Okay, for those of you with non-raised arms, Micheal Masterson is founder of health, wealth and success e-newsletter Early to Rise. In less than 7 years, Masterson built a loyal following of over 250,000 people–whom he mentors to help them acheive their financial goals–through his success at productivity, selling and marketing.

Masterson is also the author of several Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Amazon.com best sellers, including Ready, Fire, Aim, and Automatic Wealth: The Six Steps to Financial Independence.

So here’s the deal. In a short book called Personal Productivity Secrets, Masterson shared his personal blueprint for productivity success.

It’s called the Master Plan.

Jack Welch used a Master Plan to turn GE into a lean, market-dominating company. NFL Coach John Fox used a Master Plan to go from a 2-14 season to a run at the Super Bowl the following.

The same process can help you achieve your goals. Here’s how it works.

Simplify Your Goals

A master plan works by simplifying your interests and acting upon them in a simple way. Start by figuring out your life goals.

1. List all the things you want to accomplish on a sheet of paper.
2. Choose the top interest.
3. Decide if that is what you want to spend your life doing.
4. Create a five year plan to reach your number one goal.
5. Create a one year plan to reach your number one goal.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for every major goal you want to accomplish.

How Does Rising Early Make You Rich?

The morning time is the best time to collect your thoughts. Better yet, if you get up at 4:30 A. M., and work 2 hours, you’re that much ahead of your competition.

During these hours of solitude, make your to do list, then prioritize it and finally start on one of the most important tasks immediately.

This Little Tool Will Be Enormously Valuable to You

Masterson carries 3-by-5 index cards everywhere he goes and writes down every idea that comes to him. This way, nothing escapes him.

Each morning, he reviews his cards and consults them whenever you have a spare moment. I sometimes use the voice memo feature on my phone. This is especially helpful when you are driving.

Whether electronic or paper, once you start doing this, you’ll be surprised at how much more “on top of things” you’ll be in a few days.

Don’t Let Your Email Ruin Your Schedule

If you are on email more than twice a day–stop it. Checking email is not the most important thing you should be doing.

Also, Masterson recommends you train people who email you to keep it short. And when they pose a problem, teach them to map out multiple choices.

Group Like Tasks Together

Tackle similar tasks at the same time: That means, create time blocks when you check voice mail, send emails and write memos.

Or, group similar tasks by time duration. Lump all tasks under fifteen minutes for the end of the day. And group your more time intensive tasks in the morning when you are fresh.

Choose a Daily Planner That Works for You

Electronic planners tend to be the least effective. Daily paper planners the most. I use a makeshift notebook. Whatever you choose, stick with it.

Pencil in Appointments First–Ink Later

When you make an appointment, pencil it in first. When it is confirmed, then ink it in. This lets you know at a glance appointments that are concrete and those that are not.

Measure and Improve Your Personal Productivity

It’s always a good idea to review every two weeks your planner to see how many tasks you aren’t getting done. If you find yourself with more incomplete tasks than you like, do one of three things:

1. Work more hours and be happy with it.
2. Learn how to be more efficient.
3. Schedule fewer tasks.

Two is probably your best option. But, highly-motivated people often try to bite off more than they can choose, so the third option might work for you instead. You decide.

Conclusion

In How to Become CEO, Jeffrey J. Fox recommends spending an hour a day “planning, dreaming, scheming, thinking, calculating. Review your goals. Consider options. Ponder problems. Write down ideas.
Mentally practice your sales call or big presentation. Figure out how to get things done.”

Good advice.

Follow Masterson’s simple steps to get a jumpstart on your day, your career and your income. And to change your life you’ve got to stick to this basic program.

The bottom line is: stop focusing on anything that is keeping you from your most important goals.

Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.

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One of an Agent’s Nastiest Jobs

This holds true for home buyers and sellers. That’s why it’s a great idea to use the PAS formula in your sales presentations.

Whether you’re persuading a buyer to bite the bullet and buy a home or convincing a seller to stake YOUR for sale sign in their yard, you can use the PAS formula to get the job done.

What Is the Problem-Agitate-Solve Formula?

The PAS formula is Dan Kennedy’s darling. Or at least he gets credit for it. Nonetheless, it’s pretty basic.

Identify a problem. Agitate the problem. Solve the problem.

Identify a Problem

Imagine you just met a man at the tennis club. Imagine he told you he lives in a two-bedroom, one bath home with his wife and two kids. Imagine the children as one girl, one boy. Next, imagine the girl 7 and the boy 5. And they share a bedroom.

See a potential problem?

If you do, point out the problem.

You: Hey Stan, are you concerned about your daughter wanting her own privacy?

Agitate the Problem

Once you’ve identified the problem, now aggravate it.

You: Man, that’s probably pretty uncomfortable. You guys are probably looking for a house soon, right?

Stan: You bet. But it’s tough. With the market and all.

You: Yeah, but if you don’t get her own space soon–especially as she gets older–could be a nightmare for all of you. Don’t you think?

Stan: Oh man, yeah.

You: Often one thing can really drive a wedge between a brother and sister–even a family.

Stan: Yeah, my wife and I are really concerned about that.

You: Could be a real problem when she realizes she’s the only 8 year old who shares a room with her brother.

Stan: I don’t even want to think about it.

You: But how can you think about moving when the market stinks and you really don’t know how well your house will sell.

Stan: You can say that again.

Solve the Problem

This is when you trot out your solution.

