Friday Five for March 22
Happy Friday. Can you believe that we are almost through the first quarter of 2013. time to stop for a second and think about what you have done so far this year. I know I have never worked harder as the challenges of a very confused market seem to be on the minds of every agent I know. Well never fear, The Friday Five is here. Find a quiet spot, make yourself comfortable and read some great posts that will help grow and define your business.
Still think video is for the birds? Consider what impact Youtube has made to our lives and you might reconsider. Quiet frankly, video is changing how we connect with our customers. http://youtube-global.blogspot.ca/2013/03/onebillionstrong.html
Are you looking for cool blogging tools to enhance your business blog? Social Media Examiner asked a group of blogging pros to share the favorite new tools they’ve recently discovered. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/29-tools-to-enhance-your-business-blog/
There are many reasons why people say no to the sale, and most often it’s not because they’re not interested. No is the answer of no risk. Yes is the answer of risk. We know that in previous studies, it takes on average three to seven no’s before someone gets their yes. 90% of sales people give up after the first or second no. Okay so this is not exactly a social media and tech post but still…. http://ronkarr.com/blog/how-to-turn-a-no-into-a-yes/
Social media marketing is simple in one sense. Create content that adds value and then pop it out to as many people’s eyeballs as possible. That’s reach. If you do it well then the crowd shares and it travels around the world at the speed of a click. Get lucky it and it goes viral and those thousands turn into millions. Check out these….6 Ways to Expand Your Social Media Reach.
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/03/22/6-ways-to-expand-your-social-media-reach/#sA8TB63lK7vOz90k.99
This one is timely since it was my meeting topic this week. I had a guest panel of Bosley Real Estate agents that talked about event marketing. Seems there is more to it then connecting with potential clients. There is an opportunity to get the news out to your social media channels. Ta Da! http://bizo.me/EB2rB
That’s it for me. I’m off to Ottawa for the CREA Annual General Meeting as a representative of the Toronto Real Estate Board.
Staying On Top of Advances In The Real Estate Industry
Have you heard the old expression, Nothing is as constant as change? True words to live by. On my morning run I extended my route through an area that I am quiet familiar with but hadn’t really stepped foot into in a number of months. I almost couldn’t recognize the new Liberty Village. I tried to think back to a time before all the tall buildings were there. Before the stores, and restaurants. It doesn’t seem that long ago that this was just a big old unkept field. Like many other neighbourhoods, the pace of change has been unmeasurable. While developers, planners, architects, construction crews are all scrambling to keep up, so to have the real estate agents that have carved out clever little niches to service these areas. Obviously they are the ones who have recognized that a need exists and have taken the time to build a strategy around becoming the expert in their neighbourhoods. It is the concept of “hyper local marketing” to the fullest.
So too have advances in social media and technology, particularly in real estate, changed the way we reach out and build connections with buyers and sellers. This technology simply didn’t exist 10 years ago and if the notion of “nothing is as constant as change” holds true, the way we do business ten years from now is probably going to be even more different. One of the favourite water cooler chats between agents who started 15+ years ago usually starts with “remember when we had tear sheets and carbon paper?” New rules regarding agency, representation and education have come into play and sooner than later we will have a new Condominium Act (as full disclosure, I am the chair of the Condominium Committee for TREB and we are involved in helping rewrite this legislation). It is safe to say that yesterday’s agent is either welcoming these new rules and technologies and trying to adapt or are simply getting left behind.
So, the point of all this is, like changing neighbourhoods, OUR business is in a constant state of change. The information playing field has changed. Once we were the keepers of the information. If you wanted to buy a house you HAD to contact us. Now available properties are as easy to find as a parking space downtown….well almost. Our new role is that of trusted advisor and with that comes a lot of responsibility. What are you doing today to guarantee that you are going to stay out in front of your competition?
The Three R’s of Real Estate. Routine, Routine Routine
Happy Friday. At this week’s Bosley Awards Night I was having a chat with one of our top agents who had taken up the 1000km challenge. he was asking me which runs were the hardest. Was it the first 5, 10, or 20? I joked a week ago when I said that running a 1000 kms was a simple two-step process….get up in the morning and run. The truth is that all the runs are hard but the process get easier over the year, not because you are getting fitter (although that is a natural byproduct) but because you get used to the routine. Like everything else, getting started is the tough part. Last year, when I started the 1000km journey, it was the first 20 or so that were the most difficult. Then it became a routine and I found that I coasted through the next 70. Once you set your sights on the end goal it feels like you are running downhill. Just like a marathon, you work hard to get out in front, then find your groove and settle in for long haul. It’s not until you see the finish line that you reach deep and find the energy to sprint to the finish line. The great thing about finding your perfect real estate routine is that there is no sprint required.
I’m reminded of another agent who works at our Merton office. Every morning he spends the first hour or so contacting previous clients. It is essentially a quick check in to keep him in the top of his client’s mind. Ask some basic questions about the kids, wish someone a happy birthday and then maybe a quick little update on real estate or news on what is happening on the street. Do you think it was hard for him to start doing this? Absolutely. Do you think it is still hard? Probably not. Now it’s just a part of his daily routine. So think about how you could apply the concept of routine building to your real estate business? Contacting your past clients is perhaps more important than finding new ones. Remember that one happy client can recommend you to several others. It’s called “Referral Business” and it is the cheapest way to grow your business.
