CONTROVERSIAL: Why Social Media May Actually Be Costing You Sales

March 31, 2014 by

SocialMediaWillHurtYourBiz
Last week I was doing a social media training session at the Brampton Real Estate Board for Johnson and Associates Realty. It was a great session; about 25+ highly engaged REALTORS ready to learn on the “hot”,”new”,”can’t be missed” Social Media Trends for 2014. I shared free & easy to implement strategies, what’s changing this year, how to generate leads using social media, what sites to focus on and much more.

And then I asked a question I’ve never asked before.

I asked “How many of you are planning on using social media as the main way to grow your business this year?”

Almost everyone raised their hands.

Then I asked “How many of you have a real hunger for technology?”

Half the room raised their hands.

Then I asked “How many of you consider yourselves to be “tech savvy””?

The same amount of people raised their hands.

And then I asked “What WordPress theme are you using”…

And everyone except 2 Agents asked “What’s that?” (WordPress is a blogging platform that everyone can easily do, but to master it and actually get results from your efforts including knowing which theme to select, which keywords to use (and updating them often), selecting the right plugins for your theme and more, you’ll have to spend a huge amount of time. At that point, it’s almost like you’re a Social Media Expert, who happens to be focused on Real Estate or Mortgages).

Now, the reason I’m telling you this story is because I think in a lot of ways, the importance of social media may have been overstated to you.

And by the way, I LOVE social media…so I’m not telling you this because I don’t like it, or don’t understand it, or haven’t seen results from it. The reason I’m telling you this is because I see so many Agents and Brokers forgetting about what actually gets them paid, because they’re ditching tried, true and tested ways to prospect, get more clients and make more money for the new “shiny object” of social media (which isn’t new anymore, but there’s still lots of you getting on board now).

Or, because you’ve attended lots of training sessions or webinars that have told you how you must be on social media, you’ve decided to focus your energy here. So you learned how to use Facebook, or Twitter or Linkedin, or Youtube videos. (You may have even taken one of our JOLT Marketing courses on this subject). And for many of you, you start to spend a huge amount of your working hours doing social media activities.

Now, that’s not a bad thing, and I certainly don’t want you to have any regrets, but let’s be 100% clear. Social Media is the long, winding road to getting new business and referral business.

If you need new business RIGHT NOW, I would not bet on social media.It will hurt your business sooner than it will help it. The reason I say this is because on social media it’s not appropriate to “sell”. It actually doesn’t work. Yes, you can work on building your reputation, or staying in touch with past clients, or staying top of mind with prospects. But when it comes to actually “selling”, as in getting paid nicely for your work in the next few weeks/months, social media is not where I would spend my energy. And I can say this with 100% confidence, because we have a roster of consulting clients that we help to make sales right now, and social media is always one of the weakest performers for our ad spend. Focusing on what I mention below we’ve sold 7 condos in 1 day, sold 300% more mortgage insurance in 5 months than a company had done in a full year, sold 17 condos at an event, and much more.

So instead of focusing on social media, here’s what I would focus on:

1. I would make sure you have a solid prospecting database. These are not random emails, or phone numbers on sticky notes. These are full details including first name, last name, email, phone number, mailing address, how they heard about you, when they’re looking to move, what their price range is, and special notes about if they have children, or love pets, or any conversation pieces. ***Everyone on your prospecting list must have given you permission to email them, so either use an email system with opt-in forms (We love using Aweber Email Marketing for this), or have all your prospects send you a note in writing giving permission to email market to them.

2. I would make sure you have a solid client database. Again, these are not random emails, or phone numbers on sticky notes. These are full client details including first name, last name, email, phone number, mailing address, how they heard about you, when they moved, what their price range is, any referrals they sent your way, and special notes about if they have children, or love pets, or any conversation pieces. This is a pretty basic database, and if you want you could make it a lot more complicated, but let’s just start here.

