Making a great first impression

This lesson will cover how to create an effective introduction, and how to make a great first impression.

Creating an effective introduction
The first two minutes of your conversation is when most people form an opinion about you. That is why an effective introduction is necessary when networking. In fact, you may only have a few minutes with the person you are meeting to share with them who you are and what you do.

Your goal is to introduce yourself and share some relevant information about what you do in 30 seconds. You should practice your introduction as if it were a short speech. The more practice you have doing this, the more comfortable you will be in the real setting.

To create a good and lasting impression use the following technique for introducing yourself.

• Make eye contact
• Smile
• Engage in a handshake
• Tell him or her your name
• Share what you do or whom you work for

Using these steps will ensure that your introduction gets your message across without taking too much time. Short effective introductions help to send a positive message about you.

Avoid talking too much at the beginning, particularly about yourself! Allow the other person to introduce him or herself. You should engage the person you are meeting by asking for their information.

Making a great first impression
You do not have to do a lot to make a great first impression. Sometimes, if you focus too much on making a great impression, you could end up with the opposite results. Making a great first impression is not making it about you. It is making it about the other person. You want to make the other person feel important and worth meeting.

Top tips to make the other person feel you value meeting them:

1. Be on time
   When you are on time, you demonstrate to the other person that you care about their time and value them.
2. Be yourself
   When you are yourself, you come across sincere and you are more able to show you want to build an authentic relationship with the person.
3. Be positive
   When you are positive you create an inviting environment. When you have a negative attitude, people will want to drift away from you. You truly do get what you give!
4. Be courteous
   When you are polite and courteous, people will remember this aspect and create a lasting positive impression.
5. Be brief
   When you are talking, avoiding taking too much time. Being too talkative may be seen as a negative trait and this could hurt your first impression.

Your best first impressions will be the ones when you show you care about the other person’s time by valuing their time and thoughts by actively listening to them. Make the interaction less about you and more about the other person and you will make great first impressions.

“You learn something every day if you pay attention.” Ray LeBlond

Basic Networking tips

Networking is an effective way to spread your value through those around you. Understanding the basic mechanics of networking will increase you success in delivering the right message about yourself to others.

In this lesson, you will learn techniques for:

• Minimising nervousness
• Using business cards effectively
• Remembering names

Minimising nervousness
Being nervous is a common occurrence when meeting new people, but being overly nervous when meeting people may not be seen very positively – so if you are nervous try not to let it show!

Nervousness comes from fear of the unknown. Meeting new people may bring a level of not knowing and this could cause some nervousness, particularly if it’s an important meeting or listing. You may be particularly nervous if you are meeting someone from the media – and you need to make a good impression. But remember that people in the media are human too – and they are interested in you for a reason. So make sure you smile and appear confident!

Here are five quick steps to help reduce nervousness:

1. Prepare for the meeting.
   The more prepared you are, the less nervous you will be. Gather as much data info you can about who you are meeting and create a plan. Avoid putting yourself in situations that will cause you to scramble at the last moment.
2. Think positively before and throughout the meeting.
   Avoid thinking negative thoughts or worse case scenarios. This type of thinking will only increase your nervousness.
3. Practice what you are going to say and do.
   This is a common technique for public speaking and it is common practice in Real Estate to role play listing presentations and other important meetings with team members in your office that you trust.
4. When at the meeting, focus on the present.
   Understand what you want to achieve at that meeting. Make small objectives that you want to achieve at the event.  Avoid thinking ahead to future meetings, this could result in unnecessary stress, as well as you not listening properly and missing things that the other person is saying.
5. Finally, remember to enjoy yourself.
   You never know what your next meeting will lead to!

Using business cards effectively
Everyone carries business cards (and if you don’t – you should!) and they are great for handing out with networking situations.

Here are eight ways to increase the effectiveness of your business cards:

1. Always keep business cards on you even when you are on your personal time. This will enable you to give someone your card when an unexpected or chance meeting happens.
2. Invest in a business card holder to carry your business cards. This will keep them neat and presentable at all times.
3. Design your business card with some ‘white space’ (even have a blank reverse side). Whenever you have to use a piece of scrap paper, use the back of your business card. This way the person receiving the card (even if they are not the intended party) will take it with them and keep it. The alternative is to put something useful on the back of your business card. Perhaps you can put your mission statement or inspirational quote.
4. Always include a business card in all your correspondences. This will give the recipient something to put in their wallets.
5. If you are a Principal, make sure all your employees have business cards, it’s a brilliant way of getting your branding out there!
6. Always give a business card to every new person you meet, even if they are not your intended audience.

