5 keys to standing out from the crowd with your marketing

Presents

Table of Contents

The Marketing Challenge for REALTORS®................................. 3 Your Marketing Options ............................................................... 4

Magazines & Newspapers.......................................................................4

Postcard Campaigns ...............................................................................4

Websites..................................................................................................4

Promotional Items....................................................................................5

Newsletters..............................................................................................5

The 5 Keys ...................................................................................6 Desert Lifestyle Publishing Can Help............................................8 What Our Clients Are Saying.......................................................10 Our Expertise ..............................................................................11 Your Next Step............................................................................12

Desert Lifestyle Publishing | www.DesertLifestyle.net

The Marketing Challenge for REALTORS You can’t escape the fact that times are tough in the

housing market. Despite the exodus of real estate

agents, there are still plenty of REALTORS plying

their trade, but there are fewer transactions to go

around. As a real estate professional, you face stiff

competition from other agents, as well as a tougher

market in which to sell homes.

Adding insult to injury, your marketing dollars have to

work double time – not only gaining you new clients,

but helping you retain past and current clients for

repeat business. Not only that, but your marketing

dollars need to stretch farther, accomplishing more

with less. It has never been more important for you to

wisely allocate your marketing funds to give you the

best strategic value.

But it doesn’t end there. If you fail to invest your marketing funds shrewdly, you may not

only be wasting your money, but driving away clients, as well. You need to be careful that

the marketing you invest in is effective and efficient. You also need to be sure that your

marketing is consistent with your business vision and values, and communicates your

expertise in an appropriate manner. Just like when you show a home, your marketing needs

to showcase you and your skills in the best light possible.

So, how do you judiciously invest your marketing money so that it helps you stand out from

the crowd, grows your business, maintains relationships with clients and helps you sell

more houses? Read on to find out.


Your Marketing Options

You have plenty of options to choose from when marketing your business. Here are a few

of the most popular.

Magazines & Newspapers

Many REALTORS advertise their services in magazines and

newspapers. Choosing the right publication to place advertising in is very

important because you need to make sure that the audience you wish to

reach actually reads that publication. One of the benefits of magazine

and newspaper advertising is that it can be pretty simple to do. Many

publications will do much of the work for you and all you need to do is

pay them.

However, magazine and newspaper advertising can be costly and your advertisement

often competes with not only ads from other real estate agents, but other goods and

services as well. Therefore, your message can get lost among the crowd.

Postcard Campaigns

In the world of direct marketing, postcard mailings are very popular. They

are often a less expensive option than magazine and newspaper

advertising and much more targeted. With a post card campaign, your

message doesn’t compete with other messages in the same piece. Your

message is focused and stands on its own.

However, busy people often sort their mail standing next to the

trashcan. If your post card doesn’t catch their eye, they automatically throw it out without

reading it. Also, because post cards don’t have much of a shelf life, they don’t help your

cause if the person receiving the post card isn’t in the buying or selling frame-of-mind at the

time they receive it. They may not keep it for when they will be in the market and your

message will be forgotten.

Websites

You can’t run a business today without a website. More and more

people select professionals to do business with by researching them

online. If you don’t have a web presence, you won’t have a chance of

getting these clients.

However, it is so easy to do a website incorrectly. If your website isn’t

optimized for the search engines, especially Google, clients won’t find it.

When they do find it, if the website doesn’t engage them within the first

few seconds, they’ll leave without ever contacting you.


Promotional Items

Many REALTORS send out calendars, magnets, pens and other

promotional items to clients and potential clients. If the item is useful, it

will be kept and because it is seen as a gift, it can help you build a lasting

relationship with your client base.

However, many promotional items are viewed as kitsch and just thrown out. If you

market to an upscale audience, many promotional items will not communicate the right

message about your services, and may actually drive away the clients you want and

need.

Newsletters

Newsletters are an effective way to build and maintain long-lasting

relationships with your clients and prospects. Mailed on a monthly

basis, they keep you top-of-mind.

However, like much of the other marketing techniques discussed

here, newsletters can easily be implemented incorrectly. The look

and feel of the newsletter is a reflection of the quality of your service

in the eyes of the readers. Creating a high-quality newsletter that

reflects well on you and your services can be a time-consuming and

costly task if you are doing it on your own.

Creating content each month and making sure that content is relevant and free of

mistakes, will take you away from what you do best – selling real estate.

Now that you know the basic techniques used to market your real estate services, you

need to know what the marketing pieces you produce must do. That’s where the five keys

come in.


