From writing all those articles (over 300 published to date), here are the three most important lessons I’ve learned:

1. A smaller topic is better
2. Less ideas are better
3. More examples are better

So, in about 400-500 words, you’ll only have time for one to three ideas and examples. Make the examples ‘real life’. Also, be sure your article is as perfect as you can get it before submitting. These editors don’t have time to work with any of us in extensive editing. The person who submits articles “ready to go” gets published much more often!

How to Find Appropriate Publications for Your Talents

Pick up your favorite real estate magazine or newsletter. See the kind of articles that the publisher likes. Note the length. Ask yourself: Why would my articles be a benefit to that publication? Then, contact the publisher for article specifications and submission policies. You’re on your way to standing out as an exceptional manager!

Make a list of hard copy and Internet-based magazines and newsletters. That becomes your ‘distribution list’. Each month, I submit at least one article to my list—all at once (your contact management program is invaluable to put your PR contacts in a field so you can communicate easily). I have a ‘template’ that I use, which points out the link to the article. I ask the editor to include my biography with ‘hot links’ so readers can get the free documents I usually provide with each article—and can go to my website.

Make Publicity Distribution Really Simple…..

A new resource I just discovered: Recently, I signed up for an article submission service, so I could widen my scope of influence. Check out Submit Your Article.

Now, you are on your way to free publicity, a heightened image, and much improved recruiting, and it didn’t cost you anything!

Did you know that about 85% of the ‘news’ is planted? That includes press releases and articles. Whether you’re a company with one (that’s YOU) or 1000, you should be putting press releases into your marketing mix. Why?

1. They raise your credibility

2. They deliver the messages the way you want them delivered

3. You have no competition–most companies don’t bother

4. It’s no cost or low cost, and delivers big returns

Getting Started

What’s your reason for a press release? It could be

• a new class
• a designation
• an honor
• a publication you’ve been featured in
• a new concept you’ve launched
• a charity you founded or participated in

To create that first press release, just follow my template here. I’ve also given you an example. Let me know how press releases work for you.

Get Press for your Agents

Why not assist your agents in promoting themselves? Several of my agents had just made personal brochures with my guidance. So, I called our local newspaper and got a full-page article, with a color picture of my agents, explaining the concept and how the agents used it. Then my agents used those brochures in all kinds of promotion to help clients understand their approaches. It was a great retention tool! 

Press release template and example

Do you want a free recruiting tool? You’re a real estate professional. You have limited advertising/recruiting funds. You want to recruit more. You want to establish your credibility as an industry leader. One of the best strategies is to write articles that get published, and use those articles in all of your marketing strategies. Here are the steps to follow to write articles that are valuable and that get published every time. The best thing about this strategy: It’s absolutely free! Any broker of any size can do it.

The Process: Simple and Straightforward

Writing an article follows the same process composers use in writing a popular tune: It starts with the theme (A), continues with the middle, where you expand on the idea and example (B), and ends again with the theme. When I’m teaching my “Train the Trainer” course, we practice this simple structure when we create training programs.

The Eight Simple Steps to Get Started

Here are the simple steps I’ve used over the years to create articles that have gotten published hundreds of times in major real estate magazines and newsletters:

1. Decide on who your audience is, so you realize for whom you’re writing

2. Decide on the challenge (s) they have that you want to address

3. Jot down all the ideas you have about the challenges and solutions

4. Narrow the topic so you can zero in specifically on what you want to write about.  The biggest mistake writers and teachers make is to choose too broad a topic for the time or word framework.  For example, it’s difficult to write 500 words on how to create a team. You CAN write 500 words about why to create a team; or three strategic tips in creating a team.

5.  Choose one to three ideas to discuss.

6. Arrange the topics in the order you want to discuss them

7. To expand on the ideas, present the idea clearly and then give an example. One commonality I’ve found among editors is that they want examples with the idea. Otherwise, the reader doesn’t really get the picture.

8. Close the article with the reiteration of your challenge and solution. Give your audience positive motivation to take action.

In my next blog, I’ll discuss how to build your distribution list easily–and how to distribute your articles. You’re on your way to an awesome free recruiting tool!

