Real Clues

[RealClues] #387: Reasons to be Thankful

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Table of Contents
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1. CoachingClues: Seven Reasons to Give Thanks this Thanksgiving
2. Welcome Notes: Happy Thanksgiving
3. Reprise: Referrals Are Great--Word of Mouth is Even Better
4. Create a Better Life: Eight Tips for Having a Great Holiday Season
5. Audio Library: Listen and Learn Real Estate (185+ training sessions-big value, low cost)
*Five Secret Ways to Generate Leads from Facebook.
*Twelve Ways to Put Your Business Back on the Road to Recovery.
*Four Lead Generation Strategies to Make Your Business Climb in 2010
*How to Get Real Estate Leads from Twitter--Really! (41 in just 12 hours)
6. New at LuxuryClues.com
*Seven Negotiation Tips Every Luxury Real Estate Agent Should Know
*A look at SOMA's (South of Market in San Francisco) Most Prestigious New Address
7. Featured Products: Agents and Managers: How to Obtain Realistic List Prices
8. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
9. Give Us Your Feedback on this Newsletter
10. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe

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1. CoachingClues: Seven Reasons to Give Thanks this Thanksgiving
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Let's face it--2009 has been a tough year for almost everyone in the real estate industry. Today's column looks at seven reasons to give thanks, no matter how tough your market is.

When times are tough and negative news floods the media, it can be hard to stay positive. Here are seven reasons to be grateful this Thanksgiving.

1. Marketing no longer requires big bucks.
While the pace of technological change can be frustrating, technology changes have dramatically cut the cost of marketing. To obtain a foothold in a new market ten years ago, you had to door knock, spend thousands of dollars on print marketing, and regularly hold open houses. Today the web allows you to market your listings and your services in numerous places. In fact, according to Alexa.com, Facebook alone accounts for approximately 24 percent of all web traffic. Instead of paying your local paper $50.00 for a puny three line ad, you can now post your listings on Facebook Marketplace, CraigsList, and many other high traffic sites at no charge. Granted, it takes time and effort, but it costs next to nothing.

2. Consumers actually want to talk to you.
If you have ever had a door slammed in your face when you were door knocking or had someone hang up on you when you were cold calling, you have first hand experience about how many people react to unsolicited calls from Realtors. The great news about blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter is that the people on those sites are eager to be in conversation with you, provided that you share mutual interests outside of real estate. The process is similar to getting to know a new neighbor. You don't bombard them with marketing messages. Instead, you get to know them gradually over time. The goal is to make a friend now and do a deal later.

3. New technologies send sign and ad leads directly to you.
The old "floor duty" or "up agent" system, where one agent took all incoming sign and ad calls, was a huge source of frustration to many agents. You could spend thousands of dollars marketing to get the phone to ring and have the up agent blow the call. In fact, the statistics from ten years ago showed that in most offices, 90 percent of the calls were lost because the person taking the call couldn't get the caller's phone number. Today you can use an 800 call capture system or the new SMS (i.e. text messaging) systems that send those leads directly to your cell phone. In fact, a new study from MIT shows that if you respond in five minutes, the conversion rate is 79 percent. (Wait to respond in 30 minutes and that rate drops to 34 percent.)

4. Referral database building the easy way.
Until recently there was no easy way to contact high school and college friends, past business associates, or past clients with whom you hadn't kept in touch. LinkedIn now does that heavy lifting for you. Once you complete your profile including where and when you attended school and worked, LinkedIn notifies you about other people who were at those places when you were. You can also use services such as Zabasearch and Intellius to track down contact information about past associations as well.

5. Blogging just got a whole lot easier.
Three years ago, anyone who blogged probably had to be a decent writer to have any success. A hot trend for 2010 is vlogs (video blogs). For less than $300, you can obtain a HD video cam that takes great videos. Instead of figuring out what to write, you can interview your local mortgage broker about what's happening in the market, the football coach about the upcoming game, or anyone else who has something interesting to say to the people in your market area. In addition, new software from Adobe allows Google to convert the voice track of your video or podcast into searchable text. This improves your web ranking on Google and other search engines.

