Category: Marketing

Get Certified!

At Help-U-Sell, we love Patricia Boyd.  Her consumer advocate approach to real estate finance is a perfect match for our own consumer oriented program and she’s already brought great value to our new relationship.  Patricia is the founder of Real Finance Solutions and has spent almost 30 years working with Realtors to increase their understanding of mortgage financing so that they can help consumers make good decisions.  Recently, the National Association of Realtors brought her ‘Certified Real Finance Advocate’ training program into Realtor University.

The training program consists of two video lessons delivered online and upon successful completion of an exam, results in a certification of the participant a cRFA.  What’s important though is the quality of information that is delivered in the program and the ongoing support and education cRFA designees receive.  They have their own website that keeps them updated about new programs and changes, regular coaching sessions and networking opportunities.

In this business, we are all about VALUE.  Value is what bring to real estate transactions.  It is our commodity.  The only reason any consumer would ever choose to do business with you (over someone else) is that they perceive the value you bring to their situation.  Knowledge of finance and the ability to use it to make transactions happen is an essential part of our value package.

Help-U-Sell folks:  you know what I’m talking about.  You’ve heard Jack Bailey work with buyers to create a Real Estate Plan and you have swelled with pride and admiration at how he brings his vast knowledge to the task of solving real problems. With the cRFA program, you can begin to develop that same kind of expertise, that same depth of value.

Patricia recently teamed up with TurnScor, a credit repair company that approaches the process a little differently.  They provide software to participating real estate brokers who then offer it to consumers for free.  Consumers work through the software on their own, repairing or improving their own credit scores.  This is a superior solution for real estate professionals because they’re saving their customers the often substantial fees most credit repair companies charge and they are not handing their customers off to an outsider who may or may not support the original relationship.

As a broker I think I’d make TurnScor a part of every initial buyer consultation.  Credit score will absolutely impact the quality of financing the buyer will be able to achieve, and even the buyer with a 700 FICO could benefit from raising it to, say, 740.   I think I’d also use it with sellers who will likely be buying something else.

Here’s a novel idea:  why not give TurnScor to everyone on your CI list for the Holidays?  It will certainly be perceived as valuable.

NOW, HERE’S THE COOL PART:

TurnScor usually costs $199 a month (with no contract) and a $99 setup fee.  For the month of December ONLY, new signups are at $149 a month and the $99 fee is waived.  PLUS!! Patricia will throw in her full two course cRFA certification program – which usually sells for $199 – FOR FREE.   If that’s not a bargain, I don’t know what is.  Here’s a link to Patricia’s flyer with all the details (be sure to go to the TurnScor link and watch the Demo):  Real Finance Solutions System

Here is a short video with Patricia talking about the power of the cRFA program:

Phone Message of the Week

The following message was in my voice mail yesterday afternoon.  It made me so happy I just had to share it:

(Click the Phone – and then use the back button on your browser to get back here!)

Isn’t that wonderful!  What Maruine is so excited about are the new Help-U-Sell Banner Stands that are ON SALE right now through our new print-on-demand vendor, The Alexanders.  These beautiful, big signs are printed on vinyl and come with a lightweight, easy to assemble stand.  They are impressive, and great to have in your office, out front of your office (with sandbags or something else to keep them from blowing away), at home shows or anywhere else the public is apt to see them.  Here are photos:

To investigate further and to order, go to The Alexander’s Help-U-Sell Website:  www.brandsawonline.com/helpusell. And thank you, Maurine for sharing your excitement!

Intern-alization

Tight budgets mean lean operations.

Is that Haiku?  Or something Confucius said?

Hardly; it’s just reality.  In a difficult market, you do lots of cutting.  You cut marketing, you cut facility expense, you cut personnel and you get to work covering as much as you can by yourself.

Now there is light at the end of the tunnel  and we know we have to gear back up to meet the oncoming demand . . . but the dollars are still tight.  How do you start getting done what you used to hire people to do?

Here’s an idea for you:  why not investigate bringing in a college intern to handle a few focused tasks?  You know:  the ones that are keeping you tethered to a desk and not out in the field meeting the people who will drive your business through the upturn.

Many colleges and universities have internship programs where pre and post graduate students, usually in their final semesters before graduation, take on tasks in the real world to apply some of what they’ve learned and gain experience.  Often the cost to an employer is minimal and sometimes free.

