Well, I occasionally step outside of HomeStomper and have been working with the fine community over at agentgenius. If you’re not reading AG then you should check them out… they’re like The Ramones - catchy, power-pop articles and news without any mind-numbing bloat.

Here are several of the recent “chords” I contributed over there ranging from a new James Bond guide to real estate marketing, simple steps to increasing persuasion, and more.

James Bond Guide to RSS and Real Estate Marketing

Sure, you can use RSS to read your favorite blogs but that’s so… ordinary. Here’s how a world-class super agent uses RSS to spy on his competition and keep tabs on any happenings in his market. Click here to be the Bond

Increase Persuasive Pulling Power

Everone wants to have marketing that’s persuasive. That is, marketing that attracts, engages, and draws folks in without a hard sell. If you want to pump up your persuasive pulling power, then here’s several tips and methods you can use right now.Click here to power up your persuasion

Do You Have A Strategic Network

Kim Wood posted an insightful article over at agentgenius about how to engage in a network and build profitable relationships. I grabbed on to the concept and ran with it showing you ways to not only build profitable relationships with your market, but to also develop referral generators. Click here to build a business with strategy

Marketing Minute: Direct Response vs Branding

There are two basic styles in the world of marketing and you’ve got to know when and where to apply each. Mess this one up and your message could be lying cold on the ground… get it right and you win big. Click here to pack a bigger marketing punch

12 Things I Wish I Knew About Marketing

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the brightest guy on the block, I just tend to learn well (and apply the lessons) through my bumps and bruises. Here’s a list of 12 things I wish I knew about marketing when I first started out. Click here for your marketing Cliff Notes

As always, holler with your thoughts

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His secret may actually surprise you.

Before we take a look at his business lets look at one that’s not entirely different from his…

“How hot do you like it?” If you live in Arizona, like I do, then this isn’t an odd question. It gets around 120F during the summer. Oddly enough, folks here tend to like their hot sauce around the same temperature…. or so it would seem.

There are stores here that sell nothing but hot sauce. Walls and aisles of it and nothing else. Clearly, there’s enough people who like hot sauce to merit entire stores devoted to their favorite condiment.

Fortunately, the hot sauce market isn’t that much different from Jon Kejr’s real estate business .

cater to a small niche market of rabid enthusiasts

Just like the hot sauce stores cater to a small niche market of rabid enthusiasts, John specializes in one particular type of real estate - Earthships.

Other Realtors in his area are struggling but John has cultivated his market with marketing that includes a topic focused blog, strong search engine results and has built an opt-in email list of prospects.

The Secret Sauce of Success

The tools he’s using aren’t any different than what you currently have. The real secret - the same one that supports entire stores dedicated to hot sauce - is that he serves a rabid market.

Like hot sauce enthusiasts, folks who are interested in Earthships are really (really, really, really) interested in Earthships. They’ll drive great lengths just to view one.

Now, if you don’t want to drive that’s fine…

There’s another Realtor who runs a tour bus for house hunters looking for mid-century modern foreclosures.

There’s also a woman who only sells homes made in the 1960s by a popular architect with a cult following.

Now before you go off and “specialize” consider this…

find a thirsty crowd and you can sell them a drink

The reason these Realtors (and hot sauce) are doing so well is not just because they specialize but that they specialize in a market that is passionately rabid for what they offer.

Mustard, while tasty, doesn’t have the raving fans that the hot sauce market does.

Homes, while nice to own, aren’t necessarily any different than one down the street.

But, find a thirsty crowd and you can sell them a drink.

Special Ingredients

Let’s look at what else these folks are doing that’s really working for them:

• Create a niche-focused website with a blog (write to your market)
• Pay attention to their SEO (page titles, keywords, URLs, link building)
• Build an opt-in email list (use an incentive piece to collect emails)
• Develop relationships in the market community (get to know them and those who currently serve your market)
• Keep your marketing message on point and specific (avoid the general messages, keep it niche focused)

While many Realtors are out there trying to grab every deal they can (if it comes your way, great! take it!) but you only have so many resources - invest them in a thirsty market and the payoffs can be huge… and hot!

A great place to start is this article on identifying profitable target markets. For further reading check out this article on nano-niche marketing from MarketingSherpa.

Got any experience with a niche market? Let us know.

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Marketing is a persuasive process.

“Yes, Mark. You’ve said that before.”

You were listening? Great, then it’s time to reveal the actual process for persuasion that will attract you a community and convert them into happy clients.

These are the 5 C’s of Persuasive Marketing

• Content
• Character
• Confidence
• Concrete
• Check

Content

With the ever growing presence of social media you won’t have a difficult time finding folks that will emphatically tell you that “social media and relationships make the internet go ’round.”

They say that because they’re good at talking… not creating business. Here’s the real truth:

The world that the internet goes ’round is Content. Relationships are based on Content and are a key determining factor if someone wants to go ahead and build a relationship or not.

