real estate marketing: 5 Ways to get personal with your prospects - 07/24/18 03:01 PM
We recently got together with five of our top agents spanning the country who actively market to their prospects. In full disclosure, they use SmartTargeting's platform including automated mailers and digital ads. But, knowing the industry as we do, even the best marketing will fall short if we don't go out and get the business.
 
Bev Blume: Help Your Prospects See You As Their Neighbour
 
For Portland, Oregon, agent Bev Blume getting face to face is all about systematizing her outreach and focusing on visibility. Bev makes her first impression through automated marketing campaigns, including mailers, so that her … (8 comments)

real estate marketing: Six Simple Strategies to Heat Up Your Summer Prospecting - 06/04/18 10:21 AM
With longer days and warmer weather come more opportunities to connect with neighbors, friends, past clients and those percolating prospects you've been marketing to. You have their contact information in your CRM -- now let's reign them in and get personal. Here are six ways to engage potential sellers in your sphere and your farm this summer.
 

1. Put a shine on potential sellers
Hold a car wash with team members, title rep, lender or friends. It's a great way to get people's attention and keep it for at least a few minutes while their car get's shined up. Let them tell their … (3 comments)

real estate marketing: Throwing wide to the wayside: How to go deep with your marketing - 05/08/18 12:18 PM
When it comes to real estate farming or prospecting, the traditional approach is to go “wide” — to hit every house in a given neighborhood or ZIP code. Real estate marketing, too, was conducted with a wide approach; we hoped that drivers would see our open house signs or bus benches, that consumers would see our phone book ads as they looked up a number.
 
This wide approach meant that we had to be everything, to everyone — instead of something specific to someone specific.
 
And while this sounds like a great opportunity, it can also be limiting. It doesn’t help you realize … (14 comments)

real estate marketing: 7 Ways to boost your brand - ActiveRain Webinar Recap - 04/13/18 07:18 AM
 
Agents can be very clever about the way they make connections with their community. Door knocking isn't for everyone and isn't a favorite of the top producing agents we featured in a recent webinar. In just under an hour, we covered seven top ways that agents make an indelible impression on those in their farm and community and establish themselves as the go-to agent in town.
 
Here’s a recap:
 
1. Better-than-Average Community Events
We’ve heard community-minded agents take on events ranging anywhere in size and scope from Christmas tree sales, to pictures with Santa and the Easter Bunny, to pumpkin giveaways, paper shredding … (3 comments)

real estate marketing: Five agents share: How to get your foot in the door without knocking - 03/29/18 04:20 PM
Last week, top agents shared their tactics for getting their foot in the door of prospective clients — and many agents were excited to hear that the panelists weren’t recommending doorknocking!
 
If you missed the incredible event, here are insights and best practices from three panelists, who service various markets and niches across the country.
 
Bev Blume: Boost your visibility so you’re not a stranger to your prospects
 
For Portland, Oregon, agent Bev Blume, getting her foot in the door is all about systemizing her outreach and focusing on visibility. She introduces herself through automated marketing campaigns, including mailers, so that her community begins … (15 comments)

real estate marketing: 56 Years Later: Predictive technologies are giving us The Jetsons life - 03/07/18 04:53 PM
Many of us grew up watching The Jetsons, an animated comedy about a futuristic family taking advantage of flying saucer cars, space highways, robot maids and more. And while we are still years (light years?) away from hovercraft, we are starting to see a sea change in how easily we perform common or more difficult tasks.
 
Many of these advances are predicated upon predictive analytics and artificial intelligence. Those terms can seem scary but in reality, they are simply ways of making menial tasks a little easier — so you’re freed up to perform the strategic tasks that help you move the … (19 comments)

real estate marketing: Algorithm, Shmalgorithm: How agents can dominate on Facebook in 2018 - 02/21/18 08:03 AM
Were you, like most agents, shocked and scared when you heard that Facebook promises to minimize the reach of business pages and reward organic, one-to-one engagement?
 
