Archives for April 2018

Would you like to start a real estate newsletter to help keep in touch with your past clients and other personal and business relationships?

Newsletters can be a great tool to present yourself as the real estate expert and keep yourself in front of people so they are regularly reminded of how you can help them.

When you are first starting your newsletter, there are several decisions you will need to make. The first is who you want to send your newsletter to then what platform you plan to use to distribute the newsletter and finally the content you plan to include in your real estate newsletter. Here are 5 tip you can and should include in each newsletter you send out.

1. Article targeting buyers-There are many topics to choose from. A few to consider starting with for your newsletters are What it Means to be Pre-qualified, Saving for a Down Payment and How Large a Home Do You Need? Talk about the buying process.
2. Article targeting sellers-It is important to educate potential sellers as well and there are many topics to choose from. Consider the following ideas: What Updates are Most Important in Your Home, Showing Preparation Tips and What Do You Have to Disclose.
3. Article targeting home owners-The majority of your list is likely not planning to buy or sell a home anytime soon so you need information that will be helpful to them and keep them engaged. Some topics to include are Taking Care of Your HVAC, Maintaining your Hardwood Floors or Easy Landscaping Tips for Your Yard.
4. Properties for Sale-This is a great way to feature a property or a few properties to a large audience. Obviously, you can’t include all of your listings but pick a property that looks great and has a great price and share it with your newsletter recipients. You never know who might see it and find it appealing.
5. Testimonial from a Past Client-Let your past work speak for itself and let your clients share their great experiences with others. Grab a testimonial from Zillow and add it to your newsletter.
6. Monthly Market Stats – your MLS posts this information monthly – great way to add value to your newsletter and keep your audience engaged.
7. Community events – what is going on in the area that you feel is worthy? Maybe a new business just opened, festival in town, concert, wine tasting event, football game with the #1 rivary, baseball season, summer ball tryouts.

It can take some time to plan your real estate newsletter and you might need to tweak it over time to find what works for you and your community  but after a few issues, you will get your routine down and feel great every time you send it out. Make sure you include a call to action in your newsletter and you will be ready to go. An easy one is to offer a free market analysis of their home to get them to reach out to you or maybe offer a Starbucks Coffee Gift Card for the first 5 people who contact you.

If you are going to print the newsletter then you need to decide how you will put all the information together, who will print and mail it.

If you re going to create an email newsletter you need to plan out the program you will use and how to send it out and to who in your database will receive it and will you put it on your website?

A lot of think about, so I’ve attached a template for you to download to help you plan out your real estate newsletter.  Click here for your Newsletter Worksheet.

Ready and motivated to organize your life?  The 90 Day Real Estate Planner is a must for any agent, broker, team leader to implement into their daily lives as it will help you become more productive, find more time and be better organized.  Get it today by visiting the 90 Day Real Estate Action Planner – use the COUPON CODE: PLAN18 to get your discount.  This special code is for a limited time only, so take advantage of this discount today and get excited about your life becoming more organized and structured.

Are you realizing you need to tighten up your business strategies?  Here at Kim Hughes & Company we are the experts when it comes to working real estate agents with start-ups, re-organizing, marketing, transaction management and so much more.  Visit us at Kim Hughes and Company to download our free Real Estate Checklist.  We will show you how to become a powerhouse agent so schedule a 20 minute complimentary call with Kim today and let’s get you organized and create some amazing strategies for your business.

Are we connected?

Instagram: @KimHughesCoaching | #KimHughesCoaching
http://www.Facebook.com/KimHughes 
http://facebook.com/KimHughesRealEstateVirtualAssistant 
http://www.Twitter.com/KimHughes 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimhughescoaching
https://www.pinterest.com/kim_hughes/pins/

 

How many of your clients have kids and bring them along to look at houses? Whether they choose to bring the kids along because they don’t have someone to watch them or just want the kids to participate because it will be their home too, the kids will need to have something to occupy them while you look at houses. True, they will look some but they won’t take the same amount of time to look and the parents need to feel relaxed to look at houses and make the best decision for their family.

That means you need some simple (and easily transportable) activities to occupy the kids while you are looking at houses. Some parents may come prepared and that’s great if they do but don’t let the unprepared ones waste their time and yours juggling kids and house shopping. Take an afternoon and put together a bag of activities the kids can do in the car or while waiting and you will be ready for your next day of showings.

Here are some items you could include.

• Coloring Kits
• Washable Markers or colored pencils. Stay away from crayons as they will quickly break or may melt if you leave them in your car on a warm day. If you choose colored pencils, make sure to purchase a small pencil sharpener that will collect the pencil shavings to go along with them. Then remind yourself to check the pencils after each use and sharpen them so they are ready for next time.
• Puzzle books like word searches or other simple activities. Think age appropriate.
• Cards or card games
• Comic books or other small books
• Reusable sticker pads. Melissa & Doug make some great choices. These will allow you to use the same activity pad with multiple kids and prevent you from having to worry about the kids sticking stickers somewhere they shouldn’t.
• Clipboards will make it easier for kids to do some activities so pick up a few clipboards to keep in your bag. You can pick these up at the Dollar Tree – They also come in smaller sizes.
• Click here to print some house score cards for the kids to mark what they like best about each house you look at. It will make them feel like they are an important part of the process.
• If you regularly show houses to families with children, consider investing in an iPad mini or another similar tablet and stocking it with games and other activities that might engage them on extra-long showing days.
• Make sure to have head phones so they can just plug and play.

Putting this bag together ahead of time and keeping it stocked for regular use and last minute appointments will make it much easier for you. When you know you have a long day of showing ahead of you with families with children, purchase some easy snacks to have on hand and add a cooler of bottled water to your car. All of these things will help set you apart from other agents and remind your clients how much you care. Being a real estate agent is about so much more than selling homes. It is about building relationships and those relationships should involve the whole family.

