Marketing and branding for real estate professionals with an emphasis on the free and cheap.

1. Part 1 – Marketing
Tactics Under $100
G. Sax (@gsax)
Director of Communications
10K Research and Marketing

2. Marketing
The last thing you think about.
The first thing to go.
“I ain’t got time for all that.”
I need to be selling, like, NOW!
How much is this sh*t gonna cost me?

3. $pend, $pend, $pend!
Design / Designer Postage
Print / Printer Ad Space
Photography / Photographer Domain Name / Emails
Copy / Copywriter Server Space for Website
Software Web Design
Color Printer Staging
Scanner Promotional Products
Film Closing Gifts
Paper Annual Customer Party
Ink Cards for Special Events
Mailing lists Meals with Clients/Contacts
Memberships Tickets to Events
Car / Gas Clothing

4. Not to Mention...
Signs and Riders
Continuing Education
Professional Development
Lockbox Fees
Association Dues

5. Ad Rates
Not Tens or
Hundreds,
But
Thousands
of Dollars

6. A Few Guiding Principles
Real Estate
is Local

7. Guiding Principle
Visuals Matter

8. Guiding Principle
VISUALS + DETAILS

9. Guiding Principle
Availability
Distribute.
Distribute.
Distribute.

10. Communication
Be pleasant an
d
clear in voice. Good
phon
man e
ner.
s
Your email ha
a voice, too. “ummm.
..”
Spelling matters!

11. The Tools of Communication
“Mobile devices” Video
Text Status updates
Website Tweets
e-newsletters Networking
Photos Brand
Blog

12. Info Hwy Congestion
Swanepoel’s
TREND 7

13. Embrace the Basics

14. The Interweb is #1!
93% of all home buyers in Minnesota used
the Internet to search for homes (87%
nationally).
The typical first-time home buyer was 28
years old. The median age of all home
buyers was 34 years old.
2008 National Association of REALTORS®
Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
MINNESOTA REPORT

15. Embrace Free

16. Embrace “Free”
BLOG
Typepad | Wordpress
E-NEWSLETTER
Mad Mimi | Constant Contact | MailChimp
YOUR ASSOCIATION
MIBOR | IAR | NAR

17. Embrace Fun

18. Embrace New (be picky)
Issuu.com self-publish magazines
ViralHeat.com monitor your reputation on social media
Drop.io share files that are too large to e-mail
Jimdo.com build and host a Web site at no cost
ScreenToaster.com record videos of your screen activity free
99designs.com bid out graphics projects to multiple artists
awayfind.com important emails by text
goldmail.com simple video email; voiceover ppt
getdropbox.com send large photos and files free (up to 2 GB)

19. Embrace Flash Drives
Embrace Simple

20. Embrace “Good Enough”
craigslist microblogging
Flip apps
netbook mp3
Google Docs web-based

21. a simple text
editor goes a
long way

22. Your Website
Should minimally have...
Property photos and descriptions
Searchable listings
Current and working links
Solid organizational structure
Consistency across the board
Quickness of navigation
REALTOR® Magazine Online

23. Your Website
Don't rely on a flat website.
Tell personal stories that turn your
visitors into clients.
Be yourself.
Don't be trite. (Same for Facebook)
Don't "sell." Be cool.

24. Real Estate 2.0

26. Part 2 – Expose Yourself:
Personal Branding
G. Sax (@gsax)
Director of Communications
10K Research and Marketing

27. Social Media
It’s just a tool.
It takes a strategy.
It takes active participation.
It can be whatever you want it to be.
It can be nothing at all if you want, but...

28. Social Media
On average, companies with high
levels of social media activity
experienced an 18% increase in
revenue in the last year.
– American Marketing Association

29. Social Media
National Associaton of REALTORS® – 2009 REALTOR® Technology Report

30. The ex
am
with th ple
e ring.
The ex
ample
with th
e beer.
Facebook's Growing Demographic The ex
a
with th mple
e mid
– more people to find prostitu get
te.
– aren't out as much
– love to show off kids and grandkids
In a "face" industry,
why wouldn't you be here?

31. * Tweet *

32. Ummm.....wow
In August 2009, Twitter drew
25 million unique visitors, up
from 2 million in August 2008.
– Nielsen
The technical barrier is down.

33. Big Potential
Magazines and newspapers talk at you
Websites talk at you electronically
Blogs talk at you electronically, you
talk back
Facebook – organized, interactive
group talk
Twitter – all of the above in 140
characters or less.

