zebra report: Is it Time to Refresh Your Brand?
- 06/11/21 10:24 AM
Is it Time to Refresh Your Brand?
Evolution, not Revolution, is the key to a successful brand refresh!
If you think about companies that have been around for decades, most of them go through a brand refresh at some point. Think about Pepsi, Starbucks, and even Google! It is rarer that a company undergoes a complete overhaul, but it happens when an opportunity is identified. AFLAC is a great example of this, trading their outdated typography and icons of people to a more-modern font in cool blue and a duck.
How to Tell if Your Brand Needs a Refresh
… (5 comments)
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zebra report: A Shifting Market? Here’s What You Need to Do!
- 06/04/21 05:04 PM
A Shifting Market? Here’s What You Need to Do!
The real estate market changes all the time as the balance between supply and demand and buyers and sellers changes. If you are seeing shifts in your market – perhaps more inventory is coming on the market, buyers go on vacation, or a new construction development brings on dozens of homes at once, it is important to make adjustments to accommodate those changes. I have seen markets where one day there are 45 multiple offers on a home and a week later there are price reductions on homes in a … (4 comments)
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zebra report: How Do YOU Spell Relief? B-R-A-N-D
- 06/03/21 05:25 PM
How Do YOU Spell Relief? B-R-A-N-D
I hope some of you have enough "experience" to remember the old Rolaids slogan in which people with heartburn were asked about how they spelled "relief" and it was spelled R-O-L-A-I-D-S.
In real estate, we have different kinds of heartburn:
Heartburn when a past client works with another agent Heartburn when we lose a listing to someone with different or more-polished tools Heartburn when a friend, neighbor, or family member calls another agent to list their house Heartburn when a potential buyer you have been trying to work with for six months decides … (11 comments)
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zebra report: Don't Lose Sight of Your Quality of Life!
- 05/21/21 10:21 AM
Don't Lose Sight of Your Quality of Life!
Anyone who knows me knows that I have a long-held belief that the first and the most important thing in your business is creating quality of life.
As our inventory-lean markets move faster and faster, I want to encourage all of you to think about your quality of life BEFORE you reach a stage where you are burned-out.
What do I mean by, "quality of life?" If I had to define it simply it would be happiness that is created when there is a good balance between your personal and professional … (16 comments)
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zebra report: How Fun is Your Brand?
- 05/17/21 04:13 PM
How Fun is Your Brand?
You may have a logo or you may have a full brand complete with color palette and logo rules. If you have a brand, you may have thought about things like house flyers and just listed cards, but what about some things that are fun for your business?
Here at The Lones Group, we have a number of fun things that we have at the ready, and even more so when we have classes. We have stickers that go into packages we send out in our two very cool branded boxes. For our big … (9 comments)
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zebra report: Eviction Moratorium Wars
- 05/07/21 03:25 PM
Eviction Moratorium Wars
There is mass confusion right now over the Federal and State eviction moratoriums brought on by the COVID pandemic. It is critical that agents fully understand how these moratoriums affect their clients. I will try to lay the facts out in a simple manner as to simplify what is going on right now, but know that things may change quickly in the coming days and weeks. Stay informed as things unfold. Here is the current state of affairs:
Wednesday May 5th
A federal judge struck down the nationwide eviction moratorium that was imposed by the Trump … (14 comments)
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zebra report: Do YOU Have a Buyer?
- 04/30/21 03:54 PM
Do YOU Have a Buyer?
Of course you have a buyer! It seems about everyone has a buyer these days who is searching diligently for a property. Often these buyers have missed out at least a couple of times in a multiple offer situation, are disappointed, deflated, and the agent has provided a glimmer of hope that they might be able to secure a home by sending a letter to local homeowners.
Before you do that, however, I highly suggest you have a plan, some rules around how that plan will be rolled out, and have a general buyer … (15 comments)
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zebra report: Your Closing Statement - A Powerful Ending!
- 04/28/21 03:52 PM
Your Closing Statement - A Powerful Ending!
Today I want to talk about the importance of having a strong final or closing statement that you can say to your clients. This is extremely important, especially in this highly competitive market. When you are on a listing appointment it is important to remember that you are often competing against other agents and you need to stand out. Having a powerful closing statement allows you to do just that. With all the competition out there for listings, sellers are being inundated with all kinds of marketing materials and ideas and thoughts … (6 comments)
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zebra report: Time to Switch Your Elevator Pitch
- 04/21/21 05:26 PM
Time to Switch Your Elevator Pitch
Today I want to tackle something I hear a lot of people talking about: the elevator pitch. (Some people call it an elevator speech, elevator statement or elevator opening.) It's a term that bugs me because I don't like the word "pitch." It sounds sales-y, pushy, and just plain aggressive. I know that if you look up the definition of "elevator pitch," it is described as a persuasive explanation of what you do. The challenge I have is with the word "persuasive," because it comes across as a gimmicky type of communication.
What … (14 comments)
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zebra report: Is "Easy" Killing Your Brand?
- 04/09/21 03:13 PM
Is "Easy" Killing Your Brand?
Over the years, The Lones Group has built hundreds and hundreds of brands for agents. These brands are as unique as each and every agent they were built for. They are eye-catching, memorable, and brimming with agent personality. They do the job of talking for the agent when the agent is not in front of the potential buyer or seller.
