Custom Website

You need a website, your own website. Not a page on someone elses website. You need your own domain and you need to have a website built. Here is where it gets tricky. A lot of companies offering “real Estate websites” and they are nothing more than computer generated real estate website templates. Templates that look like every other realtors out there, templates that are actually detrimental to your ability to use any kind of online marketing such as SEO or PPC. Custom doesn’t have to be expensive, but just make sure you get the right kind.

Search Engine Optimization

You probably came to this very site from a search engine. Coincidence? No it was carefully planning and optimization that allowed us to place higher in the search engines than other sites targeting the same keywords. That’s how you ended up here instead of somewhere else. The same principle applies to search engine optimization for your site. You want that home buyer or seller on your site, not your competitions.

Social Networking

This in a word is now critical for a real estate agent. Whether you are utilizing Active Rain, LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, twitter, stumbleupon, Digg, or any other social outlet as long as you are using them and using them correctly you are on the right path. This is where an experienced social networker should really be used as there is a right way to utilize these sites and then there is a VERY wrong way to use these sites. You want it done correctly to really maximize your potential.

Online Classified Ads

Sites like craigslist, backpage, and many others can be great places to pick up new buyers especially. However those with a professional ad, know HOW to place their ads, and WHEN, are the most successful at using these sites. This is well trial and error comes into play, but if you have a developer that is familiar with this method than that is a good way to go. Writing an ad with some text and your phone number will NOT convert anyone to working with you or looking at your listings. You have to go above and beyond and convey why you are the realtor to work with in the area.

Pay Per Click Campaigns

With a pay per click campaign you essentially pay everytime someone goes from sites like Yahoo and Google to your site. The price can range anywhere from .05 cents to as high as $100+ per click. Most localized real estate keywords tends to be in the 1.00 - $3.50 range. While when compared to search engine optimization pay per click will cost you a lot, it’s a great tool to use the first couple of months while you are building your search engine ranking. It’s also a good tool to use to test keywords and clicks. You can use Pay per click to test to see which keywords will actually convert the most often to leads to your site. By doing this you can then fine tune your search engine optimization campaign to go after those higher converting keywords. Used properly pay per click can be a beneficial tool to your online marketing.

Hopefully we gave you a few tips and insights and will continue to write a few more over the next few weeks. Stay tuned to the site.

]]> http://www.realestatesalesleads.net/marketing/online-realtor-marketing-tips/feed/ http://www.realestatesalesleads.net/marketing/paying-your-friends-for-real-estate-referrals/ http://www.realestatesalesleads.net/marketing/paying-your-friends-for-real-estate-referrals/#comments Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:35:44 +0000 Real.Estate.Leads http://www.realestatesalesleads.net/?p=45 You would think that everyone you know should be referring business your way. But sometimes, they don’t want to take the risk. What if the people they refer to you don’t get approved, and waste your time, or what if you don’t do a good job to the people they refer to you. This fear is one reason why referrals don’t get made in the first place.

In order to help a person overcome their fear with some good old fashioned quid pro quo, it sometimes makes sense to make it known among your circle of friends that you will pay them for their referrals.

Now, it’s important that you check with the real estate division in your state.

The State of Utah Real Estate Division displays the Utah Admin Code referrant to this type of activity, In Utah Admin Code R162-6, section 6.1.9 and 6.1.9.1.

6.1.9. Finder’s Fees. A licensee may not pay a finder’s fee or give any valuable consideration to an unlicensed person or entity for referring a prospect in a real estate transaction, except as provided in this rule.

6.1.9.1. Token Gifts. A licensee may give a gift valued at $50 or less to an individual in appreciation for an unsolicited referral of a prospect which resulted in a real estate transaction.

So in Utah, a licensee is allowed to give a gift valued at $50 (or less) to someone for an unsolicited referral.

So an obvious question is, how can I avoid breaking this rule, yet still receive referrals.

One sure way to violate this rule would be to offer a referral in any kind of printed form. That would clearly be a solicitation (in this Layman’s opinion) and would of course qualify. No email saying “$50 Thank You For Referring Me To a Friend”. No postcard, or flyer.

Also, of course, would be giving someone a gift of over $50. That also would pretty clearly be against the rule.

But if you received an unsolicited referral from a past client, and then gave them a gift of $50 or less, would that be ok to put in your newsletter that you received the referral from them? I think it’d pretty clearly violate the rule if you then asked for referrals from others. But what if you just left it at that.

