Archive for February, 2007

The Real Estate market is changing. Prices are declining for the first time in years. Here in California, the prices are coming down from the stratosphere. Houses are still selling, but are taking months instead of days. In my Toastmasters club we have quite a few people that are involved in the Real Estate business. For some this is the first decline they have ever seen. For the more experienced agents, they have seen this cycle before.

I have asked a few of them how they are coping with the market changes. Many are sharpening their marketing tools to help match potential buyers with sellers. Others are having open houses on the weekend to bring in buyers. Others have moved online with personal websites and internet search tools.

My wife and I have spent some time over the past few weeks looking at open houses in our area. We have seen everything from an agent on the phone the whole time we visited to an agent that took the time to ask our needs, personally show us around the house, and the offer to show us other properties that might meet our needs better.

I noticed the marketing materials offered. They ranged from mass duplicated Xeroxes of the MLS listing to full color, glossy brochures. One agent even had a glossy brochure and a DVD available. When we got home I put on my marketing hat and thought to myself- how would I market Real Estate in this market?

I asked myself this question… What would I look for in a home?

Here are some things that came to mind…

Single story
Large Rooms
Efficient Kitchen
3 or 4 Bedrooms
Bright & Airy
Private Yard
Quiet Neighborhood
Good Schools

What bonus features would be good…

Nice View
Spa
Sunroom
3 Car Garage

What features might detract…

Pool with Maintenance Costs
Tile or Wallpaper the Wrong Color
Busy Street or Airport Nearby

I sat down at my computer and started working on some ideas for my Realtor friends. Since I’m not a Real Estate agent I had to look at this as a potential buyer. I came up with some business card sized marketing tools that I think will be helpful to Real Estate agents and others. The basic set is Microsoft Word template of 10 cards printed out on standard Avery Business card stock. The cards are simple and can be printed front and back.

The idea is to get information to the prospective buyer in a quick and easy format. The nice thing with business cards is they fit easily in your pocket or purse. Where a brochure or flyer might be discarded, a business card may be referred to over and over. Hopefully these will be a useful addition to a standard marketing strategy.

Real Estate Marketing Cards

The Open House Card: This is a great little tool for prospective buyers to take with them. They cost only a few cents apiece and are customized to the individual property. The front side of the card has the basic information along with the agents name and phone number. The back of the card can be printed with additional data, such as room sizes, area amenities, or loan numbers.

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The Lookie Loo Card: Many people that come to an open house are looking for something different than the property for sale. You might be offering a single story and they need a two story with more room. The house you are selling might be out of their price range. This is where the Lookie Loo cards come in. Create some of these cards for other properties for sale in your area. Take out the word Lookie Loo and replace it with a descriptive title of other properties.

When you hold an open house, ask your visitors their needs in a home. Offer these cards as an alternative to the property that is open. This will broaden your reach with prospective buyers. Popular options would be a less expensive property, a larger property, and possibly a location with a view or pool. Print the back side with additional information that matches the property. Example: For less expensive homes, offer loan information, for deluxe homes offer a list of amenities.

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The Investor Card: With declining prices, properties are starting to look good to investors again. Here in California, the prices are still out of whack, but other areas of the country there are homes and condominiums that make sense to investors. Here is a simple card where you do the math. You show your prospective clients the payment and additional costs along with the bottom line. You answer the question… What will it take to make a profit on this property? Printing loan information on the back is a great way to complete this card.

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The Move In Special Card: This is a card that can help differentiate you from the competition. Offer your prospective clients a reason to do business with you. This card is especially helpful at open houses where the neighbors drop in to see what homes are selling for. Some of these people may be interested in buying and selling in the future. This card will give them a reason to call you back.

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Back of Card: Room Sizes. This is a great template that prospective buyers will refer to over and over. This can be especially helpful when comparing different properties. Just lay out the room size cards of multiple properties on the table. This quick reference tool will give your buyers the data they need at a quick glance.

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Loan Payment Card: Run the numbers for your clients and show them how affordable your property is. Offer multiple cards with different loans on them. If your open house property is expensive, offer cards with more affordable properties on them, with this template on the back. This is a great way to match prospective buyers with a home they can truly afford.

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With this Word template it’s easy to copy and paste the card designs that you want.

