Worse, some of the old ways don’t seem to work anymore. Advertising in glossy magazines, yellow pages ads, mailing out calendars and pens or notepads, working desk duty at the office—all just don’t seem to cut it like they used to. You know your own difficulty finding new clients; imagine that you are transported to a place like Wolf Creek, Colorado—a place so remote most people couldn’t find it on a map. Visitors must drive 6-12 hours to get there, so walk-ins are not a reliable way to find new clients.

It was this fear of not having enough real prospects that Poppy Borland faced when she decided to go it alone and moved into her own one-person office In May of 2008. She knew that in order to prosper, she had to be capable of prospecting most of her business because there was not enough foot traffic to her market to assure that she would always have customers.

Where Is Poppy Borland?
Borland owns Two Rivers Realty in South Fork, Colorado; a small mountain town in Southern Colorado of about 1,000 year-round residents. (The town of South Fork has been known as being in the Wolf Creek area literally forever, and people will call this area either name). The town grows to 6,000 to 7,000 in summer and 2-3,000 at Christmas or Spring Break. The 300+ sunny days per year and the sunny and cool summer weather make outdoor activities just wonderful: golfing, river activities, hunting, and riding ATVs in the summer are very popular just as snowmobiling and skiing in the winter keep the visitors coming.

“This is a mostly unknown paradise because it is far off the beaten path,” Borland told me recently. “Our visitors come from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona in the main and almost all of them drive to get here. That averages a 6-12 hour drive, so we don’t think of South Fork as a weekend kind of destination.” Combine that with the fact that the area is surrounded on three sides by the Rio Grande National Forest and you’ll begin to get the picture that Poppy Borland operates her business in a wild and remote location. This may be remote, but its remoteness makes its properties very valuable, and homes and land sell from under $100,000 to just under $2 million.

A Strategy Born of Common Sense
“I had read many articles about how the majority of home sales began online,” Borland continued, “and I wondered if that would hold true in a remote area like ours. I realized I would never know unless I got a website and tried to make it work. I figured I could get a lot more people to visit this wonderful place online than would ever drive here, and I hoped a few might be so overwhelmed by our beauty and peacefulness that they might consider buying land or a home here.”

Lacking a big advertising budget and having very little technical expertise, Borland started researching how she could supplement traffic to her site in order to always have buyers working. She decided that the Internet would be her main producer of prospects.

Then, reality set in; how could she make that happen? “I didn’t even have a website. I didn’t know anything about how to make one effective or how to make it so that buyers could find it (and me). The more I read about it, the more I became concerned that succeeding online was beyond my knowledge level and budget. I read about another agent in a town slightly larger than mine who had succeeded with the strategy I was trying to employ in an online newsletter. It turned out that she had the very same worries I had and she had decided to hire professionals to help her achieve her goals.

“It’s just too complicated for me to do it on my own,” she said in the article I read. “I’m a real estate agent, not a technical person and for me to try to achieve Internet success is just like a FSBO trying to sell a prime property: it might work, but it probably won’t.” That resonated with me and I decided to follow her lead.

I contacted the company that had made it work for her. They connected me with a really great Web designer who did fine work at a reasonable price so I could personalize my site to be what I wanted. When my site went live, I was really excited (www.wolfcreekareaproperties.com). The company that I contacted initially, CompassSearch, made that site be found by people looking at South Fork and Wolf Creek, CO real estate. Believe it or not, I sold my first Internet buyer in only two months and my commissions paid for my site, my subscription and I had plenty left over. So far in 2009 (September) I have had nine closings—six from my website. I get 700-800 unique visitors monthly, exactly double what it was even one year ago—and I am usually working with six solid buyers all the time. Five of those six buyers come from the website on average. My idea of selling this area online worked and without it, I don’t think I would have most of the clients I have today.

“Not all people who contact me close quickly,” Borland continued. “I closed on a $1 million+ property this week where the buyer contacted me on my website on August 8, 2008, a little more than two months after I contracted with my online marketing services company. It took a year, but he got a tremendous piece of property. Although that contact was made over a year ago, my online presence gets stronger and better all the time and keeps me busy with Internet buyers.”

One Benefit She Didn’t Anticipate: Her Internet Strength Gets Her More Listings, Too
One thing many agents don’t anticipate when making an Internet marketing plan is the huge benefit it brings to a listing presentation and the physical confirmation that presence gives that seller that you are the right party to list with. Here’s how Borland uses her strength online to list more: “It’s really great that Internet buyers from anywhere can find me online, and that reality has enabled me to list far more properties, as well. When doing a listing presentation, I will act like a prospective buyer and search for real estate in the area. Maybe I’ll enter “Wolf Creek CO Real Estate” or one of the hundreds of other phrases I have been found on. When my website appears at the top of the page—number one on Google [from the aforementioned search phrase]—the sellers are impressed. I then go into the back end of my website and show the sellers my website statistics, which convince them that I can bring buyers here from anywhere. Then, when they see how my website is simple and easy to use, they usually list with me.”

It Seems So Simple
Borland is so modest and unassuming that we had to convince her to share her story here: “I wonder if my experience will really be interesting to anyone,” she told me when I contacted her. “This is just a story from ‘County Life.’

Borland might not be so self-effacing about her success if she knew that 95% of all agents fail at online marketing, according to NAR. There are so many good agents out there who just can’t seem to crack the code of how to sell homes online that many have just flat given up at online marketing. “I just can’t catch any luck with that Internet thing,” so many say.

It doesn’t take luck; it takes a good plan, well executed. Make it happen for yourself and never worry about where your income is coming from again.

About the author
Mike Parker advises thousands of agents and brokers on the subject of online marketing services for Realtors. If you want to plan to succeed like Poppy Borland did or if you’d like to request a free review of your website to determine if it can be found by Internet buyers and if it is set up to be effective for you, click here and we’ll review it for you at no cost or obligation.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Don’t miss these top headlines on RISMedia.com:
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No!

I’m sure others may disagree with my answer, and that’s to be expected. I never worked for a large real estate company and seemed to do just fine. The key to your success isn’t the size of the real estate company you work for, it’s the effectiveness of your marketing.

If you can generate and convert leads, you can be successful in any size company. In fact, I’d argue that you should start your own company and build some equity in the process of building your business. Why not get paid twice from the same work?

Now when an agent asks me about where they should work, I ask them the following question: Are you a good marketer?

If they hem and haw with their answer, I usually tell them to work for the largest company and try and secure as many deals from the marketing of the company or other agents in the firm. However, it’s important to remember what business this large company is in. They’re in the “agent” business. Their goal is to recruit and retain agents. This goal is significantly different than your goal to sell homes.

I know they run image advertisements on TV. I know they provide great training programs. The purpose of these advertisements is to make the company look attractive to new agents. Buyers and sellers don’t care very much about your company name. They care about what you’re able to do for them specifically.

If the agent responds to my marketing question indicating that he or she is a good marketer, I usually tell them to look for the company with the most favorable commission splits. Use the additional commission income to invest back into your marketing to buy more clients. The company name doesn’t matter; the amount of commission you receive does.

The one thing you should definitely avoid at all costs is thinking that your real estate company is going to provide you with sales. More than likely, they won’t. It’s best for you to learn how to generate and convert leads on your own. This eliminates your dependency and makes you a better overall business person.

Becoming a good marketer is how you eliminate dependency in your business. Once you’ve obtained the skills, they cannot be taken away from you. You can use your skills in any market, any company or in any business. These skills can provide income to you for the rest of your life.

