I've been doing some interesting programs that you might want to try. I've been sending them out weekly as my Tip of the Week. Maybe they can help you bring in more business, convert more to sales...and try some new things in social media.
If you're interested, just send me your email address here, and I'll put you on my list. There's always an opt-out on the bottom of the email, if you want to stop receiving it.
They bought the house, and you cashed your commission check. "Bye, Bye”?
Not of you have a DM brain. All successful businesses – even real estate agencies – are based on long term relationships. People know people, meet new people and can refer you. They can even become friends. Here’s a recent example.
Pepper, our art director, bought a home from a lady named Christy. He's been happy there, and she's kept in touch with him. Last Christmas, she dropped by with a holiday plant. He invited her in, and remembered that his neighbor across the street had mentioned they were relocating to California.
So, he called up the neighbor and made the introduction on the spot. She got the listing, and sold the home quickly.
How many sales do we all lose because we forget to follow up with past customers? We're always on a quest for new customers, and those old ones – people who know us already - are right under our noses.
Let’s all take a look at our databases and get back in touch with some of those past friends, and see what develops. Good luck and let me know what happens.
Samuel Hough House has stood in the heart of the beautiful National Historic Landmark village of Waterford, Virginia, since 1819. Constructed of locally-fired brick set in Flemish bond, this handsome Federal style house was built for a prosperous Quaker miller and his new bride by master local builder Israel Griffith, who later bought and lived in the house himself.
Listed on the National Register and eased to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Samuel Hough House is noted for the beauty of its hand-carved red pine woodwork throughout, including four distinctive mantles, and a unique fan which panels the space under the stair stringer on the first floor. The house has been lovingly maintained by many families over its almost 200 years—from the authentically restored original six rooms in three stories to the post-Civil War constructed dining room and upstairs bedroom addition which joined it to the old two-story kitchen structure. The modern kitchen was the warming room with stairs down into the main cooking room, which with its fireplace restored is now a gracious family room. The house has six fireplaces, four of which are working. From the inviting side porch, the view is over the lovely quarter acre landscaped garden to the permanently eased meadows and fields of the Phillips Farm and on to the gentle Blue Ridge mountains. Walk out the front door to greet a lively community of neighbors who appreciate culture, history, and good times together. Under the auspices of the Waterford Foundation, a respected grassroots historic preservation organization, Waterford has its own classical concert series, book and author lecture series, popular Waterford Fair, and many social activities throughout the year. It’s an independent active lifestyle in a lovely preserved historic setting. Location: National Historic Landmark village of Waterford, 7 miles northwest of Leesburg, the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia; 42 miles west of Washington, DC (one hour commuting distance by public transport from nearby Leesburg); and 20 miles west of Dulles International Airport.
First Floor: Entrance foyer (11 x 12), Living Room with fireplace (15 x 14); Library (15 x 11 with closed fireplace), Dining Room with Bay (15 x 13); Kitchen with fireplace (14x 13); Breakfast room (14 x 10); Side Porch (30 x 11).
Second Floor: Master Bedroom with fireplace (14 x 14); Sitting Room (15 x 11); Bedrooms (14 x 18), (10 x 12)
Third Floor: Main staircase leads to Bedroom (18 x 14) plus room for future bath.
Basement: Office/family room with fireplace (18 x 12); Game Room/store room; furnace room
Real Estate Taxes: $9,504.18 (2008) ASKING PRICE: $849,000
There have been so many wonderful occasions there, including their wedding in the long sprawling lawn, that led the guest to the pool area.
This house is like my dream home, and I guess it will be sold to a family who will enjoy all the charm of great workmanship. My grandfather was a builder in Elkins Park, and he used to show me fine workmanship when I was a little girl. Beautiful stonework, floors that are built to last a century, lovely woodwork.
I saw this in my cousin's home at 719 Ashbourne Drive in Elkins Park.My friends said it looks like a million dollar home, and it is up for sale for half of that amount. See for yourself...
this is the lovely view as you arrive.
The Pennsylvania stonework in the living room is set off by the crown moldings.
The Dining Room has always been a place for the family to gather during the holidays. It looks majestic and my cousin, Fran changes it for each season.