Directions:

Download the Real Estate Marketing Template
Open in Microsoft Word
Fill in the blanks with your property data
Cut & Paste cards as necessary
Print out on Avery Business Card Stock (10 Card)
Break cards apart and display for clients
A blank template is included for easy data entry

Idea Options:

1. Have different cards available in Business Card Holders throughout your open house. The amenity cards work well in areas with a view.

2. Replace clip art with your own pictures (90 x 90 pixels or less).

3. Use these cards in conjunction with Online Marketing for greater effectiveness.

Other Cards Sets Available:

Goal Setting Toolkit

Five Minute Organizer

Bloggers from all over the country will be descending on Chicago in May. In the works for months, our friends Liz Strauss and Phil Gerbyshak have organized an amazing lineup of speakers for what should be one of the premiere blogging events of the year. Check out the lineup below.

SOBCon ‘07

Take Your Blogging to the Next Level

A Relationship Bloggers’ Conference and Networking Event

• Community, Friday, May 11, 2007, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
• Christine Kane, popular guitarist, singer, blogger LIVE
• Open Mic Night Cocktail Party – Live community event (multiple microphones) Take the conversation out of the comment box!
• Speakers, Saturday, May 12, 2007, 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
• Phil Gerbyshak, Make It Great! Relationship Geek
• Liz Strauss, Successful-Blog SOB and BAD Blogger
• David Armano, Logic+Emotion
• Terry Starbucker, Ramblings from a Glass Half Full ;
• Rodney Rumford, PodBlaze; Ben Yoskovitz, Instigator Blog
• Mike Sansone, Converstations & Iowa Marketing Bloggers
• Chris Cree, Success CREEations;
• Scott Rafer, MyBlogLog; Janice Myint Technorati
• Wendy Piersall, eMomsAtHome

There will be interactive presentations on publishing, design and branding, tools, analytics, social networking, marketing, and coaching — all from the perspectives of the relationship blogger and the audience.

Only 250 attendees will be accepted, and we hope YOU can be one of them!

SOBCon07

Do you have future projects that you put on your calendar and plan on completing by the due date? The day comes closer and closer and you start the project with every intention of completing it on time. Soon the day arrives and you have an outline and a whole lot to do. You scramble to get it done and then the unexpected happens. You have two hours left and someone calls a meeting…. arrrgh. An hour later you rush out of the meeting but the damage is done. Your project is unfinished, your stress level is sky high, and you vow never to wait to the last minute again.

Have you been in that situation before? I know I sure have. I’m not sure what causes me to do this over and over. Sometimes I think I must love the thrill of the last minute scramble. My mind must be addicted to the adrenaline rush. Unfortunately this last minute rush always leaves something out. I always walk away, shaking my head and realizing…

• Projects always take twice as long as I expect
• The materials I need will not be available
• I’ll forget to take something I need
• Interruptions will come
• There will be traffic

I used to think it was a guy named Murphy, I have come to realize it is a guy named “Me”.

A few weeks ago I found myself driving to a very important presentation and everything that day had taken much longer than I had expected. The powerpoint took 4 hours instead of 2. The wireless microphone I had planned to buy locally was not available. I had run out of the house without my phone and had to go back. I had an important voice mail that I had to return. I was running late, but there was light at the end of the tunnel. I could still get there on time if the freeway was clear.

Then it happened… I was a half mile from the freeway when the traffic stopped. Someone decided to do road construction on the freeway on-ramp at 5 o’clock in the afternoon. Arrgh!

I hit the dashboard with my fist. I was soooo mad! But there was nothing that I could do…

Twenty minutes later I was on my way again, but the damage was done.

I was late for the presentation, my preparation was not as good as it should have been, and I had to use a loaner microphone. I was stressed out and it showed.

When my program was over, one of the other presenters came up and told me a secret that they use to make sure they are prepared…

They schedule their meetings/events a week early.

They take any long term commitment and move it back seven days on their calendar. And they prepare for it just as if it was going to happen on that day. They say that with some practice this whole thing becomes second nature.

I’ve taken this point to heart and added a couple of ideas to refine it even more. Here is my action plan.

• Schedule the event on my calender a week early.
• Schedule an actual run-through on that day with someone.
• When preparing, do the hardest tasks first (Eat that Frog)
• Buy and source any materials in advance so they are available.
• On the actual day get to the event at least 30 minutes early
• Make a check list and go over it before leaving home.
• Prepare a presentation toolbox with needed cables, plugs etc.

