8DollarFarming blog

(part 3 of a 3-part series)

So far we’ve looked at an overview of Specialists and Generalists, and we’ve looked at how to be a successful specialist in Specialists - become THE authority. Today we’ll turn our attention to the Generalists out there.

In the old days (meaning prior to the last couple of years), many of us were taught to focus our efforts on networking - finding people who needed to buy and sell real estate, and then helping them navigate the process. Once you found a potential client, the theory goes, you could use your Realtor toolbox to provide information about the property and neighborhood which wasn’t otherwise available. Unfortunately, times have changed.

Information, in and of itself, is no longer the most valuable tool in a Realtor’s toolbox. The rapid growth of technology and broadband internet connections have allowed internet searching, social media sites, blogs, and email list-serves to become commonplace. Today, most consumers can find a great deal of information about a neighborhood &/or property before they even contact a Realtor. And when they do contact a Realtor, they’re going to want a Specialist to help them with the things they can’t find on their own.

So what should you do if you’re a Generalist, better at building relationships than knowing every detail about a property niche? Fear not - with a little bit of effort you’ll continue to flourish.

If you’re good at networking and meeting lots of people, but you don’t have an authoritative amount of knowledge about any particular niche, that’s ok. Real estate has always been and always will be a people-business; people don’t want to spend large sums of money without an emotional investment, and that usually starts with having a trusting relationship with somebody “in the know.”

A successful Generalist will become a professional networker; the “guy who knows a guy” – for ANYTHING real estate related. Market yourself as the ultimate end-point for all things real estate – “you have any question, about anything related to your home, you call me & I’ll help you take care of it.”

In order to do this you’ll need to build out an extensive network of HIGH QUALITY people who will make you look good, who will charge competitive rates (maybe even give your customers a discount), and who will pay you a referral fee (if legal &/or appropriate). These include, but by no means are limited to:

• Realtors in every city, suburb, and specialty niche.
• Lenders
• Investors
• Tradesmen – A/C, Heating, Plumbing, Electricity, Audio-Visual-Home Networking, Architects, Contractors and Handymen, Landscapers, House-cleaners, Roofing contractors, etc.
• Attorneys (especially who practice in situations which might involve buying & selling real estate).
• 1031 exchange specialists.

The result will look like 2 opposing funnels attached at the skinny end, with you acting as the glue holding them together. You’ll continue to do what you do best, adding people each month to your contact database. These people will call you for real estate advice on all matters of real estate. You’ll then funnel them outward to the professional who can best service their exact need.

Of course, smart business practices should include agreements with these “end service professionals” to not market your referrals for future business. You should also do a great job of following up with your contacts to verify the quality of the work, pricing, etc. - this helps you with the monitoring of your referral network as well as cementing your relationship with your contacts.

The bottom line - it’s becoming more important than ever to work from our strengths. And if your strength is networking, then by all means network! Just make sure you’re networking both outside and inside the industry.

I often write about the importance of not just meeting, but exceeding your clients’ expectations.  But what I think is interesting is how small the difference can be, and how easy it can be to cross over from competent (meeting expectations) to exceptional.

The crossover from competent to exceptional is important because it’s this difference which generates referral business.

If you were competent, you’ll have a client who is satisfied, and who will probably use you again in the future.  But your client probably isn’t actively talking you up to their friends & coworkers - and if somebody asks them about you, their response might be “my Realtor was good; here’s his number.”

On the other hand, if you were exceptional, your client is going to feel special and is going to brag about you.  (people always like to believe they got the best one of whatever they’re comparing.)  They’ll go out of their way to tell people about you.  But the conversation point won’t be about your service in general; it’ll be about something specific you did that makes a great story (and bragging/selling point).

It’s important to note you can’t be exceptional if you’re not competent.  This means you can’t be average (or worse, disappointing) during the transaction, and then hope to elevate yourself to exceptional with an over-the-top house-warming gift or some other gesture.  If you want repeat and referral business, you need to be great throughout the entire buying or selling process.

Here are a few of my personal examples; these clients enjoy bragging about me and continue to send me referrals.

Daily Updates.