Rob Minton, who reinvented his real estate sales business to sell 269 homes to a limited number of clients in one year, has written a very practical book on how real estate agents can sell more homes. For a limited time, you can download this book for free by visiting http://www.FreeRenegadeBook.com.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

For more real estate tips and topics on RISMedia.com, be sure to see:
Business Lessons for Agents: Zero to Billionaire in 22 Years
Re-Energize Your Burned Out Workforce – 9 Leadership Strategies to Boost Morale

Matthew Stamer
Broker
EXIT Realty Central
Central Florida

Region served: Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties
Years in real estate: 16
Number of offices: 1
Number of agents: 95
Average sales price: $115,000
Average time on market: less than 30 days
Best idea for time management: Pick five things that can produce you the best results every day and spend 80% of the day on them.
Keep meetings productive by…Going into the meeting with a clear-cut agenda. Rather than addressing what has negatively occurred in the past, address the positive approach to the future.
Can’t live without tech tool: My smartphone

What strategies do you have in place to ensure you always get the right listing price?
All of our brokers and agents are very well trained in BPO (broker’s price opinion) preparation and we stay away from listing properties that are overpriced. The numbers on our BPOs are within the selling price of the home 98% of the time so our sellers are confident with the data we present them. Especially in today’s market, there is mounting evidence against inflated pricing of homes and sellers realize it is pointless to overprice their homes because they have seen overpriced homes in their marketplaces sit on the market.

What are your strategies for working in declining markets?
It is crucial to list a home at or below market price from the beginning. This way, you are beating everyone else to the final price because buyers will be looking at your homes since they are priced lower and more accurately than other companies.

What are two fundamentals that are essential to your company’s continued success?
The banking relationships we have developed in the foreclosure department as well as our consistent building and training of new talent in the sales arena have kept us successful over the years. Not only do we recruit agents into the company, but we provide them with ample opportunity to get involved with foreclosures as well as Web business.

How are you keeping consumers in your marketplace educated about the buying opportunities of today?
Our company is very active in the social networking arena. Not only do we have a Facebook page, but we also keep an ongoing blog of the current market situation (www.exitrealtyorlando.com/blog). Social networking allows us to stay in touch with customers long term who will buy or sell in the future.

How are you staying one step ahead of your competition?
We stay ahead of our competition by constantly building bank relationships, properly pricing our properties, and hiring and training new talent.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

For more real estate tips and topics on RISMedia.com, be sure to see:
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RISMEDIA, November 19, 2009—Our goal here at Buffini & Company has always been to “impact and improve the lives of people” – to help you significantly increase your business, while living a balanced life.

That’s why we’ve designed three different Coaching Solutions – Self-Paced, Group, and One2One – to fit your needs. We’ve got Coaching down to a science, and the real beauty of our three new options is that there’s one just for you, and together, we’ll win.

Self-Paced Coaching: Self-Paced Coaching is a Membership designed for the person who prefers to work independently and is comfortable utilizing the web. A Self-Paced Coaching Membership includes expert training and support, professional marketing tools, and live events, including networking that will help you significantly increase your production.

Group Coaching: Group Coaching offers the powerful combination of customized coaching, accountability, and synergy with like-minded professionals. This 45-minute coaching session strategically groups 10-12 like-minded professionals with a Certified Buffini & Company Business Coach to maximize the output of each meeting.

One2One Coaching: One2One Coaching is our most comprehensive Membership. You work one-on-one with a Buffini & Company Certified Business Coach who’ll provide you with personalized action plans, motivation and accountability to help you reach your goals. You also receive the full benefits of our other two Memberships, including a Group session with your peers.

Try out Group Coaching FREE! We’re excited to offer readers a Complimentary Group Coaching Session! At no cost to you, you can experience what our new Group Coaching program is all about.

Brian Buffini is Founder and CEO of Buffini & Company.

For more information, visit www.buffiniandcompany.com/gc or call 800-945-3485 x 3.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Brian Wildermuth

President, Owner

SharperAgent

www.sharperagent.com

As I travel all over the country to various real estate conferences and events, I get to learn first-hand what the new shiny object will be for the real estate industry. You know what I mean. Every year our industry becomes transfixed on a new magic bullet that is going to solve all our problems. Several years ago, it was lead generation and lead capture. Next up, it was lead conversion and management. Last year, it was online video and blogging. And let’s face it—you would have to be in full seclusion on a deserted island not to know that agents are mesmerized by social media marketing.

I recently watched a presentation on the Web with a successful online entrepreneur extolling the benefits of social media marketing. He concluded his talk saying, “If you don’t get into social media marketing, you will be gone in one year.”

Like you, I’ve heard this all before. If you don’t get a computer, you will be gone. If you don’t get online, you will be gone. Well, oddly enough, many successful agents are thriving today without securing any leads or business from the Internet. That’s not to say I don’t agree with the notions that you need to be online, that you need to be proficient with technology, and that you need to tap into social networking. I just don’t buy that success in real estate is decided by technology; quite the contrary, I believe that success in real estate will always be centered on the ability to form and maintain strong relationships with people. That’s it—end of story.

So then what should an agent do today about the latest shiny object? It is obvious to me that social media marketing presents great opportunities to secure new leads and build stronger relationships. Like open houses, purchased Internet leads, website inquiries, target or direct marketing, past clients, networking, advertising, traditional PR and many other methods of marketing, social media marketing has its place in lead generation and cultivation. And being that millions upon millions of consumers are on the Web and interfacing via Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and other sites, being absent from this arena could cause you more damage than good.

My two cents? Add social media marketing to your other top three lead sources to supplement and/or enhance what is currently working for you and your business. Make sure to create a written strategy that aligns with all of your other marketing initiatives and take a class or two to help you learn the basic do’s and don’ts. With the right approach, you will be adding new leads, finding buyers and cementing your existing relationships. Most importantly, remember that the ultimate goal is a well-maintained relationship—one of mutual respect and trust. The best way to accomplish that is good old fashioned face-to-face communication.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Communication Needs

A group that largely can’t remember a time without cell phones, computers and the Internet expects instant access to information and consultation. Millennials initiate and conduct a range of official and personal business via e-mail, text messaging and social networking. They’re unlikely to prefer phone calls. Consider updating your business card and promotional materials to reflect all the ways customers can reach and get to know you, including your blog, Twitter account and Facebook profile.

Financial Situation

Although recent Gen Y college graduates tend to have more debt than their parents did at the same age, they’re not discouraged by the current challenges in the economy and aren’t too proud to wait it out under Mom and Dad’s roof. But they do show signs of interest in homeownership and real estate investment a few years earlier than Gen Xers. Some may even want your help understanding the various first-time home buyer incentives and programs, as well as alternatives to traditional single-family home purchases, such as distressed properties and condos.

Lifestyle Goals

Millennials have grown up busy balancing school, sports, hobbies and more, and they’re keeping the same pace through college and into the workforce. They want to do it all and have a talent for maintaining a balance. But they need proximity on their side. They’re drawn to communities that are close to work, home, the gym and their favorite hangouts and activities. Keep track of real estate in urban centers and planned communities so that you can guide this group to the most affordable and convenient options for their circumstances.

Reach out to the confident, social and technologically savvy Millennials on their terms, and your referral network—along with your annual sales volume—could grow exponentially over the next decade or more.

Margaret Kelly, CRB, is chief executive officer of RE/MAX International, Inc.

For more information, visit www.remax.com.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Don’t miss these headlines on RISMedia.com:

• Credit Woes to Threaten Housing Recovery?
• Work Your Sphere of Influence to Your Advantage

The luxury property real estate market is a highly specialized, competitive market that requires Realtors to utilize innovative marketing techniques to showcase their client’s properties. Multimillion dollar properties are not the average property listing and just placing the listing on the local MLS is not the ideal strategy to present to a luxury listing client. 

What’s the difference? When designed properly, blogs bring life to the property since they are much more search engine friendly than a typical property website, this is key when marketing luxury property. Today’s sellers expect a worldwide marketing budget and exposure in every domicile. The challenge is that many sellers expect their agent to pay for advertising in worldwide publications, which can put even a very successful agent in the red very quickly. Not to mention that most ultra luxury properties take time to sell. The key is to maximize exposure and develop a hub on the Internet with a very organic and highly “indexable” 1parkplace luxury blog solution so that the search engines become our best friend. 

