Industry Visionary Dynamic Duo

Rich Casto and Jon Cheplak are the Co Founders of The Real Estate Recruiters, serving brokers, owners and managers in Management and Recruiting Solutions.  The Real Estate Recruiters, with the goal to transform managers into business leaders, deliver value based on practical experience, benchmark results and the transference of skills to people across the country.

Email Rich Casto and Jon Cheplak for program information.

Programs focus on prospecting for agents, recruiting, lead management, the interview process, agent retention, developing agents into top recruiters, increasing sales meeting attendance, coaching the competition, and facilitating multi-agent walkovers. Programs about driving revenues, as well as understanding and managing expenses, are also offered.

"We have been very successful in our careers with delivering benchmark results in recruiting and profitability," Cheplak said. "Now we have a great opportunity to follow our passion and empower managers and owners across the country to serve agents, stimulate growth and increase profitability through recruiting."  

Cheplak has attained the designations of Accredited Buyer Representative, Graduate Realtor Institute, Certified Residential Specialist, Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager, Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist, and recently earned top honors at the Real Trends Leadership Institute.

Casto is the former owner and broker of a Prudential franchise in Texas, corporate trainer and branch manager for Coldwell Banker in Cincinnati, general manager of Century 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and general manager of Prudential California Realty. He is responsible for recruiting more than 5,000 agents, training more than 15,000 agents and was named Prudential California Realty Manager of the Year.

Turn Customers Into Loyal and Profitable Clients

Barbara Sanfilippo says "If you want to turn your customers or members into loyal clients and not be viewed as a commodity then add value and build relationships."

Barbara gives a great example of why she continues to use her financial advisor.  She says "One of the main reasons he earned our business is he was the only one offering quarterly client review meetings to review our portfolio."

REALTORS® are trusted advisors to home buyers and sellers. Why not offer quarterly reviews of property values, economic trends, commercial developments,  neighborhood developments, sales, etc. Meet face to face to develop the relationship and earn prospects business. Easy to schedule the quarterly meetings at closings--just bring your calendar!

Barbara feels Pete genuinely is interested in her business and on top of things. So she continues to give him her investment business, referrals and remain loyal.

Another strategy Barbara offers is "to educate your customers or members and position yourself as a partner and a resource." For example, she says a community bank recently contacted her to speak at their customer appreciation and education event.

"The bank is planning to invite many of their business customers to a special half-day event with a nice breakfast, a local economist, a sports figure and me." Barbara knows that this "added-value strategy will pay off in the future with expanded relationships and referrals."

If you would like to learn more about Barbara Sanfilippo's business strategies, email me with Barbara Sanfilippo in the subject line.

June is designated as "National Homeownership Month" for the third year by President George W. Bush. This is a way to strengthen his challenge to public and private entities to work together to boost minority homeownership, according to National Association of REALTORS®.

What better time to invite Buyers and Sellers to your office to say "Thank You" for the opportunity to serve their communities, townships and neighborhoods in a celebration of homeownership and private property rights.

While in your office, help them sign up for quarterly reviews with your agents.

7 Tips to Drive Traffic to Your Web Site

1. Be sure to announce your Web site URL at every event and in every communication piece. Hang banners with Web site address.

2. Include a creative piece in all mailings, like a bookmark with the Web site address on it, as well as the userid and password that member will need for logging in.

3. Distribute good Mouse pads your your logo and URL in New Member Packets. Ask vendor to sponsor and include vendors name on pad, too. Ask vendor about including association's URL and logo on vendors marketing materials. (Always request approval of marketing materials.)

4. Laminated membership card with the URL and password that will fit in member's wallet.

5. Begin weekly email notices in print and online newsletters. (Ask me about FrogPond Publisher's unlimited newsletters with different letterheads for each segment of your membership.)

6. Be sure to add a line in the signature of all staff email, inviting members to check out the Web site.

7. Web site address should be mentioned in the phone system recording.

Exhibitors share the highlights of new products at the Mid Year Meetings in Washington, DC.

