August 21, 2008

John Surge says:
The format for today's chat is free-form Questions and Answers on any marketing-related topics. Please feel free to ask questions, share experiences and interact with each other. The chat will last 45 minutes. We hope you enjoy this free resource of Hobbs/Herder.

AnnReale says:
Looking forward to learning some new things!

John Surge says:
Welcome! By way of introduction, my name is John Surge and I am the President of Hobbs/Herder. I have worked closely with Don and Greg over the last 18 years, and my specialty is helping agents and companies develop successful marketing strategies.

We're glad you took time out of your day to work on your business and work on your marketing.

edmixon says:
I would really like some help with personal marketing.

John Surge says:
OK, let's get started. Please feel free to tee up your questions and interact with each other.

Let's start with Tisha. How can I help you with digital printing?

Lori, the format is questions and answers. Please ask follow ups and please feel free to interact with the other chat participants.

edmixon says:
Invisibility has been a problem for me in my market area. I have tried all types of approaches, humor, door knocking, traditional, information, and yet still....nothing.

Tisha Green says:
John, I have a question that's more design related, concerning digital printing of PowerKards. I understand that free edit is a module that Hobbs Herder might make available. I'd love to have this option! A text box with basic formatting options would give me alot more flexability - like bullets, paragraphing, bold and other font sizes. When will this be available? Thanks!!

amy dubois says:
Ed, Branding "your" style is key. It allows you to feel comfortable about what you can bring to the table.

amy dubois says:
Branding builds a bond before you meet anyone.

AnnReale says:
After more than 20 years in the r.e. business, it takes years of doing the same thing to see any results. That is why I'm looking forward to HH changing things up a bit.

John Surge says:
Ed, that's probably a big part of the problem. We tend to be impatient and flit from idea to idea, strategy to strategy. This costs money and doesn't build anything. I have to ask you, have you been to a Hobbs/Herder seminar?

Tisha, great question, and I don't have an answer for you, but I will have someone be in touch. We appreciate feedback on how we can make our digital printing storefront better. I would recommend that everyone visit http://www.HobbsHerderPrinting.com to learn more about this great strategic printing service.

edmixon says:
I went to the Gateway in July. It was really great, and I am working on getting something going. I will say that I had tried branding in the past, and not very good results.

John Surge says:
I'll talk later about the concept of Variable Data in direct mail. Ann, thanks. Are you in the process of developing a marketing campaign?

AnnReale says:
yes, have submitted my info about 3 weeks ago!

John Surge says:
Ed, you have to ask yourself a fundamental question:
Is building a strong personal brand essential to growing a successful real estate career that doesn't burn out the agent in the long run? What is your answer to that?

Ann, great, do you have a target market and a database developed?

Tisha Green says:
Yes, digital printing of Powerkards is REALLY easy and a great way to market yourself. I work for an agent that sells mostly raw acreage for recreation, investment, etc. so many of the templates don't work for us. I can design pretty well so I'd love to be able to create some very specific cards for the agent.

edmixon says:
I would say yes to that, but the problem seems in that I need to be able to communicate with the people I am trying to get to.

AnnReale says:
target no, database being built now. Have about 1000 names so far.

John Surge says:
Tisha, OK, let me have someone contact you to better understand your needs. Who is the agent you work for?

Ann, it's kind of the same thing, but how did you select the 1000 homeowners?

Ed, help me out there. What do you mean that the problem seems to be a need to communicate with the people you are trying to get to? Do you mean your message is not getting to them? Let's work on this a bit.

Tisha Green says:
Tom Smith (Madison MS). I do like the way PK are really quick and easy to create and mail. We just sent out our first one this week but are quickly moving into sending more and getting on a schedule.

AnnReale says:
from a geographic farm I have had established for some time. More importantly, my sphere of influence or those in the community I have networked with. I"m very active in my area with volunteer efforts.

