I once read a post in EAP’s Beat Zillow Facebook group where an agent was complaining that so many of the blog posts pushed out to EAP clients are on non-real estate subjects.
Actually, the posts are evenly split between homeowner topics and buying and selling topics.
That said, the agent said he’d prefer that his clients learn about down payment assistance and other such topics. Interestingly, as mentioned above, he has received plenty of blog posts on just about everything a real estate consumer would want to know.
Therein lies the problem, or problems.
Educating real estate leads, prospects and clients should never come at the expense of educating, entertaining and otherwise nurturing your real estate SOI.
It’s that type of limited thinking that causes the “I’m so sorry, I forgot you are in real estate” response when you learn that someone in your sphere is buying or selling a home with another agent.
If you offer nothing of value to anyone but leads, you’re doing your business a great disservice.
Leads are just leads
Early in our sales careers we learn that leads need to be qualified to become prospects. In other words, they aren’t sure things. Some leads may transform into prospects while many more will not.
Now, consider prospects, which hails from the word “prospective,” meaning “… expected or expecting to be something particular in the future.” (Oxford English Dictionary).
These are the gold mines on your lead list. Prospects, former clients and your SOI are the people most worthy of your attention, and nurturing your real estate SOI is crucial.
Sure, consistently filling the pipeline with new leads is important for your future business, but not at the expense of nurturing the surest of those in your CRM.
The good news, is that it’s not either/or
Lead gen and nurturing your real estate SOI are not mutually exclusive tasks. Implementing one does not automatically rule out the other.
They are both critical to the success of your business.
Get personal
Clean up your CRM, score each lead, prospect and member of your SOI and create a system whereby new information about those in your sphere is promptly added to it.
The more info the better because it allows your emails, phone calls and direct mail pieces to be better targeted and ultra-personalized.
Save the tire kickers for later
Busy agents only have so much time in a day to generate income. Why waste that precious time on prospects who aren’t ready to buy or sell?
As you go through your CRM, scoring the folks who populate it, think carefully about each prospect.
At phoneburner.com, John Greene compiled a list of “… 5 signs that a prospect may be wasting your time …” As you’re scoring prospects, ask yourself:
- Do they respond to your phone calls and emails in a timely fashion? If not, Greene suggests that “… there’s a good chance it’s a reflection of their level of interest.”
- Is this a buyer who is dragging his/her feet getting pre-approved for a mortgage? The lack of urgency on their part is a good sign that they’re not ready to transact.
- When do they plan on moving? If the timeline isn’t clear, it’s not a warm prospect. Sure, these prospects deserve follow-up, but not at the expense of ignoring warmer prospects and your sphere.
- Are there any pain-in-the-hineys among your prospects? Greene cautions that “The more demanding a prospect is, the less chance they ever end up buying.”
- Are they ghosting you? If so, keep them on the back burner.
Use your blog for all it’s worth
Educational blog posts. That’s what the aforementioned Facebook group poster said he craves for his blog.
“That’s what separates actually helping people from something they can find any and everywhere.”
Don’t look now, sir, but people can find real estate-related posts “any and everywhere” too.
He went on to lament that “They may be able to find trending Dutch furniture (which was one of our posts) on HGTV but that does nothing for anyone trying to actually sell or buy a home which is the business we are in.”
Not even the homeowner who is redecorating to stage a home for sale?
If all you are interested in doing is educating leads, then fill your blog with posts about buying and selling a home.
In the meantime, you have new homeowners in your sphere that are seeking information on trends in home furnishings and design, essential home maintenance tasks and how to find the best plumber.
You do hope to work with these homeowners or be referred by them in the future, right?
A blog full of strictly real estate process-blog posts does nothing for these people and they will move on and, quite possibly, never come back.
You have past clients, family, friends and more in your SOI who won’t regularly read your real estate heavy blog but just might visit routinely if the blog offers value to them as homeowners and members of the community.
To hit on all cylinders, your blog needs to meet the needs of not only real estate leads and prospects, but everyone in your SOI as well.
If you write your own blog posts, rotate the topics between those for buyers, those for sellers and those of interest to homeowners.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Popular homeowner topics for generating leads and nurturing your real estate SOI
- Gardening and landscaping: Topics about seasonal lawn care in your region, a list of the six toughest plants to grow in your area, when to start seeds outdoors in your area, pet-friendly yards, etc.
- How to hire qualified contractors, such as a roofer, interior decorator, plumber, painter, etc.
- Energy saving tips for homeowners
- Monthly events calendar
- Local business reviews
- Where to dine: outdoors, with your pet, with your kids, for a romantic evening, for brunch, when you crave Italian food, German food, etc.
- Home maintenance tips
- Easy DIY projects
- Trends: lighting, paint colors, furnishings, design, kitchen, bathroom, etc.
Educational homebuyer topics for generating leads and nurturing your real estate SOI
- Mortgage topics: Why you don’t need 20% down to buy a home; How to shop for a lender; What is the DTI?; The steps in the mortgage process; Don’t change your financial picture until after closing; Who pays what at closing
- Agent topics: Why you need a buyers’ agent; What to be on the lookout for when interviewing an agent; A day in the life of a buyers’ agent
- Current market conditions for buyers
- Features that are truly important to notice when viewing homes
- What impacts future value?
- Compiling a realistic wish list
- How the home inspection works
- How the appraisal works; How to dispute a low appraisal
- Should I buy or sell first?
- Old house or new?
- Condo or SFD?
- What does a home warranty cover?
Educational home seller topics for generating leads and nurturing your real estate SOI
- How to hire a listing agent
- Tips to choose the best offer
- How to sell your home in fall or winter
- How market value is calculated
- Staging topics
- The importance of curb appeal
- Title search process and issues that may come up
- The pros and cons of trying to sell your home yourself
- Do open houses work?
A goal to keep in mind when coming up with real-estate related topics is to create laser-targeted content for each stage of the buying and selling journey.
Then, to reach leads and those in your CRM, post links on social media to each and every post you publish on your blog.
To remain top-of-mind with both groups, you’ll need to consistently direct them to your website and cross-posting blog content to social media is the ideal way to do that.
But don’t stop there
Never let brilliant content go to waste. Whether you use EAP’s content or write your own, consider incorporating those blog posts into a newsletter.
With the variety of topics, this should appeal to not only new prospects, but to those in every stage of the pipeline and your SOI.
Yes, it sounds like a big job, but you can fully automate the process of generating leads and nurturing your real estate SOI. This leaves you free to bounce down the street and make money.
Check out the possibilities at:
Don’t need full-service? Check out the newsletter templates at:
The payoff comes with consistency
The fortune is in the follow-up. An old sales adage that still has teeth yet sadly, too often goes unheeded.
Consistency is key with any marketing plan.
“Whether you publish blogs every day or once per week, it’s crucial … to choose and adhere to a schedule,” Jon Simpson, owner of marketing and branding firm Criterion.b Agency said at forbes.com.
“Keeping with a regular strategy not only helps create a better customer experience but it also helps build credibility, reputation and brand trust,” he concludes.
Clean up and organize your CRM, figure out which of your prospects to nurture alongside your sphere and launch automated campaigns.
That’s the key to putting the brakes on chasing prospects at the expense of nurturing your real estate SOI.