December 2023 Newsletter

Southeast Region Sponsors

Dawn’s Coffee Talk

Happy Holidays Southeast Region!!  Grab your favorite Christmas/Holiday Mug and let’s make time for a Coffee Talk!  Can you believe we are about to wrap up 2023?!!  I think the older we get the faster time flies.  Seems like yesterday I was celebrating the ringing in of the new year at one of my favorite restaurants. (Man oh man, I can just taste some of that yumminess!”)

As I prepare to close out my 2023 year, I will set time aside to really reflect on all the events and emotions that consumed me during this year.  The good, bad, and the ugly moments.  I will ask myself, “Are you better this year than you were last year?”, “Are you becoming the person you want to be?”,  “Have you been the leader that you would want to follow?”, “Have you said ‘YES’ to the things you should say ‘YES’ to and ‘NO’ to the things that you should say ‘NO’ to?, and finally “Have you been a kind, authentic, fierce leader?”.  I will spend time reflecting on those questions. I will pull out my calendar and review all the things that I said ‘YES’ to and evaluate whether they the right “Yesses”.  I will look over my journal entries and see where I was dealing with tough things and either giving in to emotion or becoming an overcomer.  Once this is done, I will then ask myself a simple question, “What do I need to do in 2024 to become the person God created me to be?”.  That simple question will lead to filling in all the squares of my Growth Plan.  I will know the books I need to read, the training I need to go to, the podcasts that I need to listen to, and the coaches that I need to hire.  I will start January 1, 2024, with a plan.  Many people don’t take the time to do this kind of “self-work”.  They charge into the new year with no plan and expect to come out of the year a different person.  Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” May I encourage you to “sharpen your ax” during this holiday season.  Eat all of the treats, and enjoy every special moment, yet when it is all done make time for yourself to create your 2024 growth plan. For many of us, this next year will be extremely tough.  We will work harder than we have ever worked for less money than we have ever made.  We will see the Storm coming and decide to find the other buffaloes to charge it.  I am confident that the Southeast Region will come out on top again as the #1 Region for all of KWRI in 2023.  I am also confident that if we continue to do what we NEED to do with this storm ahead we will be better than ever in 2024.  I am choosing to hang out with other buffaloes.  I choose to Charge the Storm…..with Calm.  Will you join me? 

If so, please use this growth plan to get you started.  In each square, write down the things you will be committed to doing each month to grow into your best self.  Don’t forget to put Family Reunion in the February square!  With Tony Robbins and Mel Robbins, we are all destined to become better in 2024.  Also note:  if your last name is Robbins….you might become successful and famous.  There seems to be a pattern!  LOL

In closing, may each of you fully enjoy and embrace the JOY of this season.  As I take my Santa Sleigh back to Louisiana for one last Christmas in our home, I will be thinking of all the greatness that is to come as your Regional Director in 2024.  Success is simple, not easy.  I am ready for the challenge. 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year from my family to YOURS!  

Dawn

From November KWRI Reports:  In an effort to recognize individual teams and groups we are using KWRI reports which reflect GCI.

PATRICK’S TECH TALK

Ready to create a killer newsletter that engages, entertains, and converts?

We all know that our success in real estate is closely tied to being in the right relationships, at the right moment, as often as we can. There are many ways to achieve this end, yet most of which involve some variation of the “36 Touch Campaign” for those with whom we have existing relationships. The idea behind this campaign is that you will reach out to, or give a personal touch, that segment of contacts at least 36 times a year using a variety of communication types (phone, text, email, in-person, direct mail, etc…).

While our clients find value in learning about where they live, the value of their home, or where it is that they might wish to move, an often overlooked opportunity is that of a newsletter. I get so many questions about them. And with the holidays upon us, and 2024 around the corner, it’s a good time to
explore the idea. A newsletter can be great at supporting a 36 Touch.

Some frequently asked questions include:

How do I write an easy newsletter?

What’s the most effective one?

What does it need to have?

Are pictures most important, or just the text content?

Do I even have time to do it?

While I can’t answer all these questions for you, let’s at least reframe what a newsletter is. Think of it less of a blanket communication to a wide audience, and more of an intimate conversation with an old friend. If you were creating a monthly email to a close group of friends who know, like, and trust you, what would they want to hear about? How would you frame it up? Would you make them feel special like they were part of a club? Or would you speak to them as if they were random people you’re hoping to blast with real estate information? Would they like a private preview of a cool luxury home or a unique property that just hit the market (even if they won’t or can’t buy it)? Or just some random MLS photos?

What value are you providing them? I can say personally, that if a good friend of mine was creating a digital memoir through this channel, a journal of their experiences in their profession through a lens I’d enjoy, telling stories while providing information that could benefit me, you best believe I’d be more likely to stick around and look at it.

The road to a HIGHLY effective newsletter isn’t a simple one. But it can be one of the most effective tools to stay in front of a targeted group of people over a long time. This is a truth that goes far beyond real estate.

Newsletter best practices:

– Choose a format. Whatever you decide to include, create a template of sorts. Say, I’ll include 2 events, an article, five pictures. Doesn’t matter what it is. But your primary focus is to first eliminate as much prep-work as possible. When you know the slots that need filling, it makes the job easier to do yourself, or to leverage to an admin.

– Your newsletter is not the place to sell someone a product, but a place to grow and maintain trust, as well as emotional proximity.

– Write each newsletter as if you’re creating it only for your target audience. Do you farm a certain service area? Do you mostly list homes in certain communities? Are you more city- centric? Whatever it may be, write and present content that someone from that area, or looking to move to that area would be interested in. This can be more than just a list of events
happening locally.

– Promote the value of working with an expert in the industry. Remember, value not perceived is no value at all.

– Every newsletter needs something that can be clicked on. This can be a listing, a survey response, an RSVP for an event, or some kind of interaction. Not only are click throughs the best
metric when it comes to a newsletter’s success (as open rates are tracked wildly different based on device), it trains the receiving email client that this is an email the receiver wants to see,
helping to “Whitelist” the email.

– Add instructions on how to Whitelist emails to every newsletter. Modern email clients have smart spam filters which do a great job in telling what are marketing related, and what are not. That means that regardless of the source, your newsletter can often end up in promotions or social, which you do not want.

– Your newsletter doesn’t have to be long. It just needs to be consistent in format, expectations, and content, as well as frequency. If you can only write 1-2 paragraphs of text (or leverage AI to help write those) and only add a few images, that’s great. Just make sure you are consistent in what you present. Think about content ahead of time. Keep a list of ideas handy.

– Success can be measured in a variety of ways, but as far as metrics: open rates, click-throughs, and replies are the primary tools we have. Open rates of over 30% are considered good across
all industries. For a highly specialized audience, I have seen as high as 80% open rates. These rates will vary based on the size of your list. Click-through rates can range from 2-20% based on how targeted the list is and what action you are requiring them to take. Be aware that these are only benchmarks. Guides.

– Command allows the use of imported HTML code for email campaigns in Designs. If you don’t care for the KW templates, create your code in the software of your choice (such as Bee Pro) and import it.

Effective newsletters are fun, engaging, and speak to an audience. Of course, when creating anything that offers advice or information about the real estate market, be sure to follow the rules laid out by your Broker, national, state, and local real estate commission. Be the expert in your market, in your area. Let them get to know who you are as a person (so long as what you are sharing is information you don’t mind them knowing).

People do business with those they know, like, and trust. So give them the chance to do that more than just during the transaction.

– Patrick Mauldin

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