Optimizers

Announcing a New DIY Marketing Group

2009-11-02T16:09:31Z

There is no question that realtors are trying to save money on everything; including their marketing.

For many agents "saving" is synonomous with "stopping". The irony is that in this tough economy you've got to do a lot more and better marketing just to stay even.

Slowing down or stopping your marketing to save money is just going to make you starve.

Happily, you live in an age of very good news.

Not only can you do more and better marketing than ever before, you can do it almost for free; if you do it yourself. And doing marketing efficiently and effectively yourself has never before been more possible.

It's absolutely amazing how many powerful marketing tools and strategies are available to you for very little, or no cost at all. If you like to use your computer and enjoy learning new things you can do with it, then learning how to do a better job of do-it-yourself marketing can be a real game changer for you.

To help you learn more and learn faster I'm starting a new Group called DIY Marketing. Topics we'll be discussing include, but are not limited to:

Free writing software
How to become an expert
Free graphics software
Quick and easy and free writing software
Free web site creation software
Great graphics from the artfully challenged
Free planning software
How to capture Web leads
Free email
How to automate lead followup Free sources of miscellaneous software How to keep in touch with everybody, for free
Free widget making software
How to control and manage leads

Sounds good doesn't it? And it's going to be even better. Why? Because this Group is going to operate differently:

It is a Members Only Group
Not everyone will qualify to become a full-fledged Member
Not every Member will be able to stay a Member

Here's the deal.

Anyone can apply for trial Membership.
To be accepted as a full Member you must post at least one DIY idea to the Group within the first week of your trial Membership.
To maintain your Membership you must contribute at least one new DIY post per month.

That's how we're going to consistently generate and share a lot of great ideas. If the idea of DIY Marketing interests you, come join us, and tell a friend.

Your Continuing Education Wish List

2009-08-17T13:07:06Z

Real estate licensing authorities want you to keep up with your professional development. That's why they require Continuing Education for license renewals.

The education requirements, and offerings, are typically heavy on the legal and ethical side of the business; but they do allow for courses that can help your business be more successful.

I'm in the process of developing courses for Continuing Education approval. Naturally I'd prefer to develop courses that will be popular and very helpful. This little survey will help.

So, the next time you have to take a Continuing Education Course, what would you like to see on your list of choices?

Social Networking for Real Estate Agents

2009-08-14T11:59:48Z

ActiveRain, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter; there's a lot to wrap your arms around, I know, I've been emersed in the details for the last month. Here's a four minute overview to help bring some order out of the chaos.

By the way, if you haven't checked out "SlideShare" (the free service I used to publish this presentation) you ought to check it out. It's a great way for you to add original substance and credibility to your blog posts and Web sites.

| Get your Presentation Pack

Optimize Your Database for Relationship Marketing

2009-07-14T16:43:34Z

Our first post in this series, "Do the Math On Relationship Marketing" provided an online calculator that let you play with your own numbers. I expect that your own math has stimulated a vigorous new interest in beefing up your relationship marketing capabilities. Here's what you should do next.

1. Consolidate Your Databases

Pull all of your various databases into a spreadsheet:

MLS Prospects
Leads from your Web site(s)
Outlook Records
AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, etc. Records
PDA and Mobile Phone Records
Business Cards
Membership Lists
Napkins
Other?

Clean them up:

Make sure all the data is in the correct column (i.e. first names in first name column, emails in email address column, etc.)
Capitalize letters of first and last names.
Delete people you don't want to market to.
Correct spelling.
Get missing email addresses

2. Categorize Your Records

Create a new column in your spreadsheet called "Contact Type"

Create the following standardized Contact Types:

Newly Met; i.e. people you've just met who are not currently in the market to buy or sell
Met; i.e. people you've had some two way communication with in the past who are not currently in the market to buy or sell
Client; i.e. people who've bought or sold with you in the past
Hot Buyer; i.e. people who are ready to make an offer as soon as they find something they really want
Warm Buyer; i.e. people who are looking, but not quite ready to make an offer yet
Hot Seller; i.e. people who are ready to accept a good offer
Warm Seller; i.e. people who are thinking about selling, but aren't quite ready to list
Vendor; i.e. third parties you work with
Agent/Broker; i.e. other agents/brokers you network with

Enter these Contact Types, as appropriate, for each name into your spreadsheet. Use multiple Contact Types as needed; just separate them with commas.

3. Count Your Email Addresses

Because email template links can bring people directly to your Web content, email/Web marketing is the fastest, easiest, cheapest and best marketing communications you can do. When email/Web marketing is automated, you've got a virtual relationship marketing and lead generation machine.

Count your email addresses, and run your numbers again (through the Relationship Marketing Calculator above) to see what kind of results you can expect from your automated email campaigns. Then count the records without email addresses, but with mailing addresses, and run those numbers. Keep in mind that you'll have to do a lot of expensive printing, handling and posting to market to this second group.

4. Plan to Get More Email Addresses

After you've done step three above I'm pretty sure that you'll wish you had a lot more email addresses. In this step you'll make plans to get them:

Make calls and ask for them
Integrate more forms on your Web sites for lead capture
Make offers in your mailings that require going to your Web site and completing an email address form
Purchase lists of targeted email addresses
Train staff to be diligent about getting email addresses

If you want to get the most out of your relationship marketing efforts it is essential that you optimize the biggest email database possible. Watch for our next steps.

Do the Math On Relationship Marketing

2009-07-14T16:11:57Z

Are you aware that there is one kind of marketing that outproduces every other kind, by far? And do you also realize that with today's technologies you can implement much larger camapaigns of this kind of marketing at much lower cost?

Relationship Marketing Works Best

Year after year the NAR does extensive surveys of actual home buyers and sellers. And year after year, the results are the same. When asked how people found their real estate agents they say overwhelmingly that they found them through relationships. The graphic below breaks out the detail.

Ironically, the most marketing money is always spent on media that produces the smallest results.

How Much More Could You Be Making Through Relationship Marketing?

To help you answer that question I've created a free, online calculator that will help you do the math. Go ahead and run your numbers. Then come back and share your comments here. I'll bet most of you are going to be very surprised.

How Optimized Are You? Take this Self Assessment.

2009-06-13T12:47:10Z

The real estate business model is changing rapidly; driven by technology and the economic turmoil.

We formed the ActiveRain Group "Optimizers" to collaborate on ways to make the best of this situation.

To facilitate the discussion we wrote The Model for Creating an Elite Boutique Real Estate Brokerage.

Now, we've developed an Optimizer Self-Assessment to help jump-start the Business Optimization Process.

Take the Optimizer Self-Assessment

The first step in the Business Optimization Process is to determine your starting point.

This Assessment is a checklist that enables you to inventory and measure your status on key Business Optimization issues. It's a fast and easy way to review your big picture and get a much clearer sense of direction.

Put a checkmark next to each Optimization issue you've already got under control.  When you're done you can request an immediate report that shows:

       1. All of the Optimizer issues
       2. All of your status responses
       3. Your Planning Percent of Completion calculation
       4. Your Communications Percent of Completion calculation
       5. Your Systems Percent of Completion calculation
       6. Your Team Work Percent of Completion calculation
     7. Your Overall Optimization Percent of Completion calculation

Go to the Optimizer Self-Assessment Now.

The Model for Creating an Elite Boutique Real Estate Brokerage

2009-05-30T17:10:43Z

Why an Elite Boutique Real Estate Brokerage? Why Now?

Yah, the economy is bad. Sales are down. Prices are down. Loans are harder to get. Unemployment is high. Blah, blah; blah blah.

The truth is that the overwhelming majority of people still has jobs and money to spend. In fact, the tougher things get, the more real estate bargains there are. So people who have money are, and will continue to be, a fantastic market.

Now people who still have "bread" didn't keep it by being slow in the head. They may have been asleep at the wheel for awhile, but this train wreck has got surely got them awake now; and they aren't going back to sleep anytime soon. They're going to be doing their spending with their eyes wide open; and from now on they're going to be looking for people who really know what they are doing to help them.

So pay close attention because this is the exact condition where those who can effectively demonstrate that they are elite boutique brokers will surge to the forefront.

What Do Potential Elite Boutique Brokers Know?

1. It still comes down to relationships.

Who are buyers and sellers gonna trust to help them with the biggest purchases of their lives?

Someone whose name they just saw for the first time? Nope.
Someone who never seems to be available? Nope.
Someone who takes forever to get back to them, if ever? Nope
Someone they've never spoken to? Nope.
Someone who appears to be pretty much like every other agent out there? Nope.
Someone who doesn't seem to be really connected to all the right resources? Nope.
Someone who hasn't fully demonstrated that they really know what they're doing? Nope.
Someone who plays real estate like the lotto; just waiting to hit the lucky score? Nope

The potential Elite Boutique Brokers know that strong relationships are the absolutely necessary foundation for doing transactions. And the potential Elite Boutique Broker knows that striving to build superior credibility, confidence, and trust through consistent demonstrations of significant value and responsiveness is the best and only real way to build strong, productive relationships.

