You've never thought about using a white paper to market your real estate business? In fact, you might not even know what a white paper is and how it can be used effectively in your realtor marketing plan. Offering white papers to gain leads can be one of the most lucrative ways to gain real estate leads and clients.
Why?
White papers give your real estate prospects information that they are looking for when thinking of selling their home or buying housing. It's better to offer information that solves your real estate lead's problems than to offer them your sale's pitch to gain their contact information and turn them into clients.
A white paper is a specially prepared report on a specific problem that your lead might have. The paper usually contains a catchy title that will capture the attention of the lead and focus their thoughts on their problem when it concerns buy a home or selling their property.
The white paper then presents the problem and describes various aspects of this problem. While doing this, it explains the issues involved with this problem and gives means to solve the problem.
You don't have to give the person a technical, pHd treatise, you only need to give them knowledge
that enables them to do something about their problem. White papers are action-oriented. So make
a list of two to five things you want your lead to know how to do as a result of reading your real estate white paper, then just tell them how.
You don't need to make your report long. I like 1- to 3-pages best. Short little guides giving reference tools and problem solving tips that people will keep in their desk. These real estate white papers are great for gaining leads and contact information and it doesn't take long to write one. You can probably do it in a couple of hours or less.
White papers can be written about anything. You could offer a white paper on how to prepare a home for sale. Maybe one on what to expect from a realtor or how to judge if your realtor is doing a good job. You could offer a white paper on what to look for when buying a home. See what I mean? Think of your prospect's problems, their wants, and desires. Then write a white paper to address these.
For Example:
Let's say that you are trying to capture prospects that are considering "For Sale By Owner" (FSBO). You could write a white paper on selling FSBO. In this report you would outline the FSBO process, explain the legalities and paperwork needed. You could explain the need for making sure that the owner deals with people that have pre-approved loans. You might even explain the need for a good lawyer in the process, the title company, etc.
You might also find that you need a series of short white papers to address everything dealing with this topic. You could offer these delivered by email on a daily or bi-weekly basis. This would keep you in touch with your lead and keep your name in their face.
During the course of your white paper, you want to demonstrate how complex FSBO can be for the homeowner. You want to impress upon them how much time it may take out of their daily life to sell their home properly. You might also want to put a comment in that this is why the realty profession came about.
Leave the reader with the impression that they might want to consider a realtor. But do this without a sales pitch for your real estate services. Let the prospect draw the conclusion and make the choice on their own.
Any white paper you write should not be a sales pitch. Your white papers should be informative and solve problems by giving facts. But they should also lead the reader to you as their real estate agent. If written well, you will establish yourself as a real estate authority. This will keep you in their minds when they have reached the point that they need a good realtor.
White papers can be advertised to leads on your realtor web site with an opt-in form to capture the lead's contact information or through one of your realtor phone hotline numbers. They can also be given out through your office as long as you get the lead's contact information in exchange. After all, that's the point of offering white papers.
Consider writing real estate white papers to offer your prospects. These can be a great way to gain leads for your real estate business. I think that you will find that white papers will become a valuable resource for you and fit well into your real estate marketing scheme.