Homestore, Allan Dalton

Listen to Interview

Stewart Title, Ginny Abiassi

Listen to Interview

Advanced Access, Larry Lokker

Listen to Interview

Supra, Stan Earnshaw

Listen to Interview

MarketLinx, Doyal Hodge

Listen to Interview

Satellite View of Property

Location, location, location is everything in real estate. Now it's easy to pinpoint your property's location with an aerial view. Add satellite image to your Web site. Great link to include on the agent side of your MLS.

ImageAtlas.com allows you see a satellite image of our country, a city, house or building. Just enter an address and click on the FIND IMAGE button.

You can zoom in to street level or out to national level. Many images are several years old--as much as 10 years. Agents and brokers can order satellite images without watermark to include in listing packet of houses and office buildings.

3D Floor Plans are Popular if You Sell Luxury Homes.

The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing and Sound Light and Motion(SLAM), an animation and multimedia company, have joined together in response to the growing popularity of 3D floor plans in the luxury home market.  The Institute will feature SLAM’s 3D floor plans on its website as the latest in cutting-edge listing technology. For years, virtual tours have been the hot item, but 3D floor plans are rising to the top of the list of “must have” features for upscale property listings, thanks to recent advances in computer modeling.

The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing exists to help real estate professionals around the world provide high quality service to buyers and sellers of luxury properties.  Institute members who have completed special training to build expertise in the marketing of upscale homes and estates and those who meet performance standards may earn the prestigious Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist designation. Information and an international membership list can be found at www.CLHMS.org. Members are also listed on the Wall Street Journal’s www.RealEstateJournal.com website.

Are you one of North America's Top Real Estate Professionals Named for 2004? You should be!

Quality Service Certification, Inc. and Leading Research Corporation have announced the recognition of two hundred forty real estate sales and service professionals in North America who represent "the best of the best" in delivering measurably superior customer service and service satisfaction.

For information, contact Larry Romito, Quality Service Certification, Inc., 949.481.4438

[SIDEBAR: If you are a broker loosing thousands of dollars on pay per click terms that are not relevant, having to pay for invalid clicks by competitors checking their ranking and position, or paying for lead generation with low conversion ratios, Frog Pond has another solution, Organic Search Engine Optimization (Organic SEO). Organic SEO referred leads are of the highest quality because they are looking for specific real estate areas with predefined intent to buy there.

Nathan Toler and Shannon Isselhardt, Internet pioneers in SEO, have unleashed the new way for real estate companies to drive Internet traffic to their sites while still holding on to their pocketbook. United Realty Network is the company. It's a partnership of themed mortgage and real estate related Web sites that are geared for generating only natural listings on search engines. This service is the best way to get your conversion ratios up at a flat monthly fee. Currently this is a brokerage solution only. Email me for additional information.]

Now that the consumer has found your Web site, how are you going to get them to stay, shop and buy? Examine the message your company broadcasts on your Web site. Remember, products are sold, not bought. Product details are important and should be included, but the consumer wants to know why he should buy. It's easy to loose sight of your mission--to market and sell product. Ego often gets in the way. Often, conscious or unconscious bragging dominates in place of customer benefits.

Internet marketing expert, Philippa Gamse, points out the "what's in it for me?" consumer expectation. The consumer wants to learn about all the advantages of your services and products. Don't assume good copy describing your product delivers the intended message of these advantages. Employ a good Web copywriter to assist you crafting your message.

Let's examine this a little closer. When deciding on information to include on your site, consider the possibility that full and accurate descriptions may be too much. I'm not saying that you should not include a lot of supporting information. What I am saying is if the consumer feels he has learned all there is to know about a product, he will make up his mind on that basis and not call the company for more information. Your sales message will have failed to make the phone ring.

Your design and content should focus on your primary goal: to get the consumer to call. Without the call or email, your opportunity to fit consumer's problem with your company's solution doesn't present itself. Thus, turning good copy into a powerful selling tool to make the phone ring is the second secret to your success. Mary Morel's article on FrogPond.com, gives you 10 good tips to follow when writing for the Web.

