According to statistics, approximately 90% of new real estate agents drop out of the industry by the end of their first year in the business. I know first-hand what that’s like because I had to step out and take other jobs to survive. But I always felt deep down that there had to be a better way to not only survive, but thrive as a new agent – a new strategy that anyone can do.
As I have had thirty years to observe, reflect, and experiment, a methodology began to emerge and evolve. I call it Entrefluence.
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I have developed the habit of starting the year off by taking a step back to see the Big Picture 🖼 of what it is that I want to accomplish for the year. What it looks like for me in 2022 is a guy playing 7 chess ♟ games at the same time: real estate investor; real estate consultant; real estate brokerage owner; writer/marketer; lawyer; filmmaker; and musician. That’s a lot to juggle! 🤹♂️
When planning for your year ahead, do you find it best to compartmentalize each project?
I do! 🗂 So, this happened a couple days ago…
The heading says “business plan” but it’s really a top-down view of my marketing plan. Here’s how it works.
Start at the Top!
Platinum Clients are at the TOP of the Funnel!
Rather than do what the others are doing, starting at the bottom of the pyramid and working their way up, I’ve taken the advice of one of my new quasi-mentors, Kathryn Porritt of Business Bravery to start at the top!
1. Top-of-Funnel Prospecting:
For me, the top-of-the-funnel is comprised of two types of ideal clients: platinum clients (those who own businesses and earn over $1MM per year) and premium clients (those who have salaried positions, usually at the c-suite, and earn between $200K to $999,999 per year).
Q: How Do I Reach Them?
The answer is multi-channel marketing. This includes:
Direct mail,
Social media ads,
Custom FB audience (OWL + Batchskiptrace + RPR),
CrunchBase,
SunBiz.org (FL business owner),
SBA.gov (National business owner search),
Branding ads,
Press releases (PRNewswire), and
Book tours
Premium Clients Make Premium Purchases!
2. Middle-of-Funnel Prospecting:
This is akin to a database of your standardclientele (income < $200K per year). You’ll be able to reach them using Omni-present Marketing as well, but using different media and channels. Here’s a sample:
YouTube videos,
Udemy courses,
Kajabi courses,
Email list,
Paid traffic on fiverr,
Publishing one book a year,
365 days of blog posts,
Podcast,
TV show,
Seminars & webinars,
Instructor courses live,
Business cards and brochures,
Booths at trade shows and association conferences,
Booths at arts & crafts festivals,
Sponsorship branding,
Pop-up kiosks at the mall,
Direct mail (postcards) campaign,
Brand advertisement at the movies,
Hotel magazine ads,
Airline magazine ads, and
Local and National real estate investor ads.
Most of Us Start at the Bottom of the Funnel.
3. Bottom-of-Funnel Prospecting:
Since we’ve already covered everyone using income bracketing, let’s just say that anyone who has not yet been exposed to your brand (aka Cold Traffic) is, by default, within this container. The objective here is to ✈️ taxi all cold leads onto your Brand RAMP (read Professional Services Marketing by Shultz and Doerr) so that all prospects will recognize, articulate, memorize, and prefer your products and/or services. 🛫
Over to you. What does your marketing plan for 2022 look like? Does any of this resonate with you? Chime in! 🛎
I’m excited to announce that my newest book is now available! If you are a real estate agent who has been thinking about becoming a broker and opening your own boutique real estate brokerage, then this book is for you.
The Entrefluential Broker: How to Launch a Boutique Real Estate Brokerage Business
Your Audience (and Their Attention) is Gone in 60 Seconds – So Use it To Your Advantage!
Use short video as bait to lure them in.
If you haven’t heard, Tik Tok is on fire and IG and YT are playing “catch up!” If you want to win viewers, then you need to deploy a 60 second video marketing strategy to lure viewers into your lead funnel’s traction beam.
Is that a goldfish?
Start with a hook that teases the benefit of watching your long-form content (and by long-form, I mean 3-8 minute videos on YouTube or Vimeo.)
Information is Illuminating!
Don’t leave them hanging, feed their hunger for more information. Close out your video message by recapping your main points and tell them where to go for more information.
A + B = C (It’s elementary, dear Watson!)
End with a clear CTA.
Ex: Curious to learn how we got this goldfish in the bag? Go here (xxx) to learn more!
Gotta love a good alliteration! All kidding aside, this blog post is about taking account of your business homepage to ascertain whether or not it’s time for an update!
One of the best ways to inform your viewers of who you are and what you do is by adding a promo video at the top of your homepage underneath your banner.
