Which Is It: ‘Dead Zone’ or ‘Brain Dead?’

By Mike Parker Print Article

RISMEDIA, August 15, 2009-You’ve heard the stories of agents quitting the business because they can’t sell anything. You’ve probably known a friend in the business that is no longer in the business. “Oh, it’s AWFUL in Las Vegas!” Or, “I hear that Riverside County California is like a war zone; empty homes, boarded up neighborhoods….” Or, “It is bad here, but those poor people in Florida are STARVING, I tell you!” Actually, just plug in a hard hit area and the sentence plays.

However, the excuse doesn’t. Savvy agents in all those venues and more are doing well, making big money, and happily exploiting the opportunities that are lying on the ground like weeds on your front lawn. It doesn’t take a long career and a book of referrals thicker than your arm; it doesn’t take connections and social standing, it doesn’t take being in a spot where the damage isn’t so bad. It takes the ability to be effective in the place where 87% of residential homes sales begin these days: on the Internet. You can succeed if you throw out all your old prejudices and convert to the one true marketplace: where the consumer will ask you for what they want and it’s up to you to give it to them.

Don’t buy it? Many agents act ‘brain dead’ on the subject of online marketing and don’t even attempt it anymore. After all, when your personal sky looks like it might fall it’s hard to have the moxie to innovate and try something new. But you should have hope and now is the time to make a breakthrough.

You might have missed last week’s story about C J VanDerMeulen of Lake Arrowhead CA making $125K online in June, or maybe you missed the one about Rick and Joyce Tietz of Antioch CA making $300K this year online. Both of them are in what most of us would call “melt-down markets,” but it hasn’t stopped them from succeeding because they are committed to online marketing to help them succeed.

So now, let’s turn our attention to one of those “poor agents in Florida.”

I had heard so much about how bad it is there that I almost didn’t want to ask client Ken Caputo how he was doing. Ken is a one-man-show in Flagler Beach, Florida, where he is affiliated with GMAC Real Estate. Surely, he must be hurting, right?

“I’ve been a real estate agent here for two years now, “Ken reminded me, “and this year I expect to do about 25 sides. I’ve also managed to grow my listings inventory to $5.3 million. I retired after selling my previous business, but after a while, I realized that I wasn’t happy unless I was doing something that was worthwhile, so I got my license and became an agent. Now, I’m the top agent at my brokerage (out of 35) when both are considered, and I plan to stay there. I don’t plan to be giving up that preferred parking space anytime soon! Considering that this tremendous Internet presence and success cost a grand total of $3,400, I won’t have to, either, because it is extremely affordable.”

Fortunately for me, this wasn’t my first interview. If it had been, I would have probably fainted dead away in shock that someone in Florida was happy and successful! I recovered quickly. Had Caputo discovered Captain Kidd’s treasure there on the beach in Flagler? How could he possibly be doing well in (gasp) Florida? How could this guy be so lucky?

“It’s not a fluke or any secret strategy–I am committed to online marketing,” Ken told me. “Most of my clients come from 500 miles away or more. I have sold homes to folks in England, Dubai-even Bagdad. I don’t think they found me from a yard sign.” Always willing to play the Ed McMahon to a top agent’s Johnny Carson, I asked: “How did they find you?”

“They found me online,” he replied, “the same place 50% of my buyers find me. I can track 10 deals from out of town from my online marketing so far in 2009 and my Internet success helps me gain more listings because sellers know that if their agent has a strong online presence, that seller will actually be a “seller” instead of a “listing.” So far this year, I have converted 439 (out of about 5000 people brought to him by his high search rankings) Internet visitors to real leads. I am working with a good percentage of them and I get new ones every month. My online marketing has changed my website from a lonely billboard on a dusty road to a major exit on the information highway.” (I must tell you, I wish I had thought of that image, but it’s Ken’s, all the way.) I have had more visitors to my website this year-so far-than I had all of last year. With more visitors, I convert more of them to leads and I convert more of them to sales. I’ve got the Internet working for me, now!”

It wasn’t always that way.

“You probably won’t want to use this, but early on, I was not happy with my CompassSearch subscription,” Ken said, almost ruining my entire day. I almost coughed up my coffee, but instead, I recovered smoothly and asked “How did you become so happy with Compass, then?”

“I became a client when the company was going through a major management issue with their Customer Service Department about a year ago. I got bounced from one CSR to another, and when I finally got a call from my fourth one, I gave him an earful. The next thing I knew, Sean Hogan, Compass President, was on the phone and things immediately changed. Sean not only leveled with me and told me about the mistake they had made locating Customer Service in Canada, he told me what the company was doing to fix the problem. Then he started helping me with my online marketing. I learned more in one hour with Sean than I had in the previous six months with my other CSR’s. I attended the client training sessions and came away really excited, because for the first time, I truly understood what needed to be done and it was being done for me! Now, my CSR -Barry Goldberg-is helping me manage my site and my lead capture. Because I listen to Sean and Barry’s advice, I do great follow up and my conversion rate from Real Lead to Sale is very good.”

Now, it just keeps getting better.

“Let me tell you my favorite thing about my CompassSearch subscription,” Ken offered. “I really like the fact that my lead generation never stops: not when I’m out showing houses, closing deals, or even going to dinner. I am so happy with my overall Internet presence and reputation as a good agent that I am now going to target another market segment. My existing site attracts first-time buyers, people hunting for foreclosures and bargains- and I want those buyers- but that doesn’t cut it with the high end buyer, and I want those, too! I just signed up for a Compass PROLeadS Professionally Managed Lead Site-one where I hand the responsibility for making that site generate leads for luxury buyers totally to Compass. I will then have two market segments feeding me leads. I’m excited. I know the quality of leads I generate with on my traditional site with their help and if I can just generate 100 real leads from luxury buyers (and I have a money-back guarantee that it will), I’ll probably double my income next year. 2009 is a really good year for me, but I am looking for 2010 to be a great one.”

“I like the PMLS concept because I don’t have to do the work. I can’t. I just don’t have the time. If I can generate anywhere near the leads on the PMLS that Compass helps me generate on my traditional website, well, 2010 will be a great year, and when 100 high-end buyers sign in to my website you can bet I will sell more than a few of them!”
“Dead Zone” or “Opportunity in Disguise?”

Please be honest: if you were approached and offered a position in Florida before reading this article, would you have said something like “Florida! Those poor people are Starving, I’ll tell you!” Would you have shuddered and thought to yourself: “At least I’m not THERE!”?

Well, folks, here’s the breaking news flash for the day: Wherever you are, you can succeed online. You can open up a whole new source of leads and sales. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz with her ruby slippers, “You’ve had the power to succeed in you all along.” The best agents succeed anywhere, despite any conditions, despite any economy. You might remember the Cowardly Lion in that same movie asking the rhetorical question: “What do they got that I ain’t got?” (The answer, of course, was “Courage.”)

It’s time to update the answer to that question for today’s real estate professionals: “What do Ken Caputo, C J VanDerMeulen and Rick and Joyce Tietz got that you ain’t got?” The answer, of course, is “A powerful presence where 87% of home sales start today: on the Internet.” If you had one of those, maybe your personal dead zone would turn back into the opportunity you keep hoping for, even if you don’t have a pair of ruby slippers.

About the Author: Mike Parker (mparker@theblackwatercg.com) specializes in online marketing services for Realtors®. To request a free review of your online marketing and website to determine if it is set up properly to be effective click here and it will be evaluated free.

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Saturday, November 21, 2009