John Surge says:

Ann, great. That is a TARGET MARKET. Do you keep numbers on market share and turnover for the geographic farm?

AnnReale says:

I have not, but could easily produce it.

edmixon says: Ok. I live & have been trying to work in an area you are probably quite familliar with, in San Clemente. I have been active in RE for 13+ years, but have never been able to hit the "spot" in communicating with other residents, based on the demographics. Middle-upper income, younger families, etc.

BethGanem says:
How frequently should mailings be sent out and what is the best way to also get email addresses to send out custom email messages to your farm?

John Surge says:

Tisha, that's great. We'd love to know more about your requirements to see if we can work toward developing that functionality.

Ann, that would be great to do on a minimum quarterly basis. Part of marketing is knowing the numbers and knowing info about your competitors and the marketplace.

Ed, I do know San Clemente. You live in paradise! I think your disappointment in your results is causing you to make emotional decisions with your sales and marketing plan. That flitting hurts your leverage and hinders the ability to snowball a business. How big is your target market?

edmixon says:
It has varied from 400-650.

AnnReale says:
Ok, our multi list has easy access to all that info. I'll produce some data to help establish a plan.

edmixon says: BTW, I have been trying this for over 6, yes count them SIX years.

Tisha Green says:
John, thanks. This is what would be great for us: a "text box" that I can custom-format using bold, italics, a range of large and small font sizes,a few bullet choices and the ability to paragraph a I'd like. Thanks very much! If you can tell me who to call/email about this, I will do so -- would it be Patrick?

John Surge says:
Hi Beth, I see you lost connection but I'll answer this any way because it's a great question. We recommend 3 pieces mailed per month. We do not recommend any less than 2 pieces per month. I also like a 323 strategy where you send 3 pieces one month, 2 the next and 3 the next. I do like to taper down a bit in November and December.

marty tuominen says:
I have signed up for the Megagent program and have my personal brochure but I'm haven't incorporated the image, etc into my regular marketing eg bus cards, advertising...is there a resource at HH to help with that?

John Surge says:
Ed, well you are resilient and that means a lot. Could we help you in any way? There are no easy answers but I sense your frustration. My gut feel is that on your own you are making emotional decisions like a person in the stock market who buys high and sells low. I have a feeling you are not putting the money you are spending to good, focused use. A 400-600 database might be a fundamental problem. Do you know market share and turnover numbers for that database?

Marty, absolutely. That is very important to what I call marketing leverage. You need all of your branding pulling on the same side of the Tug O War to leverage every dollar spent. When we hodge podge it we send mixed messages. It's a simple example but have you ever seen a blue Coke can with a different logo because they got tired of their 150-year old logo?

Marty, would you like me to have someone phone you or email you? Just let me know.

edmixon says: Market share is split 15-20% shared by 2-4 agents. All the rest seem to be relatives of sellers/buyers. Turnover is about 15-20% and the price range is from 400K condos to 2-4M single family homes.

marty tuominen says:
Yes, I understand the reason for consistency but I struggle with implemenation. That would be great if someone could contact me. Thanks.

John Surge says:
Ed, are you one of the 2-4 agents? If those turnover numbers are accurate, that's pretty robust. Do you have a written sales and marketing plan?

susan ireland says:
John and everyone: I just met with Natalie McArtor here at L&F - she dropped off her new brochure which looks fantastic! She says hello to everyone.

John Surge says:
How are we doing? Some of you are sitting on the sidelines. Don't be shy. We're here to help and to share marketing successes and challenges.

Thanks, Susan. Great to hear about Natalie with Long & Foster.

mcartor says:
The 323 strategy seems like it coud be quite costly (postage, cards, etc.) but, at the same time I want results as well. Are there any statistics available for sending out your personal brochures every 6 months and powercards to the same database each month during the other 10 months of the year. My wife Natalie and I have a farm of roughly 1500 properties.

