By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
Mario Jannatpour is not a national speaker. He’s not a sales coach, either. He’s simply a real estate practitioner who loves his job.
Now Jannatpour, a sales associate with RE/MAX Alliance in Louisville, Colo., wants to pass on the success and knowledge he’s gained to other agents.
Jannatpour recently published a Kindle and audio book, Must See Inside: An Up Close and Personal Approach to Real Estate (Spoken Books, 2010), in which he outlines methods to set yourself apart in any market.
A sneak peek from Jannatpour:
Tell us about your background.
JANNATPOUR: I was in high tech software sales for nearly 15 years. I was doing very well, but I didn’t see my career building any personal equity. I decided I needed to make a change. I transitioned into housing, first with corporate housing, and then went to work with RE/MAX in 2003. I’ve been able to build a business here in Boulder based on my knowledge of the area, relocation expertise, and my sales experience in the tech field. It all transferred over to be able to help my clients.
What is professional value and how can a real estate professional identify and hone their value?
JANNATPOUR: First, you have to view yourself as the product rather the house as a product. You’re selling your services and your expertise. Clients today are much more educated on the real estate process, so they’re going to look for someone with a higher level of skill and professionalism. I talk to a lot of people and they’re not interested in someone who’s putting out calendars and refrigerator magnets. All those old methods don’t work for clients today because they want someone who knows the area they need help in. For instance, if I was looking for a horse property, I want a REALTOR® who knows something about rural properties, horses, zoning in that area, water rights, etc. Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
Stop believing it’s impossible to break into the high-end real estate market. If you’re going to go for it, now is best time, says real estate veteran Jack Cotton, CRS, CRB with Sotheby’s International Real Estate in Osterville, Mass. In his new book, Selling Luxury Homes (Tide-Mark Press, 2010), Cotton outlines a three-step process for success in a competitive luxury market: 1.) Become a market expert. 2.) Serve as a trusted advisor. 3.) Provide top-of-the-line services to clients. “I don’t see real estate as a career – it’s absolutely a calling for me,” says Cotton, who will be speaking at the REALTORS® Conference & Expo from 12:30-2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5 in New Orleans.
Here’s what Cotton has to say about his new book and his NARdiGras presentation.
Why is now a good time to get into luxury real estate?
COTTON: The great thing about this market is it’s a perfect time to improve your skills, expand your skills, and broaden your horizons. This is the third downturn I’ve been through since my career began in 1974, and this is the time to get out there and do better. Even if you decide not to become a luxury real estate specialist, all the tools you’ll learn in this book will help you treat every client like a million dollars, regardless of their price range.
What is one tip a real estate practitioner could put into action after reading your book?
COTTON: Luxury buyers and sellers are used to dealing with experts – whether they have a medical situation, a tax situation, or a real estate situation – they only want the best. Chapter four teaches you how to become an expert, and be perceived as an expert. The best way to do this is to become an expert on value in your marketplace. People with means are obsessed with the value of their property. Due to taxes, they want to know that the actual value of their property is correct compared with what municipalities are assessing it for. They need to know the value of their property so they can conduct their estate planning. Also, they have a real need to know the actual value of their property so they know where they stand financially. Continue reading »
Here are the best selling marketing and sales books from Amazon.com:
1. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
2. The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly, 2nd Edition by David Meerman Scott
3. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials) by Robert B. Cialdini
4. Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (New Rules Social Media Series) by Brian Halligan, Dharmesh Shah, David Meerman Scott
5. Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd by Youngme Moon
6. Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding The Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty (J-B Lencioni Series) by Patrick Lencioni
7. Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
8. Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation by Sally Hogshead
9. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne
10. Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman, Rom Brafman
By Erica Christoffer, Contributing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
If you haven’t heard of Steve Garfield or seen his name floating around the social media world, it’s time to step into the light — the video spotlight, that is. One only needs to Google Steve Garfield’s name to get a glimpse at his vast online career where he has been charting the video blogging waters. He started his first video blog in 2004 and has since become a sought-after adviser to Fortune 500 companies, including Kodak, AT&T, Nokia, and Panasonic.
Garfield recently published a book “Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business” and it’s filled with tutorials, examples, and step-by-step instruction on how to effectively incorporate video into your online marketing plan.
When I approached Garfield about setting up an interview for REALTOR® Magazine’s Weekly Book Scan, he offered the opportunity to chat via wetoku.com, a site that records 10 minutes of webcam interaction — the perfect resource for conducting interviews.
Watch as Garfield explains how his career culminated into writing “Get Seen” and offers tips on forming online communities, using video to connect with people in your community, and tools for fast, easy shooting. (I apologize for the very poor sound quality on my end!)
Here are the top selling sales and marketing books from Amazon.com:
1. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell
2. Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, by Gary Vaynerchuk
3. Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (The New Rules of Social Media), by Brian Halligan, Dharmesh Shah, David Meerman Scott
4. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell
5. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials), by Robert B. Cialdini
6. Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business, by Erik Qualman
7. The Art of the Idea: And How It Can Change Your Life, by John Hunt, Sam Nhlengethwa
8. The Never Cold Call Again Online Playbook: The Definitive Guide to Internet Marketing Success, by Frank J. Rumbauskas Jr.
9. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant, by W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne
10. Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, by Chris Brogan, Julien Smith
By Katherine Tarbox, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
QUICK SKIM
For years, social scientists have been using certain demographics such as age, income, and education level to determine how people make purchasing decisions. Scott de Marchi and James Hamilton argue that six core traits determine every choice we make from how we purchase stock to how we work or date to even if we’ll lie on our tax returns. In You Are What You Choose (Portfolio, 2009), the authors explain how by understanding these traits you can better market to your clients. The read is extremely insightful in understanding how different personalities make purchasing decisions, including homes.
THE SIX CORE TRAITS
1. Time
Do you want things now are you willing to wait for a larger payoff later? The authors argue that those who regularly exercise and eat healthy will also look at the resale value of a car before purchasing it because they care about the value of something in the future before making a decision. Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, Contributing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
- By next year, Generation Y will outnumber Baby Bombers. And 96 percent of Gen Y has joined a social network.
- If Facebook were a country, it would be the fourth largest in the world.
- YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world and has 100 million videos.
- Approximately 25 percent of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content.
Erik Qualman uncovered these startling statistics and more, which he lays out in his new book Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business (Wiley, 2009). Social media has created a fundamental shift in how people communicate, Qualman says. One only needs to look as far as Qualman’s Socialnomics YouTube video that went viral just weeks after its release, topping out at nearly 1 million views. He believes that soon people will not have to search for news, products, and services — but rather news, products, and services will find them via social media. Thus, in order to be successful in business today and in the future, the social interaction with potential clients must be embraced.
What was your first social media experience and what were your thoughts at that time?
Erik Qualman
QUALMAN: I joined MySpace, like a lot of people, in 2005. An 18-year-old introduced it to me and it was like she was addicted to crack. She’d always have to check her MySpace to see if she had more friends or to see in anyone commented. It was obvious to me that it was something big, especially for someone to be so ingratiated with it. I hopped on and it made sense to me right away. It wasn’t a surprise once Facebook opened up their platform to go beyond just college students that Facebook became so popular. Then the world was turned on its head when they opened up their application program interface to allow anybody to write applications for Facebook. That decision was so far reaching that it actually caused Apple, which has typically been a very closed environment, to open up and allow others the ability to code applications for the iPhone. That was really the game changer. Continue reading »
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
QUICK SKIM
These days, you may be more inclined to run from the media than aim to be on their speed dial. But by having your face on the nightly news or your name in an article, you could present yourself as an expert in the field, build your reputation, and make yourself a go-to person for listings. Before you start drawing attention to yourself, though, you’d be smart to read Edward Segal’s how-to book, Profit by Publicity (iUniverse, 2007). It has 226 pages of ideas on how to form a publicity plan, get publicity on a shoestring budget, draw from strategies of other real estate pros, and talk to the media to get the results you want.
FROM THE BOOK: 5 WAYS TO GET MORE PUBLICITY
So what do you want to publicize – yourself, your company, an aspect of your real estate expertise? Also, who’s your target audience? Knowing the answers to such questions will help you to pinpoint appropriate newspapers, magazines, or other media outlets to pitch stories or offer up your expertise. A list of such considerations appears in Segal’s book to help you start to form your publicity plan.
Once you have a well-mapped out plan of your goals, you’re ready to head on the publicity trail.
1. Have a news hook. When approaching the media with a story idea, make sure it’s newsworthy for more than just yourself. In his book, Segal identifies some of the most common story angles where real estate professionals are often successful in landing in news stories.
For example, stories where you can talk about real estate trends and developments, advocate for affordable housing, raise money for a good cause, market listings in a unique way, showcase unusual properties, or comment on a recent real estate transactions. Also, realize that you may face skepticism from the media so arm yourself with a solid real estate background, credentials, and facts to back up your key points when talking to the press. (Watch an online video of media tips to put you at ease when talking to reporters.)
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
Seth Godin
Bestselling author and marketing guru Seth Godin stops by the Weekly Book Scan to answer questions about improving your marketing.
When business slows, there may not be as much money to sink into your marketing. How can real estate professionals figure out what can give them the best return for their marketing dollar? Can you still make your business “remarkable” even on a tight budget?
GODIN: Marketing is not about money, it’s about insight and promises and stories and relationships and connections. Use the downtime you have now to put sweat equity into your marketing, by doing something worth talking about. Continue reading »
Gary Keller
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
Gary Keller, best-selling author and founder of Keller Williams Realty International, responds to your questions about the real estate market and his new book, Your First Home (McGraw-Hill, 2008), which he cowrote with Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan.
Why did you decide to write a book targeted specifically to first-time home buyers?
KELLER: I launched my career helping first-time home buyers and even called on newlyweds I found in the local paper’s wedding announcements to generate business. So, I have a soft spot in my heart for this special class of buyers.
We also wanted to focus on a group of buyers who represent the economic foundation of our industry. In any year, first-time home buyers constitute about a third of the real estate market. As they make their purchases, sellers are able to trade up, triggering more sales — building momentum from the ground floor up. First-time home buyers are an important catalyst for a healthy real estate market. Continue reading »
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