Bright - Florida Realtors

Transcription

08
business
33 My Smartest
Business Investment
What products and
services give you the most
bang for your buck? We’ve
got answers.
36 Get Motivated!
Seven ways to feel good
about your real estate
career.
100
19
Bright
5 Gizmos, Gadgets and Tools
You Can’t Live Without
Don’t waste your money on
useless technology. Pros share
their essentials.
Ideas
Make that
HUNDREDs of
great ideas! We’ve
got everything you
need to boost your
marketing, get your
technology on track
and organize your
business.
Business
Tips Every
Pro Needs
to Know
2
The Real Estate Solutions Guide 2008
38 9 Ways to Save a Buck
Save money with these
resourceful tips.
40 7 Promising Real
Estate Niches
Follow demographic
swings to reach the people
buying homes today.
a fun read
technology
7
Build a Brand
Stand out from the
crowd and build
a custom-tailored
identify.
marketing
9 Get Your Money’s Worth
at Conventions
Earn business while getting up
to date on real estate.
10 Stylin’ and Sellin’
Wow customers with a
professional appearance.
12 5 Listing Promotions
That Pack a Punch
Sell your listings quickly with
innovative promotions.
15 E-mail Etiquette
Maximize your e-mail marketing
with these tips.
16 Take Your Own Photo
Save money by taking your own
professional headshot and be
happy with the results!
52 The Worst Real Estate
Advice I Ever Got!
23 6 Ways to Market
Yourself on the Internet
Web commercials, community
bulletin boards and more novel
ways to get your name out online.
28 Boost Your Web Traffic
A Web site with no visitors equals
lost opportunities. Here are ways to
drive people to your site.
30 Crank Up a Blog
Give customers a fun, informative
read with these blog ideas.
32
44 The Real Estate
Pro’s SOURCE
We know how busy
you are, so we’ve
compiled a onestop directory of
businesses who offer
solutions that real estate
professionals need and use.
3
We’ve Got
100s of
Great Ideas
Look at successful sales associates and brokers who have been
in the business for more than 10 years, a positive; it-doesn’t-matterwhat-the-media-is-saying-about-the-market attitude may just be the
key (along with a great marketing program!)
This year’s Real Estate Solutions Guide has hundreds of great
ideas from real estate veterans and experts that can help you go
from sales frustration to sales victory.
We’ve got tips for networking, pumping up your listing promotions,
saving money, making the most of technology and smart product and
service investments—what you need to thrive in any market.
Your first six GREAT IDEAS!
1. “Establish an expired listing program and an expired FSBO program, hold open houses and do daily prospecting. You must become
the real estate expert in your market,” says Bill Barrett, Bill Barrett
Seminars.
2. “Spend time previewing new listings so you know what’s available and can be ready to assist buyers at a moment’s notice,” says
Amy Stier, broker, Florida New Homes Realty Inc.
3. “As a real estate professional, your job is to interpret your market
and help buyers and sellers make a decision. You must become better at understanding statistics such as absorption rates, supply of
inventory and other information that is available from your MLS,”
says Howard Brinton, StarPower Systems.
4. “Send e-mails of your listings to friends and family asking them if
they or someone they know is interested and to feel free to forward
the e-mails to all of their friends,” says Hanan Swaress, United
Realty Group.
5. “Go to the library and check out five of the most positive books
you can find. Create a mastermind group of people you can talk to
every week. Go to seminars and feel the energy of a positive atmosphere,” says Mike Ferry of The Mike Ferry Organization.
6. “Be more selective. I tell agents to only take “parade ready” listings. If you’re going to list a home, it must stand out,” says Walt Frey
of Walt Frey Seminars.
2008
Supplement to Florida Realtor® magazine
Publisher Jeffrey M. Zipper
EDITORIAL
Florida Realtor Magazine Editor in Chief Doug Damerst
Real Estate Solutions Guide Editor in Chief Tracey C. Velt
Associate Editor Leslie C. Stone
DESIGN
Creative Director Jim Angel
Art Director Tracey M. Flanagan
ADVERTISING
Associate Publisher-Advertising Joseph A. Bono
Advertising/Marketing Assistant Gina Wittenhagen
Communications Committee Chairperson
David Hall
2007 FAR OFFICERS
President: Nancy J. Riley, 3401 4th St. N., St. Petersburg, FL
33704, (727) 822-9111; [email protected]; Pres-Elect:
Charles (Chuck) Bonfiglio Sr., 9710 Stirling Rd. Suite 107,
Cooper City, FL 33024, (954) 436-8108; c21aaarlty@aol.
com; Treasurer: Wendell Davis, 4456 Sunbeam Rd. Suite 100,
Jacksonville, FL 32257, (904) 899-6801; wendelldavis@
watsonrealtycorp.com; Secretary: Patricia Fitzgerald, 19558
Trails End Terrace, Jupiter, FL 33458, (561) 746-9775;
[email protected]
2007 DISTRICT VICE PRESIDENTS
District 1: Stan Batten, (386) 752-4402; District 2: Kathy
Starkey, (321) 394-7815; District 3: Andrew Barbar, (561)
368-0838; District 4: Luis O. Landrian, (305) 559-0098; District
5: Scott Whitlock, (239) 541-1900; District 6: Susanna Madden,
(813) 961-6000; District 7: Pete Craft, (352) 383-6131; District
8: Robin A Schwartz, (386) 454-4848; District 9: Pamela Smith,
(850) 516-7809; District 10: Benjamin E. Crosby, (863) 2935600; District 11: James Balistreri, (954) 545-1606; District 12:
Michelle Renee Clark, (407) 933-4499; District 13: Lynn Parker,
(941) 751-0582
Florida Realtor (ISSN 0199-5839) (USPS 522-170) is published
monthly except August by the Florida Association of Realtors.
Postmaster: Send address changes to Florida Realtor, Attn.
Membership, PO Box 725025, Orlando, FL 32872-5025. Periodicals postage paid at Orlando and additional mailing offices.
Annual dues of every Realtor member of the Florida Association
of Realtors include $3.50, for a one-year subscription to Florida
Realtor. Subscription rate to others, $19.95 annually.
Opinions expressed in signed feature articles are those of
the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of
the Florida Association of Realtors. Advertising of property or
products does not imply endorsement.
Copyright© 2007 by the Florida Association of Realtors.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without
written permission is prohibited.
To communicate via a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD), call Florida Relay Service, (800) 955-8771 (longdistance phone charges apply).
EDITORIAL
Doug Damerst
(407) 438-1400 ext. 2322
[email protected]
ADVERTISING
Joseph A. Bono
(407) 438-1400 ext. 2327
[email protected]
ADDRESS
7025 Augusta National Drive
Orlando, FL 32822
floridarealtormagazine.com
The Business Magazine of Florida Real Estate
4
®
marketing
SAYITITLOUD
LOUDWITH
WITHSAVVY
GREATMARKETING
MARKETINGTECHNIQUES
TECHNIQUES
SAY
Bright
Ideas
Build
aBrand
1.
Every sales
associate should
have a full-color,
high-quality
personal brochure and
several multiuse direct
mail pieces, a custom
personal logo and a
personal Web site.
—Don Hobbs, Hobbs/Herder
Advertising
(Not just a business card)
Want to stand out from the crowd? Be like Burger
King and build a brand image. Here’s how.
by Cathy Vaughn
It isn’t just the real estate services
you provide that are likely to build a
positive image among prospective customers; it’s who and what you are that
make you unique. That’s the advice
of Greg Herder, CEO of Hobbs-Herder
Advertising, a real estate consulting
firm in Newport Beach, Calif.
“Agents should be very clear
[about] what makes them different. The more they can do to differentiate themselves from everyone
else, the better,” Herder says. “The
best differentiators are personality
driven—something about you, who
you are, something that will be hard
for someone else to copy.”
• Be Passionate. Do you have a
passion for cooking? Flying? Scuba
diving? Then shout it out to your
market niche. “Anything that says,
‘This is who I am. Here’s how I take
this particular experience and tie it
to real estate,’” he explains. “People
call you because they connect with
you on some level. They don’t call you
because you say you provide great
service.”
• Living the Life(style). In addition to forging a personal connection
with customers through marketing,
Herder recommends, you should
target your advertising toward specific markets such as lifestyle niches,
2.
Include a tangible good
as part your brand image.
Think the Travelers
Insurance red umbrella.
—William Stanton, Michael Etzel,
and Bruce Walker, “Fundamentals of
Marketing” (McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1991)
3.
As part of your
international campaign,
hire a personal assistant
or secretary who speaks
the language of a major
foreign group in your
area. —National Association
of Realtors (NAR)
6
7
marketing
4.
SAY IT LOUD WITH SAVVY MARKETING TECHNIQUES
Get Your
To reach seniors, earn
the Seniors Real Estate
Specialists designation, awarded
by the Senior Advantage Real
Estate Council to Realtors® who
have met certain educational
and program requirements.
—NAR
Money’s Worth
at
Conventions
Professional conventions and educational sessions can
be prime places to learn, network and earn referral
business. So, shake off the shyness and get the most out
of the sessions.
by Cathy Vaughn
Have a hobby? Use it in your promotions
so you can stand out from the rest.
groups of people who pursue a particular sport or a profession such as
teaching or law enforcement.
• Location, Baby. “Pick a geographic area that you like and in the
price range you want. I’d start with
direct mail and different types of publications that reach that geographic
area,” Herder suggests. “I also like
cable television because you can target
the marketplace. And all these professional groups have trade publications
that you can advertise in, often very
economically. They (customers) tend
8
to refer you well within those groups,
and you can build a reputation
quicker.”
• Be a Looker. Another critical
marketing move is to develop a brand
or logo that can be used on all your
products, including Web sites, letterhead and other materials that identify
you, even “Just Listed” and “Just
Sold” letters and cards. There’s still a
place for those communication pieces,
Herder believes, if sales associates
“take it a step further” and offer readers an “extra value” that demonstrates
their knowledge of the marketplace.
“Building a brand takes time, but
the payoff is a steady flow of consistent business,” he says. “A brand new
agent should commit to building a
brand for the rest of their real estate
career they will love. If you wind up
pursuing the deal-to-deal mentality,
you’ll do that the rest of your life.”
Cathy Vaughn is a New Smyrna
Beach–based freelance writer.
Want to get the most out of that real
estate convention you’ve been dying
to attend? Leave your ego at home and
arrive ready to learn from experts
in their fields, advises Mike Ferry,
founder of the Mike Ferry Organization, a real estate coaching and training organization.
“Everybody wants to be the biggest,
the smartest and the fastest,” he says.
“If you leave your ego at home, you
can learn more.
“I always tell our clients, when
they’re coming to a convention, that
there are several things they should
do,” says Ferry. Here they are:
1. Put together a list of 10 to 12
intelligent questions that you can
ask trainers and educators. “Don’t
be afraid to tell those people, ‘I have a
list of questions to ask you.’”
