It’s only four months until our big events in November! Have you made your plans yet? If not, here’s a quick overview.
Sticking with last year’s Disney location, the 2012 REALTORS Conference & Expo is in Orlando from Nov. 9-12. We’ll have the same booth, too. If you’re planning to attend the conference, please stop by to see us (and we’d love to have you help out) at booth 619.
Note: Early bird registration ends Aug. 15, so look at your budget and see if you can fit NAR into it.
This year's Realtors Conference & Expo is in Orlando. Make plans to join us!
Like last year, the Success Summit will immediately follow NAR, but it will last just 1.5 days, from midday Nov. 12 through the evening of Nov. 13. We’ll be sharing and communing, learning from a few special guests and, more than likely, focusing on marketing. Our host hotel is Clarion Inn & Suites at International Drive. Call 407-351-5100 and mention Help-U-Sell Real Estate to get our special rate of $92/night, including breakfast.
Our on-demand print vendor, Alexander’s Print Advantage, has designed two new blitz signs for Help-U-Sell. You can see the designs and order them at www.brandsawonline.com/helpusell.
These signs are simple and affordable, so they’re perfect for blanketing a target neighborhood to build brand recognition or to use in conjunction with open house signs.
Images of the two versions are below.
You can customize the new Help-U-Sell Real Estate blitz sign with your text and phone number.Send people directly to your site by using the blitz sign with QR code.
Both signs measure 11.5″ x 17.25″ and are made of heavy-stock cardboard that is gloss laminated on both sides. You can order as few as 25 signs for $40, and 100 signs go for $135. On the QR code sign, you can specify the URL that you want the code to link to. You might want to create a URL just for your signs to measure how many responses you signs generate. If you’re targeting a neighborhood, why not link to the search results on your site that feature property listings from that area? If you’re looking for sellers, consider linking the QR code to the Seller Savings Calculator. Get creative with where you send your potential clients and think about what would resonate most with them.
We want to hear your ideas and, if you’ve already used the blitz signs, what your successes were.
We are almost finished upgrading the Office Management System to match your broker and the corporate website redesign and to make the OMS easier to use.
Here is a preview of how the new OMS Dashboard will look. The graphs will be moved below the Alerts in the actual working version.
Here is a preview of the new Help-U-Sell Real Estate Dashboard redesign.
In the new design, you will also be able to add custom events to the calendar. We expect to have the new Dashboard up and running by the end of the week.
We are also redesigning and streamlining the Listing Module. It will resemble an MLS form, and the number of tabs will reduce from the current eight down to just four.
We want to hear your feedback on the new look and, once it’s live, the functionality of the OMS redesign. Comment below or contact Tony directly.
For buyers and sellers, real estate might be all about “location, location, location,” but for agents and brokers it’s “referrals, referrals, referrals.” Marc Dosik of Help-U-Sell Federal City Realty in Washington, D.C., actively pursues reviews and referrals as a major marketing tactic.
“I just closed a transaction with a guy in California who read my reviews on Yahoo!,” Dosik says. The buyer called based on the strength of those reviews and asked to speak to a couple of Dosik’s past clients for more feedback. Understanding the power of good testimonials, the new buyer just wrote Dosik a positive review.
As a Premier Agent on Zillow, Dosik solicits happy past customers to post their experiences on the site. He makes it easy for the customers by sending them links to his profile. He also collects reviews for Yelp and Angie’s List and puts them in Redfin.
“You can parlay these [as marketing tools],” Dosik says. He uses the reviews in listing presentations and sends prospective clients a link to his Zillow reviews. “They really help me get the listing,” he says.
Dosik encourages new and veteran brokers to ask for reviews and referrals. “Don’t stop keeping in touch,” he says. He focuses on his customers and always says “yes” to their requests. “Try not to say ‘we don’t do that’ at Help-U-Sell. Go above and beyond. You’re going to get referrals by doing that,” he advises.
Past customers’ reviews and referrals have helped Federal City Realty have a successful spring, and so has Mother Nature. “In February, we had a big increase in transactions,” Dosik says. “Normally, spring starts in March but we had a warm winter, so buyers were out there.” A lack of sellers created pent-up demand. “Since then, it’s been very busy.”
The D.C. Metro area has been steadier than most other markets during the past few years, but the housing market is stronger in some locations within the greater D.C. area than in others. The more affluent cities that are closer to Washington, D.C., such as Chevy Chase, Md., and Arlington, Va., have experienced appreciating home values, while cities that are farther away and that have a lot of new inventory, like Chantilly, Va., and Germantown, Md., are not faring as well. Dosik adds that reurbanization efforts in D.C. combined with a low unemployment rate have young professionals and investors snapping up properties in transitional neighborhoods.
With the overall strength of the D.C. Metro market, Dosik is on his way to reaching his goal of transitioning from being a one-man show to focusing more on marketing-oriented activities. He plans to add another assistant to his staff, as well as hire buyers’ agents.
What are your tips for getting the most out of testimonials?
