Generate Thousands of Leads with Expired Listings

Expired listing letters are a simple and powerful marketing tool.

Quick question:


How long does it take you to mail a letter? Exactly, almost no time at all! And you can have an assistant do it.


Today, I’m going to show you the exact steps to take to turn these frustrated sellers into your listings. We’ll use expired listing letters, postcards, and show you tons of free expired listing letter samples to amp up your marketing!


The first thing to understand about expired listings letters is that you must get into the mindset of a home seller before writing.


Here’s the deal:

Sellers with an expired listing are very upset! They’ve been through countless showings, open houses, excuses from their old Realtor, and more. They are very frustrated!


But why didn’t the home sell? It’s usually one of these reasons:

1) Price: The number one reasons properties don’t sell is due to pricing. You have to address this in your expired listing letter. There are numerous factors that go into pricing: the client, number of buyers, market activity, and marketing. This is a key discussion point for you to address with every expired listing.

2) Short Sale: Will the house sell for less than the debt owed? If so, you may run into a short sale.The process to overcome this can be long and turn away buyers.

3) Staging: Open houses and showings can be hard on families. It’s your job to make sure the condition of the house is not significantly impacting the value perceived by buyers.

The Insanely Crucial Thing You Need To Understand About Expired Listing Postcards And Letters:

The key with every expired listings letter is that you need to understand all the potential needs. Your understanding is directly related to your ability to relate with the seller. The deeper you feel the pain and frustration they feel, the better you will be at converting expired listings into your listings.

To fully understand this, I find it best to write down exactly what the seller is thinking and feeling. Here is a worksheet to help you write a great expired listings letter:
Download the worksheet

The Simple (But Profitable) Expired Listings Scripts, Letters, And Postcards:

Now:
You already understand the huge value that exists in expired listings. There are over 1200 expired listings in the average metropolitan area each year. And assuming even the lowest conversion numbers this can give you an addition 12 transactions per year. That’s a lot of potential! But how do you get it?

First, you need to pull a hot sheet from the MLS every morning. Second, put these contacts into a CRM of your choice. I like Top Producer, Contactually, and Base.
Now that you have their contact information, the goal becomes converting them into a listings appointment.


I recommend a 10 touch follow-up system using as many different methods of contact as possible. Why 10 followups? Because it will make you stand out. Most Realtors will give up after one expired listing letter. This is exactly what the seller is trying to avoid. They’ve already been burned by a Realtor who failed to do their job properly. You need to show that you are different. An organized 10-part marketing follow-up system is a great way to separate yourself from the crowd of other people calling on them.

These leads need to be nurtured.

Step #1 – The First Impulse – How You Use Expired Listings Letter And Postcards

The first touch of your 10-point system should be a drop-by. I find these a lot more memorable than the other letters Realtors will be sending. Remember, your true competition is the average Realtor. The average Realtor will place a call or send an email. You need to be better than that. Here are some ideas for your drop-by:

1) Starbucks gift card – Invite the seller out for a drink at Starbucks with you. Explain in the letter, with a gift card inside, that you are sorry the property didn’t’ sell. But would be more than happy to explain why it didn’t sell over a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

2) Paper towels with a letter talking about the absorption of their market.
Remember that you always need to include a call to action with these letters. The Starbucks card in step one is just to help you stand out. Your true calling card will be the call to action you place with your attention getter. The free gift is to help them remember you weeks from now when you’re still calling on them to get their business.

You’ll want to make sure you drop this off the morning their home expires. The seller will learn from day #1 that you are prompt and a creative marketer. Unique selling points is how you win expired listings. These two things will set you apart instantly.

Step #2 – Mail An Expired Listings Letter

The average agent will mail a letter on the day the house expires or the next day. You’ve beaten them by dropping off the gift yourself. Now, it’s time to follow up with your first interaction. This letter should be more standardized and mention the gift that you left for the homeowner on day one. Here’s an example:

You’ll want to send this letter the same day you drop off the gift. This way the letter arrives 1-2 days after they’ve received the gift. Remember, the call to action and empathy are the two main components in any expired listing letter.

In addition to this standard letter, it helps to supplement the mailer with a free market report. Maybe you have a newsletter you send your clients about market activity? Include that. Or maybe you can pull a detailed value analysis from the backend of your office software? Print that and mail it to them.

The key is to go above and beyond a simple letter.

Step #3 – Expired Listing Letter

The next step is to show them the marketing plan. There were three main reasons why their house didn’t sell, and a few other reasons why the seller probably doesn’t like Realtors. This third step actually shows the seller why you are different and shows them that you’ve cared enough to put in the work before a listing appointment.

If you don’t know what type of marketing plan to put together, check out these tips on using social media to sell a home.

Free examples for your expired listing letters:

Sending expired listings letters is all about creativity and substance. You need to be creative enough to be noticed, but you need to be based in fact enough to be trustworthy. These sellers have had a very recent bad experience with a Realtor. It’s your duty to fix that. Here are some ideas for the remaining 10 steps:

1) Follow Up Letter – The simplest letters are the ones that convert the best. Did your big packet containing the value analysis not yield a call? Follow up with a simple card saying: “Dear Mr./Mrs. Seller, when’s a good time to discuss the value of your property? – Tyler”

2) Testimonials – Your testimonials can be gold when converting expired listings. Social proof is great for people who have recently been burned by another Realtor. This type of listing should relate to the prospect, transition, and then explain the testimonial. Finally, include a call to action at the bottom of the mailer.