2. Technology is leveling the playing field.

In years past it took an awful lot of money to buy print advertising to promote the office' listings. That's one of the ways big national franchises and large local brokerages, with their big volume advertising discounts, created huge financial barriers to entry for elite boutique brokerages. But now, huge changes are happening very fast.

Consider what's happening to the newspaper industry:

Circulation is dropping like a rock
Advertising revenues are plummeting
Newspaper staffs are shrinking (so their product is getting worse, not better)
Newspapers are closing; even the big flagships are in trouble

Does all this mean that people care less about getting news? On the contrary, they care so much that they're shifting to getting their news online via Web sites, Blogs, email and text messaging. Why? Because it's faster, more comprehensive, more in-depth, more up to the minute and more connected to other resources than print media could ever be.

You've already seen how vitally important Internet listings have become. That phenomenon together with the downward spirals print newspapers are on means that real estate print advertising is becoming less and less important. Before much longer listing print advertising is going to virtually disappear.

And this listing print advertising decline means that the listing advertising volume discount barrier that national franchises and large local brokers previously enjoyed is also coming down.

For Elite Boutique Brokers this sea change calls into question a number of other sacred cows:

Why then pay the high cost of buying into and maintaining a national franchise?
- Especially if you know that you're doing all your own rain making anyway?
Why obligate yourself to lease attractive office space large enough to support a critical mass of agents to help pay your rent?
Why pay to furnish and equip said office?
- Especially since everybody at least has a computer at home and a mobile phone; and everything that needs to be done in this business can be networked online?
Why continue to pay to keep the lights on, the phones connected and the copier running?
- Especially since communications can be totally mobile and electronic; and you need to be out in the field anyway?

Year after year NAR surveys show that franchise affiliation is significant in agent selections less than 7% of the time. Agents and brokers have been far more impressed with these affiliations than the buyers and sellers ever were.

The technology forced decline in newspaper listing advertising is leading to a complete reevaluation of the whole bricks and mortar real estate model. And that's leading the savviest agents and brokers to realize there are huge advantages to be gained by transforming themselves into elite boutique brokerages.

Technology that already exists, plus real estate savvy; equals an exciting new business model, and boundless opportunity.

"If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade."

Tom Peters

"If you don't have a plan for yourself, you'll be part of someone else's."

Here It Is: The Model for Creating an Elite Boutique Real Estate Brokerage

This model is not just a random pile of tactics piled upon tactics; as far too many real estate operations are today.

Instead, this is a comprehensive model for integrating proven strategies, technologies and people into a complete, synergistic organization capable of exceptionally high cost efficiency and productivity.

There are four major sections in this model that fit together like pieces in a puzzle:

Planning
Communications
Systems
Team Work

Each major section contains sub-pieces as outlined below.

"Organizing is what you do before you do something,

so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up."

A. Milne

These are the five pieces within the Planning Section of the Model.

1. Vision

What is your dream? What do you want your organization to become?

As long as you're designing your business, you might as well be clear about how you'd like it to perform.

The most important question to answer is; what kind of Life Style do you want your business to afford you?

On a personal level the issues are income and time spent getting it.
On a business level the issues are largely about how you will spend what percentages of your time.

If you most enjoy working directly with clients, then having a lot of agents working for you isn't the best idea. On the other hand, if you prefer managing people, then lots of agents and administrative help are a good idea.

Think about these issues carefully, before your business takes on a life of its own. A little more thought up front will help ensure it turns out just the way you like it.

2. Targeting

Target marketing works better because:

It gets you away from the "one-size-fits-all" approach that really doesn't impress anyone.
It causes you to delve deeper into the specific wants, needs and solutions for the people in the niche. Consequently you truly become more valuable to the people in that niche.
It causes you to seek out marketing channels that will connect you more directly and cost effectively to prospects in that niche.
It causes you to create marketing communications that speak more directly to the interests of prospects in that niche.
It helps distinguish you as an expert in that niche; which makes you much more attractive to prospects in that niche.

For example, think about some of the possible niches within the buyer segment:

First timers
Single women
Single men
Young couples
Middle aged couples
Old couples
Young families
Families with teens
Soon to be empty nesters
Soon to retire
Job relocators
Investors

Even though they are all potential buyers, the wants, needs and solutions for each of these niches are really quite different.

The channels for reaching the prospects within each of these niches are quite different.

The expertise you need to truly be of great value to the prospects in each of these niches is quite different.

Figure out which niches you are attracted to, know the most about, and can help the most. That's where you're going to find your greatest success.

3. Strategy

What do you need to do to achieve your vision?

With your Vision and Target Niche(s) in mind you'll be in a better position to develop your best strategy for achieving your goals.

This is the piece where you'll figure out:

The best channel(s) for reaching your target prospects:
- Web
- Email
- Social networking
- Direct mail
- Advertising
Your best offer(s) for attracting responses from your target prospects:
- Web site content
- Webinar content
- Publication content
- Meeting content
- Email content
- Consultation content
- Referral content
Your best systems for managing:
- Marketing Campaigns
- Leads
- Sales Follow up
- Relationships
- Administrative Activities
Your needs for:
- Recruiting
- Orientation
- Training
- Team Building
- Team Coordination

The right strategy makes any tactic work better. The right strategy puts less pressure on executing your tactics perfectly.

4. Tactics

What do you need to do to achieve your strategy; and when?

This is the piece where the preparation in Visioning, Targeting, and Strategizing really pays off. Now you're in position to choose implementation tactics that work together in a comprehensive and synergistic manner to:

Cover all the necessary bases
Reduce redundancy
Lower costs
Increase efficiency
Increase productivity
Increase return on investment

Consequently you'll be able to make much smarter choices about how and when you will use:

Vendor services
Web technologies
Communication systems
Computer equipment, software and services
Staffing

Carving your turns better is a tactic.

Choosing the right ski area in the first place is a strategy.

Everyone skis better in Utah, it turns out.

Seth Godin

5. Budget

Budgeting will make you realize that planning is not a linear process, but an iterative one. You can and should start with a grand vision, ambitious and multiple target markets, plus comprehensive strategy and tactics capable of delivering your desired results; but don't expect your first pass to be your last. Budgeting will help you revise and tighten your plan, then show you where and how to package your plan into prioritized, bite-sized steps.

Q. What's the best way to eat an elephant?

A. One bite at a time.

Comprehensive planning is vital, because it enables you to make your best, most integrated and therefore cost effective decisions about the rest of your business. It also puts you into a very solid place for creating all of your marketing communications.

Sir Issace Newton has the answer - Unbalanced Force

The High Value of a Low Grief Factor (and worth every penny)

Only 6.9% of all U.S. Residential Inventory is Investment Worthy

Change good or bad?

Do the office surroundings make a difference to you?

Realtors Think They Work a Full-Time Job - Do You?

"The two words information' and communication' are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through."

Sydney J. Harris

The goal of all your communications is to start, build and maintain relationships that are strong enough to do repeated business and get referrals.

It's helpful to realize that the business of starting, building and maintaining relationships is very similar to courting. In courting it's almost never productive to start with, "Hi! Will you marry me?" Instead the process follows this natural progression:

Initial meeting
A mutual search for commonality
Agreements to spend more time together (i.e. coffee, lunch, dinner, shared activities, etc.)
Deeper searches for commonality
Making and keeping mutual commitments
Growing credibility, confidence and trust

After enough of that relationship building process has transpired, "Will you marry me?" becomes a much easier question to ask and answer.

As much as we might want the business relationship process to be different, it's really not. We still have to have:

Initial meetings
Searches for commonality
Agreements to spend greater amounts of time together, doing deeper searches for commonality
Making and keeping mutual commitments
Growing enough credibility, confidence and trust to do business

All of your communications should be designed to facilitate the natural relationship building process. They should flow smoothly and seamlessly from initial attraction (i.e. your lead generation offers), through your initial calls and emails, then through your presentations. All along the way all of your communications should be helping you build ever increasing amounts of credibility, confidence and trust.

What you say, where you say it, how you say it, and when you say it all need to be taken into account when you create your marketing communications.

These are the seven pieces within the Communications section of the Model.

1. Web Sites

The Web is a communications content library. Anything you can see on a computer can be organized and hosted on the Web. Once on the Web people can be led to it through search engines, or via links in email and other Web pages.

Never before have agents and brokers been able to make so much high quality marketing communications, available to so many people, at such low cost. You truly are in the Golden Age of Real Estate Marketing.

