California 8-21-17

CALIFORNIA EDITION

8 Tips on Using Disruptive Thinking to IMPROVE INNOVATION GOOGLE ADWORDS: How to Make Google Do the Work for You How to Send SMARTER EMAILS Are Your PRESENTATION SKILLS COSTING YOU MONEY?

FEATURED AGENT

LINDA PASAS

COVER STORY

NATALIE McNANY

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CALIFORNIA EDITION

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NATALIE McNANY

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LINDA PASAS

CONTENTS 4) GOOGLE ADWORDS: HOW TO MAKE GOOGLE DO THE WORK FOR YOU

18) ARE YOUR PRESENTATION SKILLS COSTING YOU MONEY?

13) HOW TO SEND SMARTER EMAILS

22) 8 TIPS ON USING DISRUPTIVE THINKING TO IMPROVE INNOVATION

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Google AdWords:

How To Make Google Do the Work for You There is no denying that the internet is the first place a buyer begins looking for a new home in this digital age. Knowing how to put the powerful tools available on the internet to work for you can give you a decided advantage when it comes to attracting prospective buyers to your listings, as well as you as an agent. Google is easily one of the major superpowers of the internet, and they have one of the most powerful advertising tools available. Knowing how to utilize Google AdWords in the correct manner can make your internet advertising immensely powerful and possibly your best way to reach prospective buyers.

Google AdWords is also extremely cost-effective. This multifaceted tool gives you much more control over your advertising campaign than other more traditional methods. You can target specific audiences, choose the specific search terms, also known as keywords, that will bring up your ad in someone’s search results, and you can set a budget for each campaign that will dictate it’s reach and how long the campaign will run. Here are some tips for how to put Google AdWords to work for you.

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ent websites. You want to set yourself apart from every other real estate website users are viewing in their search for a house.

MAKE SURE YOUR ADS ARE GOING TO SEND USERS TO A SITE THAT WILL CAPTURE THEIR ATTENTION

You can spend an infinite amount of money on Google advertising campaigns, but if those ads don’t send users to a site that will capture and hold their interest, then you’ve just wasted all that money. Don’t put your cart before the horse. Make sure you are considering exactly where these ads are going to send users. To set up your website for success, at the very least you want to make sure users are greeted by clear call-to-action, such as a message that will encourage them to sign up for your newsletter or subscribe to your blog. You want to set up your website to maximize and capture the leads the ad campaign sends your way.

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BUILD CUSTOMIZED OR CUSTOM-MADE WEBSITES RATHER THAN TEMPLATE WEBSITES It is easy and tempting to use template websites, or to offer your agents template websites if you are a real estate manager or broker. While this offers a cost-effective solution to providing every agent with a website, it does little to set you or your agents apart and capture the attention of users that are used to seeing a wealth of differ-

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MAKE SURE YOU ARE OFFERING VALUE ON YOUR WEBSITE

Don’t simply use your website as a kind of brag sheet. Let users know what makes your particular services valuable to them. Highlight your expertise in a certain location through tools such as blog posts, providing market updates, or giving pertinent information on a unique type of property. This will ensure that your online advertising campaigns are much more successful.

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LOCATION IS EVERYTHING!

Location is everything in real estate, and the same holds true for Google AdWords. You can target specific locations in your ad campaign. While one approach is to focus on the area around your location, a more advanced approach would be to link AdWords campaigns to your Google My Business account. This is a Google service that includes your address in the ad, allowing people to then click on it and see exactly where you are located on a map.

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USE GOOGLE ADWORDS IN YOUR CAMPAIGN TO EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS IN GENERAL

Focus an AdWords campaign on expanding your business by incorporating specific zip codes and neighborhoods that will help you establish a presence in an area where you would like to increase your real estate business. Making sure that your ad appears in search results that are related to the real estate in a specific area will help shape the image and brand of your business as well as bring in new leads.

HARNESS THE POWER OF DATA

When you run a Google AdWords campaign Google Analytics captures a wealth of information about your target client demographic.

You can gain real insight into your online visitors, such as when they visit, what they do and look at on your site once they get there, and what search terms they use. You can use all of this information to grow your business. Use Google Analytics to determine which users (location, gender, age) are utilizing specific aspects of your site, such as looking at multiple listings, reading your blog, etc. You can then use this information to target these specific demographics in your AdWord campaigns, Gmail ads, the Google Display Network, and other advertising.

Using the internet to help advertise your business and your listings is one of the smartest moves you can make as an agent in this modern age. However, you don’t want to simply go into the process blind or you’re wasting a lot of potential resources and data that could make all the difference. To reap the benefits of Google AdWords, you must apply an intelligent strategy to using these campaigns.

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NATALIE McNANY 7

As Broker and Owner of First Statewide Realty, Natalie McNany, runs a customer-focused team that helps people make the most of their real estate investments.

“Each of us has specific qualities that we bring to the team.”

As a young woman still defining her professional life in 2007, a sequence of events and decisions proved that Natalie McNany’s business acumen and service skills could foster a thriving career. Having grown up in the small town of Pioneer, CA, Natalie moved to Silicon Valley to attend college and obtained her AA in Administration of Justice. “That field was so flooded with interest from shows like CSI, that I had to look at other opportunities!” While exploring, she worked as a bookkeeper for various companies, soon discovering her niche.

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The owner of one of those companies, a property management firm, began encouraging her to earn her real estate license and ultimately, to manage the office and obtain her Broker’s license. She loved this type of work so much that when the owner retired in 2014, Natalie took over as Broker and Owner of First Statewide Realty. There, she runs a customer-focused team that helps people make the most of their real estate investments.

“Each of us has specific qualities that we bring to the team,” she says. “I’m great with the numbers, another person is great with the marketing,” and so forth.

Covering Santa Clara County and parts of the Peninsula in the Bay Area, Natalie’s collaborative style helps both property owners and Top Agent Magazine

other REALTORS® succeed. “Our focus is property management,” she says, noting that some client relationships include listings and sales. “But with listings, we mostly work with REALTORS® at different branches to help them expand their portfolios.” By passing business back and forth, everyone prospers.

For instance, if a REALTOR® in Natalie’s network has a client who is unsure about selling or renting, Natalie and the other REALTOR® work together to help that client. “If they decide to rent, I take over; if they want to sell, I pass it back to the other REALTOR®.”

Agents value Natalie’s open, transparent approach to business. “We’ve expanded and grown because of this,” she says. Managing nearly 200 units, First Statewide Realty proTop Agent Magazine

vides full-service property management from getting properties rent-ready to advertising; showing; screening tenants; facilitating lease agreements; managing maintenance issues; and ensuring a smooth turnover between tenants. “We also offer a one-time lease option if an owner wants to manage the property themselves.”

Beyond impeccable service, Natalie’s success track shows her attentiveness to clients and her activism for her industry. “We stay in touch with our clients and, depending on the relationship, send cards, gifts and notes throughout the year or call to let them know we’re thinking of them.” Natalie describes one client whose house she managed 10 years ago. Coming across the file recently, she called Copyright Top Agent Magazine 9

Natalie and her husband, Zech, taking a break at Corral Canyon during NAR’s 2017 Broker Summit.

Natalie’s active lifestyle on the California Delta has lead her to meet many people in the East Bay who say her brand in property management is in demand there.

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them. It turns out that they were planning on selling their $3 million property and wanted her to list it. When marketing that home, as with rentals and other sales, Natalie takes advantage of her networks within the two real estate associations in Santa Clara County. She incorporates staging, high-end video tours and extensive online exposure. With such thorough marketing, she reaches international buyers who may buy sight unseen.

Through her active membership in two real estate boards as well as being the 2017 Treasurer for the Women’s Council of REALTORS® Silicon Valley Network and PACs or political subcommittees related to property management, Natalie is an invaluable source of information for her clients and peers. “I know in advance about proposed bills that Top Agent Magazine

could be a threat to our industry,” she says.

She also enjoys giving back to causes that support women in the workforce. “We’re currently involved in a drive for women’s professional clothes and accessories and have a collection station right in our office,” she explains.

In her personal time, Natalie enjoys the outdoors, taking advantage of Northern California’s opportunities for wakeboarding and boating or hitting the trails on her dirtbike.

Through many of her adventures with her husband, she has met people from the East Bay area, who say her brand of property management is in demand there. “My goal for 2018 is to open a branch in the East Bay,” says Natalie. “I don’t want franchises but new branches. We’re ready!”

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To learn more about Natalie McNany visit FirstStatewideRealty.com, email nataliemcnany@gmail.com or call 408-253-1002 www.

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How To Send

SMARTER EMAILS

Email is a great tool for agents to use when trying to stay in touch with their past clients, as well as for reaching out to prospective clients. However, used incorrectly it can make your attempts to reach out seem like spam. The secret to using email effectively is making sure that everything you send out does one thing: ensure that you remain relevant to your contacts. To do this you have to get personal. Personalization will go far to ensure that your contacts are actually clicking on your emails. This means that if you do reply on an automated drip email campaign to build business, you need to customize your content so that it delivers something meaningful to each individual recipient. Here are some steps that will help you do exactly that:

1. SEND A WELCOME EMAIL TO

NEW CLIENTS AND PROSPECTS Rather than simply add new contacts to your automated email drip campaign, make sure to send each new contact receives a warm welcome as well. Sending a welcome email along with adding new contacts to your drip campaign is proven to be 86 percent more effective at catching your contact’s attention. Let them know they are welcome and that you appreciate their interest.

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2. NURTURE YOUR RELATIONSHIP

THROUGH YOUR EMAIL To let your potential client know that you are thinking about them by sending them useful content that relates to the process of buying or selling a house. Some great topics include credit score information, ways to save money, regular market updates, what buying in your market is like, information about the neighborhood, tips on how they can prepare their home for sale, and other relevant information. A great way to

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add to these emails’ punch is to time them so that they coincide with what that individual is going through and dealing with at that time on their path through the buying or selling process.

3. CELEBRATE IMPORTANT DATES

Everyone loves to be noticed and appreciated.

Schedule emails to go to each client that celebrate their purchase anniversary or birthday.

Make sure you include a personal note and your own wishes that the year ahead goes well for them. If you’ve been a bit out of touch with your contacts, you might want to send them a friendly hello.

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MOBILE-FRIENDLY EMAILS With our phones being akin to mini computers, most people read their emails on their phone these days. So, it is particularly important to make sure that your emails are rendering well on the smaller screens. If you want to make any kind of impact, you have to run a mobile-friendly email campaign in today’s world. You are going to lose a lot of your audience if they can’t read your email on their phones.

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TRACK THE PERFORMANCE OF YOUR EMAILS AND ALTER ACCORDINGLY The best way to make sure your emails are being read and making the kind of impact you desire is to consistently monitor the analytics,

and see what your readers are actually clicking on and what elements are most popular with your contacts. Going forward you can alter different elements of your email campaign such as content, images, graphics, and even smaller elements like your subject line to draw in more clicks from your readers, and cater to what grabs their attention.

You also want to follow a targeted email strategy. The best way to do this is segment your email list based on the data from your CRM and the demographics of your contacts. Different clients are going to be interested in different content. Long-time clients looking to buy a second home or possibly downsize are going to be interested in completely different content than your first-time buyers. A good way to filter your contacts is by looking at which ones are looking to buy or sell, how far along in the process they are, as well as other important information about them.

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DON’T SPAM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES You probably already know that flooding your clients’ emails is big no-no. However, different people have different ideas about what is too much contact. One great way to approach this problem is to ask your clients whether they would prefer weekly, monthly, or occasional emails from you. This way you can cater to each client’s preference.

The emails you send your clients can often be a double-edged sword when it comes to how well they work to bring in business. Following these simple rules will help your emails be as successful as they can possibly be, and will make your contacts much happier with you. So, don’t just send out emails without doing your homework about how to do it right. Your email campaigns can be a powerful tool if you know how to create and utilize them in the right manner.

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LINDA PASAS For over 26 years, Linda Pasas has been one of the most respected names in real estate. Although she has been in-demand on the sales side of the business her entire career, ten years ago, Linda branched out into the property management side of the business when she started Pasas Property Management, a full service agency that provides an exceptional experience for owners and residents that exceeds all expectations. “I hadn’t considered going into that side of things initially, but I had clients who weren’t getting the service they deserved and I saw a need that I could fill, so I just leapt right in. I couldn’t be more thrilled with the success we’ve had.”

available to them. I’m really big on picking up the phone and talking to people. It’s not only more personal but it allows me to really find out what’s going on in their lives and how to best help them. The communication within the team is also an important component. We have daily meetings so we can stay on top of all the issues. I’m very involved in every step, and I think that’s been another reason for the success of my company.”

Linda takes a personal approach to her business, that really focuses on building lifelong relationships. “I always try and find out what my client’s goals are and then do everything I can to help them achieve those dreams. Even as a child my passion was helping people, and that is still true today. It’s a very rewarding career.”

Linda is actively involved in the community she loves and represents, and has a particular passion for keeping the local beaches clean, as well as animal rescue. Linda is an avid traveler and has been to 59 countries. She’s also an amateur winemaker and has been honored at Amateur Winemaker Competitions.

Linda serves all of the lucrative San Diego county marketplace. A lifetime resident of the city, she truly has an unsurpassed knowledge of the area that offers her clients a distinct advantage. Linda is the Broker/Owner of Pasas Properties and Pasas Property Management, but the property management side of her business has really begun to dominate in recent years. “We really do it all. We not only help clients buy and sell investment properties, we advertise the rental, screen tenants handle maintenance, you name it. Our primary goal is to have happy tenants and owners that are making a significant ROI on the properties that we manage.”

Linda would like to continue to grow her company’s property management division, and is currently in talks to take on an additional 100 properties. “We’re really excited to grow, and are currently implementing new systems so we can streamline the process and makes things as efficient as possible. I always say you’re only as good as your team, and I’ve been lucky to have hired the best people in the business, who all share my vision of operating a business that puts people first.

I’m very grateful for my clients. The fact that they trust me enough to come to me for advice is a good feeling. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to be of service to them.”

One of the keys to the above and beyond service Linda and her team provides, is clear consistent and honest communication. “I’m really direct. I don’t sugar coat anything.

We stay in constant contact with our clients and are always

To learn more about Linda Pasas call 619-977-4650, email sold@lindapasas.com or visit PasasPropertyManagement.com www.

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Are Your Presentation Skills Costing You Money?

S

ometimes we’re so focused on technology and education that we forget this is a “people business”. And, a great deal of the money you make comes from your ‘point of contact’ skills. What do I mean by that? Lead generating dialogues and presentation dialogues. Yet, how much do we work on those verbal skills?

Unfortunately, communication sales skills have gotten short shrift in the last decade. Why? I think it’s because many of us are so challenged by technological changes. But, slow down. Think about how you actually make money. It’s at point of contact.

Getting better at point of contact skills translates into more money in less time.

We’re All Presenters Everyone in the real estate business presents: Agents present, when they are doing listing or buyer presentations. Managers present when they are recruiting, or doing their office meetings. Mortgage and title 18

By Carla Cross

When you’re doing a listing presentation, what do you want to happen? You want them to sign the listing agreement when you’re done. reps present when they are in front of a group of agents in an office, talking about their services. So, doesn’t it make sense to become ‘killer’ at those presentations? You’ll double your money and halve your time.

Bug Off: I Do Okay Just Like I Am Yeah. I know. As a musician, I’ve worked with literally hundreds of people who thought they ‘played good enough.’

Some people just get to a certain performance level and leave it there. Have you ever thought that, often, our presentation strategies (or lack of) work in spite of us, not because of us?

As a musician, I know the thrill of performing at high levels. So, open your mind and consider

stepping up to a higher presentation level. Not only will you have personal satisfaction, you’ll make more money!

Now, let’s tackle one set of presentation skills: Organizing that presentation effectively.

Having heard listing presentations that wander all around the world, I know the importance of effective presentation organization.

Three Steps to Organize Your Presentation to Knock Their Socks Off Most of the time, we just get in front of people and say whatever we think of first. That leads to some big presentation mistakes, and costs us ‘sales.’ Instead of stumbling through a presentation, why not organize it to Copyright Top Top Agent Agent Magazine

grab their attention, persuade them to your way of thinking, and motivate them to action?

You can. In my new resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make Your Best Presentation Ever, I show a simple three-step format to create your persuasive presentation. No matter why you’re in front of people, we need to be persuasive Think about it. When you’re doing a listing presentation, what do you want to happen? You want them to sign the listing agreement when you’re done.

So, it’s extremely important that you organize your listing presentation using a persuasive format, not just an information-heavy dialogue flow.

Grab Their Attention in the Opening Have you thought about your opening? Or, are you nervously standing at the sellers’ door, worried about what you’re going to say? Are you hiding in your office because you dread doing that sales meeting? When we haven’t organized our presentation, we come up with some really boring, off-putting openings, like: I won’t take much of your time, but...

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We have a lot to cover today We won’t get through the outline I know you don’t want to listen, but...

I’m not really prepared

You just open your presentation book, point to the pretty pages, and say, “here’s a keybox” (I’m not kidding. I’ve seen it….)

Great openings, yes? Yet, we’ve heard them dozens of times. You don’t have to settle for whatever 19

If you’re doing a presentation to sellers, one of the major objectives of your presentation is to persuade them to your listing price point of view. comes ‘naturally.’ Instead, make your openings: Provocative Interesting Different Engaging I just attended a ‘Train the Trainer’ session (yes, I still learn great stuff every day!), where the trainer said it was important to engage the audience in a meaningful way in the first two minutes of your presentation. I think that’s a great rule to follow today, because people’s attention spans are the length of a gnat’s eyebrow. So, the next time you attend a presentation, see how much time elapses before the speaker/presenter/trainer gets the audience into meaningful action.

I don’t mean to ask a rhetorical question, either!

A Middle That Educates Your ‘Audience’ to Your Point of View In the middle of your pres20

entation, add those stories, statistics, and visuals that support your point of view. By the way, as you create that presentation, jot down your point of view. If you’re doing a presentation to sellers, one of the major objectives of your presentation is to persuade them to your listing price point of view.

Retention is Key

Why Use Visuals?

Three days later:

There are two reasons to use visuals in your presentation:

We retain 10% of the information when we hear it

We believe what we see

We retain 65% of the information when we hear and see it

We retain the information much longer As you organize your presentation, ask yourself:

Have you ever met with sellers or buyers, given them lots of information—and then had them question you about it a few days later—as if they never heard you—or heard you backwards? That’s because people don’t hear and retain very well.

Look at the statistics:

So, use visuals to prove your points, not to merely show pretty pictures of houses.

The Ending: What are the main, and fre- Back to the Beginning quently, unspoken objections my ‘audience’ will have? How do I educate them to show them the reasoning behind my point of view?

Have you thought about your wrap-up? Or, like many presenters, does your ending sound like this?

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Well, that’s all. What do you think?

pop tunes are constructed with this format:

We’re out of time. Thank you.

I hope you’ll list with me

theme—variation—theme

I don’t have time to close.

I couldn’t get to much of the material, but you can read it In fact, even the most professional presenters frequently have trouble with their endings.

One of the main reasons is that they run out of time. Another is that they haven’t thought the ending through.

How to Do a Stunning Ending Crafting an effecting ending is the second most important part of your presentation. (The first is the opening). To craft a great ending, Go back to your beginning opening theme Summarize the benefits of going ahead with you/take action Motivate your ‘audience’ to take action

A Great Presentation is Crafted Like a Pop Song As a musician, I know that all Top Agent Top Magazine Copyright Agent Magazine

This is known in the music business as the ABA format.

Think of your favorite pop tune: Hum the beginning.

Think of the end. They’re alike, right? It’s the middle— known as the ‘bridge’—that is the humdinger. It wanders all around. Your persuasive presentation should be crafted like that pop tune: A. A compelling start (think Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, etc.)

B. An interesting, developed middle, with stories, statistics A. Back to that theme, with a motivating ending Now, you’re all set to craft a great listing or buyer presentation, great recruiting meeting or sales meeting, or awesome product/service presentation to any audience.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, President of Carla Cross & Co., is an international speaker, coach, and resource provider specializing in real estate management. A former master level CRB instructor, and National REALTOR® Educator winner, Carla was recently named one of the 50 most influential women in real estate. For a free document on standards to establish, email Carla at Carla@carlacross. com and ask for standards document.

Carla has written six internationally published books, and provides coaching programs for management, including her affordable inoffice coaching programs Up and Running in 30 Days and On Track to Success in 30 Days for Experienced Agents, which provide standards, focus, and accountability.

Reach Carla at 425-392-6914 or www.carla cross.com.

P. S. Practice!

Many more tips on presentations and presentation skills are in my new resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make your Best Presentation Ever.

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8 Tips on Using Disruptive Thinking to Improve Innovation You might be wondering what disruptive thinking is. How can anything disruptive be good? Well, if you’re caught in a stagnant place, shaking things up might be exactly what you need to gain some momentum in your personal or professional life.

the norms that keep you from being creative and implementing big ideas. Here are some simple things you can do to find opportunities that might be hidden if you stay stuck in the status quo.

Sometimes taking a step out of your bubble will give you a much needed perspective and allow you to achieve the breakthrough you need to take things to the next level. There is no more valuable commodity in today’s business world than innovative thinking, and the key to innovative thinking is breaking down

1. TAKE RISKS

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Without risks, there usually won’t be any major rewards. Sure being steady and careful might keep things going marginally well, but if you really want to go big, you need to go all in sometimes. If you go through the history of great innovations, none of them

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were achieved by playing it safe. Embrace mistakes. Learn from them, they often provide valuable insight and that will lead to great success on your next attempt.

2. FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT INDUSTRY This might seem counter-intuitive, but you’d be amazed at what you can learn by looking into successful companies, no matter what the business type is. You’re almost certain to find valuable solutions, systems or technology, that might fit your business, giving you a unique advantage over the competition.

3.BE CURIOUS Break some of your daily habits, even if it’s as simple as ordering a new dish at your favorite restaurant. Even the smallest changes can help spark a new idea. Always be on the lookout for new ways to do things. Little innovation are all around you. If you remain curious and keep an open mind, you’ll be surprised as to what might spark the next great idea.

4. PICK THE BRAIN OF A NON-EXPERT Yes, there is a lot to be gained by having access to someone with an expertise in your field, but you can learn a lot from a newcomer as well. They are a blank slate, and may inspire you with their completely unique point of view on things as someone just starting out.

5. BE LESS JUDGMENTAL It’s very easy to dismiss a new idea. You have experience and that can oftentimes lead Top Agent Magazine

to a million reasons why something won’t work. But there really is no harm in ignoring your initial impulse and thinking it though a bit more. If you or someone you work with has passion for an idea, it’s definitely worth pursuing.

6. CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE We tend to look at things in a linear way.

If you feel like you’ve stalled out on something, literally flip the script. Re-imagine it from different perspectives, reverse engineer the process. Anything you can do to see it from all angles, might get the creative juices flowing again, and could even lead to a breakthrough.

7. VALUE CHAOS Yes, it’s great to be organized and have a plan, but sometimes a little randomness can be that added ingredient that makes it all work. One of the major keys to successful disruptive thinking is breaking up everyday patterns. Sometimes the path to rational solution is filled with chaotic moments.

8. BE WILLING TO LET GO Don’t be rigid. Even the best ideas can always be refined and improved. You’ve invested a lot of time in your idea and it can be hard not to cling to it, but input from other people will only strengthen what you want to do.

Having big ideas is great, but you also need to be pragmatic. Recognize changes you might need to make to get your big idea implemented. Disruptive thinking is all about flexibility.

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