Targeting Messages For Your Audience-Part 2

The next thing you need to do before you go any further is figure out just who it is your trying to reach. One of the biggest mistakes anyone who is advertising does, is market their business without knowing who it is they should be trying to reach and influence. As a result, they spend alot of time, alot of money, blasting messages to the wrong media, doing all the wrong things, and end up being unsuccessful in their outcome. Before you start taking the same steps, ask yourself these questions, before you continue.

1. What age group or groups would be your target audience?
   


2. What income level are you aiming for?
   


3. Is any of your target audience people you know? (If so, your message to them should be more personal because those you know are more apt to do business with you and your marketing strategy is not going to be the same.)
   


4. Are you more geared toward a specific buying group? (Such as; first time home buyers, second home purchasers, investors, or empty nesters? If so, you need to make sure your message meets the needs, interests and/or motivations of that particular group.) Last but not least, of course!
   


5. What geographical area are you more interested inn?

Once you are able to answer all these questions for yourself and your business, then your ready to move on to the next step to market to your audience. Keep watching for more helpful ideas and steps to marketing and reaching your goals!

Understanding Body Language

Everyone has body language and sometimes they don't realize that they are showing their feelings more through that, than when they verbally express them. Sometimes we speak without even saying a word. This is a very powerful tool to use when in sales, if you are able to understand the signals and pay attenion close enough to read the signals.

Let's start with "I need my space." There are 4 types of space, you have public space, personal space, social space and intimate space. Although most selling occurs in personal space, where one-on-one conversations are more apt to occur. Everyone needs to understand that personal space is very significant for a few reasons. Each persons personal space is characterized differently and if you enter someone's personal space without permission, they will shut down and stop listening to you.

One visual signal a person can give you, is losing eye contact. As you walk up to someone maintaining eye contact with them as your talking to them, and they suddenly look away. You can bet more than likely you have just stepped into their personal space. For many people, being able to look someone in the eye shows how honest a person is being and we tend to believe someone more who maintains eye contact as we speak. Eyes that dart away and look around while they are listening or talking to you sends a message. Those who maintain direct eye contact seem to say they are interested and comfortable with you. People who cannot seem to look at you and maintain eye contact may be lying, uncomfortable, uninterested or confused.

Then there is "With Open Arms." Upper body and arm movement are easy to connect with ones actions. If a person has open arms and open hands, it sends a message to one of openness, pride and honesty. If you put your hands in your pocket or behind your back, this suggests that your hiding somehting. Someone who is listening to you, if they are tapping their fingers on a table, shoulders are hunched over, this tends to suggest a lack of interest, boredom, anxious or agitated. You should rethink your speech and approach it differently.

For some people reading body language is easy and some it is very difficult. If you fail to consider all the body language one has during a closing sale, you may just overlook a great tool in sales process. Just try and think of the ability to interpret body language as just another necessary skill to use be to a successful salesperson.

Visualize Practicing

Everyone of us has heard that good ole saying "practice makes perfect." But how often do any of us really have time to try and practice what we are going to do or going to say to someone before we have to actually do it? We don't, that is why we can use a very reliable technique called "visualization."

Visualization is a great process in which, you run through scenarios in your mind, acting out events in your mind, realizing your role in them. This enables us to practice things mentally, before actually encountering the real event, heping to give us a good idea of what to possibly expect. Using this outstanding technique for any difficult or challenging situation is going to give you a huge boost!

Just think about this, your meeting a client for the first time to discuss all their options, their needs, their wants, but you also know they are going to question you and your business. You act it all out in your head with all the possible scenarios the meeting might take, all the questions they might ask you, and you already know a bit of what they are looking for. You can keep replaying it in your head, then by the time you meet your client you will have all the answers to the questions they could possibly ask. Showing that client you are on top of your game and know what your doing!

The hard part will always be realizing that you can't play out only the scenarios that pertain to you, you have to take into consideration everyone who is involved. Taking into account all their desires and needs as well and that you play out scenarios with simple techniques. There is no point in practicing if you don't think of everyone involved, you would end up practicing the wrong thing and end up being unsuccessful.

