Author: John W. Tanner, J.D.|M.S.

John holds four degrees and two decades of technical education, and has extensive experience in the fields of real estate property valuation, mortgage finance, and home sales, and is the Broker-Owner of Coleman Tanner Realty 🏡 in Florida. John was recently admitted into the NYU film school’s 1-year online certificate program in Film & TV Essentials, as well as completed the 14-Day Filmmaker Academy by the legendary tv commercial gurus, Paul Xavier and Anthony Gallo. 🎥 He plans on shooting social media video commercials that documents and highlights the journey to success of many high performance attorney entrepreneurs, as well as lead an in-house film production company for his real estate practice, Coleman Tanner Realty. 🎬 Lastly, John aspires to self-produce independent films that will be a hybrid of the “film noir, murder mystery genre” and something new, futuristic, and aesthetically appealing to modern day film enthusiasts. (Ladies, he also enjoys romantic comedies and dramas too, - and he wrote a romantic novella titled Faithfully (available on Amazon) - so stay tuned!) When he’s not 🖥 online studying film production and marketing techniques, or watching movies and TV shows on the tube 📺 for inspiration, 🎼John also enjoys playing the guitar 🎸 and piano 🎹 in his free time.
Posted in Quotes/Motivation

Have You Ever Felt Physically, Mentally, or Spiritually Out of Alignment?

Posted on by John W. Tanner, J.D.|M.S.
Image Courtesy of Deva Darsha from Pexels

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.

Image Courtesy of Cotton bro from Pexels

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.

Image Courtesy of Engin Akyurt from Pexels

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.

Image Courtesy of Snapwire from Pexels

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!

Posted in Real Estate: Buy, Sell, Lease

Can I Become a Homebuyer if I Have Bad Credit?

Posted on by John W. Tanner, J.D.|M.S.
Image courtesy of Gabby K from Pexels

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.

Posted in Sales and Marketing Tips

Charitable Giving Can Grow Your Social Media Channels and Increase Your Revenue!

Posted on by John W. Tanner, J.D.|M.S.
Image courtesy of Max Fischer from Pexels

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:

  • Uses influencers to share the story
  • Cross-promotes posts on FB, IG, T, and blog
  • 1 in-house team member spends 20 hours/wk on content creation (4-5 posts/wk)
  • Uses Google Analytics to monitor PPC AdWords campaign
  • Occasionally uses FB Ads campaign to promote a specific sweepstakes or event (less than $500 spent in total)
  • Targets the organization’s supporters when promoting a fundraiser to ensure they reach the right audience
  • Tags the Convention & Visitors Bureau on “DoughNation” posts so it gets retweeted to their followers

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:

  1. Consider what charities you can align your business with
  2. Capitalize on post shares and retweets with allies such as the chamber of commerce, the visitor’s bureau, and other civic-business entities
  3. Allocate your social media charitable marketing tasks to an in-house marketer or outsource to a reputable media company

Want more info? Here are some stats on the impact of charitable giving in 2019.

Posted in Sales and Marketing Tips

How to Define Your Target Client Avatar: A “Persona” Deep Dive

Posted on by John W. Tanner, J.D.|M.S.
Image courtesy of Pixabay from Pexels

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!

Image courtesy of freestocks.org by Pexels

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!

Start With Building Your Buckets: Market Segmentation

Image courtesy of David Waschbüsch of Pexels

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!

Image courtesy of Harry Cooke of Pexels

5 Ways to Segment Your Target Market:

  1. Demographics (age, race, gender, marital status, income, education)
  2. Geographics (location specificity)
  3. Psychographics (Lifestyle)
  4. Purchasing Behaviors (by life stages)
  5. Brand Loyalty (Affinity)

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.

Image courtesy of Anthony Shkraba from Pexels

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. 😉

Posted in Sales and Marketing Tips

Are You Using Video as Part of Your Marketing Strategy?

Posted on by John W. Tanner, J.D.|M.S.

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.

1. The Hook.

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.

2. The Intro.

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.

3. The Bumper

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.”

4. The Body.

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.

5. The Conclusion.

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!”

Posted in Uncategorized

What Can Super Bowl LIV Teach Us About Modern Marketing for 2021?

Posted on by John W. Tanner, J.D.|M.S.
Summary of Super Bowl LIV Commercials

Four Lessons Learned from the 2020 LIV Commercials

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…

I. Abstract Trumps Realism

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.

II. Throwing Celebrities Into A Commercial Does Not Improve The Content.

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.)

III. 80s and 90s Music and Characters Are Making a Comeback.

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.

IV. The Lousy Lemonade Lesson

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.

Posted in Sales and Marketing Tips

How to Target Your Ideal Clients Using Keyword Research

Posted on by John W. Tanner, J.D.|M.S.
Image source: Pixabay from Pexels

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.

What Are Your People Searching For?

Image courtesy of: @fotografierende from Pexels

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.)

