Why Your Listings Are Getting Overlooked (and How to Fix It)

Is your listing strategy stuck on "standard"? In this episode of The Unstoppable Real Estate Agents Podcast, we sat down with marketing specialist Amy Snodgrass to reveal why the traditional "post and pray" method is failing agents in today’s market and, what the top 1% are doing differently to win the appointment before they even walk through the door.

We aren't just talking about better photos. We’re diving into the psychological shifts and high-tech pivots that turn a "stale" listing into a bidding war.

Inside This Episode:

The "First Impression" Audit: The data-driven prep work that most agents skip (and why it’s costing you the listing).

The "Copycat" Fear: Why sharing your full marketing plan early is actually your biggest competitive advantage.

The Psychology of the Seller: Two specific questions you must ask to uncover the "hidden" selling points of any home.

The Visual Edge: Why standard photography isn't enough for social media, and the "twilight" secret to stopping the scroll.

Beyond the MLS: How to leverage the #2 search engine and local "micro-influencers" to find buyers your competition doesn't even know exist.

The "Stale" Listing Rescue: A week-by-week strategy to keep a property fresh and exciting even after the first 7 days.

Resources & Links:
Real Estate OS Accelerator: https://www.kimhughes.com/real-estate-os-accelerator/

Free Marketing Checklist: https://www.kimhughes.com/freebie-marketing-checklist/

Read the Blog: https://www.kimhughes.com/is-your-real-estate-virtual-assistant-a-strategic-partner-or-just-a-line-item/

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Join Real Estate OS Accelerator | Building the Operating System Behind Your Success.  The hands-on coaching program that gives you the structure, systems, and accountability to finally run your business like a pro.

Real Estate OS Accelerator - Kim Hughes

Additional Resources:

📩 FREE RESOURCE: Download my Complete Checklist – 72 To-Do’s to Dominate Success in Real Estate to supercharge your strategy! https://www.kimhughes.com/72-to-dos/

Visit my website for FREE Templates: https://www.kimhughes.com/resources/free-downloads/

Power Strategy Call – Best 30 minutes you will ever spend discussing the struggles in your business as we create solutions that will set you up for unbelievable success! Go to http://www.TalkwithKimHughes.com

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to the Unstoppable Real Estate Agents Podcast. I'm your host and real estate productivity expert, Kim Hughes. Join me as we focus on real strategies and implement real solutions designed for you to achieve major success in your business and life while getting you organized. Hi, everybody. It's Kim Hughes, and today we are going to talk about innovative listing strategies to establish yourself as a trendsetter in your market. And we have Amy Snodgrass with us today. She is a listing coordinator on the Kim Hughes team, and she is going to bring her tips, her ideas, her strategies to the conversation as well. So I'm just very excited to have you with us today, Amy, and all of your insight. I am excited to be here and hopefully I can share something that will be a good takeaway. Great. Okay, so the first thing that we want to start with is once you have that listing appointment created or scheduled, what we want to do is make sure that your listing presentation is stellar. So the first thing you need to do is sit down and look at that listing presentation, see if you need to update it, there's any tweaking, any information that needs to be added, or any information that needs to be taken away based on what the current real estate market is doing. So that should be the first thing you do right off the bat. Um the second thing that you should do is look at your property analysis, um, do a CMA, do whatever it is that you have to do to prepare for that property. So do your research so that you can go in with concrete information and they're not guessing um at what you're gonna tell your seller when they have questions for you. So some of the questions that I would like to see you ask these home sellers would be is why are you selling? You know, if you ask that question, then most likely they're gonna say, because we're moving either out of state, out of the area, we're moving across town, whatever that may be. And that will set you up as the agent who can help them either buy a home in another area that you work in, um, or introduce them to an agent that you can refer them to. So therefore, you're getting a referral fee. And then the um second thing would be to ask them to share, you know, what made them buy that home. Why are they in why did they enjoy living in that home for that amount of time? Have them talk about their neighborhood, and this will give you information on how you can write your property description. And you can also ask them to write a story about why they love the home, why they love the neighborhood. You know, maybe they want to talk about the schools, maybe they want to talk about the convenience to all the amenities around them, whatever that could be. So not only listen to what they're telling you, but also have them write out their own story. And by doing that, they are involved and they feel that they can be involved in what goes on with that property. So a lot of agents will just go in, take their information, send out the photos, and the and just sends everything to the seller, where the seller may say, Well, gosh, I wish they had said something about this room or that room or my backyard. So this is an opportunity for your sellers to be involved in what your property description will entail. And make sure that you get information about the schools that they can go to. Um, and then also um, most communities, if you know, will have a Facebook group or a neighborhood that they are active in. Ask them about that because you might be able to promote that property in there. And if you can't, then they might be able to do that based on the guidelines of that Facebook group. And then also ask about any improvements that they've made to the home. I mean, this means anything from painting to changing uh, you know, the water faucets in the bathrooms or in the kitchen, a new sink, little details are going to matter. And so make sure that you ask them in detail what updates? Did they update any appliances? Um, you know, the slightest thing that can be that can bring value to the information that you're providing because everybody wants new stuff. So make sure that when you talk to your seller, they give you all of that information. And if they can give you the receipts, um, the timeline of when these things were done, that's even a bigger bonus. So once you've gathered all the details about the home, and then the seller, um, and the goal that you have for the seller should be when um you ask them to take a tour. So, you know, you're sitting down, you're talking to them, you're getting all this information. Now that you've gathered all this information, ask them just to take you on a quick tour and make sure you take notes of things that you see, like maybe the baseboards need to be painted, maybe the carpet needs to be cleaned. You know, it could be little details that the seller doesn't pick up on, but you do. And if you pick up on them, most likely a buyer will pick up on it. So you want to uh eliminate any negative aspects of that hub, whether it's just a speck on the floor that needs to be cleaned up, to you know, did you put in new windows? Okay. Amy, do you have anything to add to that?