Elite Boutique Brokers need to move beyond the cookie cutter template sites that so many others have into revealing more of their unique personalities, knowledge and ability.

2. Blogging

One of the very best ways to build a library of unique content that shows who you are, what you know, and how you help.

Your posts can become a key element in your ongoing automated marketing campaigns.

3. Email

Whether custom messages, boilerplate, or mass distributions; email is fast, easy and almost free no matter how many messages you send

A robust email library for both marketing and administrative uses is a must for Elite Boutique Brokers.

4. Direct Mail

Sometimes the only way to reach people, especially initially, is through physical direct mail. Elite Boutique Brokers will still use direct mail to help build their relationship marketing databases.

5. Social Networking

Whether it's in person at clubs, associations, Chambers and other membership organizations; or online through LinkedIn, FaceBook or Twitter; social networking is an important part of the Elite Boutique Broker's marketing mix.

6. Advertising

While traditional newspaper listing advertising is in decline, there will still be opportunities to get targeted visibility for your offers in a wide variety of publications. When combined with Web pages, online forms and email; advertising will help generate productive relationships.

7. Presentations

Presentations are vitally important because they can help you communicate a great deal of complex information quickly and simply. Strong presentations can be a tremendous aid in building the levels of credibility, confidence and trust you need to do business.

Presentations published to the Web make it easy for you to give them anytime from any place; for one person or even hundreds at a time.

"Communication works for those who work at it."

John Powell

Once you have your content created you'll need systems in place systems to automate marketing campaign scheduling and distribution; as well as a host of other things.

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What do your clients say about you?

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Let's Create a 1st Time Buyers Webinar Together: Part 1 - The Webinar Outline

my new Realtor is an amazing on top kick ass don't waste one second of time fireball. she doesn't miss ONE TRICK !!!

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How to Get More Marketing Value From Your Blog Posts

Hi! Will you marry me?

Guerilla Relationship Marketing

It's truly amazing to see how much technology has leveled the playing field. An entire real estate business can be effectively run (actually, more effectively run) from a laptop, mobile phone and the Web.

Web sites enable you to host more and better content, that is visible to far more people, for much less money than print.

Email enables you to contact more people, faster and easier for practically no money; and it can link directly to all your Web content

Online real estate systems can hold all of your contacts, your schedule, your notes, your correspondence (both outbound and inbound), and complete histories; and make them accessible from your laptop or PDA/phone anytime, from anywhere.

These same online real estate systems can easily and quickly expand from a single agent to dozens of agents and staff; all networked online; all sharing the same database, notes, schedules, correspondence and histories.

These same online real estate systems can automatically capture Web leads as well as schedule and distribute entire, year-long, targeted, custom, marketing campaigns.

Other online systems can be integrated to create documents, obtain signatures, and manage entire transaction processes.

Given all that capability, plus the speed and coordination advantages, at comparatively very low cost; it's increasingly hard to justify the high expense of renting, furnishing, equipping and maintaining a brick and mortar office. That money could be much more productively spent on additional marketing.

Smart systems selection and implementation will give elite boutique brokers a huge competitive edge over the old schoolers.

These are the eight pieces within the Systems section of the Model.

1. Relationship Management

The higher the volume of business you want to do, the more you'll need to automate your starting, building and maintaining of your relationships. If you want to bring additional agents into your operation, you'll definitely want to automate your relationship management.

More and more often your first point of contact will be your Web site. You'll need Web forms that capture visitor contact information, automatically import it to your contact database, and automatically trigger a sequence of email and call follow-up.

After that you'll need additional targeted sequences that distribute appropriate information to niche buyers and sellers.

In addition, you'll need automated follow-up appropriate to newly met people who aren't currently in the market; as well as appropriate continuing communications to your "Mets" and past clients who are not currently in the market either.

The volume and complexity of keeping up with all the various sequences is daunting, unless you have fully automated relationship management systems in place; then it's a snap.

2. Scheduling

Staying on top of your own schedule can be a challenge. Factor in some administrative staff and additional agents and you've got the makings of a three ring circus.

To function as a smooth running team, that doesn't drop any balls, you'll need an integrated scheduling system that all of you can access anytime, from anywhere.

3. Lead Generation

Over the last 50 years homeowners across the U.S. moved at an average rate of 10% per year. Local conditions have made local move rates fluctuate between 5% and 15%. The good news is, no matter what the conditions, homeowners keep moving.

The trick to lead generation is to get them to pick you. "Pick" is the key word, because movers have lots of choices. The trick to getting people to pick you is to offer them something you know they really need and would like to have.

Once they respond to your offer the relationship building clock starts.

The trick after that is to offer the next logical thing that will draw them closer to you; then the next; then the next; and so on.

To generate and follow-up leads effectively you'll first need to use your understanding of your target markets to create compelling Web communications and your email library.

Then you'll need to create a series of automation campaigns for distributing the right content to the right people at the right time.

Enough compelling, targeted offers made to enough of the right people will generate plenty of leads.

4. Presentations

Good presentation production systems will make if fast and easy to create personalized highly professional presentations. These systems should also automatically publish your presentations to the Web so you can do more Webinar like presentations to individuals and groups alike; on the fly.

5. Work Flow

Conceptually, the task is very simple: You want everything, done right, on time.

If you're working alone, and you're doing a pretty good volume of business, meeting that goal can be very challenging at times.

Add a few more people to the mix who can't share the same information and you're in a three ring circus; many, many balls are going to be dropped.

Online systems can enable ever expanding groups of people to easily share information and tasks, thus tightening team coordination and work flow.

6. Listing Management

There are a lot of parts to the job of marketing listings well; staging, photos, virtual tours, Web listings, flyers, agent promotions, showings, etc.

If you do more than one listing at a time you'll have dozens and dozens of balls to keep constantly in the air.

A good, online system will keep you on top of everything and make it easy to delegate and supervise tasks.

7. Closing Management

There are a lot of parts to the job of effectively managing escrows to closing.

If you do more than one escrow at a time you'll have dozens and dozens of critical balls to keep constantly in the air.

A good, online system will help keep you on top of everything and make it easy to delegate and supervise tasks.

8. Reporting

To manage a team effectively you need a way to quickly and easily know the status of just about everything. Who's doing what for whom? When's the deadline? How far along is the project?

You'll need a way to answer these questions across your entire team, and down to the individual situation.

A good, online real estate broker's system will enable you to do that.

At this point you've got a solid Plan, your Communications are ready to go, and you've got your Systems in place to handle everything in the most efficient, productive manner. Now it's time to consider your Team Work.

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Do you like free stuff?

Another Freebie - Yes Absolutely Free! Free - Free - Free!

"Technology does not run an enterprise, relationships do."

Patricia Fripp

Developing the skills to create and manage a high-performance team is probably the most difficult transition for elite boutique brokers to make.

There is a huge difference between being a star performer and a star manager. In fact, the tendency to just do it yourself, because you can do it better, is what keeps star performers from becoming star managers.

Star Managers are able to find joy in letting go and empowering others to become the best they can be.

If you are starting as a single performer, then building your Planning, Communications and Systems foundations will solidify your high-level performance. At that point you may be having so much fun, and success, that you might want to just stay a single performer.

If you still want to go all the way and build an Elite Boutique Brokerage you'll find that all of the work you've done on this model will give you a great head start.

These are the three pieces within the Team Work section of the Model.

1. Recruiting

"Selecting the right person for the right job is the largest part of coaching."

Philip Crosby

Having those foundations and performance track record in place will make it easier to attract and retain really good people, because they will appreciate, respect and see the personal advantages that what you've built affords them.

If they don't "get it", or aren't ready to help support your model, they certainly don't belong in your boutique.

2. Training

"No coach has ever won a game by what he knows; it's what his players know that counts."

Paul Bryant

One of the great benefits of implementing this Model is that you'll have a comprehensive system of best practices in place for every critical function.

It will be much easier to assimilate new people into your organization, because well planned, efficient, integrated systems will be in place. Learn the system and you've learned how to do the job at a very high level.

Consequently your training curve will be much shorter and easier. Just make sure that everyone on your team understands your Plan, Communications and Systems.

3. Work Flow

"Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see

and listen to what they don't want to hear."

John Madden

Team coordination is inherently part of your system.

Your systems will enable you to watch and listen, but people will still need coaching to get your team up to a high performance level.

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Rely on your broker - they can help you get unstuck

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The Elite Boutique Broker Model at a Glance

Conclusion

Everywhere agents and brokers turn they are bombarded with, "Try this!", "Try that!" Free floating tactics piled upon more free floating tactics. It's like preparing for a cross country car trip with this mindset:

"Oooo, let's pack some of these, and some of those too! I bet they will come in handy."

