Tag Archives: Marketing

Bye Bye QR Codes-Meet NFC

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A few years ago we all got into the hype of QR codes. I was never sold on them. I just couldn’t see the majority of the population using them. Even years after they came out, they still are rarely used and the everyday consumer does not take the time to scan a QR code.

Then NFC (Near field communications) came along. The term itself is not known but the technology is. Check out this video for an example:

Yes, it’s completely handy that you can simply tap a smartphone or a tablet to each other and the information is instantly exchanged. Its simple. There is no need to download an app. Here’s some of the many ways to use this technology:

  • Commuting to the office: During the drive to and from work, NFC can unlock your car, adjust your seats, and even admit you to the company’s secure parking garage.
  • At the office: Once you’ve arrived, you can gain access to your office building and clock in by swiping your smartphone or other device. Paying for snacks out of the vending machine or clocking in and out for breaks takes only seconds using NFC technology.
  • On the bus: If you commute to the office, you can pay for your bus or subway pass and wave your phone to pass through the gates. Tapping your phone at a kiosk gives up-to-date information about schedules and delays, while interacting with advertisements and bulletin boards lets you access coupons or learn more about current events in your area.
  • At the store: On the way home from work you stop to buy groceries. Coupons and customer reward points are already pre-loaded on your smartphone and are applied to your total automatically when you check out. Payment occurs when you wave your smartphone over the card reader and you’re ready to go without ever opening your wallet.
  • At a concert: Like purchasing a bus ticket, you can purchase concert tickets and use your NFC compatible smartphone to gain access to a concert. You can also interact with smart posters at the concert for information about the band, the current schedule of events, and upcoming performances. When you’re thirsty, just wave your phone at a merchant’s register to buy a drink. Less tickets and cards to juggle makes the event hassle-free and reduces your chances of being pickpocketed.
  • Hanging out with friends: Finally, when you need some down time you can share games, links, and info with friends by bumping phones. NFC can establish a Bluetooth connecting between your phones for sending large amounts of data from a further distance range than NFC covers. You can even send money to each other all with the wave of a smart phone.

Here’s the cool part….and this is why I know QR codes are dead. There is now new technology that you can store information such as a video or for instance a property virtual tour into a card that has a chip inside of it. I would also guess that you could also use these on your for sale signs as well.

Check out this live demo I witnessed that shows how easy these cards work.

Now think about all of the information you could store on the cards. You can even use it as a payment system. To be honest ways you can use this are pretty limitless.  Even the company Moo Cards now have custom business cards that have the NFC technology in them.

Now obviously you have to know that you do need a device with NFC technology…and  for all the many Apple lovers, Apple has not picked up NFC, but the iPhone 6 is expected to have it. This is something that most Android devices have adopted to use.

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Experiment: How are you generating leads?

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Ok People. I would like to do a little experiment…. I would like to test every single lead generation idea out there. Once a week, I will post a video after I have tested one and let you know how its working. I would love to hear your ideas…old schoool…new school…everything. Let me know your best and most creative ideas!

The Great Debate-Open Houses-Yay or Nay

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So when you get into this business many things are thrown at you, especially being at a young age.  It is ten different social networking sites you must be on, a webpage, a Facebook fan page plus running an ad, blogging and the list goes on.  Then add to that you need a slogan, a mission statement and of course a business plan (which is hard to do when you have nothing to really go on.)  And did I mention all the non-social media marketing you need to do-farming, FSBO’s (I have not had any luck with that), expired listings (haven’t had much luck with that either), post cards, expos, networking events, committees you must join, floor duty and this list goes on as well.  As you can tell there is a lot thrown at you that you are told you must do in order to succeed.  However there is one other marketing and lead tool that I have realized stirs up much debate-Open Houses.  Do they or do they not work?  I have done many open houses in this past year and a half, and while I still want to stay positive and say that they will work I have not had much luck with them.  People do come by and take a look at the listing, but when I follow-up with them it is like they have no idea who I am and what I am talking about or I just never hear from them again.  I have yet to gain a lead that actually goes anywhere from an open house.  But many people reading this will completely disagree with me and say that they have gotten a lot of business from open houses.  And some reading this will say that open houses are just a waste of time.  However, there was one open house I did where this nice, sweet old woman accidentally brought me pot brownies and got me higher than a kite.  But of course I did not get any business from her either.  Brownies where good though.  Some days I think I should go and get her recipe and serve them to my clients who are sticks in the mud and the people who stop by at my open houses.  But back to my point-do open houses really work or not?  And if they do work for some-how do you make them work? I would love to know other people’s opinion on this, because I myself am not at the point where I can answer this question.

2012 Self-Evaluation

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In the early stages of my career, I never took the time to see what was really working for me.  However at the end of 2011, I made the decision to hold myself completely accountable and frankly….kick ass in 2012.