3) Your Brokerage Information – Why do you work for your brokerage? Almost every brokerage has a selling point! Use this to your advantage. You should be able to easily craft a letter explaining this advantage to the seller. After all, you bought into that selling point yourself.

4) Community and School Information – Does your website have a tab for their community or school? If not, make one! This is a great selling point. You can show the buyer that your website actually has a page dedicated to their specific neighborhood and gets SEO traffic because of it. This also makes you look like a neighborhood expert.

5) Sample Flyers – Do you create unique flyers for your listings? Great! Send a sample flyer to the home owner. This will show marketing initiative and give you an opportunity to highlight the way you see their property. Remember, these people love their house. They have so many memories attached to it. You can create a flyer that makes their house look special.

6) Charity Events – Send expired listings letters about what you do for local charities. You will instantly stand out from the crowd! Realtor letters to expired listings typical sound like this: “I’m the best. You must list with me.” Nothing breaks down the “Me” talk like charity work.
Finally, it’s hard convert any of these leads without a great website.

Example Expired Listings Letter:

BONUS Content: Farming Expired Listings

Most Realtors are farming a specific neighborhood or region, right?
You should be farming expired listings in all your specialty neighborhoods!
For example, have you sold every property you’ve listed in that neighborhood?

Awesome!

That’s exactly what the expired listing wants to hear. You really need to follow up either with a phone call or expired listing letters to let the home owner know about your track record.

How to Market Yourself with Social Media

Despite what you may think, you do not have to be a popular, hilarious, or uber-charismatic person to maintain a positive, useful social media presence. Here are a few tips for how to get there.
We talk about different social media platforms below, but you do not have to be (and probably should not) be on all of these. That would be exhausting. So we tried to let you know which platform is good for whom.
Here's the bottom line to getting clients across platforms:

• Be a resource, not a salesperson.
• Share your passions. Show diverse interests, not just your "business" self.
• Don't complain.
• Stay in touch with past clients.
• Listen more than you talk.

Deceptively simple! Read on to find out how to do it.
Facebook
First, you have to make the decision of whether you want to use your personal Facebook profile to market yourself or create a separate page for your business.
If you’re confused on the terminology, a profile is your personal Facebook profile. It’s the thing most people (and you) probably already use, with the privacy settings you select. A page is a public page that people can like. If you post something, the post appears in your followers’ News Feeds.
If your business is just you, as it is for most freelancers, it may make sense to use your personal profile as your Facebook presence. If you decide to use your profile, you can make your profile public and allow anyone to follow you and receive your public updates in their News Feeds (without becoming your friend). For each thing you post, you’ll be able to determine who can see it.
The pros of having a public profile:

• You only have to maintain one presence (which is time-friendly)
• If someone sends you a Facebook friend request and you don’t accept them, they can still stay subscribed to your public updates. (Now you know what to do if a client friends you: reject and let them stay tuned into your public updates.)

The pros of having a separate page for your business:

• You can maintain completely separate presences and avoid sending business-related items to your real friends.
• Pages also have analytics, so you can see how many people saw a post and interacted week-to-week.

Who’s it good for? Every kind of freelancer.
The Do’s:

• Share interesting, relevant news articles.
• Share short tips that you think current/prospective clients would use. For instance, if you're a freelance project manager, share a 1-2 sentence "time-saving tip of the week." Always think first about what your ideal follower would want to like and share. Their likes and shares mean your content spreads farther and shows up higher in their News Feeds.
• Share recent projects and new portfolio items -- especially visual ones.
• Thank clients (by @mentioning them) and re-post testimonials clients send you, if possible.
• Share side interests. Don’t be afraid to show yourself as a real, whole person with diverse interests.
• Get involved in commenting on brand Pages (especially those you'd like to work for!). You'd be surprised who's watching.
• Follow other freelancers -- you never know when you’ll pop up in their News Feed just when they have too many projects.
• Respond when someone asks a question/posts on your Page.
• Try micro-advertising, once you get your page up and running. Spend $50 for a very targeted ad to your geographic area. Look at the likes/interests of your ideal clients/brands and target those things in the ad, so that your ad only gets seen by the people you want to see it. Here's how to run a Facebook ad.

The Don’ts:

• Be careful posting about your services in conversations that you are not a part of. Only get involved if you have something to contribute to a conversation you are genuinely interested in.
• Don't simply post on other companies’ pages with a link to your services.
• Don't complain about other clients. EVER. It makes you look unprofessional and clients will be shy of working with someone who badmouths people on social media.
• Avoid sharing overly personal information. Some details about your life are fine. The fact that you just fought with your ex is not fine. If you have a public profile make sure you check whether you’re posting publicly or just to friends before hitting Post.
• Don't sound like a business automaton. It’s all about a personal tone minus personal details.
• Don't give yourself a hard quota for amount of content to put up each day. Never share lame content just because you have to fill a slot. A rough guideline (about 1-2 posts a day, for instance) is good.

Twitter
There are a looooot of people who use Twitter wrong and don’t get the basics of @Reply and hastags before they start. First things first, learn the basics!
Once you’ve got that down, think about what you want to use Twitter for. Have no idea? Just join, set up your profile, and listen. Listen to all the people you like and admire use Twitter. Then build your voice by responding to and engaging with those people naturally. Slowly you’ll figure out what you really want to use Twitter for and what is a waste of time.

