rapid lead generation for real estate agents - 15 strategies to generate profitable seller and buyer...

15 Strategies to Generate Profitable Seller and Buyer Leads, Dominate Your Market and Fast Track Your career

RAPID LEAD GENERATION FOR

REAL ESTATE AGENTS

Ariel Levin

About

This guide is by Ariel Levin, real estate agent, blogger and public speaker. It was written, in small bursts, with feedback from my editor throughout the writing process. It would be much worse without her wonderful help. Ariel is available for training, social media consulting and speaking engagements. Contact [email protected].

Copyright

I would appreciate it if you give me credit for any work of mine that you use, and ideally, link back to the original. If you feel like passing on a copy of this book, you may do so without payment. Full version

This is the free version of this ebook, which can also be found at ariellevin.info. The full version of the ebook contains additional resources: 1. Hundreds of articles to help you get started with your blog 2. Two tickets to the blogging for real estate agent seminar in January 2011 3. The Appraisal Automator templates 4. Letters, email sign up form and voucher templates 5. Simple database template 6. Guides and Area Snapshot Report template 7. The Nine Ways to get Email Addresses report 8. The book, Focus, by Leo Babauta You can get the full version at http://rapid‐lead‐generation.blogspot.com

Rapid Lead Generation For Real Estate Agents

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Table of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 4

How to use ...................................................................................................................................... 5

Strategies Mind map......................................................................................................................... 6

Finding leads on Facebook & Twitter ............................................................................................... 5

The 1st product offering – The guide ................................................................................................ 7

The 2nd product offering – To write or not to write .......................................................................... 9

The 3rd product offering – The course ............................................................................................ 10

The appraisal lead generating machine ......................................................................................... 12

The local area snapshot ................................................................................................................. 14

Scratch the itch ............................................................................................................................. 15

How to promote yourself in your area each week without killing yourself? ................................... 16

How to connect with your prospects and generate tons of free content for your blog ................... 18

How to communicate with 1000 prospects every week absolutely free ......................................... 20

How to fail in 99% of your efforts and still list and sell 20 properties a year ................................... 22

Give to get .................................................................................................................................... 23

Your Facebook tribe ...................................................................................................................... 24

The squeeze or how to build your list ............................................................................................ 26

Partnering for success – how to get your direct mail for free ......................................................... 28

All you need is love ........................................................................................................................ 29

Your blog market domination strategy .......................................................................................... 30


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Introduction

Does this guide signal the end of real estate prospecting as we know it? I believe so.

It won’t happen immediately but by the time you’ve finished reading, you will be well on your way to establishing multiple lead sources. All you have to do is pick a few strategies, implement them and watch your sales funnel fill up every day.

‐ Most of the strategies are designed so you only have to set them up once and they will need very little if any input to run them.

‐ You will learn how to establish yourself as a real estate specialist quickly and maintain that status for as long as you like.

‐ You can create one piece of content and use it over multiple media and strategies.

I’ve designed this book to take less than an hour to read because I know that you’re busy. Each strategy is written in 300 words or less. They’re simple but explosively effective. Whenever you have a free moment, grab this guide, pick out a strategy and implement it.

I wish you all the best and I know that success will be yours,

Ariel Levin


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How to use

I recommend you read the whole book first then go back and pick out one strategy to start on immediately.

Remember that knowledge without action is pointless so when you find the strategy that excites you the most, go ahead and put it into use immediately. Use the check list provided to set up a simple plan and implement at least two strategies in the coming months. Make sure you block time in your diary to do so. You can delegate the creation of most strategies to others. Your kids or spouse, your PA, a university student or an online freelancer (go to ww.elance.com).

Each strategy is introduced with its projected outcomes, how to

execute and promote it, as well as things you must remember and look out for. To make it easier for you to implement the strategies, I have provided many templates in the premium version, including a comprehensive blog set up package.

Most of the strategies support each other and work well together. As a visual reference I have supplied a mind map that shows how the strategies work together and support each other.

The cost to you is often nothing but your time. However, if you want to

get things up and running faster and have some spare cash, I have given you options for using paid providers, including some of my own successful products.

I use Sampleville where you will use your suburb, town or geographical area.


