Sunny Hilton Head, South Carolina

"Those who plant with tears will gather fruit with songs of joy." (Psalm 126 verse 5)

The market is not what we'd like it to be. Many of us cut back and some of us STOP marketing altogether. Yes, it's painful to have to spend the money--that's the cause of the "tears."

But, studies have shown that those who stop marketing are forgotten (FAST).  And, when the market turns around--when people think of real estate-- they will think of the professional whose marketing was non-stop.

Can you "plant with tears" and with less pain in your wallet?  Yes. Here is just one idea.

Create Buzz. Publicity is the most effective and lowest cost method of self-promotion. Think about what you could do that would offer value to your marketplace, that would be newsworthy:

• Offer a workshop on a hot topic (get sponsors to underwrite)
  
• Publicize your public service involvement
  
• Host meetings at your services clubs and chambers--get seen and noticed
  
• Serve on a panel of experts
  

"In the early 1940s, Ted Bates & Company carried out extensive market research on successful advertising campaigns. In particular they identified two desirable attributes: the penetration and the usage pull.

The pattern they found among campaigns that produced a high usage pull was the basis for the theory of the USP. It may also be known as the unique selling point. "

 Examples from industry:

Head & Shoulders: "You get rid of dandruff"
Olay: "You get younger-looking skin"
Red Bull: "You get stimulation of body and mind"
Ronseal: "You get exactly what it says on the tin"
Some unique propositions that were pioneers when they were introduced:

Domino's Pizza: "You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less -- or it's free."
FedEx: "Your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight"
M&M's: "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand"
Wonder Bread: "It helps build strong bones 12 ways"
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_selling_proposition"

All of above From Wikipedia

Some Realtor unique selling proposition ideas

" You get unrivaled client care" ( Mine)

"You get hassle-free closings" 

"You get more house for the money"

"You get your home sold faster"

"You avoid new home nightmares"

"You get Charlottesville's Home Guru"

"You get a Realtor investor"

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in·ter·lop·er (ĭn'tər-lō'pər)
n.
One that interferes with the affairs of others, often for selfish reasons; a meddler.
=============================================================

Has anyone been burned by the marketing interlopers who promise you scads of
leads?  I have. Sorry to say--I succumbed to throwing money away to get leads.

It is easy to do. And sometimes your ears hear what they want to hear...

Today, I received an email from a broker who got a proposal from a
Search Engine Optimization consultant promising that agency's replicated web sites
will receive top placement in goggle search engines.

The cost for his service is $250 for six months. But, for what? This
wasn't clear. SEO scams include promises such as this one.
I am doubting that this consultant is going to do much for $250!

There is a lot to SEO including selection of the right key words, content relevance,
making web sites crawler friendly and more.

The Goal of SEO is to improve the quality and number of hits a web site
gets. But that's only half the story.

What good does it do to get hits, if you don't convert the hits to a leads.
What good does it do to get hits that DO convert to leads, but the leads
are low quality? (phony contact information, email addresses and the like)

There are things you can do yourself to improve traffic to your web site

• You can make content more relevant
• You can submit your web sites to search engines and directories
• You can link share with those in your sphere.
• You can have several BLOGs ( known to increase traffic)
• You can submit articles--that include links to your blog or web pages

[Paste into your browers....http://www.articlegeek.com/finance/real_estate_articles.htm]

Here is one great overlooked traffic builder and lead generation method:

LOCAL MARKETING.  Your web address--the one which is designed to capture
leads--should be on everything--from your business cards, to your car.

Here's an example for a magnetized car sign

Sell Your Home Faster, For More
www.Sell-It-Fast.com

You can do post card mailings that offer information, direct people to your web page--

--after they visit and leave their email address you have the potential for developing a high quality lead and a relationship.

Think about what you'll save by doing some of the things I've suggested
--You'll save time chasing worthless leads and money spent on
"interloper leads." The same money can be better invested
in local marketing with a potential for a greater ROI.

In yesterday's Wall Street Journal George Jones, CEO of Borders Books was interview.  Jones wil close half of the Company's Stores.

I used to say, "there is no bookstore that I can walk past..." I love books. I love to read a couple at a time and I will from time to time, go to Barnes and Noble for a STARBUCK's and get in some previewing from the shelves--which I don't buy. 

I buy the books I want to own on-line. Why? They are clean, fresh copies almost untouched by human hands.

My daughter just gave me  Borders books gift certificate. My wife reminded me that we don't have any Borders Stores  in Bluffton.

Which brings me to the WSJ interview:

WSJ: (Mr. Jones,) Why are bricks-and mortar stores having such a difficult time increasing sales?"

Mr. Jones: "The Internet is clearly a factor." (DUH)  and lots of books are sold

at Wal-Mart in CostCo...this represents lost visits to our store.

 WSJ: Early next year, Borders will launch it's own web-commerce site, ending its relationship with Amazon. Are you late in the game? 

