Industry Visionary Interview with Mark Lesswing

     Mark Lesswing is the Vice President, National Association of 
     REALTORS®, Center for REALTOR® Technology.

    Through Mark's vision and leadership, the CRT organization serves   
    REALTORS®  and the real estate community as a technology advocate and 
    resource.

Mark can be reached at MLesswing@Realtor.org 

When tweaking your business plan, consider the following information about today's consumer.

1. Are you marketing to the group, "Mass Affluents"?

You may be missing extraordinary opportunities to boost sales of your products or services if you are relying on outdated notions about affluence and market segmentation. The "new middle ground" of people with higher-than-average incomes, yet short of being truly rich, has become the hottest growth opportunity the market has seen in some time. This group of "mass affluents" represents 49% of U.S. income but only 37% of consumption. That means there is discretionary income ready to be spent.

Source: Harvard Business Online

2. Steve Jobs turned 50 and was recently asked in Fortune Magazine if the young consumers are different than other consumers. His answer reflects this group's attitude and buying power. Steve's insight should influence the way you market to this new consumer. This is what Steve said:

"You or I move into a new house, and the first thing we do is call the phone com0any to get our land loine turned on. Kids, they just move in with their cellphones. Stereos are the same: Kids aren't getting stereos; they're getting speakers for their iPods. That's become the audio market. People are buying iPods and Bose speakers instead of a JVC or Sony stereo system..."

Source: Fortune Magazine (February 21, 05 issue)

3. Second-Home Market Surges

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Realtor.org) – A new study shows sales of second homes surged in 2004, and that investment property and vacation homes make up a significant portion of the overall housing market. Second homes now account for more than one-third of residential transactions, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
 
The new study, based on two surveys, shows that 23 percent of all homes purchased in 2004 were for investment, while 13 percent were vacation homes. Given the size of the market, David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, says “we can assume that many individual owners have more than one investment property."

"In essence, our definition of second homes has changed with the buyer shift toward investment property," Lereah said. "We've seen a shift over the last few years with a growing number of second-home buyers purchasing primarily for investment. This led us to a new examination and understanding as to how much larger investment homes are as a share of the overall housing market."

Source: RECON, Real Estate Center, Texas A & M University

How to Make Direct Mail Work for You

Direct mail marketing is a tried and true way to reach your target market. It can provide a great return for lead generation and branding if done effectively. There are three elements that can assure your direct mail piece does not hit the circular file as junk mail. Here is a POP quiz with which to analyze every campaign strategy to see if you have the three keys opening the door to direct mail success.

Prospects- Qualified prospects are a key to a higher rate of return on direct mail marketing. Make sure the mailing list you buy contains exactly who you want to reach. Just because you have a free or cheap list, it doesn’t mean it is worth using. It is probably worth every penny you paid for it. The best list you can get is probably the one you create from your database of clients, prospects, related business associates and e-news subscribers. Beyond your own proverbial backyard, consider buying a list from a real estate industry publication.  Be sure your target market is precise since with today’s data products it is possible to narrow the results to give you only those qualified.

Opportunity- What do you have to offer that no one else has or is better than what they can get elsewhere? What value or service are you offering?  Why would your prospect want to do business with you? Make sure you know what that is and state it upfront on your mailer.

How to Give Positive Feedback

You have just caught someone in the office doing something right. How do you make the most of that for the associate and for your business?

Give an immediate acknowledgement.

The most important element is to give the person positive feedback right when it happens. That reinforces the behavior and positively motivates the receiver.

Target the praise.

“Good job”, doesn’t have the same impact as, “You did a good job of handling Mr. Crabby on the phone. You are a great customer service ambassador.”

Praise in public and consider the feelings of the receiver.

If someone is shy, he might feel embarrassed at a staff meeting; however praising him in front of the boss will do wonders for his workplace self esteem. Be sure to remember that critiques need to be given in private.

Do it often.

Intend to catch people doing something right every day. Small successes build confidence and lead to bigger successes quickly.

Praise in proportion to the act. 

Small success = small reward; big success = big reward.

Be sincere.

How to Keep Your Customers Glued to Your Marketing Message by Joe Gracia

As human beings our attention spans are 'very' short. We are easily distracted--even from things that we are interested in.

As adults we have a 'little' more focusing power than our children -- but not much. Especially when it comes to marketing messages.

It takes very little to divert our attention. That's why it's vital that when you get your prospect's mind on your marketing message, or offer, that you don't distract him with something that has nothing to do with your goal.

If you want your prospect to sign up for your newsletter when they arrive at your web site's home page, then you have to ensure that every element on that page serves the purpose of making that happen.

1. Don't Divert Them

Many web sites have so many different things going on that you aren't really sure what you're supposed to do when you get there.

