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Have you thought about adding Social Media to your marketing?

Have you tried to incorporate it into your marketing?

Are you completely lost and intimidated?

I can help ….

You are a Real Estate Agent! You don’t need to waste your time trying to reinvent the Social Media wheel. Give me a call today and I will set it up for you.  That’s all – your Social Media worries would be over and then you can focus on what you do best – list and sell real estate.

Summer is ending.  Many Agents have lost momentum.  Many are taking vacations and preparing children for school.  Those Agents who have lost or feel a loss of momentum must make this decision or suffer the consequences.

Either:
1. Step up activity and focus on finishing the calendar year strong
2. Or make no decision and coast.

The latter, coasting, is very costly.  It guarantees both a slow finish to this year and a slow start to next year.

August into September is a softer market every year.  But this year, in particular, it is natural to think the softness is the market, the election, the economy, short sales, or something else that is out of an Agent’s control.  That thinking, “it’s out of my control” is dangerous and incorrect.

Even if the sales activity in your market is down by a large percentage (in most markets 20% would be huge.  That leaves 80% and) there are still dozens or hundreds of sales that will occur.  So, there are always two or three for any single Agent, for you.

Here are seven surefire, guaranteed ways for you to have a strong finish to this year and ensure a strong start to next year.

1. Get active. Call the leads that you already have.  Hold Opens.  Go to picnics, parties and events.  Visit or call past Clients.  Call on Expireds and For Sale by Owners.  Be active every working weekday.

This year in particular have “talking points” handy; lowest rates in decades, softer prices (for Buyers), and the concept Real Estate markets are local and you know what is going on in your market.  The soft economy creates tremendous opportunity.  It is an excellent time to invest in Real Estate, or whatever is true for your market.

2. Don’t get sloppy or inconsistent with your prospecting and marketing. Or if you have been sloppy about it during the year, then tighten it up for the next sixty days.  (You’ll have built a better habit after sixty days that will continue.)

3. Look at what has been working best this year in your business and be sure to keep doing that. This is the time for consistency. This is not the time to start a new venture unless you are also able to keep your consistency and momentum. If your direct marketing has been generating a good response, stay consistent with it to the end of the year.  If your search engine optimization or your Ad Words campaign has been generating lucrative leads then keep up that campaign.  Prospecting activity, networking, open houses, past Client calls, whatever has been working choose to stay consistent with it through early December.

4. Lead follow up is crucial during this time. Follow up more conscientiously on leads.  Use the phone not just e-mail.  Get back to everyone that said they wanted to wait and see if waiting is still in their plans or if they are ready to proceed.  All Agents have a flow of leads that have been in a waiting pattern for one reason or another. The fall season is the perfect time to touch base with them.

5. Remind yourself of why you want to be successful in Real Estate? How will you benefit?  Who else will benefit?  How will you feel if you succeed?  How will they feel?  How will you feel if you fail?  What effect will that have on them?

6. Keep up or start up your marketing; direct mail and/or web. Send at least two mailings between now and year’s end.  Whether you e-mail blast, blog, are active on social media, or optimize your search positioning organically or sponsored; keep it up or start it up, now.

7. Have monthly goals and an annual goal for this year. Set goals for how much business you will put in contract each month to the end of this year.  (Then in December set the same for all of next year.)  Remind yourself of your annual sales goal.  If it is out of whack based on what you have done so far this year, then adjust it and then keep it in front of you for the rest of the year.

In our coaching practice we look at Agent monthly production for the past three years.  Lower production in the last four or five months is so common you might think it is inevitable.  But when an Agent sees this and takes the above actions they always have their best year end ever.  It happens always, every time.  It can happen for you, too.

The September Decision is to get active and stay active into mid December.  Real Estate is and will continue to be one of the greatest professions in the world. You are lucky to be a part of it.  So this month get focused and make this crucial decision that will affect your business and your life.

Rich Levin speaks to Real Estate audiences and coaches Real Estate Agents coast to coast raising their production. He motivates Agents into action and teaches them the most productive possible actions. He conducts a free live webinar every day to help Agents instill these habits. You can register at www.DailyRealEstateCoaching.com585-244-2700 or Rich@RichLevin.com.

