Lead Generation

To be successful in real estate requires making as many contacts with potential prospects as possible. Think of marketing as a funnel. Initially, you start with a vast pool of people who are “strangers” who have never heard of you. Through your advertising, marketing and promotions, you narrow that vast pool down into “suspects” who might need your services at some point in the future. With continued marketing and follow up, you turn some of the “suspects” into “prospects” who contact you to set up an initial consultation. Of those initial consultations, you will convert a few “prospects” into “clients.” And finally, some of your clients will become “advocates” for your services. Here’s a breakdown of each: read full entry

You probably realize that if you hope to turn your website into a lead generating machine, you’ll need to focus on two things: (1) getting high-quality, targeted traffic to your website and (2) getting those visitors who are interested in your services to raise their hands in some way (such as calling you, filling out a web form, or joining your mailing list) to let you know they are interested. Here are nine ways you can get more traffic to your website. read full entry

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), over 80% of residential real estate sales start online. Yet an NAR report from May 2009 states that the typical NAR member “received four inquiries over the past year from a personal Web site, which accounted for 3 percent of their business.”

Why is there such a discrepancy with how prospects search for real estate information and real estate agents getting so few leads and inquiries from their websites? Clearly, the typical real estate website is not effective. Here are three steps you can take to transition your website into a lead capturing marketing tool. read full entry

A reader asks

I have a couple of questions about Permission Marketing: How can I get the first attention? How can I ask for permission to contact without interrupting them?

Before I answer your question, let me start with an example of the traditional approach to marketing (aka “interruption marketing”) and permission marketing. You walk into a store and a salesman immediately asks if he can help you. What’s your reaction? In many cases, it’s “No, thanks. I’m just looking.”

But, as you are browsing the store’s merchandise, perhaps something captures your attention. Maybe you find an item of clothing but can’t find your size. Maybe you spot an electronic device but aren’t sure of the technical specs. Suddenly, you are much more receptive to talking with someone who might help you make a more informed purchasing decision. read full entry

A reader asks:

When the real estate market is down, no response to advertisement/promotion & target customers are reluctant to buy or invest now & would like to wait for some time even though the rates have been reduced & promotional offers are provided, how would a real estate marketer generate potential leads & attract customers for sales to sustain in such uncertain market?

It’s no secret our economy has taken a downturn. With Wall Street in crisis, the credit market tightening, Detroit on the verge of bankruptcy and millions of Americans scrimping to get by, it’s not surprising that home sales are down considerably.

Yes, many people are taking a “wait and see” approach to real estate rather than jumping in to buy or sell a home. Lots of people aren’t looking to buy or sell right now. read full entry

This is a bonus sixth step in the continuing series on how new agents can successfully break into the real estate market. (FYI disclosure: I use a few affiliate links throughout this article.)

I’ll close this series by going back to Mike’s original question. As a new agent, if I had $2500, how would I spend it? read full entry

This is step 5 of a five-part series on how new agents can successfully break into the real estate market.

Yesterday, I talked about the importance of nurturing your prospect list. Today, I’m going to shift gears and discuss what you need to do to build a referral-based business.

Last week, Mike asked me, “Where do you get the most bang for your buck in marketing?” Personally, I think there’s no question that it’s referral marketing. So why did I spend the last few days talking about building credibility, educating prospects, generating leads and following up consistently? Because when you’re starting out, those are the steps to building a referral-based business. read full entry

This is step 4 of a five-part series on how new agents can successfully break into the real estate market.

Most small-business owners (myself included) are guilty of not following up with all leads they generate. When leads pour in, it’s tempting to cherry pick the low hanging fruit while ignoring all the others who aren’t quite ready to hire you yet.

In yesterday’s post, I discussed how to create education-based marketing materials that your prospects will want to read. The purpose of creating those types of marketing materials is to get prospects to self-identify themselves as interested in what you have to offer by giving you their contact information and permission to follow up. read full entry

This is step 3 of a five-part series on how new agents can successfully break into the real estate market.

Yesterday, I discussed why agents should focus on creating education-based marketing materials that address prospects’ key problems and concerns rather than focusing on “getting their name out there.” In today’s article, I’ll talk about the best ways to generate leads using those education-based marketing materials – but first, let me again stress why education-based marketing is so important.

Marketing in the Attention Economy

Irrelevant advertising no longer works. Sure, back in the ’50s when there were only a handful of magazines, TV and radio channels, it was fairly easy to reach a broad audience and tell them virtually anything you wanted them to know. If you repeated your message enough or had a cute jingle accompanying your commercial, prospects would remember it and, hopefully, they’d buy because of it. read full entry

This is step 2 of a five-part series on how new agents can successfully break into the real estate market.

General common sense dictates that your marketing materials should tell prospects who you are, what you do and what you’ve accomplished. If you pick up any ad, mailer, or other promotional material, chances are you’ll read about the agent’s accomplishments, sales background and history, or awards they’ve won. Yet this is exactly the opposite of what works in advertising.

The problem with this approach is that it focuses on boosting the agent’s ego rather than addressing their prospects’ problems, fears and concerns. Agents love to see their name and picture on billboards around town, or create a glossy, full-color brochure they can hand out, or design a website with lots of bells and whistles. read full entry