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“Search is about figuring out what people are looking for when they enter keywords into their favorite search engine. Social media is what people are actually saying to each other; they’re telling us what they’re looking for. “

Norm Elrod

Finding leads on Facebook and Twitter

Description: Wouldn’t it be nice to find people who are thinking of selling or

buying real estate by simply searching for them? Luckily many people now share their real estate related plans with their peers, friends and family on Facebook and Twitter.

Leads and outcomes: This strategy will generate hot leads looking to sell in the next 0‐3 months and is likely to increase your Friends and Followers if executed correctly.

How: All you have to do is search for related terms on Facebook (top of the page)

or Twitter (right hand side of the page). The results that show up will include your friends or followers but also people outside your network.

Try searching for:

• Moving to (your city/suburb/area)

• Selling my house

• Looking for a new house

• Do you know of a good real estate agent

• New baby born


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What do you do when you find a person who matches your search criteria?

On Facebook you can send a friend request with a polite message:

“I see that you are moving into my service area – I would love to assist you in finding a home.”

OR

“I see that you are thinking of selling your home in SUBURB and I specialise in this area – I would love to assist you. Here is a link to download my free guide 90 Tips for Selling My Home. Please visit my Facebook page to see what some of my recent clients are saying.”

OR

“I hope you don’t mind my message but I wanted to congratulate you on your new born. Many of my clients’ real estate needs change as their families grow, so please feel free to contact me if I could be of assistance.”

On Twitter you can Follow prospects and send them an @message with a

link to your website, testimonials page or free report.

@Prospect I see that you are moving to Sampleville – I would love to assist you in finding a home Bit.ly/testimonials

Remember to: Protect your private life and use a separate Facebook account for yourself as a real estate agent where you only connect with clients, colleagues and industry people. Stay friendly, polite and courteous.


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“Social Media, it turns out, isn’t about aggregating audiences so you can yell at them about the junk you want to sell. Social Media, in fact, is a basic human need, revealed digitally online. We want to be connected, to make a difference, to matter, to be missed. We want to belong, and yes, we want to be led.”

Seth Godin

The 1st product offering – The Guide

Description: How can you establish yourself as an expert on any subject or area then generate leads from your expertise?

You write a guide.

Then you get people to request it in exchange for their contact details, an appraisal of their property or joining your newsletter list.

I’ll show you a few ways to create a guide even if you don’t have the time to write one.

Leads and outcomes: By choosing the right subject you can target either hot, medium or cold seller leads.

How: To successfully structure your guide, use one of the templates provided in the

full version to give you structure.

What should you write about?

First of all you need to find out who your prospective client is and what he is interested in. If you are looking for warm and hot seller leads (selling in the next 0‐6 months), your clients are likely to be interested in advice about preparing their home for sale, finding a real estate agent and maximising their selling price.

If you are looking for Investment property buyer leads, your clients are likely to be interested in advice about the local market, local trends, demographics, development plans and return on investment.

Where do I get material from?

• Research information for your book on the Internet or the local library.


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• Use an interview format: Your photographer, home presentation specialist and landscape gardener can contribute their ten tips for preparing a property for sale. You write about methods of sale, case studies then put it all together and your guide is ready.

What do I do if I’m short of time?

• Inch by inch ‐ write a series of blog posts on your subject, at least 2‐3 a week, until you’ve gathered enough material to create a guide or even a book.

• Instead of writing a guide, shoot a Vook – a Vook is a video book comprised of a set of interviews and presentations. Check it out http://bit.ly/vookreg.

• Contact me and tell me what you need – my writers can quickly create quality guides that can be personalised with your name and agency. In some cases we can also create suburb specific guides, all for a very reasonable investment.

Promotion: Promote the guide in your email signature, in your open homes, on

your blog, your flyers, your Facebook page, your Twitter page, your direct mail letters and newsletters.

Remember:

• Your guide doesn’t have to be long, just relevant.

• Don’t rush. Get the guide reviewed by someone who can give you grammar advice. Although it doesn’t have to be fancy, the writing quality and presentation of the book will reflect on your personal brand.

• To save the printing and distribution costs, use an E‐book format – they cost nothing to create and distribute. Print a copy only when a client specifically requests one.