You: Stan, if you got some time this week, any chance we could get together and I could maybe show you how we could solve your problem? I’ve got some great ideas to share with you.

Stan: Even though I’m not in the market, I think I might be able to swing that.

See how easy and casual that was to set an appointment? Works just as well in any situation.

Conclusion

Use the Pain-Agitate-Solve formula to stop people in their tracks, draw them closer, yearn for your answer and beg for your solution.

Use it during casual conversations or planned-out sales presentation. It doesn’t really matter. Just remember, PAS.

Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.

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You’re only option is to make some serious money.

But it’s not that easy. Or is it?

Most people don’t achieve serious wealth because they make simple mistakes. Simple, easy-to-avoid mistakes that prevent them reaching their goal of building serious wealth.

What are those mistakes? Lets look at them.

1. Depending on someone else to make you rich.

Serious flaw, here. While it might be tempting to believe this, the reality of building wealth is this: You need to do it for yourself. You can’t rely on anyone else.

2. Believing you can build serious wealth overnight.

When it comes to real estate, it seems we’re constantly bombarded by claims and stories of people who’ve made a mountain of cash in a ridiculously short time.

But let’s get real: these stories are rare. These people are a tiny minority. Plus, they’re usually the recipients of some extremely good circumstances.

That’s not to say you can’t build serious wealth quickly.

I know dozens of real estate agents who’ve gone from near bankrupt to flushed with cash in a matter of months. The key is you need a plan. I’ll get to that in a minute.

3. Working hard is the path to serious wealth.

This simply isn’t true. Yes, you have to work. And at times you will have to burn the midnight candle. But simply working hard will not make you a wealthy real estate agent.

There’s something else you have to add to the mix, which brings me to my next point.

4. Being innovative is the trick to pulling in serious wealth.

Eh, what do you think?

My mind goes immediately to all the hoopla over Web 2.0. Yes, social media is hot. Yes, social media is innovative. Yes, it’s cool. But is it bringing in the  bucks?

It could be. And I think it needs to be part of your strategy. But it in itself is not going to change the face of making real money in real estate.

Also, I’ve known people who spend all their time trying to make some new discovery that they miss the basics of real estate marketing: giving your audience exactly what they want.

Innovation, in fact, can sometimes prevent you from making money. Just walk through the dot com graveyard to see what I mean.

5. Play aggressive defense to build a mountain of cash

Super Bowl 42 was a game of defense. The Giants and Patriots pretty much kept each other from scoring. And in the end, the Giants won because they played exceptional defense.

But the Giants also put points on the board. And when it comes to building wealth, you have to do both. Defend and attack well.

Because if you lose money, you have to recover lost ground and catch up. This eats up time.

How to Accelerate Your Income

Yet, the key to making money in real estate–to steadily building your wealth so a dying market won’t kill you–is to use the power of compound marketing [name and email required].  And once compound growth kicks in, sit back and watch your income accelerate.

Compound marketing needs to be part of your overall strategy. Like I mentioned earlier, at times you will have to work hard. But combine that with a little innovation, some compound marketing and a dash of time, and you’ll begin to climb out of your hole.

The Secret of the Worlds Wealthiest Real Estate Agents

Remember when I said in order to compete in this inflation-plagued market you’ll have to make some more money? Well, that’s exactly the secret behind long time real estate stars like Roger Dawson, Howard Britton and Bob Corcoran.

Might seem simple, but they had a plan: accumulate wealth and pour it back into their business. The key, though, is they had a plan.

Do you see my point? I different times I’ve stressed this. I’m doing it again today.

Great Way for Mr. Average to Build Wealth with Low Risk

Now your probably wondering what is a good way to make money, that’s simple, easy, cheap and can make a tidy sum with low risk?

You may have never considered it before but it’s a response hotline.

Now, I know you’re not stupid. This is our product. And we’d love to do business with you. But more importantly, because we’re hearing that pain of so many real estate agents it would be dishonorable if we didn’t step up our approach.

See, I’d love nothing more than to see you succeed in today’s tough market and I truly believe that this a simple way to build wealth open to all. That’s my reason for my boldness.

Besides, I’ve been in your shoes before. I’ve struggled, swamped with debt and fought tooth-and-nail to bring in a few bucks so I could keep a roof over my children’s heads.

Furthermore, I wouldn’t be telling you this if I didn’t think this was a great way for you–whether you are an average agent or a mega producer–to build wealth quickly with such low risk. In fact, it’s our clients who are telling us this. Who are telling us its been the difference between life and emotional, mental and career death.

And finally, it’s that little bit of innovation you need to supercharge your business.

Take a peek at this innovative tool right today. Now’s a really good time with the offer we’re running. But you don’t have long. We’re pulling the offer Friday at midnight.

And if you have any questions about real estate or current market conditions, please take a few moments to enter your question in the comment box below. My goal is to provide you with some of the best marketing tips, tools and ideas to making money in real estate, but I can’t answer questions that aren’t asked.

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If you’re a real estate agent, there is a good chance that a daisy chain of financial disaster–collapsing housing bubble, wave of sub prime defaults, frozen corporate credit markets–has become your worst nightmare.

In your head, you may think it’s about time to panic.

Maybe sell the boat. Get a second job (if you haven’t already). Something to stop the bleeding and make ends meet.

What follows is a strategy that I think can have a phenomenal impact on your business in both the short-term and long-term.

You Can Succeed in Turbulent Times

In the short term it will bring in interested leads. In the long run, a listing or two a month, once it’s picked up some steam.