This makes Content the key component in your client-catching process.

If folks turn to the internet for information then the higher quality information you provide the more people you attract.

Put on your Content Creating Hat because by providing quality content up front you do a few things. Obviously, you attract people to you. You also position yourself as the authority in your market. Good place to be if you want to eventually sell something.

Character

If it’s Content that attracts, then it’s Character that converts. You’ve given them something good in terms of Content… now they’re asking themselves a question: Do I want to get to know this guy?

Most definitely, you want them to get to know you. So show some Character, my man. Boring marketing gets you nowhere… but marketing with Character, now that gets you raving fans.

Look at Howard Stern or Simon Cowell. Love them or hate them, they’ve got Character worth about a bazillion dollars a year.

I also want you to notice the transition here… your Content attracts folks when they look for information - this is the intellectual appeal of your marketing. In order to make a sale, though, we need to start appealing to folks on an emotional level - that’s where your Character comes in.

Emotion is not just the key to the heart (raving fans) it’s also the key to the credit card (hyper-responsive buyers).

Keep Character out of your marketing process and you’re keeping dollars from your pocket. Plain and simple.

Confidence

Now, I’m no Dr. Phil but I can tell you that at some point in the relationship the other person is going to have doubts.

Is this for me?
Maybe I should wait?
What happens if this is wrong?
Will I die?

You’ve gotta build their Confidence that “YES, I’m a swell guy and I’ll treat you right.”

Nothing speaks this louder and builds Confidence better than proof. Confidence and proof remove anxiety so that your prospects move closer to you, get chummy and, of course, eventually become happy clients.

You’ve given them valuable Content, they see you as a trusted friend because of your Character, and they feel Confident that you can deliver upon your promise.

One thing I want to point out is that proof doesn’t just support your story, it also helps your prospect weave their own.

See, your prospect witnesses those testimonials, those case studies, and inserts themselves as the main character. They picture themselves achieving similar positive results. Even if those results are just half as good, they still picture what it will be like when they come out on top just like those other folks.

Nothing is more persuasive than those visions and emotions they stir up in themselves.

Concrete

At this point, you want to let them feel it because “once you pop you can’t stop.” (Pringles, anyone?)

By making things Concrete the promised benefits become more tangible. In real estate this is the 1-on-1 consult where you re-affirm your coolness and ability to help. It allows your prospect to get a richer taste of what is to come.

Once you make things Concrete the whole process becomes far more experiential, too. Your prospect is actually experienceing the level of service that will deliver to them the awesome scenario they’ve started fantasizing about.

That’s pretty powerful. Keep laying on the Confidence throughout this stage and your prospect’s emotions begin to really build up… and they’ve made the decision themselves that choosing you is the best thing for them to do.

Check

Up to this point, you’ve educated your market with Content, built rapport with your Character, removed anxiety and built Confidence, and made access to their dreams Concrete. Now it’s time for the Check Move.

For the life of me, I can’t recall who introduced me to the term Check Move. Someone probably infinitely smarter than I. Anyway…

In chess, checkmate is when your opponent can no longer avoid you or protect himself. In real estate, the checkmate is when your prospect makes the decision and signs the buyer-broker.

You can no more make them sign than you can cause them to lose a game of chess… they have to do that for themselves. All you can do is create the opportunity for them to do so.

This happens throughout the process I’ve described. You remove their objections and obstacles, their uncertainty as to choosing you to handle this major transaction, and built up the emotional desire to move forward. Then you simply declare Check and present your buyer-broker.

You’ll like the result

Do this right and you’ll enjoy two extra C’s - Cash and re-Creation. Okay, that may be a bit lame, but still… nothing wrong with more money in the pocket and more time spent at the lake.

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Problem is: the bane of the entrepreneur is that of building a business using short-term strategies. Initially it makes sense. Food needs to be on the table today. But…

Do short-term strategies a successful business make?

To be blunt, short-term strategies build nothing. At best, they’re “generators” - generate a little cash, some new leads, new clients, etc. Even with that, though, they’re inefficient. You always return to the drawing board over and over again trying to re-create your income. I don’t like living this way and I’m pretty sure you don’t either.

Clearly, this isn’t the way to build yourself a sustainable business…

You want a business that survives economies. One that compounds and builds over time to create a lifestyle for you and your family.

What Really Matters

Here’s the truth: your business must completely focus on “people.” Any business in which you are involved that is “transaction-focused” is short-term and, yes, will ultimately fail.

Transaction focused businesses, like the short-term generators they are, throw you into a vicious cycle of having to constantly create the next transaction. It kills your ambition, your time, your energy and it stands between you and your family. You will always be “busy.”

Did you go into business for that? Hell no.

What History Tells Us

Let’s take a quick look at history (real quick, I swear.) Throughout our few years on this earth, human beings have strived and searched for new and quicker ways to connect and relate to others.

