Stop Seeing Red: A Smarter View of Brokerage Expenses

Running a real estate brokerage has its share of expenses. Payables—large or small—are a necessary part of doing business. Expenses like rent, office supplies, insurance, furniture etc. are easy to understand and manage. What is less obvious are the investments in marketing, advertising and technology that many brokers spend thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars on each month. The temptation to periodically cut these expenses requires a much more considered analysis that can’t be based completely or even in some cases, primarily on pricing. Conversely, you shouldn’t drop precious budget dollars on every new shiny thing that comes on the market.

Necessity Of Large Expenses

You must build and advertise a reputable brand to draw clients to your listings, competing with more well-known franchised brokerage names. Brand building for the independent brokerage can quickly eat away at your budget, especially when figuring all your advertising expenses. According to data published in 2012-2014 by the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials, U.S. real estate agents and brokers spent approximately $8.9 billion on residential advertising in 2015. That’s a substantial amount of money, yet an important expenditure if you are to compete for listings and credibility in your local market.

Let’s not forget our need for technology, and its ever-increasing role in real estate. Other than general IT set up and maintenance, customer relationship management (CRM) is a large, yet crucial, cost of doing business that can help streamline much of the real estate process in a busy brokerage. CostOwl reports that in 2018 inhouse CRM costs range from $100 to $1,000 per user plus maintenance, support, updates and potential customization, while web-based CRM systems run $50 to $100 per user every month with lesser fees for smaller brokerages.

Expense Analysis Revisited

As you know, with some business items, using a less expensive version works just as well and saves money. But this isn’t necessarily true for larger purchases. Of course, you want to spend money that provides the most value and significant benefit to your brokerage. It’s always a good idea to consider your bottom line when factoring in a new or recurring expense, but there is a difference between purchasing a store name brand to save money on office supplies versus buying a bargain basement real estate CRM technology because it has a lower up-front cost.

In the case of a CRM for example, between increased labor in transferring data, lost production time and price of a new system, it’s more cost effective to choose the right CRM system for your brokerage from the start. One that provides high value, and is right for your operation, rather than choose a system based primarily on price.  When you are part of a franchise, such as Weichert, you typically have the added benefit of a CRM that they’ve already vetted or customized.  The Weichert CRM, for example not only provides top tier real estate features such as contact management, marketing automation, open house management, and mobile app access, but its internal workflow has been designed to echo the best practices brokers and agents are taught on their roadmap to success. Your ability to integrate a CRM into your operations is just as important as the CRM feature set and this is not an area to pinch pennies.

Look At The Whole Picture

Why be penny wise and pound foolish, as the saying goes? Look at the whole picture of expenses in a way that incorporates a wider view of their utility.  Once you’ve made these decisions, give these expenditures a chance to prove themselves. Advertising mediums can be tagged to understand how much additional sales you are getting from expenditures on each. Technology can be judged to large degree on the utility it provides to you and the feedback of your team on its usefulness and ease of use. Budgeting more for items that can have big payoffs in the long run, such as specifically targeted brand advertising or an efficient CRM system can increase the brokerage’s long-term income and reduce their operating costs in a way that more than offsets the cost of the advertising or system.

Gain Access To Systems That Work

At least some of the headaches’ associated with expense management and analysis can be helped by having some deep, expert experience in your corner. Having the resources of a franchise system behind you can save you tremendous time vetting options and more time being productive. Not only do you instantly gain a brand name that matters, input from your coaching team and fellow franchisees about many of the most agonizing expenditures you face is always just a phone call away.

Could your brokerage benefit from this? Learn more at weichertfranchise.com or call 877-533-9007.

Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/stop-seeing-red-smarter-view-brokerage-expenses/

Understanding The Difference between Facebook And Instagram For Real Estate Marketing

Social media has taken over marketing in recent years, with 69 percent of the public using social media of some sort. You may do all your brokerage’s social networking or elect to turn that over to a marketing specialist. Whatever you choose, it’s imperative that you understand the demographics of each social platform to wisely spend your marketing time and money, while carefully branding your brokerage.

