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Mike Blaney

Marketing For Realtors: Using Your Sphere of Influence

By Marketing Strategy, Realtor Marketing

Do you ever wonder why you are not getting referrals from your sphere of influence; the friends, family, clients, business associates and alliances that know you best?

It usually boils down to two or three problems all of which we are guilty of at one time or another.

1. You are not asking them for referrals.
2. They don’t know you need referrals.
3. You don’t follow up and acknowledge referrals.

Why don’t people automatically refer business to you?

For the same reason you are not referring business to them. People are busy, they forget about you in their day to day life, they are not sure what exactly you do or that you even want referrals.

Our basic human nature is to help others, but we also don’t want to impose ourselves on others. In the absence of a clear message from you that you are building your business on referrals it is implied that you are doing fine without them.

I think there are four main elements involved in generating referrals:

1. Networking – business and social
2. Marketing – All of the visible, written aspects of spreading your brand
3. Communication – verbal activities related to contacting your sphere of influence
4. Responsiveness – The follow up of the referral and the recognition of the person referring

You need to be good at all four of these elements to build a successful referral business.

Networking

Networking is all of the activities, both social and business that bring you into contact with potential customers or clients. These activities should turn total strangers into warm prospects and potential referral business with a few simple follow-up steps. When you make a connection with someone and earn the right to contact them again you need to concentrate on building trust and communicating what you do effectively. You might send them a handwritten thank you note, an email or letter with your business card acknowledging your new relationship and your willingness to help each other.

Marketing

Your marketing efforts which include all of your printed material, web site, brochures and email stationery are the tools you use to communicate your brand and build awareness of your business. Pay careful attention to the message you are sending. When you meet people are you making excuses for your business cards? Are you adding additional information on the back that you should have had printed on there in the first place? If you have a picture on your business card does it look like you? When you follow-up with a referral does all of your marketing material communicate the same, professional image?

Communication

Communicating with your sphere of influence is vital to your success. Before the advent of email we used to phone or write letters to our sphere of influence. Now it is too easy to fire off a quick email or send a newsletter electronically and think we are actually reinforcing our relationships. Don’t fall into the trap that any communication is good communication. Pick up the phone. Talk to people. Tell them what you do. Ask how they are doing. Ask if you can help their business and ask them for referrals.

You need to develop follow-up systems tailored to the strength of the relationship you have with your sphere of influence. You can communicate too much. For example, your friends are part of your sphere of influence, but you might communicate 4 times a year through a birthday card, Christmas card, invitation to an event and a meeting at a social gathering. This might be all they need to remember that you would appreciate their referrals.

Clients who have recently worked with you should have their own follow-up system which might consist of an immediate thank you card follow-up; a personal letter within 6 weeks; a telephone call at the 3 month mark and then a monthly newsletter. The actual system you develop is going to be one that you can sustain and effectively communicates your message.

Responsiveness

Your responsiveness to both the referral and the person referring is also critical to the long term success of a referral relationship. Bottom line is that when we refer someone we want to feel appreciated by both the person we are referring and the person who we referred them to. If you do not respond in a timely, professional manner it is a reflection on our judgment and it doesn’t take too many complaints from people we are referring to cut off referrals.
Conversely, if we do not receive recognition for a referral it does not take long for us to feel unappreciated and fall back into forgetting about your business.

There is no foolproof system for building referral business, but I do know this about most businesses:

  • You need to be actively networking in business and social environments to grow your sphere of influence.
  • You need to use the phone and written communication more than you use email.
  • You need to communicate effectively what you do and what types of referrals you are looking for.
  • You need to respond promptly to referrals.
  • You need to thank people for referrals.
  • You need to refer to people in your sphere of influence.

Check out our series of more than 20 Marketing For Realtors E-Books by clicking here. Don’t be afraid. We may never contact you and worst case we will email you once. Not a bad trade for access to our experience.

Download and share this E-Book as a pdf by clicking here.