3. I would hone AND USE your sales and marketing skills. You need to really know how to market yourself so you’re collecting loads of new leads weekly, and you really need to know how to sell properly including how to handle objections, different closing strategies, and how to rescue deals that seem to be falling apart. If you want to learn how to sell there are lots of trainers that would love to work with you. I’ve heard great things about Chris Leader, Tom Ferry, and Brian Buffini. If you want to know how to market yourself properly I recommend you join our “5 Steps to More Leads and Big M.O.N.E.Y.” training program here.

If you’re not sure if you should focus on sales training or marketing training, here’s a super simple way to figure it out. If you get tons of leads, but have a hard time converting them; you need sales training. If you’re great at closing any leads you get, but you just don’t have enough leads; you need marketing training.

THEN I WOULD DO THIS:

FIRST: I would pick up the phone. Call referral partners, call past clients, call recently closed clients and see if anyone they know may also be in need of your services.


SECOND: I would email my database. To my past clients I would email them the shortest, easiest and best way to drum up new business by simply writing
“Hi (First Name),
Do you know anyone that may need my services in the next 3 months?”
Thanks,
(Your Name)

To your prospecting list I would email:
“Hi (First Name),
Are you still looking to buy a house?
Thanks,
(Your Name)

THIRD: I would share articles from trusted media sources on social media. It’s the “easy” way to do social media. You’re updating your contacts about important news related to real estate and mortgages, and you don’t actually have to create it! Make sure when you do this, that you set some serious guidelines on how much time you spend doing this. Otherwise you can spend hours and hours doing this, and that will actually be costing you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. (We have a new “Done for You” Social Media service where we can do your high quality social media for you. If you’re interested, I share how to get a 14 Day FREE trial at the end of this article).

FOURTH: I would host an event. This could be a client appreciation party where your clients are invited, and you request they bring someone who may need your services in the next 3-6 months, this could be a “First Time Homebuyers” seminar, or an “Investors” workshop. Whatever theme you decide on here’s what you need to do:
* create an account and set up your event details on Eventbrite
* email invitations to your prospecting and client database(that’s why your prospecting & client database is critical – you can do this in less than one hour if you have your contacts in a proper database and email system)
* call your referral sources and invite them, and see if they have any clients that would also want to attend
* call to invite your VIP clients that have referred great clients to you in the past
* consider “renting” email lists for local media so they can send an email and invite people on your behalf
* you can also post your event on social media (but notice how this is used to enhance your marketing…its not your ENTIRE marketing plan)
* be a generous host, provide quality drinks and snacks, give everyone name tags, choose a nice venue
* give a 30-45 minute talk that educates your audience
* spend the last 10 minutes of your talk explaining what you do, how you help your clients, and share client success stories
* at the end of your talk, invite people to arrange a meeting with you. Make sure you have pre-printed “Meeting Request” sheets for everyone that captures their first and last name, email, phone number, mailing address, and their top 3 choices of times to meet with you. Hand out pens with your sheets, and actually spend 5 minutes and say “Write your first name here”, “Now write your last name here”. Go through the entire sheet with them. Get a helper to collect and review all sheets for you, to make sure they’re completed fully.
* if you’ve done a good job in your talk, about 10% – 50% of the room could become your clients next week.

FIFTH: I would send a monthly e-newsletter to clients and prospects. You can also do a monthly printed newsletter. There’s no easier way to make easy, fast and fun money in this business than with getting repeat and referral business. So stay in touch with your clients, make them feel valued, and show them that you want to help them long term, by staying in touch long term. Not having an email or newsletter that you regularly send is like raising your hand and saying “Yes, I would LOVE to create a hard, stressful business where I spend all my time chasing new leads. I want to do business the hard way!” In other words, not communicating with your clients regularly is like business drudgery.

The reason I’m explaining in such great detail about what to do, and what’s important is this: I SEE TONS OF AGENTS AND BROKERS BETTING THE FARM ON SOCIAL MEDIA, AND FORGETTING TO ACTUALLY SELL!

The bottom line is, you get paid to “sell”, right? So, if you don’t sell, you don’t get paid, right?

