Archive for July, 2008
Differentiate Your Niche – Create Benefit for Everyone!
Thursday, July 31st, 2008Anyone who has listened to one of my speaking presentations, scanned any of my articles, or even read a few recent posts here on my blog will know what a HUGE proponent I am of defining your niche 
market. It is the difference between being a Lemming – blindly following along with what everyo
ne else is doing and falling to the same fate, as opposed to being a Lion – king of his territory, in control of his fate. Of course, this is the super-premium, ideal (and entirely realistic) scenario for a real estate agent, but stop to consider the other side of the equation… the CUSTOMER.
Not all agents are entirely sure whether or not to believe me when I lay out not only the advantages to them for creating a niche, but also the step-by-step means by which to do it successfully. Many are afraid that by “limiting themselves” to a specific type of customer or market need will result in actually losing all the other potential business which may be available out there. Well, you know what they say about trying to be all things to all people, right? It just doesn’t work, and there are really no exceptions to this rule especially now that the internet allows such broad access to literally all things. But to get on with my point, I will spare you any further lecture on this particular topic.
What is my point about Niche Marketing?
Besides the benefit having the corner on a particular target market provides a broker or agent, it also provides an immense benefit, and hence irresistible draw, to the consumer. Having a specialist to turn to, who can provide immediate access to the specific types of information required to cater their needs, is a 100% certain way to ensure a fiercely loyal customer. When you find a doctor you trust, or a stylist that does your hair just right, or a restaurant that knows exactly how you like your steak prepared, do you abandon them at the first opportunity? NO! You return to the comfort and assurance that you will be taken the best care of possible.
An admirable demonstration of this point is presented by a REALTOR® Frank Zedar…
Creating a Market for Heroes – of All Kinds
Frank, a long-time broker and Army Vietnam War veteran, created www.RealEstateForHeroes.com. It is a no-strings attached program for all branches of military service (both active and retired), law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics, emergency response personnel, and – here’s the surprising part that really
shouldn’t be… teachers and nurses! Basically, Heroes of all kinds. Frank works with them closely, knowing the areas, price ranges, financing programs, housing features, etc. each would be looking for, and not just among his own listings. Then, upon closing, Frank turns around and hands 30% of his commission right back to the individual. Think that builds a little bit of loyalty? Yes, I would think so. Think he gets enough referrals to more than make up for it? You betcha.
Here’s the deal. Frank has the personal experience and understanding to know what his niche’s needs are, and to provide them with essential options and answers. Then, he extend the irresistible offer: a no restrictions, no requirements, here’s the check and it won’t bounce financial return. But, the real key to it is, although he certainly enjoys the successes of Real Estate for Heroes, the reason he does it is because it is his PASSION. Not just for the military heroes, but for the all the heroes of our society and community. It is not a tax-break, he does not raise outside funds, it has nothing to do with his agency (RE/MAX Oceanside). He just does it because he wants to.
So please, do a service for your Customers, become a Lion and find a suitable territory. And, if you have already done or at least started to begin this leonine transformation, make sure you follow through with it by learning all you can and putting all the fresh ideas out there you can. You AND your future clients will be so glad you did!
To Capture Or Not To Capture – That Is The Question!
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008A recent column by Teresa Boardman titled “Consumers Don’t Want to be Captured” on Inman News about whether or not agents should capture people’s personal information generated a firestorm of commentary. It also demonstrated pretty darn clearly how divided the real estate industry is over this topic!
The people who commented fell pretty much into one of two categories: Gatekeepers versus Free-Willers.
Gatekeepers are the “command and control” types who feel the need to monitor and manage each interaction. This is typically done by restricting access to their site, requiring visitors to register to see valuable content, hence divulging personal information most would prefer to keep private until a decision is made. The end result here is people registering under a wide array of aliases (apparently Brad Pitt and Bud Weiser are interested in the same kinds of properties!) if not being scared off altogether.
On the other hand, Free-Willers rely on the premise that if they provide enough valuable and compelling content, visitors will see their site as an indispensable resource, and register of their own free will (hence, the nickname for this group of thinkers). The result here is they may not get as big a pond to go fishing in, but the fish are much more willing to bite!