SEO for Real Estate – No Shortcuts – Take the Long Route

By Realtor Marketing, SEO

Just as there  is no sure get-rich quick scheme there is not fast track to a first page ranking of your website. SEO is an on-going process interrupted with every algorithm update released by Google or Bing. While there have been at least 5 updates to the Google algorithm and no one know for sure what they all are the one thing the experts agree on is – Content is King.

If you want your website on page 1 of a search it has to deserve to be there. To deserve to be there your website has to answer the search query in context. In short, if all of the words the person types in the search box are not found in context on your website then you will not appear on page 1. You can’t blame Google. If they do not put the best results on page 1 there is a good chance you will rely less on the internet or you will use Google less often and that means lost revenue.

Search engine optimization (SEO) for Realtors is a process. It starts with making sure all of the static items are checked off like keyword Page Titles and Descriptions, H1 headings on pages and lots of relevant content. Then the next step is to update the content on your website regularly through blog posts and by adding complete pages of relevant content related to what you want your website to be found for.

So what do we recommend?

  1. Add content worth reading focusing on the area, type of real estate and type of client you are trying to attract.
  2. Conduct searches using the keywords you want to be found for and see what websites on page 1 are doing to get there.
  3. Monitor your Google Analytics to see what pages are being visited and if your blog posts are being indexed and read,
  4. Develop a sustainable blogging program. A 2 line blog post with a great keyword title every day will eventually outrank a long blog post added once a month.

Contact us for more information about our guest blogging services and search engine optimization services.

6 Marketing Mistakes Realtors Should Avoid

By Marketing Strategy, Realtor Marketing

There are more than 6 mistakes, but these are the top ones:

Relying on Referrals

For a new Realtor with no experience this can break your spirit and your bank account, but your raving fans will refer you based on your character and how they perceive you. After the first year or two a Realtor generally will get 60 – 80% of their business from referral, but only if they have a system to earn referrals. New Realtors cannot rely on their sphere of influence as much and will have to employ strategies to identify and attract new clients.

Relying on Networking

Networking can also be a good way to attract new leads, but it is also time consuming and can take a while to bear fruit. The best form of networking is open houses. Sit at as many as you can.

Competing on Commission

The key to success in running your business is to ensure your revenues exceed your expenses so discounting is a slippery slope.  As a “consultative marketer” you are justifying your commission every step of the way and there should be no need to discount.  In a sustainable business model price shopping clients are loyal only to rock bottom prices – they have no loyalty to you.

Relying on your Name and Reputation

Unless you are in constant contact with your sphere of influence they will soon forget to refer clients to you.  Not because they don’t like you, but because they forgot about you.  It is not your client’s responsibility to provide you with a steady stream of referrals. You must stay top of mind in a balanced way.

Curtailing Marketing When Business is Good

A successful Realtor implements their marketing plan month in and month out regardless of their success, because as fast as the hopper filled it can empty even faster.  A systematic marketing plan will generate leads on a consistent basis regardless of the state of the economy and overall market.

Focusing Marketing Material on Details Rather Than the Big Picture

Everything your prospects see has to have a headline and a call to action.  All marketing material must be consistent and grab attention. If you can’t get their attention, they won’t read the piece.

Contact us at Limelight Marketing to learn how we can help you avoid these mistakes. 604-618-5512 or toll free 1-800-568-8338 or email info@limelightmarketing.ca.

Realtor Client Appreciation Ideas

By Marketing Strategy, Realtor Marketing

I originally contributed this blog post for the Real Estate Weekly website.

Creating a client appreciation is about creating a “return on experience” vs “return on investment”.

I can’t remember where I read the quote that client appreciation events are for “friend-raising, not fund-raising”, but it is great advice.  A good event involves all five senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and of course taste which is usually everyone’s favorite!  It’s important to be involved with the client throughout the event so they do more than just see and hear you speak.

What do you want to accomplish?

