Real Estate Strategy Guide 2012

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Copyright © 2012 All Frances Flynn Thorsen Cross Channel Marketing Consultants

Real Estate Strategy Guide 2012

How to Grow Your Business 10X

Are You Looking for Skills to Survive or Thrive?

Here's a Plan to OWN Your Market. Be the Leader!

Hi, Fran Thorsen here.

I started to write a blog post and realized this report contains enough for a series of blog posts, but I

really like it best as a single document, so I prepared this is a “special report.”

“The time to get the map is before you enter the woods.” –

Brendon Burchard, New York Times bestselling author of “The

Millionaire Messenger” and founder of Experts Academy.

There’s no question real estate is undergoing a seismic shift. Realtor® ranks are steadily declining. Sales

remain low despite historically low interest rates and drastically reduced prices in many market areas.

Foreclosures remain high in many states and there is talk about how to survive in real estate.

Conversations at the Facebook water cooler find agents comparing notes about free tools they can use

to generate new leads. Social media Pied Pipers dispense advice about marketing and nobody

challenges them about their own success.

“A” Bloggers declaration, “I had a million visitors to my blog and 7,000 leads last year,” is met with

cheers and awe, but nobody asks the most important question:

“How many houses did you sell?” or “How much money did you make?”

Often, answers to those questions are so low they are shocking. Most people are “polite” and don’t ask

the important question. Sometimes bloggers in take those claims and shoot them to smithereens with

MLS stats. That’s the stuff that brews blog wars, a silly way to spend time.

Real estate bloggers spend a lot of time talking to each other online. I don’t see many “A” bloggers in

the real estate arena modeling anything that will help anyone 10X their business in 2012.

On the other hand real estate agents with great strategies, personal discipline, and good work habits

are selling houses, lots of houses.

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It’s a sad fact that some of the best real estate marketers are not the best Realtors®. When I think of

great Realtors® I think in terms of one-on-one people skills, knowledge about contract law, and superb

negotiation skills. If you want to know the truth, some of the best “marketers” in the business are real

estate agents I would not call to show me a dog house. I might ask them for advice about a WordPress

widget, but I would never ask for their advice about financing, or crafting a negotiation strategy, or

writing an offer on a property.

When it comes right down to it, real estate is a business like many other businesses.

Some real estate agents are entrepreneurs, most are not.

Outside industry experts are watchable, interesting.

There is a movement in 2012 among non real estate entrepreneurs who want to explode their business

tenfold in 2012. The founder of this 10X movement is a young, highly successful entrepreneur, Brendon

Burchard. In the space of a few short years he saw his business go from nothing to $100,000 with simple

bootstrapping and three key strategies.

Next, he applied three more key strategies to take his business from $100,000 to $1 million. Last year he

made an incredible breakthrough with a New York Times best-selling book and a $4 million plus product

launch to bring his income to $10 million. He points to three strategies that helped him make that

quantum leap (we’ll get to that shortly).

Brendon wears a crown he crafted for himself as leader of the Expert Industry. At this point, nobody is

arguing with him. For the first time in years the world’s leading Internet marketers are not sharing their

launch results. People don’t talk about results. Sales are down across the board. They call Brendon for

help. Amazon calls Brendon for help with strategies and marketing.

(There is a link to a video in the photo, but the link may no longer be live when you read this. If there is an

opportunity to opt in for more information, my suggestion is, “Go for it.” I have no financial attachment

to any leads that enter that sales funnel, in case you are interested.)

http://www.brendonburchard.com/10xNYC/live

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Brendon Burchard is sharing his plan to increase business 10X with a $10,000-a-ticket-training-

extravaganza in New York City in April. He is a generous promoter, offering lots of content with videos

and blueprints.

How can we translate Brendon’s 10X strategies for massive success into a plan

for real estate agents?

I’ve distilled the essence of Brendon’s 10X formula with an accent on real estate. My report looks at real

estate from about 30,000 feet and I come in for a landing with a few ideas at several of those strategy

markers. Brendon’s blueprint is general. The real estate thoughts and additions here are mine. I

encourage you to listen to his videos, read his books, and attend his 10XNYC event if you can. Yes, I think

the $10,000 will be well spent.

