From the start our Agent Inner Circle® community has been a place for top agents to share ideas and get a continuous flow of guidance, support and new profit-multiplying strategies.

And now we’re taking the community up a notch by adding a Referral Network where members can share referrals (and ideas) with each other!

Read more below to see how to use this new resource, then visit the Idea and Referral Network by clicking here.

1.  Why should I use this idea and referral network? 

We have 80,000 members from all over the U.S., Canada, and even some international real estate agents who are part of our community.  This network makes it easier for you to get referrals, give referrals, and get great ideas to grow your production.

2.  Is it free to use the network? 

Yes.  You don’t pay anything to be part of this referral network.

3.  How does it work? 

• From the homepage, go to the “Get Involved” tab, or click here,
• Review ideas and referral opportunities,
• Then register or login to create a new post.

4.  How do I give referrals?

Login and post a referral, in this format:

• Topic Name = *** REFERRAL: (City, State)

• Include a way to contact you in the message.

5.  How do I get referrals?

• Bookmark the page and check the Referral Network each day or each week to see new referrals.
• When you see a referral for your area, hit reply and contact the referring agent.

6.  What else can I do on this network?

You can share successful strategies that have helped you in your real estate practice, and get feedback about your idea.

7.  What topics are discussed on the network? 

Here are a few ideas:

•  How To Find Quality Buyers
•  How You’re Using Social Media To Get Business
•  How To Work With Stubborn Sellers
•  Short Sale Mistakes To Avoid
•  Time Management Secrets
•  Website Lead Generation

8.  What do I do first? 

• Go the main site to access the network page,
• Register for a free account,
• Then read the START HERE section.

Buyers today don’t see any difference between your listing and the dozens of other homes for sale even in one neighborhood.

Fortunately, there are 3 rules borrowed from the advertising world that can make your listings stand out and get them sold quickly.  These rules are about branding — not the company logo but what the company stands for.

Branding is really about communicating to a potential buyer who your product is for, and who it is NOT for.  Here are a few examples:

• You know that eBay stands for online auctions where you can sell your goods fast to anyone, but also have to compete with the world.  Their brand attracts people who want to sell to or buy from a global marketplace, but who don’t mind the tradeoffs that come from overseas competition or purchasing from a vendor in another state or country.
• If you were asked where most people go when they want a strong cup of coffee, there is only one answer:  Starbucks.  That’s who they are and they don’t mind that some think it’s too strong.
• You know that Neiman Marcus means “expensive” but also “quality”.

These are excellent examples of the results of effective branding, but what can a real estate agent learn from these companies to sell more homes?

To get a home sold you’ve got to find what’s unique about the home — why someone would buy it versus other homes on the market — and make that central benefit the “theme” of your listing promotions.  Let’s look at each of these three rules and I’ll apply them to real estate one-by-one…

The 3 Rules of Listing Promotions
Every Agent Should Know

Rule #1:  Sacrifice

Branding’s bedrock principle is sacrifice.

Marketing messages work best when you intentionally sacrifice the majority so that you can make a strong connection with a small group that has a burning desire for exactly what is offered. This is a proven concept from the advertising community that can be applied to real estate.

I wrote an ad that sold a home in sixteen days after it had already been on the market for a year. The difference was the marketing message I used.

The house had no back yard at all.  The previous agents never mentioned this in their marketing. I used the “non-yard” feature as the theme of my ad. The home sold instantly to a senior citizen who told me the lack of a yard was a benefit for her.

When you try to appeal to everyone you fail to connect with the very audience who wants what you have. If a home has a small yard, say so. If a home is wildly expensive because of its unique architecture and quality, don’t feel apologetic for this — use it to get the attention of those who would appreciate it.

Rule #2:  Don’t Copy Others, Promote Your Uniqueness

Many a retailer has gotten into trouble trying to piggy-back Wal-Mart’s claim of low prices.  K-Mart went broke trying to win the “low-price” war.  Target was smarter.  They conceded (or “sacrificed”) that turf to Wal-Mart by going more upscale with their marketing, store design and merchandising.  Falling into the “me-too” trap is easy to spot in the real estate business.

Here Is A Common Advertising Mistake For Agents: In most larger cities, there is one school district that is the most sought-after. Agents will routinely try to promote one of these listings by emphasizing the school district in their flyer.

But why would you highlight a feature that is guaranteed to be matched by ever other seller in the region? You always want to market in a way that makes your listing stand out from the others, not blend in.

For the same reason… I would be careful about using an ad, flyer or any marketing material that stresses a feature like “waterfront” or “stunning view” if there are many competing listings that offer the same thing.  Promote what is unique about your listings.  They’ll get noticed and sell faster.

Rule #3:  Substantiate Your Claim!

Al Ries once said, “Branding is nothing you do to the product.  It takes place in the mind of the consumer.”

If you can get comfortable with this rule, you will do much better with your marketing.

Consider the example of a local car dealer hawking the idea that he has the lowest prices — you likely hear this message all the time in your own market, but I doubt you give it much credibility.