You probably won’t have to wait that long for it to pick up steam.

I’ve seen this strategy work wonders for agents in two months. In fact, one agent gets 2-5% response each time he follows one step of this strategy.

What is it?

It’s an optimum follow-up plan for renters–buyers who are in a perfect position to take advantage of the amazing housing opportunity before them.

This strategy is simple: Lure prospects in with a free educational report. After that, you’re going to follow up with a series of provocative and proven postcards and letters to convert leads into house buyers.

The Fundamentals of This Automatic Strategy

When promoting the free educational report, you’re mailings will alternate every month. One month you’ll send an article. The next month you’ll send a letter. This goes on for six months.

The articles and letters you send will explain to renters different ways they could own a home for less than it costs them to rent a home. But these aren’t just any articles and letters.

The key is personalization.

First, tear the left edge of the article, then photocopy it. After you have all of your copies, write “Mr. Smith, I thought you might like this. Gary” on the top in a blue felt pen.

This sort of personalization is a proven method for boosting your response rates.

The letters are fine-tuned tools to effectively attract attention, create interest, provoke desire and get action.

The 3 Approaches You Could Take

Now, because of the number of leads you can generate through this approach, your follow up is crucial. There are 3 approaches you could take to follow up.

1. Mail the follow up series and wait for phone calls.
2. Limit the number of mailers you send so you can personally call each.
3. Enlist the help of a lending agent, affiliate or telemarketer.

Each approach, of course, has its drawbacks. The ultimate scenario occurs when you have a hungry lender. However, no matter which approach you choose, consistency is key.

Here’s how the optimum plan looks for following up with these renter leads.

Six Automatic Steps to Eager-to-Buy Clients

When the prospect calls for the report, confirm their address and take the steps toward building a relationship.

Three days after you mail the report, call each prospect to make sure they got the report. At the same time, offer something free: a list of new homes for sale or a referral for a pre-qualification. Build value. You’re trying to reduce the barrier between you and your prospect.

For those who didn’t convert on the free educational report, mail the first letter. For those who didn’t convert on letter 1, mail letter 2. For those who didn’t convert on letter 2, mail letter 3. And so on until the six month.

Crucial Attitude You Must Have with Each Follow-Up Call

First, with each phone call, seek to understand your prospect. If they are being defensive, figure out why.

Second, never shoot for the jugular. Use soft language, non-committal language. Be patient.

Your goal is to get them to accept an offer for weekly home listing updates. Once you’ve got this, you can stop mailing them.

After Step 4, the Strategy Adjusts to Strong then Stronger

Three days after you’ve mailed Letter 4, you’re goal is simply to stay in touch. Let the system work. Eventually the time will be right.

However, three days after you mail letter 6, you may want to try a sharper angle.

At this point they’ve gotten several free things from you. Ask for some kind of reciprocity–whether it’s a promise to stay in touch or just a casual commitment to receive weekly updates.

If they are still cold, simply mail them every three months.

Here’s How to Take This to a Deeper Level

If you’d like to learn more about this strategy, I’ve fleshed it out in a 22-page comprehensive report called “How to Target Renters and Get Them to Respond.”

This quick and easy report is free of charge.

In fact, along with the report, you’ll also get access to a video detailing how I used Craigslist to generate 147 leads in 39 days with one listing and a interview with a real estate trainer who coaches 6 of Wall Street’s top 50 agents.

Get instant access to this report right now. Download the “How to Target Renters and Get Them to Respond” report.

And if you have any questions about real estate or current market conditions, please take a few moments to enter your question in the comment box below. My goal is to provide you with some of the best marketing tips, tools and ideas to making money in real estate, but I can’t answer questions that aren’t asked.

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That’s not exactly the type of thing you want to hear when you’ve just sent out two emails with valuable strategies and business building information in them.

So, I decided to go ahead and create a post out of the email just in case we managed to miss any of you. If you’ve already seen these two reports, please forgive me, I just don’t want to leave any struggling agents out in the cold when I have the ability to help.

Over the past two weeks I’ve made two reports available to real estate agents, completely free of charge.

If you just want to jump right in, go to http://realestatemarketingmastery.com/renters-report, enter your name and primary email address, and you’ll be good to go.

You see, just recently I discovered an absolutely amazing (no make that beyond amazing!) marketing strategy while attempting to sell my waterfront condo at Lake of the Ozarks, in central Missouri.

Here’s what happened.

I’d heard about a free online ad source called Craig’s List, but never used it. So I thought, “What the heck? I’ve got nothing to lose. Why don’t I try posting my condo ad there?”

Well, after one try I got nothing. Not a call. Not a hit. Notta.

So I thought “Hmm? Why don’t I take some of the ideas I’ve been teaching agents for the last 12 years and apply them to this thing?”

My next run?

One or two calls…nothing great.

So I tweaked my ad a little bit.

Then…three or four calls…a little better.

So I tweaked it on last time…and then it happened!

My ad started to gather some steam. This time I got 11 calls the same day I posted. That’s when I knew I had something. After three or four revisions of my ad, subject line and a variety of other things, I had, almost by accident, discovered a formula that generated 147 inbound leads for my condo in the next 38 days!

And the best part was it didn’t cost me one red cent!

I got good quality prospects calling me day and night from a source that didn’t cost me a thing, except 5-10 minutes a day to post and re-post my ad. What was even more amazing is the fact that I did it all with just ONE listing…my condo.

All I could think was… “This is CRAZY!”