What if you displayed a placard on your office wall which read: “Section 6.1.9.1: A licensee may give a gift valued at $50 or less to an individual in appreciation for an unsolicited referral of a prospect which resulted in a real estate transaction.”

Personally, I believe the rule is to keep people from offering bounties for people to turn in friends and family looking for Realtors. Imagine opening the paper and seeing bidding wars from different brokerages trying to buy business.

If you have a story of something nice you were able to do for a client that shared a lead with you (which resulted in a real estate transaction) I don’t feel it’d be inappropriate to share it, in person, with your clients, friends or family.

Sometimes, when debating on whether to give a name to a real estate sales agent, it’s the GIFT that counts.

As always CHECK WITH LOCAL ENFORCEMENT AND CODES.

Don’t go get yourself in trouble just for a lead…

One way to get real estate leads is to offer free market analysis to homeowners. This should be done by word of mouth, local advertising, and internet advertising. Additionally, the real estate agent should register with the Linkedin Network, among many other social networking sites, and try to have as big a network as possible there. Though be careful, spam is VERY prevalent on these sites. Treat this as a business relationship. Only add someone as a “friend” if you would really consider them for friendship in the “real world”. For example someone selling Viagra would NOT be a good person to have in your network. Consult a real internet marketing professional to get the most out of online social networking.

Network, network, network! Join local civic organizations such as Rotary Club, Lions Club, Kiwanis, Junior League, etc. The more people in your sphere who know you’re a real estate agent the more that will be comfortable working with you. They will have the knowledge that you have shared and familiar interests.

One idea for a real estate agent to find prospective clients is to place an advertisement in college newspapers, especially between the months of March and June, when students are looking for housing for the next school year.

One way to get real estate leads would be to view local news papers and search the “legal” announcements for recent divorce proceedings.

Are you near a military base? They are an often untapped source of potential sellers, and that leads to buyers (those being stationed at the base). If not a base, are you near any industry or neighborhood that has any transient qualities? More opportunities come when the quantity of buy/sell is high.

One way to find prospective leads is to host open-houses and get to know the prospective buyers. Then if the prospective buyers do not yet have a buyer’s agent, you could offer to be their agent. ALWAYS announce your open houses on your website.

Contact large companies in your area that recruit and hire people who relocate to your town. Speak to their HR department and let them know you are interested in showing homes to their new employees who move into the area. Leave them a stack of your custom business cards.

Establish relationships with wedding planners, photographers, printers, etc. who provide services for people planning to tie the knot. Many of their clients could be leads for you. You might even create a lovely gift certificate and find a way for the happy bride and groom to list you as one of the choices for their gift registry — help pay for down payment, perhaps. (I have noticed many unusual kinds of requests these days, not just a piece of flatware for the china we have chosen)

Most cities/towns have a website that allows local business listings. Many newcomers and residents will visit this page, so be sure to add you business contact information to the cities you work in. This is where your custom website comes in handy.

Though marketing yourself online is now the most effective method to reach prospective real estate buyers, the other method could be to distribute detailed information of your projects directly to community clubs/associations or welfare associations as they cover all the residents of that area and are closely-organized groups. Once they recommend any specific projects, the members tend to follow the advice.

The real estate developer can also do value addition by providing all sort of legal assistance, explaining complex legal terms in a simplified manner, providing home-loan facilities and getting them approved, after sales maintenance. These value additions are of immense help from customers’ point of view. It would also build sustained relationship with the clients who can be expected to approach you again and again in future too, just because of this special service. You can also approach big companies employing thousands of employees at one place and distribute your project details through their central administrative department to make it accessible to their employees by convincing them of the benefits that your project would bring to their employee in getting dream homes.

The place where a lot of real estate chatter happens is in the locker room of health clubs. Join a club, work-out, and start to get to know people. You would be surprised at how effective this is (plus you get good exercise!).

Hold a free “Investment Seminar”. Discuss various investment options like mutual funds, bonds, stocks, and real estate. Focus on real estate as the best method in your opinion. Say opinion since you cannot prove it is the best and you can substantiate it with personal success stories on earnings from real estate investments. You may get to meet sellers or buyers in one seminar.

One way to get real estate leads would be to become really good friends with the manager of a real estate company and tell him you are looking for a house and he might be nice enough to show u a few houses before they go on the market.

One way to get real estate leads is to purchase add space in “new student guides” for colleges or Universities in your area. Many times parents would rather to purchase a condo or townhouse or even a home for their child when they go to school. It gives the child a place to stay and becomes an investment for the parent.