2. Plan your attack. Ferry emphasizes that you should come prepared
by knowing what specific information
you’re seeking. “Most conventions
will have 10 to 15 presenters. [When
selecting sessions to attend] look at
what the topic is and who the presenter is and ask yourself if that person
will give you what you want to know.”
3. Share and share alike. “Go prepared to share information,” he says.
Instead of looking for the top producer
to pick his or her brain, go into a
meeting and share information. “The
more information you give, the more
they’ll give back to you,” says Ferry.
4. Check your ego. “Dress professionally and leave your ego at home,”
Ferry counsels. “If you’re an attendee,
I think it’s more important to walk in
and say, ‘What can I learn?’ than it is
to say, ‘What can I teach?’ The whole
point of a convention is to help people
learn something.”
“I think the biggest mistake people
make is they’re too critical of presenters,” Ferry points out. “Most presenters at a convention are not professional speakers, so go with the idea of
‘How can I learn from this person?’
instead of going with the idea of critiquing him or her.”
5.
To reach first-time
homebuyers, post
information about
low-downpayment
mortgages and governmentsponsored, first-time
homebuyer programs
on your Web site. —NAR
6.
It’s a mistake to treat
your real estate blog
as “Web site, Part
Two.” Blogs are easy to
publish more frequently
and can become an ongoing
dialogue between you and
your audience. —Brandon
Cornett, ArmingYourFarming.com
Limit the length of
7.
your e-mail subject
line to five words or less,
otherwise it may not all
appear in the subject line
of the browser’s e-mail
window. —NAR
9
marketing
Stylin’
and
Sellin’
Initial impressions
are everything in the
real estate profession.
by Cathy Vaughn
“Even if we don’t want to say
people judge us on how we look,
we know people do,” says Valleri
Crabtree, a director with Institute
of Florida Real Estate Careers Inc.
(IFREC) and a real estate broker in
Florida and Ohio. “Some studies say
you only have 30 seconds or a minute
to make a first impression.”
Crabtree says you must know the
background of the customers with
whom you’re dealing so you’ll know
how they dress themselves and what
they expect of you.
“If you know your buyer or seller
is from a profession where a suit is
going to be the norm, then no matter
how they’re dressed on the appointment, you need to be in a suit, or at
least a tie and a sport jacket if you’re
a man,” Crabtree recommends. “If
they’re coming from a profession
where the dress code is more relaxed,
then you might be able to get away
with something less formal. You always want to be dressed at least one
step above your customer, whether
your customer is a buyer, seller or
student in a classroom. The only exception to that would be if you have
10
customers who are from a modest
income; if you dress up, it might be
intimidating.”
No matter what, “Never, ever, show
up for an appointment wearing jeans
and tennis shoes. There comes a
certain point of dressing down, where
you’ve gone past the point of casual;
you’re showing disrespect.”
Closings are “a big deal,” Crabtree
advises, and sales associates should
opt for more professional attire—
especially if it involves a commercial
property.
Last, your car is a reflection of you.
“Having a car that’s messy sends a
message that you’re disorganized,
that you don’t care enough about
clients to clean your car out. And if
your car has a heavy smell of smoke,
it can turn off [non]smokers.”
The bottom line? “If you don’t pay
attention to these things, it can harm
your sales,” Crabtree warns. “You
might be the greatest [sales associate] in the world. You might provide
wonderful customer service, but if
people are embarrassed at how you’re
dressed; if you don’t look professional
at a closing; if your car is a total disaster, I think people might be reluctant
to refer a customer to you.”
5 Punch
marketing
8.
Listing
Promotions
that Pack
Supercharge
y
these innova our marketing with
tive listing p
romotions.
by Dan Rafter
Savvy sales associates know that
you can’t plant a For Sale sign in a
home’s front yard, slap the information on the MLS and expect the buyers to roll in.
Buyers have more homes from
which to choose. So, you need to rely
on a host of innovative marketing
methods to set their listings apart
from the rest of the housing inventory.
“I firmly believe that you have to do
everything you can to move your listings,” says Tara Jacobsen, a sales associate at the Clearwater office of Keller
Williams Realty. “I try to do something every day to sell something.”
Here are five strategies Florida sales
associates are using to turn their listings into sales.
Use the Competition
Carol Marra, a sales associate with
the Lakewood Ranch office of Keller
Williams Realty in Sarasota, has seen
a 10 percent increase in the number
12
of showings her listings get since she
started to drop off fliers and brochures
advertising them at the offices of
competing real estate brokerages. She
offers incentives to sales associates in
these offices—an increased commission or a one-time bonus—for bringing the final buyer to her listings.
“It’s about doing anything that gets
your listing exposure,” Marra says.
“If it brings in one showing, it’s been
successful.”
Last year, Marra’s approach brought
in a sale and generated an increased
interest in her listings. Marra, who
sold about $3 million in real estate in
2006, closed one transaction after a
sales associate at another brokerage
saw one of her brochures. The associate received one of Marra’s commission incentives and brought the final
buyer to the listing.
Set Up Special Events
DeYanna Carroll gives her high-end
listings, those priced at more than $1
million, extra publicity by promoting
them with special events.
One example? In May, the
sales associate with Exit
Realty Professionals in
Orlando held a fund-raiser
for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra during
which she also promoted
three of her condominium
listings at The Residences
of Winter Park.
To help draw attention to the listings, Carroll hired small groups of
musicians from the orchestra to play
at each of the listed condos, each
of which boasts an asking price of
$2.4 million.
Carroll chose the Orlando Philharmonic tie-in for two reasons: She is
president of Ovation, a support group
for the orchestra and has agreed to
donate 10 percent of her commission
from each of the sales to the orchestra.
In addition, many of the potential buyers of these listings support the arts.
To Carroll, the fund-raiser was one
way to bring a large number of people
to her listings at one time.
“When you cross the milliondollar mark, [many of those customers
are] relying on your expertise within
the community. The only way to get
positive feedback on your listings is to
get that particular clientele into your
product,” says Carroll.
As of press time, Carroll had not
sold any of the listings. But, since the
fund-raising event, she’s shown the
listings more than 45 times.
Information Overload
View any of Drew Peterson’s listings on the MLS, and you’ll find a
minimum of seven photos. You’ll also
find extremely detailed information
on neighborhoods and amenities.
Peterson, a sales associate with RE/
MAX Town Centre in Orlando, says
that by providing as much information and as many photos as possible
online—where most buyers today
start their home searches—he makes
sure that every showing can potentially lead to a sale.
Consider holding a
fund-raiser at one of
your high-end listings
for maximum exposure.
“We don’t want anything to surprise buyers when they come to a
showing,” he says. “We don’t want
them to walk in and then walk back
out in two minutes. That doesn’t help
our sellers, or the buyers who are
looking at their homes.”
This approach does cost money.
Peterson pays extra for the National
Association of R ealtors®’ Showcase
Agent–level listing, which allows for
additional photos and custom property descriptions on Realtor.com
listings.
Peterson credits this approach with
directly boosting his sales. His listings
stay on the market for an average of
Post your Web site at
multiple domain names like
www.yourtownhomes.com,
www.yourtownrealestate.com,
and www.yourname.com. — NAR
9.
When branding your
Internet presence,
brainstorm for three
minutes about all
your personal passions and
interests. Nothing is too silly,
and it doesn’t have to relate
to real estate. —Michael J. Russer,
Russer Communications.
When presenting an offer,
10.
choose a time when all
parties who need to approve the
offer can be present and a place
with minimal distractions. —NAR
11.
Look at your Web
site through your
clients’ eyes, making
changes if those goals—
from day one through
post-closing—are not
the site’s primary focus.
— Kelle Sparta, coach and author
13
marketing
12.
Spend the extra time and money spiffing up
any new listings before you show the home
to potential buyers.
Tara Jacobsen
Carol Marra
Drew Peterson
Terri Steck
Natasha Gonell
14
82 days (compared to the 97-day average on the MLS), he says. He says his
listings also sell for an average of 96.5
percent of their listing price.
While he says he can’t attribute this
success completely to the upgraded
photos, he’s persuaded that the detailed information about water views,
the home’s age and the dimensions of
each of its bedrooms does play a role
in bringing in buyers who are less
likely to immediately reject one of his
listings.
Provide It All
A house must be in top condition today to have the best chance
of selling. That’s why Terri Steck,
from Windermere Realty Group in
Orlando, offers her sellers a package
of services designed to showcase their
homes to potential buyers. Steck provides lawn mowing, power washing,
home showcasing and similar services
at no cost to her sellers.
Steck hopes that by providing these
services, she not only helps move her
listings, but also gains a reputation as
one of the hardest-working sales associates in the area. She mows—yes, she
does the actual mowing—the lawns
outside her listings before every open
house. Sometimes the home is vacant.
Other times the sellers don’t have time
to handle the mowing themselves. She
also pays for each of her listings to be
power washed when they first go on
the market.
Providing these services, which she
just recently started offering, has already gained her a listing. “The owners had been trying for sale by owner,
but it wasn’t working. One of their
neighbors saw me mowing the lawn
before one of my open houses and told
the sellers they should call me,”
Steck says. “They said that I was the
hardest-working [sales associate] in
town.”
a la carte
Natasha Gonell, a sales associate
with Prudential Florida WCI in Pembroke Pines, believes in the power of
choice. To help move her new listings,
she offers buyers a menu of financial
incentives. Buyers can elect to have
the seller pay their first year of property taxes or cover their homeowners’
insurance for a year.
Sellers provide the money for these
incentives from their sale proceeds.
Some can’t afford to do this, and others choose not to. But many sellers do
agree to spend some money to help
move their homes quickly.
“The buyers love this,” Gonell says.
“They get to choose. For them, it’s
great to have a choice.”
Gonell has been offering her incentive program for several months now.
During this time, it’s landed her a sale.
The buyer of Gonell’s listing came to
an open house, saw the menu of incentives and was hooked. He eventually
chose to accept a reduced interest rate
on his mortgage for three years, for
which the seller agreed to pay.
The buyer told Gonell that the
financial incentive helped separate her
listing from several others he was considering. “The buyer really liked this
option,” Gonell says. “It will save the
buyer thousands of dollars on their
loan over that three-year period.”
Dan Rafter is an Illinois-based
freelance writer.
Etiquette
Maximize your e-mail marketing
with these tips.
by Cathy Vaughn
Copyright infringement—
taking someone else’s
writing or images
and putting it on your
Web site—is a crime;
and bloggers should
take steps to protect
themselves to avoid
accusations of copyright
infringement. — Bernice Ross,
CEO, Realestatecoach.com
13.
Objections to making an
offer on a house fall into
three categories—money,
fear and distrust. —Floyd Wickman,
Wickman Seminars
It’s still possible to build a successful real estate business without being
tech savvy, but today’s technology
can make it much easier. And, e-mail
marketing has taken off as a costeffective means of getting your message out, says Randy Eagar, founder
and president of Computer Camp,
based in Salt Lake City. But, there are
subtle ways you may be sabotaging
your e-marketing efforts.