The Lead Capture Argument
I was fascinated reading the back and forth volleys the two sides in this written battle were lobbing at each other! Both had arguments based on everything from statistics to studies to consumer psychology. There were agents who avowed they would never do it another way and agents who had tried it both ways, and there were a very few agents that tried to walk a careful middle ground. Some were getting, ummm… “testy” would be an understatement in defense of their particular position. There were doubts expressed about the success of drip campaigns, there were questions about the conversion rates from lists. You can read the whole series here: http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/teresa-boardman/consumers-dont-want-be-captured
But, here is what it boiled down to for me: the title of the article is 100% correct.
Think about it – NO ONE wants to be captured. The very word “capture” is threatening! It basically says “Come to my lovely website, where I will hold you hostage for the rest of your days.” Fortunately, there is a way to make it work for everybody, internet consumer included!
What Both Sides of the Capturing Leads Argument Are Missing
Sorry, Gatekeepers – your way may have worked in the past when the internet was new and there was less competition on it, and the threat of misuse of personal information was not a daily concern.
Sorry, Free-Willers, but it really is ok to ask people for information. You just have to do it in the right way.
Yes, everyone agrees you need to have compelling and valuable content to draw visitors, but forcing them to register to see it is simply a symptom of not knowing how to deal with the online consumer. Most agents attempt to “take charge” of the interaction by getting the visitors’ information and continually probing them thereafter (and space aliens can do it more gently than some real estate agents I know). What these agents need to understand is the difference between a “lead” and an “inquiry”: 95% of qualified online inquiries (they are not “leads” yet) are just trying to gather information and are not ready to open up about their needs. However, the other 5% who are ready to do something within a short time frame (actual leads) still want to remain in control and be assured that their privacy will be protected.
This does not mean that you should not feel free to ask your visitors about their current status or intentions. One of my Online Dominance students has a simple yet highly effective means to do this – he asks them to pick a self-rating:
- A = I am looking to sell or buy now
- B = Will probably want to do something in the next 6 months or so
- C = Just looking and not ready to make any decisions.
When people answer A or B, he then asks their permission to contact them with updates they would find useful. He then determines what this information may be by judicious use of search and request forms scattered about the site. However, regardless of their answer, they have full run of his site.
Capturing Leads for Sales versus Marketing
A number of Gatekeepers expressed the opinion that they are in the business to sell and make money and site visitors should inherently understand and accept that, hence be willing to play by their rules. Well, here’s the problem with that mindset (and this is going to blow some minds) – a real estate website is NOT about Sales. It’s about attracting visitors, providing good information, positioning yourself as an expert in your niche, in other words… it’s about Marketing!
These are two completely different undertakings, yet are so easily mushed together by the average real estate agent. I’ve been teaching these principles for over 13 years and it still amazes me how this is such an “aha!” moment when agents really get it.
Your Turn to Comment!
So tell me, what are your thoughts about capturing leads? Do you do it, and if so, how?
Differentiation – The Key to Survival
Thursday, July 10th, 2008Mr. Internet’s Modern Aesop Fable:
The Lemming Meets The Lion and Who Survives
Lion: Hello, Lemming
Lemming: EEEK! What are you?
Lion: I’m a Lion.
Lemming: A what? Oh well, never mind. Even though you smell a bit funny, you want to run with me? I’m going this way.
Lion: No thanks. Really. I’m pretty happy in my territory right here.
Lemming: WHAT? But, we’re ALL running this way! Look!
Lion: Yes, I know. But, do you know there’s a cliff right over there?
Lemming: A… cliff?
Lion: Yes – big drop off, sharp rocks and a lot of water at the bottom. Very nasty, very dangerous. Don’t you read the papers?
Lemming: Hmmmm, doesn’t sound too pleasant. What was that thing you said about being happy in a territory? What’s that?
Lion: Why yes! I scouted around and found this area that seemed pretty nice and interesting, so I learned it’s every detail very carefully. I found I really liked it a lot, so I decided it and most everything in it was mine. With all the turmoil in the world today, there’s plenty of prey for me to hunt, and it’s easy because it just, ahem… runs right on into my territory. In fact, I’m sorry about this, but I’m feeling a bit peckish right now…
Lemming: Lion – what are you doing? EEEEEEEEKKK!
