketing ideas to share with you, so check back 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 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 Plan

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 6-Month Real Estate Business Review

The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review allows you to enter your business goals for the remainder of the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closings, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here

4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

How to Build a Strong Vendor Referral List While Avoiding Legal Landmines

Oct 3, 2022

Call it something fancy, such as a “Concierge Service,” or for what it is, a vendor referral service, but if you plan on offering this service to your real estate clients, learn how to avoid legal and other problems.

First, however, head on over to part one in this series. You’ll find it here.

RESPA refresher course

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, or RESPA for short, contains several land mines for agents that you’ll want to avoid at all costs.

One goal of the Act was to crack down on kickbacks and other “abusive practices” which were common in the industry.

While the heaviest regulations fall on those in the mortgage and title industries, real estate agents can run afoul of the rules.

It’s a wise agent who will make the following a steadfast practice.

I will not request, require or accept “a payment for the referral of business” from anyone for making a referral.

The word “payment is used synonymously with the giving or receiving of a ‘thing of value,’” according to the experts at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

The Content Card Series is shown above. To see more, Click HERE.

It’s a fine line you’re walking

Consider not publishing the list until you have at least two companies in each section. For instance, two landscapers, two electricians, etc.

Then, cover your backside with an additional layer by displaying a disclaimer on the vendor list and anywhere it is published, such as on your website.

“When offering vendor recommendations to clients, include in writing that it is their responsibility to review vendors and select one that best fits their needs. Add language that indicates you’re providing a few recommendations for consideration, but you advise they review additional options to find the right fit,” cautions the pros at cresinsurance.com.

We found several disclaimers online, including “We do not require a fee to be on our preferred vendor list. Instead, we require a proven track record of customer satisfaction.”

Also, check out this disclaimer at sarealtywatch.com

Let’s call it something else

Dump the word “preferred” in the title’s list and never refer to a mortgage service provider by that word.

Ken Trepeta, president of the Real Estate Services Providers Council Inc. (RESPRO) told Inman.com that he thinks “… the term ‘preferred’ has become a minefield.”

“Do not designate a settlement service provider as the broker’s or agent’s ‘preferred’ company.”

Continued due diligence is a must

A one-time vetting of vendors isn’t enough. In fact, they should be vetted on an ongoing basis. The last thing you need is to have one go sour and provide crummy customer service to one of your clients or former clients.

These people reflect on your professionalism, so follow up with clients who use them. If in doubt about any vendor’s responsiveness and overall customer service, dump him/her.

While actual closing gifts are still a “thing” in real estate, we believe that brilliant customer service is the best gift you can offer. A vendor referral service is a gift that keeps on giving.

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 is also 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

This Week’s Real Estate Industry Survey Question is about CRM Success!

Aug 9, 2022

There seem to be two camps when it comes to using CRM’s the “believers” and the “non-believers”. Even NAR has weighed in with their own statistics on CRM use and success.

Now we want YOUR opinion! Please make sure you’re voice is counted in this nationwide survey by responding below!

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 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

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

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

An S.O.S. Sphere of Influence Intervention. No More Excuses

Feb 1, 2022

It’s Time to Take an Easier Path

Imagine what the future would look like if you could stop cold calling, door knocking, or chasing after FSBOs indefinitely – or at least cut way down on those activities?

Ditching the more distasteful aspects of your real estate lead generation routine may be possible. If you vow, right now, to get serious about your CRM database.

Warm calls are so much more pleasant. Making phone calls and having happy people answer the phone beats a cold call any day.

It’s time to make building better relationships with people you already know, your priority.

Are you only fishing for a day?

Have you ever heard the adage “You can give someone a fish and they have food for a day or you can teach them to fish and they’ll be fed forever?

I look at an SOI database in a similar way.

You can get by living “listing to listing” just making ends meet or you can build a robust SOI database that will feed you ongoing listings, indefinitely.

The Holiday Scheduled Campaign is shown above. It’s the perfect way to stay in touch with your sphere. Learn more, **HERE**

The first method is all about instant gratification and takes a smaller amount of effort.