Also consider having a car kit for emergencies items such as:

This is a craft supply box that is perfect for storing items for clients, emergency items, etc.  I carry this in my car and it does not take up much room at all. Supply Kit

Clorox wipes
Baby Wipes
Diapers – maybe collect a couple from friends so you have a variety.
Wet Cloth in a baggie
Ice Baggies – 2-3 in case someone gets car sick
Barf Bag
Headache medicine
Band-aids
Kids Band-aids – boys and girls
Feminine products
Hand lotion
Hand wash
Water bottles
Ice chest with ice so you can keep things cools on those hot days
Snacks
Breath mints

The more prepared you are the more you will get accomplished on that day out with clients.

Ready and motivated to organize your life?  The 90 Day Real Estate Planner is a must for any agent, broker, team leader to implement into their daily lives as it will help you become more productive, find more time and be better organized.  Get it today by visiting the 90 Day Real Estate Action Planner – use the COUPON CODE: PLAN18 to get your discount.  This special code is for a limited time only, so take advantage of this discount today and get excited about your life becoming more organized and structured.

Are you realizing you need to tighten up your business strategies?  Here at Kim Hughes & Company we are the experts when it comes to working real estate agents with start-ups, re-organizing, marketing, transaction management and so much more.  Visit us at Kim Hughes and Company to download our free Real Estate Checklist.  We will show you how to become a powerhouse agent so schedule a 20 minute complimentary call with Kim today and let’s get you organized and create some amazing strategies for your business.

Are we connected?

Instagram: @KimHughesCoaching | #KimHughesCoaching
http://www.Facebook.com/KimHughes 
http://facebook.com/KimHughesRealEstateVirtualAssistant 
http://www.Twitter.com/KimHughes 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimhughescoaching
https://www.pinterest.com/kim_hughes/pins/

Image courtesy of JESHOOTS/pixabay.com
Image courtesy of stocksnap/pixabay.com

Note: I do not endorse any of these products or receive a affiliate commission from any of the products nor Amazon.

It seems every time you turn around, there is a new program targeting real estate agents and promising you more business, more time and a better way to do things.

What if I told you there was something super easy that you can put in place right now for FREE?  And, you could put in place right now with only a few minutes of your time? Would you be interested? I would certainly hope you would be, so read on….

 

 

It’s your email signature! Every time you send an email, u are given the opportunity to share your electronic business card.  All you have to do is set up your signature through your email program. Once you do that, every time you send an email you are sharing all of your contact information. When you get a call from a potential client  you email the prospect to follow up, you want them to have all of your information. What if they want to call you or visit your website? Make it easy for them. If they have to look for your information, they may not take the time and may wind up calling another agent that has made their information easier to find.

As you likely know, getting new leads can take A LOT of time. Once you have the leads, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to stay in touch with you. Your email signature is a guarantee that when they are ready to correspond with you they will look at your email signature to get the information to reach out in one way or another.  Don’t miss an opportunity just because you didn’t take the time to set this important piece of your business.

When you are setting up your signature, make sure you include the information people need to get in contact with you quickly and easily. The important parts of your signature are the following:

• Full Name
• Email Address – Even though they can see the email in the body – make it super easy for them to see it all in one place.
• Contact numbers (your cell phone is most important)
• If you are required to put the broker’s main office number make sure to separate the “Office” from “Direct”
• Website – this would be the actual hyper-link
• Social media connections. Again, this would be the actual hyper-link.

It is important to include everything that will allow people to connect with you easily but your signature doesn’t have to be too long to accomplish this.

For the items that should direct people to an Internet URL, make sure to hyperlink those items so people can click on the hyperlinks to visit those URLs directly.

Here are some extra tips to ensure you make the most of your email signature:

• Set up signatures on all devices and programs you use for email. Make sure to include all email programs you use like webmail or Outlook, mobile phones, tablets, MLS programs, your database or CRM and any other programs that may send out information on your behalf.
• Make sure signatures are used for replies and forwards in addition to new emails. If you get added to an email chain in the middle and you reply without this set up, no one will get your information.
• If you have a personal email address that is separate from your business email, include a signature there too. You may be sending an email to your kid’s teacher or to an old friend that doesn’t know you are in real estate but that may want to buy or sell a home.

Setting up your signatures everywhere may take you a little time, but it is the equivalent of handing out business cards to every person you send an email to. Don’t you think that is a good use of your time?

If you need an example of a signature line – drop me an email and I will show you mine.  Kim@KimHughes.com

Ready and motivated to organize your life?  The 90 Day Real Estate Planner is a must for any agent, broker, team leader to implement into their daily lives as it will help you become more productive, find more time and be better organized.  Get it today by visiting the 90 Day Real Estate Action Planner – use the COUPON CODE: PLAN18 to get your discount.  This special code is for a limited time only, so take advantage of this discount today and get excited about your life becoming more organized and structured.

Are you realizing you need to tighten up your business strategies?  Here at Kim Hughes & Company we are the experts when it comes to working real estate agents with start-ups, re-organizing, marketing, transaction management and so much more.  Visit us at Kim Hughes and Company to download our free Real Estate Checklist.  We will show you how to become a powerhouse agent so schedule a 20 minute complimentary call with Kim today and let’s get you organized and create some amazing strategies for your business.

Are we connected?

Instagram: @KimHughesCoaching | #KimHughesCoaching
http://www.Facebook.com/KimHughes 
http://facebook.com/KimHughesRealEstateVirtualAssistant 
http://www.Twitter.com/KimHughes 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimhughescoaching
https://www.pinterest.com/kim_hughes/pins/
https://www.sendoutcards.com/kimhughes

Image courtesy of tumisu/pixabay.com