Let me know if I can be of help!

Your Facebook Fan Page (or it’s actually a Business page) is all profiled and ready to go. Now what? What do you do with it? If you blog – and you should be blogging,  you can have your blog pages post in your Facebook notes page (call me and I can walk you through that – it’s SUPER simple). But what do you put on your Facebook Business page and how much should you post?

Please read a re-posted article below explaining how you should be using Facebook as a tool for your business:

How to Better Engage Facebook Fan Page ‘Fans’

By Mari Smith
Published January 26, 2010

A compelling, active Facebook fan page should be an integral part of your marketing plans. With its 350 million users and average daily session time of 25 minutes, Facebook provides an exceptional opportunity for visibility, Google indexing, live search ability, and fan engagement—whether you’re a solopreneur, a large brand or anywhere in between.

But, if you build it, will they come? And if they come, will they stay and engage?

There are two primary components to Facebook fan page engagement: 1) Sharing quality, relevant content and 2) inciting comments.  In this article I’ll tell you how to best engage with Facebook fans.

Of course, there are many other components of effective Facebook fan pages and Facebook marketing in general. However, for the purposes of this two-part post, we’ll focus on content and comments. The more comments you have, the more viral visibility and free marketing you’ll create. But your fans have to have something to comment on!

Share Quality, Relevant Content – Daily

TechCrunch recently posted a Facebook fan page study by Sysomos that revealed 77 percent of fan pages have fewer than 1,000 fans. What stood out for me in that post was this fact: “Facebook fan pages tend to be updated only once every 16 days.”

TechCrunch goes on to say, “On Twitter, you follow someone because you want to hear what they have to say. On Facebook, you fan them just to show your support or affinity. Too often, it’s a throwaway gesture.”

While this may be true for many Facebook members and fan pages, I see a lively fan page as an extension of your blog and business – a place where you can generate real community and further solidify your brand.

1) How Often Should You Post?

• For most fan pages, there is a direct correlation between frequency of posts and number of fans. Frequency is king, but there’s a fine balance – you don’t want to overwhelm your fans.
• If you’re just starting out with your fan page, I would suggest a minimum of one update per day and increase from there to several times a day (mixing up the types of posts – see below) if you’re getting a good response from your fans.
• Daily posting (at least Monday through Saturday) should yield daily comments and engagement.
• You’ll find the right rhythm with your fans. Better to start with once a day than several times a day and have your wall filled with only your own posts.
• Also, keep in mind “high traffic windows.” Depending on your time zone and the time zone of the majority of your fans, you’ll probably want to post sometime between 8:15am PST and 2:00pm PST.

2) What to Post

• I recommend a mix of your own thoughts, breaking news, useful tips, tools, resources and links from other sites in your industry and related industries. Stay on topic, stay focused.
• You could create an editorial calendar for your fan page just like many bloggers do.
• If you’re not sure what content your fans want, ask them – in a poll or status update.
• If your fan base is small and still growing, ask your Twitter followers, Facebook friends, email list, and blog subscribers. They are all potential fans. (See related post: 5 Ways to Promote Your Facebook Fan Page).

There is more to this article and you can read it online – More Details.

10 TIPS TO BUILD_YOUR_ONLINE_SOCIAL_NETWORK(SocialMediaTipsheet)

Top Producer has so much information to go with its Real Estate Software Management program. This excerpt is from using Social Media in your networking. A lot of good ideas, if you haven’t started using Social Networking – and some great tips even if you have. Click on the link above for the entire article.

Approach online social networking as you would building relationships in
the real world. It takes time to develop new relationships- for you to get to know
your network, and for them to get to know you. Ask yourself how you would make
friends, build trust, establish rapport and gain business in the real world, and apply
those same principles in your social networking endeavors.

