January Marketing Minute
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January 2012 |
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Happy New Year from Homes & Land! |
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Quality Magazine - Your listings are showcased in thousands of Homes & Land magazines distributed throughout the local area. In addition, Homes & Land annually distributes 40 million magazines across North America - all displaying our 800 number and Web address. |
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Targeted Direct Mail - Homes & Land is mailed directly to qualified prospects who are actively buying and selling real estate. This includes home sellers (who are also homebuyers), FSBOs, and targeted zip codes where real estate is moving. |
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Online Exposure |
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HomesAndLand.com - Your listings are automatically uploaded to HomesAndLand.com. Our site provides the rich media tools home shoppers want including multiple photos; neighborhood, school and comparables data; virtual tours; videos; and much more. |
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Online Syndication - Consumers visit a variety of websites in their real estate search. We syndicate your listings to over 20+ high traffic partners including Trulia, Zillow, and Yahoo! Real Estate. |
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Luxury Listings - We upload your luxury listings to WallStreetJournal.com, NewYorkTimes.com and duPontRegistry.com, websites that effectively reach households with high incomes. |
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Technology Solutions |
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Mobile Devices - HomesAndLand.com delivers property information in a format designed for smart phones. Homes & Land also includes a QR code feature to instantly connect your print and online advertising. |
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Social Media - Share your listings on Facebook, Twitter and post EZTours on YouTube directly from the Control Panel. In addition, you can create attractive ads on Craigslist with just a few clicks. |
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Virtual Tours - Studies show that listings with rich media attract more buyers. That's why we automatically create an EZTour of your listing when you submit six or more photos - with no additional equipment to buy or vendors to deal with. These tours can be shared through email and other websites. |
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Competitive Edge |
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Client Contact Program - We mail a copy of Homes & Land magazine directly to your sellers to show them how hard you're working to market their property. Better communication keeps sellers happy and helps you build repeat and referral business. |
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Personal Website - Advertising with Homes & Land includes a personal website for you to list all your inventory and link to your other sites. It's an easy way to increase your Internet exposure. |
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Listing Flyers - Create listing flyers instantly from our Control Panel. Our templates are easy to use and create professional listing flyers you can print or email to help market your listings. In addition, we have several marketing flyers you can personalize to include in your listing presentations. |
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Make your real estate print advertising more effective
Imagine you get a call from a prospective home seller and they want to speak with you about listing their home for sale. Great! You're a terrific real estate agent and looking forward to meeting with them to go over how you can get their home sold. You meet them at their house and immediately upon walking inside you notice... clutter everywhere!
Do you want to try and sell the home with the clutter? No! You know how difficult it will be to get people to look at the home much less make an offer with all this clutter! Obviously, you're going to have to educate them about removing the clutter from their home in order for you to be able to do your job which is to help them sell their house. You may even help them stage their home properly to present the home in the best way possible.
Now, consider your print advertising. Do you need to remove some of the clutter from your ad?
However, a properly designed ad invites prospects in for a long look at you and your listings.
What do you do if your budget doesn't allow you to advertise all your listings? Let's say you have 24 listings but you don't have the budget to buy 2 pages to properly display all your listings. I recommend you advertise 12 of your listings on a full page ad from a variety of price ranges. You want your ad to appeal to the largest number of buyers so advertise listings from low, medium, and high prices if you have them. If all your listings are in a similar price point advertise the ones with the best curb appeal. The goal of your ad is to generate phone calls. We know from many years of experience that the property the buyer calls about is rarely the home they buy. It's simply a way to build a relationship with them so you can show them additional listings. Some of the listings you can show them will be some of your unadvertised listings in a similar price range!
What do you tell your sellers? They are expecting you to advertise their home! This is what I recommend you tell your home sellers... "I will be marketing some of my listings for sale in each issue of Homes & Land. The reason I'm advertising is to generate leads from additional buyers I might not reach otherwise. I know from experience the home they call about is not the home they usually buy but it's a way that I can start to work with them to help them find their dream home. I may not advertise your home in every issue but I will advertise a home in your price range so I can generate showings of your property. I will always promote my website where they can find all my listings including yours."