SPEAKER_01 5:43

No, I think that's great. And I always love to um, you know, have the seller list out everything that they know that they've done to the home, everything that they've um, any little thing they've done, make a list, and then you can also have them sign it. So then if there's something that comes back, then you're like, well, the seller said this and then you've got their signature. So it's also a great way to cover yourself as well, um, to have them put it in writing and then have them sign it.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Yeah. So, you know, this is we're kind of, I think, you know, when the sellers give you the disclosure agreement and everything, but this is going beyond, you know, so that you are aware of everything that's going on in the on that property, whether it's inside the home, outside of the home, in the attic, in the basement, whatever that may be. Right.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Because those disclosures don't just they don't cover the things that you've done cosmetically to the house most often. So, you know, things that they've painted, painted the rooms, they've replaced the carpet, they've added hardwoods, they've, you know, done structural changes, they've updated the kitchen, things like that, you know, all the things that they've done to the home in the past few years, um, you know, things that home improvements that they've made, you know, list that out. And that could then become kind of a feature sheet that you could could create um as part of your marketing as well.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

So oh yeah. And then, you know, like I said a minute ago, you know, have the seller, this is to me, is really important. And and we used to do this with the sellers, and we've kind of gotten away from it. So let's go back to having the seller involved and telling you their story about the home. So that would help you as the agent to market the home, you know, and create your own content, basically, is what they're doing.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

So clients, we actually do that. We have a list of all the home improvements, he calls it the seller states, and then at the bottom, it's a like a paragraph from the homeowner of why they bought the home. And sometimes they'll even talk about why they're leaving. So it's not a bad reason that we're leaving, that you know, we're upsizing or children have moved away, or you know, whatever. So it's just it's a great good, feel-good moment of why they love that home and the things that like the neighbors, the events, the things that they've done. So that's kind of a way to um emotionally attract new buyers.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Oh, I like that. Okay. So, of course, you know, every agent should be prepared when they go on the appointment because you could walk into that listing appointment and have a 30-minute conversation with your seller and they're ready to sign the listing agreement. So make sure that you have this ready, um, whether it's in a paper format or an electronic format. Just make sure you have everything organized so that when you do sit with down with them, they see that you're organized. You know, it's a visual thing that people are very, you know, to me, the more organized an agent is, the better they're going to service me. So make sure you're very organized in your presentation. You can either put that presentation. I always say you carry a paper copy of your presentation and you put it on your laptop. You tell them you can PDF it and send it to them, whatever that may be, that's what you need to do. But they need that listing presentation. And I always say, leave it with them. You know, don't be worried about, well, the next agent's gonna see it. Don't, don't worry about that. Okay, because even if they did see it and they thought you maybe you had some good ideas, they're not gonna implement them because they're just not gonna do that. So they're gonna take it, put it on a shelf, and it's gonna sit there. So don't be worried about what everybody else is doing. Um, the next thing that we want to talk about is, you know, now that you've secured the listing, you know, let's review the marketing strategy so that we can see if there's anything that you need to add it, add to it or remove from it, because every home is going to be different. You you may do all the bells and whistles for one property and then another property. You may not need to do that. You may decide to do things based on the price of the home. Um, the the higher the price, the more you're gonna do. So keep that in mind when you are creating your marketing strategy for that homeowner so that when you walk in, you know exactly what you're gonna deliver to them and they understand that. Then um, so the next thing that we're gonna talk about is some ways that you can show that you're a trend leader in the market. So the first thing I'm always gonna say is you want to hire the best. Um, now let me clarify that the best does not always mean the most expensive. Okay. You want to hire the person, the photographer, the videographer, the whatever the people are, you want a stager. Everybody, you should be very, you know, they're a reflection of you. So you need to make sure that you know, you could hire the best at$5,000 or you could hire the best at$200. It's really what is the quality of the the work that they deliver that works with you and your sellers. So just keep that in mind because a lot of times people think, well, if I hire the best, it's going to be the most expensive. And that's not true. Um, you know, so just keep that in mind when you hire your um photographer, your videographer, and make sure that um you want high-resolution photos, um, you want the best quality of the videos that showcase the home's features. So talk to your photographer about this. And this was something that you mentioned, Amy, that um when you are working with your local agents as a photographer, you know, you're on site working with that photographer because he may be great at taking pictures, but he may not know the the um angles to take of that room in that home. So kind of share with us what you told me about how that worked and how that can be a huge benefit to the agent.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Yeah. So when you're looking at the marketing aspect of it, not all photos that are taken for MLS convey well in a flyer or on social media. That's one of my biggest frustrations is getting photos from an agent that there's just nothing that's the wow factor, like a wow photo that's gonna look great on social media. And so, you know, I did, I used to work with um an agent here locally, and I went on all the photo shoots. I met the photographer at the site, I got the home prepped. Um, that is one of my other big pet pees, which I didn't tell you this with photos, is that home needs to look like a model home. Remove everything off the counters, remove the trash cans, remove the soap dispensers. Like I went early and I moved like it was amazing what you would find behind the camera because I removed everything. Like you want that photo to look the best that it can because that is your first impression. Like, clients are looking and buying homes online before they ever walk into the home. And so the photos have to sell that house. And so you want the photos to look amazing. And so I would go and, you know, make sure that the house looked great. Um, but one of the things that I I learned was that not always do photographers realize like they're just trying to get the best angle, the widest angle of the room, but that is not always the best for social media or flyer, like I said before. And so sometimes, you know, if you especially if you have a photographer that you work with all the time, there are some companies where you can hire them, they just send out whatever photographer. Those people are there just to take photos, move on to the next one. But if you have a good photographer, and actually even working with those companies, I learned which photographers were the best. And I would request that photographer for my photo shoots. Um, and so when you work with someone like that or just a single photographer, you know, look, have, have them, you can give them direction. Like they're there to take photos, but you can give them direction. And so I would tell them, I need a shot of this room from this angle looking this way, or give me this shot of the backyard if there's a pool or something out there that's you know show worthy, I especially those main areas, you know, you want to make sure you're telling them, I need a good shot of this. And so you have at least one good shot that you can use on social media along with other photos. And so that's something I think you know, a lot of agents don't think about is how is this photo gonna look outside? Because when you have just like a group of photos on social media or on MLS, you know, you're just scrolling through the photos. But when you're trying to showcase your property on social media or on a flyer, you really need a wow shot. And so don't be afraid to give direction to your photographer, even though you're not the photographer, you can give them direction because you're the one that's gonna be marketing the house. So right.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