Most sales associates use real
estate–specific software to manage and customize large databases
of clients, customers and contacts.
Eagar likes two software programs
for that purpose: an application called
Respond that’s tailored to work with
Microsoft Outlook, and a program
that’s part of a software suite called
Top Producer.
Whatever program you use, look
out for common mistakes in bulk
e-mail management. “A lot of people
will just put a whole bunch of names
in the ‘To’ and ‘Cc’ fields,” says Eagar.
“The recipients of those e-mails
absolutely hate to see all those names
in the fields. And the other no-no is
putting all the names in the ‘Bcc’ field
for blind copies, because it shows up
as ‘From Dick Smith, To Dick Smith.’
Both programs, Respond and Top
Producer, allow a user to send person-
alized bulk e-mail, so each message
appears to have been sent only to the
recipient. As an alternative, Eagar
says, you may subscribe to a thirdparty service that will send out customized e-mails for you.
Then, there’s the matter of the message itself. Eagar says it must not be
seen as self-serving. “There’s a real
fine line between spamming somebody and sending something of value
to somebody.”
If an agent e-mails a past client and
simply seeks a referral, Eagar warns,
the recipient may interpret that as
spam. But if the sender passes along a
link to a relevant article about the local
real estate market, or even provides a
coupon for a meal in a local restaurant,
it adds value to the message.
“People love to get that kind of
stuff. What you’ve got to do is figure
out what is in it for the buyer. If you
can please them, it’s not going to be
construed as spam.”
The common message from a
variety of real estate experts is, that
customers want to feel that they’re
special and their time is respected.
If you keep those factors in mind
and embrace technology to accomplish them, you can move ahead in
a marketplace crowded with others
who don’t.
14.
Helping the seller
price a home
properly is one of
the most important
responsibilities
of any listing
agent—especially
when sellers may
have unrealistic
expectations. —Howard
Brinton, StarPower Systems.
15
marketing
When the Going Gets Tough…
This image shows
perfect natural
lighting. Notice
the diffused
highlight on the
right side of the
face, the shadow
on the left and the
little highlight in
the eyes.
How to
ShootYour
Own
Headshot
(Really, It’s not hard!)
16
And ToolkitCMA is not tough to use. Our Web-based software enables you,
from any Internet-connected PC, to easily produce great looking marketing
presentations with picture CMAs and mapping. ToolkitCMA includes an MLS
interface that automatically merges downloaded property data and photos into
CMA documents. The distinctive ToolkitCMA presentations and property
flyers also blend together your personal profile and company identity. Branded
custom packages are available for all major franchises and many independents.
ToolkitCMA is available by individual or company subscription.
Get tough on the competition – get ToolkitCMA!
ToolkitCMA.com™
Innovative Marketing Solutions for Real Estate Professionals Since 1988
Wide-angle lenses
make subjects’
faces look
distorted. Always
zoom in to a
slightly telephoto
setting on your
lens. The telephoto
lens is perfect!
Rather than using bright colors like the
photo at the left, wear blues, tans or
neutrals (top photo) to draw attention
to your facial expression. Also, avoid
strong patterns (bottom left) which draw
attention away from the subject’s face.
you find your soft directional light
location, look beyond where the
subject will be. If you see a shopping
center, move to another location that
affords a simple natural background—
like a stand of trees.
It is easier than you think. If you’re
inside, using window light or a large
glass slider, pick a neutral wall (or remove busy wall décor) and move some
furniture. The key here is a nonbusy,
neutral background.
your covered porch or lanai. You’re looking for soft light falling on you, the subject, from the right or the left side. [See
large photo.] A large window or glass sliding door that doesn’t have direct sunlight
coming through is also a fine indoor light
source.
2. Make the Background
Important
There’s a trend in high-end professional
imaging to get out of the studio and use natural environmental backgrounds. So, when
photos by John Frank
1. Turn off the Flash
The camera’s flash, most likely positioned directly above the camera lens,
lights the entire face with no shadows.
This is known in the trade as flat lighting. Professional photographers, who use
this technique, will add shadows and
other character features with very special
makeup or with image retouching.
Without this help, your pictures just
turn out making you look heavier and
washed out. So, try using natural light
(no flash).
The best is directional light, like from
a large window. We’re talking about soft
filtered light, not direct sunlight. Many
beautiful portraits are created with that
soft evening light, and you’ll find it on
ToolkitCMA is the right marketing solution for giving you the competitive
advantages to open more doors and close more deals – especially when the
going gets tough.
Visit www.realtytools.com or call Realty Tools, Inc. sales
toll-free at 1-800-828-0970 or e-mail [email protected].
by John Frank
Everybody’s been there: Desperate for
an updated business headshot, you enlist
a friend, put on your favorite yellow outfit
and stand in front of the white wall in your
living room.
With the pop of the flash, you look at the
image on the back of the camera and gasp,
telling your friend how much you hate
yourself in portraits. But you need something for your business card, and you don’t
want to spend a fortune hiring a professional photographer.
Don’t fret! You can have that same
friend take your headshot with more
professional results if you follow some
simple rules.
…like it is for many real estate professionals right now – the
tough get going! The housing market today is not the same
super-heated market it was yesterday. As a matter of fact, it
may be the “big chill” for you! And you know that means
you’ve got to be sharper and work smarter to be successful.
3. Clothing Is Everything
There are some well-founded rules
in the halls of professional photography that suggest that wearing simple,
solid, neutral colors, like blues, tans
and beiges, will make a better picture.
The theory is that with nondominant
(continued on page 51)
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technology
On your Web site, post
informative articles
15.
about homebuying and
TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY
homeselling. Get permission
from the author or copyright
owner if you use articles from
other sources. —NAR
5 Gizmos, 16.
Gadgets and
Tech Tools
You Can’t
Do Without
Good
people
skills,
knowledge of the
latest technological
gadgets and a
willingness to
reach out to your
sphere of influence
are vital activities
for rookies.
—Realty Times, Ken Edwards
by Rick Broida
“I used to spend hours making
Google Maps and trying to figure out
which properties to see first and last,”
says Cheryl Wolanin, who says she
can’t live without her global positioning system (GPS) navigation tool.
Now, the sales associate with ZipRealty Inc. in Tampa Bay, says she just
“punches in the addresses, and it does
all the work for me. It’s really timesaving and stress-relieving.”
For Emilio Mejia with MJOP
Realty in Miami, his “can’t-livewithout-tech” is his T-Mobile Dash
smartphone. “I had left with a strong
prospect to go see properties in Miramar, and I forgot one of the property
sheets back at the office. I needed to
18
get in contact with the listing associate. Thank goodness I had my trusty
T-Mobile Dash. I was able to get a
Wi-Fi signal in the immediate area, go
into my MLXchange page and look up
the listing associate’s info.”
Everyone has a favorite gadget, a
prized piece of technology that’s become inextricably linked to everyday
life. For real estate professionals like
the two above, it tends to be mobile
gear: a phone, GPS receiver, camera or
other device that provides on-the-go
efficiency.
Let’s take a look at five of these
technology essentials: what they’re
for, why you need them and how
much they’ll cost you.
17.
If you’re working
with a buyer, restate
the features of the home,
sellers’ asking price, and
any terms or contingencies,
services you will provide
during the transaction, and
other details. Then close
with a direct question:
“Should I go ahead and
draw up a purchase offer?”
—NAR
19
technology
TECH KNOW FOR REAL ESTATE PROS
1. Backup Services
A PC that hasn’t been backed up
is a ticking time bomb, waiting for
disaster (usually of the virus, spyware
or hardware-failure variety) to strike.
In the old days, backups required
slow, expensive and complicated tape
drives. Today, they’re remarkably easy
to use, thanks to online services such
as Carbonite (www.carbonite.com),
Mozy (www.mozy.com) and Xdrive
(www.xdrive.com), which offer automated, affordable online backups.
All you do is download and install
the software, then set it to create backups at night, or any other time of your
choosing, when your computer’s not
in use. Presto: Effortless, offsite data
preservation.
Prices for these services start at
around $4.95 per month for unlimited
storage, though you can sometimes
get a better deal by prepaying for an
entire year. (See the May 2007 issue of
Florida Realtor® for a complete guide
to making backups.)
2. Digital Cameras
Real estate professionals and
cameras go together like mortgages
and title companies. Property photos
are the lifeblood of your business,
but relying on a film camera—even
if it’s a high-end model—just wastes
time, money and other resources. You
Invest in
technology that
you will take
places like digital
cameras, a GPS
system and a
smartphone.
20
need a digital camera, which offers
freedom from film, instant review of
your snapshots, and easy transfer of
pictures to your PC.
Look for a model that offers an
e-mail or Web mode, meaning it
automatically creates a lower-resolution duplicate of any given photo,
one that’s suitable for attaching to an
e-mail or posting to a Web site.
How much should you expect to
spend on a good digital camera? Less
than you might think. Several new
models offer solid image quality for
under $150, including the Canon Powershot A460, Kodak EasyShare C653
and Nikon Coolpix L10.
3. GPS Systems
When it comes to finding your way
from point A to point B (make that
property A to property B), nothing
beats a handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation system.
These devices provide real-time
driving directions, showing your position on a moving map and prompting you when it’s time to turn. Plus,
they’re portable, so you can easily
move them from one car to another
(or even slip them into a pocket or
purse if you’re on foot).
The latest crop of GPS devices offers touch-screen menus and dramatically lower prices than last year’s
Online Backup
1. Carbonite, Carbonite, Inc.—$49.95 (12-month subscription), $89.95
(24-month subscription); www.carbonite.com
2. Mozy, Berkeley Data Systems, Inc.—2 GB (free), unlimited
($4.95 monthly); www.mozy.com
3. Xdrive, Xdrive LLC—5 GB (free), 50 GB ($9.95 monthly);
www.xdrive.com
Digital Cameras
1. Alpha DSLR-A100, Sony—from $599, (877) 865-7669; www.sony.com
2. Coolpix L10, Nikon—from $119.95, (800) 645-6635; www.nikonusa.com
3. D40x, Nikon—from $559, (800) 645-6635; www.nikonusa.com
4. EasyShare C653, Kodak—from $129.95, (800) 235-6325; www.kodak.com
5. EOS 400D Rebel XTi, Canon—from $699, (800) 652-2666;
www.usa.canon.com
6. K100D, Pentax—from $450, (800) 877-0155; www.pentaximaging.com
7. Powershot A460, Canon—from $115, (800) 652-2666; www.usa.canon.com
18.
Showing
foreclosures? Be
careful around
abandoned pool homes.
Experts say that an
uncleaned, unfiltered pool
becomes the ideal breeding
ground for mosquitoes,
the carriers of West Nile
virus, that can pick it up
from infected birds. —Florida
Department of Health
20.