Cramming your ad full of all your listings just to satisfy every seller is going to work as well as it is trying to sell a home full of clutter. The seller is happy because their home is being advertised but the buyers won't be calling because it's cluttered! Less is more! Find a budget that works for you and advertise a variety of listings that fit properly in that space. If you have the budget to advertise all your listings properly, great! If not, choose listings from different price ranges and keep your ad clean.
Watch this short video to learn more
For additional tips and makeovers visit HomesAndLand.com/design
November Marketing Minute
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November 2011 |
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From the Publisher |
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"I have been advertising in Homes & Land Magazine for over 9 years and have received more calls through Homes & Land than any other media. Your magazine is part of my listing presentation and my sellers are so impressed! Clients mention that they have seen my ads in Homes & Land and I feel that I have built name recognition through advertising with you. You offer a terrific tool - thank you for your services." |
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The Season Isn't as Slow as You Might Think |
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Advertising That Works |
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The Six Fears of Buyers and Sellers |
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"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." |
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Marketing Minute Edited by Adrian Amos |
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July Marketing Minute - Chris Cortazzo, Facebook update, and more!
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From the Publisher Welcome to our July marketing minute. |
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"Throughout the 14 years of my Real Estate career, Homes & Land has proven to be an important and effective marketing tool for my business."
Chris Cortazzo, #1 Coldwell Banker Producer Nationally and Internationally
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Export Listings to Your Facebook Page
You already know how important your Facebook account is for connecting with clients and prospects. You have both your personal Profile and business Page already set up to work leads and market listings � if only the marketing part were less time consuming� Now it is with the new Facebook Page export feed. |
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Despite the Gloom, Now is the Time to Buy
Recent sales numbers for real estate have been quite gloomy. No doubt there is some tough sledding ahead; however, this article from the Wall Street Journal explains why the gloom may not last long. The article is not ony an interesting read, it includes important information to show your prospects and clients why the best time to act is now. |
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Scripts for Getting a Buyer to Meet with You
Homebuyers are often reluctant to meet with an agent. Maybe that�s because buyers are unclear about the benefits a knowledgeable agent brings to the table. Real estate trainer and author Dirk Zeller offers scripts to help you communicate the benefits to prospects and get the appointment. |
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Branding is about more than just having a logo. It's about having a well thought out marketing plan that involves social media campaigns, advertising and online marketing. --Greg Pitstick, SmartGuideToMarketing.com
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June Marketing Minute
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June 2011 | |
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From the Publisher June Marketing Minute | |
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"Our sales are soaring, even in this economy. We are receiving more and more inquiries from serious buyers that have seen our listings in Homes & Land. Every marketing dollar counts and our investment in Homes & Land is paying off big. Our team is now "Number One" in Kitsap County for actual closed sales. Thank you for all your help completing our marketing package. Our clients appreciate the first-class presentation of their properties and we love all the exposure our listings receive." - Mike & Sandi Nelson, Leaders in Marketing Exceptional Properties, Seattle/Kitsap County, WA Kitsap County's Top Real Estate Team 2010; 2009 & 2010 "#1 Top Producers Award" Coldwell Banker Danforth; 2010 "International President's Circle Award" Coldwell Banker; Top 1% Closed Sales Nationally 2010 | |
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How to Reach the "New Internet" Consumers Smartphones are changing the way consumers browse the Internet. Cisco reports that mobile-data traffic tripled in 2010, growing 159%. And it's no wonder - over 54 million smartphones were sold last year alone. In addition, Google reported that over 79% of top websites are not mobile-enabled. Are you capturing the mobile surfers? Maybe so. Learn More | |
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Are You Asking the Closing Questions? by Art Sobczak What percent of the people in your follow-up file do you feel will ever do business with you? Sixty percent? More? Less? You're fairly typical if you answered 50% or less. Begin cleaning up your "non-prospect" prospects now by asking this cleansing question. Read Article | |
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Use Photography to Sell More Sell Real Estate The quality of your property photos can directly relate to a listing's closing price and its length of time on the market. These simple tips can help you improve your photos - and your bottom line. Here's How | |
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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. - Winston Churchill | |
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April marketing minute