Now that I’m giving longer and more detailed presentations to different groups this strategy has become very important. This is where Toastmasters has been a big help. Since our local club meets once a week, I can schedule a trial speech a week before the actual event. If there isn’t room on the docket I’ll schedule as a backup speaker. This forces me to be prepared, and I have a week to make changes.

If I’m short of any materials or need to source reference books, I have plenty of time. I have a week to order them, so I can save money by ordering online from Amazon or other retailer. I can refine the Powerpoint slides and fine tune any handouts or other written documents. But best of all my stress level is now much lower.

Related Articles:

The Daily Frog

Optitasking at Work

Over the past month we have talked a lot about goal setting on this blog. We have taken an idea and painted it in our minds. We have taken the outline of the goal and written it down. Now it’s time to fill in the pieces. Goal success comes down to daily actions completed over and over.

Over the years I have tried many things to help me with my daily activities and that never ending to-do list. I’ve worked with Outlook, tried many paper based planners, and even worked with a Treo Smart phone. What I always come back to is a piece of paper on my desk. It may be a legal pad, a small notebook or just a post-it note.

I make notes on the paper, write down phone messages, and list e-mails that I need to send. The paper sometimes becomes a mess of scribbles and notes. The general concept works well for me but things sometimes get lost in the shuffle.

A few weeks ago I decided to organize my sheet of paper into boxes that will hold my common activities. This little organization hack has worked wonders for me. I now have a common letter size sheet of paper broken up into useful areas. There is a place for phone calls that I need to make, e-mails that I need to send, and a create box for accounts that I need to setup.

The sheet is setup in a blog style format, with a large center column for to-do activities and appointments and a right sidebar for the smaller boxes. I’ve experimented with different box sizes and ended up making everything as uniform as possible. I added a success quotation to the bottom of each sheet to remind me of my priorities.

This simple sheet of paper has really helped me organize my daily activities. Now when my users call and need me to set them up an account, I can list it in the create box and it will get done. The telephone list is always visible which allows me to group callbacks, along with the e-mail box that groups e-mail responses so I don’t forget them.

I also created a weekly sheet which helps me plan out my week. I keep this on my desk under the daily sheet for reference. When I have something that I need to schedule later in the week, this sheet works wonders. Even though I still use Outlook for my calendar, a quick note here reminds me of the appointment.

Since this simple system works so well for me I decided to make a couple of standard versions that may work for you. I designed these in Microsoft Publisher for the greatest flexibility. Publisher allows you to move boxes with ease and align elements with precision. I realize that many people may not have Publisher installed on their machines so I have also included a non-editable PDF version.

There are three templates to choose from.

1. Daily Goal Sheet with To-Do List

2. Daily Goal Sheet with GTD Next Actions

3. Weekly Goal Sheet with Five Side Boxes

Each template includes a Microsoft Publisher file and a non-editable PDF (Acrobat) file. These are designed for standard U.S. Letter size paper. Just download and unzip the file. Open the file in Publisher and modify as necessary. Print out on standard weight white paper. If you don’t have Publisher use the included PDF file instead.

When you are done with your daily sheet at the end of the day, just three hole punch it and store it in a notebook for future reference. If you use a weekly sheet, store your daily sheets behind it. This will quickly build a daily journal that you can reference in the future.

It’s simple and it works.

Other Goal Setting Tools:

Goal Setting Toolkit

Five Minute Organizer

Resources for Daily Goal Setting:

Eat That Frog
 
7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Daily Planners

Have you ever been accused of knowing too much? Have you ever tried to explain something technical to someone else and have them give you a puzzled look? It seems so simple to you, yet it seems so hard to make others understand. The more elaborate details you throw their way the more confused they become.

It’s the dreaded curse of knowledge. You may have years of study in your field with hundreds of hours of hands-on experience. You have all the industry acronyms and catch phrases. The person you are sharing with doesn’t know your language. The more you try to communicate the more you rely on specific terms. The communication totally breaks down.

The more you know, the harder it is to relate to those that don’t know.

In their new book, Made to Stick, Chip & Dan Heath explore this concept with some helpful examples to help you share your knowledge with others and make it stick. Their formula for success can be found in six guiding principles.

• Simplicity
• Unexpectedness
• Concreteness
• Credibility
• Emotional
• Stories

These six items will help you share your idea, product, or teaching lesson with others in a way that grabs their attention and draws them into your story. The idea you are sharing suddenly comes alive and the full color picture is emotionally implanted into their minds. In simple terms… Your Ideas Stick.

Let’s take a look at the first concept of simplicity.