I spent the last couple of weeks of the year self evaluating every detail of what I did in my business.  Obviously, 2011 was a little different due to my little hiatus I took over the year.  But nonetheless, there were some victories and some failures.  I took a step back and learned from them all. This helped my create my plan for 2012.

This is what I decided I have to do in 2012:

1. Blog every day starting today.  Blogging has always been my thing.  I was blogging before blogging was cool. I slacked of within the last year and I had to deal with the consequences. My many blogs have brought me a lot of successes and I am committed to making it a priority.

2. Continue to be active within the local and national associations.  I have found that by being apart of association committee’s has helped me be able to serve my clients better.

3. Get back to the basics.  Yes, social media has worked for me. But it’s not everything. In November and December I really focused on calling my sphere. It has helped my land a new listing coming on the market and 2 pending sales in the last week or so. I guess it really does work. I have also been sending weekly emails to my investor clients. There are so many amazing deals and my emails include the best of the best deals. From the responses I have received from them, I can tell its sparking their interest.

4. Learn something new. I am so over the whole social media stuff.  I get it. I need to focus on finding new ways to grow my business that doesn’t involve updating my Facebook status.

5.  Be Thankful. I’m still here and kicking.  I have a lot of cool people on my side

I can honestly say 2011 ended well and its flowing thru into 2012. This is going to be a great year!  I am going to push myself as hard as I can to make all my goals this year come true. Cheers to 2012!

Developting A Connection

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My feeling about people who fail with their social media efforts is that they lack the ability to obtain a true connection with someone. How are consumers supposed to trust you if they know nothing about you.

I recently commented of a status of Jimmy Mackin where he asked the question “What percentage of your Facebook Friends have you met in real life?’.  My answer was 80%.  I am not on Facebook, adding random friends. I am meeting someone first and requesting them later.

My main focus in my social media efforts is simply “being real”.  I don’t try to pretend I am a certain way.  Some things I may say may not mesh with everyone but it’s who I am.  By doing this, when the few people who I havent met IRL do meet me, I am the same person they got to know on any social media site.

Personally, I value my friends whether online or IRL.  I try not to be fake. Most of you that know me very well understand this.

While at the NAR conference I attended this past weekend, I met Jared James for the first time IRL.  We had known each other for years on Twitter and Facebook.  You would have never known by us meeting that we hadn’t met each other previously.  We chatted like we would have any other time.    We didn’t have that awkward feeling when you meet someone for the first time.

It’s all because of how we connected in the first place. We had conversations.  We took the time to get to know each other.  You have to take everyone you meet online the same as if you met them in person. Ask questions, figure them out.  It’s really not that hard

The Effects Of Positivity

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I recently made a huge change and went to a different brokerage. Prior to meeting my broker, I hadn’t even thought about a change. I was perfectly content where I was.

We got the chance to connect at a couple of events and really got to know each other.

After getting to know each other, I felt it would be the perfect move for me. My broker was just this super happy, positive and supportive person. I felt I needed that.

I always see these somewhat obnoxiously happy people and wonder how that can be real.  How can you be that happy all of the time?

After being with my new broker for a little over two months now,  I get it. This has been the best couple of that I have had in a long time. I am thinking big. I am being more creative and I feel refreshed.  The biggest change I have notices is this:  I am more connected to my clients, friends, family and tweeps. Being positive and being in a positive environment has completely helped my confidence.  If you were to see me in my office, my chin would be up and I would have a smile on my face.

So this has to mean something right?  Being positive, brings positive things? I have to think that it does. My business is already improving just because of me simply having a positive attitude.

So my plan is to keep the positive attitude. It can only get better from here.

My office VP recently told me a this and I thought it applied to my current situation:

“I do truly believe that attitude is 90% of success.”-Brian Bolier

New Focus, New Attitude, New Drive

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There are many things that I have let hold me down in the past. I let this happen by my own choosing. I have now made the choice to not let the mistakes I have made in the past leave a shadow over what I am doing now.

Its time for me to reinvigorate my business.  I have a new focus. Not to be selfish, but its all about me. I’m not scared to start over.

Lucky for me, I have so many colleagues available to give me advice .  Dont be afraid to ask for help.  There are plenty of people out there that are more than willing to give you a push.

If there is something not working in your business plan, re-evaluate it and make changes as you go a long.  Look at people who are successful and try to see what they are doing.  Look at your failures and makes sure you don’t repeat them.  People in any business fail from time to time, so don’t be hard on yourself.  Be confident in yourself and don’t give up.

Leadership is about sharing

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I look at fellow agents sometimes.  I see how successful they are.  Yet I don’t understand why some of them are true leaders. 

To me leadership is about they wealth of information you provide to the public.  Why not share valuable tools to help improve your industry at large.  This is not something that simply applies to real estate, it business in general.

I take a lot of pride in trying to help others when I can.  If someone asks me a question, I answer them. I would rather have better, more knowledgable agents in our industry. It will in turn help my deals run more smoothly. 