Facebook has emerged over the last 13 years as a powerhouse among the social networking platforms. According to Pew Research Center’s Social Media Fact Sheet, 68 percent of adults in the United States use Facebook. Facebook acquired Instagram—a newer social site—in 2012. Its use is becoming more popular at 28 percent of U.S. adults and amassing over 800,000 users to date, trailing far behind but still second to Facebook. Part of Instagram’s growing popularity is the ease of post and paid ad sharing between the two sites.

Facebook Friends 

Facebook may already be central to your marketing plan for its wide range of demographics and the sharing of all types of media—photos, messages and video—across desktop, mobile and tablet formats. Its use is split almost evenly between males and females.

Many view it as a networking forum for older adults, but that’s not a well-rounded picture of this versatile site. While Facebook does attract a larger share of the over 49 crowd than other social sites, Pew Research Center’s data indicates that ages 18-29 are big Facebook users (88 percent) with those ages 30-49 close behind in usage (79 percent).

Content should be engaging in more than one way, so create a mix of videos, images, information and calls to action that elicit user interaction to get followers. A little tasteful fun goes a long way on Facebook.

Instagram Images 

Facebook purchased Instagram back in 2012, and it has retained most of its unique nature. Both social sites share photos, videos and messages, but Instagram features images first and foremost, allowing the user to add numerous digital filters, as well as use image hashtags and geotags. You can create your own hashtags for events, open houses and more to gain traction. Since December 2017, users can follow hashtags, so your image hashtags need to be relevant, retain your style, and be interesting to grow your followers. Instagram’s newest rollout—Stories—is a Snapchat-like feature that is quickly growing in popularity.

Instagram is primarily intended for use on-the-go with a smartphone, appealing to younger users. In fact, Instagram’s core users are ages 18-29 (59 percent) with a higher percentage of women of any age favoring the site. Ages 30-49 make up 33 percent proving this network is a haven for those ages 49 and younger.

As a real estate broker, structure your Instagram posts around interior design, as that is a favorite topic on this platform. Has a local or national celebrity viewed a listing or sold a home using your brokerage? Snap a photo and post it (with permission), as celebrity and entertainment posts are hot. Visual consistency and imagination go a long way toward building your Instagram following.

Stand-Out Instagram Marketing 

Instagram is all about the aesthetics. To leverage marketing on Instagram that plays to your brand and brings in sellers and buyers, it helps to study a few real estate accounts of those who are rocking it in the world of Instagram marketing.

Here are some tips to help individualize your brokerage on the Instagram platform:

• Display great images—it’s all about consistently branded visuals
• Create branded hashtags
• Add multiple hashtags—some of the top posts use 10 or more hashtags
• Use images with your contact information/logo
• Post strictly listings or add a few photos of the team and/or clients for a more personalized appeal

Play Off Each Other 

Instagram is a logical choice to add to your marketing arsenal to attract more of the on-the-go Millennial masses and even some older groups. As they play off each other, using Facebook and Instagram together equals a robust social sales strategy.

At the end of the day, a consistent approach to social media usage is just one part of your marketing and sales strategy. At Weichert, we have the systems that can help you pull it all together. Contact us at 877-533-9007to learn more or go to weichertfranchise.com.

Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/understanding-difference-facebook-instagram-real-estate-marketing/

Tapping Into The Relocation Market

Online retail giant Amazon is searching for another location outside of the Northwest to build a $5 billion facility and hire up to 50,000 employees. While many would be hired from the direct vicinity, others would come from nearby regions or even out of state, making a move necessary for a percentage of employees. Could you capitalize on this influx of home buyers or renters if your town or city was chosen?

Relocation Clients Matter

Of course, other companies don’t just start up in a new state, but transfer employees from an office in one location to an existing office in another state, sometimes due to mergers and acquisitions. The most recent movement trend research from the Worldwide Employee Relocation Council indicates that 49 percent of transferees were relocating for the first time due to a promotion or lateral move. First-time relocation clients require extra help navigating the ropes from selling their current home in one city to purchasing or renting a new home in the perfect location in another city.

