All Forum Posts by: Mitchell Miller

I like the newsletter idea. 

You are in a competitive market, so the actual question becomes how can i differentiate myself and be seen uniquely in my marketplace so that people pay attention to me?

Joshua has some excellent ideas and is a true hustler, and I think more of the answer has to do with how you come at the market. So lets agree on a few things:

1. You are unknown in this market

2. You have limited resources to market yourself

Build it and they will come is a nice saying but not true, and so the purpose of marketing is not to promote yourself, but to get and attract leads. Joshua's tactics are mostly push marketing, and the problem is that people love to buy, but hate to be sold. 

That approach is very difficult because you are 

- pushing up against natural sales Resistance

- every other Realtor is doing the same thing

There lies the problem: Marketing incest. Everybody doing the same things, going to the same meetings, and taking the same advice. 

Richard, to keep my post short, do two things most agents do not think to do:

1. Position yourself as an authority and expert

2. Advertise with purely direct response lead generation

To position yourself, pick a small piece of the market. First time buyers, trade ups, dentists, investors, whatever.. but PICK ONE. Understand that it is infinity easier to be a big fish in a small pond. 

The fastest way to being known and trusted, is to shrink down and target your efforts. If you work only with dentists for example, you write a book titled Home buying secrets for dentists. If you work only with investors, then you write a book called Investing in West Hollywood - New strategies for the smart investor. 

And you work that target market. Publish a newsletter, go to their meetings, whatever you do,m you are their go to guy. Targeting your focus like this allows you to craft advertising that speaks directly to that market in a way that resonates with them. 

As well, your limited resources now have a chance of really doing something. 10 gallons of water will soak 10 people, but barely mist 1000. You need to be smart about how you attack this. 

Watch this video at 46:30 in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDSj6vpBkWI

He shows you how to setup and collect leads in a way that most others are not doing. 

Hope that helps, and if you want to download a free copy of my book, just see my signature. 

Mitch

Hey guys, let me weigh in here. 

I have a client who ONLY door knocks up here in Edmonton Canada. He did 61 deals last year. The guy is a monster. However I really see no need to door knock. 

Understand prospects do not want to be sold. Neither do you. They will not hear what you are saying unless you tell them what they want to know.

Prospecting bleeds you emotionally. So we decide that we need to do some marketing to promote ourselves. So we do some image advertising...

We learn real fast that image advertising bleeds us financially. It is expensive to image advertise and it does not generate the calls we need. Why? I believe there are two reasons:

1. the average person is exposed to hundreds of sales messages per day. In order to not have an aneurysm, we block them out. Don't you?

2. Same old boasts. If everyone is saying the same thing, how can the customer choose? He can't. He thinks we are all the same. Like the dry cleaners. Doesn't really matter which one you go to because they all seem the same.

So, we know prospecting is not fun, and takes up too much time. We know that image advertising is expensive and ineffective, so what choices are you left with?

One day I had a secret discovery: Offer prospects something they want, and make it easy and non threatening to get it.

Remember, they don't care about you, they care about them. WIFM.

So what do they want?

Well first, lets redefine marketing. The myth that is killing you is thinking that the purpose of marketing is to promote yourself. The purpose of marketing is not to promote yourself. It is to attract prospects.

The Purpose Of Marketing Is To Attract Prospects

You attract them with effective marketing which simply baits them with something they want, so they call you to get it.

Understand that the decision to buy or sell is a process. They don't jump out of bed ready to sell. It's a process. They have various questions along their buying cycle. So if we can offer them information that answers those questions, then we have essentially helped them in advance. 

See 47:00 in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDSj6vpBkWI

Watch that and be blown away by how cool this new way of getting leads is. You'll smack yourself on the forehead and wonder why you haven't been doing it. And you will also think back and notice that some of your competitors are already doing it.. 

Hope this helps!

Mitch

Oh yeah, I wrote an entire book on exactly how to eliminate knocking and all of that grunt work prospecting. Check out my signature. It's free :)

 And good job getting on the NO BS marketing letter :)

 Absolutely, what is your email?

 I am dude! Thank you

 I appreciate it, I really hope you enjoy it! Just click on my profile and there is a direct link to the book there. I just don't want to get accused of spamming in here or anything :)

M

 Hi Deborah, thanks! It really is exciting. And that is why I am here and everywhere spreading the love. Nothing to sell, just giving tons of value for now. 

As for your question:

Going after expired listings is not a bad idea at all, it works. The trick is to not approach it like every other agent does. The majority of agents suffer from what I call "marketing incest" - doing the same thing, in the same way as everyone else. So here is my solution:

Someone who had a listing expired has lost faith in their current agent, the market, and are not sure what to do. They are feeling down, and not sure they can get any sort of reasonable asking price. This is a great position for us to be in because they are starving for an answer. The problem is that most agents just call them up and try to sell, sell, sell "Im better, I can get it sold, have confidence in my team yadda yadda". This is a terrible approach.

Someone who is in this position needs options. They want to know their options. So instead of being the next agent to call them up and try to sell themselves, you show you care about the prospect by calling them up and offering them information..

"Hi Jim, this is Deborah from Remax, and I am calling because you have a listing that has recently expired - I just want to let you know that I am not calling to try and sell myself to you or anything of that nature. I wrote a consumer awareness guide titled:  (7 simple steps to getting your home sold after an expired listing - Know your options) and I'd just like to know if I can mail you a copy"

The reason this approach is so powerful is:

1. Sets you apart from all other agents

2. Giving value UPFRONT

3. Building trust and rapport

4. Building Authority and expert status

5. Educating your prospect

In the guide you give them unbiased sound advice on what their different options are. Let them know that if they were to ever consider listing the home again that you would be happy to setup an appointment. If the prospect is ever going to list again, they will choose you. You cut through the clutter, gave them value, educated them, and built their trust because you were not pushy. 

Another strategy you can use is the "Guaranteed home sale program". This is where you call up the expired listing and basically tell them "If I don't sell your home in 60 days, I'll buy it myself!" That gets their attention real quick. 

As for a copy of my book, just click on my profile and I have a direct link to the book there :) Hope this helps.

M

 Hi Pavel, I consult and advise agents, not investors. I am afraid I can not help you at this time. 

Hey, 

I am new here and so I wanted to say hi in a big way. 

I am a marketing adviser for agents and brokers, but you won't see me selling anything here. Ask me anything - marketing problems - advertising problems - Anything...

There is no problem I can not solve, I am here to help :)

I will spill the beans on everything I know. My specialty is eliminating cold prospecting, having a flow of leads come to you, and getting a 96% listing success rate from appointments. 

Ask away, 

Mitch

P.S. I also published a book on this topic and will give anyone who wants it, a complementary copy