Tom was a project manager who worked in a big office for a big company.  He was detail oriented, knowledgeable, smart, friendly, and well respected.  He also asked lots of questions.  He worked with large groups of engineers, analysts, and computer programmers.  I knew from the very beginning I would only be able to impress Tom by staying ahead of his questions.

I started sending Tom an email to his office every night, which would be the first email he would read the next morning.  It was a simple email - maybe a paragraph or two, and a few bullet points outlining what we accomplished today, what we were going to work on tomorrow, and what loose ends were still outstanding.  The first couple of days Tom called me to say how much he appreciated it; then it took on a life of its own.

Tom began sharing (bragging) about me & my email to the guys at work, and pretty soon they were all following Tom’s transaction like guys at a sports bar watching the updated scores scrolling across the bottom of the tv screen.

Over the years I’ve had more than a few referrals from Tom & his colleagues.

The House Painting.

Anthony bought a beautiful house with stunning views.  He is also a big fan of art and has impeccable taste.  I took a great picture of Anthony’s new home (lots of pictures, actually) which captured the home and the views.  I then used photo-editing software to create a water color portrait, and ordered an extra large print from an online photo processing site.  Finally I had the picture framed, and brought it with me as a housewarming gift the first time Anthony invited me over to see his home.

I knew he was going to say thank you, and I knew he would think it was a thoughtful gesture, but I wasn’t sure he would like it enough to display it.  Fortunately he did.  The picture is now hanging in his living room, and everybody who comes through the house gets to hear the story of where the picture came from and how great his Realtor was.

The Drive Across Town.

Brenda bought a home in a suburb in one of the far reaches of town.  She moved in and had some redecorating work done, after which she invited me over to see the difference.  The home looked great, and as she gave me the tour she pointed out an open space on the wall where she was going to hang a sconce she had her eye on, but it was from a store on the other side of town (over an hour away) and she hadn’t gotten over there yet.

Two weeks later I happened to be on the other side of town, just down the street from the store Brenda mentioned.  I gave her a call to see if I could pick the sconce up for her while I was over there.  It took a little bit of effort, with Brenda describing it first to me and then to the store manager, but eventually we found just the right piece.

Much like Anthony, today Brenda tells everybody the story of the sconce, and how anybody who needs a Realtor is crazy to not call me.

Bottom Line

There’s not a magic formula, but it’s pretty easy to see a pattern.  As a Realtor, start by being competent - very competent.  Then do something better!

**note - the names and stories have been modified for this example.

We all have one, and most of us have several.  Today I thought I’d take a look at some different types, and what makes an effective To-Do list.

I’ve gone through dozens of variations over the years, moving from one to the next for a variety of reasons - changes in work flow or work intensity, new technology (hardware or software), and sometimes out of simple frustration that I don’t feel like I’m getting enough done.

The trick to having an effective To-Do list is to find the combination of Format, Term, and Detail which works best for you.  Then, once you have a good list, single-task your To-Do’s until they’re Done’s.

Format - Most people use either Digital, Digital-for-Print, or Hand-Written lists, and there are hundreds of options for each of them.  Do you need to see your list on paper, and write notes in the margins?  Or do you love not carrying paper, and checking off items on your PDA-phone?

Term - Do you prepare a new list daily, or weekly?  Or do you keep an ongoing list?  Some people like keeping an ongoing list in a spiral-ring notebook so they have access to old notes they wrote in the margins.  Other options would be to save your prior days’ lists in a folder in case you need them, or even better would be to transfer your margin-notes to a more permanent location, such as a client’s file or a contact database.

Detail - This is the most important variable - the one most likely to determine whether your To-Do list is a productivity tool or a major source of frustration.  Some people don’t list the “major items” - believing they won’t forget these important things, but need help remembering the smaller, less significant items.  Others prefer to only list the major items, with the thought being if you’re going to work off your To-Do list, your work should be on it.

I’ll spend some time going into each of these variables in more detail in another post, reviewing some different options and the pros and cons of each one.  In the meantime, you can probably make your To-Do list work in your favor if you take a few minutes to think about these variables.  Why are you using your current format, and is there another one that might work better?

(Part 2 of a 3-part series)

Last week I wrote about Specialists and Generalists, and how the changing market was creating a great divide between the two.

