via activerain.com
What separates Rich Real Estate Agents from the Poor Real Estate Agents? Check out this awesome infographic and survey from Active Rain. Lots of striking information in this, definitely worth checking out.
Rich Real Estate Agent, Poor Real Estate Agent
Importance of REALTOR Safety
Being a real estate agent can definitely be a difficult job at times. From managing several buyer and seller clients at once, to tracking paperwork and juggling upcoming closings. But he thought that your real estate career can present you with some dangerous situations, hardly ever enters your mind. Some scary stuff in the news lately is driving home the fact that Realtor safety should become a priority.
Realtor safety concerns are nothing new. Several years ago, when I worked in the front office for a major real estate company, the company had decided to offer self defense classes to their agents which some thought was silly. Since the subject came up, my broker then told me this story:
She was working with these first-time buyers, showing them several properties on the weekends over a few weeks. One Saturday morning, she was setting up a few showing appointments for the day, and called one particular owner-occupied home where a pleasant gentleman answered. He said it was the requested appointment was fine and he would make sure to be out of the home.
Since this was the first appointment of the day, she decided to get to the property ahead of her clients to preview it herself, open up curtains, turn on lights, etc. When she unlocked and opened the door, about 10 feet in front of her was a man sitting in a chair with a shotgun in his lap, starting straight at her. She quickly apologized for disturbing him, backed away, closed the door, and got in her car. She had her clients meet her at the next property instead.
Now that scary situation turned out to be ok for my former boss, as she was unharmed. But it has stuck in her memory and has always taken extra safety measures ever since.
The news tell us that some agents have not been so lucky.
Last year, two Realtors were found murdered in separate incidents, one found shot in a vacant home he was showing, and one found in burning home.
Back in April, an Iowa Realtor was found murdered at an at a model home open house.
In July, a Tennessee agent was attacked and robbed during a showing appointment.
Just last month, an Oregon broker was targeted in his office and shot by a revenge seeking gunman.
A few weeks ago, northern Ohio agents were warned that a man was calling female agents for evening showing appointments, to possibly lure them into vacant homes and sexually assault them.
The sad list goes on.
Real estate can be a risky industry. Agents can often find themselves traveling alone, meeting with and showing properties to people that they don’t really know well or at all. There’s worries that violence against Realtors is on the rise. And it is not just women that are victimized. (check out his report)
What can you do to keep yourself safe? Though past violent incidents don’t always have a common thread, and there is no way to prevent every crime, agents should certainly take any step necessary to protect themselves.
- Take a self defense or martial arts class.
- Google new prospects prior to initial meetings to sniff out anything fishy if you can.
- Meet them for the first time in a public place, such as your office during business hours.
- Call or text someone to let them know where you’ll be and who you’ll be with showing properties.
- Use a tool such as Moby, which is a mobile app for your smartphone that can alert chosen contacts with a need for assistance and also tracks your location. And it’s FREE!
Do what you can to increase your awareness and fine tune your gut instincts. Please stay safe out there!
Related Posts:
11 Weeks Left in 2011? Let’s Get Ready for 2012 NOW!
Believe it or not, there are only 11 weeks left in 2011! We are firmly in the 4th quarter and have you examined your progress on your 2011 business plan? Are you flying blind without one? Well whatever your answer, there is no time to waste. The time to implement is now if you want 2012 to get off to a great start.
Some say that if you start your business January 1st 2012, you are already behind. Real estate is a lag industry and things can take 60-90 days of implementation to see any results. So if you don’t start until January, you may not see any results for several months (especially in this slow economy).
The best marketing advice I’ve ever received is to ramp up your marketing efforts and activities in the 4th quarter so you can see your results once the new year hits and get it off to a fabulous start. If you wait too long, you may find it harder to reach your business or revenue goals because you were waiting for leads to convert and get those marketing results to appear. Market for next year starting NOW!
Starting now, there are probably a few things you can be doing differently, or at least get started on, that can get your 2012 started off right. For example, you can:
- Start a blog or dust off that blog you have been neglecting and post regularly (at least 2-3 times a week to start)
- Give your website a makeover and make sure the focus is on the consumer, and not what a great REALTOR you are.
- Create or find deliverables that your prospects would actually want to sign up for and get those leads starting to come into your pipeline
- Increase your visibility on Facebook and make a business pages focusing on the neighborhoods and communities you serve.
- Start up on Twitter and be visible, engage, and share with your followers.
- Start using video! Promote your properties, your expertise, and your market area
- Be sure to keep your social media activities ongoing and never let anything get stale or make people wonder if you are still in business.
It is the perfect time to examine your current business plan (if you have one) refine it, in start implementing NOW so you can have a fabulous 2012. So take some action! I want you to start it off with a bang!
Have some marketing ideas you can implement now to get next year off to a great start? I would love to hear them! Please leave me a comment below!