The Do’s:

• Spend your first week 90% listening, 10% tweeting. This will give you time to adjust.
• Think carefully about the information that appears at the top of your profile. Consider tone and what you want to link to (blog? website?). Include social proof, or awards, accolades, etc.. Think about including a quirky or fun fact about you to lighten the more business-y stuff, like "Expert Brow Furrower."
• Follow past and current clients. When you see something exciting that they're up to or a good press mention, @mention them your congratulations and good wishes.
• Follow other freelancers as well, especially if they share useful info. Occassionally share information that's useful to them too, like -- oh I don't know -- stuff from @freelancersu. They're super smart. ;)
• Retweet or quote the tweets of people you would like to work for. (People have gotten jobs from being consistently nice to brands on Twitter. Yes really.)
• Follow the Twitterers you admire, so that you can learn their techniques when they pop up in your feed.
• Create Twitter Lists if you don’t want to follow thousands of people but still want to see what they tweet occasionally.
• Take part in Twitter chats in your field. For instance, see this ginormous but incomplete list: http://tweetreports.com/twitter-chat-schedule/. These are conversations you are invited to no matter who you’re connected with. Just be careful to remember that people are following you who are not involved in your chat, so don’t overdo it.
• Involve people in your process. Show people the behind-the-scenes. You’d be surprised how many people are interested in what it’s like to be you.

The Don’ts:

• Don’t overuse hashtags. They’re only funny if they’re used sparingly or, you know, ridiculously.
• Avoid jumping in on a trending topic you have no relation to, just to get “seen.”
• Don't post angry customer service tweets to companies -- Twitter is not the place. If you’re using your Twitter as part of your business presence, it’s actually not a good place to be angry at all. Posting how much you wish X politician would die is going to turn off at least half of your potential customers.
• Be careful about inserting yourself into a back-and-forth conversation you are not a part of.
• Don't use your client-facing Twitter only to talk to your friends. This is not terrible, but constantly taking part in conversations that isolate the majority of your followers won’t inspire people to follow you.
• Don't complain about clients. Ever. Seriously -- ever. Even if you are 100% in the right and your current client is a tool. The prospective client who is interested in hiring you and sees that will not appreciate it, since they don’t know the backstory.
• Don't send your tweets to Facebook.

LinkedIn
Hate “social media” and only want to target other business-minded peeps online? Then LinkedIn is for you. The great thing about LinkedIn is that you can spend a good amount of time setting up a killer profile and connecting with the right people, and then you can (mostly) leave it be.
However, like the other social networks, if you want to spend time getting involved in groups, reposting blog posts, and keeping in contact with old business clients, your efforts can go a long way on LI.
Who’s it good for? Everybody. But if you only pick one, this is the one. Especially good for freelancers who don’t really like social media, but still want to throw social media a bone.
The Do’s:

• Add a high-quality, clear photograph. That fuzzy photo of you with your mom will not do.
• Add all your previous jobs, with a short description of each. Key word being short. No one cares about the details of every single project you’ve done.
• Use keywords in your short profile description. Companies do search for freelancers on LI. Don’t just say “freelance developer.” Say “Freelance Full-Stack Ruby/PHP/Java Developer and Teacher.” Clients will search for specific terms.
• Upload portfolio items. This is especially important for tech and visual creative folks.
• Fill in skills & expertise. This is literally the easiest way online to get other people you’ve worked with before to recommend you in a way that’s visible to boatloads of people and pretty painless for them. Just do it. Can’t get other people to recommend you? Then go around recommending other people you’ve worked with (who you genuinely recommend).
• Connect with all previous and current clients. If they’re an old client, send them a quick message to catch up. This is a great way to remind old clients that you exist!
• Follow all the brands you used to work for.
• Use the LI job boards. It costs a bit to put a job listing on LI, so you can be more sure that the companies are high-quality clients who won’t stiff you.
• Get involved in local networking chapters. Just search something like “Los Angeles Designers” in the search box and lots of stuff will pop up.
• Connect with people you’ve met (and connected with meaningfully) on other social networks. Send them a quick note that says, “Hey, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you on Twitter, and I’m hoping we can connect here, too.”

The Don’ts:

• Don't try to connect with people using the generic connect message. If you really want to connect with someone (especially an old colleague), spend the time re-introducing yourself and saying why you genuinely want to connect. If you just met someone at a networking event, remind them where you met them.
• Never lie or exaggerate your jobs. This should be a no-brainer, but it must be said. This is public information available to all of the people that know exactly what you did at a certain job.
• Careful not to misspell things. Think of LI as your most important resume.
• Don't use the words “creative,” “effective,” “extensive experience,” or “proven professional.” (Don’t use them on your resume, either.)
• Don't recommend people you don’t really know, just so they’ll recommend you back. Trust us, there is nothing creepier than getting recommended by someone you don’t really know for a skill you know they don’t know you have.
• Try not to forget to update your profile for several years. Just because this can be a low-effort platform does not mean you should forget to tell potential new clients about the great new gig you have.

