My living is made now by making real estate agents famous. Well, at least their websites famous. I probably see hundreds of websites every month. Of these, I see the good, the bad and the ugly. I have the opportunity to be amongst a rare breed of real estate agent. Those that GET IT! Let me be clear.

If you want to be seen as successful, you need to look successful. I’ve always told people that “Whatever you give to people represents who you are”. It’s no different with your marketing. Those agents who are the most successful right now, even in a down  market are those that can work smart. They are the ones that can make their website work for them. Aside from many tools that can be used successfully, there is one common to all successful agents. . . . Drip marketing.

When I speak of “drip marketing”, I’m not talking about the online newsletter or “how to” articles. I’m talking about the “Subscribe to New Listings” or “Get New Listings by Email” campaigns. These are tools used by the agent to allow the buyer to fill in a form detailing exactly what parameters in a home/condo they are looking for, and then (drum roll) mention that a name, number and email will be needed in order to send these new listings from the MLS to the buyer.

When building these forms, PLEASE make sure you do them right. NEVER ask for their name and email first. They don’t know yet what you’re about to give them. Having them fill out the form of their preferences first gets them hooked in the process and actually makes them want to give you their information.

If you’d like to know more information about how to create a “drip marketing” page for “Subcribing to New Listings”, check out the video below for more information.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, International Speaker

In my resource, The On Track to Success in 30 Days System for Experienced Agents, I introduced a concept called the ‘Career Life Cycle’. I learned this concept as a CRB (Certified Real Estate Broker) instructor. Simply, the concept says that real estate agents (and managers, and companies), go through four career phases:

1. Introduction
2. Growth
3. Maturity
4. Decline
   

Each of these phases has its own opportunities and challenges, which I discuss at length in the On Track resource—as well as provide best practices for each phase. In this article, let’s tackle the unique challenges of the ‘mature’ agent.

The Mature Business and Agent

If you have been in the business for over five years, chances are you have enjoyed a ‘mature’ business. When the market was on fire, you were getting most of your business from repeat and referrals (and some happy ‘accidents’). You have built up a strong enough business that you do most of your business based on pre-built trust and confidence. You are admired in your office (and perhaps your whole company) for your leadership and mentorship.

The market changes…..

All of a sudden (at least it seemed sudden), your referral business dried up. You are searching for other means of business. But, you’re relatively unprepared, since your business had been repeat and referral. You didn’t have to prove your professionalism. Now, you do.

Competition raises its ugly head. Because the mature agent gets most of her business from referrals, she may not be prepared to compete against more aggressive agents—or agents trained with the latest presentation methods. This happened with one of my mature agents in my office, Martha. She was referred to George and Betty Smith, who wanted to sell their home. But, George and Betty also were referred to John Schlock, of ABC Realty.

Martha knows John Schlock, and she thinks his last name is appropriate…… Of course, though, she can not say this to George and Betty. Martha’s in kind of a bind here. She relies on word-of-mouth for her business, and she relies on this word-of-mouth building her credibility to the point where she has no need to build it herself. This works fine when she is not competing with another agent, and the sellers already think she is the best thing since sliced bread. It does not work so well when she is competing with another agent—especially one who will tell the client whatever they want to hear!

Martha relies solely on her ‘known’ reputation. Martha has no testimonials in writing, no Professional Portfolio, no visual marketing presentation, and no statistics systematized to teach George and Betty the principles of how real estate works. Why not? Because, Martha did not need these credibility-builders very often, like those newer agents need. And, when she does, it is too late to create them.

This ‘mature business’ attitude and practice results in lost listings or over-priced listings. This makes Martha mad, but, to do anything about it, Martha would have to admit she needs to quit acting like a ‘mature’ agent and push herself back into the growth phase. Just like the Ford Taurus, she needs to ‘re-tool’ herself. You, dear reader, may be like Martha. Congratulations on taking the risk to even look at your business today. Many ‘Marthas’ in real estate are just waiting out the inevitable–their descent into decline.