U.S. women control
or influence $7 trillion
in consumer spending
annually and make
85 percent of all
purchase decisions.
And single women
accounted for 22 percent
of all home purchases
between July 2005 and
June 2006.
—The Los Angeles Times, Diane Wedner
21.
Think electronic.
Sending property
fliers, newsletters and
letters via e-mail saves on
printing and postage costs.
“I send my thank-you notes
by e-mail now, using a nice
warm background with
flowers and a sunset,” says
Lynn Paskow Savits, a sales
associate with Coldwell
Banker in Aventura.
21
technology
models. The Averatec Voya 320 and
Mio C220, for instance, sell for just
$199, though that nets you no-frills
navigation. At the opposite end of the
spectrum, the $899 Garmin Nuvi 680
goes beyond mere mapping, linking
with your cell phone for hands-free
calling and retrieving traffic updates
to help you avoid road jams.
4. Modem Cards
You’ve got a fresh batch of property
photos to upload, an important blog
entry to post or a contract to e-mail.
In other words, you need Internet
access and you need it now. The
problem—you’re nowhere near a WiFi hotspot. The solution? A wireless
modem card, which allows the Internet to go where you go. Just slip it into
your notebook’s card slot, and presto,
you’re online.
It’s the same technology that brings
Internet connectivity to your cell
phone, but in modem form. All the
major cellular providers (AT&T,
Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, etc.) offer modem cards and services, with
prices starting at around $50 per
month for unlimited access. (Expect
to pay anywhere from $50 to $200 for
the card itself.)
Best of all, the providers’ newly
upgraded networks let you connect
at close-to-broadband speeds, a huge
improvement over the pokey mobile
modems of yesteryear.
Modem cards allow
you to get online
wirelessly from
anywhere that has
cellular coverage.
22
Smartphones
1. BlackBerry 8800, Research In Motion Limited—from $299.99 (with cell plan),
(519) 888-7465; www.discoverblackberry.com
2. iPhone, Apple—from $399, (800) 692-7753; www.apple.com
3. Moto Q, Motorola—from $429.99, (866) 289-6686; www.motorola.com/us
4. Treo 755P, Palm, Inc.—from $299 (with cell plan), (800) 881-7256; www.palm.
com/us
GPS Systems
1. Maestro 4050, Magellan—$699.99, (800) 339-0488; www.magellangps.com
2. Mio C220, Mio Technology—$199; www.mio-tech.be/en/index.htm
3. Nuvi 680, Garmin—from $899, (800) 800-1020; www.garmin.com
4. TomTom ONE XL, TomTom—from $399.95, (866) 486-6866;
www.tomtom.com
5. Voya 320, Averatec—$199, (877) 841-7423; www.averatec.com
Flash Drives
1. A-Data PD2 USB 2.0 Flash Drive, A-Data Technology Inc.—$35;
ww.adata.com.tw
2. Dane-Elec 2GB Flash Drive, Dane-Elec—$60; www.dane-elec.com
3. Kanguru 2GB Flash Drive, Kanguru Solutions—$55 to $75; www.kanguru.com
4. RITEK Mini Spin 2GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive, RITEK—$40; www.ritekusa.com
5. Smartphones
Most real estate professionals and
their cell phones are joined at the hip
(often literally). But smart professionals opt for smartphones, which offer
countless advantages over their lowerIQ counterparts. For starters, they’re
equipped with thumb-style keyboards,
which allow you to tap out e-mail and
text messages with greater ease. They
also tend to have larger screens, which
make business documents and Web
pages easier to view.
Further, smartphones usually offer
easy synchronization with your PC,
meaning your data resides in two
places instead of one. If you’ve ever
lost, dropped or forgotten your phone,
you know how critical that can be.
When shopping for a smartphone,
look for a model with Personal Digital
Assistant (PDA) origins, like the Palm
Treo P Series (which evolved from
Palm PDAs) or something that runs
the Windows Mobile operating system
(born of Pocket PC PDAs). These
generally offer the best contact and
calendar management, which is what
their predecessors were born to do.
The only downside is price: Most
smartphones cost anywhere from
$300 to $600, depending on what
kind of contract you get, and monthly
data plans (which you’ll need for all
that e-mail and Web browsing) start at
around $50 a month. Of course, once
you get accustomed to having such a
smart phone on your hip, you’ll wonder how you ever worked without it.
Rick Broida is a Michigan-based
freelance writer and the co-author of
“How to Do Everything with Your Palm
Powered Device,” 6th edition. Broida
does not have any affiliation with the
companies mentioned.
The Florida Association of R ealtors® and Florida Realtor magazine do
not endorse any products mentioned in
this article.
6 Ways to
Market
Yourself
on the
Internet
From Web commercials to innovative ways to use
bulletin boards, we’ve got six cost-effective ways
for you to market yourself online.
by Bridget McCrea
The Internet can be a great opportunity or a vast wasteland depending on just how much time, money
and effort is put into developing a
Web presence and combining it with
add-ons like blogs, online videos,
e-newsletters and other technologies
that help deepen the customer experience. But how do you know where to
allocate your valuable time, energy
and money online?
Here are six places to consider as
you shape your own Internet sales
strategy:
Jump into Online Video
Christian Frazier started using
online videos, or Web commercials,
to sell properties on the Web about a
year ago and hasn’t looked back since.
“It’s more engaging to prospective
homebuyers than a standard virtual
tour,” says Frazier, a sales associate
with Century 21 Real Estate Professionals in Orlando. “I wanted to ride
the wave of popularity of [sites such
as] YouTube.com by using
video to expose my listings
to a different audience,”
he says.
Frazier did that, and then
some, adding elements like
music to his online video
presentations. Frazier loads
the videos to Yahoo!, Google,
YouTube, Century21.com
and his own Web site,
www.christiansellshomes.
com. He says he gets the
most video views from his
personal Web site because
that’s the site he promotes
the most.
Some of the videos have
been viewed more than 2,100
times each, and “buyers contact us all the time because of
these videos,” says Frazier, who
spends 30 to 60 minutes putting
each video together. “The
first couple of videos may
take some time to get used
Sales associate Christian Frazier loads his Web commercials to
at least five different Web sites to get maximum exposure.
23
technology
Online Marketing Resources
Looking for more information? Check out
these Web sites.
Building and Promoting Blogs
www.blogger.com
www.blogdigger.com
www.ypnblog.com
www.blogit.com
www.pingomatic.com
www.livejournal.com
www.masternewmedia.org
blogsearch.google.com
www.myblogsite.com
www.technorati.com
Putting Videos Online
video.google.com
video.yahoo.com
www.youtube.com
video.aol.com
Portals for Promoting Listings
www.trulia.com
www.realtor.com
realestate.yahoo.com
www.zillow.com
base.google.com
geo.craigslist.org/iso/us/fl
corporate.homes.com
Online Communities for
Consumers and Sales Associates
www.connectingneighbors.com
www.househunt.com
www.floridarealtors.org/getconnected/
communityforum/
www.floridarealtors.org/Help/
Referral-Network.cfm
www.activerain.com
www.realtychat.com
Sources for E-newsletters
www.myhomemanagementclub.com/sales
www.constantcontact.com
www.truewire.com
www.erainmaker.com
www.realtytimes.com/am/am.htm
www.totalrealestatesolutions.com/
newsletters/
Pay-per-click Marketing
adwords.google.com
www.startadcenter.com
www.bidvertiser.com
searchmarketing.yahoo.com
24
Joe Dallorso, Keller Williams Realty, posts his listings for free on
craigslist.org to entice buyers.
to navigating through the software
[Microsoft Movie Maker and Photo
Story].”
He also loads the videos onto his
PDA to show to prospective buyers
while he’s on the road and burns the
videos to DVDs to pass out.
Frazier says he drives traffic to his
videos through URLs on his postcards, fliers and e-mail blasts. “We
have subscribers who get the new
videos [via e-mail] as soon as we post
them,” says Frazier. “Whenever we
do trade shows, we have videos of our
listed homes playing.”
In return for an investment in a
digital camera (which takes both still
pictures and video) and the Windows Movie Maker and Photo Story
software, Frazier says, he gets more
exposure for his listings and an additional selling point for his listing
presentations. “A few hundred dollars
has translated into thousands of additional dollars in commissions annually,” says Frazier. “If I only close one
additional deal per year, the solution
has paid for itself.”
Write a Blog
Real estate professionals have been
using online blogs (posting news,
their opinions, latest listings and
more on a Web site for all to read)
for several years now to beef up their
technology toolboxes and reach more
customers. Blogs combine text, images and links to other blogs, Web
sites and additional content related to
a specific topic.
John Elwell, a sales associate with
Century 21 Bill Nye Realty in Zephyrhills, set up his blog in November
2006 and started getting four to five
hits a day. That number has increased
substantially over the last few months
to about 70 to 100. “I initially set it up
to create a greater Web presence for
myself, but since each post creates its
own address, it’s like sticking signs
up all over the place [particularly on
search engines], rather than just one
sign in front of the office,” says Elwell.
“It becomes much more likely that a
potential customer will have my name
pop up when … conducting [online]
searches.”
technology
Elwell typically updates his blog
several times a week, using news
releases and original content to fill
categories created for buyers, sellers, insurance issues, property tax
matters, general real estate and “my
homes for sale.” The results have been
significant, according to Elwell, who
says his listings now easily come up in
Google and Yahoo! searches—an improvement that’s resulted in a higher
volume of Internet leads.
Blogs are simple to set up (using a
service like Blogger.com, e.g.), cost
next to nothing to maintain and can
be updated with just a few text paragraphs on a regular basis (ideally, four
to five times a week). Sales associates
can place blogs on their own Web
sites, complete with home photos and
listing links.
Leverage the Listing Portals
Listing portals are coming out of
the woodwork these days, leaving real
estate professionals wondering how
they can maximize these new online
entrants to the market. Trulia.com
and Zillow.com, to name a few, offer
myriad products and services to sales
associates looking to beef up their
own Web sites.
Jamie Schaefer, a sales associate with
Keller Williams Realty in St. Petersburg, started posting her listings for
free on Zillow about six months ago, after one of her investor clients informed
her that there were several properties
of interest on the site. Schaefer also
uses the expert feature, which allows
her to comment on specific homes and
point her buyers to comments being
made about those homes by other real
estate professionals.
Schaefer says she likes the fact that
Zillow posts its own estimated value
for each listing, thus substantiating
the asking price on homes that are
priced well. “I’ve had several listings
come in under the Zillow estimate,
which makes them that much more
attractive to potential buyers,” says
Schaeffer. “In this market, every little
bit helps.”