John Surge says:
I want to remind everyone that this Chat Resource transcript will be posted on our website early next week so you can have the information as a reference.

edmixon says:
No, I am not even one of the even-ran group. The turnover is higher due to the mortgage fall-out. There were a lot of flippers.

John Surge says:
Mcartor, it's really not possible for us to keep numbers of the personal businesses of agents. We do know about what has been successful over the course of 21 years in helping agents to grow their businesses as well as best practices in marketing. In direct mail, frequency and consistency are two big components. You do need to be able to sustain a budget if you embark on a direct mail campaign. If you are asking me what kind of results you will get from sending one mailing per month, we would caution you that that is probably not a frequency that will deliver the results you're looking for.

edmixon says:
Off subject, who you recomend for printing of brochures, etc.?

vwright@mris.com says:
I attended the Gateway seminar in 2006 and since then have been trying to implement what I learned. With this economic market, I have to make choices where I spend my money now. I average a mailing to my farm quarterly. The area of Virginia where I live is sought after but is the high end properties for the most part. I know you have to invest in a business to make money but this is difficult for me at this time. I am also competing with well known, long time in the market agents. I know that being in the community as a specialist is important and I have targeted the community where I have lived for a long long time. My response has not been good. I have not been able to do the multiple mailings you suggested. I realize that it is up to me if it is meant to be.

AnnReale says:
It is expensive to be successful in this business. A lot of part timers think if they make a sale here and there, it will work out. But making a living in this business is hard to do. There were many years when my budget didn't allow too many mailings.

John Surge says:
Ed, you might want to come by the office and sit down with someone to see what can be done. As to your other question, my heart aches!!! I would of course recommend Hobbs/Herder to print your materials so you can achieve great quality, service and pricing!

AnnReale says:
Once I started spending money on my business, the listings started coming. Now I want to make the move to be bigger and better than my competitors.

edmixon says:

I am planning to meet with Coach Phil when he becomes available.

I am also working on the English, and spelling class......

John Surge says:

Vwright, it's difficult and you have to make choices. We have a great article on our website about strategic networking. The biggest thing is to have a plan and stick to it with commitment. It's not a bad idea to get a personal brochure and then commit to distributing 25-50 per week--by hand, by mail...whatever. You can make it happen with the right focus.

Ann, that's great. Now is the time to pour it on. This is the greatest opportunity to take market share as so many pull back.

OK, how are we doing? Are you getting some good information today? Enjoying this resource?

edmixon says:
Yes.

Bonnie Van Ness says:
Yes. Thanks

John Surge says:
Please know we do this every Third Thursday at Ten pacific, 1PM eastern. Next Chat Session is Sept 18

susan ireland says:
It's great - where else can we go and get good solid advice like this.

John Surge says:
We still have some time, so please ask your questions, share your experiences or pose a follow up?

Tisha Green says:
John, if you could let me know who to contact about the "free edit" module, that'd be great. thanks!

John Surge says:
Thanks, Susan. I would give out my cell number...but.... First of all, HobbsHerder.com is a great resource. We also offer a host of teleclasses and webinars through our Coaching Program. Check the website for more on this. Marketing education, I believe, is the key to longevity in this business.

Of course, we also have our Washington DC Gateway seminar coming Sept 17-19. Some have likened this to an MBA in real estate marketing.

Tisha, I'll have someone get in touch next week.

judith says:
John, my brochure is not finished I keep feeling I haven't found the right message. Isn't important to start with the right message.

John Surge says:
Well, a few more minutes until sign off. I appreciate you taking time to be with us today. Please know that your success is our passion and what drives us every day at Hobbs/Herder.

Tisha Green says:
Thanks, John!

marty tuominen says:

Thanks for the insights John!

John Surge says:
Judith, yes, as long as you don't fall into paralysis by analysis. Sometimes you have to get out of your way, but give me your contact info and I'll have someone be in touch.

John Surge says:
Until next time...happy marketing. We will see you on Sept 17 at the Gateway or here on the chat Sept 18.

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