In my next blog, I’ll give you eight methods to decide if you’re in the ‘mature’ phase of your business—and what to do to push yourself back to ‘growth’ to revitalize your business—and yourself.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is president of Carla Cross Seminars, Inc. and Carla Cross Coaching, specializing in real estate sales productivity and management profitability. One of her most popular presentations and webinars is Seasoned but Stuck. Cross, an international speaker and coach, is the author of 6 internationally published books, 20 productivity programs, including On Track to Success in 30 Days System for Experienced Agents (and its coaching companion for managers) Carla is a winner of the National Association of Realtors’ National Educator of the Year award. Contact her at www.carlacross.com or 425-392-6914.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, International Speaker

Are ‘dual career’ agents hurting you and your business? In Stefan Swanepoel’s publication, Trends Report 2010, he calls the real estate licensee with another job the ‘dual career’ agent. That’s what we used to call the ‘part-timer’. Although ‘dual career’ sounds much more important than ‘part-time’, the result is the same:

Less time to devote to the consumer. The conflict that an agent feels when he has another job is causing the consumer to rate our service lower than ever before.

Dual Careerists Are a Growing Trend

More and more real estate agents are getting second jobs to make ends meet. In fact, the 2009 National Association of Realtors’ Member Profile says that 26% of Realtors stated that real estate was not their only occupation. (I’m sure that many more licensees that aren’t Realtors have other major sources of income). In addition, less than half of all Realtors surveyed reported that real estate was their primary source of household income.

Is the Dual Careerist Doing the Industry More Harm than Good?

Having been an agent, manager and owner a long time, I know how difficult it is at times for an agent to ‘hang in there’, put their heads down, and keep working through tough times. It’s a great temptation, and a relief for many to take that other job just to ‘tide them over’. From the broker’s perspective, too, keeping the agent at least licensed with the brokerage to get that one transaction seems to be better than losing that one transaction.

Several problems accrue, when the agent gets another job:

1. The agent’s mind, energy, and dollars drift away from the needs of the consumer because the agent must focus on another job

2. The agent can’t keep up on the technical, legal, and business developments

3. The consumer demands just can’t be met when the agent is unavailable for large blocks of time

4. The broker must carry a much bigger responsibility for the agent’s transactions

What We Need to Do About This Trend

Managers: Set standards so you are living out that vision you took all that time to write in that business planning course! Do you have agents with you who are not dedicated? Do you have agents who don’t practice in the way your company wants? If so, you are ‘shattering your image’ and greatly hurting your chances to recruit. Fix it while you can.

Agents: Go to your manager and ask why the ‘deadwood’ (a horrible term, but, the consumers have told us to get rid of them and we’re not listening…) is still there. What benefit do they provide you? What benefit do they provide the company?

Short-sided: It May Destroy our Industry

Unfortunately, our industry has spent too much time on the immediate, and not enough time on the long-term. One of the easiest ways to see this is to look at the low producers and part-timers we’ve kept as licensees. Why? Because we think they may sell a home or two before they get discouraged.

There Is Leadership Showing the Way

There is a growing trend to upgrade the industry. Take a look at what industry leaders are doing right now. They are putting standards in place, training and coaching to get people to their standards, and are counseling out those who just aren’t meant—or committed—to a career in real estate.

Support on Putting Standards in Place

For the last year, I’ve done lots of work in helping companies put standards in place. Although it’s challenging, it’s absolutely critical if we are to protect our business models as we like them!

Note: See Four Steps to a Stunning Standards-Based Organization, a webinar I did for the National Association of Realtors’ Learning Library.

What Do You Think?

Do you believe managers should keep anyone who wants to be kept? Let me hear your opinion–and, if you have a solution, let’s share it with our industry!

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is a speaker, coach, and resource provider for  real estate leadership. Author of 6 internationally published books, and 20 production programs, Cross specializes in helping leadership create exceptional organizations, and assisting achieving agents to reach their potential. Contact her at 425-392-6914 or www.carlacross.com.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, International Speaker

Do you know the best motivators for YOU? Even though the market has improved in many areas, real estate professionals are still very challenged about getting their businesses back on track. Or, if you’re new, you’re probably experiencing some ‘negative vibes’ from those seasoned agents in your office. How are you going to motivate yourself to get into the swing of the market to meet your goals?

We’re Not Motivated by What We Think We Were…..

In his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink lays out a persuasive case, backed by extensive scientific studies, about why the traditional ‘carrot and stick’ motivational methods just don’t work for us today. It’s especially true with real estate professionals. Why? Because we in effect work for ourselves. We have to be self-starters, initiators, and tenacious in our pursuit of our goals. That means we have to be motivated by things other than promises of material things.