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April 2011 | |
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From the Publisher Upcoming deadlines Professional real estate videos for agents in Greater Knoxville We've got a great new contact management system which will help you stay in touch with your current clients, past clients, and prospects. It allows you to create and send custom post cards, greeting cards, and gifts/gift cards. It's super easy to use and the cards are less than $1! Contact Russell Haskins at 865-680-4233 for details. | |
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"I've been in the real estate business for about 4 years. I run a very personal business keeping up with my referrals and sphere of influence, so I wasn't convinced print would add to my business growth. I am very happy with the results we've gotten. We use a call tracking number to scientifically track our advertising and know exactly how many phone calls we receive. In the past couple of weeks we've received over 40 calls from six listings advertised in Homes & Land of Berks County." -Jeff Dieffenbach, Dieffenbach & Kusmierz, Exit Diamond Realty Wyomissing, PA | |
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QR Codes Made Easy with Homes & Land QR Codes are the latest innovation in real estate marketing. And Homes & Land has made it easy to include one in your ad. Homebuyers can scan the code with their smartphone to see more photographs and get more details about your advertised listings. Here's How | |
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Need Design Ideas? There are lots of ways to display listings in your advertising. The design elements you use have a direct impact on the overall look of your ad and the leads it generates from homebuyers. Graphic designer Kim Collier shares nine different ways to show the same listing - highlighting a reduced price and the location without using a single starburst. See Samples | |
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Do You Need to Be Lucky to Succeed? by Dr. Maya Bailey, RISMedia Have you ever believed that something outside yourself is responsible for your success or lack of success? It's easy to fall into the trap of feeling like a 'victim.' One of my clients recently brought up an old belief she's had for decades: "I have to be lucky to succeed." When asked how she would benefit from changing that belief she answered, "I would be more motivated to take action." Read Article | |
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"Mark Twain said that Wagner wrote music that was better than it sounds. It's an interesting way to think about marketing. Is your product/service better than it sounds, or does it sound better than it is? We call the first a discovery, something worthy of word of mouth. The second? Hype." Seth Godin | |
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What Industry Leaders Are Saying
Give Your Ad “Curb Appeal”
Real estate listing flyers
March Marketing Minute
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March 2011 | |
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Homes & Land has had the greatest single impact on my business in the last 18 months - more than any other form of advertisement. I routinely hear from buyers and sellers, "I see your name everywhere." That means I am doing my job! I can't guarantee to sell a client's home, but I do guarantee that I will market it more extensively than any other agent and Homes & Land makes that possible! My clients appreciate the quality of the publication, the value in the Internet leads and they know that I am going the extra mile for them. When all things are equal, sellers will choose an agent based on fee. I make sure the service is not equal. My level of service far out-shines the rest and my clients not only see that, they take it to the bank! Thank You Homes & Land - you have made my job a little easier! Janet Cox, Charlotte, NC Top 100% Club Re/Max; Top Listing Agent in Lincoln County 2010; Top Selling Agent in Lincoln County 2010; Top Sales Agent Re/Max Crossroads 2010 | |
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WSJ.com Reports Good Sign for Housing The Wall Street Journal reported cash buyers are grabbing up real estate deals and "breathing life into some of the nation's most battered housing markets." The jump in cash purchases is also a sign of revival for the economy. While it isn't clear if housing prices have bottomed, current bargains are luring buyers into the market. Read More | |
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Powerful Closing Strategies by Bernice Ross, Inman News You walk into a listing appointment, have great rapport with the sellers, do a great job on your presentation, and when you're ready to close for the listing they say, "We're interviewing three other agents -- we'll get back to you." What do you do? When most people think of closing skills, they normally think about high-pressure tactics. While you can close clients with this approach, it often results in resentment or cancellation of the deal later. Read More | |
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Use Photographs to Make More Connections Online We've said before how important good, high quality photography is in marketing your listing. Remember, this is your first chance to capture someone's interest - and the Wall Street Journal reported study findings that "quality photos increase the likelihood that a home will sell& for higher asking prices." Photography can also help you connect with your clients and prospects - and help you brand yourself as the expert in your niche market. Here's How | |
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"It's easy to look at the success of top producers and think that a) their success happened overnight, and b) they never struggled. Both assumptions are incorrect. They are just as human as the next person in the desire for quick results. However, they never-ever wait around for them to just happen." Michael Russer, a.k.a. Mr. Internet | |
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