Posts Tagged ‘niche’
How to Drown Your Competition
Saturday, August 21st, 2010
How much can you talk about your real estate specialty? Assuming you have a specialty, do you run out of things to say or contribute after just a few minutes, or can you go on for hours?
How you answer this question is a measure of your professional depth and commitment. Given that Kevin Tomlinson doesn’t even have to look at the Miami MLS to tell you which South Beach condos are for sale, under what terms and what unique features each offers speaks volumes about his depth. One that his competitors can’t hope to match because they are far too busy trying to be everything to everyone.
The same with Linda Jefferson of GoArmyHomes.com who can give you every nuance of working with relocating army families. Like it or not, real estate sales is no longer just about sales. It is also very much a function of how well you serve and stand out from your competition as evidenced by your passion and depth of knowledge. It doesn’t matter if your experience spans hundreds of square miles if it’s only one-inch deep.
This reminds me of something my Dad said something to me when I was in my teens that I’ll never forget…
There are those with years of experience and those with experience in their years.
Max O. Russer (Mr. Internet’s Dad)
Guess which one prospects will be attracted to and to whom clients will refer others. If you call yourself a professional it is incumbent upon you to maintain and grow the depth of specialized experience and knowledge implied by that moniker. Anything less is just posing.
Differentiate For Success
Monday, July 26th, 2010
What are the qualities that define a top producer from just another real estate sales associate struggling to keep it all together?
There are two primary ones that really make these folks, well… stand out from the crowd:
- Implementation – they consistently put into practice proven strategies and tactics. You never hear excuses as to why they didn’t do something.
- Differentiation – they strive to be different, stand out from everyone else.
This second one is so interesting because while most agents will talk about “standing out” their actions say something else. Many agents clearly become uncomfortable if they do or even consider doing something that will make them stand out. Maybe it’s a throw-back to the days when we were in high school and “being like everyone else” was social survival rule #1.
When it comes to being consistently successful however, being perceived as different from the rest (ideally in a good way) is absolutely essential both in business and life…
America has believed that in differentiation, not in uniformity, lies the path of progress. It acted on this belief; it has advanced human happiness, and it has prospered.
Louis D. Brandeis
(American Supreme Court Justice, 1856-1941)
We are all unique beings with unique talents, perspectives and gifts that can positively affect our world. It just takes willingness and courage to allow them to flower.
(NOTE: click on the image above to view a short video about the importance of differentiation in marketing)
Maximize Profits Through Hyper-Targeted Facebook Advertising
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Imagine if you could advertise your services in such a way that only those who are most likely interested would even see the ads. And better yet, you only paid for when they acted on those ads. Sounds a lot better than traditional print advertising doesn’t it? This is what “hyper-targeted” advertising is all about and nowhere is the opportunity greater for this than on Facebook and yet few people in the real estate industry have taken advantage of it.
Facebook vs. Google
Facebook is huge with close to a half a billion members and continuing to grow rapidly each month. What makes the advertising potential so great however is that by the very nature of the data found in “personal profiles”, Facebook has amassed incredible demographic and psychographic information on its members that is the envy of even companies like Google. This information includes personal likes, dislikes, affiliations, interests and so on. It doesn’t stop there however because Facebook also has the ability (and the necessary funding) to cross tabulate their internal member information with purchased third party data like magazine subscription information, group membership affiliation, etc which allows them to further refine their targeting ability.
When Google serves up ads to users of its search engine, the ads typically are targeted based only upon the search query because that’s limit of Google’s knowledge about that particular consumer. Whereas when Facebook serves up ads to members, it knows far more about the member and can show ads (on the right side of the page) that are tremendously more targeted and hence more likely to convert. And Facebook ads can leverage built-in “social proof” to add credibility and increase conversion rates since your ads can show who else of the viewer’s Facebook friends have interacted with you or your services. Also, the amount of time an average member spends on Facebook eclipses even the most avid searcher on Google.
Like Google Adwords, you can pay for Facebook ads either as Pay-Per-Click (PPC – recommended in most cases) or per 1,000 impressions (CPM). The process of setting up, managing and tracking your Facebook ads is very straightforward. And frankly, no one does a better job of explaining it than Facebook. Just go to http://www.facebook.com/advertising to review the steps and best practices. (TIP: Facebook suggests ad pricing to best reach your defined ad target. Let’s just say they can be a bit biased about this. Experiment using PPC values that start out about 10% less than suggested and then continue to lower your bid amounts until you see a significant drop off in impressions. This strategy can save you a lot of money!)