Your business cards are an effective tool for networking. The basic idea is to make them interesting and to give them out whenever possible.

Tip: If someone gives you a business card, make sure when you get back to the office that you connect with them on LinkedIn, with a personal message such as “nice to meet you, hope to keep in touch”. It serves the person you met as a reminder of your meeting, and it may cause you to become more top of mind in the future!

Remembering names
When you are meeting people, it is really important for you to remember names correctly. Forgetting someone’s name could be seen as a common problem and this is usually forgiven. However, when you are able to remember names, people will find this a real positive and they will usually be impressed!

Use the CARE model to help you remember names better.

• Commit to remember names making a conscious effort to remember names will make this a priority when meeting people.
• Associate names to other things and events when meeting someone new try to associate that person’s name to the event or place where you met them. When you do this, you will begin the memorising process. For example, “Joe Smith who I met at the AREC conference”.
• Repeat the persons name during the conversation with the new person repeat their name a couple of times (without being creepy of course!) Make sure you use the persons  name when you say good-bye.
• Engage yourself in the conversation when a person introduces himself or herself and they say their name, become engaged in the conversation and focus on learning about that person, and focus on learning their name using the techniques discussed previously. Avoid thinking about what you are going to say next or about other things in general. Remained focused and you will remember names better.

“The way of the world is meeting people through other people.” Robert Kerrigan

Creating conversation

Networking functions provide an excellent opportunity to meet people. Many local organisations host “meet and greets” and these can provide you with a great many valuable connections.
This lesson will cover

• The three-step process of meet and greet
• The four levels of conversation with new people

Dressing for Success

How you dress can help you make the best impressions! Understanding what is communicated through the clothes you wear will help you develop a wardrobe that will get you noticed for the right reasons.

This lesson will cover:

• The meaning of colours
• Interpreting common dress codes
• Deciding what to wear.

The meaning of colours
There are certain psychological theories that suggest the colours you wear can send both positive and negative messages, depending on the situation.

Here are some basic colours and their meaning:

• Red = action, courage, vitality and confidence
• Brown = order and convention
• Green = life and well being
• Blue = youth and peace
• White = cleanliness
• Black = stability
• Gray = security and maturity

The color you choose will depend on the audience and type of function you are going to encounter. When in doubt, dress with the basic colors (ex. Black, blue or gray). And it goes without saying that whatever you wear should be clean, fit well and look professional!

Interpreting common dress codes
Many times, a dress code will be announced for a networking event. Understanding how to interpret dress codes will ensure you will not be the odd person dressed at the event. The three most basic dress codes are appropriate attire, business casual, and business professional.

“Appropriate attire” often presents a challenge —  what does “appropriate” mean? When meeting people in a business environment, it is best to be on the safe side. Here are some safe guidelines for this type of dress code:

• Wear casual pants or skirts (avoid jeans)
• Button, polo shirt or blouse (a dressy T-shirt may be used, but ones with decorations should be avoided). Corporate branded attire is OK as well if its a work function.
• Closed toed shoes for guys, ‘dressy’ shoes for girls. (no sneakers!)

There will be times when a function has a theme or it is held outdoors (for example a school fete). In that case, shorts and opened toed shoes are appropriate.

Business casual is more formal and is similar to appropriate attire but without T-shirts of any kind. Khakis and polo shirts are the most common garments worn in a business casual environment.

If the dress code is unclear, it is best to be a little overdressed than underdressed. You can always remove the jacket, tie, and be business casual.

Deciding what to wear
Here are some tips on how to decide what to wear:

• Place – determine where the event will be held. If it is at a fancy restaurant, then you know that business causal or professional is more where you should begin. If it is at a casual place like a grill, then you may be able to go more casual.
• Environment – the environment is also a helpful indicator on what to wear. If the event is outdoors on a boat, beach, or golf course, then this could be less formal or require special clothes.
• Attendees – who will be attending is another helpful indicator on what to wear. For example, if your Principal will be present then you are better off being a little more formal.
• Reason – the reason for the function is also a key indicator of what to wear. If the function is reunion of professionals, then you should be dressed according to that line of work.