Create A Specialty In Relocation

As a broker, you should be looking at all revenue sales streams for your brokerage. Making relocation a specialty taps into this lucrative market where few tread, providing you with valuable and consistent leads any time of year. Relocating buyers and renters want someone who knows the area well and can educate them on all the local amenities, services, schools, eateries and entertainment with an over-all knowledge of what makes the area tick. The challenge of course, is understanding how that business works and then getting the relationships with the corporate entities that do most of the relo in your area. These relationships are often under contract to other national real estate companies and it can be difficult for independent brokers to make inroads into this market.

That’s where an affiliation with a large national real estate brand can be particularly helpful Weichert Workforce Mobility for instance, is Weichert’s national relocation company, responsible for managing relo services for companies large and small around the world. These opportunities feed our qualified local Weichert brokers in markets all over the country, providing yet another lead funnel in addition to Weichert Lead Network.

Serving relocation clients requires some special knowledge and training. These clients require a reliable and stable brokerage they can trust with what, for many, is a daunting move. As a broker you must provide agents or teams who are interested in this section of the market with training to gain relocation designations or recruit those already relocation designated that have valuable experience in this field.

 Be The Go-To Relocation Brokerage

Depending on your location, you can position your brokerage as the relocation authority and create messaging in your marketing materials—from advertising to social media—with that in mind. Work with various moving companies, house cleaners and other services to provide clients a streamlined transfer experience to reduce the high stress of making a big move. This way your brokerage is always the area go-to for organizations or referral agents with client relocation needs. This is a labor-intensive process and an additional expense at first, but will pay off in time.

The Inside Track To Relocation

The easiest way to get up and running is to join forces with a company that’s already in the business. Weichert Affiliates, for example, have the opportunity to qualify for leads through Weichert Workforce Mobility, a leader in the relocation business. If this is something you are interested in for your brokerage, maybe it’s time to take a look at a Weichert franchise. Call 877-533-9007 or go to weichertfranchise.com to learn more.

Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/real-estate-agent-recruiting/tapping-relocation-market/

How To Use LinkedIn To Recruit Quality Real Estate Agents

LinkedIn’s mission is to “connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.” As a broker, isn’t that essentially what you want, too? To ensure that your brokerage and your agents are more productive and continue to be successful? For your brokerage to thrive, quality recruiting is an essential element of growth. You know that acquiring talented agents who are hungry for sales form the lifeblood of your brokerage.

Think of the agent search as lead acquisition. Do you want to make Facebook friends or gain business leads? With its more educated and wealthier demographic compared to other social networks, LinkedIn is a viable social media platform for lead generation, so it makes sense to use it to search for quality real estate agents as well—new or seasoned. Plus, its smaller and more focused social platform is a prime place to showcase your brokerage and its needs.

Use Free Features 

Your LinkedIn profile speaks volumes about your professionalism and business model and is what most agent candidates will review to vet brokerage prospects. Make your headline stand out from the crowd, as that’s the first thing members see right under your name. Take the time to review your profile to ensure your message is correctly portrayed.

Directly messaging certain first- and second-degree connections is one way to interact with potential agents and make them take notice of what you have to offer, but there are additional options. With a basic LinkedIn membership, there are a few ways you can recruit at no cost: through posts and articles. These recruiting features use general targeting and may take some time to get results.

Play To Your Uniqueness

LinkedIn supports two kinds of content: Posts and articles. You can think of them as short form and long form content, respectively, and they each have a place in your LinkedIn marketing plan.
You want to create post items on a more regular basis that highlight the uniqueness of your brokerage—specialized trainings, online resources, sales mentors, prime location—and describe why it’s such a great place to work as opposed to your competition. Quotes from other agents, photos of employees, or the maybe the fact that you bring on veterans that became successful agents are some suggestions. You can also syndicate links to other content from Realtor.com or other real estate sites that you know that may be of interest. This is called “curated” content and can sometimes be easier for the busy broker or their associate to accomplish vs. writing original content.