5 Steps to Conducting Keyword Research!

  1. ⌨️ Start with Google Search. Type the topic of interest into the magic search box to see if any autosuggestions surface.
  2. 🖥 Select a Keyword research tool. The top apps include: VidIQ, Google AdWords, Keyword Planner, Keyword Researcher Pro, BuzzSumo, and Google Trends (for seasonal keywords).
  3. 📝 Create a “seed list.” Brainstorm a group of initial seeds (KWs) to work from. To expand your list, think of some questions your ideal clients would ask, then make a list of words and phrases (KWs) they might use to search for answers.
  4. 📑 Refine your results. You want to locate words and phrases that are high in search volume, low in competition, and highly relevant to your business offerings. For instance, if you are a personal injury attorney, common phrases like, “personal injury lawyer” have high search volumes, but they also have a high amount of competition too. 🚩High Volume + High Competition = Low Relevance. 😧 Everyone else is using it, so take “…the road less traveled” and try ranking by using long-tail KWs (phrases with 3 or more words). Be EXTREMELY specific. For example, you could identify your practice area by location: “How can I find a car accident lawyer in Jacksonville Florida” has relevance (car accident = personal injury), “lawyer” is a common KW, and the search phrase is geo-specific! That’s hyper-focused and specific enough to bring a narrowly defined amount of semi-qualified (interest + location) leads. ✅ Lower Search Volume + Less Competition = Higher Ranking! 🏆☺️
  5. 🙋🏻‍♀️ Go SEO. Include your newfound targeted keyword phrases within your content. This is not so “ninja” marketing these days, not since SEO became a stamp of features offered by companies from A to Z. So, how do we do it? By creating videos, blog articles, and any other types of verse or written communication to your target audience that weave these KWs into the fabric of your messages. When you write ad copy with KWs scribed within the message, you’re creating data-driven coding that catalogues your answers to your prospects’ questions, which is what the algorithm digital spiders are searching for within the web.
Image courtesy of Gerd Altman from Pexels

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. 👏

Posted in Real Estate: Buy, Sell, Lease

New Year, New Career? (Boutique Luxury Real Estate Company in Florida Now Hiring!)

Posted on by John W. Tanner, J.D.|M.S.
  • Job Type: Commissioned Sales
  • Number of Hires: 50
  • Qualifications: Florida Real Estate Sales Licenses
  • Work Authorization: U.S.
  • Hours: Flexible
  • Job Responsibilities: As a Real Estate Agent, you will be tasked with representing buyers, sellers, landlords, or tenants in the acquisition or disposition of real property (residential or commercial).
  • Training: We offer a free 7-module post-licensing residential real estate sales and marketing training series and first-time homebuyer course, available on Udemy at: https://www.johnwtanner.com/courses
  • Duties: Assist sellers with determining the value of their home, demonstrate the benefits of showcasing their home, and help them find a buyer by promoting their home via online marketing, MLS listing syndication, and hosting open houses. Assist buyers by determining their wants and needs, discovering neighborhoods and the lifestyles associated with them, and viewing new construction homes and resale homes in those sub-markets. Present offers, facilitate inspections, and negotiate changes as necessary for our client’s best interests. Schedule the final walkthrough and closing. Follow up with clients after closing. Assist landlords with locating tenants or assist tenants with locating a property for lease, negotiating contracts, and conducting due diligence (qualify the person or the property).
  • Consulting & Property Management: Provide clients with assistance in determining investment strategies, exit strategies, and asset management.
  • Networking: Develop a robust list of contacts with third parties who service real property owners.
  • Maintain Confidentiality.

Additional Qualifications:

  • Computer literate
  • Valid driver’s license
  • Motivation and grit!
  • Witty and creative team players with extroverted personalities are encouraged to apply.
  • Locations: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, The Palm Beaches, Naples, Tampa, Orlando, Pensacola/Destin/FWB, Tallahassee, Jacksonville/Fernandina Beach/St. Augustine, and Daytona Beach.

Send resume to: HR@colemantanner.com

Posted in Sales and Marketing Tips

How To Use YouTube for Business in 2021.

Posted on by John W. Tanner, J.D.|M.S.
Master the Art of Storyselling to Become Entrefluential

Today, I want to talk about using YouTube in a way other than watching your favorite music videos.

Begin With the End(user) in Mind!

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)

Identify & Craft Content to Your Target Audience.

Target Audience: Newlyweds

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.)

Start With a Marketing Plan!

What is Your Target Audience Searching For?

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. 🥇

Social Media Marketing

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

Lead Nurturing.

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.

Action! Batch Your YouTube Vids Quarterly.

Batch Your Film Production to Maximize Efficiency
  1. 📝 Create a storyboard & script 12 commercials for the next 12 weeks.
  2. 🎥 Schedule your video production team to shoot all 12 video commercials in a day.
  3. 🖥 Outsource your post-production editing and SFX to save time.
  4. 📺 Hand over the content to your social media manager to upload & email your videos weekly (or DIY).
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel!

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.

Final Thoughts: KISS

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! 🤩

CTA: Don’t forget to hit that like 👍 button and “Subscribe” 🙋🏻‍♀️ for more awesome sauce! 🤜🤛