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If you are like many other real estate agents, you are always looking the next best way to market your business and stay in touch with your clients. Everyone wants the perfect new tool that is going to miraculously get them a bunch of new clients. We quickly find out that most of these tools don’t live up to their promises. I am a firm believer in the fact that you should focus your efforts on the people you already know. The main reason why is that these people most likely already trust you. Handwritten notes are an old-school “tool” that are probably the most effective way to stay in touch and stand out from the crowd.
Handwritten notes are still very effective
Handwritten notes aren’t new and flashy which means that they typically tend to be something that is forgotten. Let me ask you one simple question, how many times have you received a handwritten note from someone that you didn’t open? I’m guessing your answer is the same as mine and it was zero! Handwritten notes basically have a 100% open rate! I haven’t found any other type of marketing online or offline that provides that level of effectiveness. Renowned real estate coach Brian Buffini once said, “There isn’t only one key to success; but nothing in my business has taken less time, cost less money and produced bigger results than a personal note.”
How to start sending notes
Don’t get me wrong, just like anything else that actually works in growing your business, it is going to take some effort on your part. Handwritten notes take motivation, time, and organization to accomplish. All you need to do is block off 30 minutes at most each weekday and write two notes to people in your sphere of influence. Hint, you should use a calendar app like Google Calendar or Fantasical to help you time-block. Think about the results of 30 to 40 notes going out to your clients and future clients every single month. I guarantee that you will reconnect with past clients and have top of the mind awareness when people in your sphere are ready to sell or buy their next home!
The Felt app making notes a little more modern.
I recently ran across a really awesome app, called Felt, handwritten cards for the modern world. Since I am such a tech nerd, it really got me pumped about the possibilities! You basically upload your contacts into their database (hopefully including birthdays and anniversaries for reminders) and then you can actually handwrite your cards via an iPad or your phone and they will print, stamp (with an actual stamp) and mail it out for you. It will even save your handwritten return address for you and your contacts so you don’t have to rewrite in the future. You can even upload photos to be printed with the card. The idea I have for you to use with this app is to find a photo you have with the person you are sending. Then talk about when the photo was taken in the handwritten portion of the card. I mailed one of these cards to myself to test it and it looked just like it was handwritten. Really excellent quality! Check out some examples below from site:
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In conclusion, I feel that handwritten notes are still a very effective way to stay in touch in with your clients. If you start to implement this into your business you are sure to make better and stronger connections with your sphere of influence. This will slowly start to create business opportunities for you. Give the Felt app a try to make it a little more convenient and digital. Let me know in the comments if you have any tips or tricks on ways to implement handwritten notes into your business.
3. Video bio
I know, I know, most of you already want to skip over this section. You have heard it repeatedly, but a video bio is a must in 2020. Video doesn’t have to be perfect anymore. You don’t have the excuse of not having the right equipment, because most of us have an awesome video camera in our pocket. Today’s cell phones all have excellent cameras built-in. You are ready to shoot your bio video when you pair your cell phone with a tri-pod and an inexpensive lapel mic like this one from Purple Panda (audio is extremely important!).
People can really connect to a video versus reading your bio because they get to see and hear you. You immediately become more relatable! The biggest thing is to just practice over and over again, and you will get better. Don’t worry about making a mistake because you can always delete any mistakes you make! I look forward to seeing your first video soon!
4. Blog with hyper-local content
As a real estate agent, you are the local expert. A blog is one of the easiest ways to convey that you are an expert. There are millions of blogs out there and it can be tough to compete with the ones that are already established. This is why I recommend keeping your your blog hyper-local to the areas that you serve. I know here in Fredericksburg, VA that there are very few agents that are talking about their community.
So, you agree you should have a blog, but you have no idea what to write about. You are not alone, and this is probably the reason why most people never start a blog. I want you to think about things you already enjoy doing and how you can make them relate to real estate or your local community. My most successful blog was called “Why I Love Fredericksburg” and I just wrote about some things my family and I love to do and included some photos. Some other ideas might be to interview local businesses, review recent events or restaurants you have been to, Top 5 lists and so on. People love reading about where they live and the more they read from you, the quicker you will look like the local expert!
5. Responsive design
In 2020, just about every single person looking to buy or sell a home has a cell phone and we want to make sure they can view your website clearly on the go. Responsive design means that your website adjusts to different screen sizes between your laptop, tablet, and phone automatically. Most modern site builders like Square Space or WordPress will automatically apply responsive design. Whenever you make changes to your site you will want to open up a browser on your phone to make sure that everything is clear on a smaller screen.
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