Some key tips are highlighted with the time we discussed. And, others are just paraphrased throughout.
00:05 – Introduction
Who Ricky is, some history on how he got to be pretty much awesome.
5:27 – Ricky recommends sending your own newsletter – yourself.
He spends about an hour a week on his. Don’t delegate this task to an assistant because it’s just too important. Put it in your own words. And, if you can do your newsletter yourself then it will be more valuable to your audience than a newsletter subscription you might outsource. Your newsletter is an extension of yourself. It shows your audience how professional, hard working, consistent – all the things people want in an agent. Your newsletter is doing the heavy lifting for you! Plus, sending a newsletter is leveraging your time. One send stays in touch with your entire database.
9:18 – Does the day of the week matter for when you send your newsletter?
The day of the week you send your newsletter isn’t very important. Consistently sending it every week is the important piece.
10:50 – Should you send your own newsletter or use a subscription service that does it for you? (hint – do it yourself)
Focus on market facts vs. fluff that no one wants. People want real market facts – new listings, solds, something that helps inform them to make good decisions. Plus you don’t want to send the same automated message as the competition.
13:40 – Your newsletter doesn’t have to be perfect.
But it will surely be perfectly YOU.
14:13 – How do you choose your content?
Ricky plans his newsletter on a whim – he knows it needs to be ready to send out every Wednesday so he prepares it weekly and just chooses information that’s relevant to the market at that time. That helps avoid scheduled content especially if there’s some breaking news that needs to be addressed in the newsletter. Mix up a little business with a little market info and a little bit of you. Keep the self promotion to the minimum. Don’t be a bragger.
19:20 – What do you think is your audience’s favorite type of content in your newsletter?
Ricky doesn’t think there’s ONE favorite. He includes such a variety of content that it gives everyone a reason to open the email.
21:20 – Do you email your past clients in each weekly email?
YES. Ricky says – it’s an email – how is it bothering them? He’s very clear that this is how he does business and if you don’t like the fact that he’s doing a hell of a job, then we don’t need to do business anymore. If you don’t like the fact that I work so hard and I give you everything you need every week, then I don’t know what else I can do for you.
22:36 – How do you link to closed homes? Is it a link on the MLS or something else? And, how do you cover a larger area with suburbs?
Ricky creates a spreadsheet that he uploads to his website. You can separate out areas by links on your website.
24:18 – What email provider do you use?
Ricky uses Constant Contact. For the size of his database he’s spending around $200 a month. You can get a free trial for 50 days or so up to 500 contacts. After that there is a monthly fee. (Savvy Agent recommends MailChimp because it’s got a forever free option for less than 2,500 contacts)
27:08 – BombBomb
Interesting how he used BombBomb once and the open rate was terrible! Ricky believes it’s because the spam filters can detect an embedded video and automatically flag your email as spam. He switched back to his old provider immediately!
28:10 – Have you ever had to improve your open rate?
Ricky said he doesn’t care about open rates. People put too much value on open rate. There’s a lot of value in having your name appear in someone’s inbox. So, even if they don’t open your email for 2 years but then call you when they’re ready – mission accomplished. He also talks about the level of quality in your database – the more your database knows you personally, the better chances of an open rate.
30:55 – Do you use a special opt in or just send to everyone?
He doesn’t use an opt in really, he just adds people as he talks to them and gets their email address. (If you use a CRM – you might find an email provider that will sync to your CRM. For example, I use FollowUpBoss for a CRM which syncs nicely with MailChimp.)
31:42 – Do you always have the same subject line?
Ricky always has the same subject line – {{Your Area}} Market Report {{Date}} So, his is Gulf Coast Market Report {{date}}. And, he doesn’t use emojis. AND, he never changes the subject line because it becomes expected, like a part of your brand, and people appreciate consistency.
33:39 – Final thoughts.
Be consistent. Pick a day and commit to sending that email each week for the rest of your life. As you go along you might change your newsletter format and there’s nothing wrong with that. But, always send each week. He thinks that sending once a month, or even bi-monthly, might make you seem like a part time agent. And when you send good quality content then weekly newsletters aren’t too frequent.