This includes business. In fact, 93% of Americans believe a company should have a presence in social media and 60% already interact with the companys that are already there.

Clearly, the businesses that don’t “get” this will struggle and eventually fail.

In your business, how are you working to build connections with people? This isn’t just about online social media, either.

The fact of the matter is that your customer is a real person and when you focus on them and their needs they will ensure your success. This is the way of the StomperAgent.

Warning! These Tactics Drain Your Business

As you can imagine, there are some Realtors out there who won’t get the point of this post. They generally busy themselves with tactics that do no focus on people and require constant reinvestment of time, energy and money:

• writing content for search engines
• counting how many business cards they distribute in a day
• keyword stuffing for SEO
• mailing “think of me” postcards and magnets
• broadcasting spam-like emails

These aren’t tactics for long-term success. Most of their energy is spent on self-centered marketing tactics for the purpose of sourcing the next transaction for themselves… not on the community (people) that would actually HIRE them to buy or list with.

If your business doesn not focus on people, you’re in a short-term transaction-focused business.

Focus on this…

People have money, you want money. Provide value to people and they will share their money with you.

Fellow copywriter Craig Garber recently shared this with me: “Look at what you want to create in the world, no what you want to get out of it.”

Do that and you’ll have your success.

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Here’s your chance to use the comment section to link to a few of your favorite posts on another blog that you found especially insightful and helpful. It’s a way to say thanks and spread some linky-love to those that are a part of our progress.

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You’re in the body-gripping seat of a powerful sports car, knuckles squeezing the leather steering wheel, the engine roars with anticipation. Your foot lowers onto the accelerator and… *gasp *gasp *choke.

Littered alongside the internet marketing highway you’ll find plenty of similarly sputtering email campaigns. Limping along not from lack of persuasion or rapport but from a cut-rate email service…

I’ve been there and here’s how I made sure it never happens again.

In my Email Marketing for Real Estate series you learned how to powerfully use autoresponders and winning emails to bond with, nurture, and progress your relationship with your prospects.

To drive home your winning campaign you’ve got a lot of choices in front of you when it comes to the software or service you use to deliver those client pulling emails.

You may be using the email marketing service that came packaged with your website or maybe you send out emails through your CRM.

I just want to point out the service I use and why.

My Weapon of Choice

One word: Aweber.

Why Aweber?
Since I first started using them in 1999 they’ve added a bunch of tools and features that actually complement the service, not add bloat. They do one thing - email - and they do it very very well.

• Deliverability - with other services I’ve received as much as 15% non-deliverable emails. Pretty crappy when your business depends on reaching your subscribers. Obviously, this is a big deal. With Aweber the highest my undeliverables have reached are 1.8%. Excellent.
• Blog Newsletters - this is one of my most favorite features. Basically, you can automagically have Aweber email your latest blog posts to your email subscribers (ditch Feedburner’s email, please!). Point Aweber at your feed and it will grab your RSS and send it out instantly, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. Pretty killer automation.
• Unlimited lists and emails - you can have any number of lists you want (investors, buyers, sellers, partners, prospects, clients, etc) and send out as many emails as you want. Many services restrict your email lists or charge you extra for the expanded capabilities that Aweber provides by default.
• Autoresponders - not only can you send out you broadcast messages and blog newsletters, you can also use drip campaigns with the autoresponders. Oh yeah, no extra charge here, either.
• Personalization - you have the ability to personalize your email with any bit of info you have from your subscriber - city, state, name, address, phone, dates, and any custom field you ask them for.
• Scheduling - whle you’re off playing around (or working) you can have your emails sent out according to a schedule you determine. very cool and automated.
• Analytics - Aweber has some stellar tracking and reporting features. Of course, you can track which links are clicked in your emails, but you can also:
  • split-test different versions of your email to see whcih works best
  • test which subscription forms work best
  • what time of day your subscribers are most active
  • send emails only to specific subscribers
  • and more

Now, the question may come up…

Why A Paid Service?

I get ya, I totally do. There are free alternatives out there. Heck, you probably have email marketing bundled in with your web hosting if you have a template site.

But, here’s what it came down to for me:

• A large part of what I do all day involves email marketing (for myself and my clients). I can’t afford a service that doesn’t get the message delivered… Aweber does that better than any other.
• Spam is so much a problem that many ISPs simply blacklist entire email providers. Aweber works with all the major ISPs and email clients to make sure they’re not blacklisted - so my legitimate email gets through.
• Since email is all they provide, their resources are focused solely on that - not on creating new templates, hosting, web design or anything other than email.
• I can actually call them up, speak with someone, and say “This isn’t working. Fix it.”

So, there you have it. Granted, there’s a lot of options out there but since I keep talking about the How and Why of effective email marketing I thought I’d best shine a light on why Aweber is my weapon of choice.

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