Pinterest
Pinterest is the social network you should use if you a) sell physical products, b) are a designer/technologist, or c) are a blog writer. That’s because Pinterest is essentially a photo and photo-of-product sharing platform, best suited to crafty people, chefs/edible product entrepreneurs, artists, illustrators, tech-enthusiasts (sharing photos of new tech is popular), and bloggers who can share their header image of interesting posts (how-to’s are especially popular).
If you have a product you want to sell, nothing converts browser to buyer better than Pinterest. If you already blog for your business, try to develop a few boards related to your niche -- and a couple related to side interests -- and see what happens.
No matter what kind of freelancer you are, it’s important to make sure your website is Pinterest-friendly simply by adding the Pin button and other easy measures.
The Do’s:

• Spend time setting up your boards. This is the most important thing you’ll do. Often people won’t choose to follow all of your boards, but will just follow boards that interest them. Make sure the idea behind the board is shareable, the title and subtitle are short and well-thought-out, and you populate it with good starter content.
• Think about your subhead, not just the picture.
• Pin other people’s stuff more than your own. This is about cultivating a board, not posting all of your stuff (that’s what your website is for).
• Think vertical. Tall photos look better than fat ones.
• Use Pinterest for stuff that doesn’t fit into your niche, but you’re still interested in. An author can start a naval ships catalog or a style board. This is a great way to show people your diversified interests.
• Link to your website in your profile. The more traffic your page gets, the better. More traffic, more linkbacks = higher search ranking.
• Use Pinterest to get inspired. Pinterest is just a repository of interesting/cool/pretty stuff. It’s a great time-suck but also fun to browse through if you’re stuck.
• Pin a coupon for your freelance services. Great way to get new clients!

The Don’ts:

• Careful with subheads that are too long. This is about photos, not text.
• Don't overpin. Just like the other social networks, too much of a good thing is not a good thing.
• Don't pin only your own work. Share the love!
• Try not to create an unorganized board. If it says it’s about how-to tips for writers, don’t post a picture of a sunset. If you want to make a diverse board, set expectations in the title and regular content.
• Don't repost images straight from Google search. That’s lazy pinning. Pursue the source of the image so you can credit them.
• Don't post low-quality images (if possible).

Google Plus
Just like Facebook, Google Plus allows you to make a profile, connect with friends, and create posts for them all to see. At first glance, it will most likely seem like a poor substitute for Facebook. In reality, there are a lot of advantages to using Google Plus.
The Do’s:

• Make a profile and post often. Regular engagement with Google Plus helps with your Google ranking for websites and pages. +1’s (Google Plus’s equivalent of “likes”) will have a positive effect on your SEO ranking, so keep posting!
• If you’re a blogger, link your Google Plus name to your blog.
• Upload a photo. This is especially important for Google Plus if you’re a blogger and connect your Google Plus profile to your blog, because your headshot will appear in Google search results.

• Host a Google Hangout. Google Hangout is a free video chat service -- Google’s version of Skype. It also allows you to share documents, scratchpads, images and YouTube videos with other users. The Google Plus "Hangouts on Air" feature, a live broadcasting service accessible to anyone with a web browser, is useful if you’d like to present something to your audience
• Categorize your friends! One useful function of Google Plus is the ability to group your friends in a much more user-friendly way than Facebook.
• Write longer posts. Twitter limits you to 140 characters and people will hate you on Facebook if you post more than a sentence. Google Plus is friendly to longer posts and they occur regularly.
• That said, you are allowed to post the exact same content you post on Facebook to Google Plus. They are mostly different audiences.

The Dont’s:

• ​Try not to start a Google Plus profile and then never do anything with it, like just about everybody else.

How To Use Snapchat Geofilters To Market Your Real Estate Business

The newest marketing tool for Snapchat users is the introduction of geofilters, which are highly underutilized for how incredibly versatile and useful they could be for businesses.
Geofilters can be used to market your real estate business. If you’re not familiar with the term, let’s break it down into its parts for an easy explanation, before we examine how you can use geofilters for your real estate business.

What is a Snapchat Geofilter?

A Snapchat filter is a skin that can be placed over any Snapchat photograph. Users can add backgrounds to their photos, add funny hats to their selfies, or, in a popular new filter recently, give themselves a feminine makeover with a flower wreath for their hair.
Snapchat Geofilters are filters that are only available when a Snapchat user is in a specified location. For example, if a local pub wants to advertise their game day sale, they can upload a custom geofilter to Snapchat. Then, any time a group of patrons Snaps a photo while at the pub and adds the filter, all of their viewers get a small nudge to come join the fun.

Who Uses Geofilters?

Snapchat geofilters are a very simple way to use social media for advertising, relying on the farther, more diverse, and wider reach of clients rather than your own.
Snapchat’s archives of geofilters show that the feature has been used by sports teams on game day; by airports; by universities during rush week; and by scores of towns and cities all across the world. It’s an easy way to simply let the world know that your location, or event, exists, all through a personal tour guided by their friends and favorite Snapchat users.

How can Geofilters be Used in Real Estate?

