Tag: Internet Marketing

Are You Feeling the Pressure of Social Media?

And I’ll tell you upfront that I’m not going to focus on how to get more likes on your facebook page, more followers on Twitter or more views on YouTube, but how to use these channels to acquire the most valuable commodity – trust. And this is something that is not always easy to gain online.

So how do we do this? How can we use Social Media to build strong relationships and gain trust? We are all under pressure to produce great content, get more followers get more people to like us. It’s like being in high-school again where everything is a popularity contest. We have lost focus on the most valuable component here, and that is benevolence. The desire to help others and provide value. As social creatures, this is what releases those chemicals in our brain that make us feel good.

Let’s explore how and why we need to stay focused on this in all of our online marketing efforts, especially when it comes to social media.

The Four Cornerstones Of Trust

It’s not enough to project a super friendly persona and let everyone know what you are doing at all times. That is not the type of transparency we’re discussing here. Trust can be acquired in multiple ways and is most effective when you identify the key cornerstones.

Expectation. A positive interaction is what people expect when they like your facebook page or comment on your blog post. How do we meet that expectation and better yet exceed it. This is something that takes time and will come from a combination of quality content, being present, responding to feedback and most importantly – being consistent. There is no fast and easy money when it comes to social media, but you are expected to interact in a meaningful way.

Relationships. This positive interaction is what builds relationships. People want to know who you are and what you’re all about. If you stay consistent and make an effort to build relationships your audience will reciprocate.

Benevolence. The tendency to do good, to help, to take that part of your day to show an act of kindness. There are many ways to do this through the free content you provide. The knowledge that you share with others. If we are too focused on guarding our ideas and worrying about being better than the next guy, we loose the ability to be benevolent.

And most importantly, Integrity. By demonstrating all of the above cornerstones of trust, you will display integrity which is one of the most important leadership qualities any individual can possess, and sometimes the hardest to demonstrate.

So let’s start building our social empire of trust. It may be discouraging when you feel like no one is listening and your efforts are in vain, but Rome was not built in a day. And we are fortunate to have tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Yelp, Twitter and all of the sites that encourage connections and inspire us to share we have to offer to the world. If you keep the following points in mind, especially when it comes to Social Media, you’ll do just fine:

  • Be Present
  • Be Authentic
  • Be Responsive
  • Be Consistent
  • Be Friendly
  • Be Professional

To View This Week’s Agent Secrets Video On How To Build Trust Online Click Here

It’s LIVE NOW, ThursdayApril 26th, and will only be available to the public for the next 24 hours.

See you online!

 

Got The Right Personality for Online Success?

After reading an article by Steve W. Martin from the HBR Network on the “Seven Personality Traits of Top Sales People”, it struck me why some people are almost born to sell. They garner trust and authority by having the right mix of modesty, knowledge and confidence.  And because I specialize in helping real estate agents market their services online, I’ve devised an online strategy that will assist you in using those personality traits to gain trust and influence from your online audience

1. Modesty. “Contrary to conventional stereotypes that successful salespeople are pushy and egotistical, 91 percent of top salespeople had medium to high scores of modesty and humility. “

I can’t tell you how many real estate sites I see every day that have “John Smith Realtor – #1 In Sales Worldwide!” plastered right across the top of their homepage.  Yes, it took a lot of blood, sweat the tears to get that distinction, but does it need to be the first thing people see when they visit your site?  This kind of accolade is best suited for an awards page or a page that is specifically about you that people can visit if they wish.

2. Conscientiousness. “Eighty-five percent of top salespeople had high levels of conscientiousness, whereby they could be described as having a strong sense of duty and being responsible and reliable.”

When leads come through your website follow-up!  Call them back and send follow-up emails.  In a perfect world, everyone would pick up the phone and call you to let you know that you’re the one for the job. But that’s not realty.  Every time you get a lead through your website, especially if there is a valid phone number, there is no better way to show you are a responsible and reliable individual than to follow up and provide more information to the prospect.  In fact, over 75% of home buyers and sellers end up working with the first agent they speak too.