Zillow also allows sales associates
to contribute to its “Tell us it’s for
26
Since starting a blog that he updates a few times a week,
John Elwell, Century 21 Bill Nye Realty, sees his Web site come
up higher in online searches.
sale” feature, through which anyone
can submit information about homes
for sale in their neighborhoods. “We
show where that information came
from, once again giving the agent
exposure to consumers who may be
interested in the home,” says Jeff
Somers of Zillow.com. “And while
you don’t get the same advertisement
that a listing agent would get, you do
get to show people that you know the
neighborhood.”
Joe Dallorso posts his listings on
craigslist.org. “I started using it as
soon as it came to Ocala earlier this
year,” says Dallorso, a sales associate
with Keller Williams Realty. He posts
all his listings on the site and reposts
the still-active ones every two weeks.
Through his personal Web site, Dallorso tracks referrers and views “click
throughs” on a daily basis. “The best
part is that it’s free, and once you’ve
done one ad you can cut and paste
renewals,” says Dallorso.
Distribute an Online Newsletter
Why pore over newsletter designs
and content every month or quarter
when you can outsource the whole
task to a third party for a reasonable fee? That’s what Marilyn Farber
Jacobs asked herself a few years
ago after realizing how much time
she was spending on her biweekly
e-newsletters and e-alerts. This sales
associate with Lang Realty in Boca
Raton chose MyHomeManagementClub.com as her provider, using the
company’s products to stay in touch
with her 1,700-plus list of prospective
customers and clients.
Jacobs personalizes each newsletter
by writing the introduction, and then
chooses content from a slew of real
estate–related topics. The newsletters
are sent to Jacobs’ e-mail list monthly,
providing her customers (past, current and prospective) with valuable
real estate information as well as links
(continued on page 42)
technology
22.
Courtney Silverman
Shannon Lefevre
Boost Your
Web Traffic
Want to drive more traffic to your Web site?
Here are some ways to do it.
by G.M. Filisko
28
Your snazzy Web site’s up and
running, but is it generating leads? If
your site isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do—drive consumers to
your door—consider search engine
optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click
(PPC) advertising.
illustration by andy potts
By packing tons of information
into your Web site, you’ll find
that search engines place you
higher in organic searches.
SEO involves building your Web
site in a way that search engines like
Google and Yahoo! can easily read,
which makes it more likely they’ll
rank it highly when users search for
terms included in it. “There’s a whole
science to how you should structure
your Web pages,” says Todd Walrath,
executive vice president of leads.com,
a division of Website Pros in Jacksonville, which builds Web sites for
companies.
One key to SEO is segmenting your
site so that each page is dedicated to
a single topic and search engines can
easily pinpoint that topic. Courtney
Silverman, a sales associate at The
Keyes Co./R ealtors in Weston,
taught herself SEO and knows the
lesson of segmentation well. “I have
about 900 pages on my Web site
(www.courtneysilverman.com),” she
says. “I have a page for the town of
Weston, and then I have a page for
each development in it.”
It’s also important to use clear
descriptions and titles on each page of
your site. “Think about the keywords
people might type into a search,” says
Walrath, “and use those words on your
pages.” Silverman does just that. “My
pages are titled ‘Weston Real Estate,’
‘Plantation Real Estate’ and so on,”
she says. “By using descriptive terms,
it helps people find you. You can’t just
keep saying ‘Realtor,’ ‘Realtor,’ ‘Realtor’ on each page.”
Building an information-packed site
also helps search engines pull your
site into more searches. “The more
content rich your site, the more often
search engines will find it,” says Shannon Lefevre, a sales associate at John
R. Wood, R ealtors in Naples (www.
shannonlefevre.com), who also taught
herself SEO. “Anything you can
think of that might interest buyers or
sellers should be on your site. That
takes time and energy, but a lot of that
information will be timeless and is
worth putting on your site.”
Lefevre also uses PPC advertising,
which allows you to buy keywords in
search engines so that when consumers search for those terms, you’ll
appear at the top of the results. The
more popular the keywords, the more
they cost. “Bay Colony is a neighborhood I want to specialize in,” says
Lefevre, “so I pay the most per click
for the search term Bay Colony.”
“Building your site is an ongoing process,” says Lefevre. “I make
changes to it every single day. If you
think you’ll spend an hour on your
Web site and all these leads will come
in, that’s not the way to do a Web site
today.” But Lefevre’s work has paid off.
“My Web site traffic has probably quadrupled from last year,” she says, “and
that came from building my site.”
G.M. Filisko is a Chicago-based
freelance writer.
Attending
free events
held by real estate
associations and
chambers of
commerce allows
you to network with
other professionals
and generate
increased exposure
for listings.
23.
Change your driving habits. With
gasoline around $3 a gallon, it may
be time to consider a more fuel-efficient vehicle, limit the miles you
drive or change your habits. “In the
past, I’ve been a fast driver, but
I’ve slowed considerably,” says T.J.
Miedzianowski, sales associate with
Assist-2-Sell, HomeSale Realty,
Weston. “My gas mileage has gone
up, and my fuel bill has gone down.”
24.
Cut back on direct
mail. Postage is one
of the biggest office
costs, says Bob Blankenbiller,
managing broker, Watson
Realty, Longwood. “We
encourage our associates to
send their just-listed cards
and other direct mail pieces
to their spheres of influence
rather than everyone in the
area,” he says. “That’s a
more effective use of postage
money.”
29
technology
Crank Up
aBlog!
5.How much time will
it take?
It’s pretty easy to set up
your own blog. Go to www.
blogger.com, www.blogit.com
or www.typepad.com for stepby-step directions.
But, if you just don’t have
the tech know-how, you can
consider hiring a company to
set one up for you. If you do
that, make sure the company
includes free training on adding posts. After your blog is in
place, expect to spend about
45 minutes writing and entering each post, says McKnight.
Are you ready to gain exposure
by writing an online journal
(called a blog)? Answer these
questions to find out.
by G.M. Filisko
30
for you before you launch a blog, ask
yourself these questions:
1. Do I have the skills?
“If it’s done correctly, a blog can
be a successful marketing tool,” says
Greg Herder, CEO of Hobbs/Herder
Advertising in Newport Beach, Calif.
“Usually, the No. 1
driver of a successful
blog is a writer who
can communicate
a message clearly,
concisely and passionately to engage
people in an ongoing Greg Herder
dialogue.” So be honest: Do have the skills for a great blog?
You don’t have to be a great writer
to be a great blogger; you just have to
be clear and fun, and let your personality shine through.
2. Do I have some interesting
insights into the market?
You need to post entries to your
blog at least three times a week to
draw regular readers, says Mary
McKnight, a blogging trainer at
RSSpieces.com in Cape Coral, which
helps sales associates set up and
maintain blogs.
Sound easy? Melhado thought so.
“I’ve been told I’m a great writer,” he
says, “but it’s very stressful to come
up with ideas. I find it very hard to
find material people might be interested in, so my blog is very much
non-real-estate-related stuff, and I post
only about once a week.”
3. Who’ll write my blog?
“Most agents want [to write] their
blog, at least to begin with,” says
McKnight. Some sales associates
supplement their blog with posts from
their assistant or business partner, but
if you simply don’t have time to post,
companies offer blog-writing services
for $16-$20 per post.
McKnight often recommends that
sales associates mix their own posts
with those of a blog-writing service.
Herder, however, isn’t sold on the idea
of paying people to write your blog.
“Those services are fairly expensive,”
he says, “and there are a lot better
ways to spend your marketing dollars
than having somebody write your
blog.” Aside from that, you want your
blog to reflect your personality and
that comes from writing it yourself.
4. What should I write about?
“Become a journalist on your
community,” says McKnight. Since
the goal is to publish posts that draw
traffic to your site, “create a little [responsible] controversy to emotionally
engage your readers,” she says. Herder
agrees. If you’re going to blog, take a
stand. “An agent has to have a position that’ll connect with a segment
of the market,” he says. “That’ll turn
off some of the market, but that’s OK.
You don’t fail if some people love you
and some people hate you. You fail if
people say you’re bland.”
7.How do I know if my blog is
increasing my business?
Connecting direct sales to your blog
can be difficult. But, you’ll get an idea
of how popular your blog is by the
number of people who mention it to
you in the course of the transaction.
If you hire a company to set up your
blog, make sure it provides statistics
on how many visitors come to your
site and where they’re from, says
McKnight. Even with that information, however, it may still be hard to
tell if your site is generating business
unless people actually tell you they
found you through your blog.
“Think it through,” says Herder.
“People have so many options for what
to read, and a blog is competing with
every newspaper and professional
writer out there. [On the other hand,]
[i]f your blog is compellingly interesting, people [will] get involved.”
Blah-Free Blogs
Looking for some fun real estate reading? Here are a few Realtors® with compelling reading.
Every few days, both of these Realtors post wellwritten and in-depth articles about real estate in
their respective areas. Tampa’s Terry Ward
www.tampa-bay-real-estate.blogspot.com/
illustration by claudine hellmuth
You don’t have a blog? Do you start
your car with a crank, too? That’s
the message that blog enthusiasts are
sending today. If you’re not blogging,
you’re so last-century. But sales associates are seeing mixed results with
blogs as marketing tools. Take V.K.
“Mel” Melhado, a sales associate at
Downing-Frye Realty Inc. in Naples,
who blogs at www.previewnaples.
com/blog. “I talked myself into creating a blog, and I’m not sure why I’m
doing it. I [feel like] I’m talking to
myself [sometimes],” he says.
Courtney Silverman, a sales associate at The Keyes Co./R ealtors® in
Weston, has been blogging at http://
westonflrealestateblog.com for more
than a year and feels differently. She
says her blog helps generate traffic
to her Web site, which has boosted
its rankings in search engines like
Google and Yahoo.
However, more than just directly
increasing business, a blog can set
you up as an expert in the industry
and just as easily turn people off if
you choose to use your blog to vent
about problems. With the right tone
and accurate information, you can
build a blog that brings you goodwill
and business.
To determine if blogging is right
6.What does it cost?
If you hire a company to
create your blog, you’ll find
that prices vary depending on what
services you choose, but expect to
pay $350 to $500, in addition to $20 a
month hosting charges.
Can the blog generate revenue to
offset costs? Maybe. Blogging will
get your higher on an organic search
with Yahoo! and Google. You might
also consider allowing search engines
to place ads on your site. Each time
someone clicks on one of those ads,
you’ll get a few cents to a few dollars.
And though many sales associates
expect to get local businesses to place
ads on their site, few are successful.
