Two of the most pressing matters in real estate are: how to do
efficient farming and how to do efficient follow-up with your leads.
The farming process can be quite costly and it can consume a lot of
time. At the same time, lead generation is the most important part of
your business. Getting and keeping leads will determine the success of
your business. Quite a conundrum, and difficult to avoid
altogether.
But it need not be so hard, especially with the aid of the Internet, more specifically, the process of newsletter publishing.
According to the 2003 NAR survey, trust ran high as a motivation for
sellers to choose a certain realtor. 73 percent chose trust over
referrals from close persons (38%) and the realtor’s reputation (54%).
It is a well known fact that agents need to know the community and the
community needs to know them in order to build trust. This process is
defined by constant, quality contact. Trust, as well as a professional
image can only be build in time. The best way to attract and keep leads
is through follow-up, also know as farming.
Building a relationship between realtors and communities through
traditional means (cold calling, direct mail) has high immediate costs
and it is time consuming. The profits are significantly slower to
appear, because people do not buy or sell houses every day.
According to the 2003 NAR survey, 65% of homeowners use the internet as
an information source for real estate compared to 49% for the
newspapers. Still, the number one source is the real estate agent. The
same report states that the Internet seems to be "bringing consumers in
touch with agents, instead of disintermediating them as experts
predicted long ago." It is certainly too great an opportunity to be
missed.
Realtors need a farming method that would be efficient, cheap, easy to use, and time-saving. Sounds impossible, doesn't it?
Fortunately, it is not so. The Internet comes once again to the rescue
offering realtors the chance to get in touch with their prospects
through various means.
The Internet has brought a virtual revolution of a real estate market.
Most real estate agents and brokers today also have websites for
keeping in touch with their customer base. The newsletter is a logical
step forward in this process. Indeed, it is a most fitting tool for the
farming process.
But what is a newsletter?
A newsletter is a periodic publication by email sent only to those
people who subscribe to it. Its purpose is to provide useful, quality
information to a highly targeted audience. In simple terms, a
newsletter is an email containing articles of interest to your
subscribed members. The articles can be written by yourself, or they
can be taken from the large, free-for-reprint database available on the
web.
Why is it so appropriate for lead generation? Well, because:
1. It's cheap
You need only think about eliminating the costs of paper, envelopes,
stamps and postcards to realize how much you'll be saving.
Traditionally, your traditional, direct mailing list has only 1%
response rate. So basically you're throwing 99 letters out of 100 in
the trash.
However, if 99 of your newsletters are erased, it won't cost you anything. Email is free, fast and reliable.
Also, you can make the design yourself or hire someone to create it for
you. Either way, the printing costs will be zero, since newsletters
don't cost money to duplicate.
When you decide to change the layout or the content, once again, no printing costs. You can do it at home, on your own computer.
2. It's time saving
No more putting papers into envelopes, no more glue, no more stamps, no
more trips to the store or the mail, no more checking each copy for
errors. You can send a great number of emails almost instantaneously.
There are plenty of programs that send emails automatically and provide auto-responders that are time saving and efficient.
3. It's efficient
Any professional will tell you that the key to a successful business
venture is a good relationship with your customers. On one hand it will
build trust which will entice customers to come to you in the knowledge
you'll take care of them. On the other hand, it will keep you wired to
their needs, thus enabling you to adapt your offer to fit their
requests.
An internet relationship is characterized by the offer of high quality,
informative content. If possible, directly on their doorstep
metaphorically speaking. Using newsletters, you will be able to send
your customers something of value to them instead of a simple
commercial add.
More importantly, good content will build up your reputation of industry expert.
The informative articles, as well as the fact your recipients have
already agreed to receive it, will ensure your email won't end up in
the trash.
4. It offers the possibility of fast, direct feed-back
People are traditionally lazy. They prefer to do things with minimal
effort in the shortest time possible. So how much feed-back can you
count on when your leads need to complete forms by hand, or write
testimonials then go out and mail them? Not as much as electronic
feed-back that's for sure.
You can include polls in your newsletters. Also, they can write you
back with just a couple of mouse clicks. It's considerably easier to
follow up on their comments.
5. It's versatile
How easy it is to modify an electronic document compared to a printed
document? Infinitely easier. You needn't worry about small changes and
errors cropping up at unexpected times. You can fix anything fast and
easy, starting with content and ending with layout.
Want a different color? Want to change the article order? A few mouse clicks will do just fine.
6. It's viral
When people get interesting emails in their inboxes, they forward it to
friends. A newsletter is much more likely to be forwarded than a
commercial email.
Who knows where your newsletter will end up? Perhaps in the hands of prospective leads.
So give newsletters a try and you'll be amazed by the results.
Amanda Smith is the content editor of the NetReal.net website.
NetReal.net is a complex marketing platform that offers, among other
things, the NetRealinTouch.net newsletter system
http://www.netrealintouch.net. This complete email marketing system
offers real estate professionals quality prospecting and farming
newsletters at an affordable price. You are invited to try
NetRealinTouch.net, by taking the 30-day FREE trial. You can also find
other articles about online and offline promotion, and other real
estate marketing related subjects on NetReal.net
http://www.netreal.net/part.php.
articles@netreal.net
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