The REVA Report & More

I am SO very excited about all of the cool stuff that I’m working on right now… the stuff that has kept me from blogging as often as I’d like.

But this stuff is GOOD!

The REVA Report is an informative newsletter put together by a talented group of Real Estate Virtual Assistants and other Real Estate professionals.  It will be put out monthly, and after this first great issue I know it’s going to grow!  If you work in any part of the real estate industry and would like to contribute an article send me an email at april(at)VirtualAssistantChick(dot)com

Are you a real estate agent or entrepreneur (or both) that needs help setting up and maintaining a monthly newsletter?  There are still tons of you out there that aren’t utilizing this quick, easy and cost-effective way to reach your clients, potential clients and referral sources.  I can help you with this, and trust me, it’s less expensive than you think!

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VirtualAssistantChick.com has taken off like crazy, and I am loving every minute of it!  I’m set to sign up four new retainer clients effective March 1st which almost puts me at capacity.

And speaking of capacity, I’m working on increasing that number.  I’m in the process of re-working my business plan and structure so that I’m reaching a wider audience.  I’m currently looking to bring on another VA that specializes in PR/Social Media as a partner of sorts that will catapult us to the next level.

I’ve done that already myself by taking on a new client, an Executive Development Coach who is in the process of recreating his successful UK coaching practice  here in California.

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If you were following my (sporadic at best) posts regarding the Get Clients Now! program, I am happy to report that, once again, I have been unable to finish this book.  I’ve never even gotten past the second week.  Why?  Because every time I start working off of the Action Plan Worksheet, I Get Clients Now!  It’s a great book, and I strongly urge anyone whose lively hood depends on their clients should read this book and keep it as a reference to go back to throughout the year.

This is what I’ve going on, how about you?  Anything fun you’d like to plug?

Apps to Schedule Tweets

Up until very recently when I launched my new website, twitter accounted for about 85% of my new business.  I know, I think that’s crazy too, and I wasn’t even spending more than 15 minutes there per day.  I used SocialOomph to manage the alerts I set up and to auto follow people, and tweetdeck for responding to @AprilSullivan‘s, DM’s and actual tweeting.  My blog posts are also automatically tweeted and so are my fan page updates and then it all feeds into my LinkedIn account thus connecting me to people I’d never normally be connected to.  Pretty cool, and I haven’t even scratched the surface yet.

Here is a link to a blog post I came across today by Rotorblog titled 10 Apps to Schedule Future Tweets on Twitter.  If you’re not already doing it, you need to be.  It may not bring in a steady flow of business, but if done right, you will stand out in the crowd as a true professional.

Get Clients Now!

I will be re-reading C.J. Hayden’s awesome book Get Client’s Now! and will be working with a reading group this time around and documenting my progress here.  I have recommended this book to so many other Virtual Assistants and Realtors® and I will recommend it to you again right now.

If you’re interested in joining a reading group, let me know and we can  set one up.  One for Realtors® and another for VA’s would be perfect.  If you’d like to find a facilitator, I know of a few that I could recommend to you.

Just Do It Already!

Nine times out of ten during my initial consultation with a potential client that has marketing needs, I am asked “what is the best way to market in real estate?”.

Honestly, if I had that kind of magic information, chances are you couldn’t afford me.

My answer is always something akin to “whatever you want it to be”.

It really doesn’t matter which route you take, just that you take one and you take it often.

People tell me that Direct Mail is dead.  Nobody will look at a postcard from a Realtor® these days.  I hear that you HAVE to tweet.  Don’t cold-call (it works but I don’t recommend it – too annoying).  You need a website, a blog, a facebook fan page and 5,000 contacts on LinkedIn.

I’m stopping there because I’m beginning to sound like all of the other blogs that I read everyday.

So here’s the big secret:  pick a type of marketing that you’re comfortable with and exploit the h*ll out of it.  There are 1.3 million Realtors® in the U.S. alone and the majority don’t have a solid marketing plan and they aren’t consistent.  Most of them subscribe to the “build it and they will come” theory.

Build it and they may check you out is more like it, but in order for them to stay and recommend others to stay as well, you must consistently remind them just how wonderful you are.