For more tips on dressing for success check out this article by Elena Reed – Show you care

Setting PR Goals

When networking and managing public relations, you should have clear and measurable goals in what you want to achieve when networking. Unclear goals could lead to missed opportunities and frustration. Understanding how to formulate goals that are realistic and achievable will help you network with results.

In order to build great PR goals, you will need a basic understanding of the following:

• Understanding goals in general
• SMART goal writing
• Helping others with goal setting

These are the topics in this lesson. We will begin with a general understanding of goals.

Understanding Goals
You can call a goal a dream with a deadline. In business, goals are essential for success. Goals state an expected outcome or achievement. Goals have to be planned and written down. Goals also have to be clearly defined. You cannot say, “My goal is to be the best salesperson this year.” While this is something noble to say, this statement is more of a mission than a goal. Instead, you may say, “My goal is to list and sell 20 properties in the next 12 months.” The second example clearly states aspects of a goal that is visible.

The benefits to having clear goals are the following:

• You will accomplish more because you will have a clear list of items to achieve instead of broad mission statements.
• You will make better decisions because you clear goals will allow you to have boundaries that will guide your alternatives.
• You will be more confident because you know what you need to do to reach your goals and you will not be caught off guard.
• You will be seen as someone who gets things done.
• You will have a clear direction and purpose in your life because what you do every day will drive towards your goal.

Smart Goals
Goal writing should not be an unstructured activity. The more structure and consistency your goals are, the better placed you are to achieve them. Broad goals are usually unachievable because there are no tangible aspects that mark success or achieving of the goal.

The most consistent way to write goals is using the SMART format. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timed. Writing your goals in this format will help you write better goals and increase your ability to achieve them. If you are keen to learn more about smart goal setting, there is a bonus lesson at the end of this course, and we also talk a lot about this in our Effective Time Management Course.

What are your PR Goals?
When competition is fierce and you are a new business trying to get noticed, or even an existing business with a smaller marketing budget, generating positive PR can get you noticed. In the past few years we’ve seen a lot of “celebrity” real estate agents pop up all over the place (there are a few that come to mind straight away!) and you’ll notice that they are always in the media.

One of the advantages of being well known your local area is that when you walk into a listing presentation, people already feel as though they know you. It’s pretty easy to do this with the gamut of blogging and PR options that you have available to you today.

You can:

• Speak to people at local networking groups about real estate and the local market
• Write an eBook
• Produce some pre-listing DVD’s
• Write Stories, articles
• Offer to be a source in the local papers
• The list goes on…

I’ve included a short video from Glenn Twiddle here about “Celebrity vs Credibility” for you to watch, I think this not only has some great free tips in it about PR ideas – but also raises the subject of gaining your full listing fee – without negotiating – using the power of “celebrity”.

Food for thought: Celebrity and profile is important, but what is more important to you… celebrity or credibility…

Media: Owned, Earned and Paid

Managing media relations is another facet to adding more to your personal brand and one way that you can get noticed and build your public profile.

The PR Point of View
Trish Nicol explains the concepts of owned, earned and paid media and how to use them as an agent.

The Editor’s point of view
Sam’s additional Top 10 tips on how you can harness the power of positive PR on a limited marketing budget:

1. Share your expertise
Share your expertise through informative and engaging content. For instance, you might offer to write an editorial feature for your leading trade magazine, contribute regularly to the most influential blogs in your sector, or even run a weekly workshop from your business premises. (If you are not sure where to start, you can always start with Elite Agent Magazine, I’d be happy to personally help you on your way!)

Whatever you do, sharing your know-how will help to enhance the overall credibility of your brand and build awareness among a much broader audience. And in most instances, it’ll be at little or no cost to your business.

2. Strength in numbers
However you find yourself working with a larger organisation, make sure you use their existing PR power to increase your share of voice. Whether you are the latest supplier to join their roster or you are offering a reciprocal discount to each other’s customers, encourage your new partner to use their PR resources and existing media contacts to share the news. Many Franchises have a dedicated PR or communications professional that you can lean on to help you on your way.