This visual technique allows you to approach stressful or difficult situations with great confidence. It works for anything you can think of, from your first day of school to planing a vacation. So the next time your faced with a challenge, try visualizing it and see just how much it can help you to succeed that challenge!

Targeting Messages And Your Audience-Part 1

All to often, most of us start off on the wrong road when it comes to marketing our messages. Taking short cuts that will only lead to a dead end road. Why does it lead to a dead end you might ask, well the answer is quite simple. None of us have budgets like Walmart or Burger King, we cannot afford to mass market our products or take that big of a risk. Also, our clients we are looking for are bombarded daily with similiar messages. Just tossing your message anywhere and everywhere, at any place you can think of to market will not reach the clients your looking for.

There are alot of media sales people out there that get alot of us in the real estate business roped into huge advertising campaigns, by talking them up, making them sound like it is what we need. So we spend several dollars broadcasting and letting the media market all over to consumers who are not interested. You know what this does in the end? It produces zero results, leaving us right where we started, except we don't have the capital we once had.

Don't get me wrong there are some top agents out there that like to reinforce their market positions and raise their reputations, by taking some of their marketing budget and turning it into image advertising. But beginners should start out by reaching targeted clients with messages that specifically target their wants and needs. When you are planning your marketing strategies, always ask the three W's. Who? What? Why?

• Who is your targeted Audience?
• What are you offering?
• Why is it good for your target audience?

Once you can answer these questions you will be able to go to the next step on reaching your target audience. Keep watching for more helpful blogs to help build your business.

Yesterday, I had just gotten home from church when a prospective client from Growth Leader called.  We have talked to him a few times on the phone, and exchanged several emails.  Alison Hunter, one of our agents has been really the one working with him.

So anyway, my phone rings, and he wants to write an offer on a house that he found on our Growth Leader website.  What we DIDNT know was this...He is an investor who is going around and buying more "high end" foreclosures and flipping them.  He has purchased several homes and will be purchasing more.

He is NOT the first lead like this that we have received through our Growth Leader Website.  We have had 3 or 4 cash buyers, who want us to ultimately help them with more than just one purchase.  The cool thing is that with this client, because he bought them through us, we also get to relist them.

 Normally, the leads that we ever received through lead generating programs were simply crap!  No REAL contact information, credit that was horrible and soooo many time wasters.  Its a nice change to actually get real leads that are qualified to buy, let alone pay cash.

I know, some people are not seeing the success that we are.  Again, I will tell you, we are really working the system. You need to be creative and think out of the box.  It is like anything else, it takes time.

Back to the client, I took down all of the information for the offer and explained to him that I could not write the offer.  Ethically, I needed to give it to Alison.  Yes, I was the initial contact, but I turned it all over to her.  He understood and said that was fine. 

Growth Leader has also proven to be a great way to build our agents business.  We have had unbelievable amount of growth in the last year, and with the all the new agents, Growth Leader has kept them busy. 

I have mentioned a little bit about a venture that I have been working on.  Home Grown Marketing, Inc.  has been in business since 2003, but our marketing efforts were on a larger scale than it is now.  We were assisting several different industries with their marketing.

We are now coaching the Real Estate industry only! Our coaching style is making the experience all about YOU.  We walk with Jesus and help teach others the power of building their business the way the Bible suggest.  NO!, I will not be pushing my views on you, but we do coach spiritually and from the heart.

We have a staff of very capable businss people with a mind for customer service, along with a very nice desire to see others succeed.

No, you will not see me pushing the company here on my personal blog. We have created our own Home Grown Marketing, Inc. Active Rain Blog for those that are interested in learning more about what we offer. More importantly, you can interact and learn more about marketing, personal growth, and growing and maintaining your business.  We have also created a PRIVATE group for those that need help help but don't really want to put it all out there.  You can join the group at Check Your Ego At The Door . It will be a safe place, with no fear of the judgemental comments we sometimes find.  It is all about learning and sharing experiences.

We teach a lot of the basics with a twist.  We find that our clients appreciate the time we take to personalize their marketing plan.  We have a variety of services that will offer time freedom for the busy agent.  If your not currently busy, we can show and assist you in building your business to the point of no free time!