The 5 Keys

The purpose of marketing is to encourage potential clients to become clients. To accomplish

this, the marketing must set you apart from the competition in a positive and compelling

manner. Take a look at your marketing materials. Regardless of which methods you use, do

they accomplish one or more of the following five keys to standing out in a crowd with your

marketing?

TARGET YOUR MARKET MORE PRECISELY.

Don’t be a generalist. You can’t be all things to all prospects. When you try to market

in this manner you dilute your message and end up losing more business than you

bring in. Remember, the focus of your marketing must be the people you wish to do

business with. You need to speak their language and demonstrate that you

understand their needs.

Your true prospects want to work with a REALTOR who knows the area in which they

want to buy or sell a house. Your marketing must position you as the real estate

agent who has the solution to their specific real estate needs. It must communicate

that you are the real estate professional who they should do business with, the one

that knows how to solve their issues better than any other. When this is done

properly, you will attract more clients, receive more referrals and build the kinds of

client relationships that lead to repeat business.

POSITION YOURSELF AS AN EXPERT.

A real estate agent is a real estate agent is a real estate agent, right? Not at all – and

your marketing must demonstrate the unique strengths and benefits you bring to the

table. Your marketing must show clients and potential clients that you have expertise,

and it must do so in a way that gives them a reason to contact you. Your marketing

should show your prospects and clients that you understand their needs and can be

their trusted advisor.

According to Robert W. Bly, author of Become A Recognized Authority In Your Field

– In 60 Days Or Less, you don’t necessarily need to have better real estate skills

than your competition --you just need to be better at selling and marketing those

skills. When your marketing, by its implementation and messaging, shows prospects

that you know what you are doing and do it well, you will be seen as an expert and

attract more business.


BUILD STRONG RELATIONSHIPS.

Jeffery Gitomer, in his book Customer Satisfaction Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty Is

Priceless, wrote, “All things being equal, people do business with people they like.

All things NOT being equal, people still do business with people they like.” Your

clients and prospects don’t have a chance of liking you if they don’t know you.

Therefore your marketing needs to foster strong, long-term relationships with them.

It needs to help your prospects and clients feel like they know you.

Research has found that communicating with your prospects and clients on at

least a monthly basis helps keep you and your services top-of-mind. However,

you need to be careful of how you do this. Your communications must be

engaging. They must position you in the proper manner. And, they must

demonstrate your expertise.

PROVIDE A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE.

People remember things that they experience better than anything else. Does your

marketing provide your prospects and clients with a memorable experience? Does it

make them feel something? Does it engage them on an emotional level in some

way?

If you are marketing to an upscale audience, creating an experience around your

services is particularly important. According to Susan Hader of 400twin, a consulting

firm that provides evaluation and strategic direction for luxury brands, “Today’s

luxury consumers expect an emotionally rewarding and affirmative experience with

every luxury brand interaction.” They are very sensitive to how they are treated –

both actively and passively. Your marketing must convey the same quality

experience you provide when you work with them in person.

PROVIDE VALUE OUTSIDE OF THE SALE. Does your marketing provide value to your

prospects or clients? Most marketing is all about getting the prospect to buy. But this

can push clients away and it certainly doesn’t make them want to come back for more.

Repeat business and referrals are especially important to REALTORS. Therefore it is

important to treat your prospects and clients with integrity and respect. If you can

demonstrate that you care about your client’s well-being, beyond his or her ability to pay

you, you will forge a strong relationship that can benefit you for years to come.


Desert Lifestyle Publishing Can Help

We hope that you found the 5 Keys to Standing

Out from the Crowd with Your Marketing helpful

and that it provided you with some good ideas

for improving your marketing efforts. If you are

looking for marketing tools that can accomplish

all five keys, look no further. Desert Lifestyle

Publishing produces a suite of marketing tools

that can help you:

1. Target your market more precisely.

We designed our Lifestyle publication to be

mailed to a specific subdivision or

neighborhood, giving you the opportunity to

become an instantly recognizable real estate

expert in the community or communities of

your choice. This publication comes with an

exclusivity agreement, so you know that no

other REALTOR will be mailing the same

piece to the same area.

2. Position yourself as an expert. Our Lifestyle and Homeowner publications, as

well as our annual Metro Phoenix Economic Snapshot, provide readers with a wealth of

good-quality information. Since the fully customizable back page makes it clear that you

are the one sending this information, these tools help position you as the go-to resource

and trusted advisor for local real estate information.