The Specialist. Consumers have always looked to Realtors for help in getting answers & information that they could not get for themselves. This isn’t going to change anytime soon. However, consumers now have access to more information (and answers) than they’ve ever had before. One way to stay relevant as a Realtor is to stay ahead of the consumers by becoming an absolute authority in one particular niche of the marketplace.

A successful Specialist will need to do 2 things:

1. Be a Specialist. The specialist should be The Authority in this particular marketplace. There shouldn’t be anyone on Earth, even the residents of this niche, who know more about it than The Specialist.

2. Marketing and Networking. This may seem obvious, but if nobody knows you’re the top authority on the xyz marketplace, you won’t have any business. You’ll end up being a very knowledgeable homeless person.

Be a Specialist.

1. Choose a good niche. A specialist will have more value in niches which are difficult to learn about.  For example, if a non-specialist would have a challenge coming up with and interpreting the comps, you can be a great asset to her.  You’ll also want to pay attention to the size of your niche - too small and there won’t be enough volume to support you; too large and you won’t be able to know everything about it.  And finally, your niche must be desirable enough that people ask about it – nobody needs a specialist for a 2-year old neighborhood in the middle of the suburbs, it’s just there. But everybody will want a specialist for the 100 year old neighborhood in a quirky part of downtown in the process of being revitalized.

2. Know EVERYTHING about your niche. History, dates, trends, volume, sizes, floor-plans, zoning, amenities, nearby neighborhoods, job markets, etc. etc.  Know the neighbors: Where do they work; what are they like; what’s the inside scoop? Know the inside of every home/unit - which ones have been remodeled, which ones need work?  Strive to become the unofficial (or even the official) mayor of your niche.

3. Eat sleep and breathe your niche with passion.  If you’re not completely immersed in your niche, you’re in the wrong niche!

Marketing and Networking.

1. Website blog.  In today’s world, a specialist without a blog is asking for failure. A) It can help you “own” your niche very quickly, depending on your niche and your competition.  B)  If you know everything about the neighborhood, and you’re there all the time, you’ll be able to write about very personal things, such as conversations with neighbors about a particular event, photos, sales trends, and the general vibe of the neighborhood.  Your blog should become the authority for your niche.  (not sure what a blog is, or how to get started?  There’s a ton of great information online; I would start by reading the Real Estate Tomato.)

2. Buyers.  Your blog will market for buyers for you.

3. Sellers.  You are in & around your niche everyday, so you can market to the sellers the old fashioned way - talk to them!  You can also send postcards with your blog’s address and your photo (which the recipients should recognize since they’ve seen you around.)

4. Realtors.  This should be a major component of your marketing.

Are you willing to pay a referral fee to a realtor who brings you a buyer? You should, since this is a win-win scenario. The realtor from across town will look like a goof-ball trying to help his buyers in your niche; he might even get into legal trouble for not knowing something he should.  Better for both parties if he refers his buyers to you!  Advertise your blog’s address and your willingness to pay a generous referral commission!

Online networking and social media – get involved with the community of online realtors and let them know your area of specialization.

Offline – introduce yourself to other realtors (with blog address & referral info), starting with the busiest ones. You don’t need to waste a lot of their time, just ask them to file your info under “your niche” in case the subject ever comes up. You might also want to send out a postcard twice a year to all the realtors you’ve met as a reminder.

Referral Commissions – be prepared to discuss this, or even to advertise this. Are you willing to pay a referral commission on all subsequent business generated from the first referral. In other words, if the buyer’s friend calls you 6 months later? Or if the buyer calls you 2 years later to sell the home you helped him buy? Realtors will respond to you better if you have generous terms on this, such as all business generated within 36 months of the referral, or 24 months, or indefinitely – whatever. The more generous your offer, the better response you’ll receive, and the more I would advertise it.

5. Email.  You should be sending everybody an email, at least monthly, which will remind them of your specialty. Oh yeah, I can help you with that!

Next week we’ll take a look at the Generalists in part 3 of this series.

Do you separate your contacts into list, and then communicate with them differently?  I did this when I first started in real estate.  I read a few books and listened to a few trainers who all said basically the same thing:

Divide your contacts into groups (A, B, C) of those most likely to use you &/or refer you business, those who might do so, and those who might not be able to or willing to do so.

