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Realtor Articles
Amazing Secrets Make Your Newspaper Advertising 750% More Profitable!
Real Estate Rookies Need to Work Smarter, Not Harder
Succeeding in a Slower Real Estate Market
Buyer Ads That will Keep Your Phone Ringing Off the Hook
Why Realtors Need a Website
Amazing Secrets Make Your Newspaper Advertising 750% More Profitable!
By Gary Elwood
The information I’m going to share with you this month comes from one of the true advertising geniuses of our time. If you combine all the newspaper advertising he’s purchased for himself and his clients, his company would be the third largest newspaper advertiser in the United States!
The man I’m talking about is the true legend of direct response advertising, Gary Halbert.
Gary primarily does full page advertising but, nonetheless the points he makes have direct application for your advertising efforts.
As an example, I advised a client of ours with this same information. He took an ad that had produced 2 calls in a Sunday paper to 47 calls two weeks later. It was the exact same ad, exact same newspaper, exact same city...everything!
So, let’s get to the heart of what made the difference. In the past, it has often been said that the three most important factors in choosing investment real estate are (1) location, (2) location and, (3) location. I think that’s probably true. And when it comes to running ads in newspapers, a similar precept needs to be held in mind. Namely, that the most important factor of all is...
Position! Position! Position!
Understand something. The #1 reason people don’t respond to a newspaper ad is because they don’t see it! Daily newspapers are huge. Many of them are several hundred pages thick. In fact, a recent issue of the L.A. times contained 405 pages!
Whoee! You sure could get lost in there, couldn’t you?
In the past, I’ve always tried to drum home the point that Americans sort through their mail standing over the waste basket. It’s a good mental image to have when you prepare a mail piece. It slams home the importance of grabbing their attention with a "killer" headline...a powerful, self-serving benefit to your reader. Basically, you’ve got one or two seconds!
Now, here’s something else for you to keep in mind:
As soon as people sit down to peruse their daily newspapers,
they immediately divide it into sections.
A man may ask his wife for the sports pages. The wife might zero in on the entertainment section. Entrepreneurs may want the business section. Gossip mongers may pick up the society pages. And so on.
But, nobody reads the entire paper. In fact, hardly anybody opens up more than two or three sections. Think about it, do you?
So, what does this all mean to you on a practical basis? This: that the very best place your ads can appear for maximum visibility (and hence, maximum readership) is on the front side of a section.
And the second best place? It’s the back of a section.
Here’s why. You see, even though most people don’t read or even open up every section, most people at least touch every section. Yes, they touch it if for no other reason than to pick it up to hand it to someone else or to throw it away. And, while they are thus handling each section, they are forced to at least glance at the front pages of those sections and (to a lesser degree) the back pages of said sections.
And, of course, while they are glancing at those pages, should they happen to see an eye-catching ad, an ad with a "killer" headline, they just might read a couple of paragraphs to see what it’s all about. And if those first couple paragraphs are real good, then just maybe they’ll read the rest of the ad. And, if all that happens, who knows, maybe you’ll get a call.
So, know this: your first job is not to get your customer to read your ad. No. Your first job is to get them to see your ad!
It’s just common sense.
If you can’t get your ad placed on the front or back side of the section, work for second best. Get your ad placed in the upper half, right hand page, as close to the front of the section as possible. Preferably the upper right hand corner.
This is the number one secret to effective newspaper advertising...position!
Now for number two. In a nutshell, the second biggest secret is:
Make Your Ads Look Like A News Story
Don’t make your ads look like an ad. Don’t use line art. Don’t use arrows, cute graphics, reverse type (except maybe to highlight a phone number), weird typestyles...
Or anything else that might win an award
for graphic design
Come closer. Listen. Here is how to put together ads that are 500% more likely to get seen and hence, read. A cunningly, careful, highly scientific examination of reader habits yields a useful piece of data.
Editorial material (or material that appears to be editorial) gets 500% more readership than material that is obviously advertising.
Think about that.
So...once you get your ad positioned well, make it grab your readers' attention. Write it in an editorial style with a headline that telegraphs your biggest self-serving benefit to your reader!
Don’t make it look like an ad. That’s what everyone else does. In fact, so much so, that looking through the real estate section becomes an eye strain.
Capitalize on this fact. Make your ads stand apart. Box them and format them just like a news article and they will stand apart. And, they’ll achieve your first objective...to get them seen! Plus, it will increase the likelihood of it getting read by 500%, provided the headline grabs them and the rest of the ad is well written.
Don’t limit this approach to just newspaper advertising either. Take these same fundamentals and...