What does this mean for luxury home sellers when choosing their marketing agent? Be extremely choosy. Remember, as a seller, the allure of print publications is visually pleasing, however, remember that 96% of all home shoppers start on the Internet. Pick the agent with the best Internet marketing plan and largest social network of luxury agents and clients. 

Using social media networking to market luxury or unique property listings is being utilized by a select few of the real estate industry. Jerry Simonson, a luxury home seller in Coronado, California set his sights on selecting an agent with the most comprehensive Internet marketing plan to find a buyer for his $14 million dollar Coronado luxury estate now named “La Bella De Coronado”. 

Simonson selected Jan Clements of Prudential California Realty in Coronado, California (www.coronadorealestatehomes.com). “After interviewing many agents, I selected Jan because of her vast knowledge of Coronado luxury real estate as well as her dedication to stretch the envelope in marketing my luxury Coronado property” says Simonson. 

Clements initially embarked on the typical luxury marketing channels to get the property exposure (i.e. property website, MLS, luxury print advertising), however, it became apparent that the market has really slowed down for properties at that price level and she needed to implement a larger reach, but not go bankrupt in the process. 

The solution – an innovative marketing strategy utilizing a combination of a 1parkplace luxury property blog and a social media marketing campaign that allows her to network this unique property to 1,000’s of fine home real estate marketing specialists around the world. 

Clements commissioned a blog site from 1parkplace to showcase her exclusive Coronado luxury property. She also engaged her seller into the process and as the seller, Simonson got to practically design this site to showcase his very special Coronado luxury home for sale, working directly with the 1parkplace blog design team. 

Starting with giving this fine Coronado luxury property a very special name, ”La Bella De Coronado,” then registering a keyword-rich domain www.coronadoluxuryrealestate.com, six weeks later, Clements is ready to market this luxury Coronado property around the world via the internet, Facebook, e-mail and more. What’s critical is the back end reporting built into the 1parkplace blog platform that provides details on what marketing is working, and want is not. 

Now “La Bella De Coronado”, a luxury resort by the sea with beautiful, expansive views of San Diego’s bay can get its story out in a way that cannot be communicated in a few paragraphs. 

In an arguably more challenging scenario, Jim Dalzell and his team of luxury marketing experts at Prudential California Realty in Rancho Santa Fe, California (www.dalzellgroup.com), secured a $32 million, stunningly beautiful Caribbean luxury estate listing named “Presidio Del Mar, “ located in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands by presenting a multi-faceted, Internet marketing strategy. 

While being over 3,000 miles away, this team of luxury marketing experts, together with 1parkplace, assembled a comprehensive marketing plan that relied heavily on a solid luxury blog platform, Internet marketing and persistent email campaigns to top luxury agents. “We had to make a strong commitment to networking and Internet, especially since the Caribbean MLS and market reach is so limited around the world,” says Dalzell. 

They too had a very methodical seller who interviewed agents from different parts of the U.S. and Caribbean, yet the seller, Rob Blakeney selected the Dalzell team because of their unique marketing plan and experience with selling ultra luxury real estate, even knowing that they were clearly across the U.S. The Dalzell’s partnered with a local Caribbean showing agent and then went to work on implementing their worldwide marketing plan. 

Starting with this luxury real estate blog site, www.caribbeanluxuryhomesandvillas.com, where the Dalzell team can showcase the photos about “Presidio Del Mar” and then adding the photos from their visit to describe the absolute stunning location, thus educating those who may not know about the area, about the history and many exciting activities to enjoy nearby this fine Caribbean luxury estate. 

International luxury listings present a unique challenge to Realtors. One of them being the capability to seamlessly market the luxury property worldwide. Using the Internet, Facebook, e-mail, Twitter and Active Rain, pointing to their luxury real estate blog site (www.caribbeanluxuryhomesandvillas.com), the Dalzell team has implemented a global strategy that incorporates social networking and search engine optimization (SEO) to reach luxury marketing agents and home buyers around the world. 

The following are three key steps every luxury property marketing specialist should know and follow in order to gain the best results in luxury property marketing: 

Step 1 – Create the blog site - Dedicated to the property in a way that it brings life to the luxury property by capturing every feature and detail. By using a blog platform, every feature can have its own set of photos and a story in the form of a highly “indexable” search engine friendly “blog post.” This is ideal for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Especially with a luxury property, you typically have much more information and photos and as the site comes to life, the more content the better the results. 

Step 2 – Social networking – While step one will provide an awesome place to go, step two will help get people there. The expectation being that the luxury listing will appeal to another luxury property specialist who has an interested client or, better yet, the client directly. Armed with this information, the luxury property specialist must assemble a comprehensive email list of luxury agents around the world. This is not an easy task, however, do it once and it will last forever. This is a difficult list to buy. There are networks already active such as RISMedia’s Top 5 In Real Estate, and many of the franchises such as Windermere, Prudential and Sotheby’s that provide their associates e-mail lists to luxury agents. Now a new and novel strategy is to research agents on the Internet and interestingly, Facebook now has tremendous reach into those agents who are marketing luxury property. By dedicating an hour a day, a viral friend network of hundreds and perhaps thousands of marketing agents around the world can be built. 

Step 3 – Measurement & follow-up – While the absolute method of realizing results is a successful closing, there are steps along the way that have to be monitored to maximize effectiveness. Having detailed tracking on visitors to the site and using email management technology that tracks the clicks to the site, provides a prospect list to effectively follow-up with. This is where the phone and personal email interaction kicks in. 

Contact 1parkplace at team@1parkplace.com or call 888-425-2300 

About Steve Hundley – CEO of 1parkplace, Inc.
Steve’s passion is to develop the most cutting edge internet marketing and technology solutions for America’s top REALTORS and brokers. He founded 1parkplace in 1995 after a 10 year successful real estate career listing and selling homes in the Silicon Valley of California. 1parkplace is an industry leading Internet Marketing technology solutions provider that develops custom lead generation, contact management, website and BLOG systems for maximum sales results. Steve is also recognized as an industry educator and recently formed the 1parkplace University where he has hosted exclusive training events delivered by top industry veterans such as Tom Ferry, Steve Rodgers and Allan Dalton. As an innovator, Steve constantly strives to blaze new trails and his company continues to grow at record pace. 

For more information, visit www.1parkplace.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

For more headlines on RISMedia.com, be sure to see:
3 Biggest Mistakes Agents Make When Marketing Online
Recruiting the Agent of the Future

This year’s faciliators and panelists not to be missed, include:

Facilitators
John Featherston, President & CEO, RISMedia; Chairman & Co-founder, RISMedia’s Top 5 in Real Estate Network
Allan Dalton, President & Co-founder, RISMedia’s Top 5 in Real Estate Network

Panelists
Gino Blefari, Founder, President & CEO, Intero Real Estate Services
Tami Bonnell, President, U.S. Organization, EXIT Realty Corp.
Jon Cook, President & CEO, Prudential California Realty
Jeff Davi, Real Estate Commissioner, State of California
Lawrence Lobpries, Marketing Director for Specialty Sales, Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
Rei Mesa, President & COO, Prudential Florida Real Estate Services
Spencer Rascoff, COO, Zillow
Rick Sharga, SVP, RealtyTrac
Mark Stark, Broker/Owner, Prudential Americana Group
Dennis Walsh, Founder, REbuildUSA™ Membership Network

All NAR full-conference and day-conference attendees are encouraged to attend this important discussion Friday, Nov. 13 from 12:30-2 p.m. at the San Diego Convention Center during the NAR conference.

Why should you attend? Each year, attendees walk away from the Power Broker Forum with tremendous insight into the best practices that have made our panelists the Power Brokers industry leaders they are today. In addition, you will have an opportunity to pose a question or two to these industry power players so make sure you’re prepared.

This year, the Forum will focus on how industry professionals can form strategies and excel in working with distressed properties, such as foreclosures, REOs and short sales.