Here is my “magic formula”

• Keep your database updated
• Send out Just Listed and Just Sold postcards as if your sales depended on it (it does)
• Send out a monthly e-newsletter
• Build friendships with clients and colleagues via facebook
• Send out birthday cards and Home Anniversary cards
• Walk flyers around your neighborhood monthly
• Attend networking events monthly

These are the basics, and when done consistently, are well worth the effort put into it.

How Are You Asking for Referrals?

Referrals.  You love them, you need them, but are you asking for them?

How are you asking?  Is it with the little keychain that states the obvious:  We Love Referrals!

Ad stamp?  Business card?  On some obscure area of your website?

How’s that working out for you?

Okay, okay, enough with the questions.

Our clients, whether we are Real Estate Agents or Virtual Assistants or whatever we are, are in it for themselves.  Clients and customers are selfish in nature, and will refer on their own, but only if the perceived value of your service is much higher than they expected.

You’ve got to play the game.  The “Refer Me Now!” game.  This means give your clients a real, tangible reason to refer you and to refer you often.  It’s a little like bribery, but the good kind of bribery that makes everyone feel good, and keeps the referral wheels spinning.  Please, don’t roll your eyes.  this is better than purchasing a really nice closing gift and hoping that your client loves it, appreciates it, and feels like talking about you.

Stop hoping and start doing something about it!

While listening to a Client Attraction Inner Circle call with Fabienne Frederickson a while back, she started talking about putting together a referral system.  It was genius!  Since then,  I put it into practice in one of my client’s real estate business and it has worked out really well.

You need to find out what your client is into:  Golf, cars, gardening, coffee, whatever.  When you open escrow, send them a small gift like a gift card along with a short letter that reminds your client that your business is run on referrals.  Let them know that you’d like to continue to thank them for their continued support with a gift of their choice when they send you successful referrals.

They choose a gift, it’s your pleasure to give it since they’ve set you up with a client, and the Client Referral Ju-Ju is spread all around.

The client’s company that I have used this on have reported gift requests for socks, a shovel, and an oil change along with the normal gift cards.

Devise a system, a process for your referrals so that it happens consistently and constantly.  I guarantee you’ll see your business grow!

Database! Database! Database!

What has your contact list done for you lately?

• How many times are you contacting the people on that list?
• Is your list current?
• How effective is your method of contact?
• Do they remember you?

With the holidays just around the corner, things are getting ready to slow down (if they haven’t already) and it’s a great time to start reconnecting with all of those people just sitting there in your contact management system.

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How can I help you and your business?

Balancing Act Business Solutions’ 7 Step Contact Marketing Plan:

1. Property Postcards (Just Sold, Just Listed)
2. Monthly Mailed Newsletter
3. Monthly Emailed Newsletter (Both include market info, absorption rates, number of listings, vendor articles, seasonal info)
4. Separate Newsletter to your farm area (includes above info PLUS specific market info and open houses in the area)
5. Branded Direct Marketing pieces recipients can “hold on to”
6. Holiday and birthday cards
7. A complete, automated and systemized Follow Up plan put into action for you

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If you don’t connect with your contacts, someone else will!

To learn more about how my business can help your business, please visit our website!

How Real Estate Agents Should be Using Facebook

With social media being one of the easiest ways to touch clients and prospects these days, it really makes sense to have a system in place for handling that area of your marketing plan.

Yes, that’s right people.  As silly as it may sound, I just told you that you  need a plan for facebook.

In real estate, it’s all about building that all important “know, like & trust” factor.  Without it, you wouldn’t have very many clients and you certainly wouldn’t have any referral business.  What better platform is there right now than facebook?

I know, there have been a billion blog posts devoted to facebook, but hopefully this one will be a little bit different.  I’d like to show you some of the actual steps that I use for my clients that pull people in, make you more credible, and hopefully give you that coveted expert status.  The best part is, it shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes per day.

