At Inman Connect Now, Jeff Lobb, the founder and CEO SparkTank Media, ran two terrific rapid-fire mastermind groups packed with great marketing ideas, tools and apps. As you gear up for fall selling season, here’s how to make more money with less effort.
1. Creating content
A major challenge agents face is creating fresh content to post on their blogs, websites and social media platforms. Here are four great options to consider:
Ghostpostr for Facebook
Ghostpostr sends you a new idea to post on Facebook daily, and it also provides you with a library of prewritten posts and copy. Topics include staging tips, funny listing photos, holiday-specific posts, etc. If you like using Canva, add your logo to one of its templated images, and your post is ready to go.
Greg McDaniel did two posts using Ghostpostr prior to recording this week’s show. In a little over two hours, he had 120 responses and interactions on his Instagram Stories and 40 on his regular Instagram feed.
Homebot.ai
Homebot.ai provides data about homeowners’ current home value, how much equity they have and their home’s anticipated future value. Owners also learn how much they will save by paying off their mortgage early, how much they can afford on their next home, as well as the financial impact of renting out a room in their property.
Clients who use Homebot return to the data repeatedly and also tell others about it. You can also use Homebot.ai to contact homeowners monthly or quarterly with the latest stats about their home.
Keeping Current Matters (KCM)
KCM provides a toolkit of powerful real estate charts, graphs and other visuals to boost the quality of your marketing materials and presentations on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Topics include data addressing, why it’s smarter to own rather than rent, which way home values are trending year over year, the costs of attempting to sell “for sale by owner” and more. New charts and visuals are released monthly.
Linktree
Once you have created this great content, you can connect your audiences on the various social media sites with a single link from Linktree.
2. Obtaining accurate contact information
There was quite a bit of discussion about this topic, some of which involved having to track this data manually using “skip tracing,” a technique for tracking down and finding property owners. Here are two other approaches that are easier to use:
TruePeopleSearch.com
If you have the owner’s name, city and state, the amount of information this free tool provides is scary. Search your own name, and don’t be surprised to see your home address, mobile number, names of long-lost relatives and more.
REiSource
This is a CoreLogic product available through most title companies. REiSource allows you to customize a list of leads you would like to target. The fee is usually between 5-10 cents per name.
In addition to traditional farming, types of targeted lists you can create include homeowners age 55-plus who have 3,000-plus square-foot homes and are prime candidates for “right-sizing,” homeowners who are eligible to eliminate their private mortgage insurance (they will love you for this one), or renters who make over $100,000 per year and are pregnant with their first child.
3. Marketing strategies
Ready to update your marketing to fit today’s COVID-19 environment? Here’s what to do:
Safety marketing
Your goal as a listing agent has always been to help your seller obtain the highest possible price in the shortest amount of time. Due to COVID-19, you now need to add “and in the safest way possible.” Advise potential sellers about the steps you take to protect them and their loved ones.
Create the ‘wow’ factor by bringing your ‘team’ to your next Zoom listing appointment
Whether you have a team or are a solo agent, bring your team members to your Zoom listing appointment and have them briefly state what they do. For solo agents, include your transaction coordinator, your favorite mortgage officer, title rep, inspector, etc.
The ‘check-in call’
Many agents have been calling clients to check in on how they’re doing, but they often don’t know what else to say. Rather than discussing real estate, position yourself as someone who can help them with other challenges they might be facing.
For example, do they need an electrician, a mobile dog groomer or two-for-one coupons from local restaurants? Let them know you have access to a wide variety of resources to help them address any issues they may be having.
Hold 4 virtual ‘open houses’ in one evening
With shorter days ahead, take advantage of after-dinner time to conduct four virtual open house tours in one evening. You can pre-record your walk-throughs or do them live if any of the houses you’re holding “open” are available for evening showings.
RateMyAgent
Are you collecting client reviews for your real estate business? RateMyAgent allows you to claim your profile for free and to syndicate your reviews and other content to Instagram, IGTV and other social media sites.
4. Two chatbot solutions you will love
If you haven’t considered using a chatbot, here are two great choices:
IMRE.ca
IMRE helps you to never miss an incoming lead. Check out this video to learn more about how it works. Not only will you love the price, you’ll appreciate getting the cell numbers when clients are still sitting in front of one of your listings.
Tawk.to
You already know the importance of capturing leads the moment they call or visit your website. Tawk.to serves over 3.6 million teams and allows you to monitor and chat live with visitors on your website.
5. Quick hits
Here are three additional quick hits:
BIGVU teleprompter app
Uncomfortable speaking extemporaneously in front of the camera? You can now turn your mobile device into a teleprompter with BIGVU.
Otter.ai
This is one of my favorite tools. Otter.ai transcribes your videos and podcasts in real time. Alternatively, you can upload older MP3 or MP4 files as well. If the transcription isn’t clear, Otter plays back the audio feed so you can hear exactly what was said. Best of all, you can easily convert the transcript into a blog or social media post.
Pixaloop
Of all the tools discussed, Pixaloop was the app that was the most fun. You can turn your still photos into short videos using Pixaloop’s wide variety of special effects and add-ons.
There’s no better time than now to prepare for fall marketing season. Taking action now, no matter where you start, is what translates into commission dollars tomorrow.
Bernice Ross, President and CEO of BrokerageUP and RealEstateC
