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In this episode I talk about what I am doing to generate seller leads using facebook ads. We know that we are really in the Lead Generation business and I am focused on going deep into detail on each type of lead generation marketing that I am doing. I use the analogy of planting fruit trees rather than scattering seeds. In Episode 6 of the podcast we discussed direct mail marketing for seller leads with Corefact. But I am also using Facebook.  I place a huge priority in getting seller leads for the following reasons: Its an opportunity to market my brand It can create multiple transactions from 1 listing. It can generate multiple buyer leads. You need a way for a seller to input their address and get an instant home valuation. There are several companies that offer this service but I have listed 3 of them below. 2 of them I have tried myself and I am currently using Kunversion. Home Value Leads Client Creator Kunversion – This is what I am using as of now. 4 Parts Needed to Get Started Generate an Ad – use the FB ad manager to create an ad or boost a post. You will want to test different types of ads to see what is most effective.  You can use a picture of a typical home in the area or one of your listings. I have had great success in using a screen shot of a map of the targeted city with a bunch of pin drops that represent listed homes for sale. Make sure the ad links to the landing page that you want to use on your Home Valuation Site. Home Valuation Site – I have used Client Creator and am now using Kunversion. If you have limited funds and have your own web hosting, you can also do a basic contact form on your own personal site and do a CMA by hand with each person. Facebook Page – We talked about how to create this in Episode 12 and I also created some tutorials on how to do this. You can even go ninja and create a page called “Living in Miami” or “Jackson County Living” or whatever and post your ads through that page. I have tried both ways but I am currently running ads through my Business Team Page so that people get used to seeing my name and logo. Follow Up System– You need a way to follow up with each person that has received a home valuation. Kunversion has a built in drip campaign that sends pre-written follow up emails and texts.  You can also offer them a more customized CMA using www.narrpr.com (free to Realtors®).  For incomplete info you can use Inquisio to try and get their contact information and follow up by phone.   The most important part about this type of lead generation is the follow up. If you are just providing people with a free home valuation then you are wasting your money. You need to follow up and ask if they are thinking about selling. You can nurture them with items of value in a drip campaign but ultimately you need to ask if they are thinking about putting their home on the market. Some of the things I am trying: Provide a more accurate, customized CMA Tell them I have a list of buyers looking in the area and i am trying to find unlisted homes for them Provide them with important updates on market conditions and other items that show you are the local real estate expert. I am struggling with the phone follow up. It’s unnatural for me but the more I do it, the better I get at it. I am testing different approaches (scripts) to see what resonates with people. Most people have been “just curious”. I adjusted my marketing to say “Sellers Wanted” and other things like that in order to attract leads that are more than curious. In 2 months of running ads and spending $10 per day I have generated 145 Seller leads. I have also generated around 7-800 valuation attempts. (address only). I am spending about $0.59 per click. I blew a lot of money early by running ads that were too vague and targeted an audience that was too broad.  I will dig deeper into ad creation and audience targeting in a future episode.  I also wasted about 3 weeks worth of leads by not having any follow up system in place. I took a Ready, Fire, Aim approach because I knew that spending money would force me to get the system figured out instead of procrastinating. I would encourage you to LIKE THE FACEBOOK PAGE so that we can connect and you can see more of the stuff I am doing to drive my business forward.  Thanks!  

