Increase Your Open House Conversion Rate!

What is your mindset for having open houses? Do you eagerly anticipate lots of buyers walking through or do you dread the thought of another wasted day?

Well, whichever way you feel about open houses will come true most of the time. So if you're going to hold an open house, you might as well do it right and then you'll benefit from it most of the time.

Here are a few ideas that may help you connect with more buyers (and many of them are sellers too, who need their homes listed):

• Think about what other agents do at their open houses and either do it differently or take the opposite approach.
  
• Make sure that you list the open house under your home's MLS listing as early in the week as possible, so more people surfing the internet will see it.
  
• Instead of doing one 2 or 3 hour open house,why not make it a 1-1/2 hour open house and then you can do 2 of them in one day. (Do one from 1:00 - 2:30 and then one from 3:00 - 4:30). If they want to see the property, prospects will come at whatever time range you give them.
  
• Realize that many people walking into your open houses are also homeowners, who have a home to sell and they are watching your every move and dialogue. Subconsciously or not, future sellers are taking in how you handle yourself and promote your listings.
  
• As we all know, many lookers don't want to be bothered when viewing a property. Why not assemble a bunch of open house folders with an MLS sheet, property disclosure, a bio sheet on yourself, services that you can offer them, other buyer and seller information as well as your business card, business cards from your lender, title agency, your preferred home inspector, etc. You'll be amazed at many people will save the folders and some will call you back later, because you were the only one to give them a lot of helpful information.
  
• You can also tell them that if they go to your web site, they can receive a free home buyer report. Now you need to write one and post it on your web site, but that's what sites are really for is content.
  
• If you use an open house guest register, ask prospects for their e-mail address and get their permission for you to send them new listings that come on the market.
  
• Waiting until the last minute to do an open house really decreases your chances of having any qualified prospects come to look at your listing. Plan for it early or don't do it at all unless it's in a new construction area and you know there's always a lot of traffic.
  
• If there's a competing listing in a hot area and you know they are doing an open house on Sunday, then piggy-back off their advertising with your own. If you can time it right, have yours finish right after theirs, so you have the last chance to stick in their minds with assistance and your informational folder.
  
• Following up with prospects is so critical the day after, because a few agents may do it, but most won't and when you call them, make sure that you're offering them something that's important to them or makes their life easier. When you focus on their needs, you'll get alot more people wanting to do business with you. If you don't call them for a week or more, forget it. They won't remember you.

I hope these ideas are helpful to you. Let me know if you use any of them and they are successful.

To your success,

Dan

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What Are Your Daily Thoughts?

The thoughts you think before dozing off to sleep at night - as well as the thoughts you think first thing in the morning, are extremely powerful.

Yet, the average person is often unaware about what they think about during these very important time frames.

What you say when you talk to yourself in the early morning sets the tone for how you will feel - and what results you will get - for the rest of the day.

And what you think before you go to bed at night has a major influence upon what you will dream about - and how you will feel when you wake up in the morning.

You can go to bed with the final thought, "I'm really tired." And guess what. You'll wake up the next morning still feeling tired.

But if you change your thoughts before going to bed to, "Tomorrow I will feel great", then over time you'll wake up refreshed and rejuvenated.

Do you know what's really interesting? The more you focus on what's important to you and the steps you need to complete on a daily basis, the quicker you'll achieve what it is that you want out of your life.

Sometimes it may seem boring and tedious to keep doing the same few things over and over again. But that's how you accomplish more out of your life.

Master the mundane tasks day in and day out and you'll soon have everything you want.

Look at Michael Jordan...arguably the best NBA player ever. His skill was making baskets from all over the court. Did he worry about all of the other things involved in being a professional athlete? Probably not much. He focused on being the best basketball player he could be and he practiced and practiced and practiced. He did a few things great and mastered them at the highest level.

The problem with most people today is we are so overwhelmed and inundated with commercials of all kinds - on TV, on the radio, on the Internet, etc. It's a massive distraction that's stealing away vital minutes and hours of each day.

We're also in constant communication with people in our lives - family members, friends, co-workers, who are not on the same wave length as we are and they're not going in the same direction as us, so again, it's pulling us away from where we truly want to go in our life.

So take some 'alone' time to figure out what it is that you want to achieve and write out a game plan to follow. Then stick to it each and every day.

Will it be easy? No! Will you have some bad days? Yes! Will you want to quit from time to time? Yes! Will it be worth it in the end? Yes! But if it's what you want for your life, then keep going and don't quit.