First on the list?  Don’t hide your profile.  Don’t post what you wouldn’t want your clients or your mother-in-law to know or see.  Why?  I don’t know about you, but these days if I’m hiring someone who will have virtually unlimited access to my life, you can bet I’m going to google them.  I want to learn as much about you as I possibly can.  If I come across your locked facebook page I think two things:

1. She’s hiding something.
2. She’s not utilizing a very powerful marketing tool.  She sucks is really missing out.  (See below).

You may not be hiding anything at all, you may just be a private person.  I don’t that really matters.  You’re not a plumber, I’m not asking you to fix my toilet and then leave.  I’m asking you to hold my hand through a lengthy and emotional process.  I want to know YOU.

The second thing that I’ll ask you to do is to keep your status updated throughout the day with a mixture of business and personal information.  One of the really wonderful things about being an agent is that you can talk about what you’re doing in your business without sounding too salesy.  “Veronica is getting ready to show a client some really beautiful homes in Newport Beach”. With this one simple statement, you’ve effectively reminded your network that you are a real estate agent who shows homes in Orange County without sounding like a salesperson.  Easy peasy.  Update it one or two more times with some business and some personal information and you are really using it to your advantage.

Pick out your pic.  You’ve got a few choices here.  You can either choose a fun and flattering profile picture that shows the real you, or you can use your professional picture so that people will connect you to your brand.  This is your choice, but try to add lots of different types of pictures in your albums to show how well-rounded you are.  Family pictures, vacation pictures, pictures of you and associates attending networking events.  You get the picture (haha, pun).

Another important aspect of facebook is commenting.  Join in the conversation, be SOCIAL!  How else are people going to get to know, like and trust you?  If someone posts a cute toddler picture hit the “thumbs up” and say “Hey, that’s a cute toddler picture”.  If somebody posts about their really bad day, you can commiserate with them or try to be uplifting.  It doesn’t matter.  The only thing that matters is that you care enough to post it.  Post a quick Happy Birthday on their wall, or Congratulations when it is in order.  The important thing is that you make a few comments everyday so that when you do decide to peppering your posts with some real marketing, your friends will be not be bothered or annoyed, but hopefully drawn in.

So now you have a listing that you’d like to share with your friends.  If you haven’t been following my advice so far, I don’t think now is the best time to jump in with pictures of your listing.  Most of your network won’t even remember that you’re in real estate.  But, if you’ve been following along and easing them in, now is the perfect time.  When I post for clients I use vflyer for a couple of reasons.  The look nice and professional.  They look like you actually took the time and effort to put something together.  I really like the fact that I don’t have to clutter up facebook albums with pictures, that they’re stored on vflyer instead.  And it’s a lot cleaner than “HEY, I’M SELLING THIS HOUSE.  LOOK AT THE PICTURES!!!”  Here is an example of what you get with vflyer:

Another good idea that I always try to implement is thanking friends when a new connection is made.  Example:  My client, Karen received a friend request from Michael, a guy she recently met at networking event.  After I approve the request for her, I jump on over to Michael’s wall and post:  Hey Michael, I’m so glad that we’ve connected on facebook.  See you soon!  and then I add a link to her website.  Now, some people don’t want to go this route because it can come off as a little pushy, but we limit it to those people that we are truly networking with, not necessarily your high school buddies.

If you can’t think of anything to post ask you friends a question.  Get them involved, get them speaking and most important, get them thinking about you.  If you don’t want to post a question, you can always find a cool and inspirational quote.  Most people like getting those, and at the very least you’ll get some “thumbs up”.

And the very last piece of information that I’m leaving you is this:  These are EXTREMELY quick and easy things to include in your daily schedule that will work if you commit to making them work.  If you don’t want to do them yourself, hire a Virtual Assistant.  I’m just going to throw in that if you can’t find the time to implement this tiny little system, then you probably need a VA anyway.  😉

The Power Of Being Nice

Via Elite Realty NW

A few weeks back, I received the nicest compliment that I have ever received and it came from an unexpected source. As you will soon see, it also came at a totally unexpected time!

Across town from my office there is a Starbucks coffee where I like to meet clients. It isn’t very busy so parking is always easy and there is never an issue finding a quiet table. I usually meet someone there 2 or 3 times a week. It has become my second office.