3. And the winner is …
Another easy way to improve your exposure with limited effort is by entering recognised industry awards. There are plenty of awards you can enter, such as the REI awards, BRW awards and other more specific awards such as LPMA or PPM (for property managers). Be careful though, some can be more expensive than others.

4. Look out for regular features
Invest some time and effort in finding out which publications run regular features that your business might support. Places to look might be things like any of the consumer property magazines, money magazine, business chicks latte magazine etc.

5. Hit the target

Most large magazines and newspaper titles have a free media pack, which will tell you everything you need to know about the demographic of their readership. Focus your efforts on PR opportunities among those publications that are most closely aligned to your target market. Ask them directly for a media kit.

6. Go straight to the source

Whether you’re approaching a magazine to feature in their father’s day gift guide or asking your local radio station if you can join their weekly business panel, it’s important to do your homework up front. Find out who is responsible for producing the piece and contact them directly. Visit previous editions to get a flavour of what type of content they are looking for and make sure you tailor your submission accordingly. If needs be, support your pitch with a free product sample.

7. Timing is everything

Make your pitch well in advance. If it’s a seasonal piece, take a look at last year’s equivalent to understand when it is likely to be published and plan to make contact at least a month before. Alternatively, drop the author a line to get an idea when they’ll be looking for submissions. It’s better to make contact too early and be told to come back nearer the time than to risk missing out completely.

8. Persist, don’t pester

There’s a fine line between the two, but a carefully crafted reminder email won’t do any harm. Journalists and Editors often work to extremely tight timescales and although you might not be top of their priority list at a particular point in time, you also need to make sure that your story isn’t forgotten.

9. Become a social butterfly

Make sure you follow influential bloggers, journalists and experts on Twitter. Engage with them and contribute to their activity. You’ll soon become a recognised name, and when the time comes that you approach them with a potential PR opportunity, you’re much more likely to get a positive response.

10. If all else fails, roll up your sleeves

Ultimately, the biggest champion of your brand should be you. Try to put some time aside each month to look for new PR opportunities and seize any chance to let the world know just how great your product is. And most importantly of all, don’t ever be afraid to volunteer.

Watch the video in this lesson by “famous” Real Estate Agent Mat Steinwede on why you want to be famous – and why it connects you to your target market.

Here are some guidelines if you want to get your message on television:

1. Create a personal brand. Develop a message that tells who you are, what you do, and why you are unique. The media wants to find someone interesting and ready to talk at a moment’s notice. ( So if you do get the call, make sure you are available!) You should have materials ready for the press to use and this should be aligned with your brand message. You can search the Internet and find press kits that will help you structure your information for the press.
2. Develop your elevator speech. An elevator speech is a 30-second advertisement about you. This is also called a pitch. You should make your message concise, but reflecting your passion in what you do. Short pitches are more effective. Remember, the media has a short attention span, so be ready to deliver your pitch at any time.
3. Seek out the media. Use the Internet to find many ways to research media that may be out looking for your information. Take names down of producers of programs and attempt to contact them. When you do get a chance to connect with a producer always, compliment their work. This way you demonstrate your interest and the time you invested in researching him or her.
4. Respond immediately. If you do get the chance to speak to a media contact, you should respond immediately. Make sure the contact information you give is one that connects to you directly or that you can check many times throughout the day.
5. Be prepared. Have your information and materials always updated and ready. You may never know when you will get that call.
6. Keep it simple and fresh: Don’t complicate your message and materials. Keep it simple and you will find that when it comes time to be on television. Practice your message periodically so you remain sharp.

“Television doesn’t make stars. It’s the written media, the press, that makes stars.” Chevy Chase

Social Media Facebook: Polishing your Profile

Social media is a powerful tool that can increase the scope of your network greatly. Understanding the various types of social media outlets will help you formulate a strategy that can employ one or more of these tools.

There has been a lot written on the pro’s and con’s of social media in Real Estate. Does it really generate leads? Does it really build relationships? I think it does, but you need to use each platform wisely and to it’s greatest advantage.

Two of the most interesting interviews I ever did were with Chris Smith, back when he was “Tech Savvy Agent” and Jimmy Mackin, also in the realm of social genius, both of them now have a show called Watercooler, which I try to watch most weeks, as they have such great content. And that is the point. Your social media strategy needs to include great content.