I was recently shocked to hear that my first hire, the first member of my team was leaving to try things out on her own. I had no idea that she was even considering trying things on her own, or that she wasn’t happy with her role on the team. In this episode I discuss what I did right, what I did wrong, what I learned, and what I will do differently moving forward.  Listen in so you can avoid the same mistakes.   I hired because of talent, not to fill a specific roll.  According to The Millionaire Real Estate Agent you should hire an admin person first. Once you get to a point where you are so busy that you can’t keep your paperwork straight, you should hire someone to take over that role.  Your 2nd hire should be a buyers agent.  I didn’t follow this advice too well and hired just because the person was very talented and I wanted talent on my team. 3 Big Mistakes… Looking back, I think there are 3 primary things that I did wrong. Unclear Communication Mis-alignment of goals Clearly defined roles What I did right… Apparently I did a good job training.  Otherwise she wouldn’t feel equipped to go it alone. I also learned quite a bit in the process so it’s not like this experience was a total waste.  My business grew, I learned a lot, and I am better for it. What I learned Clear communication is a must.  The wrong set of instructions can cause someone to spend a lot of wasted time and energy on something. This leads to frustration, costs time and money, and can cost you a team member. Set expectations in writing!  This way there is no way that things can be mis-understood. Check-in more often with your team members so that you get a better feel for where they are at mentally, emotionally, etc. Don’t assume morale is high just because you are not hearing any complaints. Turnover is going to happen when you equip people to be successful. Always attract new talent. Having someone else on your team forces you to have a clearly defined process for all the steps you take in your real estate business. You can’t have everything hidden in your brain somewhere. It has to be in writing, on a checklist, so that others can follow it. Whats your listing presentation? What marketing steps do you take on a new listing? How do you update your sphere?  You can’t just wing it. You have to think it through clearly and have it written out so that it can be repeated consistently by everyone on your team.  This is the difference between a real estate job and a real estate business.

I am generating a lot of leads from Facebook.  Before I can share exactly what I am doing I need to make sure that you understand my overall philosophy when it comes to Facebook and how to separate your personal stuff from the business stuff. You need a Business Page. The business page should be were the bulk of your real estate related posts go with a mix of funny, personal, or other interesting items so that your personality shows in your business. Your personal page should be whatever you want, except you shouldn’t spam your friends with all things real estate.  Sprinkle it in, but don’t bombard them with it. To accompany the podcast this week, I create a couple of videos to SHOW you what I am doing. Create a Business Page in Facebook x   Here is a quick little video on how to navigate the Facebook Mobile app and schedule posts for your business page. Facebook Mobile: Saving & Scheduling Posts x   View more tutorials HERE Other links and tidbits mentioned in this episode: The Lighter Side of Real Estate Facebook Page The Real Estate Agent Podcast Facebok Page

  I totally blew it.  I was supposed to share what works and what didn’t work so you could follow me along on my journey to become a better agent.  The fact is, I ran into some issues with this stupid website I wanted to build for a targeted neighborhood and decided to scrap it and focus on growing my business in other ways.  I should have shared that with you sooner. I apologize. I want to thank all of you who have reached out to me in the comments, by emails and by twitter asking for more episodes.  They have encouraged me to continue. I had my best year ever last year. Aided by the addition of my first Team Member but I should have kept you up to speed. This episode tells the tale of my failed attempt to build a custom website and how terrible the company was that I used. What Happened Bruh? It was wrong to try and re-invent the wheel. I still think the idea is good and I will re-visit it in a more simple form.  Facebook Group?  The goal is to provide something of value to the neighborhood.  More than just real estate info. But not food recipes. Organize an easter egg hunt, a yard sale, schooling info and important dates, etc. And of course an update on home values and market activity. You will have to listen to the episode to hear exactly what went down, but the bottom line is the company I hired to build a custom website really sucked at it.  The only thing they excelled at was taking my money. I Made My First Hire Team McGuire was officially formed in 2015. Consisting of 2 whole people!  I learned that 1+1=3. And a bunch more that I will save for future episodes. Corefact is still working pretty well. I am getting a 3-5% response rate.  And what I like most is that I now have an address of a potential seller lead that I can continue to drip other things to. I have a new lead generation platform I am trying out that I am super excited to share.  I won’t announce it until I actually get some solid listings and buyers so I can have an ROI to share. (again, future episode) What Do You Want? Feel free to comment below or email me to share some thoughts you have for things you would like me to focus on or try.  I am happy to try new things or elaborate on things you want to go more in depth into. For example, the Expense Reports on the site.  Keep them? or nah? It takes extra work, but I will do it if there is value in it.  Thanks for listening!  