The final factor to why Web sites fail to sell is lack of pulling power. Mitch Meyerson, CEO of Guerrilla Marketing Coach, says "We've discovered that our Web site visitors are more willing to listen to sales messages than reading them." Did you know you can easily harness the power of the human voice to your Web site? Don't just list your current and past customers and clients. Use recorded testimonials to influence, motivate, and persuade visitors on your Web site to trust that you are a proven expert in your field with the solutions to their problems.

[SIDEBAR: If you are tired of wasting dollars and not getting the results you want from your Web marketing efforts, email me for information about two additional add-on's to your web site: the power of the human voice and value-added free downloadable content designed to capture email addresses.]

Now's a good time to evaluate whether or not you are experiencing the optimal results from your Web marketing. Look at your site through the consumers' eyes, consider how easy it is to find your site on the Web and how easy it is to influence and motivate your visitors to stay shop and buy. 

Jeff Mayer says, "If you want to be successful in business, focus on the bottom line. Increase sales, reduce costs and you end up with wonderful profit margins."

Can you afford to waste another day's selling potential to your competition?

QSC has Formed a Strategic Alliance with Arthur J. Gallagher and AIG.

For many real estate organizations increases in E&O premiums and higher deductibles are an escalating problem.  For some, the problem is now serious.  Traditional approaches to risk management in real estate brokerage have proven to be largely ineffective in truly managing threats, claims and suits.  
 
The single biggest variable in risk management within service industries is customer satisfaction and the quality of service delivered.  It is a simple fact that: highly satisfied clients are  less likely to file suits and highly dissatisfied clients are more likely to seek compensation and legal remedy.  Many threats, claims and suits start off as service problems and escalate into legal problems.

For details, contact Larry D. Romito, Quality Service Certification, Inc, 949 481-4438

Listen to interview with Tom Kelly 

John Tuccillo, the former chief economist for the National Association of Realtors and one of the more quotable national sources for more than decade, has teamed with Tom Kelly, a nationally syndicated real estate columnist and talk show host, to write How a Second Home Can Be Your Best Investment (McGraw-Hill Trade; Original Paperback: $16.95).

The book explains how one additional property purchase – for investment, recreation or retirement – can serve all three purposes over time. It also offers terrific new strategies for acquiring and then turning your vacation getaway retreat into a valuable, comfortable investment known as “The New Second Home.’’

"You have captured the essence and 'how-to' of efficiently utilizing this country’s generous tax laws related to real estate and personal capital gains.  In addition, you  provide a convenient guide to achieving long-term financial goals."

       Dave Liniger, RE/MAX International, Inc.

5 Tips when you use PowerPoint in your Presentations.

1. Don't pack and ship your PowerPoint presentation. Always carry it with you.

2. Assume your PowerPoint projector will break. Discuss backup plan with Meeting Planner.

3. Before using a PowerPoint presentation program, ask yourself why you need to use PowerPoint.

5. Your PowerPoint slides should amplify your spoken words, not vice versa.

5 Tips when Interviewed on TV or by the Media

1. The biggest problem most novices have when they go on TV is that they freeze all of their natural body movement except for their mouth, resulting in a scared, stiff, non-confident appearance.

2. When you are on TV, keep moving your head.

3. Do move your body a little.

4. Do move your hands. 

5. Don't move your hands above your face, below your chest or wider than your shoulders.

6. Make sure the powder makeup you use is the same color as your skin, not lighter and not darker.

7. Don't use time wasting words and phrases like "if you will" to make yourself sound smart.

8. Don't waste time by saying, "as I mentioned earlier." Just repeat whenever you want to, you don't have to provide roadmaps to your whole conversation.

