Realasponse™

Marketing guru Seth Godin responded to questions from Ubertor.com regarding real estate business. Though there were only three questions asked, I felt they were well answered. However, the last question is what really stood out and exactly captures what we at Realasponse.com are all about. Here’s the question:

Ubertor:
How would you pick a Realtor to sell your home?

Seth Godin:
Someone I trusted
Someone respected
Someone who was the clear and obvious best choice!

We couldn’t agree more. Which is why we’ve been providing a marketing solution that allows you to do just that: (1) win trust (2) build repoire (3) offer something valuable to prospects that makes it easy to choose you over others.

Thanks Seth!

Is it really as simple as just throwing up a real estate website and having prospects line up for business? The short answer is an obvious no. However, it’s quite common to hear many play up the benefits of having a website. For certain, a website is a necessity for today’s Realtor, but it’s important to understand that having a site alone means nothing if it isn’t marketed. And with thousands of agent sites already in existents, and more being added everyday, marketing is ever an important thing.

Using Google Adwords is certainly an option, however, here’s the problem with this channel of marketing: it’s not personal enough. If you think about it, you’re using the same thing as your competition to attempt to stand out and appear different. A simple looking headline along with two lines of body copy. Is that really enough? Where’s the experience for the customer? There isn’t one. And the fact is it doesn’t take much for them to move past your ad and go to a larger competitor like Ziprealty or Redin who are buying up better ranking Adwords in the area you work. Bottom line: it’s too easy to get eaten by the big guys and not enough to stand out for the customer.

The answer to all of this is using real estate postcards to market your website. If you really want people to get a sense of what you’re about and what you can offer them put something in their hand. Give them something in their hand they can interact with and experience. Remember, according a 2005 National Association of Realtors study, most home sellers and buyers contacted only one agent. That means prospects aren’t doing a lot of searching out there for Realtors. So it’s best to go to the prospect first and meet them at their doorstep in the form of a postcard.

Another benefit about marketing with real estate postcards is that your marketing material is only competing for attention with mail that the prospect has received for that day (and chances are it won’t be another agent’s postcard right then and there.) So, again, using our website postcards will give you a better chance of standing out and securing a customer. It’s about increasing chances not taking them.

I’ve noticed over that last couple of months or so more real estate agents marketing with real estate postcards for various reasons. Most agents have come to realize that innovative marketing in today’s market is more than posting up Goggle Adwords and having a website. It’s about being first of prospects. Literally. In fact, in their hand. This is what postcards allow you to accomplish; and accomplish without being there.

On our site there are three main benefits we share about postcard marketing. Here they are:

1) Open Mail (no need to open)
When mailing brochures, packages, and envelopes, you’re left hoping that prospects take the time to open and read your message. However, with postcards the visuals and message go to work immediately without any need for opening. Prospects are hit upon contact. This is important since research shows that your marketing pieces have only 3 seconds to capture the attention of potential clients.

2) Effective -vs- other methods
Aside from being cost-effective, real estate postcards beat out other real estate marketing methods by sheer circumstance. Unlike an ad, your postcard competes with only a handful of items in the mailbox on that day, rather than with the 250-300 ads in a typical newspaper or magazine.

3) Personal Interaction
Unlike emails or websites, postcards are held in hand while read. The act of consciously picking up a postcard is the first step toward opening up your prospect to your message. Remember, the prospect is physically holding your message and has to interact with your postcard (turn it over) for more information. This experience makes for a loose personal contact between you and your prospect from right within their home.

And there explains the massive move toward more traditional marketing like postcards. However, mind you, traditional marketing with long over due treatments to postcard marketing. Realasponse.com

Here’s one common mistake I see agents make time and time again: Their Open House postcards fail to carry the excite of an event. That’s right, an event. Remember, the market is not an exciting place at the moment and both buyers and sellers are a bit nervous. That excitement needs to be broken with energy. However, I ‘m not talking about anything cheesy such as pens and gimmicky items. What’s needed is nothing more than the good ol’ Open House Postcard with a twist of life.

So we here a Realasponse.com are announcing a site in the works that will provide agents across the country with FREE Open House Flyers that you can edit yourself. You heard right 100% FREE with no strings attached. The reason for our announcement is due to the market saturation of so many sub standard Open House Marketing Flyers. If we all want the market to do better we should also do better by the market.

Prospects want more for agents in a time where commissions are under attack. Well, we’re helping you out! Stay tune for updates.

Go on any website selling just listed postcards and just sold postcards and you’ll find the same dated postcards from years back. The first thing that any real estate agent should ask is why should I market with postcards are clearly in a time warp when today’s marketing times call for a different approach?

The problem with these postcards are twofold. First, let’s start with their messages. Ofttimes the typical just sold postcards consists of one message entirely: “Just Sold!”. That’s not good enough in a market where prospects have been numb to this message over years and realize the market has changed. The best thing to do is put the “Just Sold” message in context with today’s market, as seen here: Just Sold Postcards . The reason these postcard messages work (aside from prospect-researched layout) are the fact that the postcards don’t ignore where the market is currently at, however, embraces it and finds a way to use it toward an advantage.

Remember, clients are smart today and have access to much of the same information as you have. So, if you come with the same-old-pitch, they’re thinking “same-old-agent”; and the “same-old-agent” can’t get my home sold in today’s market.

The same applies for Just listed postcards. Where’s the ‘UMF!”. There’s no spark in seeing a postcard with a headline of solely “Just Listed”. Again, putting things in context with today’s market will set you apart from the countless agents who haven’t got a clue as to what they’re doing.

So, while others may be drowning in a sea of slow transactions, you’ll be hitting the mark with robust messages and presentation that keep you afloat.