In my continuing efforts to focus on the deals that I don’t have instead of the deals that I do have, I am ready to roll out my marketing to a Geographic Farm.  In this episode I discuss a few of the “pillars” of lead generation and how the Geographic Farm  will be my first priority. Choosing the Right Area You can’t just go and pick any neighborhood you want if you want to have the best chance to succeed.  Here are 3 things to keep in mind when starting a farm: Select the right area – You want an area that has more than a 5% turnover rate.  This means that 5 out of every 100 homes in the area will sell each year.  You also want to check if there is a particular agent that is a part of a large number of those sales.  If you find an agent with more than 20% of the sales in that farm then they may already be viewed as the authority in that area. Be Consistent – You need to commit to at least 12 months of marketing this area.  Have a plan, have a budget and see it through. Provide Value – You can’t just send them market updates every month.  Most people will through that away.  Instead, give them information that any homeowner would find useful.  School start times, events in the park, coupons to local stores, etc. With those key points in mind, here is my plan for launching my farm: I am building a website for the neighborhood to use as the hub for all things relevant to the homeowners there.  Things like CC&R’s, HOA meeting minutes, links to the schools, info on the neighborhood park, neighborhood garage sales, etc. I don’t have all the features clearly defined because I am going to ask the neighbors what they want before I build something they don’t want.  As I get this built and roll it out, you can follow my progress in the CASE STUDY section of this website (coming soon) Once I have the site roughly in place, I will post a sign as you enter the neighborhood with the URL to the site.  I will mail a postcard announcing this service and follow up with some door knocking with a flyer.  I plan on having a landing page that will say “Coming Soon” with an area for people to sign up to be notified when the site goes live.  I will poll those people that sign up to see what features they would like to see and use that info along with the feedback I get when door knocking. I will still do traditional postcard mailings and other means to market to this neighborhood.  The bottom line is I want to be known, liked and trusted in this neighborhood.  To do that, I must provide them something of value and convey the fact that I am the local expert for all things in this neighborhood. Want to Follow Along? If you are interested in starting your own farm, or want to improve on the one you are currently farming then I would encourage you to follow the steps I take in this launch.  Remember that this is  an experiment.  I am not claiming to be an expert in this.  But I am willing to work my but off to find what works.  You may not want to build a website yourself and thats fine.  There are many services that do this for you.  Check Odesk or even craigslist to find someone that can build a small site for you. If you want to give this a shot, you can get your own web-hosting here, and then check out the tutorials section on how to get it set up. Remember, I’ll be adding a whole “CASE STUDY” section on this website so you can see all the steps I am taking to launch this farm.  If it works, I will roll it out to other neighborhoods as well.  Stay tuned…

I recently met with Denise Wilson of Lawyers Title to discuss how she could help me continue to grow my business. Denise has been in the industry for several years and has a ton of knowledge.  I knew she could help me and she didn’t disappoint. You will need to listen to the whole episode to get all the details of my meeting and what I learned, but here is a brief summary below. 4 Big Takeaways… Here are the big things I learned from Denise and what I will be implementing in my own daily routines to try to grow my business. 1. Pick up the Phone! Oddly enough, the first thing she told me to do was block out time every day and call my sphere, leads, etc.  She works with high producing teams that time block this for every member of the team every day. 2. Mindset is HUGE Run your business like a business. Stay focused on the things you need to be doing. (like 20 calls per day). Lead Generation is what your business is all about. Focus on closing the deals the you don’t have, not just the deals you do have. 3. Be Consistent This doesn’t just apply to marketing.  