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An Exit Strategy That Turns Your Business Into Cash
There are several factors that will greatly enhance the value of your real estate sales business and the ability to sell it:
Brand Awareness - if you make your business about you, you can forget about selling it when you retire. That's because when you leave, the primary value of your business leaves with you. On the other hand, if you create a highly recognizable "brand" around your services, you have an asset that is much easier to transfer without your continued involvement. A good example of this is --. Their ---- brand is so synonymous with Seattle waterfront property, they practically own that market. This is very attractive to a potential business buyer because they can acquire instant market penetration instead of spending years trying to build it.
There's one last tip I want to give you about using direct
marketing to promote your business. A real secret to
direct marketing success is repetition. When you are
selecting or compiling a list of prospective customers to
mail to you should think in terms of mailing offers and
information to that same list three to five times during a
12-month period - not just once. Properly used this can be
one of the most effective and cost-efficient marketing
strategies you'll ever find for your business.
Tips: 11/05/2005
Word of Mouth Advertising
by Andre Plessis
Stimulating word-of-mouth advertising, referrals
and using testimonials effectively are one of the most powerful and most effective
marketing strategies. These forms of advertising are certainly the least
expensive ways of promoting your business and by far the most effective ones. A
referral from a happy client will almost end up each time with a sale, since
someone has already experienced satisfaction with your products or services. In most cases you have opportunities to
use these strategies with very small costs compared to most
other marketing methods such as running
billboards, radio, direct mail and newspaper ads which are expensive.
There is even one more virtue to attracting new business from
referrals and the use of testimonials. The referred client is
most likely to become a source of more referrals. He got there
as a result of a referral so he is already conditioned to refer others.
The customer who is motivated to do business with you as a result of
others' testimonials is most likely to give you a testimonial letter you can
use. Never underestimate the power of those advertising methods.
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Tips: 10/27/2005
How Not to Scare Off Your Prospects
by Andre Plessis
How do you do that? Very simple indeed!
Have you ever heard of the principle of acclimatization? It goes like this:
Put a frog into a boiling pot of water, and it will jump out of the pot. But
put it in a pot of room temperature water, slowly raise the
heat and within a few minutes the frog is boiled.
The same thing applies to prospecting. If you talk to a prospect
and you quickly start selling him without even building a report and asking
honest questions, the prospect will resist and resent you
for the remainder of the conversation. Remember people do not want to be sold.
They want to know how much you care about them.
But if you start asking questions, build a report and show that you care about
him, the prospect won't even
suspect you.
So the next time you get a prospect on the phone, instead of trying to sell him
your services and scaring him, ease your way into a great and
profitable dialog.
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Tip: 10/07/2005
STOP Running ads that talk about YOU
by Andre Plessis
STOP Running ads that talk about YOU. This "ME" Image Advertising will not get you anywhere. Replace it With Valuable Marketing Material that will get you much higher responses and referrals. How many times have I taught you that NO ONE, absolutely NO ONE cares about you. Who cares if you sold $50 million dollars in real estate this year and that you are the number one at your office. People only care about what you can do for them.
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Tip: 09/17/2005
How To Win Clients
by Andre Plessis
If a prospect is tough to convert, as a last measure,
offer him an "cancellation guarantee". Tell your prospect that if he is not
satisfied with your performance, you will let him cancel the contract with no
penalties. Thus he has absolutely nothing to lose by signing up with you.
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Tip: 08/27/2005
Your Contact List
by Andre Plessis
How many contacts are in your database? If you include
all previous clients, previous and current prospects you should have a nice
contact list. Your contact list should grow every month. It is simple; if you
double your contacts you will increase your business. Building this solid
referral base is your protection against future business downturns.
You should focus on sending a monthly newsletter to YOUR contact list. You can
choose to email it or send it via mail. It will be the best way to remind
everybody in your contact list about your services. With all the literature and
advertisements people see on a daily basis it is very easy to forget about you.
Don't let your past clients go to your competition!
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Tip: 08/07/2005
What's Wrong With My Ad
by Andre Plessis
You can make a fortune once you learn the secrets of marketing utilizing space advertising. Here are some reasons why most ads don't work at all. Most ads say: "Here I am, I am great I have sold so much real estate." There's no one like me. Aren't I great!" In other words, I talked on and on about me, me, and me without giving prospects any reasons or benefits to call me over all the other agents who were saying the exact same thing.
Basically, what you're saying to the prospect is: "Hi, my name is Joe and I'm
the best. Please hire me and give me your money." Unfortunately, you haven't
answered WHY they should hire YOU over all other real estate
agents. You haven't shown them what you will do for them. In fact, you've given
them absolutely no real reasons or benefits at all to use you. Instead,
you've just put an image of yourself in front of them and assumed that if they
know who you are they will do business with you. Well, marketing doesn't work
this way.