There are many ways that Snapchat’s geofilters could be used for your real estate business. Here are two ideas:
During an Open House
One of the most obvious and advantageous is during an open house event. As guests and potential buyers show up for a tour and snap photos of the view or a unique house feature, encourage them to add your Snapchat geofilter to their pictures.
Their viewers may see the dream house they’ve been looking for, and know exactly where to come to make an offer.
To Farm a Neighborhood
But there are other ways a Snapchat geofilter can be used when it comes to home listings. For example, if your real estate business has a high volume of listings in a particular area, why not upload a geofilter for the area?
If a potential buyer takes a photo of a house they, or someone they know, might be interested in, and shares it via Snapchat, they’ll be presented with an option to add your geofilter, which gives them yet another way to find your company and get in touch.
And what about house hunters who are scoping out a potential neighborhood? Your geofilter could give them some ideas about the area and who to contact to live there, making them feel right at home.
Use your geofilter to show local team pride to advertise a tight-knit community or brand the neighborhood as the home of the best apple pie at the local diner.
All of these are ways to show a potential homebuyer the kind of community they want to see.
Real estate advertising is often expensive, sometimes prohibitively so. Geofilters are inexpensive compared to the total number of views they receive, and reach out to millennial home buyers, who you may have previously had trouble targeting.

How do I Upload a Geofilter?

Uploading a custom Snapchat geofilter is easy, but it does take a little foresight. Here’s a checklist that you can use to get your geofilter ready for clients.

1. Go to https://www.snapchat.com/on-demand to create your on-demand geofilter. Sign in with your account to get started.
2. Upload your geofilter art assets. Use Snapchat’s uploader to submit your geofilter. If the geofilter is rejected, Snapchat will let you know why so that you can fix it and try again.
   • Follow Snapchat’s guidelines. Geofilters can’t include phone numbers, email addresses, URLs, or any kind of social media handle. Instead, add a physical address for your open house or home listing. Even just your real estate business name would work, as its easy for users to Google.
   • Filters also need to be under 300KB in size, saved as a .PNG file, and have a transparent background. They should be 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels. Try to ensure that you won’t cover more than 33% or so of a user’s photo; fewer users will want to apply your geofilter if it covers up their image.
   • Important: Be sure to check your geofilter design for errors. Once your geofilter is uploaded and approved, you can’t make any changes. You’ll have to delete the geofilter, and start all over with the approval process.
3. Choose the dates your geofilter will be available. The maximum is 30 days, and once again: the shorter the clock, the less you’ll pay.
4. Determine where you want your geofilter to apply. Snapchat calls this “drawing a fence”. User the Snapchat map powered by Google Maps to draw a fence around the area you want your geofilter to be available. Remember, Snapchat does not allow filters to exceed five million square feet, and the smaller your range, the more affordable the price will be.
5. Check out and pay for your geofilter. Plan for at least two days, but possibly a few extra, for your geofilter to be approved. Snapchat requires at least 24 to 48 hours to accept geofilters, but you may want to give yourself some wiggle room.

Now You’re Ready

You can change the length and reach of the approved geofilter up to one full day before it goes live. Watch the metrics tab of your business account to see how often the geofilter is used, and how many views it generated.

Snapchat geofilters allow you to reach out directly to the consumers where they already are, enabling you to open your real estate business up to an entirely new crowd of potential customers.

Characteristics of a Good Real Estate Agent

There’s a big difference between a mediocre real estate agent and a good real estate agent. Knowing what separates the two can make or break a real estate career. Good real estate agents get all the clients and sales.

 

There’s a lot of competition out there in the real estate field, so it’s crucial that you do everything possible to rise above the rest. To point you in the right direction, here’s a list of characteristics of good real estate agents:


♦ Good real estate agents are good listeners. They don’t judge the client or assume what type of property they are looking for. They listen closely to what the client has to say and show them properties based on what they discussed.

♦ Good real estate agents are educated on every aspect of real estate transactions. They know how to write contracts, show property, negotiate offers and secure a sale.

♦ Good real estate agents know how to find new clients. They work hard to drum up new clients no matter how many clients they currently have. They are always calling clients, placing ads and canvassing the area for new business.

Characteristics of a Good Real Estate Agent

♦ Good real estate agents have a backup profession. They know how difficult and fickle the real estate market is and, in their free time, will line up a potential career in a related profession such as termite inspection, home inspections and appraisals.

♦ During land deals, good real estate agents stay in constant contact with the surveying company so the survey is finished quickly.

♦ Good real estate agents learn how to use the internet to their advantage. They are proficient at social media and know how to drive traffic to their website.

♦ Good real estate agents only list marketable properties and tend to work with clients who are pre-qualified and prepared to buy.

♦ Good real estate agents take floor calls in their broker’s office.

♦ Good real estate agents limit the number of clients they work with at a given time in order to give each client the time and attention they need.

♦ Good real estate agents do their homework. They know the market in their geographic area inside out, including its market trends, values, schools, neighborhoods, restaurants, pros and cons, legal issues, and any hidden gems an area may have.

♦ Good real estate agents have a vast network of connections. Their list of connections includes other real estate agents and brokers, appraisers, mortgage loan officers, home inspectors as well as potential buyers and sellers.

♦ Good real estate agents are organized. Juggling multiple clients, properties and transactions is difficult but successful real estate agents find ways to keep everything in order.

♦ Good real estate agents are aggressive but polite. They know how to competitively market and sell a house and are quick to adopt new techniques and strategies.

♦ Good real estate agents are tenacious. They never falter and they never give up until they succeed.

♦ Good real estate agents are problem solvers. They don’t take no for an answer and come up with creative solutions to whatever problems or issues they may encounter.