No matter what's going on, everyone congregates in the kitchen. This one is all new, and has a lot of work space. My cousin made amazing dinners in here...and moist turkeys came out of the oven (unlike my own).
The pool is grand, the photo is small, though (sorry). 4 Bedrooms, 4-1/2 baths and almost a full acre of land (like your own private park).
This home has always been a special place and I hope some of my friends here on Active Rain will help it to find its next wonderful family....that will love it, as we have.
Call Connie Berg at 215-517-1845, if you want to see it. Tell her cousin Lois sent you.
My Dad was always cutting coupons for Walgreens and Publix and spent hours shopping the different supermarkets to get "the best deals". It drove my Mom and I crazy, knowing full well that we spent more money on gas than the paltry amount we saved in Campbell's soup, or flour, or Coke.
He did teach me a lot about business though, and what he called the value of "the Hustle" He was driven to always be building costume jewelry business, and I learned a lot from him.
In these tough times in real estate and mortgage lending...I wrote a workbook, with his tenets in it. I decided to give it to you all FREE. You can go to my new website, and type in your email address and then get the book in PDF format, and you can print it out and use it. Http://www.loisgellermarketinggroup.com
Many real estate agents have already told me that they've had great results in two weeks, so I decided to come to you all and see if we can stimulate the market...starting today.
Then let me know how it works for you. Maybe a little light will go off in heaven and my Dad will know he did some real good for us!
About a month ago, I started wondering what would make an interesting Happy Holidays card to send clients and friends.
We've come up with some pretty funny cards in previous years but this year's not looking all that funny - so I was stumped.
Then I remembered Donald, the artist.
I called and asked him if he could paint us an image to represent new beginnings - fresh starts for the coming year. I didn't want Christmas trees, Santa Claus or palm trees with lights on them.
He said, "How about a baby chicken?"
Hmmm. Let's take a look.
A few days later, I drove over to Donald's and he showed me an acrylic painting of a small yellow chick emerging from the whitest of cracked eggs on a green and red background.
I loved it.
We created a card using it with a straightforward headline: We asked our friend Donald to paint a holiday card. He painted this chicken.
On the inside, the copy reads: He said the holidays for him mean "new beginnings" like this baby chicken. We wish you a new beginning, new hope and fresh starts this year. All the best, Lois Geller Marketing Group. We're a new chicken too (after 14 years as Mason and Geller Direct).
Then, by a total fluke, I came across a place that sells realistic fake eggs. Put one in a bowl of water for a few days and a yellow chick emerges. It comes out bigger than the egg. It's fun to watch. I bought a bunch of them and sent each out with a card.
So, if you're not yet on my Christmas card list, here's to all of our new beginnings this 2009. It'll be a good year to help a friend, do random acts of kindness and create good karma in bad times - may they be oh so short.
If you'd like to win the original 9" X 12" New Beginnings Chick painting by Donald Sexauer, just share your new beginnings story below... The best story wins.
Tell me your story and you might win our prized chicken.
These all work! How do we know? We've tested them many times and every one of these ideas will help you boost response. So take a look at your pieces and try an extreme makeover, and let me know how it pulls for you...in response.
1. Know who you are! A unique brand personality makes you stand out, makes people like you, makes them want to do business with you. So think about your unique qualities as a realtor, and make them part of your brand personality.
2. Include some kind of letter. Even a fake "on-page" letter in a self-mailer or catalog. Packages with letters outperform letter-less mail 99% of the time. Even a boring, self-serving letter can be better than no letter. A well-written, 1 to 1 letter with some personality in it is better than anything. Get a pro to help you. It's important.
3. Letter layout is almost as important as copy. Make it look inviting, easy to read. Use short sentences, short paragraphs, indents, double space between paragraphs, cross-heads, Johnson boxes, and a signature that looks like a human being wrote it. Not something like this: Marilyn Monroe
4. Make the signature any color you want, as long as it's blue. It makes the letter look like it was signed by a real human being.
5. A lot of people read the P.S. before they get into the letter. It's a great place for your single best point.
6. Urge them to respond now! Do it several times. Give them a reason why "now" is important.
7. All that white space in your letter margins is costing money. Use some of it for handwritten margin notes to make compelling points stand out. Looks more human, too. Even write a note yourself...I was walking down your street the other day, and realized how lovely your gardens look, especially the azaleas. Of course the stories have to be true.