By tying up with a company which has a huge employee base like Microsoft etc. Or putting up an ad in place within such company like the cafeteria which is visited by lot of employees.

Talk to all your friends and family and see if anyone they know is buying or selling a house.

One way to get real estate leads would be to hold a free short lecture or seminar for the general public interested in selling their houses which would teach them ways to increase the value of their home.

I think a good place to look for leads is to look at online forums like craigslist. Many people are trying to sell homes on their own without help from a real estate professional. You may be able to find a better variety with some help from sites like that than you would find in other places. It may better fit your customer’s needs. You could also post that you were looking for customers to sell homes for.

Post a flyer with your name and contact information (include your website!) on tear away strips, on free boards at places such as the library or supermarket. Also, you can leave a stack of your flyers at places that have free publications (such as the entrance to the supermarkets). I use to sell AVON and I actually got a number of customers that way. You can also offer freebies (on your flyers) for the prospective clients to tour your homes or sell their home through you (Tupperware, small kitchen appliances, BBQ grill, etc.) Something for the house.

You can also try setting up a booth at local fares or at school carnivals and such. The fee for the booths are usually minimal. Instead of just having your name and business cards out, offer a game of some sort (like spinning a wheel and getting a prize) to get people to come to your booth. Have lots of pics of the houses you are listing and also display the benefits of listing their home with you. Have an information form they can complete so you can contact them later. Good Luck!

Look up all the people in your area who are behind on their property tax bills. Maybe they are overwhelmed and are thinking about selling.

Buy a moving truck! Put your business name and information on the sides. Advertise the fact that new home owners can use the truck for free for local moves. New customers might be more inclined to use your realty office if they know they won’t have the expense of a moving truck. (They refill the gas tank when they bring it back, of course).

I’m not sure where the Realtor is located, but catering to the military market in a military-saturated area is always a plus. Military people are relocating frequently, and many buy homes where they move to; sometimes they even keep the house and rent it out if they relocate before the house turns a profit, etc.

One way to get real estate sales leads would be to set up a booth at grade school fairs or to participate at the school on some other level. Parents are typically motivated to buy instead of rent when their child starts school.

I would target people living in apartment complexes because they are more likely to be in the market to buy a house or to lease a house/condo in near future. Create a friendly letter describing your service (if you are a buyer’s agent, it’s a plus), and mail the letters to every tenants in apartment complexes in your area. You can even create a newsletter highlighting some of your “hot picks” of the properties you handle. Also, advertise on local community website because they are often visited by people moving to the community. You can even volunteer to write an article about the community for the website. This way, you will get free advertising.

Figure out the addresses of rentals in the area and send literature to people currently renting. They may think they are not able to buy a house, but they very well could be.

An agent may do well if they market themselves through a give away or drawing in an apartment community. Many people in apartments want to move to a house but not sure they can or know how to even start.

This may sound bad, but try hanging around pawn shops or leaving a stack of brochures/flyers/business cards there. When people are hocking their valuables because they’re short on cash, they might be good candidates to sell their homes to get the cash out of their homes. At the same time, the people looking for good bargains at a pawn shop are probably also going to be interested in the good bargains that you, the good real estate agent, can show them, and there are plenty of used power tools available to fix the “fixer uppers”…

Create a neighborhood information website (where to find services, school info etc) of the area you want to farm, the Realtor ads on the website link to your site.

One way for real estate leads is directing advertisement to carpenters for fixer-uppers. Carpenters are looking for deals to flip.

Mail postcards with pictures of houses that you have closed in the area showing what % of the asking price you were able to get for your seller. 1320 Scotsman sold for 98% of asking price in only 10 Days!!! List YOUR house with me!

One way to get real estate leads would be to take out an ad in the same page of the local newspaper that weddings are announced in. Many people look to buy a house once they get married.

When I was growing up, I worked for my dad in his insurance brokerage. He always stressed changes as a way of getting leads. Are a couple expecting, or did they just have a baby - might need a bigger house. Husband died? Might be time to sell in a few months (this one would require some thought to go about it tactfully). Kid off to college - might be time to sell. Promotion at work - now she’s got the buy to afford that new house. Read the papers, especially the small ones - they’re chockful of this information. Google the name, get an address or phone number depending on your marketing strategy, and go for it. Business journals are good for promotions and relocation information.

I have found that the best way to get Real Estate leads is to send out a Market Update - Just make sure that it is not restricted by your local MLS Board.