  • Build a foundation of trust, which solidifies loyalty
  • Reveal your depth of character to build friendship
  • Share your mission, your business philosophy
    Show your appreciation
  • Gather important life information about your clients and referrals

The secret to a successful client appreciation event is having an effective marketing strategy and planning. Now the planning part is obvious, but why is the marketing strategy important? You need to be aware of the perception the event is going to create and how the event will impact your business. By nature it is to show your appreciation for their business, but the choice of event and the venue will have a major impact on the results.

  • Will you be mingling or sitting in an audience?
  • Will there be an opportunity for your clients to network among themselves?
  • Will they be feeling they are participating in a cause such as a charity event or simply enjoying themselves?

A successful event should be seen not only as an opportunity to make your clients feel appreciated, but it should iStock_000020730459smalldemonstrate that you care about them too by ensuring they can meet new people and potentially help their businesses too. Keep in mind some of these events will be high touch and some will allow little contact with your clients.

Generally client appreciation events fall into four major categories:

  1. Charitable Events – Hosting an event where the proceeds go to charity or paying the fee for your clients to participate in an event like a golf tournament or gala evening for a cause.
  2. Sporting and Recreational – Hosting a golf tournament, family softball game, a night at the horse races, tickets to a hockey or baseball game etc
  3. Cultural and the Arts – Inviting clients to plays, concerts, art shows etc.
  4. Educational – Inviting clients to a seminar, to listen to a speaker, to learn something such as a cooking class or travel lecture.

When you choose an event think about the following:

  • Does this fit in with the image of me and or my business?
  • Is it high touch or low touch? Will I be able to meet clients one-on-one?
  • How much will the event cost?
  • How much of my time will be required prior to the event?
  • What will be the lasting impact of the event?
  • What do I hope to achieve from this event? Intrinsic value? Financial return?
  • Will my clients mingle well together or should I hold two events and segment my guests?
  • How will I invite guests and ensure they actually attend?

Event Ideas

Get your client appreciation dollars to stretch further and identify the kinds of events that will have clients remembering you in a positive light — and not just for the free food and drinks.

Start by breaking event ideas down into two basic components; place and activity. Next focus on making each of those components unique and as “outside the box” as possible. Here are a wide range of ideas for events:

  1. Have clients collect winter coats and blankets and drop them off at a location where you serve hot chocolate and a BBQ lunch
  2. Rent a movie theatre for mid-day
  3. Bring in a guest speaker
  4. Host a paper shredding party
  5. Invite clients to a cooking class
  6. Wine & Cheese tasting at a local restaurant or wine store
  7. Chocolate tasting at a local Chocolatier
  8. Private tour of the zoo
  9. Create a Scavenger Hunt for clients and a have a party after
  10. Host a car rally
  11. Old-fashioned family picnic (bouncy castles etc)
  12. Halloween and holiday parties like an Easter egg hunt
  13. Bowling tournament
  14. Casino night with proceeds to a charity
  15. Rent out a public pool for a family swim night
  16. Rent the IMAX Theatre for a special showing
  17. Have a magician teach clients magic tricks
  18. Host a dinner cruise
  19. Reserve go-carts at the local track
  20. Sports Fishing charter

Implementation

First steps:

  1. Choose a date – don’t be afraid of week night events.
  2. Send actual invitations approximately 30 days before the event with an RSVP time of 10 days before the event.  A rule of thumb is 1/3 will attend.

Call clients on the list after the RSVP date if you have too few attending. You can then start inviting new people or encourage your attendees to bring along extra friends and family.

Set-Up Tips:

  • Be at the entrance to greet your guests.
  • Have all guests wear name tags (preferably greet guests at the door after the name tags have been applied).