Articles are different than posts and should be used to highlight areas of interest to agents seeking a first or new brokerage, such as “10 things every real estate broker should provide to its agents” or “what to expect as a new real estate agent”. Content should resonate with sales associates looking to make a change or just starting out. If articles rank high, recruits will be at your door.

Take Advantage of Targeted Data

You can up the ante and get more recruits by capitalizing on LinkedIn’s vast member information data—pulled from over 500 million members—and use it to specifically target interested candidates. Better results and less work for you, but a paid premium membership is required to unlock the features of both job posts and career pages. As these talent acquisitions are so focused, the price paid now should increase brokerage growth quicker and with better-qualified agents than previous methods.

Post A Job 

Unlike other job boards, posting a job on LinkedIn is highly directed to your needs. Skills, qualifications, education and more are used to get your job in front of candidates that fit your specifications. This feature boasts of real-time analytics, so you can see how your job posts are performing, as well as easy candidate review and contact methods.

Add A Career Page 

The LinkedIn paid Career feature boosts your visibility and functions like your very own website within the LinkedIn platform. You can showcase lots about the everyday work environment, interesting trainings or speakers, fun office facts or agent quotes, office layout and much more in words, images and videos. You can post more than one job opening—agents, office manager, marketing specialist—without paying for each job post. To easily assess your recruiting goals and determine how the Careers page is working, use the handy analytics tool provided.

Recruit on Multiple Channels

Don’t forget that LinkedIn compliments your current recruiting efforts, it won’t replace them. One of the major focus points of the Weichert team in coaching new Affiliates is, of course, Recruitment, and our process emphasizes a multi-channel approach that creates the right exposure and buzz around your brokerage in your local market. Our process gets great results but it’s not by doing one thing, it’s doing many.  From having the materials to help attract recruiting candidates to the training to get them up and running quickly to be successful, having a system in place is critical to recruiting success and growth.

The team at Weichert understands better than most that recruiting and retaining the best people is what will make you truly successful. If finding a successful recruiting plan is something you’re interested in for your brokerage, call today at 877-533-9007 and see how the Weichert tools and processes can give you an edge.

Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/real-estate-agent-recruiting/use-linkedin-recruit-quality-real-estate-agents/

Having The Right Tools For Your Agency

Successful brokers are always searching for the right tools to automate systems, save time and increase productivity and income, which doesn’t occur until each system is firmly entrenched in your overall brokerage procedures. The tool may be a new recruiting and retention software for accountability, a CRM system that better fits your growing brokerage or high-quality, easy-use digital marketing materials.

Consider Your Goals 

Before considering any new tool, keep in mind your updated brokerage business plan and the goals you intend to achieve this year. Ask yourself what tools will put you ahead of the competition? How can your agents’ productivity be transformed? What will improve the buying and selling experience for clients? Any systemized tool needs to work exactly as planned to either help you, as broker, improve productivity or your agents reach higher performance figures in less time, all while ensuring improved client satisfaction.

New Tools Take Time 

Getting a new tool up and running is an incredibly time-consuming task. Time for a busy broker is already a precious commodity, but it can feel as if it’s at a premium when attempting to incorporate a new tool seamlessly into your current system, which may take weeks or months.
Think back to the difficulties of setting up your own brokerage and what it took get software and systems set up. You’ve no doubt learned from your previous experiences and know the effort it takes to incorporate any new tool. The steps from research to use may flow like this:

• First, extensive research into each digital tool under consideration is essential.
• Second, speak with customer representatives to ensure each potential tool has the capacity to do exactly what you want it to do. Get hard answers to questions, such as: Are changes to the web-based software able to be made to accomplish your specialized needs? At what cost and in what timeframe is expected?
• Third, you need to know that the technology or other tool will work as expected, so a trial test of one or two of your best options is important before you make that purchase.
• Fourth, you must set up the system, implement the tool chosen into brokerage procedures, work out any kinks in the system (and there will be issues) and train those using the new tool.