If so, you’re not alone. But as Eric Sachs, with Breakthrough Broker recently discussed in a webinar we sponsored, you don’t have to lie awake at night wondering if your business will tank as the result of one silly algorithm shift.
 
Here are seven unique ways you can beat Facebook at its own game and continue to win business via the biggest online network in the world.
 
To watch the webinar, head to Breakthrough Broker’s … (17 comments)

real estate marketing: How digital matchmaking could change the game for agents - 02/14/18 04:44 PM
We get it. You’ve heard a lot about predictive analytics, but every time you try to learn more about it, you’re hit with even more terms you’ll have to google: Back-testing, machine learning, algorithmic modeling.
The truth is, you already know about all of these terms and how they work. You just don’t know how they work for agents like you. To better understand predictive analytics for real estate, let’s dive into another massive modern trend that once seemed impossible: the rise of long-term partnerships as a result of online dating.
Here are three ways our business model overlaps with today’s dating apps … (4 comments)

real estate marketing: Knock, Knock, Knockin' on People's Doors... - 10/20/17 11:10 AM
This a great article for those who want or know they need to door knock. We are huge proponents of getting face to face with the homesellers we predict will list. It's their opportunity to be the first agent the prospective seller talks with. And, as we all know from NAR; 67% of the time the agent a homeseller hires isn't the best, nicest, most successful agent... it's the first agent they speak with.
Chime and Debbie De Grote do a great job breaking it down for even the most reluctant door knocker. 
Enjoy and get knocking!
Knocking doors is an important component … (2 comments)

real estate marketing: 3 types of sellers... and then some - 10/02/17 04:46 PM
The chatter among industry professionals about using data to find listings is building. Experts are offering instructions for retrieving and analyzing data points that can predict the homes and homeowners most likely to sell -- perhaps even before the homeowners themselves are ready to sell.
In this Inman News article by Bryan Robertson, Bryan reveals three data points an agent can research to determine homeowners who are likely to list their home. At SmartZip, we are huge proponents of using big and small data for finding listings, so we couldn't help getting in on the conversation. Bryan's points are excellent and the … (1 comments)

real estate marketing: Success Prep: BIG Think! - 09/07/17 03:04 PM
Share-worthy post. There's a lot written about this topic because we need to hear it often!  It's applicable to many areas of our life and most certainly to our work. Our thinking directs our path and potential. This needs to be our life GPS default. Thank you,  Amanda Thomas.
What would you say to:
a restaurant owner who decides to buy meal ingredients only as soon as customers are seated? a retailer who refuses to invest in product display shelving until the store becomes profitable? a taxi driver who won't spend for gas until a fare is engaged? the maid … (4 comments)

real estate marketing: Are you consistently inconsistent? Break your bad habit in 9 steps - 08/21/17 04:39 PM
9 STEPS TO CONSISTENCY
 
When it comes to winning new or repeat business, it's critical that agents develop and sustain a consistent presence with top prospects and members of their sphere. However, any agent can tell you that this real estate is, by nature, an inconsistent business.
 
Whether you look at the day-to-day schedules of a typical Realtor or the changing market cycle by season, it can feel impossible to plan ahead (and stay on schedule) when your client pipeline is churning and your phone never stops buzzing.
 
Here are nine steps ANY agent can follow to help them get into a … (13 comments)

real estate marketing: Finish 2017 Strong! Five Ways to Win More Business - 07/29/17 06:36 PM
Five ways to win more business as you close
out the second half of the year 
 
While our strong summer market continues to keep agents busy across the country, fall is just around the corner…. And you have only five months to close out 2017 with a bang! 
 
Below are five foolproof ways you can assess your business goals, tweak your projections and ramp up your business so 2017 is your best year yet.
 
1. Start with the goals you might not meet
Dust off the goals you set last winter and painstakingly analyze where you stand in terms of buyers, sellers, marketing plans, GCI, … (8 comments)

real estate marketing: Four ways to rise above dangerously low inventory this summer - 06/07/17 04:21 PM
If you’re like most real estate agents, you’re staring down an influx of anxious summer buyers who are competing over a major shortage of inventory (and realizing that home price appreciation and sales prices are rising at historically fast rates).
 