9. Don't say "going forward" when "in the future" is clearer.

10. A slight smile won’t really look like a smile when you are on television; you’ll just look confident and relaxed.

4 Tips when you give a Presentation

1. Gesture with both hands, not just one hand.

2. People will be watching you long before you speak--avoid any nervous or annoying actions before you rise to speak.

3. Don't write out your speech from beginning to end--instead, try brainstorming a list of topics, ideas, and stories that vividly dramatize your central ideas.

4. If you do have to read or glance at notes, move your eyes down, not your entire head.

Source: Media Training Worldwide

Tip to Answer when Reinforcing Your Points.

When asked a question, responses such as, "I'm glad you brought up that issue because it gives me a chance to elaborate on . . . ," are a way to align listeners' questions with points you really want to emphasize. You also can respond in a way that broadens or narrows the scope of a question's focus. "The issue that most of the industry will be concerned with is X; therefore, let me answer in this broader context." Or "Yes, that's the big-picture problem, but let me bring it a little closer to home with the more specific issue of Y."
 
So go in either direction to reinforce your viewpoint or message.

Source: Dianna Booher, Speak with Confidence

Kim Komando's The 50 Greatest Secrets of Digital Photography

Are you still searching for the perfect Father's Day gift? Frog Pond suggests a Digital Camera. If that special man in your life already has a digital camera, he will certainly need The 50 Greatest Secrets of Digital Photography. 

Much more than an e-book! This CD-ROM offers an easy-to-use interactive program so you can read, print or hear me read aloud each of the 50 secrets! All contained on one jam-packed CD-ROM!

This book will teach Dad how to:

• Buy the right digital camera, take photos like a pro & share photos
• Use editing software, digitize slides and negatives & preserve memories
• Manipulate images, use images in projects & print photos the right way
• Take pictures to sell products on eBay & protect and sell images
• Select the right scanner and get the best possible scans
• Clean up backgrounds, blur, whiten teeth & much more!

Happy Father's Day!

The Don McClain Commercial Real Estate radio show is designed to bring to the listener's attention what is going on in the world of commercial real estate with particular focus on financing options for projects. Whether you are a first time investor or a seasoned professional with a large portfolio, the world of commercial real estate is dynamic.

We bring you the people, places, structures and strategies in and around the world of commercial real estate and commercial real estate finance.

Tune in to Business Radio 650, Saturday mornings at 8:00am Central Time, for the Don McClain Commercial Real Estate Radio Show.

If you would like to be a guest on Don's radio show, email me and include why the listeners would benefit from your guest appearance.

NAR Midyear Meetings: Is That Tenant a Terrorist?

(May 17, 2004) --   The federal USA Patriot Act requires commercial property managers to periodically check residents' names against the Department of Treasury's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list. But prudent business practices dictate that you be more stringent and thoroughly screen all individuals leasing at your properties, said Robyn Guidara, national director of training and tenant account records for First American Registry Inc.

Here's the link to the complete article by Mariwyn Evans, REALTOR® Magazine Online

Dan Gooder Richard's New Book

The Top-Selling Real Estate Online Marketing Guide
Now Available in Bookstores Everywhere!

REAL ESTATE RAINMAKER GUIDE TO ONLINE MARKETING (John Wiley & Sons, March 2004)

A Powerful Step-By-Step Guide for Novices and Experts Alike!

20 LIVE Real Estate Training
Events For The Entire Office
Plus receive $2,900 in FREE Bonuses & Training Tools
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Staying in touch is crucial to your success. Here is a timely article to send to your Prospects or Customers. You may reprint this article, but be sure to add copyright at the end. Almost 1400 real estate business articles available to reprint free. Click Here. Enjoy!

Vacationing With Children

By

Barbara Hemphill

Here is a guide to vacationing with children, using the 5 steps:

1. Design your vision

The first step to happy memories is good communication. Start scheduling family meetings to plan - the earlier the better. At the first meeting, ask each member of the family to describe what he or she would like to have in order to have a wildly successful vacation. It's a great idea to put some structure into this discussion. Use a flip chart and have family members take turns recording answers. Subsequent meetings can be used to work out each of the next steps.