Mr. Internet’s Moral:
If you continue to do what everyone else is doing, you’ll end up with the same results as everyone else. Differentiation is the key to not only survive, but thrive in any market condition.
A Lemming Wakes Up
One of my eTEAM Leaders recently told me of a new member who joined her team in quiet desperation. Now, that sounds bad, doesn’t it? Not really, when you know the rest.
This was an older gentleman who had “been there, done that”, having made the real estate industry his entire career. Everyone looked at him as the rock in the middle of their office. But he realized he was not happy anymore! Why? Because he was working way too hard for the results he was getting. Had he lost his edge? Should he retire? These thoughts haunted him, but he kept hearing discussion in the office about Online Dominance and the success several of those team members were enjoying. So, he went to the eTEAM Leader, and when she asked why he wanted to join, he answered , “Because I need to. If I don’t, I think I might as well just give up.”
Now, this story is not intended to be a shameless promotion for my program. My point is that this gentleman is The Lemming that snapped out of the group mentality as one foot went over the edge of the cliff. He actually stopped, looked down and said “Uh-uh, no way!” and took a look around. On one side, he saw another lemming being eaten by a lion – he decided two things: one, (very reasonably) that may not be the best direction to go, and two, that The Lion obviously had the right idea.
By differentiating himself from all the other realtors struggling to round up business in this market, he has done much better by creating a niche and mastering it. He is learning to enjoy his new career and life… as a Lion!
Almost Like Being There – Google Street View Now Available to Agents!
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008The use of Google maps has long been a listing display enhancement feature for many real estate agent Websites in one way or another. However, it wasn’t until very recently that Google’s latest mapping innovation, Street View, was made available to individual agent sites as well.
Street View is the newest feature of Google Maps that allows you to literally see a 360 degree “street view” of any location that has been map-enhanced in this way. The best way to see this for yourself is to use Google Maps to view any of the cities that have Street View enabled (go to http://maps.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=68384&topic=11640 for a list of cities where Street View is currently available – 40 as of this writing). Then click on the “Street View” option in the upper right hand corner of the map Web page. Those streets that have been continuously photographed (at street level) will show up in blue outline. When you click within any of the blue outlined streets, a little person icon shows up along with a window containing the actual street view image. You can rotate this image by simply dragging your mouse left or right with the mouse button held down. You can also “travel” along the street by clicking the direction arrows imposed in the image. Google even uses a pointer under the icon to indicate which direction you are looking relative to the rest of the map as you rotate the image. And, these street view photos are high resolution images which can be blown up to near full screen size for incredible clarity.
Up until just recently, Street View was not available to 3rd party users of Google Maps (like individual agent sites, or property search sites like Zillow). However, on March 27th, 2008 Google formally released the Street View API (Application Programming Interface). These are the instructions Web designers need to plug Street View capabilities into 3rd party Google Maps. Well it didn’t take long. Literally within three days of the API’s release, individual agent sites were starting to incorporate Street View into their listing’s Google Maps. To the best of my knowledge, Kevin Tomlinson of Miami Beach, FL had the first agent site to feature Street View for his listings. You can see an example of how he uses Street View by going to www.kevintomlinson.com/condo-map.php (be sure to zoom the map a bit to see the roads more clearly). You can expect to see many more agent sites incorporating Street View. This is also true for many of the listing aggregator and search sites. In fact, Trulia.com just announced that they were incorporating Street View into the maps of the areas that have it available. If you are interested in using Google Maps Street view on your site, check with your Web developer, chances are they already know how to do it.
Google really pulled off some magic with Street View. Using a battalion of vehicle-mounted roving cameras that take 360 degree view photos, they have shot many of the streets of the largest U.S. cities. This technique along with a highly intuitive user interface gives the sensation of really “being there” to the person viewing the map. The implications for potential buyers getting a better feel for the surrounding neighborhood of a listing are immediately apparent. This also begs the question if this is a good thing for all listings. All you can do is hope that the day the Google Street View Mobile drove past your listing, a bunch of overstuffed garbage cans or an old junker wasn’t nearby and became irrevocably incorporated into the scenery of your new listing.