RISMedia has an additional session on “Staying Up in a Down Market: Short Sales, Expireds & Price Reductions,” on Saturday, November 14 from 1:30-3 p.m. at the San Diego Convention Center during the NAR Conference. Once again, all NAR full-conference and day-conference attendees are encouraged to attend, however, the subject matter is geared toward agents.

This session will help Realtors clearly identify and explain short sales, expireds and price reductions to their clients, while also explaining their own understanding of the subject matter and how they will assist those clients. Realtors will also learn how they can use various marketing techniques to acquire more listings and how to implement a marketing strategy that benefits their own business, while also educating consumers on the nuances of today’s market.

Here is the breakdown of speakers at the Saturday session:

Facilitator
Allan Dalton, President & Co-founder, RISMedia’s Top 5 in Real Estate Network

Panelists
Becky Boomsma, Realtor, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Valerie Fitzgerald, Realtor, The Valerie Fitzgerald Group, Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills
Julie Vanderblue, President, The Higgins Group
Rosemary West, Team Leader, The Rosemary West Team, RE/MAX of Joliet

For more information contact Stephanie Andre at Stephanie@rismedia.com or 203-855-1234 ext. 141 or visit http://rismedia.com/events/power-broker-forum-annual/.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

For more real estate related headlines on RISMedia.com, be sure to see:
Jumpstarting Job Creation…Let Housing Lead the Way
Creating Efficiencies Keeps Business Running Smoothly

When the market is flying high and sticking a sign in the yard brings in multiple offers it can be easy to think you’re doing better than you necessarily are. The harsh reality is, however, a tougher market always exposes the real truth behind how you’re actually doing. And some of us have gotten off track. Below, I detail “The Five Detours on the Road to Success.” 

1. Lack of Accountability 

Every human being does better with accountability because we truly cannot see our own shortcomings; outside perspective is the best way to gain clarity on our patterns. 

2. Loss of Motivation 

Motivation, by its very nature, is designed to dissipate so we need to seek it out continually. As my friend and mentor, Zig Ziglar, says: “Motivation is like bathing. You have to do it on a daily basis!” 

3. In Need of Direction 

Once you get things moving and gain some momentum you actually need more direction than you did when you were just starting out. This is borne out by countless people who work their whole life and have nothing to show for it. 

4. Isolation 

All you have to do is watch the “Animal Planet” documentary on predators in the wild to know how detrimental isolation can be: Predators never attack the pack; they always look for the isolated, hurt, wounded, and lost, the ones who’ve stopped moving forward. Self-employed people are more predisposed to this isolation than anyone else. 

5. Drift 

While “isolation” is a predator, “drift” is a killer; it’s the “silent assassin” because we don’t know how far and how fast we’ve drifted until something catastrophic happens. 

As you can see, the “Five Detours” are things we all face and it can be easy to get off track in both business and our personal lives. But let’s examine the solution side of things. If there are detours, then rest assured there are also rules of the road to get you back on track. 

Stay on Track with These Rules of the Road 

1. Stay Accountable 

While it may not be natural to seek out accountability, let’s just have a look at what happens in its absence. Tiger Woods – the greatest golfer in the world – recently missed the cut at the British Open. Just so happens it was the first time in five years he didn’t bring his coach to a tournament. 

2. Brainstorm and Network with Others 

We humans do much better when we mastermind together, which is why we facilitate networking at our events, as well as in our Coaching programs and Small Groups. Surround yourself with positive, resourceful, successful people, because they’ll lift you up rather than drag you down. 

3. Plan Daily Doses of Motivation 

Just think of your daily motivation like an essential vitamin, with nothing but positive, good-for-you side effects. Plan daily doses by listening to affirming CDs in your car or by reading good books – just a few lines here or there will go a long way. 

4. Follow the System 

You know you’re in need of direction – everybody is. And we’ve developed a system that works. Now, I know that few people ever follow the system 100%, but what if that means you’re missing out on a 30% jump in your income?! Would that be worth increasing your commitment to the lead-generation activities by just 10%? The Referral Systems work; but only if you do! 

5. Work with a Coach 

A Coach has the expertise, tools and strategies to help you get your business cranking. That accountability and direction will help you avoid drift – the deadly killer. 

This much I do know…there’s a reason our Coaching Members averaged $192,000 in income in one of the worst markets we’ve seen… 

The fact that you’re still in business means you have weathered the storm and, as I’ve said before, a recession is a terrible thing to waste. Follow the rules of the road and you’ll be launching a great new year. Buffini & Company will be here to help. 

Brian Buffini is CEO and Founder of Buffini & Company. 

For more information, visit www.buffiniandcompany.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

Don’t miss these headlines on RISMedia.com:
Plenty of Stimulus Money Available for Energy Improvements
Credit Woes to Threaten Housing Recovery?

The extension is part of a $24 billion economic stimulus bill that will extend the $8,000 tax credit for homebuyers who are purchasing their first home from the current November 30 deadline and expands the program to offer a credit of $6,500 to homeowners who have lived in their current home for at least five years and are seeking to relocate. 

The following details apply to the homebuyer tax credit expansion: 

Who is Eligible
-First-time homebuyers, who are defined by the law as buyers who have not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase, may be eligible for up to an $8,000 tax credit.
-Existing homeowners who have been residing in their principal residence for five consecutive years out of the last eight and are purchasing a home to be their principal residence (“repeat buyer”), may be eligible for up to a $6,500 tax credit.
-All U.S. citizens who file taxes are eligible to participate in the program. 

Income Limits
Homebuyers who file as single or head-of-household taxpayers can claim the full credit ($8,000 for first-time buyers and $6,500 for repeat buyers) if their modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is less than $125,000.
-For married couples filing a joint return, the combined income limit is $225,000.
-Single or head-of-household taxpayers who earn between $125,000 and $145,000, and married couples who earn between $225,000 and $245,000 are eligible to receive a partial credit.
-The credit is not available for single taxpayers whose MAGI is greater than $145,000 and married couples with a MAGI that exceeds $245,000. 

Effective Dates
-The eligibility period for the tax credit is for homes purchased after Nov. 6, 2009, and before May 1, 2010. However, home purchases subject to a binding sales contract signed by April 30, 2010, will qualify for the tax credit provided closing occurs prior to July 1, 2010. 

Types of Homes that Qualify
-All homes with a purchase price of less than $800,000 qualify, including newly-constructed or resale, and single-family detached, townhomes or condominiums, provided that the home will be used as their principal residence. Vacation home and rental property purchases do NOT qualify. 

Tax Credit is Refundable
-A refundable credit means that if the amount of income taxes you owe is less than the credit amount you qualify for, the government will send you a check for the difference.

-For example:
-A first-time buyer who qualifies for the full $8,000 credit who owes $5,000 in federal income taxes would pay nothing to the IRS and receive a $3,000 payment from the government. If you are due to receive a $1,000 refund, you would receive $9,000 ($1,000 plus the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit).
-A repeat buyer who owes $5,000 would pay nothing to the IRS and receive $1,500 back from the government. If you are due to get a $1,000 refund, you would get $7,500 ($1,000 plus the $6,500 repeat buyer tax credit).
-All qualified homebuyers can take the tax credit on their 2009 or 2010 income tax return. 

Payback Provisions
The tax credit is a true credit. It does not have to be repaid unless the home owner sells or stops using the home as their principal residence within three years after the purchase. 

The www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com site is being updated. Check the site next week for more detailed information on the new tax credit. 

For more information, visit www.nahb.org. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

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Special Session FAQs: 

What Is This Session About?
Staying Up in a Down Market–led by Top 5 in Real Estate President & Co-founder Allan Dalton–will delve into making the most and becoming the most successful in dealing with short sales, expireds and price reductions. 

Who Can Attend?
All NAR full-conference and day-conference attendees are encouraged to attend, however, the subject matter is geared toward agents. 

Why Should I Attend?
For these reasons:
1. This session will help Realtors clearly identify and explain short sales, expireds and price reductions to their clients, while also explaining their own understanding of the subject matter and how they will assist those clients.
2. Realtors will learn how they can use various marketing techniques to acquire more listings.
3. Attendees will learn how to implement a marketing strategy that benefits their own business, while also educating consumers on the nuances of today’s market. 

