Burn your Internet Connection

[onegreenbeltdrive]

Burn Your Internet Connection!

The internet is a great tool to be able to sort through lists, show pictures of houses, but it is a terrible way to generate leads.

Real estate is a PERSON-BASED business. You have to like people. You have to like to MEET people. And then you have to go and meet them.

This is all getting lost in the "information age". Or maybe we just got lazy in an amazing market with low interest rates.

GET OUT AND MEET PEOPLE!

What would Andy Griffith do? If Andy sold Real Estate (on the side) in Mayberry, everybody would buy their next house from him because he is honest, has the good of the community in mind (self-sacrificing), and everybody else knows and likes him (recommendation).

So go out and be like Andy!

HOW DO I MEET PEOPLE?

You speak. Speak to community groups, church groups, business groups, government groups. Anybody who will listen to what you have to say.

WHAT DO I TALK ABOUT?

Speak on whatever you are passionate about, so long as it is NOT REAL ESTATE!

Talk about the importance of our national forests, and have a signup sheet for them to help you with trail maintenance.

Talk about the importance of exercise and coordinate a bi-weekly walk.

Talk about the importance of volunteering (hobbyjobbers.org has a free talk and powerpoint on this once you register)

Talk about ANYTHING so long as it has relevance to them AND has a call to action that you are coordinating.

WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT?

Anybody can come in and speak for 30 minutes on something (and indeed, most speakers do exactly that) and then leave. But if your audience is compelled by what you say, they will be more compelled by an altar call, that is, a call to come forward and do more than just clap. And you are there to build a relationship with them.

RELATIONSHIP?

Yes, that's what's missing with the internet, a personal relationship.
Yes, that's what's missing with speakers who don't have a follow-up course of action.

If you aren't building a relationship, you are wasting your time.

[ChrisF79]

Good post, but the headline is misleading. In economics we speak of complimentary goods and substitute goods. In this case, your method of generating leads is a fantastic complimentary good. It goes along with the Internet. Why lose the Internet as a source of leads? Burn the internet connection? No thanks.

[beachbob]

I'll take leads anywhere I can get them.

Speak on whatever you are passionate about, so long as it is NOT REAL ESTATE!:confused:

Huh? Live, Breath, Dream About real estate 24/7 and tell everyone you meet about real estate. They might forget your even in the biz IMO.. you have no clue...Emulate Andy Griffith rofl You have got to be kidding. Bart Simpson would run circles around him..come on CLOSE CLOSE CLOSE always be Closing. Most agents never make it becuase of this type of lack a daisy attitude.

Go sell one home in Mayberry meanwhile I'll be closing a investor buying 5 homes (sight unseen) and stealling them by the way cuase he called the agent that is aggressive, enthusiastic, passionate and made 100 low ball offers for him, stealing some poor suckers home that listed with the mayberry agent.

Top Producers are not agents they are Closers. The top 5% of agents in our industry Close at first contact and get the appt. with the prospect that doesn't want to buy a home. The only reason he doesn't want to buy a home is because he doesn't realize that he is talking to a Elite Top Producer that can and will show him how investing in real estate is the most responsible, lucrative and conservative thing he can do to secure his familys future.

But if your in Mayberry you can't do it cuase you never learned how. So I suggest you move and then forget everything you know and start at the begining.... just my 2 cents. I am giving out free lessons if you ready to be thrown into the fire!!:D

[BajaGeoff]

If you believe that the internet is a terrible way to generate leads then you must not be using it to your advantage. E-commerce is the present and the future of how business is done and those who do not get on board will eventually be left eating dust. Good old fashioned networking and community involvement is key as well, and the two put together will mean visiblity in the virtual community and the actual community, which actually means you need to be working twice as hard to get leads. To say that the internet is not good for generating leads is total nonsense. It's 2006 not 1966....and the Andy Griffith mentality in this day and age will only get you so far.

[Ralph]

OGBD

Your advice on working the local community is excellent. These are subjects that every salesman in any discipline should have in their quiver. But, how do you handle the individual who just gets word they are being transferred to your town. Where does that person go to find a realtor, probably the Internet? Look at the wealth of information one can find from the average real estate site, mortgage rates, school test scores and many other useful bit of information that help make the purchase of a home an easier undertaking. What about the investor who may never see the property before the purchase. If you’re working in a resort area, this happens on occasion. As with everything in life, with time, it all changes. The Internet is one of those changes and a positive one to the real estate industry.

[onegreenbeltdrive]

Well, of course we all use the internet, and many of us use it to our advantage for first impressions, for generic information, for listings.

My post comes from experiences I've had with newcomers to our profession, who are relying on the internet to build trust and community. I still believe strongly in the power of personal referral, which has a much higher rate of closings than any mass-communicated device, whether electronic or not.

Sales is a full contact sport. Inasmuch as the internet is a first contact, fine. But trying to build trust, rapport and community on the internet, while possible, is harder than simply meeting people where they are and getting them to trust you.

The internet is awash with buyers, but it is perhaps more awash with sellers. Making your personal value stand out in a sea of Vegas-Style blinking lights is far more difficult than meeting with people.

One final thought. Let me ask you this: What would your world look like if Google (for example) built a National, online MLS where sellers could post for free? Most listing agents would suddenly disappear. It would be a great boon, however, for those of us with real interpersonal networks--real communities that we can continue to draw on, get referrals, and show RE. And yes, close.

So I repeat the essence of my earlier post--
1. Build a personal brand around a worthy cause ( hobbyjobbers.org nps.gov whatever)
2. Follow-up with your target group, and do some good (and coordinate others to do good) in the world.
3. Network, sell and close.

[BajaGeoff]

Inasmuch as the internet is a first contact, fine. But trying to build trust, rapport and community on the internet, while possible, is harder than simply meeting people where they are and getting them to trust you.

Your initial post said the internet was a terrible way to generate leads. Now you are saying that it is fine for the initial contact (leads) and for information of a general nature, which seems contradictory to your earlier sentiments. The internet is a fantastic way to generate leads just as long as you have the skills to turn that lead into a sale on a personal level.

I don't think there is an agent out there that truly believes a website alone is going to close a deal. If so they will be quickly disappointed with their lack of results. The most successful agents are going to be the ones with a strong presence on the internet that have the social skills, community presence, trustworthiness and the ability to work all of their leads into closing a deal. As I said earlier it is a combination of factors that will bring results.

[Patrick Mc]

As far as I'm concerned, the Internet is a great way to generate opportunities for new business. I will ad that I have wonderful and personal relationships with every client that has come to me through the Internet.

If you don't believe this, why not open a hardware store down the street from the Home Depot they recently opened in Mayberry?

[prev10]

Any marketing channel is only as effective as your creativity allows it to be. The internet is easily the most effective channel if you understand how harness its power.

[Realest]

the internet is ever-growing and it is essential that you do not underestimate its potential as far as wealth is concerned