Next, focus your priorities on the A group of contacts first, the B group of contacts second, and the C group later on, if & when you have time.

Here were some of the problems I encountered:

My A-list contacts were generally successful, well-connected people.  Unfortunately this meant they most likely had relationships already established with at least one other Realtor.  I had one friend of mine specifically ask me not to be offended, but since he & his wife had 3 good friends who were Realtors, they were going to interview people they didn’t know rather than upsetting 2 of their friends!

My A-list contacts were on my A-list because they were good friends; a couple of them assumed that since we were good friends, I would understand when they bought a home without calling me, as "things just came together and we had to act on it right then.  Aren’t you happy for us?"

Also because they were good friends; after a few months it became awkward calling these friends so much more often than I used to before I was a Realtor.

Have you run into any of these issues?  How have you addressed them?

I’ll take your answers & compile them with my own solutions in a follow-up post..

I’ve written before about the importance of dedicating yourself to One Goal at a Time. Just about every goal is attainable if you dedicate yourself to it, and elevate it to being one of the, if not THE, most important thing in your life. Obviously this is easier to do if you are passionate about your goal.

One thing I mentioned in my previous post is the importance of tracking your goal; you should know, at the end of every day, whether or not you were successful that day. You will know you’re making real progress when you string together a bunch of successful days. My favorite method of tracking progress is the Seinfeld Calendar - named for comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s method of successfully writing new material.

Jerry Seinfeld realized, early on in his career, how difficult it would be to write lots of high-quality comedic material in one sitting. Instead, he challenged himself to writing one new joke each day. This would enable him to build a wealth of material over time, and it would also guaranty he would always have fresh material available. (sounds a lot like my Moving Mountains approach, doesn’t it?)

Seinfeld bought himself a big wall-calendar, and marked each successful day with a large red X. No partial credit here - he was either successful in achieving his goal (and earning his X) or he wasn’t. As the days and weeks passed by, he began to get motivation from seeing an extended chain of red Xs, and he developed a new attitude: "Don’t break the chain."

He manages to boil everything down to a very simple process:  Define your success; be successful today; don’t break the chain.  Seems pretty easy.

I’ve found this approach to be an extremely effective method for helping me achieve my own goals. There have been many evenings that I’m tired and winding down for the night, when I look at my calendar and think about how bummed out I’m going to be tomorrow if I break my chain. I can usually find enough motivation to get done whatever it is I challenged myself to do. ** This last-minute save only works for goals where you actively "do" something (reading, writing, exercising, etc). Goals such as eating healthy or not smoking need to be addressed all day long, since any failure during the day will create an unsuccessful day.

Give this a try - and let me know if it helps you further your own success. Don’t Break the Chain!

idea credit to Brad Isaac and LifeHacker, where I first read about this topic over a year ago.

(Part 1 of a 3-part series – parts 2 and 3 will run on the next two Mondays.)

Real estate has always been an industry where specialists and generalists could both be successful. Half of the standard advice out there centers around “becoming the specialist in a niche so people looking to buy or sell within that niche will come to you.” The other half of the standard advice goes something like “get out there and talk to everybody – find the people who need to buy or sell, and then take care of them.”

The internet has had a profound effect in this regard. Consumers have become more educated about real estate than at any other time in history, and they can do an enormous amount of research before even picking up the phone. Realtors have become more able to share their knowledge & expertise – faster, to a wider audience, and for less money than ever before.

The question then becomes, what are the affects of this changing consumer/Realtor relationship, and what can you do about it?

The current trend is actually magnifying the age-old advice. You can be a specialist, or you can be a generalist. You need to define who you are, become obsessively dedicated to it, and market yourself as such. What you can’t do is get caught in the middle – the market for Realtors who know something about most areas, but sort of focus in one particular neighborhood, but are willing to help out in a different area, etc. – is disappearing, quickly.

This is especially true in metropolitan areas like Phoenix; a city with more than 20 different mostly homogenous suburb-cities strung together, 75 miles from corner to corner, encompassing all different types of housing and neighborhoods.

In the next two weeks I’m going to outline some ideas for the specialists and generalists, and how each has an opportunity to succeed like never before. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic – please feel free to comment below or shoot me an email.