When/Where Is Staying Up in a Down Market?
This session will be held on Saturday, November 14 from 1:30-3 p.m. at the San Diego Convention Center during the NAR Conference. This session will be held in Room 29 A on the Upper Level. 

Who Is On the Panel?
Here is the breakdown of speakers: 

Facilitator–
Allan Dalton, President & Co-founder, RISMedia’s Top 5 in Real Estate Network 

Panelists–
Becky Boomsma, Realtor, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Valerie Fitzgerald, Realtor, The Valerie Fitzgerald Group, Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills
Julie Vanderblue, President, The Higgins Group
Rosemary West, Team Leader, The Rosemary West Team, RE/MAX of Joliet 

Do I Need to Register?
No, registration is not required. As long as you are an NAR day-conference or full-conference attendee, there is open seating and no additional information is needed. 

What If I Have More Questions?
Contact Stephanie Andre at stephanie@rismedia.com or 203-855-1234 x141. 

For more information on all RISMedia events during NAR, visit http://rismedia.com/events/power-broker-forum-annual/power-broker-forum-whats-it-all-about/

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

For more real estate tips and topics on RISMedia.com, don’t miss:
Overcoming Fear of Foreclosure Critical for Many People to Keep Their Homes
Bad Economy Turns Renters into Roommates

Jim Dohr
President
Coldwell Banker Gundaker
St. Louis, Missouri 

Region served: Saint Louis metropolitan area
Years in real estate: 32
Number of offices: 27
Number of agents: 2,100
Average sales price: $200,000
Average time on market: 100 days
Best tip for dealing with difficult customers: Practice the Golden Rule and put yourself in the other person’s position. Always treat the customer right and everything else will take care of itself.
Keep meetings productive by…Starting and ending on time. Also, have an agenda and stick to it.
Key to staying profitable: You have to be willing to make tough decisions and do the right thing no matter what. When making these decisions, remain objective and remove emotion from the process as much as possible. 

What is your biggest challenge in today’s market and how is your company taking it on? Our biggest challenge is staying profitable in today’s declining market. We are coping with this challenge in that we are willing to look hard decisions in the eye and make them, but at the same time, remain sensitive to maintaining the company culture. With each decision we make, we focus on how it will affect our agents’ attitudes and employee morale. Keeping our company culture intact is crucial in today’s market. 

What’s your best strategy to get buyers to see a listed home? Our three best strategies to get buyers to see listed homes are to price it correctly, increase the commission payout that goes to the cooperating broker and have a comprehensive Internet marketing strategy. 

What are your best marketing techniques? Everything we do drives traffic to our website. Whether we use print advertising, billboards or TV, we direct everyone to our website because that is where the action is. 

How are you keeping consumers educated about today’s buying opportunities? We have a very interactive PR campaign taking place at the moment in which we are conducting interviews on radio, TV and through print. In addition, we spend a lot of time educating our agents and providing them with the tools they need, such as statistics and hard data so they can educate consumers from their end. 

How do you keep your agents motivated? Keeping our agents motivated starts with communication. We are always in touch with our agents, providing them with hard data and statistics and then using the data to find positive stories about the current market. We also conduct numerous workshops and hands-on training to help our agents focus on what is in their control. The workshops focus on relationships and basics like selling 101. We present ideas to enable our agents to work harder and smarter. 

What are the advantages to being able to offer your customers home warranties? The home warranties that we provide through American Home Shield have been a great tool for us. Statistics show that when a home has a warranty, it sells 23 days faster, on average, in addition to the price being 4% higher, on average, as well as the final price being closer to the listing price. Home warranties give our buyers peace of mind especially in today’s market, and they have been a huge advantage for us. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

For more headlines on RISMedia.com, be sure not to miss:
Business Lessons for Agents: Zero to Billionaire in 22 Years
Looking Ahead – California Association of Realtors Releases 2010 Housing Market Forecast

Kevin Faherty
Vice President of Operations and Sales
Centralized Showing Service
www.feedbackcentral.com 

Almost universally, sellers are instructed by their listing agents to make sure their house is clean and “showable.” Many sellers go to great efforts to pick up dirty clothes, organize, put the dogs in the car, turn on all the lights and bake cookies before the next showing in hopes that this showing will sell their home. 

The seller leaves their home with all the common fears of having strangers inside their home—evaluating them, seeing how they live, and judging whether their home is “worthy.” When the showing is over and the seller comes home, they wait. And wait. And then they wait some more. 

After going through all that trouble, sellers invariably want to know how the showing went. What did the buyer like? What didn’t they like? They’re usually willing to do whatever is necessary to make a sale happen—whether with the current buyer or a future buyer—but in order to make these changes, the seller needs feedback provided in a professional way. 

Many listing agents dutifully try to get feedback from the showing agent, but the showing agent doesn’t respond, even after repeated e-mails and calls. Some listing agents don’t even try. 

As an industry that promotes its professionalism—nay, sells its professionalism—to the public, it is crucial that agents make an attempt to provide feedback on showings. Not only will this improve the Realtor image, it will also assist sellers in upgrading their properties and changing their behavior. The combination of these factors can result in a faster sale. Everyone benefits. 

Some agents fear that providing feedback may someday come back to haunt them. After scheduling close to 50 million showing appointments, Centralized Showing Service, Inc. (CSS) has never had an instance where professionally provided feedback, positive or negative, has caused the showing agent to regret providing it or the listing agent from passing it along. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Regardless of the causes, the real estate market is going through some fundamental changes, and the real estate agents who will survive, are the ones most able to adapt to the new paradigm. The credit bubble distorted the market for some time, with so-called “luxury” mansions and condominium developments sprouting like weeds all across the world, making the term “luxury” all but useless to describe a property, spawning new improved, better-than-before superlatives like ultra-luxury. 

Many luxury real estate agents are discovering that they are not luxury real estate agents after all, and it takes more than granite counter tops and gourmet appliances to distinguish a luxury property from any other. This distortion in the marketplace means that amongst the vast array of property for sale, it is necessary to become more focused on a specific niche to be found. Zillow.com claims to have over 3 million homes for sale listed on their website, and rather like being faced with too many choices in a grocery store, this is probably off-putting to many potential buyers. Another aspect of the changing marketplace is the amount of foreclosure and bank properties for sale, with some estimates that around 50% of all sales currently are of financially distressed property. With sales volumes slowly picking up and prices still falling, it becomes necessary to specialize to attract potential buyers. 

The Internet is often the first place many buyers start their search for a property, and getting found for your particular geographic area is becoming more and more difficult. The competition is strong, and another approach is to specialize in small niches, which is proving a successful strategy for some agents. One example that comes to mind is Glenn Plantone at Viewpoint equity, who currently specializes in foreclosed condominiums in Las Vegas after seeing a opportunity and educating himself on this micro-market or niche. 

Buyers know that it is not possible to be an expert in all markets and for all property types, and are now expecting to find an expert in the niche that interests them. But how to create Web traffic to a particular niche is an interesting dilemma. The first step in any Web-based promotional campaign is to begin with the URL, or Web address of a particular property. Bank properties as an example. The term “bank properties” or a derivative using both of these words is searched for on Google approximately 14,000 times a month and is far less competitive than a broader search term which will have hundreds of thousands – perhaps millions of websites competing to be found higher up the search engine results. So, creating a URL such as http://bankproperties.com/listing-crestmoor-park-colorado-reo-81.html will have automatic authority over some thing such as http://joebloggsrealty/bankproperties/listing-crestmoor-park-colorado-reo-81.html because the search term is at the beginning of the URL and matches the term used. 

Thus, the first step in dominating a niche market online is here – using a niche property portal that matches your niche as closely as possible. Obviously, this is just the first step, but using this approach give obvious advantages over using a large “jack of all trades” portal where your property is listed with 3 million other properties. 

