You have quite a few choices for real estate conferences to attend.
- There’s the big one held every autumn: the National Association of REALTORS® Conference & Expo.
- There are the enlightening Inman Connect events — hosted in New York and San Francisco.
- There are regional conventions and seminars, which take place more frequently.
There are also quite a few roadblocks, however, that prevent many industry pros from attending these real estate conferences:
- Schedules don’t always align.
- Agents can’t afford to spend days away from selling.
- The cost to attend is just too … well … costly.
For a whole host of reasons, we understand it’s not always feasible to make your way to the biggest and best events held year-round.
That’s why we started Nurture Con.
You can sign up to today get access to all sessions featured in our online summit today and, in the meantime, check out some bonus expert advice from Nurture Con speakers for additional marketing tips.
Without further ado, here are 30 marketing insights from 30 of our Nurture Con guest speakers — each offering a wealth of real estate experience and marketing expertise that can help you build your business.
1) Stacie Staub — Founder and Owner, West + Main Homes
“If you don’t already have a database uploaded to a good platform, then you are missing out on some automated marketing, as well as the opportunity to target your different audiences through custom marketing pieces designed to reach people where they spend the most time: their email inbox.”
2) Jonathan Greene — Team Leader, Gosselin & Greene at Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty
“If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile that’s complete and perfect, you’re just tossing money out the door, because you could put your name into Google with your agency — anyone can — and LinkedIn will be in the top three [results] every single time. … If you’re going to use a [social] network, make sure that you’re going to use the network. Keep your profile current.”
3) Lisa Fettner — VP of Marketing, ReferralExchange
“Help prospects get to know the ‘virtual you.’ Use a current, professional photo so people can recognize you. Present consistent company, contact and sales information everywhere you’re listed. Have a clear and unique selling proposition to stand out from the crowd.”
4) Jeff Lobb — Founder & CEO, SparkTank Media
“Content does two things: It provides your visitors with valuable information that they are interested in, and it helps you rank organically over time on Google. The more content you have, the greater the opportunity to show up in the specific searches you are targeting.”
5) Michael Thorne — REALTOR®, RE/MAX Little Oak Realty
“Our industry is good at marketing ‘vanilla,’ Many people like vanilla—but they don’t love it. If you want buyers and sellers to remember you and your listings, you need to give your audience something that’s valuable and makes you stand out.”
6) Juliana Casale — Director of Content, Placester
“Being a real estate agent is like running a small business, and no business succeeds without a business plan. Content marketing is the same way: You won’t see a return on your efforts without a thoughtful, comprehensive strategy.”
7) Eric Sachs — President and Co-founder, Breakthrough Broker
“[If] you get 90% of things done, but you never finish it … you get zero from it. So compartmentalize. … Take your ‘should,’ take your ‘need,’ and do one thing at a time [with your real estate marketing]. Take one thing, get it 100% done, and you have something.”
8) Sharon Steele — REALTOR, Sharon Steele Real Estate
“If [my audience] can search the hundreds of [blog] posts I have made over the years and come up with just the information they are looking for about a local business or event, I would think that would be a huge benefit.”
9) Steve Pacinelli — CMO, BombBomb
“Every email you send trains people to open or delete your next email. So when you’re setting up your campaigns or you’re setting up an email workflow, you want to make sure that you come from a place or a point of value. … We call it the ‘ART’ of email sending. That stands for anticipated, relevant, and timely.”
10) Dustin Oldfather — CEO of The Oldfather Group, Ocean Atlantic Sotheby’s International Realty
“As we move through the next correction, consumers will still get value from the economy of scale for marketing distribution and service of buyer lead capture and service. Consumers now expect and demand (fairly) immediate follow-up and excellent service.”
11) Marguerite Martin — Agent, Windermere Real Estate
“[Clients] still are going to ask for our help at the end. They consume all of this stuff, they’re looking for this information … but they still want and need your assistance at the end. So you’re not giving away the goodies [with free content]. The more information you give them, the more interested they are in you.”
12) Sam Clarke — Director of Growth Marketing, Placester
“Marketers are fixated on growing the number of visits to their websites. While this is an important investment, it usually takes a long time to start seeing results. A quicker way to grow your pipeline is through conversion rate optimization (CRO). This focuses on converting more of the traffic currently on your site. Best of all, It’s easy to set up and a breeze to track.”
13) Judy Weiniger — Owner and Team Leader, The Weiniger Group at RE/MAX Premier
“I’ve learned that the website has to be the hub. That’s where we want to drive everyone. You have to invest. So invest in a great site, invest in a photographer. Make sure your photographs are gorgeous. All of this content is hopefully reinforcing [your] brand.”
14) Melanie Piche — Broker, The BREL Real Estate Team
“Anybody can put your house on the MLS, and take some cool photos. … [Go] after that market that doesn’t know they want to buy yet and doesn’t know they want to buy in your neighborhood [with your real estate marketing].”