And you know, with that said, you know, Amy is telling y'all show up, show up to the photography session. So don't just let the photographer and the seller make an appointment. You need to be invested in showing up and directing that photographer because not only are you going to be getting the best shots, you're showing your seller that you know you showed up. You're in you're invested in what's going on here. And so that makes a huge impression as well. Because, you know, think about it. How many do you show up to? You know, so um, okay, so then what do you think about a twilight tour? You know, that used to be really popular, and I think it should still be popular because I love those twilight um photo sessions where you know the it's dusk and you got all the lights on and everything. What do you what do you think about that? I love those.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

I think they look great, but here's a little secret they don't all have to be at twilight. Um, photographers have the capability now to add in twilight photography, change the sky and make it look twilight from a daylight photo. Um, so that is something to consider. Do you they some might charge you extra for that, but it's a really great option um to include kind of that dusky twilight-y look without actually having a twilight photo. Now, if you've got a property that um commands it, if you've got a higher end property or just a stunning property that you know will look great at the at the end of the day, then definitely schedule your photo shoot around that time. But if it's just, you know, a normal home and a neighborhood, brick home, you know, cute home, um, you can have the photo made to look twilight without actually having a twilight photo session.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Okay. I love that and did not know that. Um, so then let's talk about the virtual tours. Now, this one I found I found I find very interesting because you you have programs that you can use to create a virtual tour with slides. Um, you can do 3D tours, and then of course, um, you know, we've got we're not going to talk about it right now, but drones. So there's all types of photography that you can do now, along with video. So share with us um what you were telling me about virtual tours and 3D tours and and everything. So kind of go into that detail.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Well, a virtual tour is really just a video slideshow of your photos. And almost all photographers will give you a link to a virtual tour. Um, a non-branded is what you can use on your MLS, but then you want the branded one to use on your marketing. At the very minimum, you know, you have a virtual tour. Um, if you've got a property or a photographer that does good video for inexpensive, have a video done because that is actually a you know a movement through the rooms. It's, you know, it's just it's more than just a photo of that room in a slideshow. It's actually video movement of them walking through the home. And it's those really look great. But then you can go a step further, which is a fairly new technology. Actually, it's kind of funny because when I was in the new home industry, this technology was created and we started using it in the new home industry, and now it's very widespread across the real estate industry. So I kind of find it funny um to see how far it's come. But it's your 3D matterport tours. And um, those have become, they used to be very expensive, but they could they've become very affordable. And so if you've especially if you've got a property with a different floor plan, this is a great thing to do. But if you, you know, depending on the price point of your property, you know, is where you would determine if you're just going to do a virtual tour, add video, or even do a 3D tour. Um, but if you can do a 3D tour, do it because it is an actual 360, 60 degree view of a home. And so you can be standing in the living room and do a 360-degree turn and feel like you're in that room, and then you can walk into the next room and then walk into the next room. And so from my perspective, rarely am I ever in the home because the agents are sending me their listing to market. So for me, I love it because if I have a photo and I'm not sure what room that is or where it falls in the home, I can go to the 3D tour and actually stand in that room and go, oh, this is what that is. Oh, this is what so if I'm doing that, then that's even more so that a buyer is probably doing that. And so they can get a really good feel for the layout of the home. Um, they can you can view the layers of the home. So if it's um a two-story home, you can see the first layer, the second layer, how things kind of fall and and fall in place. And so um I love 3D tours because they're really the most realistic um way to get an idea of the space, especially if you've got out-of-town buyers or you know, buyers that um you know aren't in your area. If you're working with a buyer, then if they have a 3D tour that they can see on somebody else's listing, that's great. So if you can provide that, that's just more um exposure that you're giving your listing.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

I love that. I mean, there's so many options, it's just crazy, you know. So, you know, the other thing that we talked about was virtual stag. You know, so that to me is really interesting because there are programs, and I'm gonna let you talk about this. There's a couple of programs that you can help you with this. So you have virtual staging, and then you have, you know, staging. So I'm gonna kind of take a step back and talk about, you know, if you're in a home and either the home is empty, of course, you need staging. You need to invest in staging the property. Um, you need to find a good stager, get a good working relationship with them. Or maybe you're the person that wants to do the staging and you go out and rent a um storage room and you start getting furniture and putting it in there and using your own furniture to stage the property. Whatever that may be, you still need to make sure that the property is staged, but you also want to remember when you go into the home and it's already furnished, that you can talk to your seller about, you know, remove the pictures of all the kids, um, you know, remove things from the home to declutter it, but also rearrange it. So if you see that that living room could be rearranged in a better way, make the suggestion. You know, um, it's not gonna hurt their feelings, it's to their benefit. That's why they've hired you. So show them that you are invested, but also show them that you are, you know, you know what you're talking about. You're the you're that person that can put it all together. But if you're not, then get with the stager and have them come in and do it. And they can mix and match, you know, mix up the the furniture in the home so they don't have to come in and just take everything out, they can kind of tweak it with what they have on. what the homeowner has. Kind of got off topic there a little bit, but um so talk to us, uh Amy, about the couple of programs that you use for the virtual staging.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

So I love virtual staging because it gives you flexibility. One, if you have a home that is empty, then you can use virtual staging to add furniture and make it look a little more attractive or allow people to see how the room would look with furniture in it. Also, if you just have a a home that's kind of barely staged, maybe they've partly moved out or they just don't have a lot of furniture, virtual staging can be um used to add accessories or even change out furniture. We've done that before we had a um I had a client that had a um a condo that had a weird layout. And so we had the virtual staging company come in and and change out what was in that room. It was crazy what they could do with it. And so there are companies that will do that. Box Brownie is a great one. I have a client that uses it and she was just telling me the other day how much she loved using them. They're so easy to use and very inexpensive to use. And there are some photographers if you have just a single individual photographer some of them can do virtual staging for you. And so I love that because especially again going back to the photos you want wow photos for social media. So if you've got a pretty decent angle of a room that you've got photos back from but it just doesn't look wow you can use virtual staging to enhance the photo and also you know just give buyers a different way to maybe visualize the room. So I think that's a great way if you don't have the budget or don't want to use actual staging virtual staging is a great alternative.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

Yeah. And these I mean these two items right here staging the home doing the the virtual tours or the 3D tour I mean that right there is going to set you outside of the market. You know your competitors won't even be able to touch you because you're giving so much personal attention to not only the seller but to the home and then the new homeowner that's going to walk in. So um so let's kind of shift gears a little bit and let's talk about where do the buyers show up so you know we know that they show up on Zello uh red define redfine and realtor.com and so many others. So you need to be on these programs. That doesn't I'm not gonna say you have to purchase anything like you don't need to purchase a zip code or anything like that. But you do need to be on these programs because this is where your listing is going to show up. So when you put that listing into the MLS and it syndicates out you have no choice but it's going to show up in all of these platforms. So just make sure that you have a presence and that if you have the ability to log into these programs and tweak that listing in any way that you take advantage of that. Just tweaking it a little bit will make a big difference because you know even though the MLS, you know, I think that and if if you know the answer to this Amy let me know. But it seems to me that you can go in and say once the listing has syndicated to that platform you can keep it from syndicating again so that you can personalize it yourself. Is that correct? It used to be that way I don't know if we can still do that.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

The only one that really you can do any customization with is Realtor.com. It doesn't cost you extra to do that they still give you the ability Zillow they've changed their platform most of the clients now that I have cannot do any changes to Zillow but you still need to check their website and make sure that the information is syndicated correctly because they're notorious for having correct information and you can email them even if you're not a paid agent through them you can still email them and tell them that listing information is incorrect.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

So a lot of them you you can't um but that's why you want to make sure everything in MLS is correct because once it syndicates out you don't know where it's going to go or how it's going to show up.com you can still make changes to yeah so if you're an agent that's inputting your own listings um you need to check your platforms to make sure that it is showing up correctly of course if we're doing your listing we're we're already doing that for you but you know if you're that agent you need to make sure to check it because if you don't check it your seller's going to check it and they're not gonna be happy. So make sure that you do that. And then you know the other thing that I always say is you know if your website has a blog which it should um you should always write a blog about every listing and use the photos use the virtual tour use you know whatever it is that you're using and put it on that blog. The reason why you want to do that not only is it adding content to your website which drives SEO it is the link that you're going to use when you take it to social media so um what I always say is you know if you want to invest about$12 I think it is now by a domain buy the domain for that property address. And then that way when you point it to that page on your website it and then and they click on it it goes to that page on your website. But then if you put it on social media again they click on it it goes to your website but it's going to that page and it just the branding looks so much better. You know instead of a string of URL that's 20 characters long you could just have one two three Sue Street.com and use that in all of your marketing but that link goes it's has been forwarded to the page on your website I hope I made that clear so um so that's really important and so you know$12 to buy a domain if it's good for a year, you know, that's great. And then when you do sell the home you can even give that domain to your new homeowner um for them to use it in you know when they send out you know if they're sending out information about hey we've moved here's our new address you can give them that domain and they can do whatever they want with it. So um so keep that in mind when you're working with the blog and remember everything that you do when you're marketing like in social media you want it all going to your website it's got to go somewhere on the website. So when they click on it it takes them to the website they look at the listing but while they're there they may say oh she offers you know ABC so then now you're engaging with them in a private setting. So that's huge for you. And then um but you also have the inbound linking but that's another topic on SEO and I can talk about that forever. So um okay so we've done that and then you know when you do show up on social media you need to make sure to utilize the photos the videos and all the content and you need to make sure you do it in a correct way um so that it gets noticed. So if you don't have um if you're one of those agents that just doesn't do a lot of anything on social media you need to start doing some kind of a plan. You need to create some kind of a strategy so that when you do have a property and it you put it on your social media it catches attention. So I don't want to see an agent just putting listing one listing after another you've got to have other engaging content. So that brings them into your the conversation of you know hey you know give them a call of action hey what did you think about this property um you know check it out you know tell me what your favorite feature is always have a call of action for them and then um make sure that you're giving them of course the correct link to the website or wherever this may be. So if you're not doing a blog you need to make sure that they're going to your website to get that to learn more about that listing because that's all what you want to do is you want to drive the traffic to your website. Couple of other things that we can give you tips on is you know if the property is on the market for more than a week what you want to do and this goes back to the photography having great photography you're going to be able to take a photo of maybe all right so the first week you you put the front of the home the content etc the second week that it's still on the market you may go in and say I'm gonna take a take the picture of the kitchen and I'm gonna talk about how this kitchen is such a great kitchen to cook in. It's a family gathering place etc because then now what you're doing is you're capturing the attention of people that enjoy cooking that understand the philosophy of having a family in the kitchen while you're cooking etc or maybe it's the backyard the third week and then you know this is a great yard to have friends and family over we've got the pool, the privacy fence, the garden, whatever that may be, but you're highlighting that particular room or outdoor area in your social media because then you're going to gravitate people that um are interested in having outdoor facility to play in and have fun in and enjoy their evenings with a cocktail or with their kids or whatever. So every week you should be posting a different photo with a different story about that home and what it has to offer. If you're on the market for four weeks well that's four weeks of marketing that you'll do on social media. And then of course once it goes under contract you want to make sure you put it out there that it's under contract. And then the is there anything you want to add to that Amy no I I think that's great.

SPEAKER_01 33:12

It's just it's it's changing it up and it's not showing the same thing over and over again. And that's again why it's so important to have good photos so that you have things that you can pull from and you know highlight. And honestly if you're in the home you can take different photos of different areas that aren't like the photographer photos and take you know candid snapshots of different areas of the home and use that in social media. I mean it doesn't have to be all professional photos it could be something that you've um been in the home and you've taken a photo of and you see I love I love these countertops or I love this feature of this home or you know highlight something that's you're drawn to about the home because that's something that somebody else maybe do. So it doesn't have to be you know just a professional it could be something that you've taken photos of or even a video that could be done inside the home.

SPEAKER_00 34:03

Yes. So just make sure that you take advantage of everything that you have to promote that property. And then um so for example if you have a seller that's in an hoa um you know an hoa could give you a lot of information into who lives in this hoa. So most HOAs will have maybe a fry a private Facebook group. Now you would have to ask the admin if you can join the group and promote this property because they do have rules and if they say well we don't allow that then you might talk to your seller and say as the seller of this property ask them if you can post it or maybe they can post an open house or something like that. I know some of these Facebook groups that are community driven love that because if you're in that community and you find a house that's for sale you may have somebody you know or a family member that's wanting to move closer to y'all. So this is an untapped market because this is talking to everybody in that community or in that HOA I should say so don't let that be um you know if you're not already doing it make sure you do that. And I'm gonna say get to know who's on the board of these HOAs um you know you want to be their friend. And so that way when you do start having more properties available in that community they're gonna be more receptive to you. But an HOA board member could also be a great referral source for you. So make sure that you tap into all of that. You know I just think that's a big big thing. And then like our son he's in an HOA and they're telling me all the time about things that they post and the they learn things about the community and they get together and have events and things like that. So that could be another thing that you do after the listing maybe have a little get together for the new homeowner you know so you could do something like that. Of course that may not be your buyer but it could be something that you could do as an added bonus for selling the home is offered the little get together. Okay so going into hashtags so when you're promoting a property um you know whether it's on Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest whatever that may be make sure that you have relevant hashtags that people can tap into. So a hashtag is where if I'm looking to move to McKinney Texas I may put in McKinney Texas real estate and then those hashtags will come up and you know by using that hashtag all of the people that have been using it will come up. So when you you want to have your own unique hashtags that's unique to your branding but you also want to have the hashtags of maybe the property address um McKinney homes for sale um you know Kim sells McKinney I don't know whatever those hashtags could be but you know you want broad but also you want to shorten it because if you put in hashtag real estate you're gonna get lost in millions and millions of of comments so kind of think about don't use such uh what's the word I'm looking for um you know words that are so saturated so get real focused on what your hashtags should be um any hashtags that you would think of Amy for an agent in their own you know to to hone in on their own market would it be like of course their name their yeah their name their city like you know homes for sale in you know Dallas Texas or homes for sale or Dallas Texas real estate you know and two is you don't want to have too many hashtags back in the beginning when they first became a thing you know you could have 30 and you can still have 30 hashtags on Instagram don't use 30.

