|
Advertisers will Rent Message Time
Your market is full of businesses just dying
for the kind of intimate, repeated contact with home buyers and sellers that only you can
provide. They would love to have fifteen to thirty seconds on the end of your message (use
five minute transmitters for best results).
Hook up with a mortgage broker who has been
chasing your business. Explain how he/she will get a “plug” on every message.
Something like “For all your financing needs, when buying or selling a home, please
contact Bill Jones Mortgage Plus at 922-1520.” It's marketing magic.
Is there a local moving company that would love
to get a focused commercial aimed right at home buyers and sellers playing 24 hours a
day?
How about a title insurance company that would
like leads and a mention. They should be willing to buy some time for the exposure.
Lots of people paint and remodel when they buy
a home. Is there a contractor, house painter or carpet store that would make the same
deal?
Structure this like a paid advertisement. So
much money per broadcaster, per month. Just like a radio station. When in doubt, work with
other businesses or contact your real estate licensing board for advice.
Rent Broadcasters to FSBOs
Here's and idea to supplement the FSBO idea.
If they love Talking House, but still they say they want to spend 60 days trying to sell
their home themselves, you can offer to make their house “talk” for $50.00 a
month (or whatever amount your market sill support).
Here's the key. If they decide later to list
with you, then all fees are waived, because that is part of your full service. Most FSBOs
don't sell, so after the 60 days they can list with you, or they can list with someone
else and pay you the $100.00. That's the real edge for you to get the listing. Otherwise,
you get $100.
Expired Listings
These are a great source for listings now
that you have the edge! They've tried all the usual stuff and had no success. You can call
and offer to be right there selling their home 24 hours a day, seven days a week! You can
offer to run 30,000 commercials on the radio, each month, for their home. They're going to
list with someone else now, and you have something special they didn't get the first
time.
Install a Broadcaster in your Office
If you install a transmitter in your office,
you have one to show off when prospects stop by.
You can have a small radio on your desk and tune in (the message can be a sales pitch on
why they should have Talking House, and you).
You can also put up a sign out front. You'll
get additional people tuning in to your office Talking House. You might consider our
“Automagic” sign. Give a brief description of new listings so it has news value,
then give a pitch yourself.
A Commercial for You
While buyers and sellers are out driving
around, be sure they get a pitch about you and your services. If you had thirty Talking
Houses around town, that would be 1 million commercials about you running each
month.
Stress that you are the listing agent, and the
expert on that home, and they should call you for the information or a showing. Also
stress if they have a home to sell, you'd love to put their home on the air and help get
it sold fast.
Make this commercial work for you. Don't be
subtle. You are the agent doing something special, so point it out. Mention your name
three times and include your pager or home number if you want the quickest call. Tell them
they can call anytime, including weekends (if they can) or many people won't. The first
rule in marketing: tell them what you want them to do, don't make them guess.
Just Getting Started?
One good way to get
some attention, and develop some contacts for listing presentations, is to hold an open
house in another agents listing. Remind the agent that he/she can't be everywhere,
and if you hold one of her listings open on a Sunday, you'll let the seller know you are
doing it at her request - make her look good to her seller.
Then you make the listing
a Talking House for the day. Everyone who stops by the house will tune in. You
can invite prospects in to the home right on your message. And you should let them
know that you would make their home "Talk" too, is they have a home to sell.
As they walk through the
home, you have a chance to tell them all about Talking House, give them a Talking House
brochure, and develop lots of people who would like their home "on the air" too.
If you need listings and
have an free Sunday, this may work for you. The open house may lead to a sale that
gets her commission. Not every agent will go along with this approach, but
they'd be crazy not to. The seller will really appreciate it.
Add Talking House to your Name
You want people to think of Talking House
when they think of you, and think of you when they think of Talking House. So consider
adding Talking House to your company “doing business as” name.
We don't charge any royalties. Just fill out a
one page agreement. This is strictly an option intended to help you stand out. You're
doing something special, why not get recognition for it.
Talking House Tours
As both a listing tool and a selling tool,
putting together a Talking House Tour of your listings can be very effective.
Draw up a map, or find a simple street map of your area. Put a number on the map at the
location of each Talking House. Over in the border put the number with the address and the
frequency to tune in to.
Make a couple copies of this map, updated
weekly, and hand them out. You can also run them in the weekend newspapers, inviting
prospects. |