♦ Good real estate agents are self-motivated entrepreneurs. Although they work for a broker, a good sales agent knows they are their own boss and must be self-disciplined, focused and determined to succeed.

♦ Good real estate agents are honest. The key to a long and successful career in real estate is a good reputation which can only be earned by always being honest and straightforward with your clients.

Know that you know what it takes to be a good real estate agent, get out there and get started!

Get More Leads From Your Real Estate Website

If you haven’t been getting leads from your real estate website, it may be time to make some changes! Entrepreneur magazine recently published some great ideas for improving website leads. We’re sharing the best of those, along with our own suggestions and insights, tailored for real estate!


A mobile friendly website is a must. Your website’s mobile-friendly condition not only affects the mobile user’s experience, it can affect your SEO!

If your website is not optimized for mobile, it can be “bumped down” in Google when users perform a search from a mobile device! And since more people are accessing the Internet with smartphones than home computers, the disadvantage is huge.


Your phone number should be easy to spot. Don’t frustrate your visitor by making them “dig” for your contact information. Your phone number should be prominent on every page of your website. Also, do not try and force your visitors to fill out a form to contact you. Save the online forms for calls-to-action and compelling offers.


Make online forms easy to find, and easy to complete. Keep the required fields to an absolute minimum. Anyone filling out a form with a smartphone will have a low tolerance for data entry.
For example, a two-field form can be very effective; one line for the user’s email address, and then a field for free-form text. “Questions? Email me now!”


Of course, the multiple-field forms are still valuable for helping you qualify your leads. Pairing these with compelling offers, and keeping the fields to a minimum, generate the best results.

Have an SEO strategy for your website. Your SEO strategy should tie in to your target market and client strategy. Each page of your website should have a unique title tag, clear navigation, and relevant, keyword-rich content.


Provide quality content that is frequently updated. Gone are the days of set-it-and-forget-it websites. Google gives preference to websites that have recent content relating to the topic search. This is why content marketing and content management are crucial elements of today’s web strategies. SEO aside, you should also be giving users a reason to return to you!
Let us help you with your website updates, blogging, content management and more!

Call 24/7 Digital Nomad© 405.928.8467 to discuss your specific needs, to find out more about pricing and to get on track with your real estate administrative needs!

40 Facebook Marketing Ideas For The Modern Agent

We’ve talked about Facebook marketing a lot…specifically how Facebook can land you more qualified leads.

The cool thing about social media is that it’s always growing and there are plenty of new ideas we can implement to grow our online presence and generate leads.

So today, I’m here to help you spice up your Facebook marketing with 40 tips to generate more leads on Facebook.

Let’s get into it…

1. Pages over Profiles

Something I’ve noticed is that lots of realtors are still trying to promote themselves and conduct business via their personal Facebook profile instead of a public business page. While it’s great to build and maintain connections through your profile, you’ll definitely want to have a professional page in addition to it.

Here’s just a few reasons why:

2. Increases Google Traffic

Your Facebook agent page will turn up in Google when people search for your name or company title. People will see posts, images and photos, while your profile posts won’t rank at all.

3. Farther Reach

Even those living off the grid can see your Facebook page and this is just one more resource that can help to boost your credibility among leads even if they aren’t on the biggest social networking site in the world.

4. Track Your Results

We all like to see where our time and money are going and you can do just that with Facebook analytics that works directly with your page to show you how viewers are responding to your efforts.

Once you figure out what is and isn’t effective, you can then modify future content to get the most engagement and interaction. Also keep in mind that you can invite as many people as you want to Like your Facebook page, while your personal account will be capped at a 5,000 friend limit.

5. Linking Your Website

You definitely want to have links to your social media accounts on your real estate website and Facebook pages use widgets and Like buttons to make this easy. This isn’t a tool you can take advantage of if you’re only using a personal account.

Now that we’ve established the value of a Facebook page for your business, we can start in on what techniques you can use to generate even more leads from Facebook.

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6. Picture Perfect

There’s no denying the success images can bring you when used correctly. People absolutely love quality visuals. Chances are that if your photos aren’t appealing, what you’re offering won’t be either. Check out Canva.com to start making free custom graphics today.

Multiple reports have shown that pictures and video can increase page engagement up to 180%!

Here’s a tip: lifestyle shots and real-life action images of local events are a great way to pique the interest of your fans.

7. Start The Conversation

While shorter posts ranging from about 100-250 characters in length are shown to improve engagement, you should still focus on getting people talking and encourage them to interact with you. Asking for feedback and ideas is an easy way to start getting your audience to engage on your page and is your opportunity to start directly talking to leads in a social way

8. Give To Get

Give value to get fans and then turn those fans into leads! As you build your Facebook page and grow your audience, you’ll want to get to know them and what they’re interested in. Because Facebook engagement is really a two-way street, you also want to give your fans the opportunity to get to know you. So, the more quality content that you give them, the more engagement you’re going to get. What your audience really needs to see is that you’re making a serious effort to connect with them. Providing helpful information on a regular basis will help you gain their trust and eventually help you get more qualified leads!

9. Blog

In order to stand out, you need unique content to share with your fans and this will come from your real estate blog. Try to publish 1-2 new posts a week and always spread the content around on your social media, especially Facebook.