What you get with this approach is a mixed bag of disjointed and incomplete tactical decisions, all made without bothering to:

Check the tires
Check the oil
Get some maps (or a GPS)
Figure out where to stay along the way
Calculating how much you'll need for expenses
Delegating who will help with what

Technology and the economic train wreck are causing massive changes to the real estate industry. Those who cling to the old school methods of print advertising, big franchise fees, bricks and mortar operations, and incomplete technology integration are riding a train to nowhere.

Those who see opportunity in the sea changes and prepare to take advantage of them by thinking through, then implementing their Planning, Communications, Systems and Team Work are going seize the day.

"High achievers spot rich opportunities swiftly, make big decisions quickly and move into action immediately.

Follow these principles and you can make your dreams come true."

Robert H. Schuller

So, how ready are you to become an Elite Boutique Brokerage?

To have a good shot you'll need to meet these basic requirements:

You've been in the real estate business five or more years
You have a broker's license
You've consistently earned over $100k per year
You consider yourself to be in the top 10% of real estate sales knowledge
You are your own rain maker
You desire more independence
You want to captain your own ship
You have a passion for empowering others

If you meet those criteria, then an Elite Boutique Brokerage Assessment will help you:

See where you are
See where you need to go
Learn how to get there

Click here to schedule your Elite Boutique Brokerage Assessment.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

Thomas Alva Edison

This post is part of a continuing discussion in our ActiveRain Group called:

You are more than welcome to Join Us.

A Better Strategy For Making Offers

2009-05-19T14:42:43Z

No, I'm not talking about those kind of offers. This is about a strategy for making more and better marketing offers, so you'll be in position to make and receive more of those other kind of offers.

Why is making more and better marketing offers so important? Because:

Offers invite responses
Responses lead to more conversations
More conversations lead to more business

Tips For Making More Effective Marketing Offers

1. Offers should be related to your purpose:

If your purpose is to have fun; offer invitations to a picnic
If your purpose is to have your prospects eat better; offer recipe postcards
If your purpose is to sell more real estate; offer them information that leads to buying and selling real estate

2. Offers should be carefully targeted to specific individuals

Buyers belong to niches:

First time
Moving up
Moving down
Moving far away
Moving with kids
Moving without kids
Buying for residence
Buying for investment
And others

Sellers belong to niches:

Moving up
Moving down
Moving out
Divorcing
Deceased
Distressed
And others

"One-size-fits-all" kind of marketing messages don't fit anyone well at all. Marketing offers of information specifically targeted to the needs and interests of specific niches will generate much stronger responses.

And it works even better when you make niche targeted offers to people who are actually in those niches.

3. Offer fulfillments should be information based

Sure, you could offer free movie tickets and generate a large and enthusiastic response; from people who want free movie tickets, but have absolutely no interest in buying or selling real estate.

On the other hand, information about viable options for people who are having trouble making their mortgage payments would only draw, well, people who are having trouble making their mortgage payments.

Information offers cause your target prospects to self-select.

Information offers also do one other very important thing; they position you as a person having a lot of knowledge on the topic. Year after year, NAR surveys show that favorable perception of an agents real estate knowledge is one of the very most important agent selection factors.

That's why making information offers, even if they are not responded to at the time, does a lot to build agents credibility. High credibility is what helps generate calls and referrals down the road (provided, of course, you keep in touch by making an endless series of easy-to-say-yes-to offers)

4. Offers should be easy-to-say-yes-to

What makes an offer easy-to-say-yes-to?

Make sure the information you offer is valuable and useful to your target recipients.
Make your offers to people who are the most likely to be interested in the information you are offering.
Make your information easy to receive. "Click here to download" is easiest. "Call..." is a little harder. Send or stop by are significantly harder. The harder you make it, the lower your response rate.

5. Offer fulfillments should facilitate conversations

You're never going to sell a house without first being in conversations with your prospects. So the sooner your offers lead to direct conversations, the better.

Text information offers can lead to productive conversations, but that interim step takes longer. Webinars are more powerful offers because they immediately put you into conversations with your target prospects.

To learn more about Webinars join our ActiveRain Group, Webinars R Us.

6. Offers should be planned to escalate in a series

Think of your marketing offer strategy like courting. It usually doesn't work to say, "Hi! Will you marry me?"

Summary

Think through your series of easy-to-say-yes-to steps.
Pick your targets.
Offer them valuable and useful information packages that escalate in a series toward your goal.
Leverage the Web and technology for distribution to increase quality, performance while you lower your marketing costs.
You're going to do a lot more business.

This Is Where "OPTIMIZERS" Discuss RECRUITING

2009-05-05T10:58:35Z

Recruiting is a big topic with lots of facets. It also has a great deal to do with the design and implementation of improved real estate business models. So we're giving recruiting its own special space here in our Optimizers Collaboration Project.

The only absolute requirement of a real estate business model is that it must sustainably generate income that significantly exceeds its expenses.

Real estate business models that can and do meet that requirement come in a wide variety of sizes, focus, and quality levels. The combinations and permutations of overheads, technologies, recruiting specs, training capabilities, compensation plans and management styles to achieve that income requirement are endless.

Our goal for the RECRUITING part of the Optimizers discussion is to weigh the pros and cons of each of the recruiting variables so each of our Members can better choose a personal combination that will work best.

Here is an outline of Recruiting Issues to help get the discussion started:

A. Recruitment Planning Issues

1. Big, Medium, Small

A. Which model are you trying to build? They all

can work; but which one makes the most sense for

you?

2. Services

A. What skill sets do you need to deliver the depth,

breadth and quality of services you want to offer?

3. Volume

A. How much activity do you anticipate, and when?

4. Capacity

A. How much grow room do you already have? When do

you anticipate you'll reach your limit?

5. Ongoing vs. Project

A. Are the tasks you want help with ongoing, or

infrequent?

B. Can many tasks be converted into projects?

6. Employees vs. 3rd Parties

A. Is it better to hire people, use independent

contractors, or some combination of both

approaches?

B. Do people who help you have to be physically

located in your office, or can they be virtual?

7. Overhead

A. Buildings vs. Virtual Technologies Every expense

should contribute to your profit. Which expenses

should be cut? Which expenses should be

increased?

8. Training Requirements

A. How much training will your recruits need?

B. What kinds of training will they need?

C. What are the most cost efficient and effective

ways to deliver it?

D. Should you gear up for training, or should you

focus your recruiting to reduce the need for

training?

9. Supervision/Mentoring Requirements

A. Close supervision of transactions is mostly a

given. Close mentoring of marketing and sales

efforts is typically neglected. How prepared are

you to mentor for success?

10. Compensation

A. What methods work best? 100% commission?

Splits? Gulp, salaries?

11. Employment Agreements

A. What should be in them?

B. Legal requirements

C. Training requirements

D. Performance requirements

E. Compensation plans

F. Can you use employment agreements to:

Filter applicants?

Set mutual expectations?

Control performance?

Control terminations?

12. Recruitment Marketing

A. How will you make your firm more visible to

potential recruits?

B. Will you rely more on direct advertising, or

social networking, or both?

C. What kind of recruitment communications will you

use?

D. Web site

E. Individual Email

F. Mass Email

G. Downloadable Materials

H. Printed Materials

I. Webinars

J. Seminars

K. Office Tours

L. Social Networking Activities

B. Recruitment Marketing

1. Your Recruiting Value Proposition

A. What unique values do you offer potential

recruits?

2. Recruiting Communications

A. Web Site

B. Email

C. Email Campaigns

D. Print

E. Brokerage Tour

F. Advertising

G. Invitations

3. When to Recruit

A. When needed?

B. Constantly?

C. Recruit Selection Issues

1. Job Descriptions

A. The clearer you get about what the job is, the

easier it gets to ask for what you need, and to

determine if your potential recruit can actually

deliver it.

2. Sales Staff

A. Since real estate sales is mainly a relationship

business; is your potential recruit a compulsive

relator or not? How many contacts in their

database? Do they even have a database setup to

work from?

B. How much knowledge, skill, experience, technology

resources, marketing time and capital, does a

recruit need to be successful in your

organization?

3. Administrative Staff

A. What skills, knowledge, experience and

technologies are necessary to get your jobs done

with minimal supervision?

D. Recruit Orientation and Training Issues

1. Do you have Orientation materials that facilitate

quick team assimilation?

2. Do you have functional trainings that facilitate

consistent team work?

3. Do you have regular communications that facilitate

team spirit, cooperation and effort?

E. Turnover

1. Have you itemized and analyzed your true Turnover

Costs?

A. Marketing time and money

B. Interview and selection time

C. Orientation time

D. Fixed overheads

E. Training time

F. Supervision time

G. Lost opportunities

2. What does it really cost you every time somebody leaves?

Let the recruiting discussion begin!