For starters, it is a claim used by too many car dealers to be believable.  Second, do they really offer any proof?  Not usually, so messages like this are not typically very helpful.

Branding is not just something you do for a corporation.  You should absolutely “brand” each listing you take on.  For example, don’t just say your listing was architect-designed.  Explain, in detail, what the consumer will notice about the house when they come to see it.

Here Is The Perfect Example…

I once took on a waterfront home that was designed by an architect who specializes in lake houses.  When I asked him why he designed the house the way he did, he started describing one interesting aspect after another.

When I interviewed him about his home, he walked me around to the back side of the house—the waterfront side. He pointed out that instead of a flat wall across the back, he visually re-created the same appearance that you’d get from the streetside view—there was a deep porch with impressive columns, high-pitched roof over the “back” door, shutters on the windows, etc.

In other words, he made the house look just as nice from the back as it did from the front.  He said, “A waterfront house should look just as inviting to guests you bring in by boat as it does for those who pull up in the driveway by car.”

Re-telling this in my ad helped substantiate the high price.  Potential buyers were able to visualize this unique benefit since I used descriptive “picture words” and compelling photographs.

Other agents turned this seller down because of her desired price. My ad pulled two full price contracts in less than thirty days.

A Summary

These are the rules of branding:

1. Sacrifice.
2. Promote uniqueness.
3. Substantiate your claims.

For real estate agents, your primary theme for listing promotions must involve sacrificing the majority — not selling to anyone and everyone but focusing on the people most likely to buy the home. Say what makes the home unique and you will attract that right buyer. But also be careful to not get caught up in copying others. Say what makes your listing special and write a story with passion and detail that proves it!

Take time this week to review your current listing promotions and try to apply all 3 rules to each of your properties.  I guarantee it will make them stand out and you’ll attract qualified prospects who are ready to sign a purchase contract.

[Ed note: Copyright Stan Barron. Reprinted with permission. If you, or someone you know wants to sell a house, please give Stan a call at 512-345-8585.]

Have an idea you’d like to share or a comment?

Email us to share it with the Agent Inner Circle^® community. Or…

Click Here To Leave A Comment

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 22,000 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 no matter what happens with the economy.

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 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 doing it today.

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 – jumping from one marketing fad to the next.

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 20 years to finally “make it” in real estate.

You can “short-cut” your success by 90% or more if you simply 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 my…

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 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™) – Remember, this doesn’t include the referrals they could send you.

It’s just the number of direct transactions that will 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 “personal 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 personal 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.

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!^® members – 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 – 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 – this is about more; this is about QUALITY RELATIONSHIP.

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.

Doesn’t it make sense?  It’s intuitive but most agents nod their heads and do nothing to increase the quality of their house list each month.

Let’s have some fun.

Today I want you to dream a little.  Whether you’re a new agent or veteran top producer…I want you to calculate your Critical Mass Target™ for your own practice.

I want you to see how greater success with less stress and strain can be a mathematical certainty – and how your production can continue to grow automatically, year-after-year…regardless of the economy, competition or interest rates…if you just follow a simple strategy.   Here’s the easy exercise:

Step #1: Write down the number of transactions you need each year to be at “Critical Mass™” in your business:  __________. (Example = 50)

Step #2: Write down the average length of home ownership in your area.  Check with your local MLS, or if you already have an estimate, enter it here (nationally is about 5.5 years):  __________. (Example = 7 years)

Calculation #1: Now, MULTIPLY Step #1 by Step #2.  (Example: 50 x 7 = 350).  This will give you the number of people needed on your house list (or farm) to generate your “Critical Mass™” number of transactions (IF you get ALL of them), not including referrals they could send you.

But remember, you won’t get all of those transactions – so we need to make a small adjustment for your “Personal Market Share™.”

Step#3: Estimate your “Personal Market Share %” you can expect when marketing to this group:  _______ %.  (Example: 30%)  If it’s a cold list (like a new farm) it will be quite low.  If it’s a well-nurtured house list of past clients, friends, family, acquaintances – it’s going to be much higher – even as high as 80% or more.

Calculation #2: Simply divide your results from Calculation #1 above by Step #3.  (Example: 350 / .30 = 1,167)  This will give you the number of people you’ll need to build on your house list to reach your Critical Mass Target™ at a 30% Market Share.

Now, let’s do something called “Sensitivity Analysis.”

Let’s assume you had a great “Relationship-building” system (like Service For Life!^®) working in your practice…

What if your Estimated Market Share % went to 40%?  Divide your results from calculation #1 above by .40.  What did you get?

What if your Estimated Market Share % went to 60%?  Divide your results from calculation #1 above by .60.  What did you get?

Did you notice that, the better your Market Share %, the LOWER your Critical Mass Target™ becomes?

A lower Critical Mass Target™ means you spend less time and money marketing your services.  You work with higher quality clients – friends.  And what you don’t know is that these people REFER others just like THEM!

Want to know a secret?

Most agents never think about Critical Mass™ or “Personal Market Share™.”

Rather than create a “Strategic Approach” to building their business, they force themselves to constantly prospect…or just hope and pray that clients will somehow, some way find them.