Mark Knowles is a long time professional real estate investor and analyst who now concentrates on online real estate. He currently writes the luxury property blog as the executive blogger for niche properties. He can be reached at mknowles@lux.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

For more real estate tips and topics on RISMedia.com, be sure to see:
1.4 Million Families Have Taken Advantage of First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, More Claims Expected
Freddie Mac Takes Its Home Affordable Modification Program to the Streets

RISMedia’s 14th Annual Power Broker Reception & Dinner—an invitation-only gala—recognizes the outstanding achievements of residential real estate’s most influential and charismatic leaders. The by-invitation-only event will be held on Friday, November 13 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel.

‘Father Guido Sarducci’ is a fictional character made famous by comedian Don Novello. A chain-smoking priest with tinted eyeglasses, Sarducci worked in the U.S. as gossip columnist and rock critic for the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano and, later, as assistant managing editor for The Vatican Enquirer. 

Novello created the Sarducci character in the early ’70s, with several notable TV appearances on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Father Sarducci soon became widely recognized and loved as a result of his many appearances on Saturday Night Live in the late 70s, during which time Novello was also a writer for the show. 

Most of Father Sarducci’s appearances on SNL were on Weekend Update. But he also was featured in some memorable commercial parodies such as “Bocce Ball My Way.” 

For more information, please visit http://rismedia.com/events/power-broker-forum-annual/ or contact Stephanie Andre at stephanie@rismedia.com. To RSVP to this year’s event, please contact Paris Cheffer at paris@top5inrealestate.com. 

Don’t miss these top headlines on RISMedia.com:
Treasury Says Millions More in Foreclosures are Coming; Are You Ready?
Finding Your Dream Foreclosure: What to Know When You’re Buying an REO Property

Companies can deliberately infuse their cultures, from top to bottom, with the proverbial “attitude of gratitude.” In fact, those who don’t put gratitude on a pedestal, especially in today’s high-stress work environments, are shooting themselves in the foot. “Too many people leave work every day thinking, My boss doesn’t appreciate me,” says Liz Jazwiec, author of Eat That Cookie!: Make Workplace Positivity Pay Off…For Individuals, Teams and Organizations. “When you feel that your boss doesn’t fully value your work, you start to care a little less. You don’t provide the kind of service you would if you felt appreciated. You don’t make an effort to help your coworkers. “And when the majority of the people in a workplace feel this way, the overall environment is hugely impacted,” she adds. “Productivity decreases, turnover increases, and it can become very difficult to stay afloat, especially in a tough economy.” 

Jazwiec stresses that workplace gratitude isn’t something that is passed only from the boss to the employee. To have a real impact on workplace positivity, employees should show it to one another and to their bosses. And leaders and employees should show it to their customers. “It’s obvious when you are in a workplace where people value gratitude and graciousness,” says Jazwiec. “There is a really great vibe in those places. And when gratitude and graciousness are missing, it is equally evident. People in those environments seem to have a sense of entitlement. Coworkers who come into contact with them might say, ‘There is just no pleasing those people!’ Customers might say, ‘They just don’t care about me!’ Neither reaction is good for business.” 

The great thing about infusing gratitude into the workplace is that it can come from anyone, regardless of position. “If you are a leader, you can infuse gratitude from the top down, perhaps by making it a required standard of behavior for employees,” says Jazwiec. “And if you are an employee, you can start your own grassroots gratitude movement by expressing gratitude yourself and encouraging your coworkers to do so as well. Everyone—and I mean everyone—can show gratitude in a workplace and influence others to do so.” 

If you want to make this the season of gratitude at your organization, the following tips will help you hardwire workplace gratitude from the ground up. 

Say thanks. When someone does something kind for you, whether it’s your boss, your coworker, or a stranger, recognize it. A simple “thanks” will do. “You can’t expect people to appreciate you if you don’t receive their kindnesses and compliments with thankfulness,” says Jazwiec. “Sure, you might be skeptical if your boss goes to a leadership conference, and upon his return starts handing out compliments left and right. But just stop and think. Are those compliments making people happy? When you are recognized, does it give you even just the tiniest little twinge of happiness? 

Adopt an “it’s the thought that counts” attitude. Consider this scenario: A new VP at a hospital wants to do something special for her hardworking, overworked staff. It’s decided that pizza will be provided for the entire hospital staff, rolling out over a Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday to ensure that every person on every shift can take a pizza break. The pizza plan goes into effect and the VP, who arranged everything, walks around the departments, expecting to be welcomed with open arms by an appreciative staff. Instead she finds that many of the teams taking care of patients are upset because they can’t leave their patients to go down to the cafeteria where the pizzas are located. Meanwhile they complain, the business office and IT staffs are able to go to the cafeteria as they please. 

“Sometimes you have to take into account the intentions of your boss or your coworkers. If it is clear that they meant for something to be a way of thanking you or helping you, don’t complain about how they missed the mark. Thank them for thinking of you and move on.” 

Communicate openly and honestly. If it’s gratitude you need, tell someone. Often your leaders or coworkers can be so tied up in their own tasks that they forget about those working around them. The natural reaction when this happens is to either hold in your negative feelings or complain to another coworker. But a more proactive stance might be to opt for open and honest communication. 

Be prepared for some kind words. If you are unaccustomed to getting compliments, it may take some time for you to feel comfortable receiving them. Just practice and be prepared for some kind words. 

Thank those you serve. Once you have mastered the gratitude thing with your bosses and your coworkers, you need to move on to the people you serve. “When I first told my staff that we ought to be thanking our patients, one of them replied, ‘What are we supposed to say? Thank you for breaking your leg?’” relates Jazwiec. “Obviously not. I suggested they say, ‘Thank you for putting your trust in us today.’ Regardless of your line of work, there is no better time to start showing your customers you appreciate them than in a slow economy. 

Know that gratitude encourages repeat performances. Leaders, remember the behavior you recognize will be repeated. If you think an employee handled a disgruntled customer well or showed great proficiency in managing a group project, let him or her know about it and they’ll work hard to do the same, or even better, next time. And employees, if you acknowledge your boss’s efforts to show gratitude, they will keep doing it. Thank your boss for going to bat for you and your coworkers over a new piece of equipment you need or a pay raise dispute, and he or she will be more likely to do it again in the future. 

About the Author
Liz Jazwiec is a nationally renowned speaker, strategist, and consultant who has shared her passion for leadership, engagement, and service with audiences across the country. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

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In my 30 years of coaching people to be successful, I have found that at the core of everything is confidence. Call it a belief in yourself or whatever you want, there is no sense in creating a marketing plan without it. Confidence is not necessarily something you are born with, rather, like a muscle, it is developed over time with practice. This article will give you some key tips on how you can gain more confidence. 

Tip 1: Focus on What You Want - Where do you put your focus most of the time? Here’s a hint: if you feel happy, grateful and hopeful, then you’re probably putting your attention on what you want. If you’re feeling discouraged, depressed or anxious, then you’re focusing on what you don’t want. 

One of my clients recently discussed her increasing feelings of anxiety as she was working with her clients in selling their house. When I asked her what she was focusing on, she admitted that she had been thinking about the possible failure of the transaction. When she changed her perspective and focused on the transaction closing, her feelings immediately changed into hope. 

Here’s a tip: Whenever you find yourself focusing on what you don’t want, simply ask yourself, “what do I want?” Most likely you’ll choose positive thoughts, images and feelings as you focus on your desired outcome. Not only will this brighten your mood and give you more confidence, but also, it will increase your chances of the deal closing. 

Tip 2: Tame your Inner Gremlin - Have you ever noticed that there is a part of you that picks on you, beats you up, expects you to be perfect and is very hard on you if you make a mistake? That voice is called your Inner Gremlin, also known as your Inner Critic, or Inner Judge. We all have one. The question is whether it’s running you or whether you are running it. Does it have power over you? Guess what? It only has the power that you give it. Stop listening to it and over time, it will be tamed. 