We know that you need to commit to marketing long-term in order to see any results.  But I learned that I need to do this with my sphere, my leads, my social media etc.  Set up a system and stick with it. 4. You need Active and Passive Lead Generation. It’s not enough to just have emails, newsletters and postcards going out.  You need to have active lead generation going on as well.  Phone calls, Door knocking, Open Houses.  These are active (and free) ways to generate leads.  Hustle. Sweat. Work.   Denise also shared some specific tools that Lawyers Title has to assist agents.  I am now receiving a weekly summary of the FSBO’s in my area. I am also receiving a newsletter that I can forward to my database to assist them with monthly home maintenance. They even have an App that lets me show sellers see an estimate what they can expect to receive at closing based on a certain sales price. If you haven’t done this already, I would suggest you schedule a meeting with your favorite title and escrow company to see what they have available to help you with your success.  I of course would recommend Lawyers Title. They have the power of a large national parent company with Fidelity, but maintain local control and personal service.  Again, a big thanks to Denise for partnering with me on my pathway to success. Like what you hear?  Share it with the world! Tweet: Hear what top #realtors do every day to be successful http://ctt.ec/6QHdP+ #reapodcast #realestate

Death (of Marketing) & Taxes I recently had to write to very large checks to the IRS and Oregon Dept. of Revenue on April 15.  This would not have been such a big deal if I had actually set money aside for this purpose. I didn’t. I had to use my marketing & emergency fund because the bill was so high.  Sure I could have filed an extension and paid a penalty.  I could have done installments. But I decided to bite the bullet and pay it because I had 4 deals in escrow that were supposed to close right around the end of April. And then they all got pushed… Sound familiar?  One sale fail for financing. One postponed because the value came in low. One postponed for lender required repairs.  You get the idea. I need a better plan I need to budget for taxes. I need to budget for marketing.  I need to budget for operating expenses. I need to treat my business like a “business”. I can’t continue to look at my paycheck as income. It needs to be looked at as revenue for a business with only a certain portion set aside as income. Breakdown of Revenue 25% to taxes 10% to retirement 10% charitble contribution $500 per closing for listings (each listing costs me about $500 in expenses) ??% for Marketing (I am still working on my marketing budget.  I may do a flat fee once I get a set budget)   What is left over is now personal income.  Not much right?  I will use this scarcity to create a sense of urgency around generating more revenue. A Monthly Budget for Expenses In addition to the mindset around setting aside revenue for the various expenses I have, I also need to have a better understanding of where my money is going each month. (So do you, I would guess) Here is a breakdown of the expenses I have each month. Moving forward, I will average out expenses that are only paid out yearly like NAR dues, Dropbox, etc.  That way, I don’t have to stop marketing when I have a series of annual expenses all hit in the same month.  For example, NAR dues are due in December.  So is a quarterly payment to my MLS, a business license renewal, and the renewal of an LLC.  It will be easier to face those payments if I set aside 1/12 of them each month and then have a ledger showing this so I don’t go and spend the money just because its in my account.   Take Action The main point to take away from this episode is this:  Run your real estate career like a business. You have to know where you money is going and you have to plan for expenses that will happen in advance. You have to be consistent with your marketing efforts if you are going to be successful. If you don’t have a plan for those expenses then you won’t have the funds available to maintain that consistency. Make a budget. Track your expenses. Get an emergency fund for when those closings don’t happen as planned. Plan where your money is going. Be consistent. And for goodness sakes, set aside money for taxes.