SPEAKER_01 38:13

You don't need that many really four or five is all you need. So you really want to niche it to your market and um into you know the area that you're in.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

And if you're if you're thinking about a hashtag put the hashtag in and see what you come up with. And then you may say oh okay well I can take it even deeper you know so we're not really looking at the numbers of how many people are using the hashtag it's how many it's how you're a you're promoting that property within that hashtag. So I would rather my hashtag get in front of 50 serious buyers than a thousand people that are just looking at it. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 38:52

Because if you put in the hashtag real estate you're gonna get a million hits.

SPEAKER_00 38:56

I mean that's such a broad term so you really have to narrow it down to where you are yeah okay um then one other tip is you know of course I'm gonna say this a hundred million times engage engage with your audience so if somebody went to your um let's just say Facebook page and they saw the property and they clicked like so you need to know who liked that and then you might even post in the comments and say you know thanks Amy for the like on this property what did you like so much about it you know something like that. Give them a call of action make sure they know that you're engaging with them and then that's how you build the relationship. It does you have to do that. That's how it works you know um so you know social media can be a great lead generation for you it's just you need to know how to use it in the correct way. All right and then um so let's talk about direct marketing so we're gonna go in and as you're listing this property you're gonna create a flyer or your your brochures whatever you do you may do both you may do one depending on the property type um I always say do the just listed and just sold postcards. That is right there the best marketing you can do. If you go into your tax roll pull the database for that property um say you pull 100 homes in that area and you send out a postcard you're getting in front of a hundred people for a little bit of money and a little time that you've put into it. So when we are listing the property we're always creating the flyer or the brochure the just listed postcards and then when it sells we're creating a just sold postcard. So now you're getting in front of that neighborhood twice. So you could do something like on a just sold, you know, sold in 32 days sold in two days sold in 45 days whatever that may be for your market. And you know if it's a record then you need to put it in there. If it's not a record and it's not that big of a deal then don't put the days. But you can get real creative with it. So make sure that you take advantage of what you're putting out there in the direct market because these are going to be people that don't know you. So they're gonna be looking how do you do photography? How do you what's the creativity of the postcard, the design and everything because you're representing what you're going to give them when you list their property. You might even create a a package that you could leave in the home that has all kinds of information such as the photos the descriptions you know the seller story um you know about the neighborhood and then the amenities in that neighborhood. So if your neighborhood has pools and playgrounds and basketball courts and all that stuff then you want to make sure you list that because that's going to be a huge huge bonus for the buyer um any any additions to that Amy?

SPEAKER_01 42:03

No I think that's great. I mean we are in a digital age but do not discount the print marketing or you know the hard copy traditional marketing. I mean it's still valid it's still relevant.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

Absolutely it'll never go out. I don't care what we're doing direct marketing is so important. Target marketing also is the same thing. So make sure that you're tapping into that and putting that in your budget for marketing purposes. So when you're doing a listing you know what I always say is have a budget of how much you're gonna spend for that property. So you might want to break it down to you know okay homes up to and I'm just throwing numbers but homes up to 250 this is how much I'm gonna invest in promoting that property from 250 to five it could be a higher number and then etc. So know what your budget is for each property. It doesn't mean you have to share it with anybody but you know where your money is going so that you're just not spending money right and left. Okay. And then you have no way of determining because at the end of the year when I'm if I'm doing your books I want to be able to see that you spent X amount of dollars on one, two, three Sioux Street and not try to figure out what else did you spend money on? So you need to be very consistent in that area of budgeting for the finance purposes as well. Now let's say that oh here's an idea so the other thing that we talked about the other day was having the property domain. Now we talked about you know go out and purchase your property domain the one two three sew street.com and then point it to your website but you can you know there's so many programs that you can use that will enhance marketing the property. So one company that we've used literally since the doors opened um is agency logic. It's agencylogic.com this is not a pay promotion by any means this is just a program that we have used for many years and we see the benefit of it we have clients that use it and because now listings are sitting on the market a little bit longer this is a great implementation to your marketing strategy. So Amy tell me a little bit about how you're seeing your clients use agency logic well basically agency logic is a custom website for that property.

SPEAKER_01 44:28

So you have a custom domain 123 Sioux Street but you have the photos on there the listing description um I mean it's just all the features you can you can upload floor plans and um really add a lot of customization. So it's like just a great um just all about that property website. So I mean you can have it on your you're kind of limited sometimes on what you can put on your own website or other websites but with a website like this you can really add things and customize it and and they give you options there's different templates so you can do different branding um and you know do a little more customization if you want. So it's it's really a great program.