Use Them in Your Magazine Ads Too!
Pick up a recent copy of a local homes magazine. Look through. Do you notice anything? Do you see how all the ads start to look the same?
Sameness = boring! And, one thing I can assure you of, is people will not allow themselves to be bored in print. It’s one form of communication in which you can’t afford sameness.
Now, when I say sameness, I mean you can’t afford to look and sound like everybody else. By no means am I saying you need to change all the time. In fact, just the opposite is true.
When agents find an effective method of advertising, they usually grow tired of it way before the market does. They change just for the sake of change. Which is foolish and costly.
My point? Make your ads stand out. Be different. Use some of the ideas presented here and watch the responses multiply. And when you find something that works...work the dog out of it. Work it until it completely runs out of gas. And while you are working the new approach, plan your next stage, but don’t quit using a profitable method until it’s no longer profitable! Once it’s no longer profitable, move on to your newly planned out approach.
What Was Once Successful Can Still be Successful!
Another suggestion. Think back through your previous advertising efforts. Think about your most successful direct mail piece, advertisement...whatever. Re-visit that approach in your mind.
If you think about it, that approach may have direct application right this very minute. But you discarded it just for the sake of change. If you had an approach that worked particularly well, you should get it out, dust it off and try it again. You may find that it will work equally well...right now!
A New Idea!
First I want to thank all the agents who’ve been sharing their secrets with us. We really appreciate you taking the time to call or fax us your ideas. Virtually all the ideas will be covered, at some point, in up-coming newsletters.
This idea comes to us from an exceptionally creative and effective agent in Kenmore, NY.
Whenever the opportunity presents itself, John shows other professionals he’s networked with in his community (doctors, accountants, insurance agents, etc.) how his response hotline works.
John keeps the greeting on his response hotline generic. This way he can offer these professionals an opportunity to use one of his extensions for a flat fee of ten dollars per month.
Now, generally, they won’t use more than ten dollars. If they do, he suggests that they get their own response hotline and he gives them our number. This gives him an opportunity to pick up a referral fee. But, more importantly...it strengthens his network. It has these other professionals feeling indebted to him because he’s continually thinking about ways to bring more value to their businesses. In turn, they want to bring more value to his. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
The moral of the story? Whenever you come across ideas that can be of value (i.e. response hotlines, marketing ideas, whatever...) to other professionals…share! You’ll build your referral base stronger and we all know referrals are the best thing since sliced bread.
My very best to you in your business building. Until next time...
Warmest regards,
Gary Elwood, Founder and Chairman
Real Estate Rookies Need to Work Smarter, Not Harder
by Al Kernek
The housing boom has attracted a flood of newcomers to the real estate profession. Those that have been downsized, retirees and even people who just want a better life style see real estate careers as exciting, less stressful and offering high rewards.
But they soon discover that the real estate profession is saturated and very competitive. It is difficult to break into the market and gain a clientele. Sadly, following the standard real estate formula for new agents usually leads to several years of long hours with low compensation. Most give up and drop out, and their brokers and "established" agents gladly follow up on any leads they may have generated.
According to a recent study by the National Association of REALTORS®, rookie agents are working more but earning less. Agents who have been in real estate for two years or less earned an average of just $12,850 in 2004, and most (54 percent) reported working more than 40 hours weekly. This figure dropped from a median income of $27,973 earned in 2002. Conclusion: there are a lot more people in real estate now all competing for the same business. Trying to gain traction strictly through referrals, sitting in open houses, sending out postcards or handing out flyers is a long haul for novice REALTORS.
In today's residential real estate market, the name of the game is getting listings and buyers from all sources. Just "farming" a territory in the traditional fashion is not a practical strategy for real estate rookies. First, there are no virgin territories. Second, rookies must always overcome entrenched competition. To accelerate their success, new real estate agents need to work smarter than established colleagues by leveraging Internet marketing tactics to promote themselves, tap a broader market and to increase productivity.
Unless a newbie enters the real estate profession with a captive clientele, he or she is better off taking control of their own business strategy. And the one way that a new agent can distinguish themselves today is by coloring outside the lines. Internet marketing is a proven
means of helping new agents to stand out from the crowd. Here are some strong recommendations for a new kid on the block:
- Get you own Website, not a page or subdomain of someone else's site. Build your site to promote yourself, your talents, your listings and your services.
- Use your Website as the focal point of all your marketing efforts. Everything you do, marketing wise, should be calculated to drive traffic to your Website.