If you want more out of life, start each morning with reviewing your goals, your vision and your steps to be completed that day. Then do those steps and at the end of the day, again review your goals, your vision and reward yourself for completing your daily actions and realize you're getting closer every day. It's okay to revise your goals and dreams over time as we all change as individuals through life. What's important to you one day may not be as important to you the next day. Just make the necessary changes to your game plan to set you on your new course.

Live your days with focused thoughts on what's important for you to achieve and you'll make a difference in the world.

To your success,

Dan

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5 Vital Elements Every Classified Ad Must Have!

I was scanning the real estate classified ads in the local paper yesterday and what I saw was absolutely amazing.

There were a lot of ads that looked like they were written 5 minutes before the ad deadline.

Did they put the ad in the paper just to appease the seller?

"Oh, Mr. & Mrs. Seller, I put another ad in the paper. I didn't get any calls from it, but I did it anyway. I hope you liked it."

Did they expect to get any calls from their ads?

I wouldn't think they would.

What's the purpose of an ad?

Well, I've heard a lot of different responses to that question, but the real answer is "to get someone to act".

Whether you have them call you, listen to a recorded message or go to your web site for more information, the purpose of an ad is to have people raise their hand and take the next step.

The 5 elements that need to be in a classified ad to make it effective are:

1) Location - whether you list the community or subdivision name, its critical to list where the property is located. You'd be surprised at home many ads don't list the area!

2) Price - price is important to list, but do you have to list the exact price? If you do, home buyers won't step the next step. But you want them to be qualified and looking in the right price range, so why not say, "in the $190s"? That way, even if the home is listed for $199,900, you'll probably have the buyer contacting you for the exact price.

3) Hot Buttons - this is critical...why should a buyer want to find out more about the property? People become interested in a property for one of two reasons: greed or pleasure. If they think they can get a steal or take a lot off the price, they'll be attracted to the property. If they want to buy, because it's in their dream neighborhood, then they'll also be attracted to it. Most ads are very boring...use "greed or pleasure" words to make your point in the ad.

4) Primary Features - now be careful here. I'd only list 2 or 3 features about the property, because you don't want to go overboard and list everything. You'll scare off the buyer. The more features you list, the easier it is for the buyer to find something they won't like about the property. One other point, don't use abbreviations unless absolutely necessary. People don't usually know what they mean. When I go on vacation, I look at real estate ads in that area and I have no clue on what many of the abbreviations are...buyers don't know either. Remember, ads don't sell houses...people do!

5) Call To Action - Once you have buyers wanting more information about the property, you need to decide which way is the least confrontational - 'talking to an agent' vs. listening to a recording or viewing a web site. Would a buyer, who's reading a classified ad rather put the ad down and pick up the phone to hear a recording or sit down to their computer to view the information online? The answer lies in whether they are more auditory or more visual in deciphering information. But I know the last thing they want to do is talk to an agent unless they're ready for the next step. So make it easy for people reading your ads to take a next step.

Now, here's two samples of a classified ad. Which one do you think, on average, would get a better response?

Sample Ad #1:

Cincinnati, Near $199,975
Big price reduction, great house,
2-3 br, bth, gar, acl, tbr, too much
to mention, hurry - won't last long,
agent name, company & phone #

What that ad says to me is "it's probably still over-priced,it's only a 2 bedroom, but trying to say it's 3, some abbreviations I don't know, they want me to think it's areally nice house and I better buy it fast even thoughit's been for sale for 9 months."

Sample Ad #2:

Mason - Long Cove in the $190s
Sellers Just Transferred - Crushed about
Leaving Their Dream Home, 4 bedrooms,
private, 1st flr study, great level yard for
kids to play, be the 1st person through to
fall in love with this custom-built home.
For more info, 24-hr recorded msg at
(xxx) xxx-xxxx or for photos, go to
online to: www.xxxxxxxx.com
Agent and company name

What this ad says to me is "sellers weren't expecting to have to move so soon after building their dream home. List a few great features. It's in my price range and to find out more, I don't have to call an agent...just listen to recording or visit a web site."

Which sample ad is going to draw more interest for your listing and increase your showings?

So quit throwing money down the drain.

When you list a property for sale, sit down and take some time to write 2 or 3 effective ads that will draw buyers to want more info about your listing. Then you can rotate the ads and not have to worry about writing a sloppy ad at the last minute for a newspaper deadline.

You also need to comply with Fair Housing laws and steer clear of advertising words that would be in violation of those laws.

I hope this helps you.

Being A 'Jack-Of-All-Trades' Will Cost You!

I recently attended a seminar, where at one point, agents were sharing which target markets they were working in and how they were doing in them.

I was shocked by many of their responses.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Most of them were naming all of the different target markets as though they were going through the alphabet......listing up to ten or more different categories that they "SPECIALIZED" in. It was incredible!