I’m getting leads out the ying yang…they’re good quality leads…and I’m doing this all while agents around the country are literally dying and dropping like flies.

Armed with this new knowledge, I put together a quick video (don’t worry, it’s 100% free) that explains exactly how I got 147 Leads in 38 Days from just 1 Listing. More importantly, I take you step-by-step through this information, and show you how to apply it to your real estate business and start generating leads right now.

Again, let me stress the fact that there’s no sales pitch, no catch, I am simply trying to help agents around the country that I know are struggling right now.

To watch the video, just go to http://realestatemarketingmastery.com/renters-report and enter your name and primary email address. We’re trying to avoid any future black list issues so you’ll have to verify your request.

Once you’ve verified your request, you’ll be given the access code to both the “147 Leads, 38 Days, 1 Listing” video as well as the 22 page Renters Report.

The Renters Report is another potent, high-powered strategy for you that will help you grow your business even in the midst of this struggling market.

In fact, it will show you how to capture huge chunks of market share and grow your business like never before…because of this tough market!

You see, every market has unique opportunities to profit…if you know what to look for and how to go after the business.

And in this tough market right now…foreclosures…resetting adjustable rate mortgages…declining property values…it’s created a “perfect storm” in the housing market that’s been a nightmare for sellers but an absolute dream for buyers.

If you have a well-developed strategy for working with Renters you can exploit a very timely series of events and start generating those sought after buyers leads right now, at a time when your competition is searching for scraps.

Rather than just giving you a quick general overview of how to target, and more importantly convert renters into buyers, I wanted to give you something that you can use, something substantial that you can take and put to use immediately and begin to see results in your business. So, I’ve decided to provide you with a comprehensive 22 page Renters Report.

This report is absolutely awesome! It gives you step-by-step instructions, precise details, a six-part mailing program, six follow up mailers, and word-for-word phone scripts to help you follow up with the leads you generate!

Ok, that should bring all of you affected by the black list issue up to date. To request your copy of these two 100% free reports, simply go to http://RealEstateMarketingMastery.com/renters-report, and enter your name and your primary email address. Again, there’s no sales pitch, no hidden cost, it’s just solid usable information that will help you not only survive this market, but thrive in it.

The comments on this post will be closed, not because I don’t want your feedback on this, I absolutely do. I would just prefer it if you’d post your feedback over on the Real Estate Marketing Mastery blog so that we don’t fragment the conversations.

Thanks and here’s to your success!

You think email is lame, backwards and not worth your time. If that’s you, think again. I’m about to turn everything you knew about email newsletters on its head.

In fact, I’ll go so far as to prove to you that not only is email better than the “new” technology like blogging, but email newsletters are more essential than blogging. Let me explain.

Email: The Most Powerful Internet Marketing Tool for Real Estate

Don’t get me wrong: social media is important. James Carey, Columbia University journalism professor, said this about the absolute human need of community:

“Man is a diurnal creature. He’s up during the day. He sleeps at night. And he has to sleep somewhere. And because he’s vulnerable, he sleeps in a shelter. And then other people come and sleep in their shelters nearby. And before you know it, they realize they will be safer if they join together. Next thing you know, they have a police force, and someone picks up the garbage.”

This may explain why social media is so hot. Social media like blogs.

How hot?

In February 2007 the Gallup News Service estimated that 57 million Americans read blogs. Somewhat astounding in a nation of over 300 million.

However, to put that in perspective, read this: The same Gallup poll found that reading blogs is far less popular than email. Approximately 87% of Americans read emails.

That’s roughly 261 million people. And that makes email ubiquitous, relevant and one of the most powerful real estate marketing tools on the Internet.

Four Principles You Must Know Before Writing Truly Great Emails

Crafting an email is pretty easy, right? Slap some copy in a message and hit “Send,” right? Dead wrong.

There’s four basic things you need to know up front about writing compelling and powerful emails.

• Nearly half of email readers look at just the first few lines they see in the preview pane to decide if they want to continue reading the message. Less than a third will read the whole thing.

• According to Loren McDonald at EmailLabs, 75% of email readers who use the preview pane use it in a horizontal format and most often see either 4-5 inches deep of content (44%) or 2 to 3 inches (41%).

• The average time allocated to a email newsletter after opening it is only 51 seconds says Jakob Nielson.

• People are highly inclined to skip the introductory, happy talk in newsletters. Happy talk, you know, “Welcome to my newsletter. Thank you so much for reading.”

The takeaway from these four bullets: your subject line and early sentences have to hit hard, fast and furious, or the entire email newsletter will not survive inbox congestion.

The Unique Relationship Between Email and SEO

Here’s something else to take into consideration: With more email services offering large amounts of gigabytes to store emails, users are archiving more.

However, doing this adds to their information overload. But, it enhances the value of email. That means email newsletters are now part of someone’s personal inventory.

How this can work in your advantage is that these emails will be found when people search their inboxes .

And like Jakob Nielson said, “And although your newsletters don’t need full-fledged search engine optimization, you should consider how users might want to retrieve old issues in the months or years to come.”

That’s why one of the most important components of successful email newsletters is the subject line.

Introducing the Art of Writing Microcontent

Subject lines are part of what online writers call “microcontent.”

In a nutshell, all microcontent needs to be clear, concise and compelling. Usually under 140 characters. Think summary. Think keywords. Think subject line. Think Twitter. These are examples of microcontent.

With the subject line you get about 40 to 50 characters to explain your macrocontent–what your email is about.