“A lot of agents talk about doing that,”
says McKnight, “but you have to
justify why they should advertise on
your site.” It’s also time consuming to
sell the ads.
sellers would find useful.
www.floridarealestatenews.blogspot.com/
Key West’s Gary Thomas
http://keywestproperties.blogspot.com/
Posting market data can be deadly boring, but
Minneapolis’ T.J. Larson adds energy, fun and
local insights to make it interesting.
http://tcrealtor.blogspot.com/
San Diego’s Jim Klinge works hard at his blog
by posting daily and adding variety with things
like contests.
www.bubbleinfo.com/journal/
Miami’s Rick Garcia and Ines Hegedus-Garcia make
their fun and popular blog the home page for their
real estate Web site.
www.miamism.com/
Lee County’s James Weidl only posts a few
times each month, but keeps the tone conversational and writes about topics buyers and
Texas’ Rochelle Fitzgerald turns her blog over to
her customers to build referrals and testimonials.
www.realtorrochelle.blogspot.com/
Judging by the high number of comments,
Oregon’s Thesa Chambers gets a big following with her personal, helpful and lively
writing about local topics.
http://activerain.com/blogs/thesa
For a new blogger, Bradenton’s Becky
Troutt gets lots of comments about her daily
(and sometimes hourly) posts.
http://activerain.com/blogs/beckytroutt
To influence public policy about a controversial real estate issue, this real estate professional and anonymous blogger posts out of
passion, not promotion.
www.publicshore.com/walton_blog.htm
31
business
SMART BUSINESS MOVES FOR REALTORS®
My
Smartest
Business
Investments
25.
Look for a crowd. From art fairs
and music festivals to local flea
markets, you can take part in
weekend events that attract
large numbers of people. “I’m
always at the Englewood Flea
Market, giving out free magnets,
chip clips and giant pens, along
with real estate magazines,
brochures and my business
cards,” says Barbara “Z”
Sanders, sales associate with
M&M Realty Inc., Englewood.
When you find a product or service that truly gives you a
positive return on your investment, you want to shout it
from the mountaintops. Find out what your peers view as
their smartest investment.
By Bridget McCrea
If picking the brains of a handful
of top-selling real estate professionals
in Florida is something you’ve always
wanted to do, then you’re in luck. To
help you make the best possible business investments, we asked them to
tell us what they’re spending money
on, what kind of return they’re getting on their investment and how well
it’s working for them. Here are five
top choices—consider them for your
toolbox.
I Invest in Realtor ®.com
It’s been a year since Janie Coffey,
broker/owner of Papillon Real
Estate LLC in Coral Gables, invested
in Realtor.com’s Featured Home
service, which allows sales associates
to pay a premium to rank first when
specific ZIP codes are keyed into the
site’s search function. Through it,
Coffey can farm specific areas where
buyers might be looking for homes
and advertise alternative areas that
might also interest buyers.
For example, “Coral Gables is lovely,
but pricey,” says Coffey. “Miami
Springs is less known, but it’s nice
32
and less expensive.” Using two featured communities and five featured
ZIP codes, Coffey can, for example,
market Miami Springs listings to
Coral Gables buyers. “It works like a
charm,” she says.
She pays about $990 per month for
her Central Dade featured community
and $450 per month for South Dade.
Featured homes cost about $44 to
$350 per month, depending on ZIP
code. In return, she says, her company
gains expanded brand awareness, and
a “big selling point in listing presentations [is that] we show our commitment to reaching buyers in the area.”
I Invest in Homes & Land Fliers
Always on the lookout for ways
to increase her business or improve
herself as a real estate professional,
Jackie Darby recently jumped at the
opportunity to use Homes & Land
[www.homesandland.com] to print up
her listing fliers (actually reprints of
the ads she runs in the publication) at
a reasonable cost.
Through Homes & Land, this sales
associate with Realty Executives
26.
Stay safe and sell. NAR
advises all Realtors
to keep a charged
cell phone with you at
all times and to meet
potential clients for the
first time in your office.
27.
“If you have
a pending
transaction for
a buyer, look for
alternative financing.
In addition, even the
listing agent should
prequalify buyers,”
says Mike Ferry
of The Mike Ferry
Organization.
33
amy Stier
SMART BUSINESS MOVES FOR REALTORS
deidre newton
business
ties that generate leads through his
existing database. “I reach out and let
people know that I care about them,
and that I can help them and their
referrals in real estate,” says Moore,
who feels that the relationshipbuilding approach advocated by his
coach has resulted not only in higher
business volume, but also in less stress
in his own business and personal life.
“I’m not doing cold calling, FSBOs,
open houses or expensive advertising
that a lot of real estate professionals
do,” says Moore. “Instead, I’m using
a proven, honest, relationship-driven
system that works.”
in Fernandina Beach creates 1,000
fliers [copied from her ad pages] on
high-gloss, trifolded paper for $170, or
about 17 cents a copy.
“That’s much less than the 39 cents
a copy that I was paying at Staples,”
says Darby, who can also submit
nonmagazine advertisements in PDF
format and pay the same price to have
them printed. “It’s made a significant difference in my advertisement
budget.”
I Invest My Time
Amy K. Stier and her team focus
solely on working with buyers. That’s
why her investment isn’t really a
product. Instead, she encourages sales
associates to invest their time driving through neighborhoods, getting
to know the homes for sale and what
each community offers.
As an exclusive buyers’ brokerage,
Florida New Homes Realty Inc. of
34
Tampa, has differentiated itself in the
market by boning up on all the new
and existing listings available to its
customers, with all sales associates
spending several hours a week previewing properties in their respective
market areas.
She says her sales associates “don’t
‘farm’ one area; they are ‘market
specialists,’ and they do a lot of driving.” The sales associates spend time
getting to know the neighborhoods,
school districts and other important
elements that buyers are interested in.
“We don’t sit here comfortably in our
back yards. We drive, we look and we
preview constantly.
“They [customers] look to us to let
them know what their options are …
they don’t know what they don’t know.”
I Invest in Electronic Forms
Sometimes it’s the small things that
make the biggest difference in busi-
ness, as Deidre E. Newton found out a
few years ago. As president and CEO
of Community Real Estate Services
Inc. in West Palm Beach, Newton says
that for years she was tied to paperbased forms until she bought her first
TrueForms program [www.trueforms.
com] in 1997 for about $100 (the current cost of TrueForms for a single
user is $179). The system has allowed
her to create a paperless environment
while saving the time she once spent
shuffling paper forms.
“Now I just e-mail a contract or
listing to a client,” says Newton. “The
forms are updated every time there’s
a change, and the cost is very reason-
able.” The company
also offers a service
through which users can have their
company logos and
clauses inserted on
the forms, which can
be sent as PDFs to
customers.
Newton provides
the service free to
her company’s sales
associates, though
her company spends $150 a year for
her nine sales associates. “The best
thing is that I’m able to track all contracts for every transaction from both
active and former agents,” she says.
“I create 1,000 fliers [copied
from ad pages] on high-gloss,
trifolded paper for
$170, or about
17 cents a copy,”
says Jackie Darby.
I Invested in Coaching
J.D. Moore, broker/owner of By
Referral Realty in San Antonio, Fla.,
started Buffini & Co.’s [www.buffiniandcompany.com] coaching system
of “generating leads by referral”
about five years ago, and says the step
changed his “business and all around
life for the positive.”
At the time, Moore was spending
about $300 per month in the national
firm’s coaching program. Although
he’s not still in the
program, he says it
was invaluable for
helping him create
the business he has
today. Moore says
that having an accountability partner,
access to effective
goal-setting techniques
and the ability to
create a sustainable
practice built on referrals were three of his
biggest takeaways.
From the system, he also
learned to commit at least two
hours per day to proactive activi-
Jackie darby
“Drive through neighborhoods and get to know the
homes for sale and what each community offers,”
says Amy Stier, Florida New Homes Realty Inc.
janie Coffey
Bridget McCrea is a Clearwaterbased freelance writer.
35
business
Get
Motivated
Need a boost? Find out how
these real estate professionals
motivate themselves every day.
campaigns’ launching. “It’s important
we educate consumers, and I find that
motivating,” she says.
3. Keep a file of accolades,
says Eileen Ferrell McVeigh,
broker/owner of RE/MAX Coastal
Real Estate in Ponte
Vedra Beach. She’s been maintaining a file of thank-you notes
for about 20 years.
“On bad days, I take it out
and read it, and realize there are
people [who] appreciate what
I do. It refocuses you,”
McVeigh says.
The notes help her realize that her business is
not just about selling
homes; it’s about making a real difference
in people’s lives.
by Heidi Russell Rafferty
Let’s face it—real estate professionals are a glass-is-half-full
kind of group. You have to be when you’re in sales. After all,
the many pieces of a real estate transaction don’t always fall
flawlessly into the right place in the puzzle.
We spoke with real estate sales associates and brokers to
find out just what they do every day to stay motivated.
1. Seize the day and shine, says Michelle Cremata,
a certified luxury home marketing specialist with
Coldwell Banker in Coral Gables.
“Now is when those of us who are committed (to real estate)
are rising to the top. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to become well known,” says Cremata, who runs her business with
partner Audree Barrow.
They stay motivated by keeping abreast of the latest trends in
their luxury market niche so that they can distinguish themselves
as experts in helping sellers price their homes. Their strategy is
working—they’ve sold several properties within the first week of
making the commitment to price realistically or refuse the listing.
2. Launch a positive press campaign, says Debra Lichter, an
associate in the Longboat Key office of Michael Saunders & Co. and
chairperson of the public information committee for the Sarasota
Board of Realtors®. In January 2006, the Board sponsored a
move to “take the high road with negative press” and feed the
local newspaper positive real estate stories, Lichter says.
The Board also started “The Time to Buy” multimedia
campaign (www.time2buysarasota.com) in November 2006
to get the word out that buyers have a wonderful selection of well priced homes available to them, says Lichter,
who’s also chairwoman of the time to buy committee.
She feels the campaigns are working as the market saw
an increase in buyer activity within six months of the
36
4. Keep
sellers
positive by
educating
them, and that
will boost your
mood, too, says
Margaret Reyes,
broker-owner of
the Florida Real
Estate Store Inc.
in Spring Hill.
In May, she catered a dinner party for
10 past and prospective
clients who were facing
foreclosures. A bankruptcy
attorney discussed legal
rights and then offered free,
private consultations. Seven
of the 10 worked out their
issues. One woman on a fixed
income even discovered she was pro-
tected from foreclosure. Other clients
filed bankruptcy to save their homes.
Reyes received two vacant land listings from one of the clients at the
dinner, plus five different
referrals from some of the
other invitees.
“I feel great, because
I was able to make a
difference, and it was
genuinely appreciated.
The referrals from these
special sellers have not
stopped coming. They think of
us as family,” Reyes says.
5. Look for “The Tipping
Point,” says John “Chip” Ard, of
SHAR Realty in Fort Lauderdale.
He read the national best-selling
book of the same title, which
discusses societal dynamics
and learning how to get ahead
of the wave of change. Ard decided to adopt the concept by changing the way he did business.
“I moved my ego out of the way
and [expanded my business to managing] rentals. I realized that the people
who needed to sell could not sell and
needed that service, so I opened up
to that,” Ard says. “I started surviving without fear—generating multiple
streams of income from different
sectors.”
His customers’ mindsets changed,
too. “I alleviated their fears and motivated buyers. The [sales associates] I
trained were inspired,” Ard says. “If
you love this business, it means getting
out there and finding what it takes to
survive, because transactions are happening every day.”