6. Multiple offers plus some limited signs of life in the luxury market.
Many of the hardest hit markets including those in California and Florida are reporting less than one or two months of inventory in the first time buyer market. The result is limited inventory that is leading to multiple offers. Also, there are a few lenders slowly testing the waters in the luxury market. It's still hard to get financing, but at least there's a tiny trickle in this area.

7. Your market is not just local; it's global.
International buyers and sellers inhabit virtually every part of the United States. Current research shows that international buyers have a 50 percent closing ratio as compared to about 35 percent for domestic buyers. Agents who work with international buyers also make approximately 50 percent more as compared to those who work with domestic buyers only.

If you would like to add to this list, please take a moment to share your thoughts with our readers about what you're grateful for this Thanksgiving.

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2. Welcome Notes
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Welcome to our new subscribers this week. Each week RealClues provides you with great strategies to improve both your business and your life. If you find this issue of RealClues helpful, take a moment to hit the "forward" button and send it to another friend in the business.

Happy Thanksgiving. The holiday season is here once again. This is a time when we're more likely to become ill, not only from the changing weather, but from the increased stress. Rather than over committing, take time to care for you. Get plenty of sleep, laugh a lot (good for your immune system), eat well, limit your sugar and alcohol content, and enjoy this special time of year.

This is also a good time to review your income from 2009 and to set your income goals for 2010. If you want to prosper even if your market is declining, the one thing that has repeatedly proven to make a difference is training. While we highly recommend our training programs, there are wonderful courses offered across the country by your local Board of Realtors, as well as through many major companies. The important thing is to get back to the fundamentals--prospect, stay in contact with your present and past clients, follow-up on web leads, and be face-to-face whenever possible. The basics still work. The key is to keep doing them.

Have a great week and enjoy Turkey Day!

Bernice Ross and Byron Van Arsdale, Chief Dough Makers
www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.RealEstateDough.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.RossdalePress.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com, and www.TeleconferenceLine.com

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3. Reprise: Referrals Are Great--Word of Mouth is Even Better!
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This article first ran in 2005. Today you need more than referral strategies--the hot new trend is "Word of Mouth Marketing." In fact, this was one of the hot sessions at NAR 2009. To learn how to put this powerful tool to work in your business, click on the link below:

http://budurl.com/5kpb

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4. Create a Better Life: Eight Tips for Having a Great Holiday Season
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This article first ran in 2004. It's packed with great suggestions on how to make your holidays the best ever. More importantly, it will help you avoid the stress that leads to illness at this time of year. So kick back, celebrate, and have a great holiday season!

http://budurl.com/a7g8

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5. Listen and Learn Real Estate: Five Secret Ways
to Generate Real Estate Leads from Facebook
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Are you still waiting to order Listen and Learn Real Estate? You can now get over 185 titles in this program for only $97.00. Here are the latest additions to this fantastic library:

Brand new! Five Secret Ways to Generate Leads from Facebook.
*No one at NAR seemed to have a clue about how to generate leads from Facebook but we have it here at RealEstateCoach.com in our Listen and Learn real estate program. This information is only available to our subscribers. In this powerful audio training session, I share five secret strategies that specifically explain how to get business from Facebook. Combine this with the session on how to get leads from Twitter--all this and 183 more audio training sessions all for $97.00. There's no better deal in the industry!

To order all 185+ training sessions for just $97.00: http://listenandlearnrealestate.com/amember/signup.php

*New: Twelve Ways to Put Your Real Estate Business Back on the Road to Recovery.
If you're struggling with today's market (and whose not having challenges these days), this session provides you with a 12-step road map to getting your real estate business running at maximum speed and maximum profitability.