10. Respond To Comments

If you’ve got people commenting on your posts regularly go ahead and pat yourself on the back because these folks are highly engaging with your content. Think about it. It takes a lot more effort to write a comment on a post than it does to Like or even Share a post. You want to follow through on your end and let the commenter know that you’re listening by responding to their comment and you also want to make sure you do this in a timely manner, otherwise they’re likely to forget about the interaction. Likewise, when someone takes the time post on your wall or send you a private message make sure to get back to them as soon as possible.

11. Promote Your Page

Targeting and boosting individual posts is a great way to get noticed, but you can also increase your reach on Facebook by promoting your page. You can start from as low as $5 and Facebook will estimate how many new Likes you’ll get based on your ad budget. This is a nice way to get more eyes on your page and expand your audience. Once new fans find your page they’ll see all the fresh content you’re putting out and continue to engage with future posts!

12. Show Some Love

Check out what other agents and companies are doing in your area, and around the nation, for content inspiration and also to gain new connections. When you Share or Like someone else’s page, chances are they’re going to return the favor. You can then start cross-sharing information and engage new fans.

13. Shop Local

In addition to working with your peers, you should also try and connect with local businesses. It’s a great way to stay active in your community and help to better establish yourself as the local expert if you’re up on what’s happening in your local scene. You may even come across some unique opportunities for cross-promotions.

14. Reward Loyal Fans

Let your audience know that you’re eager to connect with them by acknowledging their support and letting them know how much they matter to you. I encourage you to get creative here, but a fun place to start is just to host a giveaway.

15. Competitions

Friendly competitions are also a neat way to activate your audience and attract new leads. You can keep things simple by having them Like and Share a post to win a $10 Starbucks gift card (Bonus points if you can work with a local business to supply the prize!).

16. Add A CTA Button To Your Cover Photo

At the end of 2014 Facebook launched a feature that lets you add one of seven call-to-action buttons to your page. You can choose from: “Sign Up,” “Shop Now,” “Contact Us,” “Book Now,” “Use App,” “Watch Video,” and “Play Game.”
This is a super easy way to drive more traffic from your page back to your website.

17. Treat it like a miniature website

Of course your Facebook page is by no means a substitute for an actual website, but you do want to make sure that like your real estate site, all the important deets leads will need to find out more about you and contact you are very visible and readily available.

The best way to do this is to flesh out every single portion of your About Me section. I mean it. Don’t hold back! If a potential lead finds you via Facebook you want to be absolutely sure that your page provides them with everything they need to contact you and get a clear understanding of what it is you have to offer.

18. Show Your Personality

You can bring a more personable feel to literally every aspect of your Facebook page, all while still keeping a professional look and feel. From your cover photo and profile image to your About Me section and posts, you want your audience to constantly have the opportunity to get to know you and your brand.

Don’t be afraid to let your unique voice come through in your content. This is how you will start to distinguish yourself and become memorable. It’s really okay to step out from behind your logo and give your fans a look at the face behind the brand. Feel free to post fun and entertaining photos every once in a while (adorable baby animals are always good if that’s your thing). You can also shift gears and post a candid photo of you in your everyday life, maybe having lunch at your favorite local restaurant, or taking a sunset stroll through a park.

It’s really okay to let your fans see a different side of you–just snap a photo and post it on your wall with a creative caption!

19. Learn From The Best

We can all learn a lot from our competitors. It’s a good practice to keep up with your competitors and see what they’re sharing. You can also probably gage what is and isn’t working for them, see who their fans are and also what industry trends they’re following that you may or may not be.

20. Get To Know Your Audience

You can think about your fans like a new friend that you are getting know. Asking questions and gaging the interaction on various posts are both good ways to get a feel for who you’re talking to. You can also use Facebook’s Audience Insights. This is a new tool that allows marketers to learn about their target audiences and includes such details as geography, demographics, consumer behavior and Facebook usage. This can also help you determine what the best times and days are to maximize audience engagement.

21. Engage The 3P’s Of Posting

When deciding what type of content to post, keep these categories in mind:

Purpose
Personal
Promotions

22. Purpose

At least 50% of your posts should focus on the first one, Purpose. That is offering quality, useful content that engages your audience by giving them something of value.

23. Personal

Next, try allotting 30% of your Facebook marketing content to Personal topics. This is your time to shine and let your fans see a bit of your personality. That way, when they actually contact you for a real estate transaction they will feel like they already have a sense of who you are and this is great for establishing trust even before you talk to them directly!

24. Promotions

Lastly, no more than 20% of your content should be direct towards Promotions. No one likes to be bombarded with ads at every turn and your fans are more likely to disregard or even unlike your page if all they’re seeing is promotional material. Still, the fact remains that we’ve all got to promote ourselves and our business so just remember to think about connecting with your fans even with promotional content.

25. What’s trending?

Another way to stay at the top of your audiences feed is to join trending topics in your industry. This can help you reach more people as well since you’re adding your voice to part of a viral conversation.

Do you remember the blue and gold dress phenomenon that practically broke the internet?

Big brands like Adobe quickly added their input on the controversy and some created polls so their fans could weigh-in. As content marketers, there’s so much we can learn from #TheDress.

It was a simple image with an even simpler call to action. All viewers had to do was say that color they saw. So, when we’re asking our audience to take action, remember to keep it simple and to keep your call to action clear and easy to follow. Oh, and when the next #Dressgate comes along, be sure to jump in.