If you’re saying yes, that means the focus of your energy should be on selling! And if I were you I would focus on the easy, fast and fun way to grow a business (following the steps mentioned above), instead of the long, winding road that social media provides.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from Kevan Cochran, who was one of the top sales leaders for Richard Robbins, and now helps Dominion Lending Canada recruit Mortgage Brokers. Kevan is an incredibly successful at prospecting, and he told me “The best way to market is to pick up the phone. You can do email marketing, you can buy ads, you can do social media, but nothing will get you new sales faster than picking up the phone! Use the phone to get the meeting, then use the meeting to close the deal.”

Here’s the real deal: I LOVE social media, it has TOTALLY changed my business, and worked amazingly well at helping me promote. But, just like you, the focus must be on sales. If you get distracted…expect your business to slow down…as in you’ll make less money$$$.

If you’re reading this and thinking, well, I guess I won’t do any social media updates any more, I don’t recommend that either. Why? Because when your name is passed around as a referral one of the first things that happens is your new lead will Google your name. When they Google your name, your Social Media profiles will often appear first and if your prospect likes what they see…they’ll call you. If they don’t like what they see, such as a profile that hasn’t been updated in months, it will create a negative impression and chances are high you will lose your lead.

So you need to DO social media, but you don’t need to make it your entire marketing strategy. It really supports whatever else you’ve got going on.

If you’re finding it difficult to manage your social media, and build your databases, and call clients, consider outsourcing some of your tasks, including your social media.

If you are interested, I’d like to invite you to get a 14 Day FREE Trial of our new “Done for You Social Media” program.

Here’s how it works:

* Our Community Manager finds, screens and posts REALTOR and Mortgage Broker approved content to our system. These articles are coming from trusted media sources like The Globe and Mail, National Post, Moneyville and much more.

* Then our system randomizes the content (so everyone gets different posts on different days) and updates your social media profiles based on your preferences.

* Updates are made to your Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin profiles for you.

* You can also continue to post any personal content you like.

If you’re interested in trying it out, sign up for a 14 day FREE trial now. Just note, our sytem works likes Netflix; you sign up for a free trial in full (including leaving your credit card details) and if you don’t like it you email us to cancel. If you do like it, you don’t have to do anything, you just continue having us do your social media for you, so you can focus on building your business the easy, fast and fun way!

To get a 14 Day FREE Trial of our REAL ESTATE BULLETIN go here: http://realestatebulletin.ca/registration

To get a 14 Day FREE Trial of our MORTGAGE BULLETIN go here: http://mortgagebulletin.ca/registration

To your success,
Ingrid Menninga

Ingrid_LoRes

Ingrid Menninga is the founder of JOLT Marketing where her big mission is to put the heart back into the Real Estate and Mortgage industry while helping Agents & Brokers make awesome profits.

Within 3 years of founding JOLT Marketing, Ingrid has carved out a spectacular success roster working with Canada’s leading Real Estate and Mortgage brands with clients from RE/MAX, Royal LePage, Dominion Lending Centres, Verico, Street Capital, and more.

Ingrid is frequently featured in industry journals such as REM: Canada’s Real Estate Magazine, CAAMP’s Mortgage Journal, at speaking engagements for RE-Bar Camps, InMan’s Agent ReBoot, CMP’s The Mortgage Summit and in Sales Seminars for leading industry organizations such as IMBA(Independent Mortgage Brokers Association of Ontario).


*Image from rebelbookchicks.com

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3 Things Successful Agents & Brokers Do FIRST Thing in the Morning

February 18, 2014 by

iStock_000007882234Small

With this never-ending winter we’re having, it’s WAY to easy to fall into the winter blues.

Since I’m originally from Vancouver Island, BC, where the winters are mild, this past winter in Ontario has been a doozy! Yet, I’m feeling INCREDIBLE!

I have tons of energy, lots of optimism, and have pushed myself hard to do lots of “scary” things that I would normally never attempt mid winter(the things you need to do to reach greater heights in the business).