Brendon says his success happened in three phases, and he points to key strategies in each phase. Let’s

take a look at the phases and key strategies that worked for him and talk about how we can apply those

strategies in real estate. Use this strategy guide as an outline and workbook to brainstorm with your

team, your partners, and your clients and customers.

What do you have to do to move the needle in your business and amplify your

revenues?

Let’s imagine your business is starting at

Phase 1 ($0 - $100,000/year)

Strategy #1

Content and Customer Development Planning

The content you publish on your website, your blogs, videos, and special reports has to reach a standard

of excellence that makes a difference in people’s lives. Be honest with yourself. Does your content reach

this standard? Does your content make a difference in people’s lives?

If YES, What type of information CAN you deliver to your market that helps people change their lives?

If NO, What type of information CAN you deliver to your market that helps people change their lives?

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What does a homebuyer in today’s market have to do to move from Point A to Point B to reach

his goal?

What does a seller have to do to maximize his revenue?

What is your content plan?

Do you have an editorial plan for your website and blog?

“Think in terms of seasonality,” says Brendon. “What are you

doing in three months, six months, and a year from now? ‘What

content does my audience need?’ “

Assess your knowledge, skills, and savvy.

How can you scale your gifts, craft a message, and deliver that content to your market?

Think about your customer development life cycle? Do your buyers become your sellers after a

few years? How many residential home buyers in your business become real estate investors

and turn to you for help?

What are the icons, titans, gurus in real estate doing? What can you do to turn your customers

into an army of fanatic fans and followers?

o EXAMPLE 1 -

o EXAMPLE 2 –

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Strategy #2

Integrated Product Suites

“This underleveraged strategy is responsible for helping me take

small ideas and promotions into the multi-million-dollar

stratosphere,” says Brendon. His challenge: “What product suite

should you roll out in the next 12 months to 10X your business?”

Apple is the best example of a company with an integrated product line. The company started with the

computer, introduced the iPod, the iPhone, iPad. Apple products talk to each other very well. Customers

want more Apple products and they want them integrated.

How do you integrate your real estate services?

How do you leverage agent savvy in your office?

Real estate listing services for sellers

Real estate fee-based consultative service

Buyer brokerage

HUD Homes specialists

Certified staging professionals

EcoBroker® on staff with “green” savvy

REO specialty services

Senior specialists

Bilingual services

Luxury homes marketing

First-time homebuyer specialists

Mortgage financing

Title services

Referrals

___________________________

___________________________

___________________________

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Integrated product funnels are not marketing funnels, not sales funnels.

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Strategy #3

High Level Customer Services

“It is vital to cultivate your best customers and have offerings that

wow them …,” says Brendon.

What is your highest tier price point and what corresponding services do you

deliver to your customers at that level?

Join real estate masterminds and non-real estate masterminds and group coaching programs and learn

about messaging, what to say, when to say it, how to say it. List your masterminds and coaching groups

here. Make a plan to add more to the list.

1.

2.

3.

4,

5,

Your brand and your messaging leads to market positioning. Are you the BEST at what you do in your

market? If not, why not? If you are not the leader in your market, who is? What does your market leader

offer that you do not offer?

Craft a “campaign” mindset when you craft messaging and sequential delivery. Design an outreach

system with planned message delivery. Test your campaigns and analyze results. Go with the systems

that deliver the best results. How many campaigns are you running right now? List them here. (Ideally,

you should need another page.)

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Take your business to the next level

Phase2 ($100,000 - $1 million/year)

Strategy #4

Market Leadership Positioning

Declare a mantel of market leadership. Craft a campaign with leadership messaging and facts and

figures and stories and anecdotes to back up your claim.

Don’t alienate others in your marketplace. Work with a great copywriter to help you craft your

message.