*New: Five Lead Generation Strategies to Make Your Business Soar Like Never Before
This is a "best-of-the-best" of proven lead generation strategies that definitely help you turn those leads into signed business. Discover how to obtain both buyer and seller leads from this seldom used resource, plus four other sure-fire winning strategies to make your business grow.

*How to Get Real Estate Leads from Twitter--Really!
This session alone is worth the price of the entire program. I used this simple approach and located 42 people who were planning to relocate to Austin--and that was just for a 12-hour period. This session tells you not only how to find these important real estate leads, it also shows you how to build a relationship that can make money for you for years to come. Best of all, you don't need a Twitter account to find them!

To order all 185+ training sessions for just $97.00: http://listenandlearnrealestate.com/amember/signup.php

Best of all-we'll be adding to the library all year long. This is the best way to keep up with the latest strategies and tactics that will leave your competition in the dust.

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6. New at LuxuryClues.com
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*Seven Negotiation Tips Every Luxury Real Estate Agent Should Know
Negotiation will make or break your business in 2010. Here are seven negotiation tips that every real estate agent should know.
http://budurl.com/5xxj

*A look at SOMA's (South of Market in San Francisco) Most Prestigious New Address
The Millennium is a breath-taking new San Francisco high rise beauty--check out this post to see the virtual tour including the indoor saltwater swimming pool.
http://budurl.com/57cn

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7. Featured Products
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*Agents and Managers: How to Obtain Realistic List Prices
Are you struggling with the changing market? Don't know what to say to get sellers to be realistic? If so, you need our Audio CD Dialogues and Scripts Library that will take you through the steps you need to survive no matter what the market is doing. The library consists of a total of 220 dialogues on audio CD--hear what it's like to actually use these with your clients. You could pay $99.00 per program, but we're running a special until 1-1-10 of $147.00 for all three.
http://budurl.com/k2j6

Don't wait, this special won't be around for long.

77 Market and Prospect for Real Estate Like Crazy scripts
61 List and Sell Real Estate Like Crazy scripts
82 Waging War on Real Estate's Discounters scripts

ORDER NOW if you want to be one of the people who will prosper no matter what the market is doing. Here's a sample of a great strategy to help you obtain a realistic asking price during your listing consultations. Here's an example of just one of the great dialogues from this powerful training series.

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Obtaining a Realistic List Price
Script #7: Your House Has to Qualify
Strategy: Use what properties have "qualified for" to determine where the seller will position their property in the marketplace.
After reviewing the rate of absorption but prior to giving them your CMA material, use the following dialogue to introduce the idea that not only does the buyer have to qualify with the lender, so does their house:
Agent: You already know that in order to close the transaction, you must first have a qualified buyer, but did you know that your house also has to qualify? How do you determine whether or not your house will qualify? Well, the way that the appraisers do it is based on the same data that we use called a competitive market analysis. So let's take a look at what properties are qualifying for in your neighborhood.
There are two advantages to using this script.
By changing the conversation to what properties have "qualified for," you have shifted the conversation from "list price" to "sold price." A common way sellers overprice their property is by focusing on the current "list prices" rather than the "sold prices." This strategy keeps the dialogue helps you avoid the "list price" conversation entirely.
http://budurl.com/k2j6

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8. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
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Looking for a well-trained coach who knows the real estate business? Our coaching team can help you increase your production and make your dreams come true. Send an e-mail to Bernice@RealEstateCoach.com and we'll help find the right coach for you.

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9. Give Us Your Feedback On This Newsletter
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We want your feedback-to share your thoughts and suggestions, please e-mail us at Shane@RealEstateCoach.com.

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10. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe
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Visit our Web site, http://www.RealEstateCoach.com to subscribe/unsubscribe to RealClues.

Copyright (c) 1996-2009, RealEstateCoach.com and Teleclass4U.com, LLC. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy, or distribute RealClues as long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the contributors to this newsletter is attached.

Contributors to this newsletter:
Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC, Owners, www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com; www.RossdalePress.com; and www.TeleconferenceLine.com
Shane Bowlin, REC General Manager

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