So no matter how persuasive and electrifying your email is, unless the subject line makes it absolutely clear what the email is about, people will never open it.

The Essence of Writing Subject Lines That Capture Attention

Subject lines should say something valuable, timely or important. It should say “If you don’t open and read this email, you’ll miss out on something big.”

Subject lines should also work in tandem with the from line. Save the From line for your or your company’s name.

Subject lines must intrigue people the same way a well written headline does. It must stroke the right emotions.

Indeed, subject lines are a major driver of click-through rates, as they “direct” people to pay attention to specific articles, offers and information. Every email you send should have an implied strategy behind it.

Subject lines must recognize this and “speak” to the needs and interests of your people as individual customers, readers or prospects.

As a result, the job of a subject line now must not only entice someone to open an email, it must discourage the recipient from deleting it as an unwanted email. You must plummet something deep into people’s psyche with your subject line. Something that makes people restless until they read your email.

To do that, follow these 13 tips:

1. Personalize
Don’t put something generic like “Loren, Your Personalized May Newsletter.” Make it specific to them, their business or their life. Know thy customer.

2. Segment
Each segment should receive appropriate and different subject lines. This is related to personalizing, but deserves it’s on line. Segmenting and creating subject lines to your readers’ interests should improve open and click-through rates.

3. Use a Consistent Style
After testing and learning what style works best for your audience, stick with that approach: humorous, provocative, incentive-based or tip-oriented.

4. Have Someone Else Write, Edit or Review Subject Lines
Have someone other than you write, edit or at least review the subject line. Use this person like a newspaper story editor who will push your copy to new heights of relevancy and interest.

5. Send Subject Lines to Yourself
One of the best gauges of the strength of a subject line is to send sample emails with different subject lines to yourself. What kind of response do they warrant when they arrive in your inbox: “holy mother of God!”, “Boring.” or “hm, interesting, I’ll read later”?

6. Watch Your Own Inbox for Good Subject Line Ideas
The greatest inspiration for writing subject lines may come from watching your own inbox.

7. Track and Measure What Works Best
Track and analyze the type of subject lines that produce the best open and click-through rates. Open rates are the most obvious measure of the success of subject lines, but click-through rates are also an important measure of how well the subject line drove people to take action and click on a specific link.

8. Tie Subject Lines Into Current Events
A news angle is especially effective when promoting real estate offers affected by current events on a daily basis.

“How to Stay One Step Ahead of the Latest Fed Rate Cut to Get a Deal of a Century” is a good example.

9. Test Short Versus Long
I’ve heard that subject lines of less than 50 characters achieve higher open rates than those of 50 or more characters. That being said, there is much debate about shorter versus longer subject lines.

If you can, test various lengths and words to see what generates the best results with you.

10. Avoid The Generic and Boring
Don’t be afraid to be very specific in subject lines. Broad and generic subject lines: Bad, terrible, lazy and emails with such subject lines deserve banishment. Your subject line should be as narrow and specific as possible to generate interest and action from a majority of people.

11. Write It First
Perhaps the most common mistake marketers make is waiting till the last minute to write their subject lines. Don’t. Jt down multiple potential subject lines for your email early in the game. Never start from scratch at the last minute.

12. Push the Frickin’ Envelope
Don’t be afraid to try subject lines that are more aggressive, creative, tantalizing, specific or controversial. Of course, test everything.

13. Test, Test and Test!
Like every facet of email marketing, the most certain way to know if something is working is to test it. And email subject lines are the easiest thing to test. Split your email subscriber list in two, send one list one subject line, the other list a radically different subject line. Once you’ve discovered the winner, continue to test and tweak that subject line.

Conclusion

Still think email’s a backwater cousin to blogging?

Consider this: outside of traffic, subscribers and click through, the real ROI of blogging has yet to be cemented. Email, on the other hand, can give you cold, hard facts about the effectiveness of your campaigns quickly.

Sure, blogging has important intangibles that you must cultivate. But I wouldn’t depend on it to feed my family.

Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.

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Are you someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and defective at small talk?

Are you someone who has to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recover? Who growls or scowls or grunts or winces when accosted with happy talk by people who are just trying to be nice?

Do people regard you as “too serious,” or ask “are you okay?” Do people regard you as aloof, arrogant, rude? Redouble their efforts to draw you out?

If you answered yes to these questions, chances are you’re a bona fide introvert.

Science has learned a good deal in recent years about the habits and requirements of introverts. It has even learned, by means of brain scans and lemon juice tests, that introverts process information differently from other people (honest, I am not making this up).

Introverts may be more common than you think. But they are also among the most misunderstood and aggrieved groups in America, possibly the world, probably the universe!

I know. My name is Gary, and I am an introvert.

Oh, for years I denied it. After all, I am not morose or misanthropic. I have good social skills. Usually. I am far from shy. I love long conversations that explore intimate thoughts or passionate interests. But at last I have self-identified and come out to my friends and colleagues.

In fact, as a business owner, it was necessary I come out. For better or worse, connecting and networking makes the world go round.

Most of us have experienced the power of networks. There’s the job found through a friend’s sister’s boyfriend. Or the lifelong partner met through a neighbor’s cousin. Or joint venture launched after a 3 martini lunch.

It applies to all of business though.

Networking Is an Investment, Not a Nuisance

Imagine if you could always find what you needed in just 1 or 2 phone calls. If you are well networked, you probably can. By putting in the time to build your network, you save time when you need to get things done. [I've seen Greg Swann do this exceptionally well through his Bloodhound Blog, which makes for another good reason to start blogging.]