Join the Collaboration Project for "Optimizing the Broker Business Model"

2009-05-01T14:04:13Z

Utah Dave certainly touched a nerve with his post, "The New Business Model in Real Estate - Good Bye Old Brokerages and Brokerage Models."

In a nutshell he said that mediocrity is on its way out, and smaller, high quality brokerages are on the rise. More than 200 ActiveRainer Commenters enthusiastically agree with him. Many of them are already using the smaller, higher quality model and they all say that that model out produces the big mediocrity model . . . by far.

Undoubtedly their models have a great deal of variation in them; with some emphasizing one aspect, and others emphasizing different aspects. There could still be huge, additional improvements for all, if only they could adopt each other's best practices.

Discussions relating to best practices and optimizing broker models have been going on all over ActiveRain for quite some time. The problem is, these discussions are in pieces, and scattered all over ActiveRain. You really have to dig if you want to find all the pieces.

Given the trauma and massive change the real estate industry is currently undergoing, best practices and broker model optimization are vital and timely discussions that should be held. To help organize and facilitate these discussions, we've created a new Collaboration Group called "Optimizers" to:

Give the optimized broker model discussion clearer topics and more focus
Share best practices
Make it easier for the best ideas and thinkers to reach the center of the discussion
Make it easier for all participants to capture more value from the discussion

Scope of the Optimizers Collaboration

A. Marketing

1. Agent/Broker Marketing

A. Market Positioning

1. Advantages and Disadvantages of:

A. Elites Only

B. Blend

C. Big

D. Small

B. Target Marketing Strategies

1. Most productive practices for:

2. Sellers

3. Buyers

4. Past Clients

5. Newly Mets

6. Mets

C. Marketing Communications

1. Content and delivery systems for:

a. Email

b. Web Site

c. Webinars

By the way, we've got an additional Collaboration Project going on over at Webinars R Us.

2. Print

3. Social Networking

2. Listing Marketing

A. Most effective practices for:

1. Pricing

2. Staging

3. Photography

4. Virtual Tours

5. Agent Email

6. Flyers

7. Signage

8. Tours

9. Events

3. Marketing Systems

A. Most effective methods for:

B. Lead Generation

C. Lead Capture

D. Lead Management

E. Lead Follow-up

F. Communications Production & Distribution

1. Web

2. Email

3. Print

B. Financing

1. Choosing Mortgage Financing Relationships

2. Partnering With Mortgage Brokers

3. What's Working, What's Not

C. Transaction Processing

1. Vendor Selection

2. Team Communication Methods

3. Paperless Automation Systems

D. Business Management

1. Technology Integration

A. Web

1. Company Site

2. MLS

3. IDX

4. Realtor.com

5. Others

B. Email

1. Domains

2. Accounts

C. Phone Systems

D. PDAs

2. Recruiting

A. Philosophy

B. Goals

C. Methods

D. Candidate Requirements

E. Employees vs. Contractors

3. Training

A. On What

B. Methods

4. Policies, Regulations & Laws

A. Discussions about what changes would best

facilitate best practices and broker model

optimization:

B. MLSs

C. Associations

D. Government

1. Local

2. Regional

3. State

4. Federal

How to Get the Most from This Collaborative Project

1. Join "Optimizers"

So everyone can see who is participating
To facilitate further interaction between participants
To facilitate Group communication and announcements

2. Participate in the discussions

Read
Comment
Post your Blogs to the Optimizers Group

3. Invite more participants

The more observations, ideas and wisdom, the better

Let's create some synergy!

Let's Create a 1st Time Buyers Webinar Together: Part 4 - Presenting the Webinar

2009-04-22T20:30:21Z

Note: This post is just part of a comprehensive, collaborative Webinar Development Project. Use the "Collaborative Project Link Center" at the end of this post to access additional activities in the project.

The measure of success for your Webinars will not be the number of attendees you have, but rather the number of productive relationships that come out of them.

Sure it would be nice to have dozens of people attend each and every one of your Webinars; but you know what? If you only had one person attend each of your Webinars, but half of your attendees actually became clients; I'd say you are quite successful at giving Webinars and you'd probably want to present at least one Webinar every week!

Will your first Webinar be your best? No. Why? Because there will still be plenty of learning and adjusting to do.

How many came? Your attendance is directly related to the size, quality and frequency of your promotions. Attendance also has a lot to do with the content you've decided to share.

Who came? Again, targeted promotions and content have the most to do with who shows up. If they weren't the right kind of people, you'll want to do some tweaking.

How did it feel? Were you able to stimulate interaction, or were you stuck in a monologue?

What was the feedback? Did your attendee's like it? What did they like most/least?

Did it lead to follow-up discussions? Was your next offer compelling enough? Did you make it easy enough to say yes to? Did you set the stage for it well enough?

In due time we will help you promote your Webinars within ActiveRain, so you'll be able to have your peer Collaborators give you gentle, yet highly constructive feedback.

In the mean time I suggest that you attend any and all Webinars that interest you. Take notes on what works and what doesn't. Share your observations here.

This will be the place to ask questions, give answers, share experiences and develop new ideas for continually improving Great Webinars.

Appropriate topics for Commenting on Webinar Improvement would include, but are not necessarily limited to:

Evaluation Forms
Voice Quality
Sound Quality
Audio Technology
Audio Recording
Video Recording
Interactivity
Emotional Stimulation
Logic Stimulation
Credibility Building
Confidence Building
Trust Building
Next Offers
Relationship Building Effectiveness
Relationship Building Strategies
Webinar Coaching

Let the discussion begin. . .

It's really exciting to see how much enthusiasm and participation this Collaboration Project to create Great Webinars is receiving.

We've got some really terrific people involved who are making very generous and valuable contributions.
We began by focusing on The Webinar Outline, and in just a few days that part of the project is well underway and maturing nicely.

So, now it's time to unveil the other parts of the entire project, and create a way for our Collaborators to navigate easily between those parts. Here's how our Webinar Collaboration Project is organized:

Part 1 - The Webinar Outline

This is where we discuss and develop all of our Webinar content options

Part 2 - Webinar Production

This is where we discuss the technical production options; i.e. slides, graphics and Webinar hosting technologies

Part 3 - The Webinar Promotion

This is where we discuss all of the different methods for drawing attendees to your Webinars

Part 4 - Presenting the Webinar

This is where we discuss actual Webinar experiences and ways to improve them

Join Our ActiveRain Group: Webinars R Us

This is where you formally join our Group so you can receive our Group News mailings

Attend Our Weekly "Webinar On Webinars"

This is where we provide an orientation to the entire Webinar process

Attend Our "Weekly Webinar Forum"

This is where we carry our Blog discussions even further via live conference call.

For further information call Ray Cobel at 805-494-9647

Let's Create a 1st Time Buyers Webinar Together: Part 3 - Webinar Promotion

2009-04-22T20:21:35Z

Once you've learned enough from Part 1 and Part 2 of this Webinar Collaboration Project to create your first Great Webinar you will be eager to start showing it off.

I recommend that you don't wait till you've completed Parts 1 and 2 before you start thinking about Part 3. In fact, many of the conclusions you come to in this Part 3 will actually change some of your thinking about Parts 1 & 2.

For example, if it turns out that you'll be able to do most of your promotion via email, then it really doesn't matter what your Webinar URL is going to be; a simple link can take the responder anywhere. On the other hand, if your promotion is going to be mainly via print (i.e. postcards and display ads or flyers), then you'll want to avoid addresses like: www.yourwebinarhost.com/xzy269301-bqy/?~hmtw5-3-096/mywebinar06qpz.php!

In other words, your available promotion channels may influence some of your production choices; and your content choices.

This will be the place to ask questions, give answers, share experiences and develop new ideas for promoting Great Webinars. Appropriate topics for Commenting on Webinar Promotion would include, but are not necessarily limited to:

Direct Mail Lists
Direct Mail
Email Lists
Mass Email
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Directory Advertising
Telephone Advertising
Door-to-Door Promotion
Bus Benches
Bill Boards
Web Sites
Print Advertising
Flyers
Classified Ads
Display Ads
Contact Management Systems
Oh, yeah, Sky Writing
Marketing Services

Let the discussion begin. . .

It's really exciting to see how much enthusiasm and participation this Collaboration Project to create Great Webinars is receiving.

Part 1 - The Webinar Outline

This is where we discuss and develop all of our Webinar content options

Part 2 - Webinar Production

This is where we discuss the technical production options; i.e. slides, graphics and Webinar hosting technologies

Part 3 - The Webinar Promotion

This is where we discuss all of the different methods for drawing attendees to your Webinars

Part 4 - Presenting the Webinar

This is where we discuss actual Webinar experiences and ways to improve them

Join Our ActiveRain Group: Webinars R Us

This is where you formally join our Group so you can receive our Group News mailings

Attend Our Weekly "Webinar On Webinars"

This is where we provide an orientation to the entire Webinar process

Attend Our "Weekly Webinar Forum"

This is where we carry our Blog discussions even further via live conference call.