I Hate Open Houses… But I understand that they are important to building your brand and generating new leads.  I just don’t want to waste my time on a Sunday afternoon hoping that someone has the time to stop by.   I mentioned this to my Principal Broker, Garett Chadney, and he coached me through some very specific steps that I can take to ensure that my traffic increases during the open house. In this interview, Garett breaks down his system for doubling his Open House traffic.We learn the following: Selecting the right property What signage to use The mindset about making it “an event” Online and Social marketing to get traffic Door Knocking to invite the neighborhood Lead capture during the open house I can honestly tell you that once I got my head around the idea that this was more about building my brand and standing out amongst other agents, I really was able to get motivated to do a good job. It’s not about selling that particular house.  Its about announcing to the world that you are an agent worth working with. You have the knowledge, the effort, the hustle that makes people want to work with you.   My open house was better than most of the ones I held in the past.  I will need to tweak some of the things I did to achieve better results. The eventbrite idea is totally awesome, but I didn’t capitalize on my database to spread the word. I also didn’t allow enough time to invite the neighbors.  I ran out of daylight before getting to everyone.  I also underestimated the set up time for the signs and the amount that I needed.  Those “flags” that Garett mentioned are something I will be ordering very soon, as my marketing budget allows.   Here is the open house checklist.  Feel free to use it, change it, or ignore it. Have any ideas for making Open Houses even better?  What did we miss?  I’d love to hear your thoughts. Tweet: I’m Loving The Real Estate Agent Podcast! http://ctt.ec/pJEbc+ #realestate #reapodcast #knowliketrust

  3 Listings with one postcard… I have been using Corefact for the past few months with great success. Listen in as I interview Sierra Stewart, the Director of Sales for Corefact, as she tells us all about their revolutionary technology that increases the response rate for direct mail marketing while providing an estimated home value for the recipient along with lead capture for the agent. I met with Sierra at the airport just before she was leaving the Portland area and you will hear some background noises and even a security announcement that caused me to pause and listen mid-sentence. I snapped this blurry photo while getting set up. Unpacking a bunch of electronics near the security check point made me a little nervous I guess. Here is what is unique about Corefact: Variable Printing. Each card has an individualized map with comp sales of the recipients home as well as a unique code that can be input into a website to reveal the estimated value of their home. Call to Action: Enter the code to see the estimated value of your home. Place a widget in your own website, or use www.realestatehomeprice.com which is already set up for you by default. I have reserved www.clackamashomevalues.com for future use.  I can send postcards to anyone in Clackamas County and direct them to this site to see the value of their home. As of April 2014, no one has received any cards advertizing this site so if you click through to check it out there isn’t much to look at yet.  But I wanted to share it with you so you can see the potential. You can have your own branded domain catered to a specific sphere or neighborhood and use the Corefact widget to allow people to put their code in and see the value of their home right there on your own site.  Pretty cool. For $199, Corefact can build out a landing page for you. 2 things happen when the recipient enters the code into the website: They see comparables of sales around them. The broker gets an email notification of each address that has entered in the code so that you can follow up with them. (lead capture) You now have the name and address of someone who might want to sell their home.  You can then put them on your own drip campaign to convert them into a listing appointment. Here is the first follow up letter I send.  Feel free to use it or modify it the way you want. Here is what a sample postcard looks like with the address removed: Higher Response Rates Corefact averages a higher response rate of 2-4% on their direct mail versus an industry standard of about 1%. Visit www.reapodcast.com/corefact (affiliate link) to sign up for your account.  Enter coupon code “First10” to receive 10% off your first order. Up to $50 off. You will want to enter your personal info. Upload a photo and logo to be used on your postcards. You can also upload a .csv file of your targeted market.  I get a list of the 200 closest homes to each of my listings from my favorite title company and use the list for both just listed, and just sold postcards. I’ve picked up 3 additional listings in one condo development because of corefact postcards. There are certain non-disclosure states where agents will need to provide Corefact with some additional information to be able to pull comparables.  In non-disclosure states, the sales data is not publicly available for corefact to data-mine so they rely on the agent to give them more information. Take Action Try a new way of Direct Mail Marketing with better lead capture. Visit www.reapodcast.com/corefact to sign up for your free account.  You only pay about $0.73 per postcard when you send over 100, postage included. Input your name, contact info, picture, logo, etc to set your account up. Choose the card you want to send and pick a layout for the front and back.  They have several layouts to choose from. Upload your .csv file that contains the addresses and specs about the homes you are mailing to.  It is important to get the as much data as possible as they use 15 fields. Visit the tutorials section here on the website to view the backend of corefact and to learn how to set up your account and order postcards.    