2. Eliminate your obstacles

Mark Twain is credited with saying "Progress starts with the truth." Certainly that applies in this situation. For example, some teens simply do not think it's "cool" to travel with mom and dad. If you want your teens to enjoy their travel experience, make sure you understand what they like and dislike. With young children, keep in mind "less is more." A swim in the hotel pool may be a much better choice than another two hours at the theme park.

3. Commit your time

There could be several issues here. If your teens are working, they may resent having to miss work - or they may be delighted. In either case, find out their preferences, and see what you can do to accommodate them without jeopardizing your own needs. One of the issues likely to come up is the daily travel schedule itself. Young children need naps, teens may want to sleep late, while parents relish the idea of "getting an early start." Compromise is probably the best solution here.

4. Select your tools

Growing up on a farm in Nebraska, one of the things my daddy taught me was "Half of any job is having the right tool." While you may think it's ridiculous to think about "tools" for a vacation, it is really essential. For example, if it is impossible to reach a compromise about the music on the car CD player, headphones for individual players could be a godsend!

Tools can also include systems for the way you handle situations. One of the major keys to success in organizing any activity is focusing on individual strengths - if one child is particularly adept at photography, make them the official family photographer, while another might be a great navigator.

5. Maintain your success

At the end of each day, take a few minutes for a "Check-In" session. What was the best thing that happened that day? Why? How can we make sure we have more like it? What didn't work? Why? How can we eliminate the situation in the future? Make sure you use this process at the end of the vacation. Here are some general tips you can use to ensure a great vacation:

Choose age appropriate destinations. This doesn't mean every trip has to involve a theme park or sports event; it simply means keep the trip's educational value at a level they can comprehend and appreciate. If your children's ages span a wide range, have at least one activity geared to each child. Picking a hotel with a pool can make a big difference!

Lay the ground rules early. Before you even leave the house, make sure your children know what is and isn't acceptable behavior on the road. As elementary as this may seem, if you don't tell your children what you expect, how can they oblige?

Let the children pack their own suitcases as much as possible. Make sure each child has a small carry-on bag for which they are responsible. Include things they can do on the road or in the air--a walkman and tapes, comic books, handheld video games, etc.

Decide ahead of time about seating arrangements and make contingency plans in case requested seats are not available.

Establish a meeting place at each stop. Nothing could be worse that having a child get lost in an unfamiliar environment. Whenever you visit a location, identify a spot where the family can meet if you happen to get separated, or carry cell phones or pagers.

Carry current photos of your children. That way others can help you locate your lost child. If your child can tell time, make sure they take a watch!
Pack a first aid kit. Face it. Kids will be kids. That means scraped knees, bug bites, and cuts and bruises. When traveling with children, always keep a first aid kit handy.

Check for children travel specials. Pre-planning can save you lots of money. Many airlines, restaurants, and hotels offer discounts for children, whether it's a "kids stay or eat free" deal or a "half-off children's rate." Let Internet-savvy children put their mouse to work for a happier vacation.

The most important thing to remember - flexibility. Traveling with children of any age is always a challenge. Spend more time enjoying the precious memories you will be creating and less time fretting over what could go wrong. Keep your sense of humor in full swing and happy traveling.

© 2004, Barbra Hemphill. All rights reserved.

Joeann Fossland, GRI, LTG is a Master Certified Coach, national speaker, trainer, who works with highly motivated people that want to excel in business while having a life they love, sent me this wonderful life lesson.

Click here to read the animated short story and share with your family, friends and colleagues.

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Please think of Frog Pond Speakers Bureau when planning your next meeting or convention. We can help you make an informed decision.

Download the FREE pdfs created for Meeting Planners located at the top of Home Page on FrogPond. We are your free source for speaker information and free reprintable articles.

Happy Father's Day!

Hugs, The Frog

Susie Hale, President
Frog Pond
FrogPond Publisher
800.704.FROG (3764)
susie@frogpond.com

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