Tips for success:

  • Have the event catered.
  • Take lots of pictures or have a photographer.
  • If you have staff or a team have them do as little work at the event a possible so they can mingle and enjoy the guests – Get outside help.
  • Think of using a Polaroid so clients can take them home.
  • Have door prizes and raffles for extra fun.
  • Do not be discouraged if your first-year turnout is small.
  • Send a thank-you note to attendees.
  • Send a newsletter afterwards with pictures to all you have invited so everyone who did not attend can see how much fun it is.
  • Do not have any business-related discussions at the event unless you are specifically asked, then ask to follow-up with a phone call and book an appointment later – Just focus on fun.

Worried about the cost?

Find a Sponsor

Another way to lower costs on client events is to work with a partner, such as an accountant , mortgage broker, conveyancing lawyer, home inspector or floor plan or staging company that is willing to split the bill with you to reach the same type of crowd.

One of the key criteria for a client appreciation event is to provide an event that makes the participant feel like they are part of something special. Often it is not how much you spend on the event, but it is how you spend that will make the difference.

The bottom line is to really have clients appreciate the relationship they have with you and your business.

Check out our series of more than 20 Marketing For Realtors E-Books by clicking here. Don’t be afraid. We may never contact you and worst case we will email you once. Not a bad trade for access to our experience.

Branding by Limelight

Branding, Slogans and Logos for Realtors

By Branding, Marketing Strategy, Realtor Marketing

Branding, Slogans and Logos for Realtors

How to uncover the unique brand that sets you apart from all the other honest, hard-working, professional, results-oriented Realtors out there.Branding-Slogans-and-Logos-for-Realtors

Branding

Even if you have never spent a penny on branding you are a brand already.

There’s a lot of confusion about the term “branding.” This list comes from What Language are We Speaking?
Understanding the Day-To-Day Jargon of Designers & Printers, care of Unisource Canada, Inc.*

A brand promises a result and experience you can count on. A Brand is intangible – It is the meaning or feelings you associate with a service, company or product. If five people are asked to describe a well-known brand, you may get different descriptions; however, there will be similarities. These similarities are the brand, and they are very powerful.

  1. A Brand is not a logo – A logo only identifies the brand; it is an entry point.
  2. A Brand is not an identity system – An identity system only controls the expression of the brand. Identity systems often called branding systems) are created to express the brand in a consistent and cost-effective way.
  3. A Brand is not a product – Many people talk about managing their brand, but they really are managing their product. The brand is often the reason we buy the product. People, corporations and countries can have brands.

How can a Realtor® create or identify their brand?

There are five things you need to identify to form your brand.

1. Identify What You Value – Your personal brand is ultimately a reflection of everything you value. So take time to really think about the things you value in your life. List them. Make sure the values you identify are truly your own because you must believe in and live by them every day. These values will become the foundation for your brand, as well as your personal mission statement.Nancy_Branding_Identity_Mockup

2. Identify What Makes You Unique – With your values as your foundation, the next step is to determine your specific uniqueness. Everyone is unique and special in some way. How are you different as an individual? How are you unique? And how are your products and services different? Incorporate this uniqueness into your brand.

3. Identify How You Want To Be Perceived – Branding is about other people’s perceptions of you. You have the power to control most of these perceptions with your actions and presentation.

4. Identify Your Specialty – Are you the neighbourhood expert? Are you an experienced real estate investor? If you want to be branded as the best value-added salesperson, then you have to bring extra value to every client or prospect meeting.

5. Identify Your Target Market – The goal of branding is to build customer loyalty. As you’re creating your brand, you need to determine your target market and speak directly to them. You want people to think that your brand will make a difference in their lives, so it must be meaningful to the end user.

Now Write Down Your Brand – Once you have identified the things that make you unique, you can weave them into a brand identity that will make you stand out from the crowd. You have to actually write the statement. A brand is a phrase that jumps out at you from the page and grabs your emotions.

By branding yourself, you separate yourself from the crowd and create a greater impact – for you.

Slogans and Taglines

I know a bit about this topic and have written a blog post about slogans that has been read by more than 191,000 people.

Firstly I believe your slogan either has to be a great one or you are better with none at all. A catchy slogan or tag line does nothing to strengthen your competitive position unless it clarifies your competitive edge.

