This idea submitted by agent Melody Pike explains how her local chamber of commerce sent out a spotlight article with her name and picture to all area residents… at no cost to her beyond the normal dues.

Here she is in her own words…

“Find out what it takes to become a chamber member and the benefits. In some smaller town’s chamber of commerce, if you become a new member they will do a spot light article on you in the monthly news print.

Check with the chamber to see if they do this and ask if you could be of some help by writing the article about you and provide a photo. The chamber I became a member of loved the idea and gave me a larger spot with the photo in the middle of the article.

It saved their staff time and allowed them to adjust the ad or space as needed. I ended up getting a great spot in the local chamber of commerce mailing that went to most of the area residents all for the price of the yearly chamber fees which I was going to do any way.”

Imagine having a group of 100 or 300 or even 500 people out in the market talking to others about you and your services?

Do you think their influential comments would make a difference in your production, getting you the “inside track” on new clients – especially in a tough market?

You bet it would.

Good market or bad, you need to be “firing on all cylinders” with your prospecting to generate the best clients possible. And we both know, referred and repeat-business clients are the very highest quality.

They qualify. They close. And they refer others just like themselves.

Here’s a quick little strategy to start building your “influence pool” of people out in the market raving about you and your services…

Have you ever been drawn in by a good story?

Not “Once upon a time” stories, but real-life stories that come out when people ask, “What’s going on in your life?”

Using stories can be a powerful tool to subtly influence people to think of “you” when they think real estate. They draw people in, create credibility, and stir them to action on your behalf.

People don’t know about your business unless you tell them. Here are 4 Steps for using the power of stories to program your friends, family and clients to send you ongoing referrals – without looking like you’re begging with hat in hand.

STEP # 1: Choose the Best Time to program for referrals

When’s the best time to subtly program people for referrals?

For a current client, DURING a transaction is the best time to ask for referrals. In your discussions with current clients there will be plenty of time to subtly program them to think of you when they learn of anyone needing real estate services.

It’s also a time when “real estate” is high on their mind.

When you encounter an objection when working with prospects or clients, tell how you handled the situation in the past (and specifically how there was a successful outcome).

When talking with friends and family they are inevitably going to ask you, “How’s business?” People you know are interested about what’s new in your life, what you are working on right now, etc. This is a perfect chance to tell them how you get your business.

Try opening like this…

“Actually business is great. I have 3 clients in escrow and 4 more I’m working with.

Since the majority of my clients come by referral, I regularly have people call me asking me to help their neighbor or brother, or someone they know at work.”

Then tell a story about a current client, how they came to you and what you are doing for them.

STEP # 2: Set the stage quickly and use specifics

Here’s what to include:

• Who you are talking about (give specific names)
• Where they came from (include their location)
• How you came to represent the client (i.e., a friend referred this person)
• What they were intending to do (i.e., the type of home or lot they were intending to buy or sell)

Be specific, but don’t go into too much detail here.

The most important part of this step is to tell HOW you received business. Give people a feel for how you operate in your real estate practice.

If you tell stories about how past clients came by referral, people will understand exactly how to help you. They’ll be “programmed” to think about you the next time they know someone who needs a caring and competent agent.

What do people know about HOW you do business?

Give them a way to help by telling them how others have helped you, referring you business.

STEP # 3: Keep your focus on THEM

People are intrigued by stories when they can relate – if they’ve been in a similar situation, or could be in one.

People are self-interested and want to solve their own problems and fulfill their desires first and foremost.

So think about your audience, and what’s most important to them right now. Then share what you can do for them in a unique and beneficial way.

Whenever you experience a difficult situation in real estate, or even while showing homes, give an example of someone else who faced the same situation or problem as your clients, and how you helped them.

This not only gives your clients confidence in your abilities, but you can also improvise and program for referrals by explaining how they reciprocated this great service by telling others about you.

Whenever you hear someone talking about real estate and a relevant past story is triggered in your mind… simply state how you used your resources to solve a problem for a past client.

This subtly “programs” the listeners to think of you when they (or someone they know) face a similar situation in the future.

These types of stories get passed around and shared, and suddenly you have hundreds of people telling their friends and family about you with no additional effort on your part.

