You’re doing it wrong.

You’re doing it wrong

Don’t get salty at me for telling it how it is, but 90% of agents are focusing on the wrong things 90% of the time. Yup, I said it because it needs to be said.

I talk with agents and brokers from across the country every single day. I interview 20, 30, 100 million dollar team leaders. I coach and train 60 million dollar teams and I also coach and train agents that are newer in the business. I also take on board new agents for larger associations, so I see it all from New Agent, Seasoned Agent, and Powerful Teams.

The one thing I hear over and over is How Do I Get Leads?

A viable question indeed.

Most turn to Social Media since it is vast, powerful, and can get you massive exposure, yet the majority of it is done wrong. Yup, the majority of it is just done wrong. They are massively reactionary and just posting for the sake of posting. This includes ads you are paying for. Posts you are posting for engagement or just to post something. There is a reason why the digital marketing gods can charge so much, they get it. If you are not spending the time to review those demographics, building audiences and retargeting, if you are not doing something to stand out and be different, catch the consumer attention, then you may be missing the boat and spinning your wheels.

We often get so eager for leads that we think if we just throw our fish hook out in the crowded pond that we may get a nibble too. But that is not always the case.

Wear The Red Dress

I often say in my coaching and training sessions, Imagine there is a room with 1,000 people wearing black suits and dresses and you walk in with a black suit or dress on as well. You will just blend it. However, if you walk in with a red dress or red suit, you will stand out. That is the thinking that you need to adapt to gain attention. Be Different. Stand Out.
Think of Facebook as a giant newspaper. Every page has agents saying things like

“Text for a list of homes.”
“What is your home worth?”
“Pick me I am the greatest.”

You get the gist. There is no doubt that these can and do work, yet as everyone continues to do it, is it possible it becomes less effective?

Many years ago when I was a networking engineer during the dot com days, I worked for a company that pretty much was on the cutting edge of advertising and cookie tracking. There is a term called Banner Blindness. Banner Blindness refers to the consumer subconsciously knowing the blocks on the top and right of a webpage were ads and ignoring them. Same holds true If you are doing the same thing as 1000 other agents,
what makes you unique?
Why should the consumer click on your ad?
What makes you interesting or different?

There is a reason why they say Video is the way to go. For starters, it is often more interesting than just a plain old ad. But again, what will you do to make it interesting. Also, when you post on your business page and boost or run a dark ad, you can then create an audience based upon engagement, then retarget an engaged audience. I did not even intend for this article to go this way yet here we are… But now, it’s time to switch gears on you. Everyone is so focused solely on social marketing. Why? Because you can sit on your couch with the cat and dog next to you sipping on your latte. In other words, it is easy and convenient.

However, several other lead sources are viable. The majority of my business was built on networking. Yes, in the beginning, I killed it in digital marketing. Zillow and Facebook were not a thing and I ranked #1 in the state. But as Z and FB started to emerge and take over, I needed to evolve. Networking was key. Yes, it takes work. Yes, you must shower and get off the couch. However, when you build relationships with people and businesses, you build advocates. Those advocates can very well sustain your business.

At this point, I do not spend any money on social media lead generation. I do spend it to market properties. But I focus on my relationships, this allows me to have control over my business, not be reactionary to every lead that comes in so I reduce anxiety and I can actually work less. I am not saying you should quit social media marketing in any way. I am suggesting that we spend a little time networking at a Chamber of Commerce event, get to know the community you serve, network with business owners. I can promise you that a solid strategy here will yield amazing results. Oh, guess what? You will be different, stand out, and there is less competition as well. Now think, what can you do online that will complement your networking? When the community sees you Online and Offline, it builds awareness and brands you. Then the trust barrier is easier to overcome.

Doing it right

Now that lead the lead generation piece is discussed. The thing that agents don’t focus on is tracking the results and tracking their numbers, this is such a crucial piece which is often overlooked. Agents need to start to spend a little time working on their business as a manager. When you operate as a manager, you build consistency, strategy, and understand the numbers. This truly is where growth happens. You should track your true NET ROI. Does anything you are spending money on give you a true positive ROI? If not you need to cut that. If you are going to get into the social media marketing game, then, by all means, get all the systems that help with response and follow up. Otherwise, you are wasting your money.

Once you can slow down for a minute and get out of the Matrix, you will see differently.
Be Different.
Be Bold.
Be You.

Johnny Mo