Mythbusters: CRM Systems
Boy, the things we hear. You wouldn’t believe it – or maybe you would. Customer Relation Management (CRM) systems may be THE most misunderstood tool in any real estate agent’s toolkit. From the mundane – they’re too expensive! – to the weird – conspiracy theory: you’re being spied on! – myths about these super-useful systems…
Read MoreUsing Technology to Optimize Your Website
These days, having a website for your real estate practice is a no-brainer, as are a few components of it: great photography, fresh content, social media links. And, those are fun items to work on. Who doesn’t enjoy lovely pictures of homes? But for your site to work most effectively, you’ve got to get into…
Read MoreA Guide to the Do-Not-Call Registry
Unwanted sales calls and texts are a common source of frustration for consumers. In fact, they are consistently among the top complaints consumers register with the FCC every year. The National Do-Not-Call Registry aims to protect consumers from these unwanted phone solicitations. While it has been around for over a decade, many still don’t entirely…
Read MoreOvercome Your Fear of Selling
For too many people, the term ‘salesman’ conjures up clichés of the used car salesman or the 1992 movie about cutthroat salesmen, Glengarry Glen Ross. The principal character, played by Alec Baldwin, advertised a contest among the members of the sales team with the following pitch: “As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac…
Read MoreLead Generation Strategies
We all know referrals are possibly the best way to get new customers, for nothing is as a good as having a friend or prior client sing our praises, but we also know we can’t, unfortunately, rely solely on referrals for new business. There are literally a hundred ways to generate leads, some old school,…
Read MoreMake a Difference with Improved Interior Images
We all know curb appeal is essential to marketing properties, and in today’s high-tech age, that doesn’t even mean an in-person look-see. Now, most buyers are reviewing potential homes online and judging whether they want to see a property based on photos, or “pix appeal”. No matter what your property looks like in person, without…
Read MoreNurturing Referrals
Many of us in the real estate business have heard it’s easier to keep current customers happy than to find new customers. In fact, referrals are the mother’s milk of almost any business but certainly so in real estate. Despite that, few professionals receive enough training and guidance on nurturing and retaining our clients and…
Read MoreThe Perils of Workplace Whining
We’ve all been there: smack talking our boss with co-workers over a drink, rolling our eyes at high maintenance clients, or even complaining about the quality of office coffee. Call it venting if you will, but the old-school term for constant complaining in the workplace is whining. And much like eating too many doughnuts or…
Read MoreReal Estate Website Best Practices
Having a website isn’t optional: to be considered a reputable broker, much less a successful one, it’s a must. But if you look at the variety of websites agents market, it can be confusing. How useful are client testimonials? How many pages should your site be? How easy is it for prospective clients to find…
Read MoreSmall Business Owners: What You Should Know
Small Business Owners: What You Should Know At base, all real estate brokers are small businesses. If you haven’t taken steps to review trends that may affect your business in the coming year, now’s the time to do so before the year progresses further. The recently passed tax overhaul is sure to affect you, but…
Read MoreMaintaining Work-Life Balance
Is there a real estate professional alive who doesn’t know the feeling of juggling showings, clients, and meeting with other agents with getting to a child’s soccer game or even having a date night with a spouse? There may be no other profession in which achieving a balance between our professional life and our personal…
Read MoreImprove Your Business Writing (and Improve Your Business)
Your days of English composition class may be long in the rear-view mirror, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to continue to hone your writing skills. Effective business writing is essential to a successful business: the corollary is that poor or ineffective writing skills can cost you money if clients don’t understand the message…
Read MoreIs Your Real Estate Website Converting?
No matter how pretty your website may be, it’s not really working for you if it’s not converting visitors into prospects or leads. Let’s take a look at the key elements you can’t do without on your site. IDX Integration. To keep buyers coming to your site, you need to ensure they can see every…
Read MoreBlogging As A Lead Generation Strategy
Does your real estate agent website include a blog? If you’re like most agents, chances are the answer is yes. Many website platforms today include a blog tab. Of course, if you use WordPress for one of your sites, a blog is instrumental to the design. So, the obvious next question: if you have a…
Read MoreThe Marketing Journey: Part 6-Putting It Altogether
Now it’s time for the fun stuff! The first five posts in this series were devoted to the stuff to which people pay little or no attention: business goals translated into marketing strategy, translated to communication strategy, translated to your brand idea, or the story you will tell prospects. An important aspect of this journey…
Read MoreThe Marketing Journey: Part 5-Telling Your Story
In today’s post, we build upon the message from Post 4 of this series which focused on Communication Strategies. Now we are into the mean of the marketing journey and that is: defining your brand idea or, more accurately, your brand story. It might help, however, to revisit the notion of branding, especially as relates…
Read MoreThe Marketing Journey: Part 4-Communication Strategies
In our previous post, we discussed the relationship of communication objectives to your overall business goals. We outlined examples of common communication objectives, such as: Create advocates by speaking to someone’s passion Inciting interest in your business Encouraging curiosity about what you have to say We took this a step further by suggesting the types…
Read MoreThe Marketing Journey: Part 3-Communication Objectives
In the first two posts of this 6-part series, we discussed: The importance of setting S.M.A.R.T. business objectives (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, time-bound) as a prelude to developing a personal brand marketing program. Defining what role marketing will play in the process of achieving your business objectives. With today’s post, we move into communication: what…
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