A real Estate Agent can make follow-up phone calls after a transaction to get old clients to references the Real Estate Agent.

Check the obituaries and find out if the deceased owned a house. The surviving family members or estate might be selling the home.

Buy ad space in the yahoo real estate section. I know that when I was looking for a house I used their MLS listing search and every page had an ad for a local real estate agent that said ‘contact ____ about this listing’, even if it was not their exclusive listing.

An overlooked way to get real estate leads is through completing BPO’s (Broker Price Opinions) for various finance companies. Many times the companies are in the process of foreclosing on the properties that they request BPO’s for, which means that they also need an agent to list the property. These companies often go to the agent who completed the original BPO when it comes time to market the property, rather than having to find another agent in the local market.

One way is to place ads in Apartment finder guides, many people are looking to buy a house sometime. Usually, people are new to an area, and they rent for a few months while they shop around to buy a house.

Place an ad before a movie at a local theater. advertise online via social networking sites.

In brokeragentnews.com, there is an article entitled Is Your Farm Area Right For You? This article outlines some items to use as a gauge to make sure you have chosen the correct area to farm.

These are

• No Major Competitor
• Turnover Rate & Quantity
• and Personality Fit

Check out this great article to make sure you have chosen a Farm that Fits.

Ugly Yellow Signs are just that: Big yellow signs, usually written in magic marker… In a world with thousands of highly polished ad messages, these signs get noticed because they aren’t polished. They are ugly, and hard to ignore.

The UYS system gets people interested through a simple headline such as “Buy a Home- NO MONEY DOWN. (888) 555-8767 ext. 500″ or “Dozens of Condos For Sale: (888) 767-9999.”.

Once people call the toll-free #, their lead information is captured either by caller-id or through asking for their info to be left as a voice mail message.

Some of those that use the caller-id method have a small message on the yellow sign with a disclaimer stating that those who call give permission for telemarketing calls. This may or may not work for the do-not-call list, but that’s the general idea. Just do what you feel comfortable with.

The UYS leads provide a list of people who were interested enough in your headline to call. If they called, odds are they are interested in purchasing. One of the tricks of these leads is to call quickly. When calling these leads, you’ll see a marked difference between calling same day vs. even three days later. If you feel more comfortable, you might want to have a small script in mind for these calls.

As with all lead follow-up calls, during the conversation, you want to ask questiosn to make sure this is someone who really does need your services. Once you have an idea about the kind of lead you’re dealing with, you’ll want to get some type of commitment. For me this was often simply scheduling a time when I could drop off a real estate buyer’s guide.

Special Tip: Calls can only last as long as your signs do. I’ve noticed some signs put 10ft up - probably someone standing on top of a pickup bed. This simple trick could have doubled the time this sign lasted, and doubled the amount of leads it was good for.

Probably, he’s only 5-10% taller, if that. That’s not much. But he’s the tallest.

How much work does it take to do the most sales in your office? Twice the work? Three times? To be honest, sometimes it just takes 5-10% more effort. And the reason for this is simple: There are things the others simply won’t do, and many won’t do the 5-10% that you could easily do, 5-10% more work that will be effective, will have a high impact for the amount of effort involved on your part.

Let me tell you about Mark. Mark was a salesman. He enjoyed sales. He enjoyed getting paid more money because he sold more, and he liked selling more by implementing some of his interesting sales ideas. Whether it was lead generation, marketing, or getting an assistant to help free up his time from paperwork to selling, he would come up with original ideas to increase his sales.

One sales technique that really worked was the “Free Real Estate Buyer’s Guide”.

I’ll simply tell the story as it happened:

Mark hired a local writer to re-write several articles and even chapters of other books into the “Free Real Estate Buyer’s Guide”. He then went out and solicited advertising from different mortgage companies, home inspection and insurance companies as well as title companies. Between the different real estate related companies, he charged enough to pay for the printing of this booklet (with enough left over for advertising). With paid advertising and plenty of well printed copies, he then placed an ad in the paper which read:

“Free Real Estate Buyer’s Guide. Avoid the top 10 mistakes buyers make. Order by voicemail.”

He was inundated with requests each week for the buyer’s guide. He had a steady stream of housing buyers calling his line, each one leaving their contact information. None of the advertisers in the magazine were realtors, and he’d be delivering the “Free Real Estate Buyer’s Guide” by hand.