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“The amount of knowledge and talent dispersed among the human race has always outstripped our capacity to harness it. Crowdsourcing corrects that...“

Jeff Howe

The 2nd product offering – To write or not to write

Description: Can you imagine yourself on the back cover of a high quality booklet

about your community: “Jillian Smith is a local real estate agent who is passionate about the past, present and future of Sampleville. In this book, she brings you the stories and the history behind the community”. A well produced guide will create so much buzz it will set you apart from your competition and establish you as an integral part of the community.

Leads and outcomes: This strategy will generate all types of seller leads. Combine it with your appraisal or promotion strategies to target hot and medium leads.

How: This strategy is similar to the 1st product offering but gives you the option to

either write the content yourself or to Crowdsource ‐ use content contributed by your audience.

If you are looking to establish yourself as the local guru and create long term listing leads as well as a huge following, try creating a guide about the history of the area i.e. ‘150 years in Sampleville ‘ or buildings in the area i.e. ‘Sampleville Villas – Past and Present’.

The best way to get the material is to interview local residents. People will be flattered you contacted them and therefore happy to give you their time and knowledge. They can write about the history of the suburb, their personal stories and even contribute their photos. Consider a title like “Sampleville in 50 Voices – Stories from the community” or “The Families and Homes of Sampleville – a photo journal”.


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Promotion: On your blog, newsletter, email signature, 10K Flyers

Scared of printing cost?

• Opt for a high quality EBook.

• Contract an on‐demand printer to produce copies for interested residents at their cost. As the author, you’ll still get the kudos.

• Partner with a local business to fund the printing in exchange for promoting them on the book cover.

Remember:

Get written permission to publish stories submitted by residents.


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“Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them. “

W. Edwards Deming

The 3rd product offering – The course

Description: Don’t want to write a guide but still want hot leads knocking at your door? Create a free online course.

Leads and outcomes: Hot seller and buyer leads

How: Use the template provided to put together an email based automatic online course using iContact. Your prospects sign up and receive the lessons on a daily or weekly or monthly basis.

The beauty of this strategy is that after you set it up, it is completely automatic and requires no more input from you.

Looking for hot seller leads?

Create a course named, “45 Days to Sell Your Home” covering subjects like preparing your home for sale, selecting a solicitor, dealing with issues early, selecting a real estate agent , choosing a method of sale and what to do if the property doesn’t sell. Make sure you give many of YOUR case studies and testimonials and obtain as many contact details as possible (mobile number, physical address/zip code) from your prospects when they sign up for the course. You can use the same content as you’ve used in your guide (strategy #2) but divide it into separate lessons.

Looking for Investors?

Create a course named “365 Days of Real Estate Investment” with daily insights, strategies, product reviews, how to’s, case studies and interviews with established investors.


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Looking for overseas buyers moving into the country?

Create a course named COUNTRY/STATE Property 101 Teaching Real Estate Ins and Outs and the Terminology in Your State and Country.

After prospects sign up to your course, follow up prospects by phone or by email:

“Hi, This is Ariel Levin from ABC Realty – you’ve signed up for my online course. I’m just following up to see how you are progressing with preparing your house for sale/buying an investment property/___________ “

From there you can ask prospects if they are interested in a free appraisal or if they’ve chosen an agent to represent them. This may well lead to a listing. Since you have established yourself as an expert through your course and have already provided them with immense value, your chances of getting the business are high.

What to use: iContact is a great online application that allows you to set up an automatic online course. It has easy to understand tutorials which will help you get on your way quickly and easily.

Use this link (http://bit.ly/ictcreg) to get started now.

Promotion: On your blog, 10K Flyers, Email

Newsletter, Email Signature, Facebook Page, Twitter, in your open homes or as a promotional giveaway.

Remember to:

create valuable, easy to read material with some calls to action i.e. “now that your home is ready, it’s time to select an agent. Please call me for a no obligation appraisal appointment” or “With your homework now done, it’s time to go out and find some investment properties. Call me and I can show you some suitable options”

Full free version

These were 4 sample chapters of this ebook, which can also be found at ariellevin.info. Go to http://rapid‐lead‐generation.blogspot.com to download the full free version.

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