Managers: Develop this skill and then teach your agents how to use PR effectively. Use this skill in the interview to show agents how you’ll help them expand their reach.

Social media: Usually today, articles are published electronically. When your article is published, put it on your Facebook business page and LinkedIn. Invite peole to share the article. Instant PR!

The Combination that Gets you Business

Here’s the answer to the question, “What is the one thing I should do to get business?” Yes, people are always asking me that. I think it’s because I’ve written two resources for would-be and new agents: Become Tomorrow’s Mega-Agent Today and Up and Running in 30 Days. Now, we know that becoming a skilled real estate agent isn’t just one answer. But, there is one thing new agents can do that requires

No skill

No experience

No money

Little time

And, this one thing will make your agents stand out from the crowd better than any other one thing they could do! What is it? Simply:

Write a thank you note (a real hard copy note, not an email)

Why?

Because manners and ‘thank yous’ have gotten increasingly uncommon! You will stand out simply because you’ve taken the time, thought about that person, and cared enough to write—and put that stamp on it.

Write More Than One Note

I’m not going to tell your new agents to write a certain number of notes per day. You and your agents can set your standard (that means the minimum you’ll do).

What to Say

Thank you. Thinking about you. I appreciate you. I used your advice. Here’s something for you that would be helpful. I found the information you wanted.

Note to managers: This is also one of the strongest motivational tools you’ll ever have–writing notes to your agents with encouragement, thanks, etc. Do you do enough of it? Set your own goals now.

Big important sales principle:

Contacting people is simply finding an excuse to write, pick up the phone, or go see. Retaining salespeople is similar!

My challenge: How creative can you get?

Your agents are more creative than they think they are. Now, get them to sit down and think hard about 5 people they’ve started to work with, but need to contact now. What about them fits into any scenario for you to write that note, pick up the phone, or go see?

They are now using ‘advanced’ sales techniques, and they already know how to do all of this.

Sales meeting tip: One of the managers I know actually has agents write these notes during a sales meeting, and brainstorms the reasons one could write a note.

Proof is in the Pudding

My first year in real estate, I sold 40 homes. Also, I sent more things in the mail than any other of the 30 agents in my office. Why? Because I wanted to create a ‘critical mass’ of people who thought I was wonderful. Yes, an agent can also do this with social media. But, you want to stand out. And, you will stand out much more if you write to one person than to many. After all, you are working with that one person who will pay you thousands of dollars. He/she is worth that special, individual effort! That’s the one thing your agents  should do to get business.

Managers, heads up: Do you always write a ‘thank you’ follow-up note after you speak to a candidate? If you just don’t think you have time, write a ‘master’ note and have your assistant write them. You’ll recruit more.

We’re always telling our agents to ‘work smarter’, not harder. Yet, what does that mean? For one thing, in this low-trust world, it means creating high trust as a foundation for any sales action and decision. Yet, in the ‘on fire’ market of the past, agents didn’t have to work very hard at creating trust. The market forced decisions and the consumers ended up buying from an agent they may not really know. Those days are over.

Why Creating Trust is a $$$ Issue

Do you know how much more it costs to get a new client than to keep an old one? Marketers tell us 6-9 times more. So, it’s just good business sense to train your agents to create high trust with clients for return and referral business.

How You Can Help Your Agents Create Trust

Salespeople can’t sell anything to anyone without first establishing an exceptional level of trust–an increasingly difficult thing to do. The ten tips below shared on in a recent radio show help sales professionals build a ‘platinum level’ of trust.

Five Tips to Raise your Agents’ Client Trust Levels

Here are 5 tips, with special comments to you as a leader–in blue.

1. Learn non-verbal skills and apply them in writing, on the phone, and in person to establish rapport in an increasingly ‘cold inquiry’ world. 

Are you teaching them Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NL))? Are you working with them to pace and mirror in interactive workshops?

2. We believe what others say about a salesperson, not what the salesperson says about themselves. Use testimonials; check evaluation websites to see what consumers are saying about you.

Are you checking out what the consumers are saying about your agents on the web?