Home Grown Marketing Inc, doesnt come with a big price tag.  We are everyday people, and know how the economy is.  We also don't believe that coaching is about making the BIG bucks, it is simply about helping others.  We are passionate about what we do, and if we can help someone else become successful then we are happy with that!

Please be sure and visit our website to find out more about our services.  Feel free to subscribe to our Active Rain Blog for coaching ONLY!

I will never forget the days leading up to the birth of my first child, Amanda.  My life was in turmoil. I was only 19.  Amanda was born on February 20th, 1988.  She was three months early, and had a fight on her hands.  At such a young age, I don't think I realized just how serious her condition was.  All I knew was that I had to leave my baby at a hospital that was over 2 hours from where I lived.  I was assured that she would be in the hospital for the next three months. 

With daily visits, I watched her fight off surgeries that we were told would happen.  I watched her fight for the weight she was losing. I watched her fight many different battles on a daily basis, only to see her win!  She was a strong little thing. 

One month later, she weighed 5lbs, 2 oz.  She was being released to go home. I was a nervous wreck.  She was on a heart machine that seemed to constantly be beeping at me.  She was so tiny I was afraid she was going to break.  So here I was, taking care of this little child when I was still a child myself.

As she grew, you could tell there were areas that she was behind developmentally.  It wasn't anything major.  Dental wise when she was 6, she was on a 4 year level.  She was a small, petite thing.  She was a real miracle to me.

Shortly after her 9th birthday, she started to have some problems.  She could just be walking and all the sudden she would fall.  The doctors assured me that she was fine.  They couldnt find anything wrong.  This went on for several months, until I decided to take her back to KU Medical Center where she was born.

After a day of testing, it was determined that she had to much blood pumping through her heart.  (You will have to forgive me, but medical terminology is not my forte).  There was an extra valve that needed to be closed off.  She would need major heart surgery.  The left side of her heart had doubled in size compared to the right because of the extra blood pumping through there.

If we had not found out the problem, the doctors said she would have had a heart attack by the age of 13.

Her problems seemed to stop once this was done.  She was given a clean bill of health and has prospered.

She was a great kid growing up.  Never caused any problems, and always wanted everyone to be proud of her.  When she went to college, she started to struggle a little bit.  Amanda was so responsible, went to school, worked full time, but yet started to enjoy the "party" scene.  Soon, she realized it was all wrong for her and needed to make some decisions.  Decisions that only she could make.

Today, Amanda will be having Family Day followed by Graduation tomorrow from Boot Camp.  She joined the Army in September and has been stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo.  She will remain there for training until January (except for Christmas, when she comes home).  From that point, we don't know where she is going.  She is in the Nuclear field, so they might not tell us, who knows.

When Amanda has called home, she has been full of spirit.  A spirit that I haven't heard in her for a very long time.  It touches my heart to think that she is loving what she is doing, and to know her future can be as bright as she can dream.

Even though I can't be with her today or tomorrow, I would like to tell her this...

Amanda,

Your my miracle child.  You came into this life fighting to live.  You grew up to become the best you could.  You fought through struggles, not to always win, but you did your best.  It wasn't long ago that you were sitting on your bed crying saying, " I feel so lost and don't know what I am suppose to do." All I ever wanted for you was for you to be happy.  I don't know if the Army will bring you that happiness, but your honor can never be taken away.  As a mom, many would think having two daughters in the Army would be devastating and a real test of nerves, but to me its joy and happiness. 

You will soon learn that some people don't respect what it is your doing for their freedom, however, there are many more that can't express their thanks enough.  Don't listen to the media.  They thrive on the negative. Your country not only needs you, the majority appreciate you. You have the opportunity to become whatever you want.  Whether you spend 20 years in the military or you get out at the end of your enlistment, no one can take away what you given to your country.  From this moment on, always walk proud.

I do have one favor to ask you...I want you to really focus and renew your faith.  I want you to come home at Christmas and be prepared to give yourself to Jesus.  Let him walk through life with you.  Don't make the same mistakes I did and walk away from him for so many years.  He will watch over you and guide you.  You just need to have faith in him.  This would be the greatest gift you could ever give YOURSELF!

Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will always be there for you.  It might not be in person, but always in my heart.

I love you,

Mom