This seasoned Realtor® goes back to basics, using ingenuity, skill and the expertise of professionals to create a new, powerful, interactive website (www.PrimeVoyage.com) which directly assesses the value of your home!

Dear Michael,

I got my license in 1977 and started farming a neighborhood in 1978. I walked it religiously until 1989 when the local postman took over the delivery! I followed up by distributing an informational neighborhood newsletter which has, indeed, drawn business over the years. Today, neighborhood farming is still about half of my work.

Yet, after thirty years as a real estate agent, I have utilized one of your most valuable pieces of advice by going back to basics in order to grow a unique offshoot of my existing business. I kept my existing website www.ScottWilliams.com, but created a new one, my fifth building of a website, www.primevoyage.com. I guess you could say that my methods in doing this were a veritable mixture of “Russer” and a little bit of “Gerber”. I was spending so much time running a business and doing things that were providing a living that it took a real effort for me to re-examine the basic features of my business and start my wheels turning. I started thinking things like, “what if I wanted to sell the business” or “what if I wanted to transfer it to someone else?” With all the things a business owner ought to do, taking a hard look at the way my business was operating was the most difficult and the most important lesson I learned. I credit myself with that much, at least, of being able to see the need for reassessment. The experience was humbling. It took nearly two years to hire the right people to build Prime Voyage, and while it has only been active for two months, I’m getting word of mouth buzz on this site. I’m beginning to really reap some of the benefits of offering a service to the public that has not been offered before. I have not only found a niche market, but I actually created one!

With your encouragement, I previously built four different websites. I started with cookie cutter, migrating to custom ones. This time round, I went about finding the right resources and the right people with the right skills, to build an even better website that would allow me to do more with the information I gleaned and actually SHOW visitors that I know the neighborhoods—specifically16 separate neighborhoods in Santa Barbara, CA. I took the traditional farming neighborhood newsletter as the model for the sites, but improved on the print model through brainstorming new ideas with you. Taking the newsletter model to the web allows me to grow the information presented in ways that would never be affordable in print. In the process, my site provides useful tools and information that no other local site offers. Prime Voyage has the first, automated, web-based Home Valuation ToolTM that provides crucial and accurate results which address direct, relevant information for the homeowner, home buyer and the general public.

An accurate analysis of a property is the ‘holy grail’ of real estate sites. No one else out there is offering this. “Zillow” (www.zillow.com) is a similar online resource which claims to perform this service, but such important factors as location and the condition of a property are only included when a third-party assessor is hired to do so.

Heeding your suggestions, again, I hired virtual consultants to help make important decisions in building the new site, such as what language to use and strategies for SEO so that the results and capabilities of the site would be understood by people in the business. I learned that it’s a good idea to have people on board with extreme technical skills. I didn’t know what functions needed to be included or activated, but I knew I needed people who did. I then asked my prime VC to hire a programmer. Following your advice, I gave the work to the experts—my virtual consultants. Today, the work on the site is mostly maintenance and I will occasionally call upon their expertise. I expect this site to take less time than writing the monthly newsletter that I still send out, and the newsletter promotes the site.

One major decision led to the next. Out of initial conversations with these experts, I realized that simply using my own name to dub the website, was basically uninteresting and ultimately, not saleable. Scott Williams is certainly not as enticing as Prime Voyage. I used experts to pick the brand name. Here, too, I learned that branding the product and not myself was the thing to do. I took the advice of the experts who ideated the slogan, “Connecting Your Home with Your Next Adventure.” I would not have come up with this, alone.

I also implemented another of your truly brilliant ideas. I went to online freelance worksites (Elance and Guru) and found voice talent to record phone interviews with my clients, posing to them twelve questions that I came up with, to create testimonial content for the website. I found that there really was a substantial difference in the sound bites I got, as opposed to using written testimonials—especially when you contact a client within a few days either side of escrow closing. If it happens later than that, their comments lose their edge, and that’s when you realize that these are the calls someone should make much sooner! Once you have those sound files, you can offer them on CDs to other potential clients. Buttons to access these interviews are scattered throughout the sites.

This is the first time I’m aware that the public is visiting me—via Prime Voyage, contacting me with questions prompted by their visits to the site. I didn’t recommend my other websites as aggressively as I do this one, because there is active engagement on this site. As I move forward with the feedback I get, it helps me to immediately tweak the site for greater usability. If it operates right, it feels right. If it is going to be interesting to the general public, my own site has to be interesting and lucrative enough for me!

These contacts enable me to gladly walk people through a market analysis of their home’s worth, including market appreciation/depreciation, with Prime Voyage software that can create settings for the particular criteria involved, such as location, condition, size of the home and more. The software, itself, makes things that might be hard to otherwise understand, much easier. My associations with those who have visited the site have been and continue to be positive and much appreciated. I’m always up for a discussion of how much a property is worth or signing up for auto e-mail updates. These are central to making real estate decisions.

