Making Agents Rich Episode 138 [0:00:00] This program is brought to you by the podcastfactory.com. For a transcript of today's show, go to makingagentsrich.com. I would ignore paying for buyer leads that are off of someone else's listings and turn around and take that money and go get myself some seller leads so I can have those listings now. This is the only show on the Internet dedicated to making agents rich. If you are looking for bright, shiny objects or suffering from information overload, please stop listening now and get a therapist. [0:01:06] But if you are seeking proven systems that will give you true freedom, you're in the right place. You are listening to the Making Agents Rich Show. Today's show is brought to you by The 5 Levels Of Success For A Real Estate Agent. Most real estate agents are operating a roller coaster of sales, not knowing when their next lead, referral, or commission check is coming. If you are after consistent, predictable sales in your business and you want to take it to the next level, the 5 Levels book is for you. All you have to do to get your hands on a copy is go to makingagentsrich.com/5levelsbook. Jonathan: You are listening to Making Agents Rich number 138. I have with me here Darin Persinger and I am Jonathan Rivera and we are your leaders to getting rich. Darin, how are you, sir? [0:02:02] Darin: I am fantastic. Happy 2015 because this is technically the first time that we're recording in 2015 even though there has been some shows. Jonathan: Yeah. It's the second time. Darin: Not technically recording. We've already recorded but that didn't work so well. Jonathan: Yeah. We recorded this show. For you, MARSians, out there, we recorded this show once and it didn't work. We actually recorded a set of shows and now we're doing them again so hopefully we'll be even better this time around. So what do we have in store for us today, Darin? Darin: Since this is our kickoff to 2015 show episode, I just thought we could do like one of those types of prediction shows or here's what's coming up but I wanted to go in the direction of what you should avoid in 2015, what we've kind of learned from the last few years in business and let's talk about what we think agents should avoid moving forward. [0:03:01] Jonathan: Man, that -- Darin: So they don't go broke because it's hard to get rich when you're broke. Jonathan: I like it. I like the direction you're going and I'm looking forward to it. But before we jump into that main topic, don't you have a Numbers Never Lie for us, Darin? Darin: I do. One thousand seven hundred and thirty-one. Jonathan: One thousand seven hundred and thirty-one, what you're getting back for your taxes. Darin: I'm not getting anything around from my taxes. Jonathan: I like that. That makes me happy to hear. Some people like to get a refund but you obviously made too much money so you don't get a refund, huh? Darin: That's what they tell me. Jonathan: Good for you, man. Congratulations -- I think. Darin: It's the cost of paying rent here in this great country of the United States so that's all I have to say about that. Jonathan: One thousand seven hundred and thirty-one dollars is what it costs to pay rent where? [0:04:03] Darin: No, no, no, no. That is along rent though. One thousand seven hundred and thirty-one dollars is the average rent cost for a one-bedroom apartment in Ballard, Washington which is an area, it's a neighborhood area of Seattle. Jonathan: Okay. So it is near the central metro area, this Ballard? Yeah, man, because that's city prices there. That's expensive, one bedroom. Darin: What's Orlando like? Jonathan: Dude, for one bedroom? I wouldn't know. I would have to say then I'd have to compare to some of the areas near here. I mean, it's not even a thousand bucks. I mean, I'm sure it's like $700, $800. Maybe in a nice apartment where you have amenities like pool and gym and all that it might approach $900 but certainly not $1,731 for a one bedroom. Darin: Yeah. Gosh, that's expensive. [0:05:01] And it's a one bedroom so it's not like you're getting a roommate to help you offset some costs or something. Jonathan: No kidding. Now, what are mortgages like over there? Because that to me, it almost seems like a mortgage payment. Darin: Well, it's going to depend upon your down payments then obviously of what you've been able to save. But Ballard? Man, a one-bedroom condo in Ballard you can probably get for $300,000, $350,000. Jonathan: Oh, wow. Darin: So not cheap but if you start moving a little bit further out of the Seattle area, prices are going to drop for you a little bit and then you can afford something. But as you bring that up on what you can afford to buy, the required down payment is going down to 3% this year. Jonathan: Yeah. Darin: The secondary market, they're okay buying stuff that is at 3%. So you have the government back stuff and then you have the secondary market all coming down to that 3%, 3.5%. They are dropping PMI insurance costs. [0:06:10] Jonathan: Right. Darin: I just duplicated it. I said PMI and "I" is insurance. I said PMI insurance. They're dropping the cost of PMI. So there're good indicators of why you should be buying right now. Costs of rent are going way up and the cost to get into something is coming down. If I was a first time home buyer right now, I would be looking at buying. Jonathan: Well, there's that opportunity and we talked about this the first time we recorded this show but knowing your market is one of the things that we talk about a lot and knowing that this is the rental market in Ballard, a smart agent in that area knows that that could be used for their marketing. Rents are going up. Rents are more expensive. Why not buy? So tapping into that pain that people are feeling because I think that you also mentioned that $1,731 is the rent right now but the rents have been increasing there. Is it the double digits? I mean, it's -- [0:07:10] Darin: Yeah. Jonathan: Yeah. So, I mean -- Darin: It's like 13%, 14% every quarter. Jonathan: Right! So, I mean, there you go. All this pain is converging and you got to pick up on that as an agent and use that in your marketing. Hey, your rent's going up and you're not getting anything for it. You can own a house for this much or you could own your own property for this much. You can use that in your favor. Darin: One of the things politically that they're trying to do in Seattle to help tenants with that is they're trying to get a law passed that landlords need to give 90 days' notice if they're going to be increasing rent because it's becoming so difficult for people to find their next place or come up with the money if rent goes up. If you're paying $1,700 for rent and it goes up a measly 5%, that's still a lot of money, an extra -- well, most people are living paycheck to paycheck. Five percent of $1,700 a month? You have to start to figure out what you're giving up -- [0:08:13] Jonathan: Right. Darin: -- for that. So, yeah, you got to know your economics. That's why real estate is a little bit loco. You got to know your economics, what's going on here economically, jobs-wise, cost-of-living-wise, politically, and then where does that take the market and how do I craft my message because of that? Jonathan: Exactly. That's it. Use what's going on around you to craft your message. Use your knowledge of the market and what's going on to craft the message that hits home. I like that. Darin: You and I have both used this technique for marketing. It's leveraging what is already going on in pop culture, right? So let's give a quick marketing tip before we get into what agents should avoid in 2015. Okay. I'll tie this all together. So you and I both use this technique of what's going on in pop culture. I've seen you do stuff about Taylor Swift I think. [0:09:11] Jonathan: Yeah. Shake it off. Darin: I've done stuff about the Kardashians. Yeah, you shake it off. I've done stuff on the Kardashians. The reason why you do that -- well, why do you do that? I know why I do that. Remember where you talked about why we do that but do you have a reason why you do that? Jonathan: Sure. Darin: Or you just do it? Jonathan: No, I mean, first off, Ben Settle's School of Email Marketing, that's one of the things we learned to do. But really it's already going on. The news is already covering that, media is covering that so that's already in front of people and so you take something that they're already familiar with and then you twist it to what you need it to do -- Darin: Right. Jonathan: -- what your marketing message is and the call to action that you place in there. But you use that pop culture and that popularity to get attention, snap people out of their daze, pull them into your message, entertain them, and then get them to take action. [0:10:05] Darin: Right. That's why we have TV shows and movies like Titanic. We create a fictional setting inside something that's real that people are already familiar with or even like movies like Indiana Jones where he's going up against the Nazis. We anchor something that is already real for people so it's easier for them to accept the story that we're telling. When you're crafting your message then, as you look at what's going on locally, okay, rents are on the rise so much so that politically the city wants to get involved and tell landlords that they have to give a longer notice, but to get into it properly if you want to buy, it's going to cost you less down payment and because you have less down payment you have to pay a thing called private mortgage insurance but the cost of that is going down. [0:11:05] Jonathan: Yeah. Darin: When you know all these things and you put them into the blender and you turn it on, that's what gives you, at least if you're here in the Seattle area, a great marketing message. You just need to figure out who to target with that message then do some research on that. Who's