Not you.  Not any longer.  We’ve just completed an important step in targeting your success – and believe it or not, most agents never even get this far.

We’re starting to fill in the blanks in making your astounding success a “100% Certainty.”

Stay tuned for more articles about how to build the size and quality of your house list.

[Ed. Note: Craig Forte has built 4 multi-million dollar companies in his 35-year career, including a successful real estate development and brokerage company. He is author/publisher of 11 books and courses in real estate, and has taught more than 22,000 agents how to create breakthrough sales and profits. His most recent course, "The Ultimate Real Estate Success Secret™" has been acclaimed as one of the most reliable, step-by-step ways to grow your production 33% to over 400% each year.  As an Agent Inner Circle® Member you can receive his course and 2 other powerful resources absolutely FREE just click here.]

Have an idea you’d like to share or a comment?

Email us to share it with the Agent Inner Circle^® community. Or…

Click Here To Leave A Comment

The main problem with real estate marketing is it gets “stopped”. What I mean is, your promotions don’t get results because they can’t get over three common hurdles for every marketing message:

1. Getting opened
2. Getting read
3. Getting acted-upon

Take Just Listed post cards for example.  They may get delivered, but do you think they ever get read?  They should be called “Just Go” cards because they just go in that round file known as the waste basket.

Here’s a better way to use the Just Listed and Just Sold strategy…

How To Use “Unstoppable”
Just Listed and Just Sold Letters
To Sell More Listings and
Get New Clients

HURDLE #1: Getting your message OPENED

You can’t sell your listings if your prospects never see your promotions.  That may not be a shock to you, but what are you proactively doing to get your message in front of the right prospects?

When I list a home, I do the following to sell it quickly:

• Get a list of names and addresses for other homeowners in the community/subdivision/area (hopefully 100-150 contacts).
• Get normal sized envelopes that you’d use to send a letter to a friend (use colored envelopes if near a holiday, like Red for Valentine’s day).
• Handwrite the names and addresses with my sellers FROM address.

IMPORTANT: I do not put my name or brokerage on the envelope!  This will sabotage your results.

You’ll understand what I’m about to do in a minute, but for now… realize that there IS a way to get your mail opened.  You have to make it personal.  Like their relative sent them a birthday card.  Or, in this case… like they just received a nice letter from their neighbor.  They will open it.  Curiosity will get the best of them.  Wouldn’t YOU open a personal letter from a neighbor?

The idea here isn’t that the neighbors will buy the house.  They probably have several friends or coworkers with the ability to buy in their neighborhood.  Getting the entire neighborhood to see your message is the first step toward having them help you find a buyer.

Many agents try to use postcards to get attention.  But the glossy look identifies them as junk mail.  These postcards may get a 2-second glance but you won’t get people to read the details (except maybe price) or call you…

HURDLE #2: Getting your message READ

I’ve overcome the first hurdle of getting my message opened.  Now I have to do something subtle but extremely important to get my message read.

People hold our promotions in front of them looking for something (anything) to tell them to stop reading.  They’re trying to identify the letter as junk mail so they can move on with their day.  Don’t say you don’t do the same thing.

This happens whether it’s other homeowners in the neighborhood of a property you just listed/just sold or even prospects who are visiting your website.  We’re all asking… “Am I going to get something that interests me or fulfills something I desire?  Or, is this just another promotion I can ignore?”

BREAKTHROUGH TIP: I put the letter in my client’s voice.  More specifically, I do the following:

• I have my seller clients approve a just listed letter I wrote for them in THEIR voice.  And after the sale, I send out a just sold letter in their voice.
• I also put the letter on nice stationary that’s personal.

I’m close to the finish line but have one more hurdle to go before I know my promotion will be effective…

HURDLE #3: Getting your message ACTED UPON

The biggest thing missing from Realtor promotions is a motivating reason to respond.  This is especially true of Just Listed/Just Sold cards which most agents treat as blasting a news update to people.

I find it more effective to offer something of value with a method to respond.  Here’s how I do this:

• Offer free information for those wanting to buy or sell (must be specific — see my example letters below).
• Use a “hotline” number that has a Free Recorded Message (so people feel comfortable calling).

Below are the real estate letters I use as examples:

JUST LISTED & JUST SOLD LETTERS

(click the images above to open the letters in a PDF file)

When I send out the Just Listed letter, I now have an additional 150 neighbors trying to sell my listing.  I know they’ve opened and read my message, and they also have a specific way to send me leads!

After the listing is sold, I send the follow-up Just Sold letter.  This is when I start getting the calls from neighbors who want me to sell their house.  They are great clients.  They trust me from the start.  Why?  Because I was referred by their friend and former neighbor!

Go try this strategy with your listings.  You (and the neighbors around your listings) will be glad you did.

And if you’d like a bank of letters proven to boost your production, plus the knowledge you’ll need to make them work, click here.

What do YOU send for Just Listed / Just Sold notices?

Email us to share it with the Agent Inner Circle^® community. Or…

Click Here To Leave A Comment