3. Build strong relationships. Both our publications, Lifestyle and Homeowner, are

published and mailed out on a bi-monthly basis. Therefore, they provide you with an

easy way to keep in touch with your prospects and clients regularly. This helps you

establish and build a “virtual” relationship with your clients and prospects. Because they

frequently and consistently receive this newsletter from you, which includes your photo

and/or logo on the back page, over time they begin to feel like they know you. This

makes them much more likely to call you the next time they need a REALTOR.


5 Keys to Standing Out from the Crowd with Your Marketing | 9

4. Provide a memorable experience. All of our publications are printed on

high-quality card stock with an upscale magazine-style design. In addition, they

include content that is useful and targeted toward your client’s lifestyle and interests.

This increases the chance that they will be kept as a resource for later, thus they

have a long shelf life. These beautifully designed marketing materials are well

received by readers, who often look forward to finding their next issue in the mailbox.

5. Provide value outside of the sale. Every issue of Lifestyle and Homeowner

includes a delicious recipe from a local restaurant, a seasonal feature story and an

informational piece that helps homeowners get the most out of their homes. Metro

Phoenix Economic Snapshot presents a smart, concise and optimistic synopsis of the

state of the Valley’s economic sectors. The content of each publication is developed to

demonstrate that you care about your clients and prospects, as well as position you as

an expert.


What Our Clients Are Saying

“To date, we’ve received in excess of $10,000,000 in leads and sales from our mailings with Desert Lifestyle Publishing. We’ve seen such success that we’ve just increased our number of publications to four! Clients have called when they have friends in town to pick up extra copies of our newsletter to share the positive news and sales. Desert Lifestyle Publishing is a true class act that creates extraordinary marketing materials that are affordable and effective. It’s really incredible!” Sandra Wilken | Sandra Wilken Luxury Properties

“Desert Lifestyle Publishing is the single most effective piece of print marketing I do! It is extremely well done and will give you the edge on competitors in any market. This monthly publication can be directly credited for numerous sales each year. Try it, you won’t be disappointed.” Tom Locati | Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty

“I just started using Desert Lifestyle Publishing within the past year, and I have seen my market share grow significantly in the specific territory I market to. They are always on time with their print deadlines, professional and courteous. They are a true business partner that I would highly recommend!” Paul Bruno | Realty Executives

“With today’s competitive business challenges, it certainly helps to work with professionals that understand the concept of working and growing together. Desert Lifestyle Publishing has become a true partner in the successful growth of The Phil Tibi Group. The consistency of their high-quality newsletter and its useful contents are establishing the branding that is simply required in any service business. This marketing method is the key that provides years of successful business revenues. It’s a pleasure working with this company.” Phil Tibi | Cambridge Properties


Our Expertise

Desert Lifestyle Publishing has combined an extensive knowledge base in advertising,

marketing and publishing with a background in the real estate industry. With practical

experience in each sector, there is no better marketing company to understand the unique

needs of REALTORS.

Shelle Holland, founder of Desert Lifestyle Publishing, has nearly 20 years marketing and

advertising experience. She has worked in a variety of media, including television, direct

marketing and print. Much of this experience was targeting an upscale market.

In addition, she has experience in the financial and mortgage industries and earned a real

estate license, as well. Although she is not actively selling real estate, gaining her license

helped her identify a marketing niche that was not being served. Thus Desert Lifestyle

Publishing was born.

Holland saw that although there were a wide variety of marketing and advertising options for

REALTORS, none of them helped real estate agents market to an upscale market – an

audience that is key to much of the real estate market in the Metro Phoenix area. To stand

out from the crowd of real estate agents in the local affluent market, upscale image

advertising can be the key to an agent’s success.

Holland’s real estate background helps her understand the unique needs of REALTORS,

something most advertising agencies can’t offer. In addition, the team at Desert Lifestyle

Publishing brings more than 30 years of marketing and editorial experience combined to

develop the best marketing materials to support and grow your business.

Each marketing product we offer is designed with your specific needs in mind. They

combine the power of direct marketing with the personal touch of newsletters, creating an

experience for your prospects and clients that reflects well on the quality of service you

provide. Aesthetically stunning and rich with informative content, our upscale publications

elevate your status and complement your professional reputation.


Your Next Step

Contact us today and set up an appointment in which we will discuss your marketing and

business development goals. We will help you create an effective marketing strategy to take

your real estate business this year, and coming years, where you want it to be!

480.460.0996

11445 E. Via Linda Suite 2-109

Scottsdale, Arizona 85259

www.DesertLifestyle.net


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