Look at www.realestateratingz.com and www.incredibleagents.com.

3. Create an after-the-sale survey and use it consistently. If there’s something wrong, fix it fast.

Do you have an after sale survey that you send out from the office? How do you handle surveys that are less than stellar?

4. We believe what we see, not what we hear. Show, don’t tell. Use visual presentations consistently.

Are you working with your agents to practice showing evidence?

5. Flip your sales presentations. Ask questions—lots of questions—first. Educate. Finally, sell (well, you won’t have to sell).

Do you have a planned presentation you teach agents–and have them practice until they are ‘killer’?

Click here to get your Trust Evaluator.

 Those attributes, qualities, talents, and skills, that agents are drawn to.

The market’s heating up, and good recruiters are getting appointments like mad. What makes one person be able to hire great agents with ease, while other recruiters find it difficult? Effective recruiters have, purposely, developed magnets. You can, too. Here are the steps:

1. Identify your strengths.

Look beyond the normal things managers talk about. I know you have some special talents and skills from ‘the rest of your life’. What are they? One of the best recruiters I know has figured out to get right to agents’ hearts—to find out their fears and their aspirations. Although this came naturally to her, she has also taken several coaching and self-actualization classes, and has worked hard to translate what she learned to her recruiting strategy.

Caveat: Don’t rely on company or office features to do your recruiting for you. You must stand out as a leader, coach, and mentor.

2. Attach the benefits of those strengths to your recruit—keeping in mind the needs you are filling for that particular recruit.

By doing this process, you’ll have the information you need to design a full presentation that takes advantage of the trends, makes it easy for you to become a master presenter, helps you reveal and explain your magnets, and gets you the recruits you want.

Script (what my being a musician means to the candidate): “Yes, I was a musician in an ‘earlier ‘life’. You may not see what that means in terms of sales success, but I learned that the discipline and tenacity I developed was a great help in persevering in real estate sales. I can help you ‘keep on’ keeping on, because I know the motivators needed to create high level sales.”

Who determines what’s really “attractive?”

Agents. Managers are usually long-term real estate “pros”. They assume their company features are the best attractors to desired agents. Problem: These features are valued by managers, but they may not be equally as attractive to agents.

Example: For years, a large company in the area told prospective agents they could make more money by affiliating with that company because, “We have meetings daily.” In reality, the meetings had become poorly attended, boring, and resented by the agents. The only “beneficiaries” were the managers, since they could more easily keep tabs on the agents if they required the agents’ bodies show up at the desk at 9 A.M. daily! As agents became more independent, and competition from other companies increased, the meetings, which 30 years ago had been team-builders, became outmoded. They actually were a deterrent to recruiting! If these managers had taken the agents’ perspective, they could have avoided using a worn-out, ineffective presentation.

Be sure the features you’re promoting are of value to agents. Are you promoting some features that are out of date?

Big idea: YOU—your talents, your skills, your personality—are the biggest magnets imaginable. Build them to exceptional strength!

What skills and talents have you developed outside real estate that you have translated into ‘attractors’ for agents?

What are your numbers? Have you ever figured it out? Let me know. As a CRB instructor, I would ask managers this question. Generally, they figured the cost of a bad hire was $10,000-$30,000. What’s yours?

Do you have your recruiting plan in place? Check out The Complete Recruiter, with a special price of $30 off ($99.95 this month), plus 2 bonuses, a $70 value. You can’t afford to wing recruiting anymore!

1. Stops you from hiring great producers. Likes attract. How can brokers hope to hire that great producer when they have more than 10% of their office as non-producers? I can see it now. “Sure, I’ll come to your office. I’m a top producer, and I just love to be dragged down by those non-producers. It will be my pleasure to waste my time with them.” Not.

2. Kills your recruiting message.
Do you have a training program? Do you use it to recruit? Here’s the real message: “We have a training program. All our new agents go through it. We don’t get any results from the program, so it really doesn’t work. But, join us.” You can’t possibly show how successful your training program makes your agents because your training program can’t possibly get results—poor people in and no actions and accountability required.