Why Money Doesn’t Work as a Motivator

First, as Pink points out, money and/or material things are good short-term motivators. (Read Herzberg’s studies on short and long-term motivation). In fact, just take a look at the number of real estate agents who are motivated to visit an open house when there’s food! But, as Herzberg and others have pointed out, money is a lousy long-term motivator. You know that if you’ve tried motivating your kids with money—or threats (the carrot and stick).

I know. You’re thinking, “If I just had more money, I would be fine.” So, let me ask you, what are you willing to do to get that money? Lead generate more regularly? Make more sales calls? We all know that lead generating is the answer to that money problem. Yet, the vast majority of agents avoid lead generating as if it gave us some chronic disease! So, money is just not an effective long-term motivator.

The Best, Deepest, Strongest Motivators We Can Use to Motivate Ourselves

Pink shows, via extensive studies, that there are three driving motivators which we should put to work today to fire ourselves up, keep those fires lit, and achieve what we want to achieve. They are:

Autonomy

Mastery

Purpose

Questions to Ask Yourself to Fire Yourself Up

About Your Autonomy

Are you in charge of your own business, or are you waiting for someone else to tell you what to do?

Do you expect your manager to make you go to work, or are you self-directed and self-starting?

Are you disciplined in your business, so you can enjoy that autonomy?

Seth Godin, author of Tribes, says about autonomy: The art of the art {of autonomy} is picking your limits. That’s the autonomy I must cherish. The freedom to pick my boundaries.

About your Mastery

Are you working just to get by, or are you consistently working to get better? What do you want to excel at? How does that translate into your business?

About your Purpose

What excites you so much you can’t sleep at night?

Is there a way to translate that to your real estate business?

The desire to do something because you find it deeply satisfying and personally challenging inspires the highest levels of creativity, whether it’s in the arts, sciences, or business. Teresa Amabile, Professor, Harvard University

What motivates you? Do you know? How do you know? What if you’re motivating yourself in the wrong way? (Many managers unwittingly de-motivate with their strategies!)

More about effective motivation today

How to Effectively Motivate

I’m doing a webinar on how to effective motivate yourself and others for the National Association of Realtors’ Learning Library on March 17, at 2 p.m. EST. Click here for more information.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is an international speaker, coach, and resource provider, specializing in real estate business management. More of her resources are tested and recommended by CRS and CRB than any other speaker today. Carla helps companies optimize their ‘people power’–creative, practical strategies to double production and profits to recruit and retain the best.

Randy Eagar, CRS

What technological features/gadgets/programs have been more worrisome and questionable than that of all the various social media marketing and networks? Should you be on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or even YouTube? As I mentioned last time, the answer is “YES”. But in this post, I’d like to deal more specifically with an overview of how to market your social media through the magic of RSS Feeds (Really Simple Syndication).

Randy Eagar

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr . . . which social media or social media sharing is best? The answer is “Yes”! With the advancements in these services, you can now post a video in your YouTube account and have it automatically post to your Facebook wall, Twitter account, etc. In marketing, you need to be everywhere.  Here’s a short video trailer showing this exciting session that you can get via 45 minute video or from BASB personal training showing some great social media marketing ideas.

Are you a ‘don’t have time to plan’ broker? Having been a manager and regional manager for two decades (yes, I really am getting that old….), I know how difficult it is to sit down and slog through writing a business plan. So, I’ve been working hard for you to make it fast easy—but accurate as a blueprint for 2010.

 The ‘Spring Ahead’ Approach to Get it Done

 For my business planning webinar (see below), I created four steps to think through a business plan. What’s great about analyzing with these four steps is that you are making immediate decisions for your action plan for 2010. So, as you draw conclusions from your analysis, use a template to get those action plan ideas in place. You’re virtually done, then, with your plan.

 Four Steps: Two Down, Two to Go

 You’ve got cracking on those first two steps to business planning that I gave you in my October 29th blog. Now, let’s tackle the last two steps. Admittedly, you won’t have an in-depth plan with these steps, but, you will have thought through the most important aspects for you to get ready to tackle.

 Step three: Evaluating YOU. Rate yourself in the various management areas: recruiting, selection, coaching, training, retention, staff management, etc.

 Email me at Carla@carlacross.com  and ask for my Management Evaluation—a detailed rating document to assess your strengths and your challenges (great, too, if you’re hiring or managing managers).

 What have you mastered? What do you want to improve? This becomes your personal/professional training/coaching program for next year.

 Step Four: What if: Complete this sentence :”If I did these three things next year, I would increase my productivity and profitability”:

Now, you have your ‘big rocks’ for your business plan for next year done.