Update:

Part 2:  Specialists - become THE authority

Part 3:  Generalists - be a concierge

If any part of your marketing involves leading prospects to believe one thing is going to happen when instead something else happens, I suggest you re-work your plan. Tricking, misleading, fine print - whatever you call it; if you’re baiting your customers with an idea, and then you try to hook them with something else, you’re not being forthright, and your customers will notice.

Examples include placing an ad for a listing which isn’t yours (hoping to pick up buyers). Advertising a lower-level, $50,000 condo (which already has offers on it) in the hopes of up-selling somebody to an upper-floor, $500,000 unit. Promoting a low interest rate which almost nobody can qualify for.

Today I received an updated credit card in the mail for an existing card which is set to expire next month. It had a sticker on the front which asked me to call an 800 number in order to activate the card "for my safety." I spent 90 seconds on hold waiting for a customer service specialist to activate my card for me. I then spent 90 seconds defending against a barrage of add-on sales - payment protection in case I died, credit report monitoring, a cash advance offer, an offer to transfer balances - my head began to spin.

Needless to say, that was a complete sham! As if an automated system couldn’t have activated my card for me? They asked me to call to activate my card, and then they tried to take advantage of me. In 3 minutes, they managed to make me dislike them. And that’s after being a cardholder for 10 years!

Branding builds slowly, one interaction at a time, but it can last for a long time. I don’t recommend a bait and switch strategy as part of your marketing campaign; you’ll end up branding yourself as something you don’t want to be.

Since our official launch last month, we’ve had a ton of compliments on our newsletter service.  Just about everyone we’ve shared it with has agreed that our content quality is above par.  And everybody agrees that our prices are the lowest they’ve ever seen.  But the one comment we hadn’t had an answer for was, “it would really make things easier if you could just send my emails for me.”  Now we can.

As a quick recap, 8DollarFarming offers:

the Most Authentic Emails at the Lowest Prices, period.

FREE Subscriptions!  We’ll knock 20% off your subscription price each time you refer somebody else to our service.  5 referrals and your subscription is FREE.

Total Turn-Key Solution.  Now, with the option to have us send your emails for you, you no longer need to lift a finger to stay “top of mind” with your sphere of influence.

If you like what you read on this blog, you should give our newsletter service a try.  (and then refer a few of your colleagues!)  :)  Or at the very least, you could forward this post to somebody you know who might benefit from it.

I received a call this week from the folks over at National Real Estate Auction Corp., and I have to say I was intrigued.  They thought one of my listings was a great candidate for their next auction.  They brought up some very interesting points about how successful auctions can be and why my seller would want to take advantage of this opportunity.

I’d love to hear from anyone out there who has experienced this service firsthand!

I did what I always do when I need to analyze a new opportunity.  I started asking lots of questions in an attempt to answer my "3 Questions for a Telemarketer."  Here’s my scorecard:

1. What would happen if all my competitors bought this service? 

If every listing in the MLS participated in the auction system, you would be left with an exact replica of the MLS, but with all sales happening on a specific date.  The current MLS system is basically an open-ended, non-time-specific auction already.  Anybody is free to bid on any property at anytime.  And we do get the occasional bidding war when multiple buyers really want the same property.

In the short-term, this auction might make a listing stand out a little bit from its competition.  But in the long run I don’t think it’s scaleable.

2. If this company’s product is so great, why haven’t I heard about it before?

I’ve seen & heard their ads for upcoming auctions, but I haven’t ever heard another Realtor (or read anybody’s blog) who talks about how great the auction was for his/her clients.

If the auction was ultra-successful, there would be Realtors lining up out the door to get their listings included in the next auction!  They wouldn’t need to pay a telemarketer to call & try to convince me.

3. Does it really make sense, from a gut-level feeling?  (are we building a win-win relationship?)

No, and no.  For a few reasons.

A. If a buyer is going to bid on our house, they will need to inspect the heck out of it before the auction.  That means they should be already interested in homes in this neighborhood, size, and price range.  If they are, they should have already seen it (since it’s in the MLS), and if they like it they should have already made an offer.  (no auction needed.)