Now let’s take a look at all the ways you can use this high-powered advertising rifle to grow your business…
Hyper-Targeting for Hyper-Growth
The ways in which you can use Facebook advertising to grow your business and differentiate yourself are limited only by your imagination. The following came out of a recent brainstorming session with my Online Dominance students. To help organize these ideas, I’ve broken them down into categories:
- Win New Listings – show your prospective sellers how you can advertise their listings on Facebook and receive literally thousands (if not tens of thousands) of impressions. Chances are very good that none of your competitors are doing this and it will help you stand out considerably.
- Sell Targeted Listings – if your listing is unique or fits a particular profile (e.g. Florida waterfront property) you can create an ad that is shown only to those who would likely have interest in this including “snow birds” from other areas that have a proven track record of purchasing this type of property.
- Property Tours – advertise just about any kind of tour you can imagine (the more out of the box the better) to targeted Facebook members in your area. Here are just some ideas that came up for this:
- Riding horse property tours
- Bicycle property tours
- Waterfront property tours ending in a wine-tasting party
- Luxury high-rise condo bedroom tours
- Boat tours of waterfront properties
- Golf course / property tours that include short presentations by the golf pros at each course
- Foreclosure property tours, or pre-foreclosure tours (with the permission of the owners of course.)
- Seminars – either in person or Webinar-based. There are tons of possibilities here including:
- Investor seminars
- Foreclosure / Short-sale seminars
- Invest with IRA funds seminars
- First-time Buyer seminars
- How to get around today’s mortgage maze seminars
- How to prepare your home for sale seminars.
- Community Involvement – you can advertise your community involvement by getting local people to participate. For example:
- Charity food drives
- Client appreciation parties
- Neighborhood block parties
- Irresistible Offers – if you Website has irresistible offers, using Facebook ads is a powerful way to drive targeted traffic to take advantage of them.
Advertising without targeting is just taking shots in the dark. Your chances of actually hitting something are pretty slim. Advertising without the ability to measure your ROI is just throwing money at something and hoping it sticks. Neither are a viable way to grow business profitably. Facebook on the other hand offers a convenient, inexpensive way to hyper-target your advertising dollars and almost instantly measure the results. And the good news for you is that very few real estate professionals have even started taking advantage of this potential. Now is your chance to grow your business in a way that will have your competitors guessing and you smiling, all the way to the bank.
NOTE: Mr. Internet®, RUSSER Communications, its staff and officers receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors (unless he/they are directly involved with the creation and/or improvement of a vendor service or product), and make no recommendations as to the suitability of the products or services mentioned in this article. Always thoroughly investigate any product or service before trying or purchasing.
Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized Internet speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He’s dedicated to helping real estate professionals leverage their people skills into profit on the Internet. Send your Internet questions to help@askmrinternet.com or you can visit his Website at http://www.russer.com
This article is reprinted in its entirety from the June 2010 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright © 2010. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark of RUSSER Communications.
First Time Buyer Niche Success Story
Saturday, February 6th, 2010Take one relatively new sales associate, add liberal helpings of passion and commitment and you end up with someone who comes out on top. Here’s how she did it (in her own words).
Hi Michael
Just wanted to say I’ve loved what having a niche has done for my business from a personal enjoyment point of view. (it sucks to hate your job). Tomorrow I meet with my broker to go over my business plan for 2010 and I am excited and proud of what I’m doing.
I just had my second annual VIP Client appreciation party, and put pix up on my photo blog. I got a lot of community involvement (donations of prizes) which generated awareness of my business, re-grouping with old clients (who now really love me) and the photo evidence is now further marketing material… so I am sure things could be improved upon, but I wanted to share it with you – here’s the link to my latest photo blog entry: http://photos.dreamhomearlington.com
But the point of this email was to tell you how much I’ve personally enjoyed developing my niche of working with First X Buyers – it totally gives me focus, and something more interesting to talk about than “I sell houses” My broker thinks I’m brilliant. (blush) and credit to Mr. Internet!
Also, something I just did that others may find interesting: I had $50 American Express gift cards made up with my logo on them - and I’ve been giving them to buyers at Closing, along with a bottle of champagne. I have also used them as “THANK YOU!’s” for referrals. People remember me when they spend the money, and it’s kind of a hit – so I thought I’d share it in case you think others may want to do this. Thanks again, and I welcome any input on my blog/ site, or whatever!
Bija Satterlee
Bowes GMAC
1010 Mass Ave, Arlington 02476
781-354-4835 c
781-643-1741 f
www.bowesre.com
www.dreamhomearlington.com
http://photos.dreamhomearlington.com
http://blog.dreamhomearlington.com
I received the above email last Wednesday. Bija has since had her annual business review with her broker and followed up with this (received just a few hours ago):
“…I had my annual business meeting review with my broker, and he said not only was I among the top producers in town, and in our office, in his words “Ive never seen an agent put the ‘whole package’ together quite like you have – with your niche, your web site, your blog, the seminars, the whole deal.” I have areas I need to improve in, but he said he was very impressed and proud to have me as an agent in his office. So that was like hitting the jackpot – to get recognition like that from him.”