For further information call Ray Cobel at 805-494-9647

Let's Create a 1st Time Buyers Webinar Together: Part 2 - Webinar Production

2009-04-22T20:09:22Z

Part 1 of this Collaborative Webinar Project will help give you a better idea of who to target with your Webinar, and what to say to them.

In this Part 2 we will explore your different production options. Again, keep in mind that the primary purpose of doing marketing Webinars is to attract target prospects and build strong enough relationships with them to do business.

The primary relationship factors at play when considering production options are your:

Credibility
Confidence
Trust

If your production choices enhance those factors, then obviously that would be a good thing. If your production choices don't enhance those factors, then it would be a good idea to rethink them.

Another thing to keep in mind about production choices is quality of execution. A simple, well executed, basic text presentation will do more for your credibility, confidence and trust than a poorly executed video.

It's awfully tempting to use state-of-the-art, new technologies, but more often than we'd like, they just get in the way of the relationship building process.

Your production choices will have the biggest impact on the overall look, feel and quality of your Webinar; they'll also have the biggest impact on the cost. Webinars can be one of the most inexpensive kinds of marketing you can do; but they also can get pretty pricey.

This will be the place to ask questions, give answers, share experiences and develop new ideas for producing Great Webinars. Appropriate topics for Commenting on Webinar Production would include, but are not necessarily limited to:

Graphics; sources, creation, use
Sound; sources, creation, use
Video; sources, creation, use
Slides; sources, creation, use
HTML/Framed Web Pages; sources, creation, use
Flash; sources, creation, use
Webinar Technologies; e.g. Go-To-Meeting, WebEx, etc.
Conference Calling Systems
Polling/Survey Systems; sources, advantages/disadvantages
Online Forms; sources, advantages/disadvantages
One vs. Multiple Presenters; advantages/disadvantages
Webinar Production Services

Let the discussion begin. . .

It's really exciting to see how much enthusiasm and participation this Collaboration Project to create Great Webinars is receiving.

Part 1 - The Webinar Outline

This is where we discuss and develop all of our Webinar content options

Part 2 - Webinar Production

This is where we discuss the technical production options; i.e. slides, graphics and Webinar hosting technologies

Part 3 - The Webinar Promotion

This is where we discuss all of the different methods for drawing attendees to your Webinars

Part 4 - Presenting the Webinar

This is where we discuss actual Webinar experiences and ways to improve them

Join Our ActiveRain Group: Webinars R Us

This is where you formally join our Group so you can receive our Group News mailings

Attend Our Weekly "Webinar On Webinars"

This is where we provide an orientation to the entire Webinar process

Attend Our "Weekly Webinar Forum"

This is where we carry our Blog discussions even further via live conference call.

For further information call Ray Cobel at 805-494-9647

What's your Favorite Webinar Hosting Platform? + Invite to Growth Leader Mastermind Call

2009-04-20T18:14:15Z

I'm a big fan of remote desktop technologies that enable you to go to clients' computers, or bring them to yours; individually or in groups scattered all over.

I've used several of the major players platforms, both as a host and an attendee. For the last six years I've used a platform called eBlvd for both inbound and outbound connections.

Having said that; I must confess that I've got a big beef with all of the platforms, when it comes to doing initial marketing presentations.

Virtually every Webinar I've sat in on that used these technologies started between 10 and 20 minutes late because one or more persons had trouble getting the technology to work on their computers. Everyone else had to wait while the fumbling went on, and in many situations the problems couldn't be resolved and the show had to belatedly go on without the technically challenged attendee.

This is a lousy way to make a first impression, and it pretty well destroys the marketing message and any relationship building efforts.

These technologies can be fine:

Once the relationship progresses to the point where there is more patience and less pressure
When you can help people through the technical hassles without a crowd watching
When the nature of what you're doing online really benefits from a live, full screen, interactive connection

For initial marketing Webinars I've found the best approach to be a standard html Web page with framed, numbered links as shown in this graphic.

Because it's a standard Web page:

Anyone can view it with any computer and any browser
Nothing needs to be downloaded, setup or logged into
There's virtually no limit to the number of attendees you can have (although if you get into the thousands your Web host may want to charge you more)
You call out the number of the slide you're on and each person clicks the link themselves (this little bit of "self-driving" actually helps keep people more involved in the presentation)
You can make the Web page available before the Webinar so people can ask better, deeper questions
You can leave the Web page available after the Webinar so people can review the slides again at their leisure
Once the page is up you can use it anytime for no extra cost. Sometimes this is really useful for a one-on-one, on-the-fly presentation to a prospect who just called.
No monthly technology fees

Nevertheless, here's a big thank you to Regina P. Brown for her reviews on the various Webinar technologies, because when the right time comes, these technologies can be absolutely terrific!

Via Regina P. Brown Real Estate on the California Coast:

A webinar on "How to do Webinars" -- Last week I participated in this awesome webinar hosted by Frances Flynn-Thorsen, the guru of webinar hosting and promotion at Socialebb Strategies and Solutions. She gave some great tips, and also discussed the in's and out's of various hosting platforms. Here's her blog with the replay:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/933980/Create-Online-Meetings-and-an-Explosive-Spotlight-Ad-for-Trulia

We all know about GoToMeeting, which is probably the top webinar platform that I see. It has some super-cool features. The participants can listen by phone or computer. You can record the seminar for later use. And the best feature is that when participants receiving confirmation of their registration, they can click on a link in the email to ADD IT TO THEIR OUTLOOK CALENDAR -- cool, huh! I like how attendees can "raise" their hands for the host when they have a question. (They also have GoToWebinar.)

WebEx by Cisco has received a lot of publicity, isn't that the TV commercial with the little girl telling her adult staff about her cookie business? Anyway, their product appears to be very good also.

Frances recommended Trulia for online desktop sharing, AND you can change presenters during the presentation. Also you can make annotations and use whiteboard tools, give polls and surveys, and host online meetings.

Another platform she likes is DimDim.com, it's an open source program. The great feature about this software is that it shows the video of the presenter! I guess that can be good or bad, depending on if you're wearing pajamas or a suit! DimDim is also great because you don't have to download any software to your computer. It's one of the greatest ways to host virtual company meetings.

And Yugma.com free web conferencing "allows anyone, anywhere to instantly share their desktop and ideas online with others." It allows you to record your webcast in order to share and playback at any time. Another of Fran's favorites!

I'm a big fan of Skype, although not very formal and not commonly used for business. And if your video or audio goes down mid-meeting, you can always chat instead!

Okay, so here's the Agent-to-Agent Mastermind Call info you've been waiting for! GrowthLeader sent me an email today with an invitation to their ground-breaking Agent-to-Agent Mastermind call. You don't have to use Growth Leader to listen in! So here's the link for anyone serious or just curious:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/963725/Growth-Leader-Agent-to-Agent-Mastermind-Call

AccuConference is hosting their conference call. http://www.accuconference.com offers:

Daily Conference Calls (reservationless)

Web Conferencing

Video Conferencing

Sales Calls

Outlook Plugin to schedule calls

For conference phone calls, I like FreeConferenceCalls.com, with its great mute control features for the host. Another free conferencing service is www.TheBasementVentures.com

I'm interested in hearing about your FAVORITE webinar provider! Anyone?

Join my new AR group and post your blog at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice

Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
Author of eBook "Stop Foreclosure Fast: Solutions to Save your House"

Text copyright © 2009 R.P. Brown, All Rights Reserved

Let's Create a 1st Time Buyers Webinar Together: Part 1 - The Webinar Outline

2009-04-17T17:33:17Z

The Goal: To create a Webinar so compelling that 1st time Home Buyers will eagerly want to attend.

The Methodology: To gather marketing and technical insight from buyer's agents, mortgage professionals and tax professionals, then organize it into a tight, persuasive presentation that can be used by individuals or multiple presenters.

OK, that's where we want to go, and how we plan to get there; so we're going to jump right in. You're invited to join us!

Step 1: Let's Make Sure to Be Responsive to Buyer Interests

If we want a good turnout we've got to be sure that our Webinar is about things that potential Home Buyers:

Want to hear
Need to hear

So to get all the potential topics out on the table please answer the following three questions in the Comment section below (We're brainstorming here, so let's hear it all)

What questions have potential buyers been asking you?
What information that you shared did potential buyers get most excited about?
What questions should potential buyers have been asking you, but didn't?

I'm sure you'd all like to see the final presentation as quickly as possible. Keep in mind that this is a Group project; so expect that there will be considerable discussion as we progress. To make this effort as speedy as possible we need to impose three Webinar production ground rules:

Subscribe to this post so you can receive Comment updates as they occur.
Keep up with the discussion and jump in often.
If someone asks you a question, or makes a comment that you should respond to; please respond here within 24 hours at the latest.