B. The pricing structure is set up like this:  Seller pays a fee to Auction Company to be included in the auction.  Buyer pays a fee to Auction Company upon successful winning bid.  Auction Company pays Listing Agent’s commission upon successful winning bid.  This means that if we have a successful auction with a reserve-meeting bid, everybody wins.  But if no Buyer bids higher than the Seller’s minimum reserve, the only money changing hands is the Seller’s fee paid to the Auction Company.  The Seller pays a fee in the hopes that, maybe, they can sell their house at the auction.  This sounds to me like a win-maybe relationship.

C. Upon a successful auction, the Auction Company will pay the Listing Agent a 3.5% commission (higher than the industry average around here).  That tells me they’re trying to give Realtors an extra incentive to encourage their Sellers to participate.

I may be overly cynical at times, but time after time these telemarketers’ products fail to inspire me past my 3 simple questions.  If your company’s product/service doesn’t scale to size, and if others in the field aren’t talking it up, and if it’s not building an obvious win-win relationship…?  I don’t think the National Real Estate Auction Corp passes the test.

Do you have a different opinion?  I’d love to hear about it.

If we’re going to talk about healthy lifestyles, obviously eating right and exercising are going to be at the top of the list.  But sometimes the difference between success and failure can be the smallest of things.  Here are a couple of ideas to help tip the scales in your favor..

Snack Between Meals.  This might seem counter-intuitive, but when done correctly (in moderation and with healthy snacks), it can help you achieve your goals.

• Small, healthy snacks only.
• Carrots, an apple, a banana, other fruits or vegetables, nuts, granola, etc.
• This will keep your hunger in check, which will help you to avoid over-eating at your next meal.
• On those days where you’re too busy for lunch (and lord knows we all have them in this business!), this will help keep your body from slowing down your metabolism in an effort to conserve your fat stores.

Personal Example - I eat a 220-calorie PowerBar every day at about 10:00.  If I end up eating an early lunch, I’m not all that hungry.  And if I have to wait until later to eat lunch, I’m still ok.  (and if I end up skipping lunch altogether, I pull another PowerBar out of my desk!)

Eat Slowly.  There is a considerable delay between your stomach being full, and your brain getting the message to stop eating.  The goal is to allow your brain time to get the "I’m full now" signal from your stomach BEFORE your stomach is over-filled!  Rather than cleaning your plate and feeling completely stuffed, you’ll walk away from the table feeling comfortable, while still having a lot of calories left on your plate.

• Chew your food more.
• Engage in conversation in-between bites.
• Take a sip of water after a couple of bites.
• Make a conscious effort to slow down.

Personal Example - Friday night is pizza night at our house, and I LOVE pizza!  If I come home from work hungry and motivated to eat, I can polish off half of a large pizza - easily.  But when I follow my own advice and slow down, I’m full after a couple of slices.  (and I don’t need to lay down afterward with a food-coma!)

These little tricks aren’t going to make you "lose 20 pounds next week", any more than some other time-saving tip will help you get rich quick.  But in a lifestyle of moderation, diligence, persistence, and trying to do the right things, sometimes it’s the little tricks that can help you come out ahead.  Snacking Between Meals and Eating Slowly are 2 of these little tricks.

Has anyone else tried these tricks?  Were they successful for you?  What other little tricks have you tried?

Once again, there were a ton of fantastic, well-thought-out articles this week, and I only have enough space to post a few of them.  I hope you like the ones I’ve included…

I read several posts this week which looked at the effective use of technology.  And while I don’t believe that you’ll be out of business next year if you don’t have a social media presence, I do think it’s going to get harder and harder to catch up.  (and you’re probably missing some opportunities at the front end of the curve.)  Seth Godin wrote The Growing Productivity Divide, and Ginger Wilcox wrote I Have Friends in Online Places.  Both are thought-provoking.

Barry Ritholtz (one of the smartest guys out there) posted 2 articles I wanted to share:

1. 10 Bullish Charts, Signals, and Indicators.  A fairly dry post, but the fact that someone in the smart-money thinks we might be at/near the bottom is worth sharing!
2. Your Investment Goals.  A laugh out loud funny video.

Heather Barr (NorthPhoenixAgent.com) and Ardell (RainCityGuide.com) both touched on the topic that this is not a very good time to be a pushy salesperson, and it might never be again. (as if it ever was!)

Have a great weekend everybody!