Strategy #5

Promotional Partnership Value Creation

First you need to establish your value first as a market leader. Then you position yourself as someone

who is promotable.

Who are your strategic partners in your community? List them here.

Lenders

Title Companies

Insurance Companies

Chamber of Commerce

Create value for your promotional partners. When you create strategic relationships in your

market, you will not believe what will happen to your brand. Add strategic levels of value.

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Strategy #6

Multi Channel Prospect Acquisition

Learn ways to get people into your sales funnel. What percentage of your business comes at different

entry points? List those numbers next to the entry points and add entry points that do not appear here.

Once you have established the major entry points, list the channels you are using to draw prospects at

each entry point.

Past clients

o Channels – “I wait until they call me.”

o Client follow-up system (print)

o Client follow-up system (email)

o Client follow-up system (gift)

o Client Follow-up system (cross channel)

Referrals

o Passive or Active campaign? Describe ...

Newsletter

o Print

o Web based

o Email

o Cross channel

Open houses

o

o

o

Website leads

o

o

o

o

o

Blog

o

o

o

Radio

o

o

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Newspaper ads

o

o

Homes magazine ads

o

o

Social media

o LinkedIn

o Facebook

o Twitter

o FourSquare

o Trulia

o Zillow

o Google Places

o Yahoo!

o Yelp

What are the needle movers in your market? You are probably doing 50 things

you don't need to be doing ... you are distracted. Only do things that move the

needle! Nothing else matters.

Automated Evergreen Marketing is another strategy Brendon points to as a major factor in his success.

Create marketing sequences you for your brand, and messaging you can set up across several channels.

How many evergreen channels are you using today?

Evergreen content strategy on blog

Automated Webinars

Launch design blogs for niche markets

Email autoresponders

Automatic, interactive SMS text

Direct-to-voicemail technology

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Ready for a Quantum Leap?

Phase 3 ($1 million - $10 million)

Strategy #7

Recurring Revenue Training Models

Set up training models that self perpetuate. I see two real estate applications here:

Broker training for agents

Agents using “training” and educational outreach in their marketing plans.

Channels: Online education tools, Webinars, teleconferences, in person classes, workshops and other

online and in-person events.

Strategy #8

Movement Marketing Campaigns

Pick an industry or a topic area where you would like to see change and incite people to take a new

direction. Read about movements and community organizing. Construct your marketing, sequence, and

branding that leads to a movement. (Women's Suffrage and Civil Rights are both great examples on a

national scale.)

Become a leader. Lead a movement to change the world. What creates and incites a movement? I

know this sounds like a very heady suggestion, but think about it. Where can you make a difference in

your local market with a “movement”?

Work with nonprofits and help distressed homeowners KEEP their homes vs. prospecting for a

short sale?

Raise the bar in real estate?

Shine a light on ethics in your market?

Promote cooperative, permission based marketing of your listings and encourage others to do

the same?

http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml

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Strategy #9

Category Ownership Initiatives

How do you become the senior authority in your real estate space?

The industry and the community have to agree with you. Your promotional partners have to agree with

you before you can claim the leadership mantel.

How can you own the category in whatever niche you are working?

How will you own it this year?

Expert positioning strategies are the fruit of finely honed strategic thinking.

What are the innovations that need to happen in your market? Identify them and make them happen!

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Resources

I’d be happy to talk to you if you want to go deeper about these strategies with me and put any of these

ideas to work in your business. I am happy to set up a consultation where we can explore the

opportunity to work together and grow your business. You can sign up for a consultation here or just

send me an email [email protected] .

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How is technology impacting your business? Are you on the cutting edge? Or are you stuck in the past?

RealtySocialQ Assessment (FREE) provides an objective review of the current state of your technology

relative to your business. (I wrote this assessment, BTW.)

___________________

Please send me your feedback about this report … I would love to hear from you. Good luck!

Frances Flynn Thorsen

[email protected]

http://www.instantcustomer.com/15207779830

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http://www.thelonesgroup.com/products.asp?a=20110928102009

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Technology

Real Estate Strategy Guide 2012