The long-awaited Help-U-Sell cookbook is at the printer! Since the last post about the cookbook, we have added another recipe (and two more pages).
The new Help-U-Sell cookbook cover
Each office will receive one complimentary copy of the cookbook. We’ll hand the books out at the Success Summit. Everyone who can’t attend will receive their books in the mail. You will be able to order additional copies through Alexander’s Print Advantage for $12.75 each. The website is https://www.brandsawonline.com/helpusell.
The cookbooks will make great closing gifts, holiday presents and even raffle or silent auction donations. You can also use the books to thank past clients for their testimonials or referrals. The first page of the book has an area where you can write an inscription to the recipient.
Tell us: Who will receive your first cookbook and why?
Just in time for the National Association of REALTORS’ annual conference and expo, we’re advertising in “REALTOR Magazine” again. Our full-page ad will be on cardstock, so it will stand out from the rest of the magazine’s ads.
Here’s a preview.
Help-U-Sell Real Estate's REALTOR Magazine ad
The message is aimed at potential franchisees and builds brand awareness. The main image emphasizes Help-U-Sell University, which is debuting in November. We’re also encouraging readers to visit our booth at the REALTORS Conference and Expo. Look for the ad in the next issue of REALTOR Magazine.
The highly anticipated drip email module is close to completion. We aim to launch officially next Tuesday, Sept. 4, but it is available now via OMS. You can access it under the Marketing & Content tab.
The module, named Drip Email Setup, has been preloaded with a few drip email campaigns, including ones for newly registered buyers and sellers, and agents you’re recruiting. We will add more in the next few weeks. You can modify all of the existing campaigns to fit your writing style, and we encourage you to localize them to your office and marketplace. We have embedded some automated personalization into the emails. For instance, the signature will include ##OFFICE_NAME##, which will be filled in with your office name when the email is delivered. A cheat sheet containing these personalizations will be accessible in the module soon.
You can also create new emails for the campaigns we’ve created, as well as create whole new campaigns. All of the emails have headers, footers and images that you are free to use for your new emails. The system will allow you to upload your own images, too.
The new Help-U-Sell drip email module enables brokers to edit existing emails, create new ones, schedule messages and make new campaigns.
After you have your campaign messages ready, you can set up the emails to send out automatically on a schedule that you determine. For example, within a campaign, the first email would be indicated as the #1 message with 0 days’ delay. The second email would be named #2 and send out 7 days (or however many days you choose) after the first email is sent, and so on. You will also be able to create and schedule recurring emails. We suggest you use the Test Email button to see how the email will appear to the recipient before you send out the email.
You will set up your campaigns and monitor the results in the Campaign Setup section. The Active Campaigns tab lets you see when campaigns began, their statuses and how many contacts have received each message. Clicking on the View Details button will display when a campaign’s emails were sent (or will be sent), who received them and whether a recipient is active or unsubscribed from your campaigns.
Brokers can view all active email campaigns to see when the emails have been or will be sent out.
The Setup Campaign tab is where you select your contacts to receive each campaign’s emails. You can also change the “from” address (by default it is “noreply@helpusell.com”) and the date your campaign will start.
The Setup Campaign tab is where you choose who receives the emails for each campaign.
The last piece of the puzzle is your contacts. You will want to make sure your office contacts are up-to-date and in good order. This is where the module will obtain the contact lists for your campaigns. You can create new contact lists in My Office Contacts. Some examples of useful contacts lists include past clients, potential agents and seller prospects.
How do you plan to use the drip email module? Tell us your campaign ideas. Also, we encourage you to test out the module this week, and if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us.
Lona Murphy, owner of Help-U-Sell Select Real Estate in Eugene, Oregon
Lona Murphy, broker/owner of Help-U-Sell Select Real Estate in Eugene, Ore., has owned her franchise since April 2011. In that short amount of time, she took the office, previously known as Help-U-Sell By Owner, and made it into an even more successful business.
Murphy attributes the growth to a strategic approach that started with the name change. She wanted to ensure that potential clients knew that her office offered full representation, not just assistance to FSBOs. She improved the company image by moving the office from a retail location to a corner office downtown. New marketing materials, taking advantage of inexpensive online marketing tools, and focusing on being proactive and following up furthered the efforts to be seen as a great option for home sellers in Eugene.
The office also incorporated Murphy’s existing rental program into the revenue stream. Their 20 rental units have provided a consistent source of income and of buyers and sellers. She says their property management clients have made many referrals to her office.
One of the biggest challenges Select Real Estate has encountered has been from competitors claiming Help-U-Sell is a discount brokerage and that other agents won’t show its listings. Murphy and fellow broker Tiffany Guerin assertively overcome objections using facts and statistics. “We don’t use negative references to other Realtors,” she says. “[But] we don’t back down.” She has rarely lost a listing to a traditional brokerage.
Murphy has begun to turn down certain listings, however. “I don’t take overpriced listings anymore,” she says. Her slogan is “I don’t list properties to list them; I list properties to sell them.”
For new Help-U-Sell brokers, she advises not to take it personally when traditional agents and brokers say you’re inferior. “Persevere and be committed to what you do, and that’s to help people and save them money,” Murphy says.
The Help-U-Sell cookbook is about to make its debut. Thanks again to all of you who submitted recipes!
Here’s a sneak peek at one of the two-page spreads. We think it turned out beautifully!
Get an early look at our new cookbook. The full-color book will be available for brokers to order soon.
The book has 76 pages organized into categories from beverages and appetizers and sides to soups and entrees. Of course, just like any good meal, it ends with baked goods and desserts. Brokers can personalize the cookbook on the back cover with a simple mailing-type label. Each office will receive a sample copy. We are working out the details with the printer, but offices will be able to order additional copies at a reasonable price per book. As soon as we have more information, we will provide an update.
The cookbooks will make great marketing tools. Give them to your buyers and sellers when they close on their homes. Keep in touch with former clients by delivering the books as holiday gifts. Thank clients for their testimonials or referrals. Donate a book to a local charity auction or raffle.
Tell us what you think of the design and share with us how you plan to use the cookbooks this fall.