Related Posts:
Start Planning for 2011
Are you gearing up for 2011 yet? There is not much time left in 2010. It is the perfect time to get on top of your business plan and make your goals for 2010. Enlist a Real Estate Virtual Assistant to help! See our video below.
Related Posts:
Combat Post-Closing Amnesia
Referrals and testimonials can be the greatest business booster. And the best sources for referrals are your past happy clients. The problem is that so many agents haven’t mastered the “keep in touch” once the closing papers have been signed. And in the coming months and years, if they never hear from their agent again, the happy clients settle in and suffer from memory loss when someone asks them about an agent to assist in buying or selling.
Attention Agents, you need to combat this memory loss! Again, these past clients are your best source for referrals and repeat business, so you must keep in touch. It is super important to have a Post Closing follow up plan. One place that I like to direct my clients to use is The Personal Marketing Co and their ProPower client follow up program. It is what I like to call, “Post-closing follow up made easy”.
The plans from TPMCo include a 5 year follow up option full of postcards and magazines that will be mailed to your clients. One nice touch the program includes: In the first week your happy new home owners will receive a set of labels with their new address as well as a photo “keepsake” of the new home with a thank you message from you. And following that will be a series of postcards and magazines over the next 5 years (23 touches in all). All you have to do is enter your clients in the system, and they are taken care of without a second thought. All this is offered for $25 per enrollment.
Using something like this, along with your online marketing and social media efforts will help keep that front of mind awareness. Hitting them on all fronts will help ensure that your past clients will not suffer from amnesia later when someones asks them for a recommended REALTOR to help buy or sell a home.
You can reach The Personal Marketing Co at 800.458.8245 or online at www.TPMCO.com
Disclaimer: Megan Barber, The BVAS Connection, and Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions is in not an affiliate, not an employee, or not in any way a representative of The Personal Marketing Company. We received no kickbacks or money to promote them. We just like their product/service and thought it a good resource. Please do your due diligence before purchasing or using any product.
Related Posts:
Are You Available 24/7/365?
via activerain.com
Are you available to your clients 24/7/365? Have you tried but burned out? Balance in business and life is a good thing. I run into this in my own business. I’ve had past clients think that because their business is 24/7, mine should be too. No thanks! It really is a good idea to set regular business hours and to set good boundries with your clients.
This is a great post on this from Active Rain. Now go read it!
Related Posts:
NARdiGras Video Contest
Everyone loves a contest right? Since I’ve been talking about video a fair bit lately, I saw a contest for REALTORS from NAR that ties into video nicely. So you’ve been sharpening your video making skills lately, and making fantastic real estate videos, right? Well now you can put those skills into practice by entering the Win a Trip to New Orleans in the NARdiGras 2010 Video Contest.
All you have to do is submit a video that is 3 minutes or less, explaining why you should get an all-expenses paid trip to NARdiGras 2010, NAR’s annual conference and expo happening November 5-8. Looks like a fun contest and a pretty great prize as well. A few years ago I attended the NAR Conference & Expo in Vegas, had a blast, and met all sorts of industry greats.
Winner of the contest receives, full conference registration, round-trip airfare, hotel room for 3 nights, and $300 gift card for expenses. The winner’s video will also be displayed on the REALTORS® Conference & Expo home page.
Video submission deadline is August 15th, and the voting for the finalist happens August 23rd – September 13th. So get creative, show off you awesome video skills, plead your case, and be sure to include the phrase “NARdiGras 2010, the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in New Orleans.”
For more information on the contest and guidelines, check it out here.
Good Luck!
Related Posts:
Three Reasons You Can’t Afford That High Maintenance Client
via michaelhyatt.com
I know in real estate you run into the “high-maintenance” client probably more often than most businesses. Today I stumbled upon this great post via Twitter – Three Reasons You Can’t Afford That High Maintenance Client. It is a fantastic read and something you should really take to heart. As bad as you think you “need” the money and take on any listing that comes your way no matter how hard headed the seller is on that way-too-high price, it ends up costing more of your time, sanity and money in the end. Click on the above link below the photo and check it out.
Related Posts:
Success Simplified – The FIX or Fire It Method
via agentgenius.com
Excellent post coming straight out of Agent Genius that you must check out. Re-evaluate what is going on in your business model, your life, etc, then Fix it or Fire it and move on! AG rocks!
Related Posts:
Farewell 2009! Hello 2010!
- Image by Kibondo via Flickr
Just wanted to wish one and all a Happy New Year! Welcome 2010!
2009 was a great year full of fun, milestones, and good things. The most exciting happening of 2009 was the birth of my son. And though last year saw a soft economy that slowed business a bit, I didn’t let that get me down.
Now I am gearing up for a fantastic 2010. Bring it on!!
Recent Comments