So don’t be selfish and share your experiences with others around you!

Peace!

Impossible Clients

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Ever have those clients who are either all over the board on what they are looking for or so specific you just want to sell them land and let them build a house? Well I have two clients who fall into this category.  One has no clue what he wants.  He says he knows what he wants, but he doesn’t. He wants a house between 200k-500k, somewhere in our market (which is huge) but doesn’t matter what city, doesn’t matter how many bedrooms or bathrooms or whether it has a garage or not, or even the square footage of the house.  Really has no specifics at all.  In our market we have over 2,000 homes that are in his price range.  And on the other hand I have a client who wants a condo on a golf course, with one bedroom facing the golf course, a patio or deck, three bedrooms, at least 2 ½ baths, a pool in the complex near the condo, a good size kitchen with breakfast bar, hard wood floors and if all possible a wet bar.  And can come with a golf package.  Both say they are motivated to buy now, but their actions do not say so.  So they have me running around searching places and calling places to see if they offer golf packages to owners, and I know in the back of my head that they are not really motivated buyers.  But they keep wanting me to search here and there, all while wasting my time when I could be spending even more time with clients I know are going to buy.  So what exactly do you do with clients like these?  You want to just dump them on the door of another agency, but you can’t do that.  Yet you cannot waste all your time on people like this.  Especially when one is so up in the air that he can’t make a decision on anything you show him from the MLS or even come close to narrowing down his search.  All he says is he will know the house when he sees it.  The other is so specific it is impossible to find him something that meets all his needs.  Did I mention he even wants the kitchen cabinets a certain color and the master bathroom to have a jetted tub and stand up shower?  That is the impossible find.  Especially when he wants it to come with a golf package.  I would love to strangle both.  And of course both call or email me at least once a day to check on progress.  I am very good with follow up and keeping my clients informed on what I am doing for them.  But I normally do not check in every day when I have nothing to report.  So on one hand they seem like eager buyers, but truly eager buyers are not this up in the air or this narrow in specifics.  I have noticed that the more eager ones have an idea of what they want, but they are willing to not get exactly everything they want and realize that if they want hardwood floors, then they will install them if their dream house does not come with them.  This gentleman doesn’t want to do any work on the condo.  He wants it to come exactly as he has stated.  Impossible clients, nightmare clients-you can’t really afford to kick them to the curb, but you can’t also work too hard for them since you have a stack of better clients you need to be working with.  Somehow I always get the nightmare clients or situations.  Beginners lack of luck.  All I can do is try my best, not work too hard on them but n0t forget about them either. They may buy at some point, just not anytime soon. I have better clients to deal with who will be buying soon, so I can’t waste all my time with people won’t be buying anytime soon.  Even if they seem eager, they are not.  Unfortunately I have been down this road before, so I have learned the hard way who is really eager and who just says they are eager and have you running around in circles for them.

New technology meets old technology

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I got out of going to a meeting this evening that is all about setting up a Facebook fan page.  They are going to learn how to do it from a-z and even what to name it.  The problem is I have one, I use it all the time and I have plenty of people who like it.  I have even gotten a few leads from it.  I have it connected to Real Bird to posts on it houses for sale and foreclosures so many times a day, it is connected to market and basic real estate information for Myrtle Beach, I am working on a Welcome Page and Link page for information for Myrtle Beach, etc. So I didn’t really need a session on walking me through setting up a fan page when I am way ahead of the game.  But that is the problem I face, I am ahead of the game when it comes to all new technology in my office.  I even use the new MLS program that we have come out with.  My BIC doesn’t even know how to use this new program, and she my age.  And when they see my business cards with my QR code on it they look at it as if it is some foreign alien image to them-which I guess it is.  I talk about running ads on Facebook, blogging on other things besides real estate on WordPress to get leads, linking WordPress to Twitter and Facebook and QR codes, and their faces go blank.  However, talk about direct marketing mailings, working expireds, FSBO’s and open houses, and they can talk for hours about that.  I am not saying everyone should be using the new technology or it will apply with the way the run their business, but they should at least be aware about it.  They should at least not be so shocked that social media does work and I have gotten leads for Facebook, as well as my running blog that is connected to Twitter and my networking and direct marketing.  They both can work if you work them both correctly.  Of course it does not help me if I have a question on our MLS program and no one in the office can answer my question because I am the only one who uses it.  I guess I will be busy in May when the phase out the old program.  Sometimes I often feel like they look down at me as this new agent coming in with all my social media ways; like somehow their ways are better than mine.  Neither one-on-one marketing nor social media marketing is better than the other, but statics show how much time people spend on Facebook and other social sites, so it only makes sense to try to connect to people there as well.  You still have to do the one-on-one networking and marketing.  So in my office it is really new technology meets old technology and old technology has no desire to learn about new or use it.