most likely to want to hear your message? So getting into today's topic, "What Agents Should Avoid in 2015," one of the things I really think they should avoid, Jonathan, is the outsourcing, the abdication of their marketing messaging. They're starting -- not "starting." They've been giving away their website marketing, going with template websites. Everything is the same. They are email marketing; they are blog post marketing, they have newsletters. They've been giving everything away and I think in 2015 they should be taking that back. They should avoid the one-size-fits-all marketing track out there. [0:12:08] Jonathan: MARSians, if you remember, this is Darin's hashtag, #takebackyourmarketing. This is something that you and I have -- I don't know if we've been at odds on it but I always want to do more and you always want to do less. I say: Oh, we should do everything, all-encompassing, take care of everything so they don't have to think; and you have continued to push me and say they need to think, they need to know what's done, they need to know this stuff or else they're not going to make it. I kind of get it. I mean, from my perspective as a provider, I want to do everything but really we can. I mean, you guys, you MARSians out there, you're really the one that's responsible for your marketing, you're responsible for whether or not your paycheck's coming so outsourcing all that, maybe not a great idea. [0:13:00] Darin: Look at it this way. The reason why you should avoid this is if you have a business, you really don't have any value in it if you've outsourced it all, okay? So if I come along and I say I want to buy your business, what value is it -- Now, let me back up a second. If I was going to go to McDonald's and say I want to buy a McDonald's franchise and I go to McDonald's and they say, no, there's too many McDonald's franchises already in there, then I have to go to the local McDonald's franchisee and go, "Can I buy yours? Do you want to retire? Do you want to get out of business soon?" At the top level, they have probably some rules about how frequently, how close in proximity you can have McDonald's. In real estate, there's nothing really like that for an agent's business. So if I come in and I go, "Yeah. You're looking to retire? I'd love to buy your business instead of just starting from scratch. Tell me how you generate web leads? How do you generate Internet leads?" [0:14:09] "Well, we have this software company, this website company that we pay $1,500 a month to and they do it for us." "Oh. What's the name of that company? Hmm. Okay. All right. Got it. All right. And then how do you follow up with your past clients and referrals?" "Oh. We have this email marketing software that sends out emails for us and we have this newsletter program that sends out stuff for us." "Oh. What's the name of those companies? Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm. Okay. Got you. All right." And then you go. "Okay. How much value do you put in my company? Would you like to buy it?" "No, that's okay. I don't think I'm going to buy it. I'm just going to go talk to these companies that you're paying. Thanks. Bye-bye." If you have nothing that's proprietary, nothing that is you, nothing that you've created, you're in trouble. Jonathan: That's scary. [0:15:00] Darin: I think you got to avoid, ignore -- let me read something to you real quick, Jonathan. Jonathan: Okay. Darin: This is an article -- and we can get back -- that ties in to what I'm kind of saying here. But this is an article from Kendyl Young. I have met Kendyl at a few places I was speaking at when I was speaking. But she wrote an article called "Everything the Tech Gurus are Telling You is Bullshit, and Here's Why," okay? Second paragraph in -- it's a long article. We'll link this up. But second paragraph in: "In 2014, I bet heavily on Internet lead generation, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and video email marketing. I researched the best platforms and practices, sought the counsel of the foremost experts, and hired the best talent." "I had some great wins and surprising losses this year. I'll get into that in a minute but I realized that the real estate industry often markets tech on the Internet as a replacement for human connection, as a convenience for the agent, and as a crutch for a basic lack of knowledge and expertise." [0:16:08] Jonathan: Wow. Darin: "In the real estate industry, technology is marketed as a shortcut to profits and that is complete bullshit." Jonathan: Wow. Yeah. You have to get me the link to that. That's like five emails I can write right there. That is awesome. Darin: You know what? What I love about what she did is she invested and tested. Jonathan: Right. Well, you preach that all the time. I mean, you don't know unless you go out there and do and come up with your own data because everything else is hearsay. Darin: Yup. So she said, "I invested in it." Oh, she