(SO--Now I can use my Borders gift card! )

Mr. Jones: No, Not at all. Understand that there are many reasons for doing this...

Let me paraphrase the rest of his thinking: the decision to let Amazon do our marketing was made many years ago, the economics have changed and there are options now for third party fulfillment--you had to build massive overhead...by joining Amazon they went from sizable loss to immediate profit (albeit small one)

Myopia is shortsightedness, characterized by elongated eyeballs.

Marketing Myopia is nearsightedness about what the market wants and demands. It is dangerous to any business.

Borders leadership contracted marketing myopia...a condition where one cannot see too far beyond the nose. And now, it seems to me they really need to consider Lasik surgery. 

The lessons here: Marketing myopia see things in the distance as they seem to be--what the eye perceives as a VW Bug  may actually be a tank.

Mr. Jones, is going to copy-cat Amazon. Close Stores. Build or pay for Infrastructure for fulfillment and he missed the point entirely.

What if...just what if-- he uses the Internet as part of an overall strategy--not just a tactic? What if he said: "I think what we need to do is build a relationship with the reading-book-buying public and we're going to use the internet to do that; we're going to be bull dogs about collecting information on our customers and romance them; we're going to email them, mail them and entice them to COME TO OUR BRICK AND MORTAR stores...We'll add amenities in our stores that customers really want and would come out to enjoy (Like a coffee bar?)
We'll find out what they want and what would get them to come.

Want to increase sales? Serve people their way. See the marketing tea leaves and read them as accurately as you can. Then, give consumers what they want.

Don't you lose. Use the Internet as a part of an overall marketing strategy

--create plans that integrate tactics that are designed to achieve a specific purpose.

Drive "traffic" to your business. Make friends with prospects. The sales will come.

My very first encounter with marketing was a marketing research seminar in New York City. It was thrilling--both the city and the information I came away with. And, It was there that I learned a definition of marketing that made sense and has stuck with me. I hope you will find it helpful. (It was then that I also discovered my affinity for this business discipline.)

The seminar leader asked us to define marketing. One said, "marketing is getting people to buy your product."  Another said, "marketing is getting your message out." And yet another said, "marketing is advertising your brand."

Our marketing expert leader congratulated the class and then said. "I want you to think about something...think of marketing as everything your enterprise IS and DOES-from the way customer service answers the phone to the care with which it is shipped as well as the product in use."

What I came away with is that  Marketing encompasses your total business. It is not a department. It's not a strategy or tactic.

For example: Let's say your the top agent in your area. You have a team that is good but you have some who are not client-can do-centered.  They tend to irritate everyone. Marketing is the perception your team creates. They give off a scent that smells like they really work hard at every aspect of client care and they aim to please.

Some think they can have all of these marketing pieces in place: newsletters, brochures, post cards, expensive magazine advertising, whiz-bang web sites but their client -care smells bad.

Want to do low cost, high impact marketing? Offer unrivaled client care--it is a critical pillar for every marketing plan.

May I recommend a book?

It will help anyone in any kind of business to determine (a) what they really want to do when they grow up and why they want to do that. it is called "The On-Purpose Business: doing more of what you do best more profitably."

by Kevin W. McCarthy 

This is a short book which helps (people like me who struggle with this issue)

--from the book's jacket-- 

• to integrate your personal and professional life
• surround yourself with quality people who motivate you
  
• apply the four universal pillar that ultimately affect performance
• make purpose, vision and mission statements live up to your potential

This will be particularly helpful to those who are new to the business and to those of us who have trouble making up our minds as to what our "On-Purpose" is.

The real estate business allows people from diverse backgrounds to use the knowledge and skills they've learned to build a  business. The problem is that many of us try to fit "square pegs in to round holes" we get frustrated and want to quit. Take a J.O.B ( just over broke) we try to be like the "IDEAL" agent and not ourselves. It does not work.

Put YOU in the real estate business-- not the REAL ESTATE business in you...

This little book brought me to my senses.

Here's the point: Part of what I've done in my past life was (a) recruiting, counseling and coaching. ( b ) marketing and copy writing-- these are the "doing more of what you do best more profitably" These things I am drawn to, like to do and do fairly well.

Now,  is there a need for these skills in real estate?

Real estate is an expensive business. We spend so much on education, designations, marketing, branding self-improvement--

--when you aren't sure of where you want to go, what you really want to do, you will throw money at the problem and become very frustrated--

things like the latest and  lead generation tools, magical web sites that promise to produce scads of leads, the hottest FSBO program, etc. 

STOP. Sit down and look at what you're trying to accomplish.

Ask yourself "What if?" questions:

-What if I stopped doing real estate, what would I do?

-What if I stayed in the game, how can I use who I am?

-What if I had the guts to stop doing the things I hate?

Anyway...you get the idea... 

 Hope someone out there finds this helpful.. more on this later...