3. De-motivates your agents to provide referrals to you.
Your outcomes and hiring practices speak more loudly than you could possible speak. Why would one of your good agents possibly refer someone to you when your good agent doesn’t see those you hired starting right out and making money fast?

This Market Won’t Cover Up an Inadequate Selection Process
In a fast market, ‘accidental sales’ buoyed poor agents and made them look as though they were actually selling enough real estate to be a ‘median’ agent. When the market left, so did the agents’ ‘mirage’ of decent production. Now, brokers need to hire with purpose (using a stringent, professional interview process). Then, they need to put agents right to work with a proven start-up plan.

Please Tell Me What You Think
What do you think a non-productive agent costs the company? In my next blog, I’ll give you some line items that will probably double what you think a bad hire costs. Let’s see what you think first. Poor hiring practices really, really hurts brokers—both financially and emotionally.

What do you think? Should a broker hire anyone who walks through the door? Does your broker hire anyone who walks through the door?

Do you have your recruiting plan in place? Check out The Complete Recruiter, with a special price of $30 off ($99.95 this month), plus 2 bonuses, a $70 value. You can’t afford to wing recruiting anymore!

Why Tell Me Now?

Right now, I’m doing several things that I think will greatly impact the success of a new real estate agent. Here they are:

1. I’m making a new online version of Up and Running in 30 Days, to help new agents and managers assure that new agent gets started fast–doing the right things in the right order. I’ll be providing coaching, training videos, and accountability to show ultimate support for that new agent–and the broker enrolled in the program.

2. I’ve just been named New Agent Expert for a national real estate publication, which will interact with pre-license schools. So, I’ll have an opportunity to help agents prior to their coming into the business. 

3. I’ll be providing brokers with coaching so they can stay on track with their new agents, and assure that everyone has the same focus–success quickly for that new agent.

So, I have two questions for you:

1. What does the new agent need to know to succeed?

2. What does the new agent need to do to succeed?

To answer those questions, think of the successful agents you know. What did they do in the first 3 months of the business? What did they avoid?

Training: What new agent training helped your new agents? What was useless? What ought to be there?

Coaching: Were you coached as a new agent? What was good? What was not useful to you? What do you wish someone would have told you? What about your coaching new agents has worked for you? What hasn’t worked?

Your Opportunity to Help the Industry

Okay. Here you go. Comment on this blog and help the industry, so we can raise the level of expectations of new agents, give brokers some guidance, and help consumers think well of us. Thank you!

What’s ‘Admirable’?

If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably involved somehow in managing people (that includes managing families, too!). So, it would be helpful to know how to create admirers–in the best sense of the word. Why? Admirers do several things for you (and you must do several things for them, of course):

They refer others to you with enthusiasm
They provide ‘positive grapevine’ promotion for you
They help you discover strengths you may not have known you have (think branding)
They see the best in you when you’re sometimes not seeing it in yourself!

What You Need to Do to Create ‘Admirers’

I worked my way through college and graduate school playing piano in bars (I sure learned a lot about human nature!). As a musician, I learned, to have admirers, I had to do 2 things:

1. Play the music they wanted to hear
2. Play the music they wanted to hear the way they wanted to hear it

To do this, I learned literally thousands of tunes and dozens of styles. Now, I was set to gain followers/admirers (and tips, of course!. In other words, you have to make yourself someone that can be admired (when did you take your last true ‘people management’ course?)

What does that mean to you as a manager? You have to figure out the needs that they want filled, and fill them the way they want them filled. I did a webinar, Light ‘Em on Fire, for the Learning Library of the National Association of Realtors, and discussed the ins and outs of motivation–a mis-understood yet incredibly powerful tool.

Appreciation: The best Tool to Gain Admirers

There are many ways to gain ‘followers’. The easiest is to lavishly use appreciation. How often do you appreciate? Probably not as often as you could. This is one of the most effective, low-cost, and happy methods to motivate and gain admirers you can imagine. Yet, few managers use this effectively (and I mean to be sincere about it, of course). I’ve created a white paper on the principles of motivation, along with over 25 ways to appreciate. Click here to get your copy.

I appreciate you and your support and comments on this management blog