Do you get a sense of how much she loves the process? That is actually one of her most powerful success secrets. If you don’t believe me, just read the following post…
So that was like hitting the jackpot – to get recognition like that from him.
Online Dominance™ Exclusive Training Platform for BrokerTec Systems
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008Santa Barbara, CA, December 2, 2008 – BrokerTec Systems, an advanced broker technical services company, has formed a strategic partnership with RUSSER Communications to use Online Dominance Mentoring ProgramTM as the core training platform for agents across North America. Although they offer a complete suite of broker management and agent online marketing solutions from tracking tools, to websites and blogs, to automated marketing, the proven effectiveness of the Online DominanceTM program made the clear choice for it to be the exclusive training platform to help agents understand and work effectively with internet consumers.
“The future of real estate is undoubtedly trending toward the majority of business being conducted online by consumers and agents alike. RUSSER Communications’ shared vision of this future through its Online Dominance program ideally meshes with the quality of proactive services we wish to offer our customers,” says Sean McRae, President of BrokerTec Systems. Efforts are being focused on creating and integrating eTEAMs, which are elite groups of agents within brokerages who undergo this revolutionary training in collaboration with each other, with the array of other services a broker can engage through BrokerTec.
Online Dominance is the first self-directed, online video based training program specifically designed to teach REALTORS® how to effectively convert online consumers into new business. Members of the program are reporting dramatic positive results in their ability to attract and retain customers by understanding their needs and priorities, as they become experts within specific niche markets.
For more information on BrokerTec, contact Sean McRae at sean@brokertecsystems.com. To learn more about the Online Dominance Mentoring ProgramTM, or for more information about Michael Russer or to book him as a speaker, call Vickie Smith at 877-977-1188 x81 or email vsmith@russer.com.
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Extreme Niching
Friday, September 26th, 2008OK, all you non-believers out there! There is yet more evidence that not only does selecting a niche market increase your success, but that the more extreme you go with it, the better off you are. I have been preaching this for years, yet there is a stubborn majority out there that refuses to listen. Or, there’s the even more guilty segment who do listen and fundamentally agree, but keep putting the decision off saying they are too busy to make changes now and other lame excuses.
My Niche Back Up Singer
Well, I’m tired of it – my voice is hoarse and my fingers numb from repetition. So, here ya go… read this article recently posted on Inman News by Lai Saetern: Real Estate Niches Stretch from Nudists to Celebs and the follow up, Real Estate Jobs with Dogs and Logs . Lai’s articles escort us to specialty niches in every corner of the country, ranging from nudists to celebrities to military to dogs (puts a new meaning on the 
phrase “in the dog-house”, but hey – everyone needs a place to call home, right?). The point of the article is to describe the extraordinary successes the agents/brokers are enjoying in these highly specialized and somewhat unusual markets. Now, why would that be?
Oh, and by the way, two of the featured agents in these articles are students of mine. OK, that’s enough of a rest for me, back on my soapbox for my favorite subject…
REAL Men (and Women) DO Eat Quiche – AND Have a Niche
One of the number one reasons I hear people quip as a counter argument is “Well, that may work for some people, in a perfect world. It would never work in my area.” And another, “But if I limit my market, I’ll exclude so many people – think of all the business I’ll lose!”
Well firstly, the agents in these articles are REAL people operating under the same market conditions you are, not fictional fairytale characters in a in some distant land once upon a time (though if you think about it, some of those characters would make downright horrific clients!). And if it works in every region from Florida to New York to Texas to California to Maine, as Lai’s articles show it most certainly does, what makes you so special (or not?) that it won’t work in your neck of the woods?
And speaking of necks of woods, as you know, I travel all over the place giving my schpiel, and I have discovered that over 98% of audiences (representing over 10,000 agents per year) don’t niche! This leaves a huge opportunity open for those who do to eliminate most of the competition out there. Besides, you don’t actually have to select just one niche to specialize in! If you are reluctant to, in your perspective, “limit yourself”, you can specialize in more than one niche – as long as you have separate sites for each target market.
Finally, by wrapping a targeted service brand around a niche provides you with a handy dandy automatic, and lucrative, exit strategy when you are ready to move on.
So, please, do us all a favor, and stop with the lame excuses. Stand up with the really successful agents and get yourself a niche!
Decisions Get You What You Want
Monday, September 15th, 2008Duh! Seems like a self-explanatory statement, doesn’t it? Well, yes – but there’s more to it than you think. We all like to think that our decisions are well thought out, calmly considered, completely rational and totally logical courses of action. But, being honest with yourself, deep down inside aren’t most of your decisions based on what you want to have happen anyway? The emotion is what triggers the decision, and all the calm rational logic is merely justification for that course of action.
