real estate marketing: One Reason Why So Many Real Estate Agents Fail
- 11/08/18 02:07 PM
If you stop and think about how many people become licensed and then wash out after short time, the numbers are pretty amazing.
Tom Ferry says he’s quoting NAR when he says 87% fail in the first 5 years. Here in our small town, I’ve lost count of the number who started and stopped within just a year or two.
Why?
Plenty of reasons, beginning with the expectation that real estate is “easy” and will give people plenty of free time to play while making an above average income. (That sounds just about like the hype about becoming a copywriter!)
Maybe it’s that false … (55 comments)
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real estate marketing: Make your real estate marketing copy the best it can be
- 10/01/18 12:36 PM
How can you make your real estate marketing copy the best that it can be?Different methods work for different people, but here’s one that has worked for me – and may work for you as well.
The first thing to remember is that in most cases, good real estate copy demands an investment of time, as well as thought.
Once in a while you’ll get inspiration so clear that you can write it in minutes, but for most of us, it doesn’t happen often.
So – onward.
When you sit down to write, whether it is a web page, a blog post, a real estate … (15 comments)
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real estate marketing: Content Marketing for Real Estate – Focus on your core idea
- 09/20/18 01:29 PM
Do you dream about your work?
I do, and one morning I woke up dreaming that I was writing a blog post about potatoes.
Since potatoes have nothing to do with real estate (unless you're selling farmland that produces potatoes), I suppose it was due to a conversation I’d had the previous evening regarding home-grown vs. grocery store potatoes. I had said it was worth it to grow your own in order to avoid the chemicals, and to get potatoes that weren’t half rotten. I was tired of getting 5# of potatoes from a 10# bag.
In the dream, I was thinking about … (33 comments)
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real estate marketing: The #1 rule in writing real estate marketing copy
- 09/15/18 09:16 AM
Do you remember Rule #1 in writing real estate marketing copy?
I seem to harp about it every now and then. But – since it still appears to be the #1 most frequently broken rule, it seems like a good time for a reminder.
Maybe there's another rule that tops the list – like keeping the copy tight or using better verbs instead of relying on adverbs, but I really believe that this rule is the most important one in real estate self-promotional marketing.
What is it?
Never, ever, ever begin a marketing message with:
I We My Our Why not?
Because … (57 comments)
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real estate marketing: Throwback Thursday: The Devil Always Has An Offer
- 08/21/18 03:04 PM
My thanks to Carol Williams for writing this post and reinforcing what I harp about all the time: Successful marketing requires consistency!
"I'll make you an offer you can't refuse."
-The Godfather
On June 5, 2017 I published the following content in a blog post. Although it did garner the coveted Feature Gold Star, I thought it might be worth bringing back as a reminder for all. It will be new content for any readers who missed it the first time around.
* * * * *
Q: Dear Carol:
Why isn't my marketing working?
-Stumped
A: Dear Stumped:
Have you ever heard that it takes listening … (5 comments)
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real estate marketing: The name “drip marketing” doesn’t sound very glamorous
- 08/03/18 03:27 PM
In fact it sounds kind of, well, drippy. But its value in building relationships with your clients and prospects is far from drippy.
Used in a postal mail campaign or a permission-based e-mail campaign, drip marketing does far more than remind your prospects that you exist.
It offers you a way to show your expertise and knowledge without being overbearing. If you offer one new tip or bit of advice each time you write, your prospects will gradually come to view you as the expert they need.
And, by offering that advice without promise of reward, you make another important statement about yourself. You … (11 comments)
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real estate marketing: Burning Bridges Behind Me...
- 08/03/18 02:25 PM
You may be too young to remember that old song… It had a beautiful melody and a sad, romantic, message about lost love.
But burning bridges in business is not romantic, and certainly doesn’t have a beautiful melody.
Perry Marshall once sent a message about a woman who “lurked” around his site for 3 years before finally jumping in to invest in his courses and materials. When she finally did, it was to the tune of about $8,000.
Had he brushed her off somewhere along the way, he would have burned the bridge between them, and she would have spent her money somewhere else.
But … (17 comments)
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real estate marketing: The Guaranteed Sale. Good Old Fashioned Bait and Switch
- 05/01/18 03:39 PM
Tim Maitski brings us the answer to a question I've wondered about for years: How can agents guarantee to sell a house and promise to buy it if it doesn't sell?
It turns out to be easy, if you're a bit on the shady side and willing to use bait and switch.
The Guarantee That Lures Them In
Key Points
I learned the details of the "Guaranteed Sale Program" You attract business with the guarantee but never give out the guarantee You make enough restrictions so no one qualifies You sell them instead on your regular program
Have you … (8 comments)
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real estate marketing: Write more compelling property descriptions
- 04/25/18 10:33 AM
You write a property description for every one of your listings, and when you're writing for MLS you're often limited to what I think are too few words. You’re also confined to one long paragraph, which stinks, but there it is.
That means you need to make every one of those words count. After all, those descriptions could be the key to more showings and faster offers.
In some markets today, I suppose it doesn't matter, but in others, every bit of marketing matters.
So why do so many agents repeat what's in the details section – such as the number of bedrooms and … (52 comments)
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real estate marketing: The best real estate agent in the city of...
- 04/20/18 04:07 PM
Real estate agents make all sorts of claims about their listings and about their services.
Some of those claims - like saying that your waterfront listing has the finest beach or the most beautiful view on the lake - are classified as puffery and are largely ignored by the general public. (That's one reason why adding those statements to your property descriptions is a waste of time and space.)