- Make your Website as enticing as possible. Refresh the content often with community news and relevant RSS feeds to ensure that visitors return often. Try a blog – they are easy to implement and generate interesting content. Offer meaningful articles that appeal to potential buyers and sellers (industry outlook for mortgage rates, major "must do's when selling your home, a summary of local sales, home value trends, etc.).
- Build visibility among the major search engines, so that your site pops up on the first page when someone performs a search for agents in your locality:
- Establish a meaningful domain name that reflects your location and market emphasis.
- Optimize your site for search engines by choosing specific keywords based on your geographical location. Establish proper keyword density in your site content, meta tags, alt tags and internal links.
- Set up a link-exchange program with complementary sites, such as non-competing REALTORS or real-estate-related services. Building external links adds to your search engine ranking and leads qualified traffic to your site.
- Be sure to get listed in the major business and real estate directories.
- Use sponsored search engine listings along with affordable "local search" listings and pay-per-click advertising to boost online visibility and acquire qualified traffic.
- Get a listing with one or more of the popular online "Yellow Pages," like Verizon Superpages.
- Tap into local free advertising, like Craig's List.
- Learn how to use landing pages to capture metrics and tweak your promotional activities for optimal performance.
- Use viral marketing tactics, such as placing a "forward to a friend" script on your site and in your newsletter, to gain clients with whom you have had no previous contact.
- Implement marketing tactics to capture sales lead information from Website visitors:
- Start a free monthly newsletter and offer a meaningful incentive to subscribe. Use this as a mechanism to nurture potential clients through "drip, drip, drip" marketing.
- Write or acquire a relevant whitepaper or ebook. Use this as a giveaway to entice new newsletter subscriptions.
- Offer a free "home valuation" service based on local comparables.
- Place "special offers" in your newsletter that only subscribers can enjoy. This will promote viral marketing among friends and relatives.
- Hold an online drawing for a desirable prize to acquire email addresses, and then solicit newsletter subscriptions from the entries.
- If you can afford it, tie into your MLS database so that registered visitors can survey local listings.
- Enhance your productivity by using an autoresponder for newsletter delivery and automated follow-up to inquiries.
In short, make your Website the destination for all marketing activities. Even off-line advertising should be designed to drive traffic to your Website. Once there, focus on selling yourself and your services to prospective clients. Differentiate yourself from competitors by presenting yourself as more attuned to today's marketing methods, tapping more modern and advanced tactics to find the best home for buyers or achieve the quickest sell at the best price for homeowners.
Compared to the "old school" of real estate marketing, Websites are 24x7 virtual storefronts promoting products, services and talents around the clock to a worldwide audience. Internet marketing makes your promotional dollars go further and helps you to stand out from the crowd. It also dramatically expands your audience, bringing in clients from around the country and even the world.
Rookie agents need to chart their own course to be successful. Don't be afraid to embrace new methods of marketing your services. Above all, don't follow the herd. Be different - take control of your real estate career and leapfrog your competitors through aggressive internet marketing!
About the Author
Al Kernek is a real estate broker and author of “Creating E-Mail Newsletters – A Practical Guide for the Real Estate Community” and "Put Your Business Online – How to Create and Promote a Successful Low-Cost Website." To learn more about increasing real estate sales using affordable, "do it yourself" Internet marketing techniques, visit http://www.renewsletter.com
Buyer Ads That Will Have Your Phone Ringing Off the Hook
By Gary Elwood
This is another way to use free reports and "free recorded messages". The basics are similar to the other free reports strategies, you're just aiming at renters. The objective is to stimulate interest and also agitate them just a little bit about the fact they're wasting money on rent - when they could be owning.
You place one of these ads in a local newspaper, penny saver or your homes magazine and the results will follow. I've seen agents generate as many as 50-100 calls in a single weekend with these ads. The publications they used varied from market to market, but the ad worked virtually everywhere it ran.
Also a quick point about the second ad. You'll notice it's editorially formatted. It looks kind of like a news article. In newspaper (outside of the classified section) ads that look like news will pull as much as 300%-500% better than ads that look like ads.
Positioning is Absolutely Crucial!
In planning your advertising strategy, another major key to consider is the position of your ads within a given publication. I've seen the exact same ad pull 2 calls one weekend. The very next weekend in the same publication (positioned correctly) it pulled 47 responses... again same ad, same publication, same everything, just different positioning.
So consider these things when planning your next ad placement strategies. Also, I would suggest that you refer to your course materials for a much deeper explanation and for more examples and case studies. These two ads are just the beginning - but a good beginning they are!