Once we have a consensus on the topics I'll organize them into a draft presentation outline for your review. Then our next step will be to critique that draft and make it ready for "Prime-Time".

This effort should be fun and the resulting Webinar should be very profitable for all participants, so let's get started!

P.S. To keep up with the latest in our Webinar activities be sure to join our ActiveRain Group: Webinars R Us.

**********UPDATE***********

Our Webinar outline is coming together. You can see the latest draft at "Comment #20" below.

It's really exciting to see how much enthusiasm and participation this Collaboration Project to create Great Webinars is receiving.

Part 1 - The Webinar Outline

This is where we discuss and develop all of our Webinar content options

Part 2 - Webinar Production

This is where we discuss the technical production options; i.e. slides, graphics and Webinar hosting technologies

Part 3 - The Webinar Promotion

This is where we discuss all of the different methods for drawing attendees to your Webinars

Part 4 - Presenting the Webinar

This is where we discuss actual Webinar experiences and ways to improve them

Join Our ActiveRain Group: Webinars R Us

This is where you formally join our Group so you can receive our Group News mailings

Attend Our Weekly "Webinar On Webinars"

This is where we provide an orientation to the entire Webinar process

Attend Our "Weekly Webinar Forum"

This is where we carry our Blog discussions even further via live conference call.

For further information call Ray Cobel at 805-494-9647

So Whose Job Is It Anyway?

2009-04-16T19:35:44Z

The real estate market collapsed, and took a whole lot of other stuff down with it.
Millions of jobs are being swept away.
Home prices are falling, and foreclosures are up.
Consumer confidence and spending are weaker than they've been in decades.
The government is taking unprecedented and breathtaking actions to shore up our financial system; and we've all got our fingers crossed that it's gonna work.

The reality is, when it comes to the economy, things are either getting better, or they're getting worse.

The more people hold back on their spending, the more jobs are lost. The more jobs are lost; the more people hold back on their spending. It's a vicious downward spiral. That's what we're in, and it's got to be turned around before things get much worse.

Happily, the flip side of that scenario is the more people spend, the more jobs get created. The more jobs are created, the more money people have to spend, and the confidence to spend it. It's a self energizing upward spiral. That's what we've got to get ourselves back to.

So whose job is it to educate and motivate the consumer in a positive direction that will benefit all of us? Whose job is it to personally tell the individuals in their communities that:

The sky has stopped falling
There are really great buys on the market
Financing costs are lower than ever
You might qualify to benefit from some really exceptional tax incentives
You can still have your dream
Your purchases will help our economy to recover

There are an awful lot of people who need some serious educating and motivating, and they really need it now.

Whose job is it anyway? And when are they going to work?

How to Use Webinars to Generate Leads

2009-04-16T11:27:37Z

Invite people to learn quality information about a topic that interests them and who do you think will show up?

That's right; people who want to learn more about the topic.

What if you make it really easy for people to show up? No travel time. No parking. They don't even have to get dressed.

That's right; more people will show up.

The target marketing strategy behind Webinars is to draw in your prime prospects by making quality information offers that are easy for them to say yes to. The better you target your invitees, and the better you focus your topic on their interests, the more and better leads you will generate.

Prime Webinar Example: First Time Buyers

First, let's recognize that this market is bigger than it sounds. "First time" doesn't literally mean first-time. The law defines "first-time home buyer" as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. Furthermore, ownership of a vacation home or rental property not used as a principal residence does not disqualify a buyer as a first-time home buyer.

Second, let's remember that home prices and interest rates have not looked this attractive for a very long time.

Third, take note that the Federal Government has made available a very attractive $8,000, time limited, Tax Credit for first time home buyers.

Fourth, realize that there is a lot of instability and confusion in the real estate marketplace.

Fifth, who better than you can provide the clarity and confidence first time home buyers need right now to step up and take action.

Sixth, who's responsibility is it anyway to lead individuals in your community out of this real estate mess?

Those six points all add up to a beautiful Webinar opportunity:

1. A big target market

2. Many very attractive home ownership opportunities

3. A very attractive Tax Break

4. People hungry to be shown the way

5. A powerful opportunity for you to demonstrate your knowledge, skill and performance ability

6. An effective way for you to help fulfill your responsibility to your local community and your country.

Good quality Webinars for First Time Home Buyers, held for local communities throughout our country, could be one of the most effective tools available in aiding our economic recovery.

How to Create a Quality First Time Home Buyer Webinar

1. Know Your Stuff

A Google search will pull up thousands of reference sites, but one particularly good one I found that comprehensive and easy to follow was created by the National Association of Home Builders.

Dig as deep as necessary to gain the information and confidence you need to be a good presenter.

2. Consider Partnering Up

Imagine a Webinar panel consisting of a:

Real Estate Agent
Mortgage Lender
Tax Professional

The advantages of such a panel would be:

Authoritative answers to questions in the three key sub-topic areas
Sharing the pressure of leadership
Pooling of production resources
Pooling of promotion resources
A more compelling and persuasive Webinar for your prospects that would likely lead to more and very productive follow-up discussions

3. Expand Your Webinar Knowledge

If you're thinking about doing your own Webinars, then you'll really appreciate the help these links will give you:

You Should Be Doing Webinars
- Describes the successful Webinar Leader's Profile
- Lists five crucial Webinar advantages
Attend Our Webinar on Webinars
- Learn the Key Steps to producing effective Lead Generation Webinars
Participate In Our Weekly Webinar Forum
- Meet online to discuss your Webinar development; no charge
Compare Marketing Methods
- Learn the advantages of Webinars over traditional marketing channels.
How to Pick a Great Webinar Topic
- Learn how to target your prime market, then chose a compelling topic that will generate a good response.
Who Should Join "Webinars R Us"
- Learn about this online blogging ActiveRain Group that concentrates on developing great Webinars; no charge to join
Download "Optimize Your Webinar Mindset"
- Learn how to position your thinking for maximum Webinar effectiveness from this free 92 page Guide
About Cobel Target Marketing Services
- Learn how we can help you with your Webinar development, promotion and delivery.
Get a Marketing Assessment
- Not sure where to start? This complimentary Marketing Assessment will give you a plan.

Webinars Conclusion

A Webinar for First Time Home Buyers is just one good example of how Webinars can be used to start relationship building conversations with your target prospects. You can use this same basic strategy to develop your own Webinars for any target market.

Webinars provide so many marketing advantages; you really should consider giving them a try.

Nothing Happens Till the Conversation Starts

2009-04-08T14:53:21Z

Isn't that the bottom line? You can only do business after the conversation starts.

Given that's the reality, shouldn't the goal of all your marketing be to actually start conversations? The sooner, the better?

How to Assess Your Marketing Effectiveness

Does your marketing attract the kinds of people you actually do business with?
Does your marketing start conversations related to the strongest values you bring to the table?
Does your marketing actually create conversation opportunities?
Is your marketing generating enough conversations, with qualified prospects, to meet your income goals?

If you answered yes to all four of those questions, congratulations on being swamped with business!

If you answered no to any of those four questions, then maybe its time you learned some new tricks.

Here's A New Conversation Starting Trick

Invite your target prospects,
To your value packed Webinar,
On a topic that really interests them.

That's likely to draw a response; and when they show up, voila, instant conversations.

Conceptually it's very easy, and it most definitely works.

Actually producing your own Webinar, in a way that guarantees conversational success; that takes a bit more. "More what?", you ask.

Well, that happens to be the subject of our Webinar on Webinars:

Click here for more information.

I look forward to meeting you there.

Here's what's been keeping me from doing Webinars

2009-03-26T15:06:48Z

Can you relate to this discussion?

"There's a new comment on the blog entry So What's Been Keeping You From Doing Your Own Webinars?

Comment by Regina P. Brown, e-Pro Realtor®:

For me, the main thing is, will I have enough people attending or will it be a complete flop when no one shows up? So I think marketing is important. And I know that marketing is time-consuming and can be emotionally draining, it's a lot of effort."

Regina, thank you for being open and sharing your hesitations.

Your Comment has raised four concerns that a lot of people can relate to:

1. Marketing is important

Yes, it is. Without it, nothing happens.

2. Marketing is time-consuming and requires a lot of effort

Depends on how you do it. Door knocking, one at a time is time consuming. Folding, stuffing, sealing and posting letters is time consuming. Uploading a database and artwork to an online printing company takes less than 20 minutes; even for thousands of contacts. Emailing an automated campaign to thousands takes just a few minutes; once you're setup.

If you're not already setup to do lots of marketing with a minimum of time and expense; that's what you should be working on.