Chris said:

“Social media has been presented as this great new opportunity to broadcast your message, and there are a lot of agents who don’t use it to the greatest advantage. And by that, I mean you should use social media to build relationships in the online world the same way that you would build relationships in the normal offline world.

“Without the tools, before the tools, before social, before Twitter, people historically are going to buy things from people that they like and trust. And you are never going to get anyone to want to buy a home from you unless they like you and trust you, and broadcasting your listings on social media is not the way to do that.

“I always say to Agents when I am coaching them: “Imagine if you got invited to a cocktail party where everybody had a high IQ, and everybody was there to network; but you were the one that had to get up on stage and do a sales presentation while everyone else just wanted to have a drink?”

“What’s happening is that they are marketing to others the way that they don’t like getting marketed to! If you went to a party, and the first thing a person did when they came over to you, before they even said hello, was to hand you a flyer of a listing, what would you do with that flyer – it would go right in the garbage right? So tell them that you like their dress, tell them their hair looks nice, tell them that their kids go to school where you went to school, normal things that you would do offline! The offline relationship building methodology is not that different to online, although online will take you longer, because there is a screen between the usual person-to-person interface.

“Instead of embracing and nurturing relationships over the long haul, agents are also trying to score to quickly, close too quickly and the first time they see a tweet from someone who is looking for a home, they get all excited and say, “Hi! I’m a Realtor, what would you like to see?” instead of doing what they should be doing, which is using their common sense and building a relationship first.”

The 10:1 rule
Chris says, “You can’t look at Facebook or Twitter as any sort of “silver bullet” that is going to find you another five deals per year.

“With Social Media, agents should be listening, helping and then – and only then – selling. At the moment, some are just trying to sell without listening or helping which is not the best strategy!

“We are seeing some interesting patterns here in the States. You really have to be a good Realtor before you can be a good Realtor and be good on Social Media. Because social media makes everything so public now, it just becomes more obvious who is good at marketing and who isn’t.

“If you look at most Realtors Facebook pages you will most times see a pattern of status updates that have some sort of famous quote, followed by a listing, followed by sale; rinse and repeat. But, would you ever go up to someone in person that you hadn’t met before or seen in a while and, before you said anything else, say “John – The early bird gets the worm?” This is not holding a conversation; this is broadcasting – and bad broadcasting at that.

“With Facebook always recommend the 10:1 rule. That is, for every one time that you update your status; there should be ten times that you comment on somebody else’s status.

“Consider this – what is more powerful – telling someone you are going to an open house, or telling someone that you are also proud of the fact that their son or daughter did a great job at their weekend baseball game?

“Instead of making cold calls for an hour, if you wrote on peoples walls for an hour, what would that do for your relationship building in general? Remember, when you write on someone’s wall, it alerts them that someone wrote on their wall, and it also emails them that someone wrote on their wall. So for most people who are just doing status updates of listing, listing, and listing – is anyone seeing it, or even caring? The answer is probably not.

“The next question is that clients also ask me what they should write on walls. My answer is — always look at the persons information tab! This tells you heaps about the person that’s relevant to starting a great conversation – ie what their interests are, what schools they went to, how old they are, what music they like and much more. You can also read their recent updates to see what they have been up to. So my advice is to use this information to engage with people like a real person!

“Real Estate is not rocket science; it’s a people business. If you like people and you interact well with them, they will call you when it’s time to do something, or they will refer someone to you.”

Social Media: Should you have a Facebook Page or Profile?

Most social media experts would agree with Katie Lance: you need both.

Social Media: LinkedIn plus more

There are many ways to network on Social Media that don’t include Facebook. You can gain big followings on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat by following similar principles, but speaking in a language that is native to the chosen platform. But the big one that you really need to be on is LinkedIn, and Colin Anstie explains why.