Here are a few types of stories to showcase your service to get you thinking:

• Tell a story about how you helped a first-time homebuyer navigate the home-buying and financing process
• Tell a story about how you guided people through tough economic times by helping them pick an under-valued home, or by helping a seller get top dollar during a past down market
• Tell a story about how you helped an investor find a great income producing property under his deadline

One secret is to name a specialized process you used such as a “28-Point Maximum Home Value Audit” you used to help a seller understand exactly what their home was worth.

STEP # 4: Conclude with a Positive Result (and a subtle call to action)

Describe with clear details how the clients were satisfied. Communicate how the person benefited by speed of service, money saved, or money made.

Then describe how the clients reciprocated this gratitude (in the form of referrals of people they knew).

This strategy programs people to know what to do…how to take action on your behalf…to tell others what you do for clients and how people regularly send you referrals.

Want an example? Try this…

Notice how this story also says how quickly the client’s needs were met. That’s an excellent way to use specifics to communicate benefits of using your services.

Where else can you program for referrals?

You can put the referral programming power of stories in to your testimonials and include them in all your marketing.

Include stories as powerful testimonials in your:

• Newsletter
• Pre-Listing Packages and Presentations
• Buyer Packages
• Just Listed/Just Sold Postcards
• On your website
• On the back of your business cards
• Inserts into info-tubes

Try using short story referral programming in several areas of your practice, and you’ll be astonished how much additional business you’ll generate automatically – and most will come without you spending one thin dime.

Closing is the perfect time to give a gift that sets the tone for the post-transaction relationship.

Here’s a great example of a closing gift that continues to provide service to a buyer after closing. Agent Dave Dumas puts together a simple binder filled with business cards of services that the new home owner will most likely need. Buyers always need to call pool technicians, plumbers, even doctors or dentists in the local area.

Dave goes one step further and gives them all their transactions documents electronically.

Putting together a directory of service providers not only gives ongoing value to clients but can be a way for you to get sponsors for your marketing. Service For Life!^® subscribers have a ready-to-use template to highlight service providers and a Sponsorship Kit that helps them work with sponsors to send out their mailings.

Here’s Dave’s description in his own words…

“Client Closing Gift: With my buyers after closing I present a 3 ring binder with business card pages containing the business cards of service professionals in the local area.

I also have a couple empty pages so they can add additional business cards and keep it handy. I call it “Dave’s Referral Directory.” I also include a copy of all their transaction documents including their closing statement burned onto a CD. It is received very well by all even clients who have lived in the area for years.”

So much is changing so fast in real estate, it’s hard to know where to turn for reliable advice on growing your business – especially in today’s tricky market.

That’s why I want to share with you a proven, time-tested way to create any size income you want to make in real estate…a way to make your success a “mathematical certainty.”

It’s actually a modified excerpt from my recent book, “The Ultimate Real Estate Success Secret” and just by running this little 3-Step exercise will open up new opportunities and ideas for growing your business to exciting new heights.

So let’s get started…

Did you ever take physics in high school or college?

I cringe when I hear the word. But if you did take physics, you might have learned about an amazing concept called “Critical Mass.”

What is “Critical Mass” and what on earth does it have to do with real estate success?

“Critical Mass” occurs when an object or process in motion reaches such a momentum that it continues at that momentum…even increases that activity for long sustained periods of time – even forever!

And did you know that your real estate production can hit a point of “Critical Mass”?

It’s true. In fact, after teaching more than 18,000 agents how to get breakthrough production and lasting profits in real estate…

I Have Never Seen a Real Estate Practice Achieve Long-Term

Success WITHOUT Reaching Critical Mass™…

Yes, it’s that important. Let me explain further…

See…about 12 years ago…when I was working with small groups of agents, I coined the term “Critical Mass™” to explain the dynamic of growing such a strong “marketing momentum and personal market share” you actually start to generate 70%, 90%, even 100% of your clients from your created marketing momentum.

But more than that…I discovered a way to make your production continue to grow and grow almost automatically year after year.

Picture your real estate production like a small snowball in your hand. If you take that snowball and start rolling it down a hill, it will start growing bigger. And as it grows bigger it will start to take on its own momentum and start rolling itself.

And as it starts rolling faster, it also starts to get bigger…and bigger…and bigger. And as it gets bigger, it starts to roll faster…and faster…and faster.

Do you see what’s happening here?

At some point your snowball reaches a point of “Critical Mass™” where its accumulated momentum will keep it rolling and rolling and rolling.

So what happens when your real estate practice starts reaching Critical Mass™?

Amazing things start to happen…

Your production will multiply, and continue to grow for as long as you practice real estate, because you’re creating your own momentum…your own personal market share – it’s a mathematical certainty as you’ll soon see…

You will never cold prospect again…never face the humiliation and frustration of cold marketing – nearly all of your clients will come to you the easy way: by referral, word of mouth, and repeat business…

You will never face the brutal consequences of a slow market…

You will work half as much and stress a fraction of the amount you do now…and in the process you’ll make multiples of your present income.

Why will all these good things happen? Because…

You Will Spend Your Time Only On the Most Productive

Real Estate Activities: Working With Clients,

Closing Deals and Getting Paid!

Imagine if you could wake up each morning, and, instead of dreading your day cold prospecting or wondering where your next client is coming from, you relish in a steady flow of clients who want to work with you and only you.

It’s not a pipedream. It’s not a fantasy – agents are now doing it all the time.

But there’s a small problem.

See, most agents never reach Critical Mass™. They lurch from one bad effort to the next, because they never learn about the concept, or how to get there. So they either quit the business, or give up and sadly assume real estate needs to be a constant struggle.

And many of those who actually reach Critical Mass™ get there by accident…or take 10 to 20 years to reach that point.

Well, I’m here to tell you: You don’t have to be a victim of ignorance. You don’t have to struggle and strain or take 10 or 20 years to finally “make it” in real estate.

You can “short-cut” your success by 90% or more if you simply apply this strategy into your practice – and build your own personal “Critical Mass™” momentum and market share.

Which brings me to our little formula for building Critical Mass™ in your practice…

It’s a simple math calculation for building any size real estate practice you desire…a calculation that will reveal to you the exact size of your “house list”…your personal market share required to reach Critical Mass™ in real estate. It’s our…

Critical Mass Targeting System™

Follow along carefully, because this is the most important little calculation of your real estate career. I want you to understand the dynamics here as well as the simple math.

Take out a piece of paper and follow these 3 easy steps…

STEP #1: Write down the number of real estate transactions you want to achieve to reach Critical Mass™ in your real estate practice.

Critical Mass™ is a different number for everyone. For some agents, it may be 15 transactions a year. For others it may be 40. And for others it may be 400.

Another way to calculate the number of transactions you desire is to back into it. Simply take the “net income” you desire, and divide it by the average NET commission you make per transaction (that’s after all expenses: broker split, marketing costs, employee expenses, office rent, auto expense, etc.).

For example, if you want to make $200,000 and your average “net” commission (after expenses) is $5,000, then your Critical Mass™ number is 40 transaction sides ($200,000/$5,000 = 40).

As a side note (and food for thought): the higher the average price of homes you sell, the fewer you need to sell to meet your Critical Mass™ income level. But you already knew that, right?

STEP #2: Write down how long the average person in your area owns their home, and multiply that number by #1 above (the # of transactions you need to reach Critical Mass™).

National home ownership average is about 5.5 years. But it’s changing in today’s market. So to be conservative, let’s assume its 7 years in your area (you can use 6 or 8 or 10 for that matter). Check with your local MLS or REALTOR® Association if you’re not certain – or just assume for now.

For example, if the average homeownership period in your area is 7 years, multiply 7 times 40 transaction sides (from #1 above). 7 Years x 40 = 280.

THE RESULT: In our example, you will require 280 homeowners on your “house list” to generate 40 transactions EVERY year (your Critical Mass Target™.

Now remember, this doesn’t include the referrals they could send you. It’s just the number of direct transactions that will statistically come from this group (and you can check your math: 280 people divided by 7 years = 40 deals per year will come from this group).

But HOLD ON!

Those 280 are your goal ONLY if you get ALL of their transactions. Let’s be reasonable: you won’t get all those transactions.

Regardless of your efforts, some will go FSBO. Some will go to “Uncle Charlie.” And some will go to another agent.

That’s why we now need to adjust for your “Personal Market Share™” with that group to get your true Critical Mass Target™.

STEP #3: Divide your “house list” number (from #2 above) by the estimated “Personal Market Share™” you have with those folks – to get the “actual” number of people required on your house list.