I’d like to say I just “stumbled” into this new found winter confidence. But that’s not true. The reality is, I studied the habits of really successful people, including top Real Estate Agents and Mortgage Brokers, and incorporated some of these to see if they really work. The answer is, YES, they do!

Here are the top 3 tips to feel awesome, be super productive, and GROW your business this winter:

1. Exercise first thing in the morning.

You don’t need to be a morning person to make this success habit your own. You just need to wake up a few minutes before you normally would, and get moving.

You can go for a quick run outside, hit a morning class at the gym, have a personal trainer come to you, or even watch Youtube videos at home with quick workouts.

By adding a morning routine to your day, you’ll have tons more energy, make better food choices, and have a whole better attitude for the day. All these things combined make you prospect more, serve your clients better, and have that extra JOLT of energy to push your career to new heights.

2. Set your intention for the day.

This may sound super “fluffy”, but if you start your day asking yourself “What do I want to have happened by the end of the day?”, and then go out and make it happen, you’ll be miles ahead of just letting your day happen to you.

Some popular intentions to set are:

  • number of prospecting calls you’ll have made by the end of the day
  • number of past clients you will call by the end of the day
  • making lunch appointments with a new referral partner every Friday
  • planning a new lead generation campaign

Once you nail down this habit, you can take it a step further, and before doing any activity ask yourself, “What do I want to have happen at the end of this?”. When you do this you’ll be making sure that everything you do is helping your business (and you’re not wasting your time). You’ll also know exactly what you want, so you can go and get it, instead of just leaving it up in the air.

3. Staying disconnected until you are ready to focus on work.

If you’re reading your email, updating social media, answering your phone, or checking voicemail first thing in the morning, you may be doing yourself a BIG dis-service. While you may feel like you’re getting ahead, chances are that you could be putting yourself in “reactive” mode first thing in the morning, instead of making yourself the boss of the day.

If you happen to be getting complaints first thing in the morning, it cheats you of the ability to set your day how you want, and then deal with any problems with a balanced attitude once you’re ready.

Of course, if there’s an emergency, you’ll need to deal with it, but in all other cases, it’s best that you set your day up how you want, instead of letting others dictate how your day unfolds.

If you look at all 3 of these habits, there’s a MAJOR theme behind them. To be a mega success, you need to decide what you want, and then go out and make it happen!

If you enjoyed this Lead Generation Article or Video, make sure you sign up for more Lead Generation Tips & Tricks here:

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To your success,
Ingrid

Ingrid_LoRes

Ingrid Menninga is the founder of JOLT Marketing where her big mission is to put the heart back into the Real Estate and Mortgage industry while helping Agents & Brokers make awesome profits.

Within 3 years of founding JOLT Marketing, Ingrid has carved out a spectacular success roster working with Canada’s leading Real Estate and Mortgage brands with clients from RE/MAX, Royal LePage, Dominion Lending Centres, Verico, Street Capital, and more.

Ingrid is frequently featured in industry journals such as REM: Canada’s Real Estate Magazine, CAAMP’s Mortgage Journal, at speaking engagements for RE-Bar Camps, InMan’s Agent ReBoot, CMP’s The Mortgage Summit and in Sales Seminars for leading industry organizations such as IMBA(Independent Mortgage Brokers Association of Ontario).


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Your Fortune is in Your Follow up (And How you can Lose Thousand$$$ if you don’t do this)

November 12, 2013 by

couple on sofa

Do you want prospects to call you when they’re ready…like REALLY ready… to work with you (instead of when they’re sort of fence-sitting thinking about it, only to eventually decide they’re going to wait until the timing is better)?

Do you want to be able to focus most of your time and energy on hot prospects who are ready to buy and need your help now?

If you’re saying yes, listen up.

Recently I had a call with a REALTOR(R) who was telling me that he was great at dealing with prospects that called him and were ready to buy right now. For the others he would follow up a bit…and then if they hadn’t taken action within a month, he would lose touch.

