
New Book Release:

Hi Folks:
It occurred to me this morning that I have not shared a post about my resource for new homebuyers. A few years back I created a Udemy course and pdf checklist that educates and guides new homebuyers about the process. Check out the course here.
If you have any specific questions, comment below or contact me @ (786) 327-6326. I hope this helps! Happy house hunting!
Cheers,
John
I was listening to Dr. John Maxwell talk about “Do Overs” during this morning’s Minute With Maxwell motivational video message, a weekday morning ritual I have become accustomed to participating in for about six years now. The key takeaway is this: if you didn’t make the mistake, then you couldn’t learn from it and be who you are today.
The problems you experienced and the bad decisions you’ve made in the past guide you to become a better person. If you learn from your regrets, those difficult life lessons often called “the school of hard knocks,” then you should be able to avoid repeating those same bad choices because you know from your personal experiences how they will end.
When you come to a fork in the road where you have two choices, pause for a moment to reflect on where each road will take you, then make a choice.
Be mindful of the choice you’re making and take notes of the consequences that follow, good or bad, so as to learn from them.
As I think about my own life journey and the recent choices I’ve made, I think about my decision to move to The Woodlands (north of Houston), Texas last July. As a person of faith, I believe God answered my prayer in enabling me to move to Texas in 2020, even though it wasn’t the right place for me to be.
By that October, I was right back in Jacksonville, Florida where I belonged. I realized that we have to be careful what we ask for when I heard a biblical story about an ancient King who received a prophecy that he would die within a year.
He prayed fervently for life – and God answered his prayer (to the detriment of his people.) During his extended 15 years of life, he had opened the city doors to an enemy that eventually robbed the city of its gold and enslaved their people. It would have been better for Israel if their King had died as was originally planned.
Moving to Texas last year cost me about $10,000 and a lot of loneliness. I contracted shingles in my first month there and I was all alone with no friends or family to care for me. I spent my birthday alone with no cake, no company, and no birthday gifts. And even though I tried, I didn’t make any new friends. It was a beautiful location, but not the right fit for me.
This biblical story, and my own recent life experience, taught me to “be careful what you ask for.”
Self-discipline is not about refraining from making bad choices, in and of itself, but about being a good student of yourself (disciple means student). In the end, you’ll look back at your entire life and realize that your own self-discipline was the roadmap to a better life.
Let your bad decisions propel you to make good decisions going forward. We are all on a journey and we can strive to live 1% better with every choice we make.
Wishing you lots of success on your journey!
You may be a good candidate for a credit restoration program. Once you’ve improved your credit scores above the qualifying standards and have the eligibility income required, you can get an approval from the lender. If you need help with your down payment, there are sometimes local housing grants that are available on homes being sold in certain regions. You should consult with a credit repair specialist and a mortgage lender for an analysis of your current income and liabilities, as well as guidance on your next steps. Lenders can be found on Rocket Mortgage. Lexington Law specializes in credit repair. If you would like to speak to one of our preferred partners, we can arrange an introduction. Stay persistent in your pursuit of homeownership, your future self will thank you.
I just finished reading a case study about the following pizza co. who’s earning more dough by being a benefactor to charities (sorry for the blatant pun.) 😚
Here’s What They’re Doing:
i Fratelli promotes their charitable giving weekly using social media, allowing residents surrounding their 10 corporate-owned and 5 franchise stores to vote from a selection of local NPOs, churches, and high school booster clubs as the beneficiaries – on any given day, 15% of a stores sales are contributed to a worthy cause. More than 100 charities have benefits since 2016.
The Results?
In the first quarter of their charity campaign, the pizza restaurant chain tripled their Facebook impressions, grew their retweets by a whopping 5X, and earned a 300% ROI in sales!
Here’s How They Do It:
The Conclusion?
Charitable giving bolsters your biz’s positive brand image, increases sales, and provided an opportunity for viral sharing which translates to free marketing exposure (wider reach).
Action Steps:
Want more info? Here are some stats on the impact of charitable giving in 2019.
Some time ago I had the privilege of speaking with a former director of marketing of a condo conversion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The gentleman had been responsible for driving sales for this project during the pre-recession boom, and back then anything superior to a cardboard box was flying off the market like a SpaceX rocket headed towards the International Space Station in 2020.
I remember seeing lines of buyers waiting to get into a new pre-construction development sales office to buy a condo or single family residence similar to what you may have seen outside of a popular night club or at an Apple store the morning of the release of a new iPhone!
Even with all of the fast equity buildup hype, developer sales still had lots of competition and I was very curious to know how this marketing pro ran his customer targeting to optimize sales. Here’s the “Aha!” result I got from his answer: market segmentation!