  My Business is Growing! 2014 is off to a great start for me thanks to some referrals and 1 very specific marketing tactic I am using to get new listings.  I promise to share that with you in a future episode.  I need to work out the details with the company I am using to make sure that this tactic can work nationally and that the pricing is consistent and cost-effective in other areas of the country. I am also hoping to get a discount or promo code for REAPodcast listeners too! Stay tuned. Focus on Listings Because I want to grow my business by growing my listings I have really looked at my marketing and presentation when it comes to these new listings.  I found that I was sloppy because I wasn’t trying to get top dollar for my seller since they were always in a short sale situation. The Marketing Checklist Professional Photos – 7 exposure HDR photos. I get mine for $150 per listing. Flat fee. Unique Website – for $12 I can buy a domain through Bluehost and add as much info as I want to advertise the home.  No flyers. No more ink cartridges, No more crossing out prices, etc Domain Sticker – The a “123main.com” website built, I simply place a sticker on the For Sale sign and direct any foot traffic to the website. Zillow/Trulia/Craigslist – This is where buyers are so this is where my listings are. Directionals – My Goal is to have SIX per listing.  previously I was only placing 1 or 2 if any.  More signs means more visibility. Helps with “Be Known” Social Media – Tweet it, Post it to Facebook, Pin it, Make a slideshow on Youtube. etc.  Use something like Hootsuite to manage them all. Open House – Room for improvement.  Help me out!?  What works here? Broker Tour – Do these work? Talk to me… Just Listed/Just Sold Postcards – I am using these with a new twist and it is working well.  More info coming soon… Help A Broker Out I’d love some feedback on this one.  What is working for you that I am not doing? Anything on here you haven’t been doing that you want to try?  I’d also like some feedback and info on Open Houses and Broker’s Tour.  How can I do these with maximum impact so I’m not just playing cards and eating cookies all day.   Thanks for listening! Subscribe via iTunes Tweet: I’m Loving The Real Estate Agent Podcast! http://ctt.ec/pJEbc+ #realestate #reapodcast #knowliketrust

  In this episode of The Real Estate Agent Podcast I interview Sally Dillon of The Hasson Company.  We learn about her journey in Real Estate and what she did to position herself as a Top Producer, and more importantly, how she dominated her chosen niche. Although both Sally and myself are in the Short Sale niche, its important to note that there are many niches that you can chose from and become the local authority in that niche. Here are some options: Commercial Multi-Family 1st Time Homebuyers Investors Neighborhoods Property Types The important thing is Be The Authority. Sally’s Journey Sally started in 2002 at a small shop with no mentor and no direction.  She did a couple of transaction and decide to join a company that was buying distressed properties and flipping them.  During the next couple of years she closed several transactions for this company and gained a lot of knowledge about short sales and working with distressed homeowners.  She also made several connections in this particular niche and gained confidence in the special knowledge that she had. The hours became too much and begin impacting the freedom that she wanted in her schedule so she moved to another company to focus on traditional sales but also began purchasing distressed properties for herself and some investor partners. Then it all went crazy… After 2007 she was in a unique position to build her business by using her specialized knowledge to help distressed homeowners AND distressed agents who found their business shrinking before there eyes. She joined a larger company and began putting the word out to agents that they could refer any short sales they came across to her and she would pay them a referral fee or partner with them on the listing.  She did miss any opportunity to tell other agents or her sphere of influence that she could help people with their short sales. She taught classes. She attended classes. She made the rounds, partnering with attorneys and accountants who were sure to come across distressed homeowners. She is now at the point that she gets a lot of referrals just by reputation and has hired other agents to help her handle sign calls and the processing of the short sales. If She Started Over Sally said the #1 thing she would do if she had to start over is to get a mentor that she respected and that was good at their job.  Find someone you connect with and build a relationship.  Real Estate is all about relationships.   Take Action Establish yourself as an authority in your niche. Use your special knowledge or experience. Use your unique personality to connect with your niche. Teach class, attend class, show up, be there, make connections. Don’t pass on opportunities to tell people what you do. Sally is using a contact management system provided by her company to stay in touch with her sphere and offer them items of value through email.  I am using a transaction management system called Realty Commander (FREE trial affiliate link) to process my transactions and then build my database with the info. Like the podcast? Review it! – It helps others find it. Feel free to comment below.  You can also follow me on twitter at @MrDaveMcGuire or share this podcast with your peeps. Tweet: I’m Loving The Real Estate Agent Podcast! http://ctt.ec/pJEbc+ #realestate #reapodcast #knowliketrust Thanks for Listening!            