SPEAKER_00 45:11

And it's also um Lead generator. So if somebody comes to that website and they want to ask a question, that name and that information will go into the website and then it'll send you an email that you know Sue Jones has reached out regarding whatever the question is. So it is also a good lead generation tool to look into. And I don't think they're all that expensive. So take a look at that one. Highly recommend agency logic for a property, single property website. Now, if you're choosing to do an open house, you know, make sure that you have your entire system in place. You know, it's more than just throwing up a sign in the front yard saying open house and everything. You want to put this on social media. You want to send out, um, maybe when you send out your just listed, you have the dates of the open house. Um, make sure you have all the forms that when you do the open house, that when the buyers come through, they know what they need to do and you know that process. Whether you're managing that on your own or you have someone there to help you, always say have someone help you. You know, if you're a single agent and you need help, get your spouse to help you, get your best friend to help you, but have somebody there to help you navigate the people as well as making sure they fill out all the forms and you don't miss somebody. Um, you know, another thing that you might do to entice people to come to an open house is have your mortgage broker there, um, have an insurance agent there, you know, have people there that can answer questions from the buyers so that way you are 100% ready for them to walk in the homes so that they can make a decision as quickly as possible. Okay. Um, what else do we have? Just get, you know, I'm I'm gonna tell you, these open houses can get really creative, but you know, we've had agents just do absolutely just serve some cookies and a drink, or you can put an ice cream truck in the front yard, invite the neighbors and everything, and turn it into a huge event that gets a lot of attention. So you do what works for you, but know that you can get really creative with your open houses and make them a lot more fun than just somebody walking through the home and you know, well, what did you think? You know, would you like to put a contract on? Make it fun and festive so that when they leave, they leave feeling good and they keep it in mind because if they're looking at 10 houses, they're gonna remember, oh, you know what, that house, you know, it was in a great neighborhood, the neighbors were great. They, you know, it was that house with the ice cream truck in front yard, you know, that kind of thing. So give them association is always a big help. Um, yeah. It it's you know, open houses can be a huge deal if it's done the correct way. And then um another way that is a kind of a new way to do it is look at your community um of influencers, you know, the social media influencers that you can bring in and partner with to help you promote that property. Um, you can do a collaboration with them where, you know, whatever that agreement is, but think about who they can put that property in front of for you. Now remember, as an influencer is going to be a global, okay? They're gonna be, if they're really big, they're gonna be all over the world. Um, you don't know where your buyer's coming from. So it could be, you know, the influencer, of course, let's just say Dallas. If you have a Dallas influencer, a lot of people in Dallas are gonna follow that influencer if they connect with them. And then let's say you have somebody in Alaska who's following her, but they're really wanting to move to Texas or something like that. So they you you may tap into a market you never even thought you could because you have an influencer who has a global uh recognition. So just make sure you know what you're doing when you talk to an influencer about that. Um, then make sure that you take the time to write that property description. Of course, this goes back to you know, the seller is going to give you their information about the home, why they love it, why they're leaving, etc. So just make sure that when you write that listing description, that you're putting thought into it. You know, it's not just, you know, your standard two-bedroom, two bath, you know, big backyard, you know, that kind of thing. And um, you know, some things that I do recommend is like when you're getting ready to promote that property, maybe just take you to the property and do a quick video with your phone on, you know, hey, this is, you know, Kim. I'm with ABC Realty. Um very excited to show you this two-bedroom, two-bath home located on Lake Hawkins, you know, and and all of that. Just a little intro, and then it goes into the property. So keep that in mind because that's a way to connect with people online and it helps your branding as well.

SPEAKER_01 50:17

Something that um I was thinking of as you were talking about this, we just recently did the episode on um AI, artificial intelligence. And that is a great tool that you can use to help write property descriptions, which I hadn't thought of till I was doing the research about it. And, you know, um, you can go in and just put, you know, it's a three-bedroom, two-bathome with an open floor plan in this kitchen and kind of give it some detail and then add and just tell it to write you, you know, a description and it'll kick back something. It's amazing. Like if you're if that's not something that you're strong in, then you can use that to help enhance um the property description. So that's a great way to use um technology to help you sell a home.

SPEAKER_00 51:00

Yep. Um, you also mentioned that uh use Google Maps in your properties. Um, that will give them um the screenshot and the pinpoint of where the home is located, and then have labels with arrows pointing to the area attractions of the schools and the communities. So that's something else that is a really good idea. Um anything you want to add to that?

SPEAKER_01 51:27

That's great. If you're in an area that has a lot of great. I think this is pretty self-explanatory. You're in a community that has a lot of in the community, like, or you want to show the distance to the school, like it's important what's in that community, take a screenshot of the home and the area around it. Maybe you, and then you can label it. You can go into Canva, you can use PowerPoint, um, whatever to use to add labels to photos. And so you can point out where the school is or how far this is or how far that is. You know, if you're in like an area like Frisco, Texas, where the Dallas Cowboys are, if you want to pinpoint where the stadium is, or you know, where the training center is or where some of those higher um end area attractions are, you can pinpoint your home to show the location to, you know, some of the things in the area, if that's important, or if it's a college or university or something that you want to be. I worked with a client in Annapolis. And so it was very important to show where the Naval Academy was because that's a big thing there. And so you can use that to get a good aerial view of where that home is and location to things within the city or community.