Not because he didn’t like them. Not because he didn’t want their future business.

But because he was busy working with other prospects who seemed like they were more ready.

And it seems that’s a pretty common habit amongst REALTORS(R) and Mortgage Brokers.

FollowUpTimes_FB

What I’m seeing in this Facebook thread is the most Agents are all hot to get in touch with prospects at the beginning…and then after a few follow ups with no serious response…the Agent will lose touch and chase the next piece of business.

Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t focus your efforts on people that are ready to buy or sell now.

What I’m saying is this only works if you have an automated follow up system for those fence sitters that are interested in working with you… but aren’t ready right now.

According to NAR (National Association of REALTORS), 85% of buyers will buy within 18 months of starting their research into homes and mortgages. That means if you have 20 prospects who call you in the Fall 2013 market, 16 of those prospects will have bought or sold by the the Spring 2015. If every season you get around 20 calls, within one year that’s 80 prospects. Within 18 months 64 of those prospects will have bought or sold. Let’s say that you would make $3,000 from each of these clients. Over 18 months that’s $192,000.00. That’s a lot of business.

And the trick to making those prospects your clients is your follow up plan.

Continuous, regular, information rich follow ups that will occasionally ask direct questions that get your prospects to respond, get in touch, and view you as their #1 resource center for information.

Just like Wayne Gretzky says, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. In the lead generation world that means you lose 100% of the leads you don’t capture and follow up with.

At this point most Agents and Brokers will say “Oh, I have a newsletter that I send out once a quarter”, or “I have an e-blast from my company”. If you do, that’s a great starting point. If you don’t…it’s time to get on it.

But if you really want to pick up your results, build loyalty, and get awesome clients that are committed to working with you only…you need to send out your own personal, custom emails as a supplement to your company’s. Otherwise your prospects may be on 2 Agents or Brokers lists, and receive exactly the same thing. In this case, who will stand out? The one who supplements their company’s emails with their own content.

So what’s your take away for today? Your Fortune is in your Follow up.

If you enjoyed this Lead Generation Article or Video, make sure you sign up for more Lead Generation Tips & Tricks here:

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To your success,
Ingrid

Ingrid_LoRes

Ingrid Menninga is the founder of JOLT Marketing where her big mission is to put the heart back into the Real Estate and Mortgage industry while helping Agents & Brokers make awesome profits.

Within 3 years of founding JOLT Marketing, Ingrid has carved out a spectacular success roster working with Canada’s leading Real Estate and Mortgage brands with clients from RE/MAX, Royal LePage, Dominion Lending Centres, Verico, Street Capital, and more.

Ingrid is frequently featured in industry journals such as REM: Canada’s Real Estate Magazine, CAAMP’s Mortgage Journal, at speaking engagements for RE-Bar Camps, InMan’s Agent ReBoot, CMP’s The Mortgage Summit and in Sales Seminars for leading industry organizations such as IMBA(Independent Mortgage Brokers Association of Ontario).


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Which Social Media Site Is Best for Real Estate Agents or Mortgage Brokers?

June 25, 2013 by

Every week at JOLT Marketing I get asked “Which Social Media Site Should I Focus On to market My Real Estate or Mortgage Business?”

“If I’m a REALTOR should I be on Twitter?”

“Is Pinterest good for Mortgage Brokers?”

“Do I need to be on all the NEW social media sites to do proper Real Estate marketing?”

“Is Vine good for Mortgage Broker Marketing?

Last week I made this short video where I let you know which social media site is the clear winner, and why it will be for years to come. As a bonus I also share the #1 secret in your social media strategy for Real Estate Agents or Mortgage Brokers that will determine if you will get leads and make money from social media.

Click Play to watch.

If you enjoyed this Lead Generation Article and Video, make sure you sign up for more Lead Generation Tips & Tricks here:

Get FREE Lead Generation Tips & Tricks. Sign up here

    

 

To your success,
Ingrid

Ingrid_LoRes

Ingrid Menninga is the founder of JOLT Marketing where her big mission is to put the heart back into the Real Estate and Mortgage industry while helping Agents & Brokers make awesome profits.