6. Adopt a store retailer’s mindset,
says Bette Abrams of Coldwell Banker
Residential Real Estate in Coral
Springs. Abrams is a former owner of
a sportswear manufacturing operation. In January 2007, she decided to
employ the approach to housing inventory that she had used when she sold
clothing.
“This is all about inventory management,” she says. “Today, a house is
a commodity. It’s depressing to look at
inventory increasing with no money
coming to you.”
She turns down people who aren’t
willing to work with her on price. So
far this year, she’s had more than five
transactions. Recently, she closed one
house after 63 days. Her sellers tell
her that she’s “doing magic.”
“They’re very happy, and when
they’re happy, I’m happy. It’s a tremendous high,” she says.
7. Go back to basics, says Anthony
Black, of Ocean View International Realtors Inc. in Pinecrest. He’s returned
to prospecting for-sale-by-owner clients
and re-evaluating his business plan.
His goal is to obtain a listing every two
weeks, and ultimately, 24 total listings
by press time.
Black switched firms in 2007, and
business has been very slow for him.
But that doesn’t mean he’s not motivated, he says. “When you get a lead
after prospecting, it makes you happy
and gives you motivation,” he says.
“It is the nature of our business and
profession.”
Heidi Russell Rafferty is a Kentuckybased freelance writer.
Debra Lichter
Eileen Ferrell
McVeigh
Bette Abrams
37
business
9
Ways to
Save a Buck
Want to be more profitable? Then take a look at where
your money’s going. Here are some simple ways to save a
buck. by Richard Westlund
Beth Butler
For Florida real estate professionals, operating efficiently is the key
to profitability. That means brokers,
managers and sales associates need to
take a close look at their expenses on
a regular basis and cut back on any
unnecessary costs. Here are 9 tips to
consider.
General
1. Look for the lowest price. Susan
Kane Carr, a sales associate with
Charles Rutenberg Realty Inc. in St.
Petersburg, makes it a point to shop
around for the best price on Internet Web hosting, printing, software
and other services. “In many cases,
my broker and our local Board have
negotiated discounts with vendors,”
she says. “But if I can find a cheaper
price myself, I go for it. That’s [cut my
expenses by] 5 to 50 percent, depending on the product or service.”
2. Join a team. Working as a team
allows you to pool your resources and
share expenses like Web site hosting
and updating, phone, equipment and
advertising, says Amanda Rose, a
sales associate with Realty Executives
Adamo & Associates in Seminole.
Rose joined another associate’s sixperson team in May 2007. “I spent at
least $3,000 on advertising in 2006.
Now, the team does the advertising,”
says Rose, who was able to stop investing in her own Web site since her
team has an effective site. “That saved
$45 a month,” she says, “and having
property fliers printed by our team
cuts my costs another $50 a month.”
38
David Heroux
3. Install a virtual switchboard.
Cynthia Guerrero, broker-owner of
Castle Realty in Orlando, saved time
and money by using an automated
switchboard [www.onebox.com] with
a personal toll-free number to handle
contacts from prospective buyers.
With a basic system, priced at about
$50 a month, calls are answered with
a prerecorded professional greeting
and forwarded to an office, cell or
home phone. Faxes can be sent via
e-mail. Incoming calls are tracked,
and they can be combined with a contact database as well.
Marketing
4. Look for free online bulletin
boards. Many regional markets
have free bulletin board services that
accept property listings. “We post
to craigslist (www.craigslist.org—a
consumer-focused local community
bulletin board), ActiveRain
(http://activerain.com—an online
community for real estate professionals) and Zillow (www.zillow.com—a
free home-valuation service),” says
Janie Coffey, owner-broker of Papillon Real Estate LLC in Coral Gables.
“Altogether, our Miami-Dade listings
reach about 50 sites—all free.”
5. Think classified rather than display ads. To reduce advertising costs,
David Heroux, a sales associate with
Tropic Shores Realty in Spring Hill,
uses the classifieds. “It’s too expensive
to purchase the large display ad placements,” he says. “And [I’ve found]
classifieds work just as well.”
Brett Slattery
Janie Coffey
Susan Kane Carr
6. Write a real estate column.
Rather than advertise, Brett Slattery
a sales associate with Keller Williams Realty in Englewood, writes a
regular column on the front page of
five regional newspapers that reach
40,000 to 100,000 paid subscribers,
depending on the season. “I enjoy
writing about timely real estate topics,
and the papers appreciate my contributions,” he says. “While I don’t get
paid for my columns, I would have
to spend $50,000 a year [in advertising] to generate the same amount of
name recognition. And, no amount
of money can buy a spot on the front
page. Slattery adds that his columns
help drive traffic to his blog (http://
brettslattery.blogspot.com) and Web
site (http://brettslattery.com).
7. Create your own publication.
Nine Keller Williams offices recently
pooled their resources, hired a publisher and created a free monthly
magazine distributed at area shopping
centers. “Each one of our agents pays
$35 a month,” says Kris Deren, team
leader, Keller Williams Elite Properties, Aventura. “Our associates love
this because it saves them money with
classified ads and display ads, and it
helps them get new listings.”
Office/Overhead
8. Review your office hours. Opening a half hour later in the morning
can cut overhead costs for realty offices that have little early walk-in or
phone traffic. On the other hand, Paul
McRae, president, Galleria Collection
of Fine Homes, Fort Lauderdale, keeps
his Las Olas Boulevard office open until 11 p.m. some nights to attract passing shoppers. “We cut back on costly
print media, and have found this is a
good alternative,” he says.
9. Go green and save money. Put
all your forms and paper communications on an intranet site (accessible only to sales associates with a
password), says Beth Butler, chief
operating officer of Esslinger-WootenMaxwell Realtors® Inc. (EWM) in
Coral Gables. “In every real estate
office there’s a huge wall of forms
and printed pieces, which frequently
change. All [associates] should have
access to a computer either at home or
at the office. Stop printing and start
publishing on your intranet site,” she
says. “The Florida Association of
R ealtors (FAR) has all the forms you
can think of already accessible online.
E-mail your memos and reports if
your company does not maintain an
intranet site. For contracts, we’re
about to pilot an electronic signature site to cut those fax and courier
charges even more.”
Richard Westlund is a Miami-based
freelance writer.
39
business
Real
7
Estate
work with investors. Andrea Leslie,
development sales director of The
Keyes Co./Realtors® in Miami, says
it’s important to be able to calculate
net operating income, cash-on-cash
returns and other financial factors.
“Sellers are offering all kinds of incentives, so it’s an optimal time for investors to come back into the market,”
she says.
Promising
Niches
New demographic
niches offer promise
to sales associates.
by Richard Westlund
In today’s market, being a real estate
specialist can pay off. By focusing on a
particular demographic market niche,
you can build your knowledge, help
buyers and sellers more effectively and
establish yourself as an expert with
your own personal “brand.”
As real estate analyst Lewis Goodkin, president, Goodkin Consulting,
Miami, says, “Serving a market niche
helps you increase referrals—the
No. 1 source of prospects for real
estate professionals.”
Here are seven promising niche
markets, along with some basic tips
for success.
1. Singles. This is one of the nation’s
fastest-growing market segments at all
age levels, from young first-time buyers
looking for a financial investment to
divorced parents and elderly singles.
A recent National Association of
R ealtors® (NAR) study found that
single women now buy 22 percent
of all homes, while single men are
40
A recent study found that single women now buy 22 percent
of all homes.
9 percent of buyers. “Most singles,
especially women, are looking for a
secure, maintenance-free lifestyle,”
says LaShawn Norden, a sales associate with Watson Realty’s Longwood
office. “They want to spend their free
time on recreational activities.”
For singles under 30, that might
mean buying a town home or condo
near restaurants, clubs and social
venues. Those 30 to 50 often want the
space and privacy of a single-family
home, Norden says, “as long as it’s not
a fixer-upper.”
2. Baby Boomers. Now in their late
40s, 50s and early 60s, baby boomers
4. International. In 2005, international buyers purchased $41 billion in
U.S. residential properties, according
to a recent NAR study.
Buyers from Europe, Canada,
Latin American and the Pacific Rim
are active in the Florida market,
according to Charles Dinsmore, broker-associate with RE/MAX Partners in Fort Lauderdale, who recently became a Certified International
Properties Specialist (CIPS).
Many overseas buyers are seeking second homes, while others are
looking to move capital out of their
native countries or make long-term
investments. “You need to understand
the different cultures and be able to
explain how U.S. real estate works,”
he says. “When you factor in the
exchange rates, our state can offer
tremendous bargains for many international buyers.”
are particularly active in the moveup, downsizing and pre-retirement
markets.
“This market is particularly important in Florida, which leads the nation
in second-home demand,” Goodkin
says. While some affluent boomers
are seeking luxury homes with all
the amenities, Goodkin adds that the
real depth of this demand is for new
and resale product in the $150,000 to
$300,000 range.
5. Seniors. Don’t lump all seniors
into one category, warns Karen
Ashley, sales associate with Watson
Realty in Jacksonville. “The needs
and desires of one generation can be
completely different from another,”
she says. That’s particularly true for
members of the “GI generation,” born
prior to 1930, who may be looking at
assisted-living or age-restricted communities as well as traditional singlefamily homes. Her advice: Take your
time, talk to other family members
who may be helping out and offer
support if the move involves a major
lifestyle change.
3. Investors. Today’s Florida market offers plenty of opportunities for
those who understand income-producing properties and know how to
6. Students. A new wave of young
homebuyers is entering the market.
A study by International Demographics found that there were 6.2 million
adults ages 18 to 35 with household
incomes over $100,000 in 87 major
metropolitan areas.
In Florida, those potential buyers
include many college students and
recent graduates just starting their
careers (although their incomes might
be lower than $100,000). Helping them
get their first home has paid off for
Nancy Pardo, a sales associate at The
Keyes Co./Realtors® Boca Raton office.
“Because so many of these graduates
are getting out of school with substantial debts, you have to be able to help
them improve their credit history before applying for a mortgage,” she says.
“Sometimes it takes several months to
guide them through the process until
they are ready to buy.”
7. New Communities. Many savvy
buyers appreciate working with real
estate professionals who can help
them take advantage of builder incentives and special financing opportunities in Florida’s new subdivisions and
multifamily communities.
At the same time, new-home
developers and builders are looking
for skilled real estate professionals
to help move their unsold units, says
Goodkin.
“Most new-community developers
have generous co-op broker programs
today,” he says. “You should know
these communities like the back of
your hand, and include information
about these opportunities on your
Web site.”
28.
Projections call
for a population
increase in Florida
of 44 percent by 2030, with
most of those new residents
(potential homebuyers)
the result of migration,
according to a demographic
report prepared for
Florida’s Taxation & Budget
Reform Commission– Florida
Demographic In-Depth Analysis.