The former marketing director told me that he identified 20 types of potential buyers – that’s 20 different client avatars – and created a landing page with copy and graphics that specifically spoke to the wants and needs of each customer segment. Now, I was not a novice about market segmentation. During grad school, I took a feasibility studies class on hotel development and we segmented our prospective hotel guests into three groups: business class, government, and travel/leisure. But this was way beyond that! To identify 20 types of buyers is hyper-focused, granular research (and a lot of work!)
I LOVE IT!
So, the next obvious question should be, “where do I begin?”Fortunately, you’re reading this article and I’m about to guide you through the marketing segmentation forest!
Disclaimer: This segmentation is not intended to redline or dissociate any class of persons, particularly U.S. federally protected classes, from being presented with an opportunity to purchase your goods or services via your marketing efforts. Rather, you should market to all classes using communication skills that speak to each class in a way that resonates with them while accomplishing your marketing objectives (making sales). I would not travel to France and expect the wonderful residents there to speak in English to me. In point of fact, while studying abroad there, I tried to speak the little French I knew at every encounter. C’est mon plaisir!
You can use these 5 marketing segments as “characteristics of your client avatars.”
For instance, you can start defining a client avatar as: male, 25-30, 4-year degree, mid-level professional, married with children, $75k-$100k salary, lives in Miami, works from home, wants to home school his children, needs two extra rooms, one for a home office and another for home schooling, drives luxury vehicle, enjoys smooth jazz, fine European wines from Total Wine, follows Jane Monheit, Emilie Claire-Barlow, and Sophie Milman (my personal favorite jazz singers), and enjoys outdoor recreational activities that include hiking and paddle boarding. Websites visited include Pottery Barn, Ashley Home Furniture, Toll Brothers Homes, and Lennar Homes. Favorite clothing includes Nautica and Polo by Ralph Lauren. (Okay, so I’m borrowing my own personal characteristics – you gotta start somewhere!) 🤷🏻♂️
So there you have it, we just defined ONE client avatar; 19 more to go. 😉
After you go through the tedious process of defining your client avatar…🛑 (hold the phone! Isn’t there an easier way to get this task done?! Yes, there is. You need 20 profiles, so target yourself first, then ask 19 people that are different from you in 19 ways, but would still have a need or desire for your product or service, to target (identify) themselves, bada-bing! Get it done smarter, not harder.
Next, craft your marketing message to each client avatar with the following Q in mind: “How can I satisfy this person’s wants and needs”❓
Your answer should include a curated version of your brand message; the main content is about the features and benefits that your product or service offers, graphics and video that (1) showcases the value and benefits of the product or service in action, (2) includes testimonials that validate your authority and reliability, and (3) includes a call to action, all of which appeals to that one specific client avatar.
Third, find out where they are. each niche client avatar has social media platforms that they prefer to hang out in. Go there.
Fourth, give them what they want. Attract your client avatars by presenting information that either solves a problem or satisfies a desire. Your goal in the initial engagement stage is to drive them to your webpage, so present a compelling call to action that drives traffic to sales or a lead capture page.
In closing, getting hyper-focused on who you are trying to serve will improve your chances of getting higher conversions and the bottom line is the bottom line. 😉
If you haven’t taken the dip in the video marketing waters, now is the time to start – if you like connecting with your community where your future clients exist and you realize that inbound marketing is superior to outbound marketing. 🙀
Okay, so you may be timid about getting in front of the camera, we all are. But, if you turn your attention away from “how you’ll look” and towards “how you will help,” then recording yourself isn’t so bad and is worth a bit of temporary discomfort – being of service often requires some self-sacrifice. 🤨
To help you with your foray into 🎥 recording, I’m giving you a 5-part outline for video content creation that’s applicable to any subject.
Start with an attention grabber – this could be an analogy or a question. For example, what if I start my video by stating, “in this video, I’m going to show you how Fozzy the Bear can make you a better writer!” I then show an image of the cute bear and rewrite his name as FOSC, which stands for Focus, Organization, Support, and Convention (which is how the FSA writing test is graded for middle and high school).
Now let’s try a Q: “What are the Pros and Cons of Hiring a Lawyer Who Specializes in Estate Planning and Probate to Draft My Will Versus Going to a General Practitioner?”
As you can see, either hook can draw your audience in with curiosity and open a loop that they will feel compelled to close by watching your video ‘til the end.
This is where you’ll give a quick intro to yourself and claim your authority (why they should trust you). You can include your name in writing (a graphic) in the lower third of the screen to identify yourself and your firm.
Switch up your video with a mini call to action (CTA) with the following suggestion, “If you get value out of watching this video, hit the like button so others can know.”
This is where you answer the question or explain the metaphor. Using an outline and sequential order helps your audience follow along each step. Content is critical! Do your hw before making your video.
This is where you wrap things up with a CTA. For instance, you can ask your audience to book a consult, call your toll-free number, or hit subscribe to learn more.
There you have it, a 5-part outline for making a video. If you have a smartphone, then you’ve got a 2-in-1 high tech camera and video editing studio at the palm of your hands. Now it’s time to take 🎬 “ACTION!”
