It’s no surprise that real estate is a relationships game and the more people you know, associate with and can touch, the more successful your career will be.

Even N.A.R. backs this up with their study that found about 74% of all transactions are relationship-based… meaning your sales mostly come from someone who knows you or is personally referred to you!

That’s why building and cultivating your database is so crucial if you plan to be in this business for the long term. That database, or as we in Agent Inner Circle call it, your Power List, is actually a tangible asset that you can sell if and when you decide to retire someday.

But let’s not worry about retirement just yet, let’s focus on how you can grow that Power List of yours to be a cash machine that gives you the lifestyle and income you desire – because the money is in the list!

Why prioritize leads?

Real estate can be a tough business, and you might not have a quality list working for you (yet). A great list of folks you stay in touch with regularly can be generating income for you each month mostly from referral and repeat business. If you’re just starting out, leads may be all you have- but that’s ok! Those leads become extremely valuable to you once you convert them into a higher-quality member of your Power List- someone who is a friend, acquaintance, or client.

So, leads are a priority in your real estate practice to keep the transactions churning and keep YOU from the feast/famine that many agents experience who haven’t set up a good system for generating and tracking leads.

(Read more about how to prioritize here: https://agentinnercircle.com/5-ways-to-build-a-profitable-real-estate-practice/).

Generating Leads

This week, we’re focusing on generating leads with offline methods like print marketing, and next week we’ll follow up and talk about online leads.

You’ll generate new leads both online and offline. Offline leads come from:

1. Community Involvement (https://agentinnercircle.com/community-engagement/)
2. Open Houses (https://agentinnercircle.com/6-tips-get-next-open-house/)
3. Door Knocking/door hangers (in Person)
4. Yard Signs
5. Telemarketing (cold calls)
6. Print and Direct mail

Guess what? Print Is Back

Lately, we’ve seen a consistent trend in the real estate industry, which is that PRINT advertising is coming back! For years now, we’ve heard that email and online ads are the place to be. And while you can still generate leads with both of those, inboxes are so inundated, people are starting to pay attention to mail again. There’s less clutter in the mailbox, and it’s harder to ignore something you’re holding in your own two hands.

Print Mail Secrets

#1: Consistent contact is essential. You must commit to making contact every 21 to 30 days. Why? Because for every 30 days you neglect your Power List you lose 10% of them. This is where most agents are blowing it, big-time.

#2: Get your contact delivered and opened. What do YOU do with mail that looks like junk? It’s a no-brainer- it goes in the recycle bin.  If you want to get your mail delivered, opened and read, you must make it look PERSONAL – like a birthday card from Aunt Mildred.

#3: Have an amazing offer or something of value. If you’re farming an area, the people you’re sending to probably don’t know you from Adam (or Eve). Sending out Just Sold postcards and not getting the results you want? Maybe it’s because those postcards don’t give the recipient a self-serving reason to ACT- which is what human nature requires. Here’s what I mean –  imagine getting a postcard in the mail with an amazing offer for a FREE market report about your neighborhood. That’s something you’ll act on- and I’m offering an example to you for free so you can try it yourself. Just click the image below for an example postcard that motivates ACTION instead of a quick trip to the trash (just print addresses on the front of the postcard, and replace the example info in red with your info)…

Newsletters

A newsletter is the best way to contact your list monthly, without being seen as a “pushy salesperson.” But just any real estate newsletter probably isn’t going to contain all the elements that it should- so make sure what you’re sending:

• Is welcoming and perceived as valuable. I recommend using a newsletter with valuable “how-to” consumer articles and resources, such as Service For Life!® (www.serviceforlife.com) – see a sample by clicking on the SAMPLE tab at the top of the page.
• Involve and engages the reader. This is done with valuable content as well as involvement devices, such as trivia questions, crossword puzzles, or even humor.
• Demonstrates your competence as a real estate professional. So you should also include a short article on topics related to real estate.
• Bonds the reader to you in a very personal way. I like to make the newsletter “look” very personal – as if it came right off your own personal computer. I also use very unique psychological methods such as client recognition, client appreciation, new client welcoming and other techniques.
• Motivates some kind of action on behalf of the reader. Throughout our newsletters we offer special consumer reports about buying or selling, offers for a Maximum Home Value Audit, offers for customized lists of homes for sale perfectly matching their criteria, etc.

Remember – if you don’t motivate your reader to ACT in your behalf, your contact, effort, and money is all for nothing. And no one will act without a self-serving, almost irresistible REASON for acting – an OFFER.

After you get your new leads’ contact info-  follow-up, follow-up, follow-up. And follow up again.