8. Don't let headlines just sit there. Pump them up with action words, solid promises, real benefits. Make them tantalizing. Get people curious. Usually we'll write 20 headlines for every one we actually use.
9. Your OE (outer envelope) has only one job: to get opened by someone in the mood for what you have to say inside. Want to try a blank OE so they might think it's from a friend? Not a good idea, because as soon as they get inside and realize it's advertising, they'll think you tried to fool them. Try really outrageous things on your OE. Big, interesting graphics, intriguing headlines, genuine promises, all work. Want to sell your home Now, and think it's just not possible? Or, Any home can sell...so don't despair.
10. Test different OE creative. It's not expensive and you might find that one OE kicks the pants off the rest.
11. Put your return address on the back flap of the envelope.
12. Turn your OE into a kind of brochure.
13. Put your offer prominently on the outer envelope, especially if it's short, and a great offer! Show a great photo of Architectural Digest...and offer them a free subscription when they call to talk to you about their home.
14. Try putting an involvement device of some kind on your OE. Take this piece and put it here. Or tear off this flap and bring it to our office for a chance to win one of our monthly drawings.
15. They won't give you as much response as a traditional package, but postcards are a quick and easy way to test the relative merits of new lists, offers, personality.
16. Keep tweaking until your offer is irresistible. Remember it's got to be unique, something they can't get any other way. It's your whole proposition, the combination of price, premium, membership, privileges, terms, future benefits, etc.
17. Restate your offer several times in your package: on the OE, in your letter and brochure and certainly on your response form.
18. FREE is still the best offer! In direct mail. For some reason it doesn't work on the Subject line in an email. So, offer a free book on Staging your home, Or, Free Evaluation of its Value, Or a great Box of Cookies when you respond.
19. A lot of people spend more time poring over creative than they do investigating lists. Creative is important, sure, but lists are twice as important. Get more list brokers working on your business and make sure you test new lists all the time.
20. Your best list is your current customer file. Your second best list is probably past customers. They're your greatest direct marketing assets. Use them! But make sure the files are clean and up-to-date. Those are people who you've talked to, listed homes for in the past, prospects from the office. When you get in touch with them again, they might be ready this time to list with you.
A while back, a college friend came up from Atlanta, husband and daughter in tow, for their annual trip to New York.
We went to an off-Broadway musical called Hank Williams: Lost Highway. Hank was a small town Alabama boy who became a great country singer in the late forties and early fifties. He never made it to 30 years old. Hank drank himself to death but not before he gave us Your Cheatin' Heart, Honky Tonk Blues, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Jambalaya, Hey Good Lookin', I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You, and dozens more great tunes.
Jason Petty plays Hank in Lost Highway and he is just amazing. To me, Jason and his backup group sound better than the great Hank Williams and I said so to my friend as we were leaving the theater.
"Well, sure", she said, "But he was imitating". Hank didn't imitate. He wrote new music, wrote new lyrics, arranged everything by himself and recorded every song in single takes. He did things nobody else had ever done. He was the first, the original, and everybody after him stands on his shoulders. They write plays about him.
And, of course, she was right.
History is full of people like that. They do things nobody else ever did and then along come the imitators. If they're talented, the imitators make the original better. Without them, our televisions would still be small, round and in black and white. But the guy who invented that old TV was the genius. The people who came after him were merely clever. Direct Marketing is like that, too. Very few originals, lots of imitators. And the imitators don't always make the original better.
Part of the problem is that most people think they're better off being followers. Genuinely original ideas startle them. It's not that they're afraid to try something new; they think they don't have to, so why bother? It's as if they've been eating roast beef and mashed potatoes all their lives and then suddenly someone gives them sushi. They say things like "let's not re-invent the wheel" and "we've always done it this way." They get into a comfort zone imitating, but not improving.
Banks and insurance companies are the worst offenders. They get in comfort zones and they do the same things over and over. You are pre-approved. Low APR. No medical exam required. Look after your loved ones. Safe driver discount. Our strength is our people. But that's going to change. The Hank Williamses got involved. Whoever's the Hank Williams over at Aflac gave us the frustrated duck and Geico's Hank gave us their gecko and suddenly insurance looks different.
