There are only so many sources for prospects in our business. With 20% of agents doing 80% of the business, it warrants the question: Where do the top producer's get their business?
There is no simple answer. It may depend on how many years they have been in real estate. But then again, I have seen new agents run circles around "experienced" agents.
The largest current pools for leads are SOI (Sphere of Influence): People you know and their referrals, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) : Internet leads generated by your website, lead sources, blogging, and social networking.
While there is a third category of lead sources: Expired Listings, Farming, FSBO'S and cold calling, ect. - for this article I am not addressing those.
There are a few "Master's" at the art of SOI. The two I am most aware of are: Larry Kendall's philosophy and training on Ninja Selling. ( www.ninjaselling.com ) which highlights several systems for all aspects of real estate, especially keeping in touch with your sphere. They do retreats at there agency n Fort Collins, CO. which I personally attended and highly recommend. The second is Jennifer Allen " Sell with Soul" who can be found right here on Active Rain. She does a great job of writing about new and creative ways to keep in touch! Both of these are worth looking into! As far as mastering SEO, the list is long. I see on Active Rain many who claim nearly 100% of their business from the Internet.
Now, back to the title: "When SOI and SEO collide". What do I mean by this?...
Where I find they collide, is that there is only so much time in the day. And there is only so much money to budget for prospecting.How do we decide, as real estate professionals- how to spend our time, money and resources? Each of these can be very costly on both time and money.
I feel the best thing to do, is to truly evaluate not only what has worked for you in the past, but what you enjoy.
Take 3 highlighters, yellow, pink and blue. Get the entire list of EVERY transaction you have ever done. Now highlight all of the SOI in yellow, INTERNET closings in blue, and all others in blue. Make three columns and place each name under a column:
SPHERE INTERNET OTHER
Study this list very carefully. Make budget decisions accordingly. Be intentional about how you spend your time, energy and resources.
For me, I am clearly a half and half gal at this point in my career. I have a clear plan for both SOI AND SEO. It does require some juggling, but it works for me. I think both are critical, and I am not willing to let go of either.
I have had incredible experiences with people I know, like and trust- and some very difficult ones. I have met strangers who found me online that I now call dear friends. I particularly love helping people relocate to Spokane Wa. that find my website or blog. Some have not worked out very well, that is true. But I learn as I go, and unless something changes in my world, I will continue forward on both spectrum's.
It is a balancing act for sure, but as a mother of five, I am a master at multi tasking and plate spinning.
BethAnn Long ~ Spokane Realtor- Coldwell Banker Tomlinson South Inc.
509-362-4607
...there's no place like your home!
It is critical these days to know where your business is coming from. Things have changed in the past ten and even 5 years. Who really knows where we will be in 5 more years.
This is a really excellent guide to doing that analysis of business sources so one can make intelligent decisions about where to spend that precious time & money. And I have found the same - I have had wonderful experiences with sphere and referrals from it, but have also met some awesome people thru SEO (Active Rain for me!!) - and so both get lots of my emphasis.
There is so many ways to prospect and find business. I truly believe if you do what you like to do (in terms of prospecting) the business will come - mainly because you consistent at doing what you like.
There seems to be business just about anywhere...half of mine comes from SEO and half from SOI...and I kind of like it that way. ;-)
Hi BethAnn ~ I think for me I would have more categories (floor, OHs, CRS referrals, etc) but I LOVE the idea of a total review and especially LOVE the colored markers idea. This is definitely something I'm going to implement to get a better handle on where my efforts have succeeded.
Liz
Glenn: I agree! Thanks
Nancy: we sound alike :)
Janet: Amen!
Susan: I like your attitude!
Elizabeth: Yes, there are certainly more sources for leads, and get those markers girlfiend~!
This is a practical way to evaluate where your business comes from. Focusing on what works, and what you enjoy. When you do what you love, it's not work!
BethAnn...You make some very good points. In my view it's all about finding balance with your personal style and going with what works. It's also important to know when to try something new and not get stuck with one approach or method.
Beth Ann - Well written and a good excercise for all. It is a balancing act as all things in life are :)
The trick is to figure out what is worthwhile balancing for me SOI and SEO are both key in Real Estate.
Thanks for the mention, Beth Ann! One thing to keep in mind is that your SEO brings people to your SOI. So they aren't totally separate - in fact, every single prospecting method eventually ends up in your SOI... what you DO with that SOI that makes the difference as to how many of your prospects you keep and how effective your contacts are for you in building a business.
Thanks ya'll !
Jennifer: I am a fan! Excellent point my dear!
BethAnn - Great advice for everyone who does any kind of marketing.If you know where your business is coming from, you know where your marketing dollars should be spent.
But I have to say - take it one step farther. When you get a new client from the Internet, ask where they found you. Some will come from your website, some from Active Rain, and some from other sources.Those other sources might prove to be worth cultivating.
When new clients call me, I ask where they found me, and sometimes they aren't sure. They've seen one of my articles that's been picked up for some blog, or they've seen a guest post I've done for someone, or they've seen a comment I made somewhere that led them to my site. So far, very few have said that they did a search for a copywriter and found me.
If you ask, you might learn that it's worth your time to comment on blogs, or to do article marketing on a site like EzineArticles.com.
Thank you Marte!