Some of them even put links to other people's web sites on their home pages. Imagine doing everything you can to attract prospective customers to your web site, and then sending them away. Sounds crazy, but it happens all the time.

2. Don't Confuse Them

If you're mailing a letter to your prospects or customers and the goal is to get them to call you and purchase your product, then every element in that letter must support that goal.

Don't make the mistake so many business owners make of including a number of different offers for different products or objectives in the same mailing.

That rarely works -- it's confusing and distracting.

You know what they say about people who chase two rabbits-- they don't catch either of them.

3. Organize Your Marketing Message

Keeping your prospects and customers focused on your purpose also means providing your customers with a clearly laid out path for them to follow. Organize your message to cover each element in a clear sequence. Don't hop around.

If you're presenting your products' benefits, then cover them all before proceeding to the next part of your message, which may be building trust through your credentials, testimonials and a guarantee.

4. Provide Compelling Reasons for Them to Keep Reading

Finally, to keep your prospects focused all the way through to your Call to Action--that's where you tell them what you want them to do next--you must give your prospects compelling reasons to keep reading.

Your message must be interesting to them. You need to hit their hot buttons, touch their heart. Curiosity is a powerful motivator to keep your prospects glued to your path.

But not irrelevant curiosity. The curiosity must be directly related to your message and their desire.

For instance a good curiosity subhead within a sales letter for a health food magazine might be:

'Which common fruit has the ability to increase the power of your memory?'

The curiosity factor is directly related to the message, and it is compelling enough to keep interested people reading.

Time is NOT Money by Maria Gracia

Have you ever heard the old saying 'time is money'?

To be perfectly honest with you, that saying is incredibly misleading.

Time is not money. In fact, time is really more valuable than money could ever be. We can always acquire more money, but we can never acquire more time. All of us get the same amount of time in a day, 24 hours, that's all.

While we can never have more than 24 hours in a day, we can certainly choose how we spend the time we do have.

An hour or more per day can easily be saved by eliminating the tasks and activities that are eating away at precious time.

What have you spent your time on lately? Are most of the things you're currently doing contributing to your life goals and dreams? If not, it's time to reevaluate and reestablish your priorities.

Make a list of the things you're spending your time on.

Label each either A, B, or C.

A = Highly Contributes to My Goals and Dreams

B = Somewhat Contributes to My Goals and Dreams

C = Doesn't Contribute to My Goals and Dreams at all

Hint: To achieve your goals and dreams, you must eliminate the C's!

Remember, your time is precious . . . and priceless. Spend it doing the things that get you closer to your ultimate goals!

Boomers Scramble to Make It Happen

According to a recent article in the Barre Montpelier Times Argus (Susan Tompor; January 30, 2005), many baby boomers are looking at a far less glamorous retirement than advertisements targeting them may suggest.

Susan Tompor is speaking of ads like "Dreaming of tai chi classes on the beach? Kayaking in the Grand Canyon? Or maybe cruising off into the Caribbean sunset?" With Baby Boomers numbering about 76 million people ages 40 to 58, Susan worries that over half "will be in a serious cash crunch when they stop working."

The first group of Boomers will start tapping into Social Security in 2008. Susan says that a recent New York University study "found more than half of all households closing in on retirement won't be able to string together enough money - through pension checks, 401(k)s, other savings and Social Security - to cover 75 percent of what they're making now. Boomers will get crunched on a bunch of fronts."

As a Boomer myself, I expect to pay more for health care in retirement than my parents and receive less money from Social Security, and I certainly will not have the traditional pension check.

Another big problem Boomers we are facing is that we tend to be bigger spenders than our parents. If we don't make some changes immediately, we'll be juggling more debt and extra bills in our retirement. I strongly agree with Susan that "faced with the choice of staying on the job, or living on a lot less money, many boomers will likely keep working well into their 60s and 70s."

Time's running out to make these changes, so email me for information.

How Trade Show Booth Staffers Maintain High-Energy Levels

It's easy to loose energy while on your feet at your trade show booth speaking with prospects for hours upon hours.

Working an exhibit is like a theatre preformance needing proper conditioning and special selling techniques. Some salespeople report low levels of energy between 8-10a.m. Peak energy times are between 10a.m and noon. To combat these lows it's best to take 10 minute breaks every couple of hours and drink plenty of water.

Click Here to read other Trade Show/Exhibitor Tips on FrogPond.com. Needing Speakers and help selling booths at your Trade Show, contact Susie@frogpond.com?

http://www.mayoclinic.com/findinformation/firstaidandselfcare/index.cfm

Mayo Clinic's First-Aid Guide lists over 50 medical topics in alphabetical order for quick retrieval. Once a topic is clicked, a brief summary of signs and symptoms is displayed, as well as suggested first-aid steps.

Share this link with your family, friends and colleagues.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! May every day bring you a pot of gold!

Hugs, The Frog

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

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