Ruled By Emotional Decisions?
Yes, we are. Emotional triggers apply to almost every decision we make through the day, and we are making
decisions constantly. Why did you listen to that particular cd? Or hit the snooze button again? Or buy Cheerios instead of Wheaties? The snap answer is actually the truest in this case: Because you felt like it. As long as you have previous experience with a situation, you have an emotional basis, or what we often call a “feeling”, “hunch”, or “intuition” that triggers your decision.
Now, don’t feel defensive or foolish. Everyone has these triggers, it is the way the human mind is wired. In fact, the best sales people and managers in the world actually rely on these feelings (whether they know it or not). The trick is how to access these triggers in other people so they make the decisions you want them to!
Typical Decision Triggers
Check out this article How to Trigger a Yes Decision from Anyone by Russell Granger. He explains amazingly well how and why these triggers do in fact work. I won’t go into all the detail he does, but you can use this information to help you map out your personal contacts to elicit the exact decisions you desire. The seven primary triggers Mr. Granger identifies are:
- The Friendship Trigger - Activates trust and agreement through bonding
- The Authority Trigger – Activates acceptance through expertise
- The Consistency Trigger – Motivates consistency with past actions
- The Reciprocity Trigger – When you give, you get
- The Contrast Trigger – Structures contrasts to make one approach better than another
- The Reason Why Trigger – Emotional reasons to make decisions and actions
- The Hope Trigger – Instills positive expectations that persuade agreement
Triggering the Right Decision
Think about the circumstances under which you make contact with your target market. How do you first introduce yourself? What specialized information can you present to aid the customer? How do you position your marketing approaches? What calls to action do you have on your site? What irresistible offers do you present? Do these things, when you are in your target market’s shoes, trigger not just AN emotional response, but THE emotional response you want to drive your business?
Probably the most important trigger you will want to focus on is The Authority Trigger. I have been preaching for years to establish a niche market and become a recognized expert in it, and here is yet another reason why. As Mr. Granger points out, why do you accept and fill a prescription without question from your doctor? Because your doctor is a medical expert and you are not – you automatically trust your doctor’s authority and make the decision to accept his advice.
However, all the other decision triggers can and should be used in your customer contact strategy. Once you make sure you are properly positioned as the regional authority within your niche, turn your attention to the rest. If you are not good with words, are unsure how to approach the task, or just plain don’t have time, find a good virtual copywriter or marketing specialist to help you out. Once your potential customers start making the decisions you want them to, you will get what you want, and you will be glad you did!
Short Sales as a Niche Short Sighted
Thursday, September 4th, 2008Sad to say, the number of people trying to short sell their home to avoid mortgage default or foreclosure increases daily. One may think a savvy real estate agent would look upon this situation as an opportunity to specialize in the short sell process, and garner a fair amount of business by doing so. However, let’s take a look at the bigger picture…
The Short View on Short Sells
Basically, a short sale is a desperate measure for desperate times – for all parties involved. The person selling their house is obviously in severe financial distress, and the lender is just looking for a way to cut their losses on a loan gone bad. The sales prices on short sold properties are well below market value, requires a terribly complicated process, and the time involved for the deal to be completed is painfully long. These factors combined have to make you wonder if the time you need to invest is worth the payoff. Trying to make up for it though sheer volume will simply add the headache of tracking and maintaining all these deals to the heartache inherent in the situation. In other words, it’s a lot of work and hassle for little return. Wouldn’t it be better worth your time to focus on a niche that would garner less work and greater return?
The Long View Ain’t So Pretty Either
The realities of the short view on short sales aside, let’s take a look at the longer term view. If you’re like most agents, a fairly decent percentage of business comes from either returning customers or referrals from happy clients. Well, people who are forced to short sell their homes are neither happy, nor are they likely to be buying a home again for a long time given the hit their credit will take.
Also, although all prognostications say we have yet to hit the bottom of this mortgage crisis, the fact remains that it is ultimately a short-lived situation. In a year or two, the market will level out again and a new normal will be established. Short sells will be a beast of the past instead of the everyday occurrence they are now. Where will that leave your niche, the specialty for which you are known? You’d be coming’ up short, my friend!
Primary vs. Secondary Niche
Now, all this is not to say you can’t glean some benefit from the current situation. After all, most the people who have been backed into the short sell corner genuinely need the assistance of an experienced professional broker or agent to help them through this difficult time too. There is no reason you should not be ready for the opportunity. If you see enough value in short sells in your particular area, go ahead and develop short sales as a niche – BUT, do it as a secondary niche to your primary target market. It would be a short-sighted mistake to rely on short sells as a long-term business strategy.
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!