3. Achievement Orientation. “Eighty-four percent of the top performers tested scored very high in achievement orientation. They are fixated on achieving goals and continuously measure their performance in comparison to their goals. “

When developing a web marketing strategy, the first step is to set your goals.  Most of you may just want a website that magically generates leads with little effort or cost.  Some of you would even ask if we could do the follow-up calls! However, I do have quite a few clients that are genuinely interested in learning more about how to market their website to generate more leads and are very diligent about making sure they learn what is required to meet their own personal goals.  These clients end up being the best ones because they make a personal choice to take the time to learn and always benefit from their achievement.  Always set goals and devise an action plan that will help you meet them.

4. Curiosity. “Curiosity can be described as a person’s hunger for knowledge and information. Eighty-two percent of top salespeople scored extremely high curiosity levels. “

One of the things I love most about Realtors is they’re hunger for knowledge. The fact that there are probably more coaches and training in real estate than any other profession is a good indicator of that.  You love to soak up information and learn more and more until you feel your head will explode.  This is great if it’s coupled with action.  If all you do is learn and never act, you’re at a standstill.  I always encourage my clients to learn new things and then put them into action right away.

5. Lack of Gregariousness. “One of the most surprising differences between top salespeople and those ranking in the bottom one-third of performance is their level of gregariousness (preference for being with people and friendliness).”

This is an interesting one.  You are in the people business right? You should be the most friendly, personable mover and shaker around.  Wrong.  Top salespeople acquire a level of dominance that encourages obedience.  If you are too friendly with your clients you are at risk of loosing that. This becomes a real issue when it comes to things like facebook and twitter.  It is extremely important to use these social media platforms to establish your position and share your knowledge and expertise. Therefore, when the time comes to represent them, you will already be in a position of authority and power.

6. Lack of Discouragement. “Less than 10 percent of top salespeople were classified as having high levels of discouragement and being frequently overwhelmed with sadness. Conversely, 90 percent were categorized as experiencing infrequent or only occasional sadness.”

The power of positivity can go a long way.  Yes, there will be days when you make phone calls and people  don’t want to talk to you.  Having a follow-up plan and sticking to it is your best strategy for remaining positive.  Using an effective follow-up script can get you through those tough calls and give you that extra boost of confidence. I like to provide my clients wit a follow-up script that is designed specifically for web leads and getting them to the next level.

7. Lack of Self-Consciousness. “Self-consciousness is the measurement of how easily someone is embarrassed. The byproduct of a high level of self-consciousness is bashfulness and inhibition. Less than five percent of top performers had high levels of self-consciousness.”

Most of the top performers that I work with are not afraid to ask for things or tell people about their business. You have to be willing to go out and ask for those testimonials, hand out those “Just Listed” cards, tell people about your website and how great it is.  If you wholeheartedly believe that what you have to offer is valuable and unique, it will be much easier to sell.

Put The LOVE Back Into Your Craigslist Relationship

Happy Valentine’s Day! Today is the perfect day for me to share with you my LOVE of Internet Marketing and some useful information that could help you capture a lot more leads.

Craigslist is a great (and FREE!) service for promoting listings and special programs, but it can be quite tricky to get quality leads from your ad posts resulting in a LOVE/HATE relationship for many real estate agents. You’re not only competing for eyeballs with a huge number of advertisers, but you also have to struggle with Craigslist’s mysterious enforcement policies, which can lead to your ads being “flagged” or “ghosted”. So, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I am going to change that paradigm and show you how to put the LOVE back into your Craigslist relationship.

To this end, we must first understand that it IS possible to generate good quality leads and website traffic using Craigslist, if you stick with it and are consistent. The key is to develop a strategy that works for your market. Of course, Internet Marketing Specialists like my colleagues and I can help you with this, but wouldn’t it also be great to talk to other agents who are doing well on Craigslist, and find out what they do? How much time, trial-and-error and effort do you think their experience would save you?

This week, SuccessWebsite® Video Seminar Series is launching “Craigslist Ad Secrets Revealed”, a new part of our AgentSecrets program. In these live events, I interview some of our top-producing members about how to advertise effectively on Craigslist. These agents are getting stunning results with their lead generation, despite many of them being fairly new to Internet Marketing. They’re ordinary people who have discovered what’s working, and are eager to share how they achieved their success because they wish this information had been around when they were starting out.

And it’s about more than just Craigslist too, because most of these strategies can be applied to ANY online classified ad service, including eBay/Kijiji, Backpage, OLX, and even Facebook Marketplace. You’ll get new ideas on using these other services to drive more traffic and capture more leads.

I’m excited to get started with this new series, and I know it will help you learn to LOVE Craigslist!