My Top Takeaways from the 2017 CRS Sellabration Convention
I spent 2 days, February 9 and 10, in an intense learning environment with over 900 other agents from around the country, most of who were CRSs, with speakers and panel discussions on a wide range of topics about marketing, systems, operations, leadership and development.
I previously wrote about the top 10 ways technology can ruin your real estate business from a CRS webinar; this topic was also presented at the convention with some more details so I won’t repeat them here. Suffice it to say it’s worth a read if you missed it to learn more about viruses, hacking, a strategy for developing strong passwords, and other topics to help protect your devised, your information and your clients!
It’s hard to cull down all the learning into a few takeaways but here goes.
1. If you use postcards for farming or other purposes use the jumbo ones. And print one side in the opposite direction of the other (i.e., upside down). That way people will take a few more seconds when they flip over the card to look at it. The more time in front of a recipient the better you might capture their interest.
2. Consumers tend to ignore real estate agents because we are always broadcasting – Facebook and other social media sites – but not really engaging with others. Don’t be a billboard (including that “I’m the #1 Agent” stuff). Use LIKES and comments to engage with others.
3. Find out where your target market, sphere and clients are hanging out online, or if they aren’t. Share valuable information answer questions, and help them learn. Look for things in common and find a reason to connect with or contact others (especially your sphere and past/current clients). Be your authentic self online, and keep it fun and interesting! GOOGLE yourself – what do you find? That’s what others find, too (e.g., do an incognito search on Chrome so you get the unique results not those based on your history of searching).
4. Cloud CMA is a terrific site to use for market reports, property reports, buyer tours, CMAs, and more. There are lots of options to customize your reports, and you can add custom pages, too, to suit who you are sharing the report with. There are a number of themes you can use including one for CRS. Reports can be printed out or emailed.
5. Develop a detailed marketing plan for the year so you know everything you are going to be doing in your marketing and when (e.g., social media, print, parties, pop-bys, etc., etc.). Review this every 30 days and adjust as needed based on results.
6. Pinterest is a great site for visually sharing your passions and your hobby(ies) with others. Don’t just plaster your site with listing photos. People want to know about you, your community, things to do, and what you enjoy.
7. Use mini property cards for marketing your listings. Share them with sellers and encourage them to pass along to everyone they know. You can share them in a small brochure box if you like. Unique Litho has a number of templates. This was not a new idea for me but worth sharing. I send my cards out with a letter to all the neighbors near each listing. You can also physically pass out cards to close neighbors.
8. Attention spans for video are short. So keep your videos short, too. Rather than one long continuous video, cut in and out with multiple short segments with your editing (a several minute listing video could be cut to a minute or so). You can tell the same story in much less time and in a more interesting manner. Here's an example.
On top of all the great learning there was plenty of time to catch up with good friends from around the country and meet lots of new people for potential referral business. I’ve already sent out all my personal cards to the new people I meet and those I already know.
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