Consumers don't like to read advertising as such. They do seek and enjoy
information. Your ad should say "Here is some valuable information."
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Tip: 07/23/2005
How to find great prospects
by Andre Plessis
Survey Says Newlyweds Want to Buy House, Instead of Big Celebration. Newlyweds would rather put the bulk of their wedding budget towards buying a home together and skipping the sumptuous ceremony, found a survey for national homebuilder KB Home.
According to a http://KBHome.com poll, as the average age for marriage climbs, there is a trend of financially independent couples investing most of their wedding budget towards a new home. The survey found 24% of respondents are purchasing a home within six months of their getting married.
"As we observe National Homeownership Month, we continue to see more and more couples opting to buy a new home instead of planning the large traditional wedding," said KB Home COO Jeff Mezger. "They want the comfort and security that comes with homeownership and prefer to spend their money on their future life together rather than on one night."
Given that the average wedding cost is about $25,000, KB Home said couples consider breakdowns such as a 5% down payment on a $300,000 home equals a typical wedding reception cost of $15,000.
So it might be an excellent idea to buy a newlyweds list or to network with wedding planners and other businesses who handle weddings in your area.
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Tip: 07/09/2005
Tracking Your Advertising Campaign
Effectiveness
by Andre Plessis
Every advertising campaign has the goal to influence consumer behavior or improve your brand image. And every campaign should achieve its goals economically and efficiently. But how do you measure the success of your advertising campaign? You need to assign each advertising campaign a unique ID number (800-000-0000 ext.4554), or a website address (www.mywebsite.com/special offer0705). By tracking responses to your unique ID#, you will be able to determine exactly how well your marketing campaign worked and whether it is worth repeating.
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Tips: 07/01/2005
Become an Expert in Your Field
by Andre Plessis
Become an expert in your field. You should write articles, newsletters and books that will appeal to your target audience as well as your peers. You will get more exposure for your services, and an additional income from book sales. You will be viewed as an expert in your industry, lending credibility to your business offerings.
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Tip: 06/25/2005
Keeping in Touch With Your Clients
by Andre Plessis
Most homeowners are not quite aware of the local real estate market. When it
comes time for a homeowner to resell, then it becomes critically important
to become more aware of the market conditions. That is your job as their
real estate agent.
Update Your Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) To increase your productivity and credibility with your clients, think about meeting with your clientele on a regular basis to update them to your current CMA.
Five items to include in your update:
New listings taken in the area
New homes pending in the area
New homes sold in the area
Average days on market changes
Percentage of list price to sales price changes
This information could be combined with other market influences to provide the seller with an update on the real estate market. It will also provide you with a chance to discuss the price of the home, to communicate with the seller, and with an opportunity to get new referrals.
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Tip: 06/19/2005
12 Great Questions to Help You Grow
Your Business
by Andre Plessis
1. Who are my clients?
2. What are their most important needs?
3. How can I fulfill their needs?
4. How is my business fulfilling their needs?
5. How is my competition addressing these needs?
6. What could I do differently in my business to serve my clientele better?
7. How am I different than the competition?
8. How much time do I spend and improving my business?
9. How much time do I spend learning about new techniques to promote my
business?
10. How passionate am I about my business?
11. What are my goals?
12.How do I achieve my goals?
13.What difference do I make in the lives of others?
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Tip: 06/11/2005
Listing Presentation
by Andre Plessis
You should always request to present your listing
presentation last when you are competing against other real estate agents
for a listing. By meeting with your prospect after all other realtors have
done their listing presentations, you are able to resume every point they
have made and have the last word for the closing.
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Tip: 06/02/2005
How to Succeed in Advertising
by Andre Plessis
Have you ever wonder what it takes to succeed in advertising. Do you wonder
if there is one secret formula? Well, yes there is and the secret in
advertising is persistence, persistence and persistence.
If your goal is to stay in business for a very long time, then using the
secret formula just bellow will undoubtedly make you very rich.
Over the years I have seen many individuals and businesses order online
advertising services, mailing lists, leads but rarely people reorder. When I
started my business 2 1/2 years ago I started advertising in search engines
and I never, ever stopped advertising since. There is not one month I
skipped advertising not even one since January 2003. It is probably why I
grossed $250,000 the first year and $450,000 the second year.
Many business owners fail to understand that they have to keep advertising
if they want the phone to ring. Remember that if consumers and businesses do
not buy from you they buy from the competition.