The second method is about building something for the future, something substantial, that will take ongoing effort, but the rewards will be significant and lasting.

So the question is, how do you want to live your life – fish by fish or with an endless stream of dinners?

That being said, how’s your sphere of influence going?

Agents who have been in the business for more than a minute tell horror stories about friends and even family members who “forgot” that they were in real estate and listed their homes with another agent.

I guarantee you at some point this has happened to you, whether you’re aware or not.

In fact, NAR states,

“The typical real estate agent, sadly, earned 13 percent of their business from repeat clients and 17 percent from referrals.”

Look at those numbers – they’re frustrating, aren’t they?

Especially when NAR also states that nearly 90 percent of real estate consumers say they would use their agent again in the future.

If past clients liked their experience with their agent shouldn’t agents be getting more than 17 percent of their business from them?

Did they forget about you because you’ve forgotten to stay in front of them and nurture them?

What has neglecting your sphere REALLY cost you?

If your strategy has been only chasing new leads instead of working on your sphere, you may have lost sight of the lifetime value of your client.

Take a past client for who you earned $4,000 in commission. Assume (by staying present in their life) you are their agent for four more buying and selling transactions (of the same value) over time that’s $16,000 in revenue.

Now let’s say they send you two referrals per year for the next 10 years (of a similar value) that’s $80,000. This ONE client has a potential lifetime value of $96,000. How many clients, just like this, have you let fall to the waste side over the years?

What has that decision cost your real estate business?

Time to refocus your attention

We get it, agents have a ton of irons in the fire during the typical work week, and keeping in contact with their SOI typically ends up as a low priority.

What would happen, though, if you moved your SOI up on the “To Do” list? Made those warm contacts (instead of contacting strangers) a priority?

You’ll end up on the minds of the people in your sphere, including your past clients, and when someone mentions to them they’re thinking about buying or selling a home, guess what happens next?

So, how to get your real estate business on the referral track?

Step 1: Organize your database

Yeah, it doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun, but it’s necessary to keep you on track. If you already have an organizational method, you’re one step ahead. If not, let’s create a simple one.

Start by grouping your contacts. There are many ways to group them, so choose labels that make sense to you. Some suggestions include:

Hot leads (new incoming leads)
Cold leads (people you haven’t been able to reach)
Family, friends, past clients
Vendors
People you know through your kids
Neighbors

Step 2: Go through all of the contacts and verify the information

At a minimum, you should have the contact’s full name and the name of immediate family members. Naturally, you won’t have family member info for some contacts, such as leads, and that’s okay.

Step 3: Pick up the phone and start calling people

Start with people you know, like past clients, relatives, and friends. Let them know you’re thinking of them and checking in to see if you can help them with anything.

While on the phone, tell them you’re updating your database and want to ensure you have their correct contact information. Verify that their addresses (mailing and email) are current and that you have the best phone number to contact them.

Birthdates are important too (people LOVE getting birthday cards and it’s a great excuse to call). You don’t need a year, just ask for the month and day.

When you make these calls, listen carefully to their end of the conversation for any tidbits you can add to the database. Great information to note in their record includes important family milestones, news on their business/job, or events involving their children or spouse.

Then, as soon as you hang up, DO THIS! Update their information in the database, don’t “think” you’ll remember, just do it.

And, schedule a follow-up call in your database, and a reminder to prompt you to send them a birthday card, anniversary card, etc.

If they told you about an important event that’s coming up, wouldn’t it be great to mark your calendar with a reminder to shoot them an email and ask how everything went?

Step 4: Committ to a time in your weekly schedule to work your Sphere

You’ve started the process of building toward a future don’t stop now. Before you know it, you’ll have an organized, clean database, making your real estate lead generation a much more enjoyable and rewarding process.

Two free tools that will make the process of building up your database much easier:

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

2. 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

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

The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

The Take a Listing Today Podcast

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

Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you in your success.

We’re here to support you.

Your ProspectsPLUS! Team

Ready to Launch an Unbelievable Year in 2021?

