 The name “Ferry” is synonymous with real estate coaching mastery, and today we’re going to illuminate 20 facts about Tom Ferry.
1. Tom Ferry is highly influential in the real estate industry, creating a ripple effect of success through his coaching, training, and speaking. In fact, Swanepoel Power 200 just ranked him as the #1 Real Estate Educator in the world! 2. Born “Thomas Andrew Ferry” to real estate training and marketing giant, Mike Ferry of the Mike Ferry Organization, Tom is now the CEO of his own successful operation, Tom Ferry International. 3. The mission statement of Tom Ferry International is “Holding Professionals Accountable to Fulfill Their Greatness.” Indeed, accountability is at the core of their teaching, as Ferry stresses personal responsibility, perseverance, and “disciplined action” to stand out among the heavy competition in the real estate ranks. 4. If you’ve been in the business for a while and the “Ferry” name sounds familiar, that’s because Mike Ferry, the elder, has been a longtime real estate coach and speaker. His son, Tom, got in the business under his mentorship, eventually taking the reins. 5. In 2005, Tom decided to go out on his own, establishing his own real estate coaching and speaking company, Tom Ferry International, which still operates out of Irvine, Ca. 6. Tom Ferry is actually a best-selling author. In 2010, he released his first book, “Life! By Design,” which hit the New York Times bestseller list in March of that year 7. He followed that up with "Mindset, Model and Marketing!" in 2017, which quickly became an Amazon bestseller. 8. The book complied information from Tom Ferry's popular YouTube series, the #TomFerryShow, into a definitive guidebook for real estate professionals. 9. With experience as a real estate training spanning three decades, Tom Ferry has amassed an incredible 30,000 hours of coaching! 10. Ferry is also an accomplished speaker, highly sought-after for his lifetime of sales insights and no-nonsense motivational style. 11. Part of Tom’s huge success has been the popularity of his YouTube caching series, #TomFerryShow, with its weekly video episodes with tips and other valuable content for Realtors. 12. Ferry is also an avid investor, with capital or involvement in dozens of ventures, including Acorn, Arx Pax, BoomtownROI, Contactually, geographicfarm, HomDna, Local.id, MILLIE, Porch, rentLEVER, ridscout, Aimtell and YouMail. 13. If you want evidence of The Ferry family’s coaching success, check this out: according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median income in 2017 for the top ten percent of residential real estate agents was $151,000. However, for agents who were coached by Mike Ferry (or his organization), the median income that year was $1.1 million! Of course, that speaks to Mike Ferry’s success, but with that pedigree and a system built on the same foundation, it’s not hard to see why Tom Ferry is now the #1 real estate coach in the world. 14. Tom Ferry is happily married to Kathy Ferry and they have two sons, Steven and Michael. 15. You can learn more about Tom Ferry and the Tom Ferry Organization at TomFerry.com or on his personal Twitter account, @tomferry. -Norm :-) P.S. I have no affiliation at all with Tom Ferry or his organization; just respect for someone on top of their game who can really help Realtors!
2 Comments
 Shoot these 50 videos and I’ll make you a real estate or mortgage celebrity! Those are the words I wrote to a mortgage broker who recently hired me to work on his marketing (and I'm working overtime!). I say that tongue-in-cheek, but shooting videos is the single best way to make yourself a marketing force to be reckoned with. Why?
(If you wanted to know why or read some statistics on video marketing, check this out: Why I recommend video, video, & more video for your real estate and mortgage marketing.) So, I've included list of some of the videos you can make. By no means does this list cover everything you can shoot a video about, and you’ll naturally start adding a whole lot of topics to this list. You can shoot them in any order you want, but good to cover the basics about you and what you do, first. Of course, distribution is just as important as content, so sharing these videos according to best practices on Instagram, Instagram TV, YouTube, and Facebook is pivotal. You'll also notice that they were written for a mortgage lender, so Realtors can easily adapt these suggestions to their own field. (For instance, home inspector instead of appraiser; home buying tips instead of home loan tips, etc.) Good luck and press RECORD! Shoot these 50 videos and you'll be a real estate or mortgage celebrity:
1. Introduce yourself (Quick hello, how you are, what company you work for, what you do – provide home loans, where you operate, etc.). 2. Video of you driving up to the office, the outside, and walking inside. 3. Introduce your staff. 4. (Processors, underwriters, etc.) 5. Any video testimonials you can get from past clients or Realtors you’ve worked with is gold! 6. Quick intro of your favorite appraiser. 7. Title company/rep intro. 8. Any videos breaking down the basics of a mortgage: 9. Why rising rates are not a big deal (houses still affordable in your area, can lower the total cost by paying off interest faster, can refinance, still historically great rates, etc.) 10. Why it’s so important to get prequalified before you go looking for homes (and how easy that process is with you). 11. The documents a borrower needs to organize before they apply for a loan. 12. The benefits a borrower will get from working with you. 13. The benefits to Realtors when they send their home buyers to you. 14. Explaining the loan process. 15. Explaining the title and escrow process (or do a quick interview with a rep). 16. First time homebuyer loans and tips. 17. Getting a loan with a low credit score (FHA, etc.). 18. Will interest rates go up or down? 19. Credit score tips. 20. Why to stay away from big internet lending companies (delays, not delivering, appraisal issues, last minute rate hikes, etc.) 21. Why you should be careful rate shopping (bait and switch) 22. Common mistakes homebuyers/borrowers make (this is a very popular one). 23. Charities or causes you’re involved with. 24. WHY you love doing what you do. 25. Tour your old neighborhood, house you grew up in, introduce your parents, tell your STORY etc. 26. Introduce your family – why you work so hard. 27. Give info on school systems and rankings in your area (Note: lenders can do that but real estate agents can’t.) 28. Explain Good Faith Estimate, loan disclosure forms and timelines, etc. 29. Break down a closing statement/settlement sheet. 30. Why a 15-year loan saves you so much money (great to get a few refinance conversations going). 31. Explain amortization and total interest. 32. Attend a Realtor meeting and say hi. 33. Attend an open house and say hi and film. 34. Talk about pest inspection from a loan standpoint/interview an inspector. 35. VA loans. 36. Investment loans. 37. Loans for second homes or vacation homes. 38. Why parents should buy a house or condo in the area where their kid is going to college (rent out rooms, possibly make money on appreciation to defer cost of college, have a place the kid can live after graduation, teach responsibility). (Possibly several videos.) 39. A quick profile on your favorite sports teams in Sac. 40. A walk through downtown. 41. Go out on the street (downtown or a good area) at lunch hour and ask people some questions! 42. Highlight communities, happenings, openings, etc. 43. Any mortgage facts or basics that come to mind that you always find yourself explaining often. 44. Reservations and the emotions of first-time buyers. 45. FHA loans or financing options for investors who want to flip. 46. Buying a lot and building with construction financing. 47. How and where the mortgage “bad guys” rip off or deceive borrowers (protect them). 48. Tips for getting the best mortgage loan possible. 49. When you know it’s the right time to refinance (equity, rates rising, etc.) 50. The day in the life of a SUPERHERO mortgage broker. *** Contact me if you'd like more info about video or marketing help! -Norm :-)  Every time I start working with a new Realtor, mortgage lender, or other professional, I give them a little checklist of our marketing strategy, which includes writing compelling blogs, creating eye-catching images, expanding their social media influence on Instagram and others, and catching leads via email marketing. Then, I always implore them to PLEASE start shooting videos, videos, and more videos. I practically BEG them to turn on the camera and start document any and all parts of their professional lives if they want to boost their business and become more successful. To be clear, I don’t even provide any services or make any money from video, so my only interest in encouraging them is because it’s so damn effective – and powerful. Yet, according to independent statistics, only 15% of agents are using videos for marketing, and only 12% of real estate agents have a YouTube account. But even more telling, of that 12% with a YouTube account, only 5% are active on that platform, creating and posting new video content regularly. However, 85% of buyers and sellers are looking to work with a real estate agent and company that integrates video as part of their home marketing strategy! Are you starting to get it? Here are some facts and stats about video marketing for real estate agents and loan officers: The prevalence of video in our daily lives: Every day, about 100 million people watch video on the Internet in the U.S. In fact, the average video watcher sees 32.2 videos per month (more than one per day) and spends an average of 24 minutes each day watching them. Astoundingly, 74% - nearly three-quarters – of all Internet traffic in 2017 will be video! Why is video so powerful for marketing real estate? According to Forrester Research, just one minute of video is the equivalent to 1.8 million words to the human brain – about the same amount of content as about 3,600 web pages filled with text! We also retain what we see in video much better. A study by the Online Publishers Association found that 80% of viewers recall a good portion of the videos they viewed online. In fact, 8 out of 10 internet users remember a video ad from a website they visited within the past 30 days! Home buyers LOVE video! At least four out of ten (40%) of home buyers surveyed say that virtual video tours of a home for sale are “very useful.” Surveys reveal that 58% of current home buyers are looking for (or even expect!) an online video of the home they’re viewing online. Even more swaying, research proves that home listings with videos as part of their marketing strategy receive 403% more views and inquiries than listings with no video. What kinds of real estate videos are buyers looking for? Home shoppers love watching online videos of the homes they’re considering viewing. In fact, 70% of online buyers watch video tours of the inside of the homes they’re browsing. But home buyers aren’t just looking for quick videos spanning random listings. Instead, they’re looking for specific and tangible information that will influence their decision to make an offer and buy – or not. Reportedly, 86% of home buyers use video to research the community they’re thinking of buying in. Thanks to a tandem study conducted by Google and the National Association of Realtors, we have some key insights into the videos that consumers most want to see. In their published findings, “The Digital House Hunt: Consumer and Market Trends in Real Estate,” they reported that consumers want to see:
Video and mobile are BFF's: For the first time ever, mobile was king. In 2017, social media and Internet browsing on our smartphones and mobile devices surpassed Internet browsing on desktops, laptops, and other devices. In fact, almost 80% of time spent on social media is now on mobile devices, and we're expected to have 6.1 billion additional smartphone users by 2020. Home buyers, too, are going mobile, and looking for content, conducting searches, and watching videos on their phones and devices – often on the fly as they go home shopping or walk into an open house. In fact, consumers these days are watching videos for an average of 1 to 3 minutes on their mobile devices – much longer than on their traditional computers. Video marketing your listing gets more clicks, likes, and shares: Just by including a video link in an email (such as one promoting new listings), your click-through rate goes up by 200% - which means more exposure for your house for sale. A fascinating study of consumer behavior actually mapped the eye movements of participants as they browsed the Internet. The study found that when viewing Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) like Google and others, video results drew and kept our attention at a higher rate than other content. Google, Bing, Yahoo, and the other search engines also give heavier relevance to video content as they’re algorithms rank them. In fact, once a video reaches the first page of Google rankings, consumers are 41% more likely to click that video thumbnail instead of just a link or photo. Other real estate video facts: Where are home buyers are searching for these real estate videos? These are the most popular platforms for buyers, sellers, or anyone interested in real estate videos to find them: 51% YouTube 41% Brokerage websites 37% Google results *** These days, we all need a competitive advantage when it comes to attracting a bigger audience on social media, bringing in new buyers who are searching for homes, and efficiently getting our seller’s homes sold. Video is a vital tool that will help you do all of that! 
 If you’re a Realtor or mortgage lender, you’re probably active on Facebook as a way to connect and engage with potential clients. It’s definitely a vital platform for marketing, with more than a billion Facebook users in the world and 128 million active users every day in the United States. But you also have some stiff competition, with 18 million business pages on Facebook – many of them belonging to other real estate agents and loan officers – not to mention people doing business via their personal profiles.
Just getting the attention of your Facebook friends and followers is half the battle, with the average user seeing about 1,500 stories and pieces of content showing up on their News Feed with every visit. So, how can ensure that the content you post is reaching the greatest number of users? It’s important to understand how (and why) Facebook content appears on a user’s timeline. In fact, each social media platform has its own algorithm for determining the placement and relevance (and, therefore, exposure) of your posts and content. And no algorithm is more complex than Facebook’s, with more than 100,000 factors that play into how each and every photo, post, or update ranks with other users. While it would be impossible to evaluate them all, we do know that posts are given preference based on how other users react to them in certain ways. Facebook’s algorithm has also undergone recent changes, moving on from a system called Edge Rank that followed a (slightly) simpler formula. Edge Rank gave prevalence to content according to:
Posts in your Facebook News Feed will also rank based on:
Furthermore, posts are weighted according to these factors: -Average time spent on content. Websites rank much higher on Google when viewers spend more time on them, as the search engine algorithm deems them more useful and helpful to users. The same is true with Facebook, which rates a post by the average amount of time a user spends viewing or engaging with the post. (For instance, a video post will rank higher if the average user watches the whole thing instead of clicking away in the first few seconds.) -When it’s posted. Posts that go live at peak times (when more users are online and using Facebook) receive more weight. So, posting in the middle of the night may mean you have less competition for your viewers’ attention, but it will also rank worse with Facebook’s algorithm. Type of content. Facebook assigns a different value to various forms of content. For instance, we know that live video gets priority with their algorithm, followed by video, then posts with photos, posts with links, and, finally, all text. Furthermore, Facebook gives credence to those who post a variety of content, mixing it up and not posting the same form all the time. The completeness of your page profile. If we’re talking about a business page (not your personal account), the more fields you fill out and the more complete it is, the higher your content will rank. That makes sense as it signals to Facebook that your business is legitimate, and you’ve invested more effort and care into your page. How informative the post is. Facebook’s algorithm underwent some significant changes in 2016 and again in 2018, revamping how it perceives informational posts. But what still holds true is that useful, informative, and factual (hopefully!) posts show up higher on other users’ timelines. Clicking on ads. Facebook's algorithm for how ads show up in your timeline is totally different than how organic content appears, but the latter is somewhat influenced by the former. So, if you click on an ad for fishing rods and a friend posts a photo and story about their day at the lake fishing, it will more likely show up higher on your timeline. Your device and even Wi-Fi speed. I didn't know this, but Facebook actually gauges what device you're using and takes into consideration the strength of your Wi-Fi signal! They do that because certain content (like high-res live video) requires a strong internet signal and also may not be playable on older smartphones or mobile devices. Last Actor & Story Bumping. Facebook recently rolled out two innovations. Last Actor measures your last 50 Facebook interactions and uses that as a guide for what to show on your feed next. Meanwhile, Story Bumping actually gives older posts a chance to reappear in News Feeds when they get new likes, comments, and other interaction. *** Need more help with Facebook and the rest of your marketing? Hit me up! [email protected] |
Categories
All
Archives
December 2020
|
RSS Feed