says, "I bet on it." Jonathan: Bet. It was a gamble. Darin: I gambled on it. What I love about how real she is in this and how brave, how much courage is she was really kind of the poster child for a lot of companies. They were like, "Oh, look what she's doing. Oh, she's doing these neighborhood videos so she's doing this over here. She's doing this. Oh, look at this great platform she has. Oh, she really has social figured out" so a lot of the speakers were talking about -- [0:17:14] Jonathan: Ugh, using her credibility. Darin: -- what she was doing. Jonathan: Right. They don't even do it themselves and they're talking about other people who do it. There's something to avoid. Avoid like 90% of the speakers on stages because they are full of it. That's my tip to you guys out there. And one of the reasons I don't go out and speak anymore is because I hate being surrounded by schmucks. Darin: It's hard to carry on a conversation with those kind of people who you think are schmucks, huh? Jonathan: I forgot, dude. You're reminding me, man, because if we're going to get like this and we're going to get on this, I'm going to get fired up because there are so many people out there that just talk, talk, talk and they have never done anything. That's exactly why they're talking and that's what people don't understand. These guys go like there're guys that go from conference to conference. They pay for their own plane ticket. They pay for their own hotel. And they do it all for their ego just to get in front of you or hopefully sell you something and they really don't have anything to offer. That's why they are up on that stage, believe it or not. [0:18:13] Darin: Well, Tony Robbins says the reason why anyone does anything is to feel significant, right? Jonathan: Yeah. Darin: So I look at that and they're trying to feel significant in what they're doing. I had some coaching clients tell me that before they started coaching with me, they were using their in-office productivity coach and it wasn't until later did they find out and did they start asking the right questions that this productivity coach had only one year of experience, did like three transactions the first year and then became the productivity coach. Jonathan: Yeah, because they weren't making enough doing transactions. That's what happens. Darin: So this is the thing that I want to caution you that you need to ignore and avoid. [0:19:02] Sometimes you can't -- I guess here's the way I'd phrase this. Ignore and avoid having 100% faith and trust in someone or something. Dig. Ask the tough questions because I have this theory that the reason why a lot of people get into coaching or training stuff and then what they coach and train is their theory on the way it should work, like it didn't work for me but it should've. I shouldn't have to do all those things. I shouldn't have to invest that money. I shouldn't have to do that kind of marketing. I shouldn't have to ask people if they want to write an offer. I shouldn't have to have a call to action. Jonathan: What? Darin: I should just be able to engage and have fun and connect and build relationships. Jonathan: Uh. Darin: And make a lot of money. That's the way it should work. Jonathan: So Gen Y of you. Darin: Yeah. So just be very cautious of -- Jonathan: Entitlement. Darin: Perfect. You're so good at summing it up, of making it concise. [0:20:03] But a lot of people out there think business should be done a certain way. That's not reality. Business is done the way business is done. So three things to avoid maybe as we're getting close to the end here. Jonathan: Okay. Darin: I'll start. You can start to think about something. I'm going to say the one thing that you should avoid -- and this is really big I know but avoid outsourcing your own marketing. You've got to take back your own marketing. You have to learn that skill set. You have to. You must. Jonathan: I agree, and the last time -- Darin: Which, by the way, it's really weird. If we were doing a show for chiropractors, Jonathan, I would say you don't have to. I would be more on board, Jonathan, with providing it for them and doing it for them. The thing is is that a lot of sellers, home sellers are going to real estate agents with the assumption that they're professional marketers, they know how to market and sell a home. [0:21:05] But if an agent is outsourcing everything, what we're doing is we're creating a lie and I don't like that. People are hiring you for your marketing expertise. You can't say, "I'm an expert in marketing" and then turn around and hire someone else because you're like, "I don't know what I'm doing. I'm screwed. I guess I'll just hire this company over here to do my marketing." How do you feel good about that? Jonathan: Don't worry. They'll be a productivity coach next year. Darin: All right. You got something to avoid or ignore in 2015? Jonathan: Actually, avoid. So you said avoid outsourcing your marketing. I