The idea here is to take the huge knowledge base of an idea and refine it down into a core concept. You break off the outside shell, clear out any peripheral junk and get down to the shiny core. It sounds easy, but the curse of knowledge hinders us from seeing the core. We get stuck in the peripheral areas. We work daily in the outlying areas and for many of us the core idea or principle has long been forgotten. We actually know too much!

If we can start with the core and work outwards our message will come across loud and clear.

Core messages help people avoid bad choices by reminding them of what’s important.

Let’s take the example of blogging. The whole subject has many pieces.

There is the…

• Software: Blogger, Typepad or Wordpress
• Hosting: Our own or using a hosted service?
• Domain Name: Do we use a dot.com or other name?
• Keywords: What words describe our site?
• Color Scheme: What colors describe us?
• Graphics: What pictures and icons share our message?
• Advertising: What kinds of ads, if any, will be on our site?
• Newsletter: Will we publish a blog newsletter?
• Audience: Who will read our blog?

Yet all of these are peripheral issues. The real core of blogging is..

Sharing Our Story With The World

Once we discover what our story really is we can add the peripheral items. We can choose the software, add the colors and finish it off with our own custom graphics. We can then choose an appropriate domain name and keywords. We will soon find our audience and fine tune the whole process. Soon we can start our own newsletter and add more value to our readers. We take our message to the world.

Yet what usually happens… Most people start from the outside and try to work inwards only to find that there isn’t a core at all.

Of the thousands of blogs that are created everyday, how many make it past the first or second post?

The peripherals can get us started but without a core to work from the whole thing quickly falls apart.

The bottom line… What is Our Core Message?

It has been almost a year since I posted our first business card based pocket organizer. Called the “Walleteer” because of its compact size, this little assortment of organizer cards has spawned a lot of additional card sets. This paper based concept came from the idea of the index card Hipster-PDA from 43 folders.  There are sets designed for outlining, flowcharting, and storyboarding. There is even a complete set for setting up a garage sale.

Since there are so many sets, its easy to mix and match cards depending on the need. I thought it would be cool to setup some custom covers that might match the occasion. The Walleteer is almost always a conversation piece and with the addition of a colorful cover, people say… “Hey…What’s that?”

We created a 10 card assortment that you can print out on most any color printer. The high resolution graphics on these cards are done in Photoshop and print cleanly on most Avery Card stock. They look especially good on the glossy cards. There are covers for data and business people, political junkies, and even one that I designed for Gina Trapani over at Lifehacker. For a more elegant look in her purse, my wife likes the Walleteer Deluxe card.

Instructions for Printing Walleteer Covers:

• Download the Walleteer Covers Template
• Open the template in Microsoft Word
• Print the cards on a Avery Business Card Stock
• Use a Color Inject or Color Laser for best results
• Break the cards apart
• Put them on top of your card stack
• Attach a mini clip at one end
• You now have a personalized Walleteer pocket data assistant
• Stores easily in pocket or purse

In the spirit of the creative Super Bowl ads, I had to ask the question… What’s in your Walleteer? I find that mine has an assortment of cards, from flow chart shapes to a diet tracker card. I keep an assortment of different cards in my desk drawer and take them along as needed.

If I’m going into a planning meeting I like to take some flowchart shapes as well as an outliner deck. When I’m working on a Powerpoint or other story based idea the pocket storyboarder is very helpful. I can take the cards where it is comfortable and the creative juices start to flow.

On my desk I like to have a motivator card or two along with a quotation card. It’s easy to swap them out depending on my mood or activity. Some of the dieteer reference cards are helpful to keep in the car when I’m out for lunch or dinner to track my calories. My wife uses hers to track weight watchers points.

Here are some of the card sets you can choose from. Click on the link to go to the individual download page.

Walleteer: Pocket Organizer

Flowchart: Desktop Flowchart

Dieteer: Diet Planner

Outliner: Desktop Outliner

Motivators: Motivational Cards

Pocket Storyboarder: Storyboard Cards

Productivity Game: Fun Card Based Motivational Game

Instant Garage Sale: Price Tags & Signs

10 Powerful Quotations: Quotations by Famous Authors

Gift Tags: Gift Tags for the Analytical Mind

Have fun with these cards and use your imagination. You can even create a “motivation station” on your desk that will keep you focused during the day. Using simple materials such as a clothes pin, mini clips, and a pencil, you’ll have a tower of power on your desk in no time.

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