Well networked people don’t have to waste time firing off random emails to people they don’t know, buying leads or industry lists, or sifting through hundreds of pages of the phone book.

However, it seems that the vast majority of networking advice is aimed at extroverts. “Go to networking mixers and meet new people,” the authorities say. “Make cold calls.” “Speak in front of groups.” “Call people up and chat with them about what’s new.” “Dance in your pajamas.”

Excuse me while I barf in a bag. Isn’t there a better way? [Okay, I was the one who said "Dance in your pajamas". But it's still good advice.]

At First, You’ll Stumble Like a Toddler

Someone’s estimated that introverts make up 49 percent of the population. People win elections, set laws, declare victory with percentages lower than that. But guess what? You still have to play by someone else’s rules. And who sets the rules? The Majority. The Extroverts.

That means you still have to get out of bed, put on your shoes [or heels--women only!] and go to places where people gather. Frightening, yeah, I know.

Sometimes you have to start by picking events at random. You spend an hour in a very uncomfortable setting, but you learn what to go to and what to skip. Eventually you find a few people or events that you like.

It may help to recognize that being an introvert is not a disorder, nor is it unusual. Introversion is simply a personality type. And it may be that your shy and timid but STILL a good connector.

We all know people like this. We’ve read about them in The Tipping Point. They are the ones who always know someone who does exactly what you need. And they know it before you even know it. They offer referrals without asking, they arrange lunches, and they love doing it. They are the connectors and they, according to the blog by an introvert for introverts, all have four things in common.

They are self-described introverts. Each one would rather be doing something besides talking to strangers. Somehow they manage to get out and meet people, get to know them, and maintain the relationships.

They are great listeners. Although they are skilled conservationists, it’s mainly because they are such good listeners. Because they understand you and your business, they know just what you need and who you should meet.

They have a plan. They know how many people they need to contact, and they know how often they need to do it. They set aside planning time, create a system, and they put it into their calendar. They don’t leave anything to chance.

They are highly successful. Even though they focus on others, they have all done very well in business, they are highly-respected, and they’re happy. Helping others has its rewards.

As you can see, you can still be shy, you can still cling to your view that ideas are more important than people, you can still rely on your one tumbler of Wild Turkey and Tums BEFORE a cocktail party and still be successful in real estate.

But granted, you still have to play the game, and you still have to play by the rules.

Alternative Networking Tips and Habits for Introverts

Now, many of us have both introverted and extroverted qualities. So you can find alternatives to extroverted networking that can be helpful even if you are not a true introvert.

Over the last 15 years, I’ve made a lot of progress. Here’s what I’ve learned about networking as an introvert.

1. Don’t spend too much time on it.
If you wear yourself out, you won’t ever want to do it. Accept your limitations and just do 1 or 2 events a month. It takes a long time to build these relationships.

2. Invite people to lunch.
Or invite them to coffee or for a beer after work. If you meet a fellow introvert, he is unlikely to do the inviting, so you have to do it. Go figure.

3. Go regularly to things you like.
Years ago my business partner Scott Wood started attending a local Chamber of Commerce. He didn’t know a soul. It was very awkward for him. But he was learning a lot. It took about 3 months before anyone even recognized him and said “hi.” You just have to keep showing up, month after month.

4. Analyze your results.
Introverts are intuitive and analytical. Use that skill. What is working? What isn’t? Where do you get the most bang for your buck?

5. Find the key players in the network.
Don’t find a marketing person, find someone who knows lots of marketing people and then invite that person to lunch. Of course, this takes a long time because it is hard to find the right person.

6. Attend events with a friend.
When planning to attend a networking meeting or social event where you hope to mingle with prospective clients, invite a friend or colleague to go with you. And agree that you will help each other to meet new people.

7. Seek out structure.
I abhor mixers but enjoy meeting people in more structured environments like workshops. You may find that it’s easier to talk about yourself when there is a specific time allotted for just that purpose.

8. Avoid the crowds.
Mingling at events is not an environment where I do my best. Instead of trying to meet people in group settings, do your networking one-on-one. Arrange to meet with people for coffee or lunch to get to know them better.

9. Prepare what to say.
Whether you are attending an event or placing a follow-up call, most introverts find it helpful to plan out in advance what they want to talk about. I know I do. This type of preparation gives you time to reflect on what you wish to express and explore the best way to say it.

10. Write instead of call.
It’s true that it’s usually more effective to contact prospective clients by phone than by email or letter. But if calling makes you uncomfortable enough that you tend to simply avoid it, go ahead and write instead. Besides, its easier to call someone when you’ve got your foot in the door via an email or letter. “Hi, I was wondering if you got my email?”

11. Promote by publishing.
The focused, reflective nature of many introverts makes them excellent writers. Writing and publishing articles, a blog, reports and studies, or even a book can attract many prospective clients and boost your credibility.

When clients come to you already acquainted with your work instead of you approaching them as a stranger, marketing conversations become more relaxed and intimate–just what most introverts like.

Conclusion

According to C J Hayden, there’s one area of marketing at which introverts often shine. While extroverts typically enjoy meeting new people and find it relatively effortless to fill their marketing pipeline, they don’t always do well at following up with the people they meet. Introverts, on the other hand, frequently excel at building strong relationships over time.

If you focus your marketing on staying in touch with people and getting to know them better instead of continually trying to seek out new contacts, you may find that your introverted style of marketing works better than what the extroverts are doing after all.