Don’t Have The Time? Stop The Guesswork 

While there are brokers out there who can do this successfully on their own, it can be a real challenge for the average small independent brokerage owner. If you want to compete and stay ahead from a technology standpoint, an affiliation with a larger real estate brand can really help and offer a solution. They have teams of resources working through this every day. So while you are focused on running your brokerage, they are researching, vetting and testing out the next best thing to make running a real estate business easier and more productive. Weichert, which offers its affiliates proprietary digital tools, is a great example of how affiliation helps take away the guesswork in many areas. Its years of research into systems that work mean that all the tireless research and functional testing of new tools is unnecessary on your end. Plus, Weichert provides the training needed to make the best use of their technology inside a proven system for success.

Weichert’s numerous tools position you at the forefront of your area and assist with:

• Lead Generation
• Mobile-friendly CRM
• Online Marketing
• Personal Branding
• Agent Recruiting and Retention
• Marketing and Training—scripts, forms, courses and more 

Build Momentum Before Tool Launch 

Whether you choose to go it alone with a new tool or system or affiliate with a company like Weichert that offers time-tested ones, know that you need to build momentum in your brokerage around agent tools prior to the roll out. Create a bang around the launch to keep agents interested in what it can do for them, as most will be skeptical that its use will improve their work. Pick a super user (that may be you) to train all users to fully unlock all the features of the new tool so all have the chance to achieve success.  Above all, keeping your arsenal updated and fresh is important in maintaining your value as a brokerage to retain your agents.

Why work harder than you should? Contact Weichert at 1-877-533-9007to learn how their cutting-edge tools can help you exceed your business goals in less time.

Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/right-tools-agency/

Need A Lead Magnet? Give Them Something They Want.

As a broker, you have carefully built your brand through targeted advertising and marketing. You have strategically calculated a marketing plan to funnel quality leads in a variety of markets to your agents to help them close more transactions. Your website, social media presence and other digital marketing is part of your overall plan. But how much time do you spend chasing these leads? The time you have invested should not outweigh the amount of leads generated.

Buyers and Sellers Want More

Today’s market is different than even five years ago. Buyers and sellers want more value out of a brokerage. Specifically, they crave quality information. No longer are buyers and sellers content to sit back and roll with the fact that an agent has years of experience in real estate and has closed a certain of number of sales in their neighborhood. Instead, they want specific information presented to prove that agent’s expertise. More importantly, prospects expect a high value from the material they receive.

Tempt Prospects with A Giveaway

One way to stop chasing listings and build your brokerage into a lead magnet where prospects come to you is through the value of a giveaway, such as a short, easily accessible video, e-book, infographic, quiz, guide, handout, resource or checklist or free home inspection for new listings. Create a giveaway that builds value and tempts prospects to give up their name and contact information to get the free material. The material should be well written and designed and present your brand as an authority to build long-term trust and add monetary value in the eyes of your prospects.

Create A Relationship

The point of the giveaway as a lead magnet is to alter your prospect’s mindset to be predisposed to use your services. The topic of your materials should be clear-cut, easily read in no more than 5 minutes and address a distinct topic that provides specific answers. The prospect should feel a relationship with your brokerage after reading the material that prompts her/him to act.

Know Your End Goal

To decide the topic of your material, you must know the end goal, such as increased revenue or list building. The market segment you are going after is also important. What real estate pain point are you addressing in your giveaway that will turn prospects into hot leads for the desired target market? For instance, luxury sellers may be interested in top-notch staging tips and resources. Speak to the desired pain point and prospects will more readily give up their contact information.

List Building Management

A well-calculated giveaway campaign can bring in hundreds of leads. It does no good to attract leads and build your marketing list if you don’t have a good CRM system to organize your marketing efforts. Is your CRM up to the task? Review your current system to see if it stands up to others on the market for functionality and number of contacts. Now may be the right time to upgrade your CRM system if you’re just not getting the value out of it that you need. Weichert, for instance, offers a CRM system to its affiliates that is directly tied to the best practices and processes we teach for lead generation and follow up. It is integrated into our national lead network and provides efficiencies in lead handling that are unsurpassed in the industry.