Within 3 years of founding JOLT Marketing, Ingrid has carved out a spectacular success roster working with Canada’s leading Real Estate and Mortgage brands with clients from RE/MAX, Royal LePage, Dominion Lending Centres, Verico, Street Capital, and more.

Ingrid is frequently featured in industry journals such as REM: Canada’s Real Estate Magazine, CAAMP’s Mortgage Journal, at speaking engagements for RE-Bar Camps, InMan’s Agent ReBoot, CMP’s The Mortgage Summit and in Sales Seminars for leading industry organizations such as IMBA(Independent Mortgage Brokers Association of Ontario).

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Are You Choosing Fear or Success?

June 18, 2013 by

When you see mega-successful Agents and Brokers do you ever wonder how they KEEP on getting more and more successful? How are they effortlessly getting tons of new mortgage leads or real estate leads? How do they keep on getting lots of great clients? How are they making more and more money every year?

Want to know their secret?

They are choosing to be successful.

Success is a choice. A choice that’s available to everyone. But without knowing it, you may be choosing fear.

Watch this short video to find out what you’re choosing, and how to make sure you’re always choosing success.

If you enjoyed this Lead Generation Article and Video, make sure you sign up for more Lead Generation Tips & Tricks here:

Get FREE Lead Generation Tips & Tricks. Sign up here

    

 

To your success,
Ingrid

Ingrid_LoRes

Ingrid Menninga has xray vision for carving out marketing opportunities and the creativity to convert them into gold!

Ingrid delivers high impact, low cost, customized marketing strategies for turbo-charging entrepreneurs and small business owners to great profits.

After 12 years of working with legendary companies such as Carlson Marketing Group, Pizza Pizza, Invis Mortgages, and Royal LePage Canada, she left corporate Canada to launch JOLT Marketing.

In just 3 short years after starting JOLT Marketing, Ingrid has carved out a spectacular success roster working with Canada’s leading Real Estate and Mortgage brands such as Slavens Real Estate, GWL Realty Advisors, Mortgage Architects, Dominion Lending Centres, and Oriana Financial, to the tune of delivering a 250% increase in sales and participation on average. Having achieved high accolades for skyrocketing sales for countless companies, Sales Agents and budding Entrepreneurs with high profit marketing campaigns, Ingrid is frequently asked to share her expertise in industry journals such as Canada’s Real Estate Magazine – REM, at speaking engagements for RE-Bar Camps and InMan’s Agent ReBoot, and in Sales Seminars for industry organizations such as IMBA (Independent Mortgage Brokers Association of Ontario) and other leading industry organizations.

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Are Your Clients Hearing You? Depends on the channel you’re using to connect with them

February 7, 2012 by

The channel you use to keep in touch with clients does matter after all,  a recent Maritz study revealed.

If you’re using only one channel to connect with clients, chances are very high that you’re only reaching a portion of your contact database, and depending on your main point of contact, you may be missing the opportunity to connect with the vast majority of your clients entirely.

Based on the graph the top 3 ways to connect with your clients is by email, by phone, and by snail mail.

If you’re looking for a Mortgage CRM that will connect you with your clients how they want you to contact them the Business Booster Mortgage CRM Program is the perfect solution.

The Business Booster Mortgage CRM Program is the only program to offer a combination of touchpoints for your Mortgage clients. Over the span of a year your client will hear from you 8 times including:

  • 2  mailed notecards
  • 4 e-newsletters
  • 2 phone calls

This powerful marketing mix of direct mail, email marketing and telephone calls can result in a 250% increase in response over traditional marketing programs that use just one type of contact. And as the Maritz study reveals, the 3 types of contact that the program offers is the top 3 choices for how clients want you to connect with them!