He’d call each one before hand to “verify their address”, oh, and if he happened to ask if they were already working with someone, so much the better, right? And if those already with an agent got theirs in the mail instead? Right!

This is much easier than you’d expect!

Here’s a rough to do list for this real estate leads project:

1. Go make sells calls and sell magazine ads.

Trust me, this was the easiest part. It doesn’t have to cost much! Whatever you can get out of the advertisers on the first run, get it! It’ll be that much easier to sell them ads the second time because you’ll be able to show them the previous editions. Who do you sell to? Well, try anyone interested in marketing to real estate buyers.

2. Organize the articles and ads into a booklet.

Graphic designers are artists, and trust me, if regular artists are starving artists, then graphic designers are their “not-quite-satisfied-after-dinner” cousins. Here is where you don’t want to skimp. This really goes back to our first impressions post about making that lasting first impression. If you are looking for who created our booklets, these our the identity masters! Tell them you want a brochure like the brochure mentioned on real estate sales leads.

3. Print the booklet..

Your designer should be able to recommend a good printer. 100lb book or 10pt card, there are a lot of different options. Many are relatively inexpensive. You could print 1000 of these for as little as $500. If you converted just one of those to a sale, and your odds are MUCH better than that, you would be ahead of the game.

4. Prepare your voicemail.

Make sure you prompt the callers for the information you’re going to need to get them their booklet (and call on them!).

5. Place your classified ads.

You can place them in more than one newspaper, you know!!! Why not max out the thrifty nickel and other sources, but make sure to put some of those advertising dollars into the classified ads.

6. Treat each response as a lead.

7. Deliver the Free Real Estate Guide and start a relationship with an interested real estate buyer!

And she got us from cold calling us.

We’d been cold called before by other Merchant Account companies, and I’d told each one that I didn’t have a copy of the statement, but that I could fax them one. Each one left a business card, and on each one, I never got around to faxing them a copy of the statement. Maybe unconsciously it was intentional. This woman, however, was the first one to call me back and ask where the fax was. The very first one!

I digress… This woman got our business, and a decent month’s pay, all by cold calling.

Was this the woman’s first month on the job? No, she was a seasoned pro. She was cold calling because it worked.

Would you do cold calls if it meant that your real estate business was guaranteed some action?

Cold calling does work.! Most anyone will tell you this, and you probably know or believe it at some level. Granted, it isn’t the most efficient, and I think you know that already too. In fact the fact that it’s slow, hard, inefficient and uncomfortable is a very loud message, while the fact that it works is somewhat quiet and can more easily be ignored.

Sure it’s preferable to get leads by referral only, come through your internet marketing, or to have the customer call you… But at first, or when you have no more successful activity planned, some shoes on the pavement is just the thing called for.

Some successful Real Estate Cold Calling Techniques:

Determine ahead of time how many people you will contact or talk to - and stick to it!

Have realistic expectations - but have expectations! Having realistic expectations will help you endure rejection, but having expectations that you will find someone each day that you’ll be able to help in some form or another, this will help push you onward.

Too many people rely on cheaply printed business cards or personalized pens that dry out the moment the cap comes off to be the sole reminders they leave with potential clients. Stop for a moment and consider how you feel when receiving such trinkets from people in other industries. Most likely, you throw away (or at best, recycle) these items without a second thought.

To leave a lasting impression with these potential sales leads, you need to leave your mark on something that lasts. Invest in high-quality personalized pens or mechanical pencils. The longer they write, the longer the person you give them to will have to look at your name. A working pen rarely winds up in the garbage; in a worst-case scenario, the writing utensil is passed along to someone else, which means all the more exposure for you. Don’t hesitate to use them yourself; leave them behind in waiting rooms, at the cashier’s station, or anywhere else that someone can use them. The more exposure your name receives, the more potential for creating that future sales lead.

If you give out notepads or post-it pads, make sure they’re thick enough to last awhile. Also give careful consideration to long-lasting useful items like dual chip clips/magnets, which could keep your name and number on a potential lead’s refrigerator for years. Bookmarks, flashlights, or even plastic drink cups with your personalized message also make long-lasting alternatives.

No matter what vehicle you choose to leave your mark behind, keep the message on it short and sweet. Include your name, a unique catch phrase or important credential (i.e. “Chicago Realtor for 25 Years”), and your phone number and ALWAYS include your website address. If you list an overwhelmingly amount of information in such a small space, you risk all of it being overlooked.

Remember the easier you make it for future real estate sales leads to find you, the more likely they will!