In this episode I share how I have been overlooking how important my email address and signature line are in communicating what I do for a living with others.  I share some tips and suggestions on what I think is the best way to passively tell people that you are in the real estate business. First – A recap of my struggle in organizing my database. I decided to pick my A-team from memory rather than look through a huge list and find people.  I also looked back at my previous closings and focused on who was the source of those deals. I feel much better about this now.  I know who my A-team is and can focus on maintaining and developing those relationships.  I also know my B-team and of course everyone left over is the C-team. Signature Gift The first thing I will be doing for my A-team is delivering a signature gift to them for the holidays.  You can read more about that here.   Have feedback or want to get connected?  You can reach me at dave@readpodcast.com or follow me on twitter at @MrDaveMcGuire   Email Issues In setting up my “teams” to get various email correspondence from me, it was clear that I have been overlooking an important item in building my real estate business.  Through the years I have had so many different email addresses that I think I am confusing my Sphere of Influence.  Too often I use a generic email account when its not “business” related and I have missed opportunities to communicate that I am an agent.  Maybe you do this too? Soccer Mom? PTA volunteer? Active in Church Group? My kids are active and I volunteer a lot but for some reason I have been using a generic email with no signature line when I am involved in these activities. So before I send out a bunch of emails I need to decide on a consistent email address to use, and an effective signature line that allows people to get to know me as much as they can. Want to see what it looks like?  Send an email to email@reapodcast.com and look for a video on how to set it up this way here. Signature Line Here is what I think you need to have in your signature line: Picture Name/Title State Required Text (i.e. Licensed Broker or license number) Logo/Brokerage Name Phone (get a google voice number free and forward to anyone Fax  (Try RingCentral Fax FREE for 30 days) Social Media Icons  (Right click to save icons below) Website URL     See Video Tutorial on how to setup signature line with Gmail. What Domain is Your Email Coming From? Another opportunity I was overlooking was having my emails come from my own branded email address.  I have a bad history of switching email address because of circumstance beyond my control.   me@verizon.net me@frontier.com (Verizon sells webs service to Frontier) me@comcast.net (Frontier raises prices so I want to switch to Comcast) me347@gmail.com (I get smart and go “generic” but all the good names are taken) me@mybroker.com (I get an email provided by my broker) me@mydomain.com (I finally get it right….) Now I can use my own domain and email address for the rest of my life without having to switch if I change internet providers or Real Estate Companies. Not only do I avoid have to inform everyone of email changes in the future, I also get to passively send people to my website to learn more about me.  Have you ever sent an email address to someone with a personalized domain?  I bet you went to that website to see a picture or learn more about them right? If you have your own web hosting you can purchase your own branded domain, create you own branded email and never have to switch again. I personally use Bluehost. And I use them for several reasons: Affordable Reliable Easy to use No limits to storage, domains, emails, etc Great support Don’t allow Adult content on any servers I have created a full page of resources on how to purchase your own hosting, set up wordpress, create an email address, and more.   Take Action Get your own web domain to create the perfect email address for yourself. Get your signature line dialed in. Subscribe or leave an honest review in Itunes Tweet: I’m Loving The Real Estate Agent Podcast! http://ctt.ec/pJEbc+ #realestate #reapodcast #knowliketrust