At this point in time, I would actually like to find someone out there who could package the software and help promote it for agents to add to their own sites. I don’t want to start selling software. The VCs who built it for me could do installation, but I would like to find that MLS-friendly expert who is interested in promoting sales of this software so other agents can experience the benefit of it as well.

Thank you,

Scott Williams

Scott Williams’ property valuation site, Prime Voyage, is especially oriented toward the home owner who seeks information about what the current market trends are in a particular (Santa Barbara) neighborhood. www.PrimeVoyage.com lets you go back to basics, too!

Contact Scott at scott@primevoyage.com

Prudential California Realty
3868 State Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
(805) 563-4031

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These agents in Pennsylvania resort country maintain that embracing technology, constantly learning its nuances and going virtual are key in differentiating themselves as successful leaders in the industry.

Dear Michael,

We first met you five years ago in Pittsburgh, when you addressed our entire Prudential office staff. As is our custom, we usually go out to dinner with the speaker the night before the presentation. As we walked away from our dinner meeting, I said, “This guy is on to something!” It made me pick my head up and listen to your messages; ones that would harken a new way to not only do business in the future, but keep us afloat and above the competition.

Our business is our priority. The fact that we are and have always been open to new business concepts and changes in the world, naturally predisposed us to taking a closer look at the concepts of virtual assistance and the use of burgeoning technology.

We are very involved in our realtor organizations; we are on the board of directors of the National CBR and NAR associations; we travel about 8 times a year and are on the road, literally, about 45 days out of the year. For many years, before virtual assistance began to become a buzz word, we recognized the beauty of putting the concept in motion and running our business from wherever we were…and are! Our communication model and the way we conduct business is ever changing. In truth, we embraced the virtual model five years ago, when we looked at our business plan and replaced a static model with a virtual one.

Because of our lifestyle and literal “housecalls” to far flung or out-of-state clients, we took the virtual concept one step further and actually became virtual agents. We freed ourselves from the traditional in-office real estate agent model and continue to effectively represent our clients regardless of where we physically are. We have a virtual secretary who comes into the office to file and do updates, but if the weather is really bad in our part of the world, she doesn’t have to come into the office at all and can work from home. If the technology wasn’t there, you couldn’t accomplish this comfortably.

Probably, the biggest glitch in going virtual is mindset—or changing it. As you know, agents, in general, are not willing to jump on anything that requires more effort than the status quo. It’s simple human psychology - if something works, don’t tamper with it.

Our target/niche market focuses on sellers and second-home owners and buyers. Our business plan now includes the adoption of one new technology per month. These include enhancing online listings, online feedback programs, the use of Top Producer 7i, the use of a primary assistant to synchronize client notes, and more. What we have learned is that all business models are in motion and motion has taken us through the virtual world and through the internet. We are so sure of this that we encourage other agents to use VAs and take their show on the road, too! If you don’t embrace technology and leave traditional office tasks to competent experts, you will operate in an inefficient model and not be able to compete in today’s real market.

Because of our physical flexibility, we pride ourselves on superior customer service, backing up our “key to closing” service model. We can confidently advise clients, “mail us the key and tell us where you want the check to go. We do everything else for you.”

Customers place a high value on face-to-face service. Stereotypically, agents don’t make the effort or are unavailable to meet clients in some locations. It’s not unusual for us to get into our car and travel two hours to spend a day with a client getting started in the selling process. We can do this because we have enlisted the benefits of technology to take care of our business needs. We are very pleased with a house-showing coordination center, based in Boston, called E-Showings. When a client sees an interesting listing in the MLS slot, they are contacted by showing agents, who meet with them, and input property information into a system database along with the client’s particular comments or concerns. This provides us with very valuable feedback, is time-saving and serves the client quickly and efficiently. We also use Realtor.com, which offers featured space for virtual property tours. One of the new technologies we will be offering are video tours. Through Microsoft’s local mapping technology (Local Live), Realtors® and clients alike can view the actual geographic characteristics of a particular property.

Our newsletter offers a personal touch to our clients, including interesting local facts and community news pertinent to the new home owner. In addition, we are on 13 different internet sites for total saturation. We diligently aim to stay about 3 to 4 years ahead of our competition, some of whom are just starting to implement the systems we already have in place. Once we master the tasks ourselves, we delegate them out. And, we continually chase people (like you!) who can teach us new things.

Loving what we do as we do, there is no better way to say we have been successful than to attribute it to our thirst for learning and commitment to technology! Embrace it and it will not let you down. Going virtual requires extra effort on the part of the agent; time and money to create an exemplary client service model, continuous energy to stay in the lead of virtual services. If you want to differentiate yourself today and in the future, it is the path you must take.

Sincerely,

Bob and Adrienne Wagner

(”Wags and Abe”)

Wags and Abe may be the veritable poster children of the virtual business model, by embracing technology and using its advances as steppingstones to their next level of leadership in the industry.

They may be contacted at:

Prudential Preferred Realty
3802 State Route 31 – Suite 1
Donegal, PA 15628
(800) 419-7653
(Fax) (724)593-6123
awagner@topproducer.com
www.abeandwags.com

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Picture in your mind a veritable “Garden of Eden”, with lush gardens and landscaping, crystal clear lakes, balmy breezes, tropical quaffs to please and delight your taste buds…and magnificent “clothing optional” real estate. Uh…what was that? The age-old adage, “less is more”, perfectly describes Florida Realtor® Jackie Youngblood’s use of ingenuity and technology to “uncover” her target market. This savvy agent is virtually unchallenged, selling properties in central Florida to targeted buyers who enjoy a special, alternative lifestyle: nudism!

Dear Michael,

Before my husband and I entered the real estate industry, we owned an all-purpose retail business in Georgia, which sold anything from toys to car batteries! I guess you could say it proved that we were, at least, versed in sales!

In 2001 we decided to “retire” to Florida. As nudists, we had previously vacationed in Paradise Lake. Land O’ Lakes, where we currently live, is outside the Paradise Lake resort area in central Florida. At the time, my husband was somewhat familiar with commercial real estate and rental properties.

When we made our move, I really liked the Realtor® representing us. She had key qualities which I admired. She knew the area well and was able to lead us to properties that best suited our needs, but mostly, we knew we could trust what she said and did.

Little did I know that I would later become part of the Patricia Peterman/Vicki Wall Team. I liked their style and their commitment to clients. They treated people the way they liked to be treated, which is never a bad way to start!

Soon after we moved to Land O’ Lakes, I realized that I could do just so much shopping and landscaping and lying out in the sun. My plan was to get a part-time job. So I went to school and took courses to become a real-estate agent myself. I learned very quickly that to be successful in this competitive field, you cannot do it part-time. It has to be a full-time effort, or you’re just not going to make it.

My philosophy was in sync with that of Peterman/Wall: I’d rather be making a little bit of money in real estate, than making no money whatsoever, in real estate. I loved working with people who were more like family than agents; who worked as a team and didn’t try to cut anybody’s throat. Success to me is being able to trust someone in one’s personal life and in business, and I had found it.

My attitude toward running a successful, viable business really turned around when I began to receive the same email from National Realty News, announcing a seminar conducted by a “Michael Russer”. Just like shopping, planting exotic foliage and working on a tan, I felt that there were just so many advertised seminars that I needed to attend. I deleted the message three times! When it appeared for the fourth time, it finally dawned on me that maybe there was something to it.

Needless to say, Michael, I attended and I was in awe of the information—and the sheer amount of it— you presented, I can honestly say that going to your event in Orlando, last May, turned my entire real-estate business around, for the better! At the time, I was doing okay. Now, I am a top listing agent. I’ve gained more professionalism, more clients and the ability to more strongly focus on my business and target market—those who want to live in nudist/clothing optional properties.

I will never forget the expression on your face at the seminar when my colleagues and I volunteered to present our pitch to our target market. You looked completely incredulous—but everybody has to live somewhere!

For us, your most compelling message was to “target”, “target”,”target”!

That advice, combined of course, with your question, “are you doing what you were born to do?” was powerful inspiration. Your enthusiasm and mastery of what you “preach” is contagious and so sensible.

The second biggest and necessary factor in growing a successful business lies in utilizing technology to its fullest, as it applies to your business. Computer tools exist today for just about any business application.

I started by learning how to build my own website (www.skiptheoutfit.com) and how to use the program, “Point Two Agent”. I’ve added to the mix, since then.

For the first time I began to realize the fruits of my labor because I saw things running smoothly with less effort on my part. I had also given up the notion of having to be everything to everyone, by establishing an all-important niche market.

I’m not out there to satisfy everyone and I do sell to non-nudists, as well!

My clients are buyers who come from “up North,” Canada, and internationally, from Germany and England, among other European locations. Nudists and clothing optional buyers are purchasing town homes, condos or single-family homes for investment purposes or to live in on a full or part-time basis. Quite frankly, there’s not a ton of competition out there, in this market!

As for using virtual assistants, I hate to be the one to break it to her, but I recently talked to this particular person, who has been doing off-site office work for a while, which by definition, makes her a virtual assistant! She doesn’t call herself a VA, but when she works for me, she will!

At this point in time, I can only see success for my future. My advice to a new Realtor® is simple: run, run, run as fast as you can to a Michael Russer seminar! It’ll be the best thing you’ve ever done for yourself and your business.

Sincerely,

Jackie Youngblood

Whether you choose to wear just your tan or tropical attire, Jackie can find the perfect Florida dream home for your chosen lifestyle.

Contact Jackie at Peterman/Wall

(813) 909-2092 (office)
(813) 477-7298 (mobile)
bjyounglblood320@gmail.com

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Marco Island REALTORS^®, Alan and Linda Sandlin, remain in the State’s Top 10 and the Nation’s Top 100 Re/MAX agents, while they trek ever westward, remotely combining business and pleasure from the road! “Staying out of their own way,” framing business plans that embrace their passion, vision and burgeoning technology, comprise their success and make them formidable “Virtual Rainmakers.”  Here’s how they do it…

Dear Michael,

As an agent, starting out in 1982, I was doing conventionally well without all the wonderful things everyone now has and uses. My business grew because I was dedicated to knowledge, expertise and service to the customer. Those factors haven’t changed; the way in which we continue to achieve these goals has changed for the better, by readily embracing modern business technology, which, in essence, gives us freedom to more efficiently work the business and enjoy life.

In the mid-90s my husband, Alan, joined me in the real estate business so we could share a career. Two heads were better than one, in our case, because creating a business together merged the best of our individual passions and talents.

Our Five-Year Plans

We came up with (3) five-year-plans, that we maintained, adhered to —and tweaked, when necessary— to this very day.

We were young and enthusiastic so the goal of our first five years was to work as hard as we could to see what we could accomplish. Our second five-year plan qualified us as “Rainmakers” in Howard Brinton’s plan - those people who come up with the ideas, create the systems, make things happen. During this time, we also drew heavily on your own “80/20″ principle, to concentrate on working that 80% core value of our business, including the hiring of other people to do those dollar productive tasks that distract business owners from concentrating on what they do best—which should not include adding toner to the printer or filling the soap dispenser in the restroom!

We are now in our third five-year plan. Living in Marco Island is, indeed, living in paradise; but our love for travel and new experiences become realities; adventures really, because of the business choices we made.

Our Formula for Success

We re-evaluate our business plan each year. In our original vision we thought that we’d probably be looking to retire about now in order to travel and have some down time. What we’ve experienced is that we love the business, want to continue to work it, and still find time to travel.

A major part of that scenario is owed to (my own) acceptance of hiring virtual assistants and to literally carving out periods of time away from the office to re-charge, strategize new ideas and plans and continue to operate our business remotely while enjoying the dreams of our life in traveling.

In fact, as Alan points out, when we’re working from our motor coach, we are one-hundred-percent totally focused on a particular client or project at a time. The atmosphere of freedom more closely allows our expertise to flow, without the day-to-day distractions of being available at or through our office.

What Actually Is A VA?

In some folks’ minds, at least in the past, a VA was someone who couldn’t really compete in the real working world. As we all know, this is nowhere near who and what they are. VAs represent the best of their areas of specialization, often coming from high-powered executive jobs in the corporate and marketing world and/or true entrepreneurs who are independently running their own businesses. When our first marketing manager started her own internet marketing business, we learned first hand that she didn’t have to actually be in the office to do the things she was doing for us, and inadvertently, became our first VA.

Today, our team consists of a full-time listings manager; a full-time closings manager and one in-house marketing manager. In addition, we have several marketing VAs, a communication manager, a weekend manager, a couple of part-time staffers and six partner/buyer specialists. Real estate will always be a hands-on business. But, here again, and with the help of your principles (especially your Mr. Internet’s Online Dominance Training Program), we have hired people to cover our absences, including weekends, so we are not working eighty hours a week and, literally, stop talking about real estate after 8PM!

As Alan says time and time again, “How do you know what you want to be, where you want to go and how to get there if you don’t have a vision? If you don’t know where you want to go, you’re probably not going to get there!” Your message rings true one-hundred-percent of the time. Thank you, Michael.

Sincerely,

Alan and Linda Sandlin

The Sandlin Team has taken virtual assistance one step further by taking their show on the road for four months in a business-equipped motor coach! Ninety-percent of the time they utilize a standard air card, with no transmission problems at all. The remaining ten-percent of the time they may be so remote that they forego communication. They call that “vacation.”

Contact Alan and Linda at:

The Sandlin Team
Re/Max Results Realty
847 N. Collier Blvd.
Marco Island, FL 34145
Direct – 239-389-3200
Toll free – 800-423-2962ext. 3200

Or

Linda@marcorealtysource.com

Visit their award-winning site at www.MarcoRealtySource.com

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