How to Be Like Oprah
I got the shock of my life on the internet last night. There on my favorite news website was a big, blue headline: “Oprah Talk Show Going Off Air.” Now, I know she had Sarah Palin on this week, but it can’t have been that bad. I thought Oprah was stronger than that. +++ Turns…
Why Real Estate Agents (and Others) Need to Be Publishers
Once again, Seth Godin is speaking my language. In a post he draws our attention to the difference between renting eyeballs (the old media way, where you buy an ad that is shown to the readers of, for example, a magazine) and actually owning the platform – owning the magazine or other media. He gives…
How to Use Newsletters to Bring in New Business
I was asked by a member of my insurance newsletters service last week about the best way to use newsletters to bring in new business. Here’s what I will tell him. Of course, this applies to any business – not just insurance. Why Newsletters Work to Bring in New Business Newsletters are most famously used…
Good and Bad Email Newsletter Campaigns
At least twice a week I have a conversation with a client or potential client about who they can sign up to receive their email newsletter. This conversation most often occurs with people who are new Realtors, insurance agents or mortgage brokers because they don’t yet have a list of past clients. Can they sign…
Be Gently in their Face
I wasn’t going to write today, but I was inspired by Seth Godin’s post, “My tooth doesn’t hurt.” It’s about how a marketer can build a solid business, even when they think their target market doesn’t need them right now (like a dentist who is badly needed when a person has a toothache, but easily…
Why it’s Okay if Your Newsletter is Rough Around the Edges
One of the great things about newsletters as a marketing tool is that they can cut through the noise of advertising that bombards your clients. They do this by providing useful content – being of service rather than simply selling. They also help create a personal connection between you and your clients. And it’s for…
How to Use Customer Newsletters to Nurture the People Who Really Matter
Seth wrote an interesting post today about targeted traffic to websites versus untargeted traffic: it’s the focused traffic you want to capture; the rest you don’t care about. Quite right. And it’s useful to show how customer newsletters can achieve the same goal: bringing targeted buyers into your business. Let’s face it, although newsletters are…
Building a Stalagmite
Something I’ve learned since I started this blog – and also since I started my real estate newsletters business – is that building trust takes time. But taking the time to build that trust has enormous rewards. As Seth says today, in his post Drip, drip, drip goes the Twit: “Publishing your ideas… in books,…
Seth’s Advice to Realtors
As a lot of readers of this blog are real estate agents, I thought I’d pass along the advice of marketing guru Seth Godin. (I reviewed his excellent book The Dip here, and recommend all his work.) He gives two bits of advice. The first is kinda harsh. But the second is spot on. He…
Real Estate Agents: What Would You Do to Justify a 7% Commission?
A lot of my newsletter subscribers are real estate agents, so this post, The 7% Solution, from Seth Godin is particularly interesting. But it’s relevant for any business. Quote: The challenge is… what if you had to charge 7%. What if you had to charge more when everyone else was charging less? What would you…