There are a few basic questions you have to ask yourself when developing or critiquing your own slogan:

  • Does it answer the reader’s question about what’s in it for them?
  • Does it answer the reader’s question about how this will help them?
  • Does it solve a problem the reader might have related to real estate?
  • Is it about the reader or about you?

Last piece of advice is never use an adjective describing a personal trait. Realtors are all honest, have integrity and should be professional. A prospect wants to know what you can do for them. How will working with you make their life easier? The transaction smoother? Or sell their home faster.

Compare these slogans…

• Knowledgeable – Approachable – Trustworthy – Hard Working
• Rock Solid Bridge to Your Dreams
• The Agent with a Heart
• Honesty and integrity…always

… with these more effective ones:

• Anyone can sell your home. I can sell it for more.
• Take the worry out of condo buying. Call the specialist.
• Buying or selling a home doesn’t have to be hard.
• The strength of teamwork…The reputation for results.

Logos

Developing a great logo is a strange mix of art, science, psychology and a good amount of luck. Your logo is not your brand.

  • Your logo only represents your brand.
  • Your logo is a visual mark that represents your brand. It allows people needing the service you provide to find you, remember you and differentiate you from a few million other Realtors.
  • While your logo is not your brand, its design and consistent use will affect how your brand will be perceived. A great logo can give you incredible leverage and contribute directly to your bottom line. On the other hand, a lousy one may very well have the opposite effect.

 Designing a logo

• Good logos are designed in black and white first. Colour comes later.
• Good logos have unique shapes that quickly differentiate you. Your name in the right font is a shape and can be a logo.Jen Murphy - Monogram - Colour
• The shape must be simple, clean and quick.
• Logos should have staying power. Avoid trendy stuff.
• Is your logo scalable? Will it work on a business card and the back of a bus?
• Pick a colour combination that doesn’t just work today but will maintain its appeal and meaning over time. From our experience designing a logo is the hardest thing we do as our clients do not know what they want, but they definitely know what they don’t want based on what we design. Many times a logo literally pops out from the combination of the fonts, colour and slogan that we have designed.

If you hire a freelance designer through an online service or a local company expect to get what you paid for.

Check out our series of more than 20 Marketing For Realtors E-Books by clicking here. Don’t be afraid. We may never contact you and worst case we will email you once. Not a bad trade for access to our experience.

*Source: What Language are we speaking? Understanding the Day-To-Day Jargon of Designers & Printers. Care of Unisource Canada, Inc

Responsive Websites for Realtors

By Mobile Websites, Responsive Websites, Website Design, Wordpress

On April 21, 2015 Google went public with a change to their algorithm that sent website users into a panic. As of this date it was reported mobile-friendly websites would rank better than non-mobile optimized websites.

According to MOZ a leading source of Google algorithm information “In a rare move, Google pre-announced an algorithm update, telling us that mobile rankings would differ for mobile-friendly sites starting on April 21st. The impact of this update was, in the short-term, much smaller than expected, and our data showed that algorithm flux peaked on April 22nd.”

Regardless, Realtor websites are viewed more often on mobile devices than many industries so a responsive design that renders perfectly on iPads, iPhones and other hand held devices will give a Realtor an advantage.

Since that date Limelight Marketing exclusively designs and publishes Responsive designs using the Ubertor CMS.

New Website for Picton, ON Area Realtor Gail Forcht

By Branding, Marketing Strategy, Realtor Marketing, Responsive Websites, Ubertor, Website Design

Gail Forcht a Realtor in Picton, ON asked us to design a website that reflected the unique nature of the Prince Edward County area. The Responsive website opens with a great lake shot, call to action buttons with local photos and a slide show of the area. Uses the Ubertor CMS.

Added mouse over images to help lead people to their listing. Added a slide show with images of the area and optimized it for search engines. We forwarded her original domain Gail Forcht to a more appropriate url – www.propertyforsaleprinceedwardcounty.com

 

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