What do you think? Are you an introvert and do you have any tips I haven’t mentioned and would like to share? Go ahead and leave a comment.

And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.

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While printed flyers, signage and the basics will always have their place, we all know that over 80% of home buyers begin their search for a new home online.

In fact, second only to over-priced home, no internet marketing strategy is the biggest reason homes don’t sell.

That’s why you need advanced online marketing strategies–social media strategies–to help you create a compelling online presence.

Yet, marketing real estate has never been a hip business.

The people in it might be cool–but the advertising venues that work best for real estate have long been traditional vehicles like postcards, print newspaper ads and signage. Real estate is nothing if not a local business, after all (note the real estate mantra of “location, location, location”)–you don’t buy a house off of the Internet, right?

Maybe not yet.

Tech-savvy real estate agents and developers quickly turned to online and social media tools like video, blogs, and other new media to sell their properties. However, the adoption is so slow for the early majority [or pragmatists], and, of course, painful for the late majority [or conservatives].

Which brings me to my point.

The first step in successful and aggressive listing promotion is to make sure your property is featured where home buyers are looking.

And because offline marketing tools cost money, and money is hard to come by in tough times, its really no surprise that real estate agents to reduce their newspaper print budgets, if not eliminating them altogether.

My belief is that perhaps financial hard times might drive some normally timid, pragmatic and conservative people to finally get online and get with it, crossing that chasm faster than they normally would.

Otherwise they may have to be happy with failing. After call, necessity is the mother of experimentation.

To get us started, here are some basic suggestions to help you get the most out of your web site’s listings:

• Promote listings on your home page—make a featured property listing highlighting a particular property, and make sure there’s an easy-to-access slide show at the ready.

• Keep your hot news hot—announce your newest and most-desirable listings.

• Update your open house page—drive traffic from the web into your open houses.

• Use a hotline number with your listings. This allows you to capture contact information when they call to listen to an audio tour of the home or updated price information.

• Add a summary to your home page—with a dedicated link to your listing page.

Once you’ve secured the listing and published it to your website–the minimum–it’s time to capture other agents and potential buyers. Let’s move on to more advanced online marketing strategies–social media strategies–to help you create a compelling online presence.

Here’s how to get started:

• Create a single-property blog. Is this the most potent listing tool? Teresa Boardman talked about Keeping Local Real Estate, Well…Local, and how blogging can support and express your local knowledge and expertise within the microcosm of your community; establishing relationships with site-visitors and clients. [With Local, I'm speaking in-terms of relationships--referral business, repeat business, becoming known in your community for the all-inclusive services you provide consumers.]

• Add YouTube videos along with other content such as business details, photos, and descriptions to their listings. To do so, simply upload your videos to YouTube and ensure that the ‘embed’ option is turned on. Then, associate your video to your business listing through the Local Business Center.

• Promote Google Map as the new real estate search page. Once you’ve got your videos in Google Maps, then you got to make sure people actually use it.

• Dominate your local search. Back in November I wrote about local search and why you should care and gave you 7 steps to improve your local rankings. The best part: it’s bootstrapalicious [read: doesn't cost any money except your sweat].

• Advertise your business and listings using Facebook. Putting your brand on Facebook is actually a pretty easy process. Just click on the Advertisers link in Facebook’s footer and then Create a Page.

• Brand your listings with Trulia. Quoting from the Trulia blog: “Agents will have access to a self-service tool to highlight up to 10 listings per month for a monthly subscription fee of $50.” So, for less than the price of a typical newspaper classified ad, you can now highlight your listings and connect directly to more than 2 million unique users per month, including a highly affluent group of home buyers, 81% of who are looking to purchase a home in the next 12 months.

• Talk about foreclosures at Zillow. Share vital information with home owners, buyers and sellers on a hot topic. Throw your hat in the ring. Get involved where people are involved. This is a low-entry point to get your feet wet. And it’s free.

These steps will get you to a place where you can offer your visitors the most information-rich experience, and will help them to remember you, and thus to return to your site again and again.

Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the real estate marketing Blog by email or news feed.

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I use the leaky bucket metaphor for a site that doesn’t successfully convert visitors into leads. Traffic fills the bucket but leaks out of holes.

Deal is, you need to plug as many of these holes as possible.

How many holes are in your bucket?

Great question to ask yourself as you lie awake at night worrying about when the next lead is going to come in.

There are many reasons websites don’t generate the anticipated amount of business. Below are three of the most basic, easiest to address and often overlooked issues.

No One Can Find It

Sorry to be so blunt: If you built a site but did not optimize it before submitting to search engines, don’t expect to be found.

Okay, you may be found for your name. But not for the important keywords that searchers will typically use when looking to buy or sell homes.

And how often does someone go looking for real estate by typing in your name? Unless they know you. But I bet you’ve fatigued that list out already.

You need new leads.

Now, not being found on the search engines may not be important to you if you have a big marketing budget and actively conduct campaigns to promote your site.

But the majority of agents aren’t in this position.

Most are seeking lower cost options for promoting their sites. Most are struggling to stay afloat. If this describes your situation, it’s time to seriously look into search engine optimization, especially local search.

It works, and it can be done with a limited budget AND it can provide a high return on investment.

Does it still pay to optimize for search engines? Both with your time and talent?

Yes. But take a balanced view. Sweat the small stuff and don’t sweat the small stuff. You’ll see what I mean.