 Business plans: Active and Breathing, or Stuck on a Shelf?

 You’re not making a business plan as a financial plan to get money from a bank. You’re not creating this wonderful, mushy visionary plan. You’re thinking about your specific situation, and then creating an action plan. You will actually put these actions into your monthly and weekly schedule, and act on them! This is the plan you will revisit at least monthly, to measure your actions and results against what you planned.

                         Make it an action plan and you will get into action.

 For a comprehensive business planning system, with fill-in forms for each part of your plan, see The Business Planning System for the Owner, Manager, and Team Builder at www.carlacross.com.

 P. S. Use this same approach with your agents. Provide them a format and template to analyze their last year’s business. That gives them the answers to the next year’s action plan (that spring ahead approach I mentioned).

 (Forms for analyzing and planning available for agents, too. See The Business Planning System for the Real Estate Professional.

 Want help with getting your agents to plan: Join me Dec. 8 when I do a webinar for NAR’s Learning Library: Not Your Grammy’s Business Plan.

 Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is an international speaker on productivity and profitability through ‘people development’. Her book on business planning has been published internationally. A course writer and presenter for CRB on business planning, Cross’s business planning workshops, presentations, and resources provide customized systems for real estate professionals. 

Rich Levin

Marketing guru Jennifer Cummings describes an “Aha” experience as “An idea that inspires action.  The combination of the our Daily Coaching webinars and working with individual Agents on their 2010 business plans created a few huge “Aha” moments. 

1.      There are three distinct phases to planning.  It is best to complete one phase each week over three weeks to gain insight and add depth to each.  The three are:

a.       Your motivation, mindset, attitude, and psychology

b.      Your measureable goals by the numbers

c.       The activities, skills, and habits necessary to achieve your goals

When you focus on each of these separately in this order you get motivated by the first week, excited at the possibilities of the second week, and eager to put your plans into action by the third week. 

2.      Your daily and weekly habits are more important than your plan.  Many Agents spend a long time planning and the plan is mostly ignored as the year ensues.  However, Agents who develop simple daily and weekly habits of prospecting, marketing, quality service, and planning achieve consistent success with greater ease.  Habit focused Agents achieve more even if they have a weaker overall plan. 

3.      A results (goals) focus produces results.  Focusing on activities leads to frustration and never achieving a sense of completion.  Focusing on the number of appointments you need each week and the sales volume each month leads to satisfaction, insight, and self-motivation.  Focusing on how many things need to be done leads to anxiety, frustration and damages your motivation even while you are planning. 

We have built our newest (most comprehensive and least expensive) coaching program around these new insights and we can see already, even before the year begins that the Agents are more focused and excited about their future. 

Have you heard???? It’s one heck of a kick-off!

We’ve got over 12,000 agents registered for the Realtor University Webinar series starting tomorrow at 11:00 EST and WOW do we have a lineup!

I’m lucky to be the host for each of the six calls tomorrow starting with the most requested seminar seat in the series featuring former chief economist, John Tuccillo on the 2010 Economic Forecast & how you can prosper!
This is an amazing series featuring industry leaders:

Randy Eagar – Everyone wants to know how to build an Internet Marketing Presence through Blogging!  Expert Randy Eagar’s insightful presentation will tell you!  He offers the 20 Types of Dynamic Blogging Posts!  You won’t want to miss this incredible program and begin blogging like a pro!

The Dynamic Duo of Michael and Stacy Spickes have the full low down on “How you can successfully close short sales!” – They’ve got what you need to know to get a good solid understanding of what a short sale is and what you need step by step to get a short sale to close!

Amy Chorew is our Tech goddess and she’s on the webinar sharing “How Top Agents are Using VIDEO on the Web to Generate Business Now!” To harness this powerful web tool…be sure to check out what Amy has to say

Verl Workman, master sales expert offers the Top Ten Money Making Tools you can use in Real Estate. As a master coach, following his 10 steps is guaranteed to increase your sales.

And our final presenter is Rich Levin sharing 14 Proven Systems to keep your Transactions intact….and who doesn’t need that to keep those contracts from sold to close!

I can’t WAIT to be hosting each of these dynamic presentations! So be sure to visit: www.LearningLibrary.com/RU/Webinars and get registered for these FREE events! And be sure to get your $5.00 discount coupon for the upcoming seminars scheduled in October and November.