When our agency makes a creative presentation, we usually show three concepts: a breakthrough kind of idea which we usually love; a slightly more conservative (imitative) idea but with a little edge to it; and a safe idea which just follows the pack. Nowadays, most clients go with the safe idea.
Maybe it is time for you to do some original marketing. Take a chance, make it reflect who you are, and let me know how it works. Direct mail letters can work great, even in this economy so test those too. And, make them sound like they come from a real human being...YOU!
My cousin, a real estate agent has been complaining non-stop that she has had only one sale in the last six months.
Well, what have you tried to stimulate business, I asked?
She replied that they had done some mailers that didn't receive any response.
As a direct marketer, I know that is really tough to accomplish... receiving absolutely no response to a mailer. I've been doing mailings for our clients for decades and if the mail actually leaves the post office, someone will respond. Guaranteed.
I decided not to got there. I've already sent her copies of my book, Sold! Direct Marketing for the Real Estate Pro... and she is still mailing postcards, and hasn't tested the "tried and true" letter I advised her to mail.
I also asked her if she'd write her copy like she speaks... in a conversational way. No luck.
So I decided to try some other ideas.
How about trying something new, I asked? Silence.
I suggested that she go and sign up for a few of my real favorites:
1. Use Active Rain consistently. You can write your bio on there (make sure to link your website), upload your photo, and write up something about yourself. Then write a post, and then simply check off the boxes where you want it posted. It might look daunting at first, and the more you visit here, the better you'll like it.
I met wonderful friends here like Margaret Rome, and Susie Roscoe and Fred Carver, and they keep in touch with me. I've been invited me to speak at many companies and there I've been learning about marketing internationally, and so much more. It is a user friendly place to go and just comment on other people's blog posts. I try to comment on write at least once a week.
2. The second place I recommend is LinkedIn . It is a business website, where you can find and connect with business associates. Invite them to "link" in with you. You can then see who their contacts are and see if you want to be introduced to those people. It is a great way to network without having to go to an event. You can network with others in your own home office in your pajamas, if you like.
I've made my best associates on Linked in by going to the Answers section and posting answers to other people's questions. I have also asked some of my own and gotten some great responses.
So, when someone awful hijacked my website, and I was "crazed" about what to do, I emailed my contacts and sent out an open question, and the whole problem way quickly resolved with the help of my friends there.
3. I've also been trying :http://www.plaxo.com Plaxo is another professional site that includes some interesting groups in my area, marketing.
I am hoping that I can bring you marketing ideas that are working in these challenging times. I also want everyone to stay upbeat and "relish" their jobs, so I try to be motivating too. If you comment, I'll respond to you. If you have written something that will help people with the joy of real estate marketing, send it to me, and I might post in on there too. Make sure to add your website in the comment field... you'll get a link that way.
That way, we'll make beautiful traffic together. You will get some leads from other agents and hopefully, everyone will win!
Days fly by for me, in a frenzy of activities....from direct marketing for our clients, my social media network, my real network of friends, my new books (I'm writing), my columns and all the mundane things I do, like paying bills, returning calls, and handling the challenges of board membership.
In the course of doing all of these activities, I let others slip by. One of those things that I'm always fighting with myself about is Organization. When I was a kid, my mom said I had a disorganized mind and that was why I was so creative. Now, there's no excuse.
So, I started calling Kate Sandberg, who had worked for us in New York. I invited her to come and visit with me in Florida, and help me to organize my desk, my closet and this visit...my new book. I had clippings everywhere and articles I'd written and in one weekend she managed to get me all straightened out.
I call her my Organizing Angel. My closet is immaculate, my book is in order, and she helped me to purge over 10,000 emails that were sitting in my home computer.
Now I'm free of clutter. In a few months, I'll invite her back again for a refresher. Each time she flies in, it gets easier, and there's less clutter and more seconds for me during the day. And, we go out for dinner and celebrate....and always laugh through the process.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
this is the lovely view as you arrive.
The Pennsylvania stonework in the living room is set off by the crown moldings.
He was driven to always be building costume jewelry business, and I learned a lot from him.
;)
;)