Dec 29, 2020

There’s No Better Way Than Launching a Scheduled Campaign

Choose From the Following Six Powerful Campaigns:

Sphere of Influence Campaign – Stay top of mind with your SOI by sending 150 Jumbo-sized postcards, standard-class for only $121.00 a month.
Farm Campaign – Keep new listings coming by sending 150 Jumbo-sized postcards standard-class to your Farm area for only $121.00 a month.
Expired Campaign – Own the expired marketing by sending a postcard every day for 27 business days for $18.09.
Absentee Owner Campaign – Get absentee owners calling you by sending 100 Jumbo-sized postcards, standard-class for $81.00 a month.
FSBO Campaign – Convert the FSBO market by sending a postcard every day for 27 business days for $18.09.
Renters Campaign – Turn renters into buyers by sending 100 Jumbo-sized postcards, standard-class for $81.00 a month.

And, remember, when you schedule a campaign, you don’t pay until the mailing goes out (change or cancel any time til midnight the night prior to mailing).

Make life easier in 2021 while taking your real estate business to the next level with Scheduled Campaigns!

GO NOW

STARTING TODAY, Launch a Scheduled Campaign and Get “Unlock Success” For FREE ($159.00 Value)

Just schedule any campaign shown, here, starting today (December 29th, 2020) and we will automatically send you Unlock Success in the mail (please allow 5 to 10 business days for delivery). Offer available while supplies last.

Unlock Success contains 101 of Floyd Wickman’s greatest dialogues in audio format (on USB flash drive).

Topics include negotiating commission, building trust, overcoming objections, mastering prospecting skills, and more.

Launch your Scheduled Campaign today and get Floyd Wickman’s Unlock Success for Free, click the “GO NOW” button to get started.

GO NOW

PLUS: When you have time…here are some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.

1. 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

2.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.

3. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Real-Estate-Mailing-List-Guide2-3-D-999x1024.jpg

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

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Business-Plan-3D-Book-New1-270x300.png

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

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”

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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

Need Real Estate Leads? Work That Sphere

Sep 14, 2020

Recently, I read an article over at Inman.com, written by Troy Palmquist. The subject is how to “… beef up your referral network,” and Palmquist offered some brilliant tips including one that should be unnecessary.

Why? Because reminding real estate agents of the value of their real estate sphere, shouldn’t be necessary in 2020.

Yet, too many agents let it slide, taking for granted the relationships that those names in their CRMs represent.

Your sphere can be the lifeblood of not only a referral network, but of your entire business if it’s consistently nurtured.

For that to happen, however, you need to devote more time to your sphere. In other words,

Focus on lead quality, rather than lead volume.

It takes time to nurture your SOI, to grow it, and, thus, to prosper from it. But the good news is that the tasks involved in accomplishing these goals are far easier and more comfortable for the agent than the constant rotations of the hamster wheel that is new lead gen.

So, consider stepping off that wheel and working smarter, not harder.

Let’s take a look at your CRM

If you’re a new agent, “SOI” may mean little more than three letters. So, let’s start there.

A sphere of influence in sales is a group of people over which you have some influence and to whom your opinion matters.

In essence, it’s a group of people who already know, like and trust you. This group naturally includes close family members, colleagues from your previous jobs and anyone else you’ve had a cordial relationship with.

Established agents: Are these contacts easy to filter in your CRM?

There are numerous ways to categorize those names.

Think about it: when creating marketing pieces, you don’t want to be sending information on buying a home to your seller leads and vice versa.

So, the best place to start is to categorize by whether the contact is a potential buyer or seller.

You’ll have lots of folks that don’t fit either category because they’re friend, family or others in your sphere.

Create a category for your SOI as well. It’s ok if someone in your sphere is also a potential buying or selling client, their info will come up when you search for either.

Need additional CRM organizational tips? Check out these websites:

Now you’re all set to communicate

Go through your CRM and pick out anyone in your SOI. Remember, they may or may not also be in the market to buy or sell, but they should be a target marketing audience.

How you market to them is your choice, whether it’s via email (not very effective) or snail mail, this audience requires mostly generic information, such as:

How the market in your area is doing
The percentage increase in local home values
Homeowner DIY tips
Local events
Restaurant and Mom & Pop store reviews
Local and national economic news (in plain English)
Local, state and national down payment assistance programs

Much of the topics that fit your SOI make amazing newsletter fodder and, right now, direct mail is the way to deliver it.