“Clients are impressed that I’m able to remember the details of the deals and it rekindles their satisfaction with the transaction. I am pleased with the response I’ve been receiving to the CRM program that JOLT implemented for me.”

Justin Aykler

The Business Booster Marketing Program is a Mortgage CRM that is incredibly effective, extremely affordable and unbelievably easy to use. It’s designed to save time, save money and increase sales for busy professionals just like you.

Ready to Super Charge your Repeat and Referral Business with Canada’s Easiest Mortgage CRM? Email info@joltmarketing.com to see samples & learn how the program works.

“I recommend any new Mortgage Agent begin the Business Booster program and invest in their business the way I have. It is a great way to put referrals on auto pilot with targeted marketing to your database of past clients” Drew Donaldson, Mortgage Agent: Verico Safebridge Financial Solutions

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Video: How To Make Money with Social Media

August 9, 2011 by

There are lots of Agents on the social media bandwagon, and there’s lots of buzz that social media is the “new and hot” way to connect with clients and get more business.

Recently, JOLT Marketing’s Director, Ingrid Menninga, was asked to participate in a panel discussion for Inman’s Agent Reboot conference. Hundreds of Agents listened while panel moderator and Social Media Director for InMan, Katie Lance, grilled KW Commercial Agent Benjamin Bach, and our own Ingrid Menninga, on how Agents are making money with social media. The two panelists present 2 very different, yet extremely successful, approaches for using social media to increase sales, and make more money.

Watch this video on the recent Inman Agent Reboot Panel Discussion – How to Make Money with Social Media. Approximately 30 minutes with great pointers on how to find your target market in social media, which sites deliver the best return on investment (ROI), how to use your personal brand to separate yourself from the competition, and how you can find “your” social media hotspots that present you well, and let you shine.

Here’s the link to the video: http://youtu.be/_zCOCB0Im9A

If you’d like to know more about how to turn your social media activities into money in the bank make sure you sign up for the LeadSwell Secrets“Top Ten Ways To Use Social Media To Grow Your Business”

Social media sites such as facebook, youtube, blogs, twitter, and linkedin present an unbelievable opportunity to grow your personal brand (and be remembered easily in your local area!), make yourself a community figure (i.e. get recognition easily) and turn strangers into connections into closed deals.

Click here to sign up for the LeadSwell Secrets  “The Top Ten Ways To Use Social Media To Grow Your Business”

Video Courtesy of Benjamin Bach – thanks for sharing Ben!

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How To Make Great Youtube Videos

May 30, 2011 by

Video is exploding in popularity among real estate professionals, with more and more sales reps jumping on the amateur promotional video trend. Videos are low in cost, easy to make, provide a lot of useful information in a short period of time and take almost no effort for your audience to watch. Videos also give your audience clues about you, your service and your professionalism that can never be obtained from a postcard, newsletter or other marketing materials.

Read the full article written by JOLT Marketing‘s Ingrid Menninga in REM here

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10 Tips On How To Get Your Article/Press Release In the News

February 16, 2011 by

Real Estate and Mortgage Agents often ask how they can be “that guy” that always seems to score interviews on radio and tv, and articles in the local paper.

There’s some science behind the magic – read on to see how you too, can be a media savvy Real Estate or Mortgage Agent.

1. Read first, pitch second. In social media circles there’s a lot of chatter about listening first and engaging next.  The same principle applies to media relations.  Scan the publications you think reaches your target market and identify the reporters you think cover your space, then read their articles.  A good technique is to bookmark those sites and schedule reading time each week. If you have an RSS reader like NetVibes or Google Reader, many writers have RSS feeds that you can plug into your reader to catch (just) their latest.  Regular reading will give you a better sense for the reporter’s style and focus and enable you to write a better pitch. Don’t try to tackle the world at once.  Instead, incorporate this into your schedule and find a couple new writers to follow each week.