34. Engage
Expand your network.
Learn from others.
Quickly and all the time.

35. Twitterverse
GROUND FLOOR
@aplusk
MAINSTREAM
@Oprah | @MarthaStewart | @TheEllenShow
INDUSTRY
@Swanepoel | @tcar | @tboard | @gsax
LOCAL
@RockPlanck | @GregCooper | @DukeLong

36. Twitterverse
@tboard
Saint Paul Real Estate Blog
Blogger
Writer
Photographer
REALTOR®
And I am here

37. Twitterverse
@tcar
NAR Director of Social Media
He changed relationship status to single
He sprained his ankle
He cut his hand opening a blister pack
He ate Cheetos

38. * Tweet *
www.mytechopinion.com/twitter-for-real-estate-twits

39. Case Study – Jimmy Fallon
@jimmyfallon
Forget Leno & Letterman. They’re old.
Even Conan was a Twitter hater. I’m old.

40. Case Study – Jimmy Fallon

41. Case Study – Jimmy Fallon

42. Social Reality
Chamber of Commerce Events
Community Involvement
Tweet Ups, Networking Events
Association Involvement
YOU STILL HAVE TO
GET OUT THERE

43. Social Evolution
Horses Computers
Print Internet
Radio Blogs
TV Tweets
We Change the Way
We Use These Things

44. Social Evolution
Millennial (Gen Y, Echo Boomer)
Born after 1980.
Already outnumber Gen X.
By 2010, will outnumber Boomers.
Do not discount their choices.

45. Overheard
“Visibility is more
important than ability.
Secret agents don’t do
a lot of business.”

46. Communication Touch
“Touch” now means...
Email style, availability
Text style, availability
Twitter, Facebook update frequency
Quality and weight of paper stock
Your business cards

47. Business Cards
one or two sides?
gloss or no gloss?
need for email, web, other?
designations?
imagery?
photos?

48. Business Photos

49. Communication Ethics
must be truthful and accurate
company name in all marketing
teams: only “group” or “team”
company name larger than team
individual name can be larger

50. Communication Ethics
company website in marketing
no rules for listed phone numbers
must include name of state
listed price only price you can use
That’s all well and good, but...

51. My Ideal Business Card
Greg Sax
Director of Communications
gregs@10kresearch.com
@gsax
You can call me G. Sax if you want to.

52. Beyond the Business Card
Postcards & Info Boxes
Open Houses
Bus Benches, Billboards
Print, Fax...Dead?
Learn, Try, Do
Be Creative, Have Fun Be consistent.

53. CAN-SPAM
(Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And
Marketing Act of 2003)

54. Communication Smell Test
If you smell like spam,
you're better off working for Hormel.
You must allow for opt-out.
You must provide a legitimate address.
Subject headers must be about the content.
10 days to take care of opt-out requests.

55. Brand: Case Study

56. Brand Consistency

57. Brand Consistency

58. Brand Identity

65. Brand Perception
Advil | Ibuprofen
Tylenol | Acetaminophen
REALTOR®
| For Sale by Owner

66. Brand Personality

67. Brand Personality
the you in a suit
the you in the neighborhood
the you in the community
AND NOW...
the online photos of you
the Googled you
the Facebook you
the LinkedIn you
the blog you
the Twitter you
the rated you

68. Brand: The Rated You

69. Brand: Integration
YOU
YOUR BROKER

70. Brand: Integration

71. Brand: Integration

72. Brand: Integration

73. Brand: Integration

74. Brand: Integration

75. Brand: Case Studies

76. Brand: George Foreman

77. Brand: George Foreman

78. Brand: Ice Cube

79. Brand: Ice Cube

80. Brand: Arnold

81. Brand: Arnold

82. Brand: Arnold

83. Brand: Millionaire

84. Brand: Millionaire

85. Brand Safety
No alluring or provocative photography
Limit shared personal information
Concentrate on professional proficiency
Maintain care with new clients
Real Estate Safety Council’s “Safety Guide”
City of Mesa, AZ, Realtytimes.com
Nevada County Board of REALTORS®

86. Not Recommended

87. Bad PR?
A sk m
e ab
PHX ex out the
ample.
“This is not a joke. Before I ever got into real
estate, I had very little respect for the profession.
Give me a call and I'll tell you all about it.”

88. Bad PR?
Is now a good time to buy a home in Phoenix?
I don't know. Maybe, maybe not.
Is now a good time to sell a home in Phoenix?
I'll give you a hint —
maybe, maybe
not.

89. Thank You for Your Time!
G. Sax (@gsax)
Director of Communications
10K Research and Marketing