Lead Magnetism Doesn’t Happen Overnight.

Brokers know that there is no silver bullet when it comes to generating leads. A variety of tactics executed regularly is what works to improve your lead generation in less time. But it’s hard when you are doing it all on your own. That’s why franchise affiliation is often a great solution for brokerages. By plugging into their resources, you are able to leverage their expertise and marketing materials to be able to compete effectively in all of these ways, including having a CRM to properly manage and close incoming leads.

For more information on how Weichert can turn your brokerage into a lead magnet, contact Weichert® today at 877-533-9007 or go to https://weichertfranchise.com .

Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/real-estate-lead-generation/need-lead-magnet-give-something-want/

Five New Year’s Resolutions for your Brokerage

The New Year came fast and is already in full swing. Did you make any resolutions? It’s important to maintain your focus on where you want to be in 12 months. Continue to take the lead and decide what direction you want to move your brokerage toward this year. Just as in your personal life, January is a good time to set goals for your brokerage to help you stay motivated and to reinvent yourself a little bit.

To improve your bottom line and keep your agents in the forefront of their market, consider ringing in these five New Year’s resolutions for your brokerage:

1.Create Buzz Around Your Brand

Think about your marketing plan for the year. After all, marketing should create buzz around your brand and should be well thought out and budgeted into your business plan. Use the amount of an average transaction commission as a base for determining how much you can comfortably spend this year. You want the most impact at the least cost.

Whether that’s an ad highlighting your listings or a glossy ad in a regional or national magazine showing off what sets your real estate brokerage apart from others, your spending needs to build awareness, bring business in and grow your brand. As marketing is so crucial to business growth, Weichert® advises having a well thought out brokerage marketing plan in place each November for the following year.

2. Track Numbers Differently

Every successful broker knows their numbers. Do you? It’s important to track sales, of course, but following the numbers of all your agent activities—new listings, buyer consults, open houses conducted—shows patterns that may suggest a change is needed to increase income. Keeping your agents accountable for their activities using hard data like this leads to better performance.

3. Introduce A New Technology Application

Technology is ever evolving and is an indispensable part of the modern real estate enterprise. Try introducing new technology to your agents that can make showing listings easier in real time. For instance, Periscope is a live-streaming video application launched in 2015 that can be used from any smartphone to simply broadcast virtual open houses for those purchasing from a distance. Best of all, the app is free to use.

4. Use A New Marketing Tool

It can be time-consuming to keep up with the latest marketing tools, but it’s important to remain competitive. We all use hashtags in our social media posts, but how do you know if your choice of hashtags is effective? This year, try Keyhole, which provides analytical details on various hashtags, including impressions, demographics and sharing.

5. Better Project Management

Recruiting, training, checking budgets, answering agent questions, reviewing contracts and many other tasks must be completed to keep the office efficiently running. Simplify big projects and tasks with Todoist and save time. Used on over 10 platforms—web browsers, mobile devices, desktops, inboxes—and with lots of special features, projects and tasks on this application can be scheduled, broken down into manageable parts, and even shared and delegated to your office manager to keep you both in check.

There you have it, five New Year’s resolutions to implement into your real estate business plan for 2018. Use of these resolutions can help you increase sales through smarter marketing, keep your agents accountable and productive, and, best of all, save you time.  And if you are looking for one centralized solution to help you implement these types of resolutions, consider a franchise affiliation.
Affiliations with a national brand such as Weichert® can offer you help with branding, tracking your numbers and have teams dedicated to researching and implementing new technology and marketing tools, so you can spend time managing other aspects of your brokerage.

Final Thoughts

New Year’s resolutions can be hard to keep, but your ability to set and keep some around your business goals are an opportunity to reinvent pieces of your business in the New Year and take it to new heights. At Weichert, we know something about reinventing real estate brokerages, it’s what we help owners do.  For more information about becoming a Weichert franchise and its benefits, contact a member of our team today at 800-533-9007 or weichertfranchise.com.

A Healthy and Happy New Year to us All!

Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/five-new-years-resolutions-brokerage/