My question to them would have been, "How can you be a specialist in ALL of these areas?"

Do top brain surgeons also market themselves as a General Practioner or OB/GYN?

Do criminal attorneys also market themselves as attorneys, who specialize in intellectual property laws?

Do CPAs who handle corporate tax preparation also market to the general public, who gets a W-2 and fills out a 1040-EZ form?

What's important to understand here is that you can't be all things to all people. Also, if you think you can do it all, are you really serving your client's best interests?

Have you ever heard the phrase, "jack of all trades, master of none"?

Consumers will pay more for 'specialists' than generalists.

I've seen business cards, where agents list their specialties - residential,commercial, leasing, farm property, condominiums, waterfront properties - all on the same card. Now if I got an agent's card that listed all of that, I'd be confused and wonder to myself, "Do they really know how to handle all of those different areas of real estate and how good can they really be?"

Here's a partial list of target markets many real estate agents work in:

• Referrals
• Past Clients
• Sphere of Influence
• Neighborhood Farming
• Agent Web Site
• For Sales By Owners
• Direct Mailings
• Expireds
• Corporate Relocation
• Sign And Ad Calls
• Seminars
• Social Networking
• Foreclosures and REOs

Take a moment and write down which of these target markets (or any other target markets that aren't listed here) you're currently working in to find home buyers and sellers as clients.

Now, go back 12 - 18 months and count the total number of closings you had from each target market. (Really, I'm waiting. You need to do this.)

From your list, which three are your top, income-producing, target markets?

Ok, now you've got your top three identified.

Next, write down what you did in each target market to find clients.

(Go ahead and do that now, please.)

(If you're still reading, stop and do this exercise right now. I know you're probably still reading and not doing it, because that's what I used to do. I thought I was too cool to do an exercise like this. Not doing it before cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income over my career. I do it now. )

Now, this is a critical point in this exercise.

What additional strategies can you use or do to improve your system in each target market? Go deeper than just surface stuff. Research the target market and find out what others are doing in other areas of the country and fine tune your system. Test different ways of reaching your target market. What worked last year may not work now. Test, test, test!

Also, what skill sets do you need to improve upon to increase your efficiency and effectiveness? What are your weaknesses or things you don't like to do in your business? Delegate them!

Of those target markets you're focusing on, what problems are you experiencing with making them work? Then go find the solutions!

In today's market, I believe it's better to focus on fewer target markets and become "SUPER-SPECIALIZED" in them. You'll earn more income, have a larger share of the market and have less competition.

Now go out and specialize!

To your success,

Dan

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INSTANTLY Improve Your Business!

If you haven't done this yet, you're costing yourself thousands of dollars and tons of time that you could be spending with your family and your hobbies.

Often, it's the simplest things that when done over and over again, make the biggest difference in our lives and our pocketbooks.

So why don't we do them?

Lack of focus and constant distractions!

Isn't that the truth? I can't count on both hands how often I get distracted every day by thoughts in my head and phones ringing in my ears.

Make an A-B-C list every night of what you need to do the next day and prioritize the most important ones that have to be finished THAT day.

• A - must be done today
• B - can be done today or tomorrow
• C - delegate it or delete it.

You may even have a core 3 - 5 things that are important enough for you to do on a daily basis. When you wake up, look at your list for the day. Then when you start your day, go down the list and check them off as you complete them. BUT DON'T DO #2 until #1 is completed...and so on.

It's so important to take 5 minutes each night to make your list for the next day, because it will help you focus on what's most important to do and to help you achieve your goals.

A FATAL ERROR that some people make is they stop making the "To Do List" after awhile, because they think they can 'remember' what they have to do and they're dead wrong. They slowly lose their momentum. Never realizing that their business has slowed until it's too late and they have to start all over again.

If you miss a day though, don't sweat it. Accept it and start up again right away. So what, you missed a day or two, get back on the horse. Otherwise, a couple of days will turn into 2 weeks...and before you know it, it's 2 months.

Once you start, don't quit. Don't think"I'll get back to it later." Life is moving too fast and there too many ways to get distracted. Just keep your feet moving forward one step at a time. The list will help you stay on focused on your goals. Whatever you don't finish today goes on tomorrow's list. But if it's not an A, keep it a B until all of the A's are completed.

I once heard a very smart person say, "If you decide to go after your dreams, it doesn't matter if it takes you 3 years, 10 years or a lifetime to achieve...so long as you achieve it." Take charge of your time and what you accomplish every day. Don't let others steal your time.

When you have "To Do" thoughts during the day, write them down at that moment on your list and prioritize them as an A - B - C. Otherwise, you may not remember what it was that you wanted to write down.

To your success,

Dan

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