How do you take your Inner Gremlin? Here’s a simple technique: When you notice that there is a voice in your head either putting you down, or berating you in any way, use a simple stop technique. First, interrupt the pattern of thoughts by saying to yourself, stop. Next, take a deep breath. Finally, use this opportunity to put in a positive new thought. For example, if your old thought was, “I don’t have what it takes to succeed”, stop it, breathe, and put in your new thought, “I have all the resources I need to succeed.” 

Tip 3: Clear your Inner Conflicts – How do you know if you have an inner conflict? Most of my clients aren’t immediately aware of their inner conflicts, but it becomes revealed through resistance. How many times have you told yourself “I need to get on the phone and call my sphere of influence,” and then you don’t do it? 

That’s a typical example of how an inner conflict would be noticed. You’ll notice resistance to what you told yourself you should do. In this example, one part of you is saying, “Make the calls” and the other part of you is saying, “I don’t want to intrude. I don’t want them to think I am soliciting.” The reasons could go on and on. 

Whenever you find yourself in resistance and you just can’t force yourself to do something no matter how hard you try, do a little introspection, and identify the voices in your head that are in conflict. Then assume the role of the mediator. Just as you mediate in your business between two or more people, do the same within yourself and find a solution that pleases both parts. 

Tip 4: Create a Successful Future Self – Often when I work with a client who needs more confidence, I help them create a successful future self. They visualize what they are going to look like in the future, having accomplished their goals. Then they practice feeling what it feels like to be that future self. As they sink deeply into the feelings of accomplishment, contentment and confidence, they are creating a vision that inspires them. 

You can be in business either pushing yourself to succeed, which creates “burn out” or you can allow yourself to be pulled towards success by a vision. Creating your future self is one way to have a vision. Perhaps you can picture your future self on a vacation, lying on the beach. 

Here’s a tip: to reinforce this idea of a successful future self, make a collage. Get several magazines and take out photos that inspire you. Photos that you’d like to see happen in your future. See yourself having outlets for all that money that you’ll be making. 

Tip 5: Only engage in interactions that are win/win - How many times have you gone into a situation with a prospective client while at the same time a voice in your head was saying something like, “Don’t do it. This doesn’t feel right?”

Here’s a tip—trust your hunches. If you have doubts about a client or a situation, most likely you’re right. 

I’ve had dozens of clients who are recovering from burn out because they forgot to ask themselves, one thing, “Is this going to be a win/win?” According to Dr. Steven Covey, it’s either win/win or no deal. Next time your gut feelings are telling you to back out, listen to them. It’s better to back out in the beginning than to get involved in a situation where you can’t back out later. 

Tip 6: Practice extreme self care and self maintenance - Think about it for a moment. What is your most valuable asset? Is it your home or your car? No, it’s your health. Yet I see so many people who try to be successful but then neglect their basic physical needs for rest, for sleep and for healthy foods. 

Remember, you are your business. Your most important asset is you, your health and your personal production capacity. The healthier you are, the more energy you’ll have and the more you’ll produce. What are the areas you need to improve in self maintenance? 

Dr. Steven Covey talks about “sharpening the saw.” He recommends taking an hour a day for making sure that your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs are met. Maybe taking an hour a day is beyond your reach at the moment. What small steps can you take to improve your energy level and vitality? 

Tip 7: Know that what you have to offer is valuable - Effective marketing is based on the idea that you know your services are valuable and you are willing to communicate that in the marketplace on a consistent basis. How valuable are your services? What is your unique selling point? What do people get when they work with you that they can’t get anywhere else? 

When someone asks you what you do, what do you say? Let me demonstrate a “so-so” response compared to a response that will get someone’s attention. Suppose you’re a real estate agent and someone says, “So, what do you do?” A “so-so” answer would be, “I am a real estate agent with _____ company. “ 

Compare that to this. Someone asks you what you do and you say, “Well, you know how people get stressed out when they are buying or selling a home? Well, I take care of all the details and make sure that the process goes smoothly so that my clients can relax. I am a real estate agent with _____ company.” Which real estate agent would you like to work with? Here’s a tip—this kind of answer will only work if you totally believe in yourself and know your services are valuable. 

There are many aspects to becoming more successful. These seven powerful tips are just the beginning. Before you create your next marketing plan, check inside and take a reading of your confidence level. If it needs a boost, be sure to take care of that before you do anything else. When you are overflowing with confidence, that’s the time to get out there and start marketing. 

Dr. Maya Bailey, author of Law of Attraction for Real Estate Professionals, integrates 20 years of experience as a psychologist and 12 years as a business coach with her expertise in the Law of Attraction. Get Bailey’s free report, 7 Simple Strategies For More Clients in 90 Days, by visiting www.90DaystoMoreClients.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

For more real estate headlines on RISMedia.com, be sure not to miss:
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1. Remember, It’s Not About You…It’s About Them
When buyers or sellers want information on moving, it’s what’s on their mind that is going to cause them to spend time on your site. 

2. Have Highly Visible Buttons and Calls to Action
Have specific sections on your site that showcase your expertise in certain areas. See www.Kristan-Cole.com to see how quickly you can get information without the hassle. 

3. Sprinkle Specific Property Searches – Increase Quality Lead Generation
On targeted pages of your website, add the ability for a site visitor to search for specific kinds of properties and in specific price ranges. Every page should creatively showcase listings. Think about even setting searches by farm area or neighborhood…now that’s creative. See www.LindaHall.com/fort_mill to get an idea. 

4. Generate Leads with a Strong IDX system
There can be huge differences between an IDX that just shows houses for sale and an IDX that has “clickable components” that generate high-quality leads. Visitors to your website who are searching for homes through your IDX will be prompted to register after viewing listing details, leading to more quality leads for you. Also, adding features such as “schedule an appointment,” “e-mail listing,” and “save” are key elements to consider. 

5. Cultivate Leads and Stay in Front of Them
There is a big difference in lead inquiries and actual leads. You want to incubate the lead and keep them in front of you. Have automated letters go out to specific niches. For example, buyers looking for REOs or foreclosures should get specialized letters on those subjects, not information on general buying. 

Tricia Andreassen is CEO/founder of Pro Step Marketing. She has 19+ years experience in real estate and as a Web marketing and branding coach. 

For more information, please visit www.prostepmarketing.com. 

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“We’ve done the keyword technology thing, we’ve done the sponsored links thing, we tried reciprocal linking and we hired a website company to build us a real estate site (because—they said—‘that’s all we do’ and they said they’d market it for us, too). It was nothing but a complete disaster. 

“We have spent thousands and thousands of dollars that we have basically flushed. We spent all that money and had nothing to show for it. Worse, we had no idea of the huge amount of problems we would have establishing our site again after our Web designer pulled our site down and handed us a disc with our files on it because we cancelled our $400/month ‘keyword technology’ agreement with him that we had pre-paid for 16 months. His ‘technology’ didn’t work, we never sold a home from it, we had prepaid 16 months of it, and–boom! We were on our own.” 

Ready to Dump Online Marketing
It wasn’t always that way for Willard Morris. When he started selling new construction almost 30 years ago, he didn’t even need a license. People delivered, generally, on what they said they would deliver, and vendors tried to provide useful service to clients. When the Internet started to be known for its impact on real estate sales, Willard was quick to try to seize the opportunity to tap into the vast resource it promises to be. 

The only problem was that he needed professional assistance to help him, and for the longest time, he couldn’t seem to find effective solutions that actually would help him sell houses to Internet buyers. He was so disgusted, he said, that he was thinking of just leaving ‘Internet success’ to someone else. (His story sounds like a nightmare thousands of agents have also had). 