What do I mean by “market share”?

Market share is the propensity of these people to think of YOU FIRST (and final) for real estate services before any other agent.

How do you figure your market share %?

Over time (a year or so) you’ll understand your market share because you’ll know how many transactions came from your house list or target farm or whatever list your using.

And remember, marketing to that group over time will have a cumulative effect, and actually increase your market share with them.

But for now, I know our agents using Service For Life!® harvest between 30% and 80% personal market share with their “house list.”

So let’s work an example…

Continuing with our previous example, let’s say you have a 30% market share with your folks. That means you should divide your 280 people by your 30% market share: 280/.30 = 933 people.

So if you have only a 30% market share with your house list or target farm, you’ll actually need to have 933 people on your “list,” not 280.

But what if…because of your relationship contact systems – like our Service For Life!® subscribers – you actually harvest 50% of those people?

280/.50 = 560 people. You now need only 560 people to harvest your 40 transactions every year (not including referrals they could send you). You just cut your list size almost in half!

And what if, because of your relationship contact systems, you actually harvest 80% of those people?

280/.80 = 350 people. You now need only 350 people to harvest your 40 transactions every year (not including referrals they could send you). You just cut your list size by one-third again!

Do you see the “dynamic” that’s happening here?

The SIZE of your list required to reach Critical Mass™ depends on the QUALITY of your list.

And the quality of your list is controlled by YOU!

The higher the quality of your list (i.e. the closer the relationship), the fewer people you need to reach Critical Mass™. The fewer people required means lower marketing costs and higher profits for you.

By the way, I’ve seen agents create house lists larger than 700 in their very first year following this system – and they closed an extra 20 to 50 transactions just in the process of building that list.

And remember, the “Critical Mass Target™” number does NOT include the referrals you could harvest from these folks – it’s just the direct transactions that will come from that group.

Many of our Service For Life!® agents actually add up to 40% more business from the referrals they generate from their house list.

Question: WHO will be the agent representing these people when it’s time to buy or sell?

Answer: The agent who’s created the closest relationship with them.

The agent who has nurtured the relationship.

The agent they can trust.

The agent who’s demonstrated their competence over the years.

The agent who brings regular, welcomed value.

The agent who has differentiated themselves from every other agent out there!

Don’t fall prey to the thought that you need to carpet the area with your one-time contact – that’s a losing strategy. This is about more; this is about QUALITY RELATIONSHIP.

Now you know why…

…Agents Bob and Lois L. from Orange, CA make $240,000 per year off a house list of just 332 people…

…Agent Kathy Low from San Jose increased her monthly commissions over $17,251.00 within a few months on a house list of 400…

…Broker Cathy McGrail now sells 62 homes a year – every year – in her tiny market of Englewood, Ohio…

And how you can too.

Building your house list is easier than you think – I’m going to give you easy strategies for building it faster and bigger than you ever dreamed possible in Part II of our course (link to download it free shortly).

The only thing that’s missing for you is…

How Do You Get Your Personal Market Share™ with

Your House List as HIGH as it can Possibly Get?

How Do You Make Yourself the ONE Agent Your Market

Thinks Of Before Any Other Agent Comes To Mind?

The Answer: You need a consistent contact system that involves them. Gets read and shared. Automatically builds a deep relationship worthy of referrals, word of mouth and repeat business.

A tool that brings your prospects and clients value so they’re subconsciously forced to reciprocate and do business with you. A tool that bonds them to you like family.

That’s why I developed our Service For Life!® prospecting and referral generating tool just for real estate professionals.

I know it all sounds a bit like “hype.” But look at the facts. Look at the logic of it all.

Doesn’t it make sense? It’s intuitive.

But don’t take my word for it. You can examine hundreds and hundreds of success stories from agents just like you (and get access to your Free copy of “The Ultimate Real Estates Success Secret“) at…

www.ServiceForLife.com

Go there and scroll to the BOTTOM of the page – there you’ll see all kinds of links about how you can quickly multiply your production year after year using a simple “marketing system.”

Oh…and if any of my points in this article struck a nerve, why not head over to www.ServiceForLife.com and enter your name and address into the form on the main page – I’ll give you the entire Ultimate Real Estate Success System and send you a fantastic “success kit” by first-class mail…

…and you can now get started building Critical Mass™ for your own business.