Basically, you just want to send them something consistently that reminds them that they have a trusted friend in the real estate business.

Use free social media strategies for all their worth

If you don’t have a social media strategy, or haven’t been paying attention to the one you have, get busy changing that. If you’re too busy, it’s worth it to hire an intern or virtual assistant to keep on top of it.

We get it that you don’t have time for a whole lot of schmoozing, so start with one platform. Facebook – it has near-perfect user demographics for real estate marketing.

If you haven’t been on Facebook in some time you may not be aware of how it’s changed. Users are far more aggressive, bullying of those who disagree on popular news topics is common. The environment is really quite ugly, but it doesn’t impact the platform’s effectiveness for marketers.

You’ll want to engage with your followers, but avoid (at all costs) becoming involved in the political threads that are quite popular right now. To avoid the temptation, don’t even read them; just scroll right by.

If you aren’t a member of any local Facebook groups, find out which ones those in your SOI enjoy and join them.

Your real estate sphere of influence can be a goldmine if you work it. Keep in touch, ask for referrals, and engage with them on social media.

Send a postcard from the Animal II Series to your Sphere of Influence and keep those lines of communication open.

Need help targeting a specific niche of buyers or sellers? Use our Demographic Search Tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy). Or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

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

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

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 2020-Planner-3D-999x1024.jpg

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

Ready to LEVEL UP? Check Out the FREE Online Master Marketing Magazine For Ideas!

Jun 29, 2020

LOOK INSIDE: For a FREE Report & Mailing List Download

Catapult your real estate business to the next level during the 2nd half of 2021 with strategies from the online Master Marketing Magazine!

It’s Chock Full of Valuable Content Like,

The 50 people to add to your sphere to get more referrals
7 local market opportunities in your area right now
How to prove you’re the neighborhood expert & dominate
Go from one new listing to becoming a market maker
How to use Direct Response Reports to get more listings
How to uncover a goldmine with absentee owners
And, more…

Check it out, click the “GO NOW” button below

GO NOW

Want More Referrals? Stay connected to your Sphere with a Content Card Campaign.

It’s currently on sale 10% OFF the first month – sale ends 7/3/21.

SOI, Content Card Scheduled Campaign (shown above). Learn more, HERE

TO LAUNCH AN SOI, Content Card CAMPAIGN:

Hit “CLICK HERE”, below, to schedule your campaign (from a desktop or laptop computer). Use promo code: CONTENT10 to save 10% off the first month.

And, remember, YOU DON’T PAY for each mailing until it actually goes out (cancel or change each mailing up until the night before it goes out).

Launch an SOI, Content Card Scheduled Campaign now, CLICK HERE!

Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you with your success.

PLUS: When you have time…here are some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.

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

2. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

3. 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.

4. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

What are you grateful for this Year?

Nov 25, 2019

A couple of years ago, I read an article about a woman in St. Paul, Minnesota who, for 15 years, had led exercise classes twice a week.

Why this caught my interest is that this woman, Loretta Taggart, was 100 years old, which means she began her exercise-training career at age 85.

Taggart chalked up her longevity and stamina to three things: “Moderation, attitude, gratitude … that’s it,” according to KARE-TV’s Jana Shortal.

The Big Thanks postcard is available in the postcard section under the Customer Appreciation Series.

Since we’re approaching Thanksgiving, this is the perfect time to discuss the many benefits of gratitude.

Gratitude and the soul

An attitude of gratitude doesn’t often happen naturally; it’s something that may require conscious practice. But, the practice is well worth the results, according to researchers at the Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley.

“People who practice gratitude report fewer symptoms of illness, including depression, more optimism, and happiness, stronger relationships, more generous behavior . . .”

This increased happiness leads to more success in life, they continue.

Which flies in the face of most of our beliefs. Starting at a young age, most people believe that they’ll reach a state of happiness once they’re successful.