3. Marketing can be emotionally draining

Not quite sure what you mean by this. If you're talking about the equivalent of trying to sell refrigerators to Eskimos, face-to-face, then yes I would agree with you; that would be emotionally draining. That's why we stress careful targeting to ensure that you concentrate on people who are most likely to actually want what you offer.

Maybe it's your definition of "marketing". I define marketing as any and everything you do to get people to raise their hand and say I'm interested. Sales, by the way, is everything you do with the interested people to get them to give you money. By my definition, virtually all marketing is painless and even fun.

4. Will I have enough people attending?

What if you scheduled yourself to do one Webinar every week:

- And every time you held a Webinar, only one person showed up?
- And only one out of four participants actually became a buyer or seller client?

Let's do the math:

- 1 hour per week to do the Webinars
- 1 new client per month
- Times your average commission
- Equals . . .what?

I'll bet that's more than good enough to justify doing Webinars every week. It's also motivation to join Webinars R Us and learn how to get attendance up by adjusting your:

- Theme
- Offer Copy
- Webinar Content
- Target Database
- Postcards
- Emails
- Web Landing Pages
- Registration Forms
- Evaluation Forms
- Confirmation Emails
- Reminder Emails

So, let's get to work on your Webinar:

Who's your target market?
How can you reach them? (Mail, email, advertising, social networking, sky-writing, etc.)
What are the three, very most important things, they should know?

Adding Forms To Your Blog Post

2009-03-25T16:46:00Z

FYI: When you're promoting giving your Webinars you'll want to collect registration information and evaluation forms (the comments will help you improve and use the praise in your future marketing).

Brad, one of your fellow Webinars R Us Members, does a great job explaining how to use free forms from Google.

:>) RC

Via Brad Andersohn ~ Community Builder (ActiveRain):

How do you create a lead sheet, a contact form, a questionnaire, a call to action in your post? Google Docs allows you to not only create private forms, spreadsheets, and presentations, now you can embed them into your Website or Blog. You also have the choice to share those forms and docs with others. You can even invite others to view or collaborate on your work. This could be a great tool, it has the potential to take your readers from being a viewer to being a potential lead. Here's a sample of one I did creating a suggestion box.

First, you will need a Gmail Account. It's FREE, and this doesn't mean you have to change or even use this email address, it's just your log-in for everything Google. (Highly Recommended even if you don't use Google Docs) Go to Google and log-in or Sign up for Gmail.

Once you have your account setup, go to Google Docs to create your forms, documents, spreadsheets and presentations on-line. You can also upload your existing creations from your computer. If you'd like, Take a tour of Google Docs before you begin. There are 100's of Templates already created for you to choose from, or you can create your own. There's even a Help Center for those needing a little assistance and support.

To create your own lead sheet or contact form, go to Google Docs

1. SELECT NEW, THEN SELECT FORM:

2. Give your Form a title, include some supporting text (optional), Label your field or question, add field supporting text (optional), select question type and format for responses, put a check in the box to make field required or not, then click DONE. Add additional questions by clicking on the "Add Question" button at the top. Don't worry about the order of your questions and fields, you can "drag and drop" them and sort them later. Repeat this process for each field or question.

3. Once your form is complete and you are satisfied, click "SAVE" in the upper right hand corner.

Now you have some options available that can make your form a valuable tool that you can share.

You can send your form to clients and prospects via email, you can also view your responses here. Next, use the "More Actions" button to A) Create and Edit an automatic response form, and B) to "EMBED YOUR FORM INTO YOUR WEBSITE OR BLOG POST." This is one of Google Docs best features in my opinion.

4. Click on "MORE ACTIONS" to get your code.

5. Once you place the embed code into the proper location on your Website or Blog, you're set to go:

6. To view your responses and new leads, just go to your Google Docs, and open the form. All your results will be right there for you to follow up with. How cool is this?

Note: Any updates or edits made to your original forms, documents and presentations on Google Docs are automatically updated in all the locations you have placed them on the Web. There's no need to go back and replace the HTML code on your Websites or Blogs, so place it in as many locations as you'd like.

Now you just have to be creative and decide how you want to use a tool like this. Decide what questions or fields of information you need to make this a powerful tool for your on-line business and customers.

TIP: Don't go overboard with questions, people get overwhelmed easily in many cases, and won't take the time to fill it out if there are too many. I hope this is easy enough for you to use and to understand. As always, thanks for reading and taking time to visit. It's always nice to have you swing by and say hi.

Google Docs in "Plain English" Video

RELATED ARTICLES & LINKS:
Take A Google Docs Tour
New Features in Google Docs
Google Docs Hottest Templates

Who's Gonna Be Our Next Webinar Volunteer?

2009-03-24T15:44:58Z

Congrats to Regina for being the first to volunteer to share her Webinar ideas by next week.

The award for being the first to actually put something before our Group is still up in the air. You could still win!

Remember, this Group is about helping each other create Great Webinars.

No synergy without discussion
No discussion without Volunteers

Have you checked out who's joined our Group lately. We've already got a terrific Membership started; and it's just our first week (Don't forget to invite your friends). Talk about a MasterMind Group!

Let's get on with it. :>)

So What's Been Keeping You From Doing Your Own Webinars?

2009-03-23T18:13:49Z

Pick a topic; any topic. Invite people to join you in a conference call while you're all online together.

Meet new people. Demonstrate your knowledge, skill and ability to perform (in all senses of the word). Start building new relationships.

You can do Webinars anytime, from anywhere; all you need is a computer, an Internet connection and a phone.
Webinars put you into live conversations with people who, by their very participation, are demonstrating interest in your services.
Webinars are some of the lowest cost, highest value, marketing you could do.

So, what's been keeping you from doing your own Webinars?

Free Guide Download: "Optimize Your Webinar Mindset"

2009-03-23T14:00:09Z

If you want to learn how to give really great Webinars you'll need to start with an empowering mindset.

The chart below lists ten attributes of Webinars. The first column highlights the most empowering reasons for giving Webinars. The second column highlights which Webinar attributes are helpful.

Note that attributes 6-10 in the first column are shaded red. This is to highlight that if attributes 6-10 are your primary reasons why you want to give Webinars, then you're likely to be disappointed with your results.

Also note, that attributes 1-5 in the first column are colored blue. This is to highlight that if attributes 1-5 are your primary reasons for giving Webinars, you have a mindset that will empower you to see and capitalize on every opportunity for optimization.

What Are Your Optimization Opportunities?

Every situation is a little different, but there are usually hundreds of them. The trouble is, without the right perspective, these optimization opportunities will be invisible. The only way to learn how to see them is grow your perspective.

Grow Your Perspective

The purpose of the series of essays in this Guide is to help you optimize your mindset, so you can give continually improve your Webinars.

Each of the essays in this Guide provides a different perspective on the relationship building process.

The better you understand natural relationship building processes, the easier it will be for you to see opportunities to continually improve your Webinars.

Click here now to download this 65 page Guide.

How to Promote Your Webinars Here On ActiveRain

2009-03-22T07:38:52Z

Let me introduce one of our Members that everyone should get to know. Her name is Connie Watts and she is the Founder of her own ActiveRain Group, "Training Opportunities". Here is a Comment from Connie that I want to make sure everyone sees:

"It sounds like your group will be teaching how to do the webinars. Once the webinar is ready to advertise, we have a new Active Rain training group, specifically for upcoming Training Opportunites, whether in person or over the internet. Each Sunday, I'm posting a complete list of all upcoming Training Activities so post your opportunities there so I can help advertise your webinar."

Connie's Group is only a month old and already it has three pages of training listings. I'm sure that, as the word gets out, this Group will become an extremely important channel for promoting your Webinars.

One of the biggest Webinar challenges is finding effective, low-cost ways to promote them, and here, one of our Members is handing us this terrific opportunity. Connie deserves our thanks, and our support.

Welcome and Orientation for New "Webinars R Us" Members

2009-03-21T17:35:51Z

We are all very glad you joined us. Your experience, insights and yes, questions, are going to help all of us continually improve our Webinars.

To increase our productivity, one of the first things we need to do is get to know more about each other and our experience with Webinars.

To help us accomplish this task I am asking all new Members to answer each of the following seven questions in the Comments Section below.

Please tell us about your Webinar experience:

1. What was your Topic?

2. How did you promote it?

3. What Webinar technologies did you use?

4. How many participants did you have?

5. What was your feedback, comments or evaluations?

6. What aspect(s) of your Webinar do you most want to improve?

7. What do you hope to gain from your participation in "Webinars R Us"?

Think of this post as our "Orientation Room"

Come back often to learn about, and welcome, our newest Members. Also, feel free to converse back and forth with each other in this Comment area.

We're all compulsive communicators, after all; that's why we're drawn to public speaking. So let the communications begin!