26. Video

Facebook video is now bigger than even producing video content on Youtube. Every time you post a video Facebook autoplays it in newsfeeds, so people will automatically see what you’re doing! Here are 4 types of video you can post on Facebook to get more leads today:

27. Instructional

Instructional videos are useful and should provide value to your viewers. Quick “how-tos” for homebuyers and sellers work well, DIY ideas, or even taking the time to break down the various processes involved in buying and selling properties are all helpful ways to engage your fans. Focus on your niche and start brainstorming from there.

28. Informative/Educational

Educational videos are always relevant. Letting people know about your area, making a quick video about current events are good examples of providing quality video content for your Facebook fans. You can also always ask them what kind of video content they’d like to see or take requests for topics!

29. Welcome/Thanks

Every few months you can put up a quick personal video to welcome your new fans, especially if you’ve recently seen a spike in likes, and also take a moment to personally thank those who have already Liked your page.

You can give a brief overview of what you do, talk about any relevant updates and even let fans know what you’re planning in the future–such as a fun giveaway or contest for them to look forward to.

30. Exclusive

Facebook video gives you a great opportunity to further distinguish yourself as your local market expert. You can visit your favorite local spots, highlight an annual community event, attend gatherings, give neighborhood tours…really anything that is exclusive to your niche and expertise. This will help instill trust in your audience and increase your chances of turning viewers into leads.

31. Target the leads you already have

While it’s great to focus on new business, don’t forget to tap the leads you may already have. Using Facebook’s Custom Audience targeting option, you can target people whose email address or phone number you have collected.

32. Get More Fans With Email

A super simple way to grow your social media presence is to include links in your email signature. While you’re hopefully already linking to your real estate website, you can easily add a line for your Facebook business page and instantly turn your signature into a marketing mechanism.

33.Upcoming Events

Let people know what you’re up to! Whether you’re attending a community event or hosting a meetup, you can spread the word and let your local audience know what’s going on. You can create Facebook events through your page, or simply share relevant events that you will be attending. This is a great way to knock out a post that hits the 3P’s all at once.

34. Community Events

What’s happening in your town your city? Not only is this great blog content, but it’s also another way to establish yourself as the local expert by sharing interesting events in your area. You can keep local fans in-the-know and also let visitors know what unique features they should check out when they come to your city.

35. Client Testimonials

Hopefully your agent website already includes a landing page for clients to share their positive experiences with you. Your Facebook page is also a great place to share client quotes and testimonials. And it’s even better if they’re coming from your current audience! People love to feel special on the internet, so seeing their testimonial featured on your page is a great way to say Thank You and let your clients know that you appreciate them. And, of course, it lets future leads know what others are saying about you.

36. Client Interviews

Taking testimonial posts a step further, why not sit down and chat with your satisfied clients about their experience? You could write up a Q&A blog with them to share your story or, better yet, sit down and make a quick video!

37. Infographics

Infographics are a great way to share information in a fun and educational way, plus they’re highly shareable. An infographic is just an image that depicts really interesting facts and figures and even if your information is less-than-interesting, the visual aspect allows you to liven things up with colors and a fun layout to make it more enjoyable and readable for fans.

38. Be consistent

As we’re starting to wrap things up here, one of the most important things you need to be doing to get more leads from Facebook is to be consistent with your posting. Whether you’re scheduling posts directly from your page, using a management tool like Hootsuite, or planning out a monthly editorial calendar in Google Drive, you need to maintain a mostly regular post schedule.

While you probably don’t need to post more than twice a day, it’s important to go into all of this with a goal and decide what kind of content you will share each day. This will get easier to decide once you get to know your audience, so starting on a trial and error basis is fine. Maybe you start with weekly themes like “Motivation Monday” or “Factoid Friday” and share relevant information related to these themes.

Going into the week with an idea of how you want to split up your Purpose, Personal and Promotional posts will make maintaining a consistent Facebook brand presence all the more manageable and will help to keep your posts in the news feed of your fans, as Facebook too rewards consistency.

39. Times to post

By no, I’m sure you’ve Googled “What are the best times to post on Facebook” and related questions. There’s plenty of information available that can point you in the right direction when deciding what times *may* get you the most engagement, but the fact is that no audience is the same and your ideal post time is really going to be determined organically.

You can use Facebook Insights to see what days and times are working the best, but feel free to mix up your post time and see what works for you and your audience. Do you seem to get more engagement in the morning between the hours of 6am and 8am? Or is it lunchtime that your fans are more active? Maybe they’re actually more likely to be browsing social media later in the day, like after 4pm. The more regularly you post, the quicker you’ll be able to gage your prime times and optimize your post schedule.

40. Join The Community

Finally, be a part of the community. Sharing knowledge also means you’ll be receiving knowledge and this exchange will help real estate agents develop and sustain deeper connections and relationships. And overall become more well-rounded agents.

Simply put, when it comes achieving your goals in real estate communities foster success. For one, you’re going to get a lot more support and broaden the amount of information you have access to. Sure, you can also do this through books and podcasts, as well as other media sources, but you’ll also really want to add peer community support to your resources for success. You’ll also start receiving immediate feedback from your peers, which is awesome!

How are you engaging your audience and landing more leads on Facebook? Let us know in the comments below!