Turns out, that’s backward. Living a life of gratitude is the first and most critical step to success and happiness. In fact, the roadmap to success involves three steps, according to the researchers:

Step one: Gratitude
Step two: Happiness
Step three: Success

Other perks inherent in an attitude of gratitude include an increase in “financial patience,” according to a study cited in the journal Psychological Science.

Why is this important to real estate agents?

Think about how many in your ranks fail to reach out to those in their database. Instead, in their pursuit of “now business,” they chase after new leads. This, despite clear evidence that real estate consumers are ready and willing to work with the agent they used in the past.

It’s that old “immediate gratification” thing. The one thing that makes us spend too much, smoke too much, eat too much.

The Thank You postcard is available in the postcard section under the Customer Appreciation Series.

Anyway, back to the study. Researchers learned that the amount of gratitude felt is in direct correlation to the degree of patience one exhibits.

How to get that powerful gratitude juice?

Ok, without getting too “woo-woo” on you, cultivating an attitude of gratitude starts with counting your blessings.

Every day.

Start a “gratitude journal” to help you out, jotting down those little blessings that made you feel grateful.

Apparently, just the act of journaling your appreciation for the small blessings in your life will help build happiness, according to psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky.

Her research shows that journaling just once a week (for six weeks) is ideal and that “people who wrote three times a week” didn’t experience a similar boost in happiness.

Don’t just create lists in your journal. Give some thought to how your life would look and feel without a particular person or event that makes you feel grateful and then journal about it in detail.

Surprises, by the way, are something to savor, especially if they result in instant gratitude, according to Toby H. Birnbaum, J.D and Hershey H. Friedman, Ph.D.

“Try to record events that were unexpected or surprising, as these tend to elicit stronger levels of gratitude,” they suggest.

Even nasty surprises, however, may offer a valuable lesson or insight; something to definitely be thankful about.

Real estate agents may find that free time with their families, new clients, a colleague that goes out of her way to help or a challenging transaction that met with success ends up in their journals.

The peaceful calm you feel when petting your dog, the love that surges when you hear your child’s laughter, a warm smile from a total stranger – these are also things to consider if they make you feel grateful.

Use tech to help you out

If you prefer using a pen and a bound journal, by all means, go for it.

If, on the other hand, you prefer tech, we’ve rounded up some journaling apps to make the task a little easier.

Android gratitude journal apps:

iOS gratitude apps:

The Thinking of You postcard is available in the postcard section under the Customer Appreciation Series.

This year, as always, we’re grateful for you. Thank you!

Send the Thinking of You postcard from the Customer Appreciation Series to all of your past clients. Let them know you’re thinking of them and here to help with anything they may need.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free killer tools to help your success this year!

1. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Planner – NEW 2020!

2. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan – NEW 2020!

3. Get the ALL-NEW 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 mailing list, the perfect way to layout marketing materials for success, seven opportunities available to target in your area right now. –Click Here

4. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

Stop wondering how you’ll get business in 2020 – Get serious about your database

Sep 16, 2019

Imagine what life would be like if you could stop cold calling, door knocking or chasing after FSBOs – or at least cut down on those activities.

Ditching the more distasteful aspects of your real estate lead generation routine is possible, if you vow, right now, to chase after referrals, and get serious about your database.

Warm calls are so much more pleasant and knocking on doors where people are happy to see you beats the alternative.

Make building better relationships with people you already know, the center of your 2020 marketing plan.

How’s your sphere of influence?

In fact, NAR statistics say that “The typical REALTOR® earned 13 percent of their business from repeat clients and 17 percent from referrals from past clients and customers.” (The study doesn’t explain what they mean by “customers.”)

Look at those numbers – they’re pathetic, aren’t they? Especially when NAR surveys say that nearly 90 percent of real estate consumers say they would use their agent again in the future.

Past clients know you and, hopefully, they like and trust you. Shouldn’t agents be getting more than 17 percent of their business from referrals from them?

We get it. Agents have a ton of irons in the fire during the typical work week and keeping in contact with their SOI typically ends up as a low priority.