Janice and I had a meeting with a first time home buyer. As always, I bought us all coffees. A mocha for him, a skinny vanilla latte for Janice, and a caramel frappuccino for me. We were at a small table, notebooks out, laptop online with the MLS.  Have you figured out where this is going yet?

While Janice was searching the MLS for Vancouver WA homes for sale with our client, I was trying to get the top off of the frappuccino. The top gave way faster than I expected and it exploded in my face, completely dousing me in gooey sweet caramel whipped cream and coffee goodness. Luckily it missed the computer and our client. The parts that missed my clothes and notebook were all over the floor and walls of the Starbucks. I did what any good agent would do, I started laughing.

The Starbucks employees were right on top of the situation, giving me a towel to clean myself up while making me a new drink and mopping up the area. When things had settled down a bit, the employee working the mop commented that he sees me in their all the time and he asked how business was going.

“Business has been great” I replied.

” I imagine it is for you two.”

His answer seemed sort of odd to me. “Why is that?” I asked.

“Because you two are so NICE.” He responded. Right in front of my client!

I was back in to meet another client a few days later and the same employee was there. (Of course EVERYONE there remembers me now!) I thanked him for the kind words and he continued from the point where our previous conversation had ended. He told me that I really stand out when I am in the shop because I am so nice and polite to people. He stated that they get about 10 to 15 real estate agents a day through their location and that most of them are just plain rude. He told me that his manager had our business card tacked up on the bulletin board in the office and that he had already told 2 friends about us. I almost asked him to write me a testimonial!

I didn’t even know that he knew that I was a realtor. People are always watching and you never know where your next lead is going to come from. Be nice!

When you choose us to handle your Vancouver Washington real estate needs, you choose a team of realtors® who care about you and your family. Buying or selling a home is always more enjoyable when you work with professionals who will listen to your needs and who will work together with you to achieve your objective. We are very familiar with all types a real estate in Clark County and we specialize in Vancouver, Ridgefield and Battle Ground. We are also very experienced with new home and custom home construction having assisted several local builders in selling new neighborhoods in the Vancouver Washington area.  Additionally, we have helped numerous families build their own Vancouver Washington dream homes. We are dedicated to helping you make intelligent, informed decisions and to providing you with exceptional service. Go to www.ernw.org for more information. See our video here.

This Month is Real Estate History: Staging Advice from Emily Post

Via National Assosiation of Realtors® (NAR)

Staging Advice from Emily Post

SEPTEMBER 2009 — “The requirement of a house of charm is that it shall be completely satisfying to live in.” So wrote American etiquette expert Emily Post in September, 1943, for the National Real Estate Journal. “Comfort …means perfect adjustment to whatever it may please you to have or to do…it means the adaptability of the surroundings that are yours, to your family and to you.”

“Beautiful objects contribute to a beautiful house,” Post wrote, “and yet, cost as a standard of beauty could not be a less accurate test. Many simple little houses that have scarcely an object of value are utterly friendly, convenient and delightful. Many great houses are so austerely unwelcoming and so obviously uncomfortable, it is a wonder that their owners can bear to live in them.”

Continue reading “Staging Advice from Emily Post” »

Sunday, a Day of Reflection

I’m going to leave with you 2 quotes from CJ Hayden this morning. I love her book Get Clients Now which is an awesome book for every solopreneur to read more than once, even when you’re not on the prowl. It is one of my favorite desk references.

Day 6 Thought for the day

Learning any new habit is like starting an exercise program: it can be painful at first, but as you exercise that particular muscle, it becomes stronger and supports you better.  Over time, the pain gives way to tolerance, tolerance to satisfaction, and satisfaction to exhilaration as you see the results of your commitment and persistence.

Day 7 Thought for the day

There are benefits of doing business with you that you take for granted but that would thrill your prospects if they knew about them.  Look for the hidden assets in your business, and be sure to reveal them in your marketing.

Use today as a day of reflection.  Step back from your business and view it from the standpoint of a potential client.  What are you missing?  What aren’t you telling them that they need to know?  Are you exercising your habit muscles?  Are the habits you’re building beneficial to your business?