29.
“Become an
on-purpose sales associate.
Build systems and a
predictable way to work,”
says Walt Frey of Walt Frey
Seminars.
30.
LaShawn Norden
Karen Ashley
To get a property
priced right,
“some of my
more experienced real estate
friends have decided to
use appraisals as a listing
tool. The owner can hardly
argue with a professional
valuation expert’s analysis
in written report format,”
Doreen Campbell, president
Campbell Appraisal and
Inspection, Davie.
41
technology
Internet Marketing
(continued from page 26)
to streaming videos and more.
Jacobs likes being able to track
responses to her newsletters, and says
she’s had nearly 1.5 million hits to her
site as a result of using the online correspondence. “I’m viewed as a prime
source of information for real estate
matters, and this enhances my reputation and that of my agency,” says
Jacobs, who spends about a half hour
every two weeks writing the newsletter introduction and then offloads the
rest of the work to the third party. “It
keeps my name in front of my community and presents a positive image,”
she says.
Pay-per-Click Advertising
Randy Chapman knows that trying
to market a single home on the Internet is a lot like floating on a raft in
the middle of the ocean, hoping to be
found. That’s why this sales associate
with RE/MAX Connection in Vero
Beach has taken a more targeted approach to the Internet by going after
numerous geographical niches. “The
goal is to turn Web searchers into clients,” says Chapman, who uses Yahoo!
and Google pay per click and submits
his site and listings to Trulia, Yahoo!
Real Estate and Google Real Estate.
Chapman uses 10 different URLs
targeted for a particular geographic
area. All lead to the same Web site.
For example, www.VeroUSA.com,
www.FortPierceUSA.com and HarbourIsleResales.com all lead to www.
RandyJChapman.com.
Search spiders also pick up certain
phrases from Chapman’s home page:
“Riverfront Island Property—new
construction resales from $120/sf,”
“First Time Buyers Programs” or “No
or Low Cost Downpayment Programs” all either help placement not
only on Yahoo! but also on homegain.
com, city-data.com and Ask.com.
According to Chapman, both
Google and Yahoo! have short-term
descriptions in their sponsored advertising. “Since the idea is to have an
individual Web browser click through,
many of my sponsored ads include the
phrase, ‘Search the MLS. No registra42
Randy Chapman, RE/MAX Connection, uses 10 different Web site
URLs targeted to a particular geographic area.
tion or private data required,’” says
Chapman, who adds that after nearly
three years of requiring registration
to use his IDX search, he decided to go
with this new approach. “Now, when
a customer registers, it’s because they
want to interact with me.”
He compares the site to an Internet-based open house: while it may
bring customers through the door, the
likelihood of closing the sale is slim. By
focusing on the community (such as
Vero Beach), Chapman says, he can tap
secondary marketing points that aren’t
limited to a specific home or condo.
Community Forums
Scott Daniels is never one to shy
away from new technology. Consider
online community bulletin boards,
which he started using to connect
with other real estate professionals in
2004. He says it’s a great way to share
ideas with other real estate professionals, earn referrals and network.
As broker of Florida List for Less
Realty Inc., in Cooper City, Daniels
currently uses the free bulletin boards
on ActiveRain.com, Landbroker.com,
Agentsonline.com and Zillow.com to
compare notes with other professionals, to fill positions at his three offices
and to attract both buyers and sellers.
“I use them every day,” says Daniels, who invests two to three hours
a day in the strategy. “It’s worth the
time,” he says, as he gets an average of
three referrals (both buyers and sellers) a week. Daniels logs on each day
and writes about his real estate experiences, current market conditions,
best strategies for buying or selling a
home, and his current listings.
“Tons of people read my articles and
want me to either help them purchase
a home here, or list their homes, based
on what I’m writing,” says Daniels,
who recently received an online bulletin board referral from a sales associate in North Carolina whose daughter
needed a sales associate to help her
sell a home in Ocala. “People definitely read what I’m writing.”
Bridget McCrea is a Clearwaterbased freelance writer.
Index of Advertisers
Successful Realtors® know that using the right tools can make all the difference in
enhancing productivity and achieving sales success. When looking for products and
services consider contacting the advertisers listed below. When contacting these
companies, let them know you found them in The Real Estate Solutions Guide.
Advertiser
Telephone
Internet
Page No.
Advanced Access................. 800-335-1563................................... www.AdvancedAccess.com...............Inside Back Cover
Forte Communications......... 800-392-1186................................... www.BoostYourProduction.com..................................17
Keller Williams....................... 727-772-5600................................... www.kwopportunity.com............................................. 25
RE/MAX................................ 407-829-7303................................... www.remax-florida.com................................................. 5
RealBiz360............................ 888-732-5249................................... www.realbiz360.com.................................................... 49
Realfast................................. 800-571-0277................................... www.realfast.com...........................Inside Front Cover, 1
Realty Tools.......................... 800-828-0970.................................. www.realtytools.com....................................................17
REO Advisors Inc.................. 800-753-3557................................... www.reoadvisors.com................................................. 49
Technology Helpline............. 407-587-1450.................................... www.technologyhelpline.com.......................................11
Technology Training.............. 888-784-5404................................... www.reisinnovations.com............................................ 43
TrueForms............................. 800-499-9612.................................. www.TrueForms.com.............................. 45, Back Cover
TrueWire................................ 800-499-9612.................................. www.TrueWire.com.......................................................47
Washington Mutual............... Call the location nearest you........... www.WaMu.com.......................................................... 27
For more information on advertising, please call Joseph Bono at (407) 438-1400, ext. 2327
Shoot Your Own Headshot
(continued from page 17)
clothing and colors, the face and expression become prominent.
However, so many sales associates
have been told they look wonderful in
bright red that they insist on dressing
in a bold color for their headshot. But,
that doesn’t always work out.
A few more rules: Avoid yellows as
they can make the skin look jaundiced
in print. Also, since you’re essentially
creating images for a printing press,
avoid white and black, including navy
blue, which looks black in print.
Without professional lighting, you’ll
likely experience blown-out whites
or blocked-up darks on the printing
press. Baring your shoulders is also a
no-no. Finally, avoid tight check patterns or fabrics that have a noticeable
fine-square pattern. These fabrics can
give you a funky pattern effect when
you reproduce the image.
4. Makeup and Retouching
This section is easy. Here is the one
rule—don’t overdo it. Despite what
you’ve heard, you don’t need to add
makeup to make an image look good.
You’re using natural light, which is
very forgiving.
Now, for those of you who know
you’re Adobe Photoshop experts, beware. You can easily overdo it, and if
you’re not careful, you’ll have everyone talking about how you look more
like your daughter or son than yourself. If you don’t believe me, next time
you’re at the grocery store checkout
counter, look at a tabloid that has your
favorite mature celebrity on the cover.
You don’t want to look pasty or fake.
Your customers want the real you, not
a business card with an unrecognizable someone else.
5. Expression Is Everything
The difference between professional models and amateurs is the
professionals’ ability to give a natural
look for the final image. I know, you’re
going to smile for the camera, and because you’re not a model, you’re very
likely going to dislike your expression.
For this reason, most great photographers engage in running conversation
with their subjects. When it’s time to
click the shutter, they’ll ask a question
that evokes a natural expression. It
can be anything from “Isn’t this the
silliest thing you’ve done today?” to
“Do you know you’re in the presence
of sheer photographic genius?”
I’ll admit this seems corny, but
folks, trust me. Expression is everything. Have some fun. You’ll be happy
with the results.
With some time and patience, you
can have your headshot taken by an
amateur and be very happy with the
results. Try it and see for yourself.
John Frank’s photography has been
featured in USA Today and on the
cover of TV Guide. He is currently a
real estate sales associate with ResiCore
Realty Group Inc. in Lakewood Ranch.
51
just for fun
REALTORS® AND THEIR LIVES
“Please don’t throw this away again.”
Donna Maddox, a sales associate
with the World Property Center in Kissimmee, loved the idea. But one recipient thought Maddox had really been
in her trash. She threatened to have
Maddox arrested, and she also called
Maddox’s manager several times. “I really only wanted a listing—not possible
jail time,” Maddox says.
Worst Real Estate
Advice I Ever Got
“You don’t want to see that
property.”
The 4,000-square-foot penthouse
was listed for $99,000. Geraldine
Lovato, currently broker of Bluewater Real Estate in Orlando, and her
husband, who were visiting Miami
in the mid-1980s, asked to see it. The
listing agent alluded that it was not
the property for them.
The Lovatos went home without
ever seeing the property. A couple of
years ago, Lovato told that story to a
cousin who lives in Miami. “He told
me the place was probably worth $4
million,” she says.
“Take your family along.”
Sandy Medina, a sales associate at
Beachfront Realty Inc. in Aventura,
wishes she’d never listened to herself.
When she first started, she had a
baby boy and a ton of things to do for
her family. One day, she had one last
house to show, but she also had a family errand to run.
“I convinced myself, ‘Go with your
family. It’s OK! Isn’t it your own
business?’”
Her client was surprised to see
Medina’s husband, mother, grandmother and baby waiting in the car
while Medina showed the house. “It
didn’t cross my mind at the time that
it would be a problem,” Medina says,
adding that she still remembers the
client’s wide eyes.
“Market with wackiness.”
A motivational speaker offered
this advice: Send a flier to your farm
area. One week later, send a second
flier, torn, messy and looking like it
was fished from the garbage, labeled,
Florida Realtor® magazine wants to
hear about the most challenging transaction you’ve ever had. E-mail Contributing Editor Tracey Velt at tracey@
traceyvelt.com with your story.
by Heidi Russell Rafferty
Need advice? Maybe so, but think
twice before taking it! Here’s the
worst advice some sales associates
ever got.
“You don’t want to list in
that area.”
When Larry Wechter of Fort Lauderdale first received his license about
20 years ago, he targeted the area in
which he lived to become known as
that community’s go-to sales associate.
His broker sternly advised, “At
this office, we don’t market homes in
that area.”
But Wechter kept working with his
neighbors. In his first 12 months, he
listed and sold more than 40 homes
“in that area.” Today, he’s with
RE/MAX Partners and to date has
closed nearly 1,600 sales.
“Stick by your guns, and you’ll do
business,” Wechter says.
52
illustration by carl wiens
The
“If at first you don’t
succeed, quit.”
To diversify and survive after 9/11,
Joel Greene, a broker of Condo Hotel
Center in Miami, turned to condo hotel sales and bought a four-page starter
Web site for $499 in 2002. Several
months later, he had only a few sales.
His Web designer told him to cut his
losses and quit. Greene didn’t listen.
Today, his inventory has grown
from 12 properties in south Florida to
nearly 200 all over the world. His site
draws more than 100,000 hits every
month and his database has grown to
29,000 people.
“We outgrew [the Web designer]
long ago, but we never forgot the fire
he lit under us to prove him wrong,”
Greene says.

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