But—even a seasoned pro like Willard Smith has a limit of patience and after the debacle with his webmaster; he was ready to give up on the Internet. “When someone asked me if I were receiving leads from my efforts, I replied ‘A website generates leads? Really? (Insert sarcasm here). We thought it was just a business card for people with computers.” To say Willard was fed up doesn’t begin to cover how he felt. “The ‘net is something we have struggled with for 10 years,” Willard continued. “Getting a reliable site built is harder than you think. We have been taken to the cleaners more times than we care to admit. Even when we think we have ourselves covered it turns out we just don’t know enough about how it all works. We finally started to reverse that by having a company that specializes in online marketing services for Realtors evaluate our website through an offer we found on a real estate online newsletter. 

“We were so impressed with the person that called us back and the report that was presented as well as the plain English explanation given to us on what it all meant. We were looking for something new at that time because we knew what we had wasn’t working. We liked the guarantees offered with the product and we liked the price; it turned out that changing from what we were doing then would actually save us money even if it did nothing. We signed up, expecting very little. When our webmaster found out, our website then became a nightmare and everything started to go wrong. Our Web host was also the webmaster and site designer and when we opted out of his keyword marketing program he refused to maintain the site anymore. He was forthright enough to admit the reason: without his ‘special programs’ there was no money to be made for him in simply maintaining the site. He told us that we could keep paying him for a “keywords program” that didn’t work, or we could find another webmaster. We were lost and knew nothing about choosing a website company. We phoned our rep at our new online marketing services company and told them the problem. They referred us to an approved website vendor and introduced us to them. We sold our first home from the website in May of 2009, just 60 days later.” 

10 Times His Money Back in Six Months
“That first sale earned us a $9,600 commission, and before the summer was out, we had closed on two others—one that earned us $5,400 and one that earned us $20,300. We were very pleased that our $3,400 investment brought us $35,300 in commissions we would have never made in just a few months—especially after all we went through for all those years attempting to make the Internet work for us. But, our pleasure at our program comes from more than only making money: it comes from being better at what we do because we are now effective online. 

“For example: We were approached by an out-of-area Realtor because his brother wanted to sell his lakeside home. We convinced the Realtor it would be to his advantage to work with us and not against us. We already agreed on the price for the home but had to convince the city Realtor that even though he lived close (only 90 minutes away) we were the logical choice because Sylvan Lake is our market; after all, we had great marketing, our website was in first page positions on Google and the others, we lived right there to accommodate viewings—plus we had an impressive list of buyers just waiting for the right product. The homeowner agreed to a joint listing. We put the home up on the website on a Friday afternoon and we got the call Friday night from an out-of-town buyer who found us on the ‘net and had created a listing alert for lakeside homes. When he got home from work, he saw the notification in his e-mail, logged in and viewed the details. He called and made an appointment to see the home Saturday. We had the offer in-hand by Monday. This property was exactly what the buyer was looking for. We closed that deal in 12 days, got the seller 98% of his list price ($747,500) and did it all in a nearly dead market place, all because of the power of the Web and our ability to sell homes there because of our ability to be found there.” 

Buyers and Sellers from Anywhere
Since being able to be found online, Willard has sold homes to people from England and sold one for people in Thailand. Willard’s marketplace is a town called Sylvan Lake in the province of Alberta, which is situated in close proximity to two of Alberta’s largest cities, Edmonton and Calgary. It’s a small town with a cosmopolitan atmosphere. You can feel the energy coursing through this town. Sylvan Lake has become a residential hub for people working in the oil and gas industries, commuters working in the City of Red Deer, people who work and service the town itself and recreational users who inhabit the town and summer villages year round or on a seasonal basis. In the past, Willard would sell between 80 and 85 units annually. Despite the economic slowdown worldwide, he continues to sell properties at a rate that assures that he won’t be hurting anytime soon. 

From a Complete Skeptic to a Believer
“You have no idea how skeptical we were when we made the decision to give online marketing one more try. Now, we feel like it should be our best kept secret,” Willard continued. “We are so pleased by all the levels of service and the fact that this vendor did everything they said they were going to do. Not only that, anytime I had a question or a problem the support team has been able to answer it or solve it. Their IT guys are amazing, our CSR and our lead generation specialist tells it like it is. If he thinks an idea won’t work or won’t benefit us he says so- and we appreciate that. Some companies just say, ‘sure, if you want to do that it’ll cost you this’ and they don’t care if it works or not. All they care about is their revenue. Our online marketing services company not only cares about our success, no one in service or IT ever tries to sell you anything because there’s nothing else to buy. There are no “extras” or “upgrades.” Our subscription has one cost and we can’t buy anything else—everything is included.” 

“My subscription brought me 10 times my annual investment in the first six months I subscribed. We are very pleased and we are hoping it continues to do that and better for a very long time. Other than my great assistant, Patti, my online marketing service is the most valuable tool I possess and I now have the confidence that we will become even better Internet Realtors as time goes on. That’s a pretty huge turnaround and believe me, it’s a pleasure to feel that way in these times.” 

Mike Parker has written more than 200 published articles about online marketing services for Realtors. For help in making your Internet marketing successful even if you’ve had experiences like Willard Morris or to request a free review of your website to determine if it can be found by internet buyers and if it is set up to be effective for you, click here and we’ll review it for you at no cost or obligation. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

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Robb Murry
Chief Marketing Officer
The Personal Marketing Company
www.tpmco.com 

Building an effective personal brand goes beyond an elaborate personal logo and catchy tagline; it lies within how consumers in your market perceive you. Whether you are managing it, or even aware of it, every contact with a consumer defines and reinforces your personal brand. From your personal website and e-mail marketing, to your Facebook page and the way you answer your phone, all of the marketing communications you distribute work together to define your personal brand. 

Your brand personality is how customers perceive you, for better or worse. Managing that perception across every contact with consumers is critical in today’s market where consumers increasingly perceive all real estate agents to be the same. To set yourself apart, you must differentiate your personal brand from your competitor’s. 

Over the years, many agents have gotten away with selling or providing great service alone without truly managing a personal brand. Changes in the market and how agents are marketing themselves have made it clear that achieving long-term success in real estate requires an effective personal brand. 

How well do you manage your personal brand? Do your customers’ perceptions match the personality you want them to see? How well do you manage these perceptions? Here’s a great way to grade yourself on how well you’re managing your personal brand. 

1. Do you treat clients like real people? Your commission check might come from a company, but people are choosing to work with you. Your marketing should speak directly to the person about things that are important to them. Hint: All good marketing makes an emotional connection with consumers, not a factual one. Make sure your marketing message communicates the answer to the old advertising idiom WIFM (What’s in it for me?) 

2. What’s different? Are you really any different from the other agents in your market? Trying to differentiate on great service is a common mistake. The customer expects it rather than viewing it as an added benefit—every other agent in your market can promise great service. You must find the benefit to the consumer that only you provide. Your “one big thing” must be relevant to your customer as well as to you. 

3. How does your brand make them feel? What’s the emotional takeaway that your clients receive when they do business with your brand? In marketing, it’s called your “higher order” benefit. Do they feel comfort knowing you are minding the details in their best interest? Or maybe they feel empowered because of your strong negotiating skills on their behalf? Make sure you are communicating how they feel when they do business with your brand. 

4. Does every touchpoint build your brand? Make sure that your one-of-a-kind personal brand is reinforced in every exposure people have with you. Your e-mails, direct mail, your personal website, the message on your voicemail, even your latest tweet on Twitter. Your goal is that if your name was covered up on your marketing pieces, someone familiar with your brand would still know it was from you. 

5. Do you deliver your marketing message in a memorable and appealing way? Defining your personal brand in today’s market is not optional, it’s necessary. Your brand should be constantly re-evaluated to make sure the message is consistent and the right message for your audience. Agents who do not maintain the brand experience in today’s competitive market will not survive.

Always remember that your clients are people with real lives, dealing with daily challenges. Your well-rounded brand message should be targeted and communicated across all marketing channels. The key to managing your personal brand is to have a marketing plan in place for your business. 

Define your message and develop an effective plan for getting that message out to consumers in a clear and consistent way. Otherwise, you’re leaving it up to the customer to decide your personal brand…without input from you. It’s then that you find you’re just another real estate agent among thousands of choices. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

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