In other words, it’s a great time to represent sellers — if you can find them and get them under contract. Below are four specific ways you can move beyond low inventory to win over seller clients this summer.
 
1. Focus on how you can achieve their buying goals
Today’s homeowners understand that their house’s value is up and that buyers are … (16 comments)

real estate marketing: Four Ways to Avoid Followup Fallout - 05/30/17 12:18 PM
It’s a topic covered exhaustively at every real estate conference, every coaching call, every new agent orientation: Technology is your friend, but it isn’t your savior. New tools, apps and systems can help you win more deals by making you more productive and engaged…but they can’t bridge the gap between a brand-new lead and the closing table.
 
Put another way: Real estate is a relationship business and industry technology
should support those relationships, not replace them.
 
What tech can do — and can’t do
We know that’s a strange thing to hear from a real estate technology company but at SmartZip, we’re acutely … (10 comments)

real estate marketing: Predictive analytics isn’t the future-It’s changing our industry TODAY - 05/19/17 11:16 AM
It’s a story that’s taken on legendary status in the field of predictive analytics and predictive marketing: Target, after analyzing the buying habits of a teenage girl in Minnesota, sent her mother-to-be product offers in the mail. Her dad called to complain about the coupons targeting a young woman who he said was too young to have a child. Then a week later, he called back… to apologize and admit that his daughter was, in fact, expecting a baby.
At the time, the news made national headlines. Reactions ranged from, “How cool is big data?!” to “Big brother is watching!” — and … (15 comments)

real estate marketing: How strong is your sphere? 10 tough questions to ask - 05/08/17 02:28 PM
The business of getting business from the potential gold mine that is our sphere continues to be a strong conversation.  NAR's 2017 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report claims referrals remain the way that most buyers find their real estate agent
 
Consistent with 2016 findings, 88% of buyers say they would use their agent again or recommend their agent to others. To break it down further, sphere referrals were higher among younger buyers such as 36 years and younger (52%, up from 46% last year) and 37 to 51 (39%) compared to older generations
 
The data indicates SOI business is alive … (10 comments)

real estate marketing: Too close to close: Not everyone in your SOI is a client - 04/27/17 04:36 PM
Your brother-in-law was the best man at your wedding. He emails you Fantasy Football stats three times a day… but he may not want you to know he cashed out his 401k a few years ago to make ends meet.
You have a monthly barbecue with the neighbors, but tensions can run high when discussing vacations plans and how you’re planning to pay for college in a few years.
Your financial planner knows everything about your earnings, savings and long-term retirement planning — but she may not be ready to share their financials with a client.
One strange thing about being a … (20 comments)

real estate marketing: 6 PROVEN, time-tested strategies ActiveRainers do to land listings - 03/09/17 11:51 AM
Back in the summer, SmartZip sponsored a crowd-sourced Active Rain webinar discussing new listing generation strategies. At that time, together with Active Rain, we gathered and shared six impressive, proven strategies that are helping agents to drive in new listings. As we approach spring selling season, we took another look to see if these strategies still have legs. We think so. See what you think
In the course of the webinar, agents on Active Rain answered the following question:
 
"Share something you're doing in your business that's leading you to new listings" 
 
1. Leverage home valuation sites
Many agents, including Active Rain owner Ben … (17 comments)

real estate marketing: How to stop throwing leads away while maintaining your sanity - 03/01/17 05:20 PM
You spend a lot of time generating leads, but do you have an effective plan to nurture them once they appear in your inbox?
 
For many agents, the answer to that question is “no.” Stats show that 46% of leads never receive a follow-up, meaning that many agents are spending thousands of dollars on leads that never lead to anything.
 
If you're one of the "no's", no judgment =), let's prioritize your leads and investigate daily tools and apps that help you efficiently follow up with the right people at the right time. Below is a quick overview of how a platform with … (7 comments)