Your Call to Action Is Missing or Buried in Your Site

What do you ultimately want your visitors to do? You’ve got to make that crystal clear. Watch a video? Sign up for your mailing list? Search for homes? Take some other actions?

This is especially important: Can visitors take these actions on or within one click of your home page?

Include a call to action on your Home page and at appropriate points throughout your site.

And I’m not talking about an implied sales message, but a clear and direct call to action. Take a hint from The Real Estate Tomato, RSS Pieces, Russell Shaw or Craig Forte.

Visit these websites and see if you can find their call to action quickly.

Many people shy away from using bold, clear call to actions because they don’t want to appear too aggressive.

The reality is your visitors want you to make your call to action clear to them. They want to know from the start what they can accomplish on your site.

I’m not suggesting that you include pushy sales pitches. But I am saying you need to pro-actively invite your visitors to order, request, subscribe, sign-up, click or visit.

Find a tone that is appropriate for your site and add at least one specific call to action to your site today.

Tip: Read this article from hubspot to help you create strong call to actions.

You Stink at Lead Follow-Up

Having a well defined strategy to follow up on any leads generated from your site is key to converting visitors to leads. But we all know this is easier said then done–especially if you have a tight budget.

When you are short on cash, dig deeper into your creativity. I suggest you use your creativity to find cost effective ways to follow up on your leads.

Our browse Bill Rice’s list of Top 100 Tips for Lead Management and Sales Success.

This is also priceless [kind of]: read this case study by MarketingSherpa on How to Use Auto-responders to Convert Skeptical Visitors [paid subscription, but 7 day free trial to read the article. It's worth it. Trust me.].

Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the real estate marketing Blog by email or news feed.

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Barnum was probably called an “attention junkie” repeatedly throughout his life for his outrageous stunts and hoaxes for promotional purposes. But you know what? He probably wore that label like a badge of honor.

Of course he had to be an attention junkie. He was trying to make some money.

But he was also insanely focused on delivering exceptional value to his customers. He even crusaded against schemers and charlatans that swindled people out of money.

So self-promotion isn’t evil. Just another way to generate business. And it can be fun. Especially if you take an unorthodox slant, as you’ll see from the following list.

1. View blog comments as a network tool.

Maki at Dosh Dosh had this to say: “See blog comments as a way to network with the author, so that you’ll be able to obtain a particular benefit in the future. Think long-term: not just incoming traffic today but exposure down the road. Don’t just focus on getting an immediate return (visitors via your link drop) but use comments to develop relationships of ongoing value.”

2. Ask and answer questions on LinkedIn.

Using the Answers feature at LinkedIn brings your name and profile around to people you’re not exposed to directly. This means more opportunities for someone to recognize your authority in some field, and to reach out and contact you for something further. It means sharing the fruits of your networking with others, and potentially connecting 3rd parties to each other for something bigger. This comes in handy when it becomes obvious that you’re also a good connector. [hat tip]

3. Advertise on MateOne.

I got this one from marketing black sheep Ben Mack. He listed his business profile in this saucy dating community, emailed his house list the link and hauled in a load of attention as the thing spread around the country. Now, whether he got any business from it or not is another question. Just depends on how good he’s at closing.

4. Create or sponsor a community event.

It doesn’t make sense for you to sponsor a rowing event…unless of course you are a rower. Same goes for a young adult’s chess tournament, a scuba clinic or a simple Mother’s Day breakfast.

5. Teach a class outside of real estate.

When you jump out side of your comfort box and rub shoulders with other people–and do it passionately–you are bound to make some good, lasting friends. One easy way to do that is to share your knowledge on a topic that does not deal with real estate. It could be a class on gardening or dealing with grief. Maybe it’s self-defense or guitar lessons. This is also a great way to take a break from the rigors of hard work and enjoy one of your hobbies while nurturing possible business contacts.

6. Write a book.

Sound too hard? Scott Berkun says, “There is no license required. No test to take. Writing, as opposed to publishing, requires almost no financial or physical resources. A pen, a paper and effort are all that has been required for hundreds of years.” He goes on to say If Voltaire and Marquis de Sade could write in prison, then you can do it in suburbia, at lunch at work, or after your kids go to sleep. Here’s some practical advice to get off the ground.

7. Do mission work.

It’s says something exceptional about you when you volunteer your time to help someone less fortunate than you. It’s easy to get picked up by the news. And it’s bound to dim the accusation that real estate agents–at least you–are no better than lawyers and used-car salespeople.

8. Approach strangers.

I struggle with this. You might not. But most people I know think people who do approach strangers and talk to them like they’ve known them for years a little crazy. Of course, these are the people who don’t know a stranger. Who, every where you go, knows just about everybody. And probably have no problem finding leads, business and clients.

9. Volunteer for a political campaign.

Whether local, state or national, volunteering your time for a political campaign will get you inside circles otherwise closed to you. It could be as easy as sticking a sign in your yard or stuffing envelopes. I’d suggest you volunteer to walk the streets and knock on doors and introduce yourself as a real estate agent who is helping to nominate a political candidate. Very low key way to start conversations because you’ll probably have a checklist of issues to talk about or a script.

10. Join a book club.

Sure, no one looks down on a trashy novel at the beach, but when your in a book club it’s time to dust off that thinking cap and tackle some seriously awesome reads. And make some really good, like-minded friends while your at it. From globe-trotting fiction to gray graphic novels to political nonfiction and British mysteries, scour your city for the best book clubs around and get reading.

Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the real estate marketing Blog by email or news feed.

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