  In Episode 2 of The Real Estate Agent Podcast, I am joined by Mickey Lindsay, Vice President of Oregon First Realtors®.  We discuss why she feels that training is so important as well as some of the tactics that good agents use to build their business up.  She also tells us 2 of the things that she would do if she had to start all over again as a new agent.   Show Notes Recap the progress made on my contact list as mentioned in Episode 1 I’m using a Virtual Assistant to organize my paperwork and data base.  I hired her through Odesk  and she has been working with me for almost a year now. Im am struggling with getting the database whittled down to a manageable size of high quality relationships.  I may have to start from scratch and just list out my best peeps and go from there.   Interview Mickey describes her background and how she ended up being the Managing Broker and why she places such a priority on training. She reveals the mistakes she made in the beginning of her career and what she would do if she had to start over in todays digital world.   Links Here are links to some of the tools mentioned in this episode. Hootsuite – Free social media management tool.  Lets you manage multiple social media tools from one spot.  Link Facebook, Twitter and more and even schedule tweets and posts in advance. Yelp! – More than just for finding good food!  There is a section on real estate.  When people are searching yelp for real estate are they finding you? Google Apps – This is what I am using for my contact database.  Not the most robust contact management program but it is free, syncs to all my devices and is cloud based.   If you are enjoying this podcast, please subscribe and/or leave a review in iTunes or Stitcher Tweet: I’m Loving The Real Estate Agent Podcast! http://ctt.ec/pJEbc+ #realestate #reapodcast #knowliketrust

  Follow along as I try to become the best real estate agent I can be. But what exactly does that look like? What do good agents do? In trying to answer those questions I looked around the internet and listened to a few podcasts to try and learn what other agents do to be successful. But couldn’t really find anyone that was documenting what they are doing and sharing it with other.  I could by coaching programs.  I could try various different marketing tricks and tactics but I was always afraid it would be a waste of money. I decided that I would document my own journey to becoming a better real estate agent and put it out there in a podcast for other agents to follow along.  I will be the first to tell you that not everything I do will be the best way of doing things. This is an exploration. A  journey. It will be filled with ups and downs. Wrongs and rights. But in the end, I hope that I will discover some tools, behaviors and techniques that help me provide a great service to those who have real estate needs and in turn, profit from that service.   Here is what you can expect to hear: Interviews with successful agents.  What are they doing? How did they get to where they are? I will test the various strategies and marketing tactics, explore the personality traits that winning agents have, and document the process on the podcast and here on the website. This website will have additional information such as tutorials and resources on the tools and tactics I will be using to grow my business. I will do a case studies on various marketing strategies and report back on how well they work. I will also explore different ways to market to my Sphere of Influence.   The Marketing Filter People do business with people they Know, Like and Trust.  Everything I do will be run through this filter.  How can I be known? Will this help me be liked? Does this make people trust me?   Take Action My first task on this journey is to organize my contacts.  I will prioritize them into 3 categories: A-team – These are the handful of people that I know that will regularly refer business to me.  The catch is that this elite group has regular interactions with people that have real estate needs. (Accountants, Attorneys, Loan Officers, etc) B-team – These are my close friends and family would will definitely recommend people to me in a heartbeat.  They just don’t come across people with real estate needs more than once or twice per year. C-team – This is everyone else.  They still need to hear from me.  They need to be given something of value from me from time to time and they need to be reminded that I do real estate. If you don’t have an organized database then get it fixed.  Separate people into groups and devise a plan to meet regularly with your A-team in person.  Your B-team needs to hear from you often on Facebook or by email.  Ad your C-team needs to get occasional messages from you as well.   Thanks for listening to the first episode!  You can subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher so that you don’t miss an episode.  I would also appreciate an honest review and I would love to hear your comments. It will help craft future episodes to better serve the agents that are listening. Tweet: I’m Loving The Real Estate Agent Podcast! http://ctt.ec/pJEbc+ #realestate #reapodcast #knowliketrust