Terri Murphy, Author of 5 books, her latest with Donald Trump. She is a Speaker & Consultant and can be reached by email: Terri@TerriMurphy.com or for more information visit www.MurphyOnRealEstate.com

1. Instructional -

a. Instructional posts are meant to tell people how to do something. I find that my Tips posts are generally the ones that are among my most popular both in the short term (that is loyal readers love them and will link up to them) but also in the longer term. One of the reasons people search the web is to find out how to do things and if you can rank highly with your tips post you can have traffic over a length of time.

b. Make sure you give instructions on interesting topics and you will make your blog posts more compelling to read and more likely to be linked. It’s getting others to link to your post that will build back-links for you.

c. Instructional blogs are highly recommended and bookmarked. The reason for this is in the nature of wanting to just click back to the instructions rather than take copious notes on how to do something of interest.

2. Informational -

a. This is one of the more common blog post types where you simply give information on a topic. This is an easy one for most agents to use but also a very good one as we are constantly being asked about interest rates, appreciation/depreciation, foreclosure rates and so forth.

b. You can give information on any topic of your choice. The better the information that you give here, the more of an expert you appear. This is the nice thing about the Informational blog post. It sets you up as the expert.

c. It could be a definition post or a longer explanation of some aspect of the niche that you’re writing on. The more of a niche that you target the more interesting the post becomes.

d. This is the crux of successful sites like wikipedia. In fact many of my posts will reference Wikipedia and other reference sites to validate my point.

3. Reviews -

a. Another highly searched for term on the web is ‘review’ - I know every time I’m considering buying a new product that I head to Google and search for a review on it first. Reviews come in all shapes and sizes and on virtually every product or service you can think of.

b. Give your fair and insightful opinion. Make sure that in your post, you mention the word “review”, as this is what will be used in the search engines. Think like a buyer might think for these.

c. Ask readers for their opinion. This is a great way to get input from your readers, is to ask for it. It also makes people feel special to have their opinions valued.

d. Reviews can be highly powerful posts that have a great longevity. People will bookmark and re-reference reviewed posts as purchasing decisions are often delayed for longer periods of time.

4. Lists -

a. One of the easiest ways to write a post is to make a list. Posts with content like ‘The Top Ten ways to….’, or ‘7 Reasons why….’ Or ‘ 5 Favorite ….’, or ‘53 mistakes that homebuyers make when….’ are not only easy to write but are usually very popular with readers and with getting links from other bloggers. One tip on lists - if you start with a brief list (each point as a phrase or sentence) and then develop each one into a paragraph or two you might just end up with a series of posts that lasts you a few days.

b. Examples:

i. Resource lists. The useful list of resources requires two ingredients: time and a good eye for quality. If a resource list seems useful many readers will bookmark or vote for it on face-value alone. If your blog is struggling, a useful resource list can be an effective way to spark up your traffic and links.

ii. Best-of lists. At this time of year you’ll see a lot of ‘Best of 2007′ round-ups, though best-of lists seem to work well at all times. They’re effective because people are constantly searching for the ‘best’ of everything. It’s a term that promises high quality. It also generates interest because ‘best’ is subjective - what’s best for you might be mediocre for others. Ranked lists always seem to generate links, traffic and debate.

iii. Lists of tips. Quantifiable lists of tips are really attractive to readers because they explain in just a few seconds what a visitors stands to receive in return for their attention. You see them everywhere - and that’s because they work.

5.   Interviews -

a. Sometimes when you’ve run out of insightful things to say it might be a good idea to let someone else do the talking in an interview (or a guest post). This can not only be good for you, but for your guest as well. I’ve done several interviews with those who do the same thing that I do, and I have just as much fun being the interviewer as the interviewee.

b. This is a great way to not only give your readers a relevant expert’s opinion but to perhaps even learn something about the topic you’re writing yourself. One tip if you’re approaching people for an interview on your blog - don’t overwhelm them with questions.

•c. One of two good questions are more likely to get you a response than a long list of poorly thought through ones. Make sure that you always give those that you are interviewing the chance to send you questions that they would like to answer.

Q&As with high profile people. Interviews with well-known bloggers always seem to get links, comments and traffic. The nice thing about this method is that the only work involved is writing questions and approaching bloggers. The success rates for getting interviews are pretty high as most bloggers love talking about themselves!

Randy Eagar, CRS
President WebsTarget SEO
www.WebsTarget.com
Randy@WebsTarget.com