A few things stood out during last night’s commercials and I thought I should share my point of view, for better or worse, about what I observed. So without further ado…
Why is it that the content creators of big brands believe we prefer abstract art over realism? The majority of last night’s Super Bowl commercials were prevalent in animation and augmented reality? Are they creating commercials for adults or kids, because what I saw looked like their target audience was adolescents.
Why on earth would you throw in a handful of celebrities into your commercials, yet have no discernible storyline or clear CTA in the content? (“Garbage in, garbage out” comes to mind.)
I did enjoy seeing Wayne and Garth, as well as hearing the jingle for The Greatest American Hero. This says, people in the age range of 40-50, we’re targeting you! At least we marketers can’t pick up on that one good cue when creating new content for the near future.
Smh. The 2020 crisis metaphor of “when life gives you lemons, make spiked lemonade” was a poor choice. This commercial added insult to injury with the despotic lemons pelting passers by, and the suggestions that we have a drink to get through it is sadly lacking in humor, at best, and poor advice at worst. What we need is a sober stance to overcome our serious issues in our country, not more alcohol or drugs. We need to step up as a society and act like better role models for the kids who are watching us and how we deal with life’s challenges. Having a drink during a sporting event is fine, but that’s not what was conveyed here. I challenge you to do better next time.
There you have it, my comments on what I saw in the super bowl commercials. I hate to sound nostalgic, but the “good ole days” were better than what I saw last night, apart from the FPL commercial – that one, I liked.
In today’s noisy world of information, your marketing message needs to be more than just a face in the crowd. To do that, you’ll need to shape your content to reflect what your potential clients want by conducting keyword research and weaving the results into your copywriting. Here’s how.
Reflect those words & phrases (KW terms) inside of your content to drive qualified leads, with higher conversion potential, to your landing page while weeding out disinterested traffic (that will cost you money and lead to high bounce rates.)
In closing, taking a shotgun approach is like spinning the slot machine 🎰 at a casino and hoping you win clients. Without a targeted audience and a tactical approach to attracting their eyes and ears to your message, you’re essentially 🎲 rolling the dice 🎲with advertising. Instead, take a 🎯 targeted approach! Implement this 5-step KW research model into your marketing and start attracting the right prospects to you. You can thank me later. 👏
Additional Qualifications:
Today, I want to talk about using YouTube in a way other than watching your favorite music videos.
Personally, as a real estate broker who is new to YouTube content creation, I began by creating content in mid-2020 for other agents who are new to the business. However, that’s not bringing in revenue and there really wasn’t a marketing plan in place. (Enter John 2.0)
Start with identifying the demographics (age, gender, education, marital status, geography, etc.) and psychographics (social media habits, spending habits, etc.) of your ideal clients. Discover what they want, then give them what they want. The goal of communication is PIE (persuade, inform, and entertain.)
Personally, in 2021, I want to make videos where I talk about real estate in Florida, beginning with Jacksonville. I want to deliver the content in a fun and entertaining way, while being educational and inspirational. I can do this by sharing home buying and selling tips, infusing enthusiasm and humor in the process, and dressing sharp to convey that I still mean business! 👔😉
I see YouTube as a FREE TV channel where we can advertise our companies and build our brand recognition up with a shoestring budget. As a solopreneur or small business owner, your strategy should be to use your YTC (that is, your YouTube channel) to help bolster your website’s SEO.
For example, by posting videos about Jacksonville real estate on a regular basis, prospects are more likely to view my videos, blog posts, or website if they search for the phrase “Jacksonville Real Estate” on Google. Given my topics, I don’t think too many people of the 1.2 billion YT viewers will see my videos in general, but my target audience will! And if I happen to get, say, 5,000 views, then I will feel like my keyword research and topic selections are working. 🥇
We “entrefluencers” think of our YTC as part of a marketing machine, along with Google Ads and other social media channels.
– John W. Tanner, JD|MS
Brand RAMP and TOMA. If these two marketing terms are new to you, don’t fret. Brand “RAMP” is an acronym for Recognize, Articulate, Memorize, and Prefer. “TOMA” stands for Top of Mind Awareness. Consider publishing new videos on a weekly basis as an excellent way to nurture & incubate your leads (Brand RAMP) inside your sales cycle, while simultaneously allowing you to stay Top-of-Mind with your current client base.
For scripting ideas, consider what your ideal client is concerned about. Look online for FAQs, see what your competitors are doing, and observe what other top performers are doing in other markets! Lastly, take time to review keywords and topics that are presently trending in your niche and/or market. Use these terms and phrases in your title and thumbnails.
Keep it simple, silly. 🤪 Jump right into the water (topic) 🏊 and get out within 3 to 5 minutes. ⏲ Keep your videos short & sweet! 💛 That’ll keep your prospects and clients wanting more! 🤩