Everyone knows they're a matter of opinion and not a statement of fact. No one is going to simply take your word for it and come back to sue you later if they … (23 comments)
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real estate marketing: Why are all those agents hiding?
- 03/26/18 03:08 PM
No, I know they aren’t really hiding. After all, they have their own websites.
But they’re not allowing themselves to be found by potential buyers – and certainly not by individuals who may want to relocate to their area.
They’re also not asking to be found by those in their community who might want to list a home.
So how are they hiding?
By not revealing their location on their websites – or in their email signatures.
This morning I had a note from an agent who asked if I could give him a quote on re-writing the “canned” pages on his site. He also … (27 comments)
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real estate marketing: Old School vs Digital Marketing - Don't make that choice!
- 03/24/18 12:20 PM
Have you shunned old-school methods of self-promotion in favor of social media and email?
Do you think that staying in touch with past clients and your sphere of influence can be accomplished by posting regularly on Facebook or Pinterest?
Do you think that having a web site with a search function and a “What is my home worth” application is enough to bring new clients to you?
Are you happy to think so because those methods take little time and are virtually free?
And if so – do you have as much business as you want and need to sustain a good living?
OR … (3 comments)
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real estate marketing: Persistence is good - peskiness is not!
- 03/18/18 11:06 AM
Are there businesses in your life whose emails, letters, and phone calls make you react with "Not that again?"
There are in mine. The two that come to mind first are Consumer Reports and Sirius.
We've discontinued subscriptions with both of them, but they won't give up! I get mail or email from Consumer Reports at least weekly. If I wanted to re-subscribe, I'd have done it!
Sirius is even more persistent - they also call on the phone. This is in spite of the fact that it took me many calls to finally end that subscription. It was my son's, but since … (6 comments)
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real estate marketing: Real Estate Marketing Advice From My Wastebasket
- 03/13/18 12:26 PM
It all started when I tried to find a particular book on copywriting… I have 5 different book cases and I’m ashamed to say, they haven’t been sorted into any reasonable order. So, I decided I would attempt to do so.
In addition to making a good start on putting copywriting books with copywriting books, gardening books with gardening books, etc., I’ve found all sorts of things that I could toss to free up space and make room for – more books?
Do I really need copies of Consumer’s Digest from ten years ago? Probably not. Do I need a copy of Idaho real … (1 comments)
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real estate marketing: Email Marketing That Sells
- 03/03/18 01:12 PM
If you're marketing, pay close attention to this post. Nadine really lays it out for us in ways that most real estate agents don't even consider.
So far we’ve walked through what it takes to get an email opened, and then to get someone to actually read it.
Great! But there’s one final step – getting the person to do what you want them to do. Pick up the phone and call you, reply to your email, or set up a consultation.
Once someone is reading your email, how do you get them to actually buy? The secret is the Ladder of Persuasion.
What’s Persuasive … (3 comments)
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real estate marketing: It pays to pay attention…
- 02/26/18 04:05 PM
It pays to pay attention…
This morning I uploaded my Thursday newsletter and set it to go out mid-day on Thursday, March 1. At least that’s what I thought I did.
Imagine my surprise a few minutes later when I got a reply from a reader. What? How did he get that now?
I soon found out.
For some reason, the calendar on my program went from February 28 back to February 1 – and I didn’t notice it - so the system hurried up and sent it immediately! After all, it was late!
The interesting thing is what I learned.
For a long, long time … (20 comments)
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real estate marketing: Why Professional Copywriters Use Simple, Common Words
- 02/23/18 09:31 PM
You’ve heard it before: When writing to prospects, use simple, common words that everyone can understand.
If some of your clients are highly educated, they’ll understand what you’re saying. If some are not so well educated, they’ll understand it too. If you aim to impress with your vocabulary, you'll confuse - and lose - part of your audience.
The only reason to write even a word of marketing material is to communicate. You want prospective clients to recognize your worth to them and to choose you among the dozens of others who also want their business.
That means you want your … (13 comments)
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real estate marketing: As a marketer – things I won’t do
- 02/22/18 02:34 PM
You may have a list of things you won’t do to market your services, even though you know they work for other people.
That might include cold calling, door knocking, or holding open houses. You might also be unwilling to spend hours a day on Facebook and the other social media sites.
If I was still an agent, those activities would be on my list of things I wouldn’t do, simply because I would not enjoy a minute of it.
There are other things I won’t do even though I love to write. When other people do them it makes me delete their emails, … (28 comments)
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real estate marketing: Why English Majors and Journalists Have Trouble Writing Marketing Copy
- 01/28/18 04:06 PM
Our spoken language and our written language are not exactly the same thing. When we talk, most of us say things that would make our English teachers cringe. We are not “proper.” We even speak in incomplete sentences now and then.
But unless we’re prone to delivering long monologues, we’re usually interesting – not dry and dull. One reason is that most of the time we speak in active voice, rather than passive. We’re more likely to say “Jane, Sue, and I all had fun” than “Fun was had by all.”
I’m not suggesting that you should throw out all the rules of … (30 comments)
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real estate marketing: Are you using your business cards to full advantage?
- 12/08/17 01:03 PM
I know, there are a whole lot of agents who are so caught up in today’s technology that they believe business cards are about as relevant as buggy whips. They say that they don’t use them – choosing instead to trade contact information with their smart phones.
If that pleases them, fine. I won’t argue, but I do think they’re missing opportunities.
Will the waitress who served your dinner, and for whom you left a generous tip, pull out her phone and take down your contact information? How about that favorite grocery store checker? Would the store manager appreciate it if she (or … (36 comments)
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If you stop and think about how many people become licensed and then wash out after short time, the numbers are pretty amazing.
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