What would happen, though, if you moved it up on the list? Made those warm contacts (instead of contacting strangers) a priority? You’ll end up top-of-mind with your sphere when someone mentions buying or selling a home.

The Barking postcard is available in the postcard section under the from the Sphere/Farm Animal II Series.

Step 1 to get your real estate business on the referral track

Organize your database. Yeah, doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun, but it’s necessary to keep you on track.

If you already have an organizational method, you’re one step ahead. If not, let’s create a simple one.

Start by grouping your contacts. There are many ways to group them, so choose labels that make sense to you. Some suggestions include:

Hot leads (people you don’t know yet)
Cold leads (again, people you don’t know)
Sphere (or “family,” “friends” “ladies I play tennis with” “past clients”)
Vendors

Feel free to create subgroups, if it will help you to stay organized. Some of these may include:

Immediate family members
Extended family
Closest friends
Acquaintances
Neighbors
People you met through your kids

The All Ears postcards is available in the postcard section under the Sphere/Farm Animal II Series.

Thanks to the folks at TopProTraining.com for some of those ideas. Check out their list for more.

Kim Hughes at KimHughes.com suggests that the next step in setting up your database to help you succeed should be to go through all of the leads, checking the information you have on them and adding anything that comes to mind.

At a minimum, Hughes says you should have the contact’s full name and the name of immediate family members. Naturally, you won’t have family member info for some contacts, such as leads.

Pick up the phone and start calling people. Start with folks you know, like past clients, relatives and friends.

Tell them you’re updating your database and want to ensure you have their correct contact information:

Verify that the addresses, both snail and email, are current.
Best phone number to contact them.
Birth date is an important one (folks LOVE getting birthday greetings). The birthdate might be a tough one to ask, but tell them you like to reach out to people on their birthdays. You don’t need a year, so that may make the question “Hey, when is your birthday?” a bit easier to ask.

Get ideas for these conversations at TheRealEstateTrainer.com.

Listen carefully to their end of the conversation for any tidbits you can add to their spot in your database – “something such as an upcoming surgery, new baby or vacation,” Hughes suggests.

Then schedule a follow-up call, or a reminder to send a gift or flowers, depending on what they’ve told you.

This is a project that, although it needs to get done sooner, rather than later, is one that can be done in chunks. Hughes brilliantly recommends starting the organization process with your past clients.

But do schedule those time chunks and vow to stick by the schedule. Before you know it, you’ll have an organized, clean database, making your real estate lead generation a snap.

The Fall Maintenance postcard is available in the postcard section under the Content Card Series.

Send out the Fall Maintenance postcard from the Content Card Series to your Sphere and Farm.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are Free killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

“Get MORE Listings & Begin to Dominate Your Market!” Free online webinar. Learn the 3-7-27 strategy for explosive growth, why 95% of agents have less than 20% market share, and how to become the agent everyone competes against. – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

The Secret to Converting Leads

Lead Incubation

Jun 20, 2018

More words of wisdom from Dean Jackson (the king of real estate marketing). In today’s article, he explains his innovative approach to converting leads over time. Dean Jackson is the founder of GoGoAgent and Listing Agent Lifestyle.

Playing the long game

I’ve heard many agents complain when they try different sources to generate leads, for a few months, and get nothing out of it. Unfortunately, the point being missed with this way of thinking is the real payoff with lead generation is in playing the long game.

The correct approach is to look at your lead generation process, not as a short-term expense, but as a capital investment. Do not add unnecessary and misguided pressure to the action of generating leads by expecting to recapture your money in 30, 60 or even 90 days.

It’s time to amend your perception of the value of a lead over time. And begin to cultivate your leads over 12, 18 and even 24 months (regardless of lack of response). Then you will begin to build a true capital asset. And this asset of unconverted leads will become an incredible treasure trove that will continue to pay dividends for years.

A case study

A great story defending the above philosophy is of agent Tony Kalsi. We tracked lead conversion results on Tony’s listings for four years in a “Getting Listings Case Study”. And we discovered 21 transactions he achieved over the four-years were from leads he had generated in the first year that he had continued to cultivate.