SPEAKER_00 52:33

I love it. Love this. Okay, then um, Pinterest, you know, you should have a Pinterest board that says, you know, my feature listings or whatever you want to call it. And then every property that you list should go on Pinterest because Pinterest is the number two search engine. And so you need to make sure you're utilizing everything that Pinterest is offering you. Um, another thing is make sure you e-blast the property out to your database and have them share it, you know, put in there, you know, if you know someone that would be interested, please share this email with them and then or forward this email to them or click here, send them this link, whatever that may be. And then of course, you want to include it in your monthly newsletter. Um, I'll I'm always saying if you list a property and then you sell it, you need to promote both ways. You need to, I I don't know if I said that right, but if you promote you get a listing, you promote it as a just sold. When you close it, you need to send it out as a just just listed, just sold. Did I say that right? I think I did. And so um make you know, you get the jest.

SPEAKER_01 53:41

And so yeah, make sure you lose it both ways the card when it's under contract or sold, send out the just sold.

SPEAKER_00 53:47

Yes, yes. Uh laugh. And so then um the other thing that's really important is as a homeowner, I want feedback. So if you're showing my property or somebody is showing my property, I want to know what they thought about it. So if you have a show back, uh showing feedback system, utilize it. And if that agent is not sending you that feedback, then you need to text them, call them, email them, hound them to get that information because it is important that your a that your client has that. Um, but also make sure that you do it for the agents when you're doing showings with your buyers, make sure you give that listing agent that feedback as well. So be that agent that, you know, you walk your walk, your walk your talk. Okay. All right. So anything else you can think of, Amy, that we haven't discussed about how to market a listing?

SPEAKER_01 54:44

You know, I think we hit most of the the main areas. So, I mean, a lot of great ideas, hopefully, that we've given everyone.

SPEAKER_00 54:51

Yes, I hope so. Um, you know, there's new ideas popping up every day. So we're trying, you know, what we try to do is stay on top of those so that we can share them with our clients. So the things that we're talking about here is what we do when we're marketing listings for the for for our agents and our business. And so, all right, let's recap. Um, so we want to make sure you have a stellar listing presentation. We want to make sure that you share your marketing strategy, you know. So when you're on the listing appointment, don't be shy. Tell them what you're gonna do to market that property and don't worry about what they're gonna say to the next agent. You focus on what you offer and being the best at what you do, then that's gonna bring you the client. And then make sure you do your research on the property and make sure you know what you're looking at when before you even get there. Review your comps, um, drive around the neighborhood. You know, if you're 30 minutes before the appointment, drive around the neighborhood, get all the, you know, if you see something that you're not sure of, write it down, ask your seller. Um hire the best people, okay? They are the ones that are going to give you ideas. They can you can collaborate together on what's gonna be best to promote that property. Um, you know, as we said, have your photographer take unique photos of each room. Make sure that you promote this on social media in the correct way and that you stand out. Um, ask your seller about their neighborhood Facebook group or the neighborhood app and the rules that you have to follow to post the property on that group. And then create unique hashtags, use them as well as your keywords for your property description. So this was something I don't know if we mentioned, but when you're writing that property description, you want to make sure you're using keywords that drive the search engines to your website so they can pick up that listing on Google, on Pinterest, on you know, Bing, um, whatever the search engine they use. All right. And then make sure you write a blog and upload the photos to the blog. You know, make sure you have a link to the video. Um, you want to drive traffic to your website. So make sure you're using the link to your website for that property. Don't send them to the MLS, don't send them to Zello, send them to your website. And then get really creative with your marketing pieces because that's a reflection of how you market for them. And then collaborate with influencers in your area. And then last, just give it your 150% best. Um, you go in and you tell them what you're gonna do, then you make sure you do it and do it better than they expect you to do it. And then that way, that's gonna bring you future listings because they're gonna be referring you to all their friends and family because you did such a great job for their property. All right, so I think that pretty much wraps it up, don't you think, Amy? I think we've covered a lot. I think we've given them a lot of ideas. And of course, I always say that if you struggle with this area of your business and you don't really want to put the time into doing everything that we're mentioning here, reach out to us. We're happy to have a conversation to see if we can help you in any way. And so we will wrap that up. And um there's something for them though. Oh, we do have something for them. Yeah, we have a freebie. I forgot to even mention this. So we do have a freebie. So everything that we've talked about today, Amy created a marketing checklist. So you can click on the link in the show notes and it will take you over. And you can download that to your computer, then print it out and put it in your policy and procedure manual. You can um, you know, tweak it to make it your very own, etc. So make sure you download the freebie that we've given you the link to in the show notes. Okay, well, thanks everybody for joining us. And as always, if you enjoyed this podcast, please comment. Um, we'd love for you to follow us um on all social media channels. And if there's anything that you would like us to discuss, make sure you let us know in the comments. We'll definitely put it in play and we will just talk to y'all next week. Okay. Thanks, Amy. I really appreciate all your time today and your knowledge. And everybody go out and have a great week.