The best way to sell your products or services is to present a problem/solution demonstration inside of your spotlight video. For instance, if you’re a pressure washing company, you could display a homeowner who is getting the home ready to list in this hot real estate market, but the driveway looks dirty and the neighbors are judging. Uh-oh.
The owner receives a flyer from your local pressure washing company in the mail and the owner has an immediate ‘aha’ moment. Cut to pressure washing service in action. Next, the owner peeks out the window to a line of buyers outside waiting to present their offers (above asking price, of course!) The homeowner (your prospective client) lives happily ever after!
Like a Good Kindergartener, Compartmentalize Your Wares.
It helps viewers when you compartmentalize each section of your business so they can go straight to the resources they are looking for (and reduces your click through rate in the process!)
Now is the time to channel your inner air traffic controller 🛩 psyche and plan how you’ll drive traffic on your homepage.
Action Steps:
Start with a story. Why should a viewer stay on your page? What’s in it for them?
Compartmentalize your page into at least three sections:
Part One: problem/solution
Part Two: client testimonials
Part Three: CTA – appointment calendar links or order buttons.
Leave the “we’re the best on earth” braggadocio behind! No one cares about us, they only care about how we can make their lives better.
In closing, take some time this week to check the pulse of your page. is it time for a remodel? Even BK and McD know when it’s time to remodel, and look how they’re doing! Go remodel, revamp, and modernize your business page.
Having a Real Estate Portfolio Roadmap Can Help Investors Identify and Visually Communicate Their Vision.
What is a Real Estate Portfolio Roadmap?
A real estate portfolio roadmap (REPF) is a top-down view of your future real estate holdings that you desire to accumulate over the life of your investment career. The roadmap begins as an idea, becomes a plan of action, the steps needed to reach your end goal – the accumulation of real estate – and works as a punch list throughout your journey.
Because of the difficult nature of real estate transactions, namely their many interrelated pieces, the timeframes presented on this type of roadmap are more like aspirational guide posts rather that steadfast directionals or exacting deadlines.
Your REPR is a working, evolving document. It’s goal is to lay the foundation to reverse engineer your investment agenda over the next five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years.
For the novice private investor, a REPR outlines a specific growth path to follow which can help move you towards your end goal faster and with less surprises.
For the investment team, such as a REIT, it moves all stakeholders in the same direction, at the same rhythm, helping them achieve their business objectives with more clarity and synchronicity.
Moreover, using a real estate portfolio roadmap does all of the following:
Provides clarity
Communicates investment impact
Guides the investor (or investment team) along the journey
Creates the initiative to forecast future income & expenses for each investment project (deal)
Assists the project manager in forecasting required resources for specific initiatives
Develop a Real Estate Investment Portfolio Vision.
Ask yourself, “how much money do I want to net in retirement?”
Talk to other investors, bankers, and real estate brokers to learn about income and expenses for any given investment.
Create your investor dream team, which includes an accountant, a lawyer, a banker, and a real estate broker.
Decide on your internal management team. (Are you a solopreneur or an entrepreneur?)
Create Your First Draft Picks – a ‘Bird’s-Eye’ View of Your Real Estate Investment Portfolio Over the Span of Your Career (the roadmap).
The private investor or management team should brainstorm investment options to meet the investment portfolio vision.
Identify specific purchase initiatives, cost estimates, and management (holding) expenses.
Decide on how to best structure each deal, taking into account the availability of investment and working capital, funding, tax implications, legal, government restrictions, and internal level of priority.
Create an Internal Investment Roadmap.
Start with your first purchase objective. Walk through the entire transaction to identify and document all of the potential moving pieces, costs, timing, potential pitfalls, risk reduction strategies, management duties & expenses, and BTCF.
Decide who will be the project manager for the first undertaking (and each project thereafter).
Hire your ‘dream team’ and ask your real estate broker to “shop the market.”
Implement your plan!
Rinse & repeat!
As your portfolio grows, so will your ability to scale up small projects or take on bigger projects. Thus, your roadmap will undoubtedly be edited several times throughout your career.
Remember, not even “…the best laid plans of mice and men” ever happen perfectly. Be flexible. And, above all, enjoy the journey!
In closing, if you want to be (or already are) a real estate investor who has several properties in mind, then you should create a REPR. It will help you to organize, evaluate, prioritize, forecast, track, and communicate your investment initiatives throughout your investment journey.
As a real estate broker, my team and I want to help you understand our markets and identify potential investment opportunities for you. We want to become your ‘go-to’ real estate consultant, “your source for real estate investment solutions!”
John W. Tanner, J.D., M.S. 