The most important question you should ask yourself is how many times should
you promote your offer to the same audience. Once, twice, three times or may
be more?
Here is the answer:
1. The first time a man looks at an advertisement, he does not see it.
2. The second time, he does not notice it.
3. The third time, he is conscious of its existence.
4. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it before.
5. The fifth time, he reads it.
6. The sixth time, he turns up his nose at it.
7. The seventh time, he reads it through and says, 'Oh brother!'
8. The eighth time, he says, 'Here's that confounded thing again!'
9. The ninth time, he wonders if it amounts to anything.
10. The tenth time, he asks his neighbor if he has tried it.
11. The eleventh time, he wonders how the advertiser makes it pay.
12. The twelfth time, he thinks it must be a good thing.
13. The thirteenth time, he thinks perhaps it might be worth something.
14. The fourteenth time, he remembers wanting such a thing a long time.
15. The fifteenth time, he is tantalized because he cannot afford to buy it.
16. The sixteenth time, he thinks he will buy it some day.
17. The seventeenth time, he makes a memorandum to buy it.
18. The eighteenth time, he swears at his poverty.
19. The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully.
20. The twentieth time he sees the ad, he buys what it is offering.
The list you've just read was written by a gentleman named Thomas Smith of
London in l885.
Is it different nowadays? Could this formula be different today? The answer
is the same as it was hundreds years ago and if you fail to understand the
logic behind this, you won't stand a chance to stay in business but your
competition will.
But if you understand how the prospect's mind work, I can assure you that
you dramatically increase your chances of being successful in business and
in fact you will be more successful that your competition.
Do you think commitment is easy to maintain after an ad has run nineteen
times and nobody is buying?
It is obviously not easy. But now that you understand how the prospect's
mind work, you know that the key to success in advertising is repetition.
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Tip: 05/21/2005
Dont agree to work with a prospective buyer unless he/she is willing to sign a contract with you. Your time is just as valuable as your money, and agreeing to work with buyers who will happily waste your time, but then buy through another agent, has high opportunity cost associated with it. Communicate your conditions to work with the prospect to show your professionalism and expertise.
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Tip: 05/11/2005
Three Benefits to Using Classified Ads
The thing I
appreciate the most about classifieds is the quality of leads. Just think about
it. Does anyone browse through the classifieds for fun? I don't think so.
Targeted Advertising: When someone is looking through the classified ads
they have a purpose...they are actually looking for something, they're not just
browsing for pleasure.
Cost Effective: That's the first reason I like classifieds. The second
reason I like them is they're inexpensive. They usually cost a lot less
than display advertising and often time can be just as effective.
No Commitment: The third reason I like them is they are quick to test and
there is no long term commitment. You can run your ad for a week or just a
weekend. And within days you can be producing amazing results.
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Tip: 05/07/2005
Testimonials
Testimonials
are the most powerful marketing asset in existence. Testimonials are amazingly
convincing. They have the ability to easily improve the effectiveness of all
your marketing messages. Every communication you have with a prospect should
have one or more testimonials.
Why are testimonials so important and effective?
Because what others say about you means a thousand times as much as what you say
about yourself. When a past client
says, "Choosing a realtor to market my home was a stressful task, until I
received that postcard from Idalia, her words wore as simple and
trustful as the process of actually selling my home. I had a quick
sale of my home (2 weeks a qualified buyer was found) I got top
dollars and a peace of mind."
Doesn't that have real impact on someone? It means a thousand times more
than you personally saying, "Professional with a smile".
Testimonials can take your website, your brochures, your newsletters, your
postcards and turn it into an amazing response rate. Without this kind of
compelling "proof" that you are all you say you are...your marketing efforts
won't be as efficient.
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Tip: 05/01/2005
Radio Interviews
One of the best ways to become known as an expert as a
realtor is to do radio interviews. You could be a guest on a local radio show
that deals with real estate.
You could discuss with the host about your expertise in helping first time home
buyers get into a home even though they had a past bankruptcy and no money down.
You can pick any subject that will create interest to an audience that will be
listening.
You can take questions from the audience and answer their questions. Remember
that all those listeners are potential buyers.
To get started select a radio station. Next send the station and the host your
media kit . Then follow up with a phone call. You must choose a topic you feel
you are the expert in and that will create real interest to an audience.
It is possible to have your own show as well. Typically the radio station will
charge you a fee for half an hour or an hour show. You can then get a title
company, a mortgage broker or others to become a sponsor and pay the cost of the
radio show. You could be doing this every week, discuss a different subject each
time and have guests who join the discussion.
Radio interview is one of the quickest ways to become known as an expert in your
field and get new clients without spending too much on untargeted advertising.
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