Some further tips from Sam:
Twitter

• The easiest way to gain followers on Twitter (and no, I don’t mean buying them on Fiverr.com!) is that when someone follows you on Twitter,  follow them back. When someone follows you tweet them using the @in front of their Twitter handle and say “Thank you for the follow”. Please don’t use those automated programs though – I get heaps of automated DM’s on those and they are just annoying!
• Make sure you have an interesting Twitter profile and post a photo – personally, I won’t follow anyone back that doesn’t at least have a photo. It’s kind of off-putting when it doesn’t look like a real person that you are following.
• Then talk to people, instead of shouting things randomly. To talk to people start by replying to one of their tweets. Engage in conversation (remember the 10:1 rule!).
• Lastly share interesting content that your followers will appreciate – not just listing after listing. Let them get to know you as a person, remember Social Media is about networking and building relationships, close the deal in the office or somewhere else!

Pinterest and Instagram
Never were there two better platforms suited to being a real estate agent than Instagram and Pinterest. Both enable you to showcase beautiful real estate, plus your local surroundings in a non-scary and engaging kind of way. John McGrath once wrote an article for us called “Extreme Personal Makeover”. In this article, he talks about having “Hyperlocal knowledge”.

Develop “Hyper Local” knowledge. I heard that phrase from Tom Ferry at AREC last year. Tom is one of the world’s top real estate coaches, and when I heard that it hit me: Having good product knowledge only let’s you into the game. Having “Hyper Local” knowledge gets you into the one percent club (that’s top one per cent in the world – not charging yourself out at one per cent. The addition of the word “Hyper” sends the signal that you need to know every single thing there is to know about anything relevant to your craft. Not just values and legals, but all the small but important things about your customers, the community, local business activity, what’s happening on the ground, the hottest young designers, and furniture stores available and so on. You get it I’m sure. It’s the small stuff that’s often not talked about that can really set you apart.

It’s these things that should go on your Pinterest Boards, Instagram Feeds and Tumblr photographs. NB: It’s also these things that will get you noticed by the media for the right reasons!

YouTube
YouTube has made celebrities out of many a layman, and is a popular way of marketing property with the walkthrough of the home. You’ll all probably remember how Platinum HD caused a stir with the James Bond video and that video some called soft porn. But it did get noticed! But if video blogging is your thing it is truly a great way for people to get to know you, and feel like you are a celebrity at the same time. I did an interview in 2011 with Herman Chan from Habitat for Hermanity. It was absolutely hilarious. But he did have a lot of fantastic tips on video blogging and he has become a media personality for it (now he is a guest panellist for the Huffington Post Live). You can read the interview “Video Blogging made simple” here. I’ve also included his top tips video for you to watch if you are planning on getting in front of the camera!

My favourite funny quote from Herman during that interview: “For every ugly house, there is an ugly buyer!”

Bonus: Presentation Skills and Presenting on Camera

Watch this bonus video from Shelly Horton on improving your presentation skills and how to present to camera

Content Marketing for agents

Content Marketing (a form of owned media) has become an important part of every agent’s strategy. Here is the what and why of content marketing and why you need to understand what it is and what it can do.

Blogs and your online presence
The Web is a place where almost anyone can create a presence, in fact, anyone can be a publisher. As we all go to our friend “Google” it is indeed an inexpensive method of getting your message out to an endless audience around the world. But you need to make sure that you get the right information out there on a timely basis.

It is likely that your company will have a website which should reflect the professional brand of the organisation. At a minimum, this should contain staff profiles and photos and contact details which allow potential visitors to get in touch with you.

As an individual, you can create a web presence that allows you to share ideas and resources with your audience. These personal websites are called blogs.  However, if you want to network effectively, your blog should be a place that creates dialogue and sharing with your visitors.

If you can you should always have a ‘yourname.com’ domain. This achieves two things:

• It puts you in control of your personal brand on the internet
• It allows you to express a personal point of view.

Today, setting up a blog is relatively easy. Here are some basic steps to creating a blog.

• Purchase a domain name, which is your Web address. (for example, I own the domain  www.samanthamclean.com).
• Your hosting company usually offers a basic package which should be sufficient, and as a blogger myself I highly recommend one of the well-known blogging platforms such as WordPress
• Setting up your blog only takes a few steps and your Web hosting company would provide the instructions.
• You need to practice using the blogging application, but once you gain the understanding, you will be writing content in no time. If you have the budget, you may hire a writer to help you update your blog.

Once you have set up your blog, you can place your web address on your business cards and share the site with whomever you meet.