Create a friendly, professional online profile. Upload a professional photo of
yourself, and information about your real estate expertise and areas. Include contact
information to make it easy for people to get hold of you in the ‘real world’, including
your website, email address and office phone number. And make sure that any
personal photos and details you share are items that you’re comfortable sharing
with potential referrals and clients. It’s okay to have your personal as well as professional worlds blend into one
another over social media. In fact, you should be prepared to share a details of your
personal life while social networking. Potential clients want to know you as a person
before they enlist your services.

Aim to spend at least 30 minutes per day online social networking. Update
your online networks on personal or professional news, send personal messages,
share tips, and stay up-to-date on people’s lives. It’s important to be consistent in
your updates- better to update two or three times a week than to update every day
for one week, then post nothing for four weeks.
Remember to comment on the posts of others, as everyone appreciates their
thoughts being acknowledged. Commenting on your clients’ and prospects’
Facebook posts is a great way to check in and let them know you’re part of
their world.

Focus on delivering value and participating in conversation. Nobody wants
to be “friends” with someone who’s just going to aggressively sell and market to
them. Help the people in your network advance their goals – share their goals with
others, introduce them to helpful contacts, and make public recommendations if
you honestly believe in what they have to offer. Help them reach their goals first,
and they’ll be more likely to call you when it’s time to make a move.

Meet the influencers. Take time to get to know the influencers in a network.
These might be the group’s organizers, long time members, or people who make
regular contributions. Share your experiences with them about the group.
Ask questions, as they will understand how you can become established
within the network.

Post links frequently and position yourself as a resource for market
information. Facebook and Twitter are great platforms for posting quick links and
starting a conversation. If you come across an excellent article with current, local
market information, post the link where your peers and prospects can access it. Not
only do quality links keep your page engaging, they help you supply your clients with
their own resources for educating themselves on the market, rather than presenting
a hard sell. They’ll remember who the information came from!

Promote social media channels on your website and in email signatures.
To encourage clients and prospects to participate in your social media channels,
include links to your different social media accounts from your website and in your
email signatures. For example, your email signature could include links to your
blog, Facebook or Active Rain page, along with your name, email address and
phone number.

Make sure you set up a unique url to your Facebook page by registering a
username. Selecting one that is short and easy to distribute will go a long way
in helping to promote your page, as you can list it on business cards, email
signatures, and ads. Go to facebook.com/username to create yours.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions about Social Networking or Top Producer.

I’m still reading Jeffrey Gitomer’s “The Little Red Book of Selling”. This is my 2nd time through and I am finding more valuable information I missed the first time.

We all know how to network, right? On pages 82 through 95 he spells it out. Are you still cold calling? You don’t have to as long as you maintain contact with the clients and sphere of influence you have now and network for new prospects.

Gitomer spells out 21.5 best places to network (and the secrets of being successful at it). Some of the places are:

1. Any type of class like Toastmasters or other self-improvement course.
2. A Civic Organization like Rotary, Kiwanis, ect.
3. Charities.
4. Private Club, Health Clubs.
5. Sports events and through parents of your children’s friends.
6. And many more.

Sure, you may be belong and attending, but are you working it? Gitomer explains need to have a 30 second “elevator speech”. This speech explains what you do and how special your services are in 30 seconds. Are you engaging and befriending those who you have gotten to know at these places? Are you putting them into your data base? Are you sending them timely and useful information? Recipes do not count – they can find those on any food site or magazine …..

For example, useful information may be what their market is doing in their neighborhood. Not the city and not just the community. (Ever go out and someone comes up  fishing for “free advice” about real estate? Approached like a doctor at a party where everyone approaches them with ailments and wants diagnosed? That is an opportune time to engage and get their info to enter into your data base). And then when you see them face to face at the organization (after you have built a repoir with them), ask them to introduce you to like people …(see earlier post) – and guess what – now you have gotten some potential clients who know who you are, are friends with who trust you and haven’t had to make a cold call, pay for a google click or lead.

I know sounds very basic, but when things are a little slower than we want or we’re too busy now to be thinking about networking, we need to remind ourselves of the basics to have clients in the future.

I’m going back now to read “Reasons You Can’t Get Appointment” ….. good stuff here.