2. Engage. Engagement can come in several forms. First, if you enjoy an article a reporter you follow has written and have something of value to contribute to the conversation, post a comment.  Caution: avoid commenting merely for comment’s sake.  Second, if you’re on social media channels, like Twitter, follow those reporters and add them to a list.  Watch and read what they Tweet.  Tweet links to articles you find interesting and be sure to include the reporter’s Twitter handle in your post. Finally, if you find an article especially compelling, send them a note and tell them why.  Most people enjoy positive feedback, especially from their readers, so if you enjoyed a piece of work, let them know.  No pitch, no pressure, just conversation.

3. Pitch a story, not a product. Reporters are after a story, something that is useful and compelling for their readers.  Rather than pitching about how great your service is, tell them how it solved a problem. An old textbook I have lying around defines “news” as something that defies expectations.  What is it about your story that defies expectations?

4. Short and relevant. Of the vast volume of pitches reporters receive; most of them come by email.  Since that makes for a cluttered inbox, relevancy and brevity go a long way.  When I reach out to a new reporter – someone I haven’t contacted before – I generally like to include a reference to something they’ve written.  For example, my first sentence might read, “Mike:  I saw you wrote about the mortgage trends and local housing affordability and thought you might be interested in some analysis we conducted on that demonstrates our area is still affordable for young families.”  It demonstrates that I know what “Mike” writes about and have a pitch that’s related to his beat.

5. Consider other story angles. The story angle refers to the perspective from which a story might be explained.  Take Apple’s iPad for example, which was covered from a range of angles – from the business impact on Apple and the competition, to gift guides and product reviews.  There’s even a human interest angle as which iPad apps help austistic kids development demonstrates.  The story angle can often be driven by timing, for example, as Valentine’s Day approaches many publications are putting together their gift guides, so this news peg is more appropriate right now, than it would be on February 15th.

6. Try another channel.  You’ve pitched a great story to a reporter you just absolutely positively know would be interested, but there was no response. If you’re that sure, try reaching out to them the old fashioned way:  snail mail.  You could go for a simple letter, which would has the advantage of cutting through the clutter of email, or send them a sample of you product.  Pick five reporters you have really gotten to understand through reading, write them a pithy personal note that explains why you think it’s would be of their readers’ interest.

7. The phone still works. Just like snail mail can help you cut through the clutter, so too does the phone. If you’ve done your research, know what the reporter covers, don’t be afraid to pick up the phone can call a reporter.  Be sure to have the key point you’d like to get across in mind before dialing.  Since deadlines tend to loom in the afternoon, I tend to make calls in the morning, and just like any other call, extend the reporter the same courtesy:  “Hi, I’m Frank, I’m with Company Name and I’ve got a story in which I think you might be interested.  Do you have a minute to talk?”

8. Focus on a relationship. By relationship, I mean a professional relationship: one built on trust, relevancy and courtesy.  Understand that reporters are paid to accomplish a task:  inform their audience with accurate and timely information.  Reporters keep notes on their sources, and likewise, you should keep notes on your conversations with reporters. Keep track of what you talked about, when and any ideas that you might have in mind for contacting them in the future.  Above all, there are three simple guidelines: be honest, be helpful and be responsive.  Don’t make a reporter wait. They won’t.

9. Tools that can help. It often helps to include videos, high quality  images or other supporting documents/images that add “beef” to your story. Another great tool – a 3rd party quote that supports the point of your story. Thid party validation will make a huge difference in getting your story picked up.

10. Be persistent. If you know you’ve got a good story, don’t shy from being persistent.  I’m not suggesting you call them three times a day or email – that’s stalking and perhaps, a little weird.  However, if you have something new going on in your business, it’s a good reason to reach out to them again.

In closing, don’t take it personally if you don’t hear back – reporters are busy!  Keep in mind that no response doesn’t mean you’re idea isn’t good.  Good pitches and good contacts tend to get saved in folders for future reference.   PR in generally tends to ebb and flow, a little momentum often carries you a long way.  Hang in there!

These 10 points on how to get picked up by the press is courtesy of the PR Web blog.

Filed Under: JOLT Marketing Blog, News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,