don't want to do an avoid one. I want to do a create one. I'm a fan of do work. In the same token as avoiding outsourcing your marketing, I say create your own assets. Assets are things as simple as the letter that you send out to people, emails that you write, the systems and processes that you create in your business. [0:22:04] All those things are assets to you and you create one at a time, and they are the ones that are going to be the building blocks if you want to sell your business later or if you want to create a second business. These assets are the same because -- It's funny that you mentioned the chiropractor thing because I would think that we give them quite similar advice: Keep an eye on your marketing; create assets in your business so that you could sell it later. But you said you might be a little more lax on them. I wonder why. Darin: Well, because they don't have to be professional marketers. Jonathan: They just have to be professional chiropractors. Got it. Darin: Right. They're not saying, "Hey, will you do my marketing? Will you market my back for me?" Jonathan: Right. Okay. Darin: "Will you fix my back for me?" For home sellers, there's a level of, hey, you know how to do marketing, right? Jonathan: That's what they're hiring you for. Right. I get it. Darin: Right. You know how to do copywriting, create images, get inside the buyer's head, who's the type of buyer that's going to buy this and why would they be interested and why are they going to pay this price that I need. [0:23:06] Jonathan: Right. Yeah. Now it makes perfect sense. Thank you. Darin: Okay. And then wrapping this up, I think you have to ignore -- how do I say? I can't. You listen to me and then you be concise with this. Jonathan: Okay. Darin: I'm not necessarily anti-Zillow or Trulia, okay? I'm not anti any business. I'm a capitalist. I'm for the free market. They developed a business model that is working very well for them so good on them. But when it comes to my fellow real estate agents, it doesn't make any sense that you're paying a third party, you're paying a company to get buyer leads -- to get buyer leads! Buyer leads? We're talking about buyer leads. [0:24:01] You're paying someone else to get buyer leads off of other agents' listings, not even your own listings. You're not saying, "Lock that down and all buyer leads that come in off of my listings, give them to me." We're getting them off of any listing -- buyer leads. I would ignore paying for buyer leads that are off of someone else's listings and turn around and take that money and go get myself some seller leads so I can have those listings now. That doesn't make any sense. Jonathan: I don't have a way to sum that up but I get what you're saying. Ignore the buyer leads and go for sellers. I mean, we've been preaching this for a long time. Darin: Yeah. Jonathan: So I'm with you. I mean, it's so simple. You get the listing; you put the sign in the yard. That's the content. Actually, I put it out there but I think it was Making Agents Rich 10 where we talked about the only real content that you need. We dispelled the myth of content marketing and the only content you need is listings. That's the content. You get to market the listing and get all the buyer leads off of it. [0:25:13] Darin: That's what buyers want and still want and really want in today's marketplace. As we end this show, let me just tell you a little something about buyer leads, Jonathan. I'm marketing a listing and it went on the market yesterday. As I sit here, I'm looking at the leads that we've generated and it's nine leads -- Jonathan: Off your one listing. Darin: -- overnight came in. Jonathan: Right. Darin: Off the one listing. Jonathan: I mean, how much better does it get than that? Darin: Take back your marketing, guys. Jonathan: Awesome. Darin: And gals. Jonathan: MARSians. MARSians, take back your -- Darin: MARSians. Jonathan: Take back your marketing, MARSians. So, Darin, what do we have coming up for next time? Darin: All right. It will feel like it's along the same thread the next episode but I wanted to go into this idea of being a rock star agent. [0:26:10] Jonathan: [Imitates electric guitar sound] Bill and Ted. Darin: Yeah. A lot of the gurus tell you to be a rock star and normally I would disagree with them, but I'm going to tell you why I actually agree with being a rock star in the next episode. Jonathan: That is an interesting twist. Okay. I'm looking forward to that. So that's a wrap for Making Agents Rich number 138, supersized episode for you guys and girls out there. Thank you, MARSians, for tuning in and thank you, Darin, for always keeping us thinking. Yeah, that just happened. If you got that kick in the butt you needed to jumpstart your real estate business, then you can thank us by rating this show on iTunes. Thanks for tuning in, and remember to subscribe to get new shows delivered free. This is the podcastfactory.com. [0:27:17] End of Audio