Cold Calling

 

Cold calling is purely a numbers game. Although you can get some results if you are proactive and persistent, this can be very draining, discouraging, and will take up many hours of your day. Building a connection with a cold lead is tough. Many calls result in no answers, voicemails, and or hang-ups. Rejection. OUCH! Cold calling is not the best way to scale. Ideally, you want to create a way where people are reaching out to you not the other way around. The only way to accomplish this is to build credibility and trust in your community as the leader/industry expert. Real estate is all about building personal relationships. 

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Print Advertising

Have you tried taking out a print ad in a local magazine or newspaper where you occupy a small section, half, or even a full page? Although this is a familiar strategy Realtors use to generate awareness in the community, you should not expect that everyone who picks up a copy will see or engage with your ad. Regardless of what the circulation numbers are, It works okay for impressions, but you cannot track the number of actual impressions or conversions with print. 

 

Unless you secure premium placement like the front cover, interior, or back cover most may never even see your ad. That’s money down the drain! I know I’ve burned thousands hoping for an influx of business that never came with print advertising. I didn’t get a single lead or call. In 2019, most people will not even pick up a magazine or newspaper. Why would they when they have unlimited access to curated content on their phones. Today, everyone spends downtime on their phone. Print publications are very quickly going digital or going out of business.

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Mailers & Postcards

 

I have spoken to many Realtors that have tried sending out mailers or postcards to their neighborhood or specific zip codes hoping for the calls to start pouring in. Although this is also another way to create impressions and stay top of mind, we all know where those mailers end up, the garbage or in the best case recycling! 

 

A single postcard will cost you around $1 with postage. Let’s say you spend $500 per month for 500 mailers and do this for 12 months, that’s $6,000!!! You may get a few calls, but that’s if you're lucky. It’s a long term personal branding strategy most Realtors don’t have the budget for. I quickly realized that mailers are not the best way to generate leads and do not produce immediate results.

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Email Marketing

Have you ever purchased an email list thinking WOW I’m going to blow up my business only to realize that your list gets rejected for having too many bounces or unsubscribers? I know I have. I spent thousands, and at the end of the day, I could not communicate with those contacts. The few that did receive my email, because they didn’t know who the heck I was, I would rarely get a response. If I did, it said something like “please unsubscribe me” or “remove me from your list”! 

Email Marketing is great for keeping in touch with your contacts, but you need to build your list organically. People need to know who you are. They are less likely to unsubscribe or mark your email as spam if they have met you. If you're not continually growing your contact/email list then your not growing your network. 

 

Social Media

 

Social media is, of course, fantastic for keeping in touch with your audience. However, it has evolved to become “pay-to-play.” In the past, posting once a day got you a lot of visibility. Today, you can be posting all day long, but your organic reach is about 1-3 % of your followers or audience. This means that you have to promote or boost your posts to get more exposure. You can easily spend $300 and not see any return on your investment. 

 

Posting great content is one way to provide value to your audience, but again, unless you are promoting those posts, it’s going to be tough to reach all your followers and get high engagement. Keep in mind that you can work hard to grow your following on social media, but at the end of the day, you don’t own the contacts on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc. If Facebook shuts down, all your contacts go with it. 

 

Online Advertising

In 2019, online advertising is more prominent than ever. Unfortunately, with more people bidding on clicks, the cost per click/impression has been steadily rising. Unless you have a big budget, many independent Realtors cannot compete with larger companies that can afford to spend thousands. 

Have you spent hundreds if not thousands on Google or Facebook Ads with little to no ROI or maybe you received a few calls, but nothing came from it? Many Realtors can relate to this. Unless you have a very clear strategy with a goal in mind, the budget to execute on that plan, and the knowledge to set up the campaign, retargeting, conversion tracking, etc. you will merely burn cash and see no conversions.

 

Since the Facebook algorithm change last year it has become even harder to target potential prospects that are likely to move. With Facebook no longer using third-party data providers, many of the targeting features have been removed. 

 

Google is great for finding people that are looking for specific keywords, products, or services but in Real Estate, how do you compete with companies like Zillow, Realtor, Trulia, etc. These companies have unlimited advertising budgets! Unless you can spend thousands every month, this strategy will burn a lot of resources that most agents/brokers can't afford.

 

Hosting a Networking Event

DING DING DING !!! Jackpot!!! Hosting a networking event is by far one of the best ways to get your name out there, create a buzz in the community, build your contact/email list, develop genuine relationships, earn trust and demonstrate that you are a true leader. Let prospects come to you month over a month like clockwork. 

 

There’s nothing more powerful than meeting someone face to face, shaking their hand, making eye contact, and having a genuine conversation. Become the local influencer in your city. This is why becoming the host of your very own networking event is the best way to promote and grow your brand or business. You can also share photos/videos from the event on social media to spread the word and encourage your contacts to come out every month. When was the last time you met with any of your contacts face-to-face?

 

An in-person connection far outweighs an online impression! This is the only way to build trust. Not sure about you but I only do business with people that I trust, and know that they have a name in the community. You can also invite your existing contacts to come out enjoy happy hour and meet new people. You will quickly achieve "celebrity status" in your community.

 

We take care of all the work for you. All you have to do is show up and do what you do best, build relationships. You don’t even have to worry about getting anyone’s contact information. We provide you with a list of people that registered to attend the event at the end of each month. You can import this into any email marketing tool and send out drip campaigns to constantly stay top of mind. 

 

For only $10 per day, you can become the most popular Realtor in your community. Sound too good to be true? There is a catch. WeMeet is only looking to partner with one person in each city. Claim your city before someone else does!