AD#1
Free Report Reveals How to Stop Paying Rent Forever and Own a Home of Your Own! Washington, DC - A free report has just been released that shares startling new ways to stop paying rent and own a home of your own. Call Toll-Free 1-800-xxx-xxxx, Recording # xxxx, 24 hrs, for a recorded message and a free copy of this report. Call to find out what your landlord is hoping you will never read about!
AD#2
Who Else Wants to Stop Paying Rent Forever and Own a Home of Your Own Instead?
Quit Paying Your Landlord's Mortgage! Everytime You Write a Rent Check You're Putting a Flaming Torch to Your Money...There is a Better Way!
| Your town, State – Mary and John were in awe. The feelings they had were hard to describe. They could hardly believe they were actually moving into a home of their very own.
They watched from the sidewalk as the
movers loaded their last piece of furniture into the moving van. They were finally getting out of that cramped little apartment they lived in for the last four-and-a-half years. They hopped in the car and Mary felt butterflies in her stomach as she said, "Let’s go home."
A few minutes later they rounded the corner and Mary caught a glimpse. When it came into full view, she began to tear up and think back to all the times they put off the idea of buying, thinking they couldn’t afford it. That's when Jimmy, their four year old, asked from the back seat, "When are we going to get there
Mommy?" She turned, leaned her head back and said, "We’re home sweetie. We’re home."
The garage door opened and they happily
eased the car in. As the car stopped Mary |
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remembered all the times she prayed
for a way to get out of that small cramped apartment. All that changed one day when Mary was browsing through a local paper and noticed an article offering a free report entitled, "How to Stop Paying Rent Forever and Own a Home of Your Own!"
Out of curiosity she decided to call for the free report. A couple days later it arrived in the mail, and as she read it she could hardly believe it. A new feeling of hope and excitement shot through her. The details in the report revealed options she and John didn’t know existed. The report explained ways of owning that only required a small down payment and low income requirements. That was the beginning.
Just three weeks after getting the report John and Mary were moving into their very own home. They did it! And with far less money than they imagined. To get a copy of this revealing report call the recorded information line below. Call now to discover what your landlord hopes you will never read. |
Call Toll-Free 1-800-xxx-xxxx, Recording # xxxx, 24 hrs, for a
Recorded Message and Your FREE Report.
My very best to you in your business-building. Until next time...
Warmest regards,
Gary Elwood, Founder and Chairman
Why Realtors Need a Website
by Jack Safra
The real estate market is very good right now and home prices are still rising steadily. Most real estate buyers these days are well educated about the process and have done their research. This is why realtors need to keep up with the times and be able provide clients with the latest information.
More and more people are using and accessing the Internet. The National Association of Realtors contends that 96% of the Americans who would buy houses will access the Internet to find their dream homes. Most realtors do not understand the power of the Internet in generating the sales that they need. They do not realize that the generation of leads through the Internet can significantly increase your sales.
The easier it is for potential buyers to find you and your properties, the more likely it is that you will gain clients. Having an Internet presence will allow your clients, potential clients, or other interested parties, get in touch with you and the information you have to offer anytime.
However, creating your own web site requires some work. There is a lot that goes into it such as design, hosting, search engine marketing and updates. The good websites often require a professional to get it off on the right track and optimized properly. http://www.fixpad.net is a good place to start if you need help with your website.
Having an experienced Webmaster will really help. There are several things you need to do in order for your website to be found among the millions of sites out on the web. An experienced Webmaster will be able to optimize your site for the search engines and get you listed in the top results for your area. The Webmaster will help you with your email newsletters, link strategies, marketing and advertising. It's a lot of work, but the payoff is great once everything is in place.
Also, it is important to keep your website interesting and full of information. If your website is just an advertisement people won't stay on your site for long. However, if you provide useful information for your potential clients such as the latest mortgage rates, mls search, home buyer tips, articles and other useful information visitors will stay on your site and come back for more at a later time. Search engines, such as Google, like constantly changing and updated websites and rewarded those sites by giving them top search results. Since most people only look at the first page of search results it is important to be there.
Another way to reach potential customers is by blogging. If you want to develop a rapport with your customers, make regular postings about the local real estate market and gain interest from other media outlets or potential customers. You would certainly benefit from starting a blog. Because blogs by nature are considered a source of information rather than a commercial advertisement it makes perfect sense for a realtors to use blogs as a means of establishing a reputation in their market.
A website should be the primary marketing tool for every realtor. Almost everyone who is looking for a new home searches the Internet first. If you are not there you are missing out on a lot of potential clients.
Todd Dekkinga is webmaster for http://www.hildexpro.com
Article Source: http://www.content-edge.com
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