Agents are faced with a unique challenge in their business - balancing their skillset, the best use of their time, and what needs to get done. When agents have too much on their plate, … (16 comments)
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zebra report: A Little Perspective on Tax Time
- 04/02/21 01:25 PM
A Little Perspective on Tax Time
This week I want to discuss taxes. Yes, it is that time of year again. Every year during this time I seem to get many calls from real estate agents that are concerned about it being tax time. This is that time of the year when many real estate professionals get nervous. Perhaps they have completed their taxes and have stress from discovering they owe money or perhaps they are behind on getting their taxes prepared. And for others they experience stress because they have not even begun to gather the documents needed … (3 comments)
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zebra report: 5 Points for Long-Term Farming Success
- 03/26/21 05:04 PM
5 Points for Long-Term Farming Success
Developing a consistently-producing farm is a great way to develop a reliable income stream. But what are the individual components that deliver the greatest likelihood of success? All too often, agents begin a farm with the best of intentions, but quickly lose momentum if that farm doesn't produce expected results right away. Especially in this market, patience and persistence are key! In all my years, I have never met an agent who didn't have strong long-term success who followed the principles below.
Even if you have a farm already, consider incorporating some of … (16 comments)
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zebra report: Your Must-Have When Forming a Team or Partnership
- 03/12/21 03:12 PM
Your Must-Have When Forming a Team or Partnership
I have worked with dozens and dozens of partnerships, teams, and businesses through the years. The vast majority of them wind up falling apart. Agents and brokers form alliances with the best of intentions - I am good at this, you are good at that; let's leverage our time and resources - but usually don't make it due to lack of communication up front.
Teams and partnerships are formed out of a positive moment and the expectation is that positivity will continue.
But what if it doesn't?
In my experience, EVERY … (9 comments)
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zebra report: Key Communication for Finding Sellers in 2021
- 03/05/21 05:41 PM
Key Communication for Finding Sellers in 2021
Hi everyone! Today I walk to talk about the severe shortage of inventory in our real estate market and how real estate agents in 2021 need to go about finding sellers.
In a business where every day you are seeing shocking list-to-sale-price ratios and these really high sale prices, I'm sure there are moments where even you - the real estate agent - are surprised by what is happening. So, the key is going to be to get the right information and that feeling of surprise out to potential sellers.
Sellers don't … (7 comments)
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zebra report: Motivating Sellers - Opportunity Sellers vs Life-Change Sellers
- 02/26/21 02:53 PM
Motivating Sellers - Opportunity Sellers vs Life-Change Sellers
If you are creating a campaign to attract sellers, one of the elements that is likely top-of-mind is your call-to-action. A call-to-action is that piece of information that creates urgency and causes a potential seller to pick up the phone.
For example, if you have presented information on a median sales price increase in a neighborhood which has increased dramatically, there is likely a compelling reason to sell. Therefore, your call-to-action may be something like this:
"As you can see, median sales prices in your area have increased 9.6% over this … (12 comments)
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zebra report: The Little Things That Have the Greatest Impact
- 02/24/21 12:43 PM
The Little Things That Have the Greatest Impact
When I first starting my real estate career, many years ago, a very smart mentor/trainer of mine used to tell me ALL THE TIME that it was the little things that would determine my level of success in real estate.
It took me years to fully understand the impact of what he was saying but it was through his watchful eye and gentle reminders that I was able to benefit from his wisdom.
So, what were those little things, those pearls of wisdom that he shared with me? He used to … (10 comments)
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zebra report: Facts versus the Gist
- 02/16/21 05:25 PM
Facts versus the Gist
Are you a facts agent? Or are you a gist agent?
It likely depends on the situation, your personality, your frame of mind, and what the situation really calls for. How you like to receive information may also be different than how you prefer to provide information.
The gist isn't a bad thing - you still make your point, but sometimes the gist is made much more powerful with facts.
As a professional, it is important to know what the moment calls for, but you should always be prepared for both.
For example, if your … (22 comments)
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zebra report: Run Your Business Like a Quarterback?
- 02/05/21 11:21 AM
Run Your Business Like a Quarterback?
With the upcoming Super Bowl, I've had football on my mind. I want to examine that a little bit today, and look at some strategies used by the football pros can be applied to our businesses.
When we watch the game, there are a lot of players on the field, all with important jobs to help the team win. A lot of attention is put on the quarterback, as he is in a leadership role on the team. If you are a quarterback in your business, you are making the plans, calling the … (13 comments)
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zebra report: What Inspires You?
- 02/04/21 05:48 PM
What Inspires You?
Thank you to everyone who attended the Real Estate Success Summit on last week! It was a different experience for sure, coming to you live in studio versus live on stage!
The one thing a virtual Summit allowed us to do is interview a number of agents and real estate businesses who have forged a path doing things their own way.
I know I very much enjoyed conducting the interviews and learning more about each of these agents, I am thrilled to hear our audience's feedback and how these are motivating you to make some changes … (2 comments)
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zebra report: Catapult Your Success at the Real Estate Success Summit
- 01/17/21 10:54 PM
Catapult Your Success at the Real Estate Success Summit
I am really getting pumped for our Real Estate Success Summit coming up on January 26!
In addition to my State of the Market - Your 2021 Housing Market Update class in the morning, we have THREE amazing tracks of content for our afternoon - which you can watch at your leisure!
I rolled out our Agent Success track on last week's Zebra Report and now I am excited to introduce the more in-depth classes we are offering in our Catapult Your Success track. Remember! - Everyone who registers has … (0 comments)
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