15) Nick Baldwin — Director of Social Media & Tech and Listing Specialist, Keller Williams NJ Metro Group
“To run a successful business, you have to simultaneously think at a high level and get your hands dirty. We try to get the group every day to think bigger and we try in our businesses to think bigger, but at the same time, we’re right in the trenches. I think if you’re doing that, you’re on the right track.”
16) Sara MacLennan — REALTOR and Director of Marketing, Liv Real Estate
“If we give the consumer what they want, and do it exceptionally well, they will remember us and our business will grow. … You’d be hard-pressed to find us online in 2005, and today, our websites get almost 3 million page views per month because we give … area buyers and sellers what they are looking for.”
17) Raj Qsar — Principal and Owner, The Boutique Real Estate Group
“Give them something they don’t know. ‘Hey, did you know that this neighborhood on the 4th of July actually shut down the streets? There’s a live band, a taco cart, and the local fire department comes up and does a parade with all the kids?’ [That’s] the stuff that … provides value to these people who wanna spend a couple million bucks on a home.”
18) Courteney McDonnell — Director of Customer Engagement, Placester
“Real estate agents have entire networks of contacts who shouldn’t be marginalized by the appeal of a shiny new lead — whether it’s a past client, a new client, a friend, a lender, et cetera. The goal should be to find tools and systems that alleviate some of the early lifting, but they should go into lead nurturing for the long haul.”
19) Leigh Brown — CEO, RE/MAX Executive Realty
“Clients are coming to us armed with more knowledge and education than ever before, but they still crave professional guidance and advice in understanding the data sets surrounding local real estate. … Focus on the consumer. Figure out what you can offer that helps them reach their goals — not yours — and start setting yourself apart.”
20) Philip Becker — REALTOR, Becker Properties
“Reinvest as much of your earnings in the first year back into your business and yourself in the form of education, and do something with your business every day — no matter what.”
21) Lisa Johnson Sevajian — Agent, North of Boston Living Group
“Social media is an extremely valuable tool that has helped me grow a successful real estate business. This new medium can seem daunting without a focused plan. However, if you invest in your online presence, you will see a dramatic increase in your profitability through your extended marketing reach.”
22) Molly McKinley — EVP of Marketing, Relola
“If you want to be found online, you have to share what you know. … I fundamentally believe that real estate agents and real estate brokers are truly the keepers of all things local. … This is your secret sauce. You are the keepers of local information.”
23) Ian Martins — Team Lead of SMB Sales, Placester
“Lead generation starts with learning which ‘digital neighborhoods’ your audience lives in, then approaching that same audience with something more compelling than a traditional mailer.”
24) Peter R. Lorimer — CEO, PLG Estates
“Ask the questions, ‘Who am I? What’s my value add to the industry?’ Then, carve out your niche. Building a personal brand is kind of scary. … Be bold. Don’t be afraid to look opinionated. Be vulnerable. Don’t be afraid to put content out there that people will question.”
25) Kara MacDonald — VP, Pruitt Title, LLC
“I see [some real estate pros] giving up a little bit too soon [with online lead generation], which is such a tragedy. Because once they are consistent … those leads can come in and you’re no longer buying leads online and having to make cold calls, which is what I love to see happen.”
26) Tristan Ahumada — CEO of Lab Coat Agents and Tristan and Associates
“Don’t be scared to test [things] out, even if you’re doing them wrong. A lot of people get scared, they’re like, ‘I’m not doing this right and I look like an idiot.’ It’s better to look like an idiot than not try it at all.”
27) Amanda Todd — CEO, The Amanda Todd Real Estate Group
“People don’t want to just read about real estate all the time. What matters is for your name to be the first one to come to mind when people think of real estate. Yes, people like to know what’s going on in the market, but they also like to know what’s going on this weekend.”
28) Justin Stutz — VP of Training and Education, The Modern Day Agent
“Stay relevant. Relevancy is one of the most important factors to retaining past clients. Just because someone is not actively buying or selling real estate doesn’t mean you don’t have ways to add value to their life.”
29) Katie Lance — CEO and Owner, Katie Lance Consulting
“Marketing is about the marathon, not the sprint. You may not see results from an ad you do today, but it’s the cumulative effect of what you do day in and day out. … There’s a lot of benefit in taking some time as a brand new agent to think about why [you] got into the business. … What’s your goal? How do you want to come across?”
30) Bella Caballero — Content Marketing Associate, Placester
“I built my video portfolio using technology from every price point: from flimsy $30 cameras to cinema-quality behemoths. If you can commit to finding (or making) the right light, collecting crisp audio, and creating compelling content, then it won’t matter if the camera is professional-level or an iPhone. Video is engaging when it looks and sounds good and offers something to the viewer.”
Watch all of our real estate marketing sessions from Nurture Con today by clicking below:
