How to build a relationship with your clients

Check out this article I wrote, which appears on RISmedia’s site about building a relationship with your clients using newsletters.

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Newsletter Generates $150,000 in Commission for Realtor

Check out this post on Active Rain, from a Realtor who uses newsletter for her marketing.

My newsletter generates approximately $150,000 per year for me in commission. This is not to mention the buyer ends I receive from the same mailing. Many seller’s hand my newsletter to their fiends that are considering buying in my farm area as I am recognized as the local expert.

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Real Estate Newsletters: 5 Essential Tips to Make Clients Adore You

Sending a real estate newsletter to your farm isn’t about getting a client or a listing right there and then. Unless you hit their mailbox at precisely the right time - just when they are looking for an agent or wanting to list their house - you’re in the business of building a relationship rather than making a sale.The best way to build that relationship is to provide a newsletter that meets the needs and interests of your farm.

Do it right, and you’ll grow a farm of adoring fans.

1. Make the newsletter about them, not you. You’re probably sick of me going on about this…but it’s the #1 rule. People are not interested in you, they are interested in themselves. If your services are mentioned at all, do it on the basis of how you can help them, how you can meet their needs.

2. Write articles that are useful, interesting and entertaining. Create articles that make the reader think: I never knew what! Or: What good advice!

3. Keep up a regular schedule. Relationships aren’t built sporadically; they take regular contact over time. That’s how trust is created. So send your newsletter  at least monthly.

4. Be truthful. Good friends don’t lie. So nor should you in your newsletter. A lie can wreck a relationship.

5. Be upbeat. Nobody likes a downer. Who wants to form a relationship with someone who’s always bringing bad news? Think of good, upbeat, positive things to put in your newsletter. Then you’ll be a welcome friend.

Follow these rules and, over time, you’ll build a strong farm of people who will adore you and your newsletter.

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4 Ways to Tell if Your Real Estate Newsletter is Boring

I’m going to ask a blunt question: is your real estate newsletter boring?Because if your newsletter is boring, you’ll be losing thousands of dollars in business because…to put it bluntly… no one will be reading! And if no one is reading, you’re not going to be able to build that essential relationship with your farm.

So here are 4 ways to tell if your newsletter is boring:

1. Is it all about real estate? Let’s face it, nobody is as interested in real estate as you are (except maybe Donald Trump). For the most part, your readers have got better things on their minds. The only exception is if they are about to buy or sell a house - then real estate becomes fascinating. But as you want to keep in touch with clients when they are in between moving, it’s best to limit the amount of real estate information you have in your newsletter. TOO MUCH REAL ESTATE = B.O.R.I.N.G.

2. Is your newsletter written like a school essay? Does it use long words and even longer sentences? Have you forgotten what the article is about half-way down the first paragraph? The fact is, people have a low tolerance for stuff that’s hard to read. So make it easy. Make it flow. Make it lively. LONG, DENSE ESSAYS = B.O.R.I.N.G.

3. Is your newsletter irrelevant? If it contains articles about the national real estate market, is that information relevant to your local readers? Will it help them at all? If you want to put market information in your newsletter, make it local. Make it relevant. IRRELEVANCE = B.O.R.I.N.G.

4. Is your newsletter just about you? The fact is,  nobody really cares about you! All they care about is themselves. If you write articles that are all “me, me, me” and “I, I, I” your readers will stop reading.   Give them information that helps them. ME, ME, ME = B.O.R.I.N.G.

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Seth’s Advice to Realtors

As a lot of readers of this blog are real estate agents, I thought I’d pass along the advice of marketing guru Seth Godin. (I reviewed his excellent book The Dip here, and recommend all his work.)

He gives two bits of advice. The first is kinda harsh. But the second is spot on. He says:

The opportunity during the current pause (and yes, it’s a pause) is to find, one by one, the people who would benefit from hearing from you and then earn the right to talk to them. Earn the right to send them a newsletter or a regular update or a subscription to your blog. NOT to talk about what matters to you, but to give them information (real information, not just data) that matters to them.

This is exactly how newsletters should be used.

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