In most cases, the task(s) must be well defined with a beginning and an end and ‘grunt’ work – things like running errands and photocopying – is frowned upon.  But think about what an intern might be able to do for you:

  • Optimize your web presence.  You have a magnificent tool in the Help-U-Sell website.  It blows the pants off anything else that’s out there.  But it requires your attention.  It must be optimized, localized, keyword-ized and continually refreshed to be most effective.  Plus there’s everything else you do to be visible online:  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Zillow, Trulia, blogs and on and on.  Who better to take this task on than a 21 year old marketing major who’s grown up at a computer?
  • Do marketplace intelligence.  Our markets are turning rapidly now.  Everything’s shifting.  It’s a great time to do a thorough analysis of your market to determine the opportunities that are emerging.  Where are the high turnover areas?  What properties are most in need of a short sale expert?  Who’s facing foreclosure?  What’s happening to the demographics?  Gathering this valuable information is something none of us have time for, but a motivated business major could handle with ease.
  • Competitor research.  Who’s doing what?  What programs are working and which ones are not?  What are the numbers?  Marketshare? Price ranges? Again, a business or marketing major would be ideal for this.

And that’s just three.

So how do you find programs in your area?  The same way you find anything else:  Google.  Try search strings like:  ‘Birmingham college university internship’ or ‘internship opportunities in Orlando’ or ‘Boise State intern program’ You’ll be amazed at how many programs you will uncover.  Learn all that you can;  then, before you go through the proper channels, fill out all the paperwork, submit and wait, wait, wait . . .

Call the business/marketing/IT schools directly.  Ask for the person in charge of intern programs for that department.  Pick their brain a bit:  what does a good intern opportunity look like?  How have interns helped small business owners like yourself in the past?  Offer to meet with this key person and present to students.  Becoming involved will not only increase your chances of success with an internship, but will expand you circle of contacts.  Once you’ve put a personal spin on it, then go back and do the paperwork.

We were talking about this on the Roundtable Call yesterday and Ron McCoy mentioned that he frequently teaches real estate pre-licensing classes at his local college.  He said that he – and everyone else who teaches these courses – is always looking for brokers to come in and present their programs to the class.  What a wonderful opportunity for Help-U-Sell!  And, if you’re looking for an intern, maybe someone in that class will help you navigate the academic bureaucracy to get it done quickly.

If you run with this idea, I want to know how you do.  Tell me how you found your program, what you had to do to get it started, what was difficult and what worked well.  Good Luck!

3 Objectives of Marketing

Visibility – Lead Generation – Client Base Development

In that order.

First rule of Marketing:  Be Visible! Which means to be seen . . . frequently.  In real estate we do that largely with signs: For Sale Signs (listings!), directional signs, open house signs, Blitz Signs, Car Wraps, Billboards, Bus Benches, office signage.  You are visible when you hear the magic words:  ‘I see your signs everywhere.’

However:  Visibility can be accomplished in other ways as well.  Richard Cricchio (whose office is on an ISLAND, which is a pertinent detail) has used a weekly radio show for the past 9 years to boost his visibility.  Maria Powell and Michelle Morgan have become active on local television to be more visible.  Kim Zelena and Kimber Regan have used community involvement and charity events to increase their visibility.  Julie Wright is deeply into her Chamber of Commerce.

Lead Generation is all about Targeting, which means honing in on the people most likely to need your services in the future.  Lead generation might take the form of direct mail or door hanger distribution.  It used to take the form of newspaper and homes magazine advertising (and still may in some cases).  Increasingly, lead generation is about maximizing your web presence . . . essentially being electronically VISIBLE and easily found online.

Many of our folks are generating leads by optimizing their Help-U-Sell websites.  Good News:  if you haven’t done that yet, call Tony – he’ll help you.  Others are pulling them in regularly via premiere agent programs at Zillow, Trulia  and Realtor.com.  Robin Rowland is using Facebook to create new business.  Maurine Grisso has 5 websites (and counting), each targeting a different segment of the market.

Client Base Development means we look backward as often as we look forward.  As we move contacts to contracts and closings, we move those clients back into our cache of fans.  We cultivate the relationship with regular meaningful contact.  We seek and get their help in further developing our business.  You are doing client base development right when you have former clients functioning as advocates in the field for your service.

Rather than single out anyone doing a good job of client base development I’d simply congratulate all Help-U-Sell brokers.  Truth is:  nobody is making it through the tough market of the past several years without the help of a strong client base.  No matter how many leads you are developing, the power of a personal referral will almost always be your best option for doing business.

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