If Tony had written off these 21 leads as “duds” due to not being able to convert them quickly, he would have missed out on – I don’t even want to think about how much money!!

I’ve heard story after story like this from agents who understand the long-term approach to converting their leads. They patiently educate and motivate their lead list, then watch the yield from that portfolio continue to pay off year after year.

Being conscious of your marketing dollars has its place. However, focusing only on what you can achieve “right away” from your marketing dollars and discarding the rest is a mistake. And this mistake will cost you longterm valuable assets.

Every new lead that you add to your “lead portfolio” is a potential future client. Some leads may convert quickly, but many more will convert over time, even years after your initial contact.

From “dud” to dynamite

If you have leads gathered over the years that you’ve identified as “duds” due to not converting quickly, I have a great marketing campaign for you. This campaign has the potential to bring many of them back into the fold.

Gather together an email list of your so-called “dud” leads and send them the following email. Put their “first name” in the subject line of the email and then ask them one simple question in the body of the email. “Hi ‘insert person’s name’, “Are you still looking for a house in ‘insert city or neighborhood’?”.

That’s it.

That little email and nothing more. Send that email to all of the dud leads you’ve generated and neglected for 90 days or longer (or you feel have neglected you). And you’ll be amazed at how many people respond “Yes, we’re still looking.” You’re also going to be surprised, not in a good way, at the number of responses you get from people that say, “No, we’ve already bought.”

This second response will break your heart, but don’t sulk, just make a mental note that YOU can not predict when a prospect will be READY to move forward. This knowledge will become a reminder to not prejudge your leads. But instead to take the long-term “asset management” approach to nurturing your leads as the treasure trove that they are.

Begin cultivating and nurturing your lead portfolio today by sending out the Ever Thought About Selling postcard from the Listing Inventory Series to at least 100 prospects from your lead list.

To learn more about the other incredible tools and resources Dean has available for agents go to GoGoAgent.com and ListingAgentLifestyle.com.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of sellers or buyers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are 3 free ways we can help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan.

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator.

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 – Click Here

Also…check out these cool tools 🙂

Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

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sphere of influence

How about starting a drip campaign to drum up some business?

Face-to-Face

Follow up with industry colleagues

Add an extra blog post every week during the holiday season

Finally, don’t skimp when it comes to photos

RESPA refresher course

It’s a fine line you’re walking

Let’s call it something else

Continued due diligence is a must

How the holiday got its start

A tireless campaign

Retail hijacks another holiday

An ironic twist

It’s Time to Take an Easier Path

Are you only fishing for a day?

That being said, how’s your sphere of influence going?

What has neglecting your sphere REALLY cost you?

Time to refocus your attention

Step 1: Organize your database

Step 2: Go through all of the contacts and verify the information

Step 3: Pick up the phone and start calling people

Step 4: Committ to a time in your weekly schedule to work your Sphere

Two free tools that will make the process of building up your database much easier:

There’s No Better Way Than Launching a Scheduled Campaign

STARTING TODAY, Launch a Scheduled Campaign and Get “Unlock Success” For FREE ($159.00 Value)

Send a postcard from the Animal II Series to your Sphere of Influence and keep those lines of communication open.

It’s Chock Full of Valuable Content Like,

Check it out, click the “GO NOW” button below

Gratitude and the soul

“People who practice gratitude report fewer symptoms of illness, including depression, more optimism, and happiness, stronger relationships, more generous behavior . . .”

How to get that powerful gratitude juice?

Use tech to help you out

Send the Thinking of You postcard from the Customer Appreciation Series to all of your past clients. Let them know you’re thinking of them and here to help with anything they may need.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

How’s your sphere of influence?

Step 1 to get your real estate business on the referral track

Feel free to create subgroups, if it will help you to stay organized. Some of these may include:

Tell them you’re updating your database and want to ensure you have their correct contact information:

Send out the Fall Maintenance postcard from the Content Card Series to your Sphere and Farm.

Playing the long game

A case study

From “dud” to dynamite

Begin cultivating and nurturing your lead portfolio today by sending out the Ever Thought About Selling postcard from the Listing Inventory Series to at least 100 prospects from your lead list.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!