Molly Castelazo

Archive of Molly Castelazo's Articles

Molly is the author of WIIFM: 5 Letters That Can Change Your Life (Or At Least Your Business) and How to Win: Marketing Strategies for Successful – and Aspiring – Real Estate Agents. She’s President of Castelazo Marketing Ltd., a full-service agency dedicated to helping real estate agents stand out from the crowd and has a blog.

Molly has written 14 article(s) for the BiggerPockets Blog.

Real Estate Marketing

Video Might Not Kill the Blog Star, But It’s Pretty Cool

by Molly Castelazo | December 19, 2009

I think this post is highly appropriate on the release date of the movie that (according to my movie-buff husband, at least) will revolutionize the movie industry – and maybe even the world. This post isn’t about Avatar, but it is about how video should be the new tool in every real estate agent’s marketing [...]

6 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Marketing

Top 5 Ways to Use the Holidays to Get More Real Estate Deals

by Molly Castelazo | December 4, 2009

Call me a shameless opportunist, but I see more in the holidays than silver bells, sleigh rides, and mountains of presents. Don’t, however, call me a Grinch. I really do love the holidays; I simply think that it’s a time of year that can be as great for real estate business as it can be [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Marketing

Integrated Marketing – Part II: Maintaining Leads & Drawing New Prospects

by Molly Castelazo | November 13, 2009

In Part I of my “Power of Integrated Marketing” series I wrote about developing your website — the foundation of your online marketing strategy. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to move on to Step 2 — staying in touch with the leads you’ve worked so hard to generate through your website. And then to [...]

5 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Marketing

1 + 1 + 1 = 4: The Power of Integrated Marketing, Part I

by Molly Castelazo | November 6, 2009

Despite what you learned in kindergarten, 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 doesn’t always equal 4. If you leverage the power of integrated marketing, it can equal 7 – or more. It’s not funny math, I promise; it’s reflective of the greater power your marketing efforts will have as an integrated group rather than [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

Real Estate Marketing

Relationships Matter: Lessons from Across the Date Line

by Molly Castelazo | October 30, 2009

I just got back from a week in China — for business mostly, plus some tourist time at the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, and wandering the hutongs (traditional neighborhood alleyways) of Beijing. I saw firsthand what I had earlier only read about — the importance of relationships in China. It got [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Marketing

How to Market Properties without Violating the Fair Housing Act

by Molly Castelazo | October 16, 2009

Equal Housing Opportunity Logo You’re sitting down to write a property listing. You know my first rule of marketing: Make it personal. But how do you do that – and stay within Fair Housing guidelines?

The Fair Housing Act, explained

The purpose of the Fair Housing Act is to ensure that a person can buy or rent a house or apartment wherever they want regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, religious preference, disability, family status or national origin. In some areas, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is also prohibited.

Unfortunately the Fair Housing Act doesn’t actually list the words you are and are not allowed to use in your marketing communications. The language you can and cannot use while remaining faithful to the spirit of the Act is up for interpretation.

4 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Marketing

4 Steps to Real Estate Newsletters that Work

by Molly Castelazo | September 25, 2009

Is direct mail a part of your marketing strategy?

It should be. More specifically, hard copy, good ‘ol fashioned snail mail newsletters should be part of your marketing strategy. Here’s why:

Other real estate agents and investors have stopped sending them. So you have a great opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

People still like the feel of a piece of paper in their hands. Studies prove it’s true!

When people are making a decision to buy or sell a home – one of the biggest financial decisions of most people’s lives – they want to be informed. And they want to work with an expert. A newsletter is a great way to position yourself as that expert.

How to craft newsletters that work

If I’ve convinced you that you should be mailing newsletters, here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Get a good list. It’s an old adage in direct marketing that 40% of a mailer’s success (or failure) is due to the quality of the mailing list.

2 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Marketing

Real Estate Marketing Campaigns: Aim Before You Shoot

by Molly Castelazo | September 19, 2009

Real Estate Marketing - Aim Before You Shoot I received the Google Analytics newsletter the other day in the mail and it got me thinking about long tail keywords. But Peter Kolat has already written some great posts about that subject, so I shifted my thinking more generally to targeting your prospects. Because that’s what using long tail keywords is really about, after all – honing in on the prospects that are searching specifically for what you offer.

What’s in it for me?

Let’s do a thought experiment: Imagine you’re looking for someone to clean up and fix the houses you buy before you flip them. You happen, just as you’re thinking about it, to get three postcards in the mail.

3 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Marketing

Real Estate Marketing Strategy: It’s All About the ROI

by Molly Castelazo | September 11, 2009

How do you, as a real estate investor or Realtor, determine the “just right” amount of money to spend on marketing? Two ways: 1) Your marketing activities need to fit within your budget – you shouldn’t spend money you don’t really have; and 2) to optimize your spending on marketing, you should think in terms of the return your investment generates (your ROI).

0 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Marketing

Real Estate Marketing Strategy 102: Think Before You Act

by Molly Castelazo | September 5, 2009

Last week I blogged about Real Estate Marketing 101 – the first three steps that should be part of any good marketing plan. As you know, this plan is your “bible,” the document that guides you, keeping your decisions on track with your larger strategic goals. It’s the document that will make it easy to project a consistent brand in every media. It will make integrating your strategy online and offline a smooth, effective process.
Real Estate Marketing Warrior
The fourth step in creating your marketing plan is to choose your marketing media and develop your messages. “How?” you ask. Read on. . .

Step 4: Choose your marketing media and develop your messages

Now it’s time to put the rubber to the road, your nose to the grindstone, your money where your mouth is. You’re going to create your marketing campaign, based on your answers to the questions in steps 1-3. If your budget allows, think about an integrated campaign that incorporate a number of different media.

0 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Marketing

Real Estate Marketing Strategy 101: Think Before You Act Part 1

by Molly Castelazo | August 28, 2009

Real Estate Marketing Strategy 101 I can recall vividly my momma yelling at me, “Think before you act, child!” As adults, we too often forget momma’s sage advice. As business people, we are often even worse.

I certainly understand the tendency to act on the first impulse, to do the first thing that will grow the business, put cash in the bank, create a new partnership,whatever. But sometimes, we act too quickly, making rash decisions that hinder us down the road.

Your marketing “bible”

To avoid making quick-but-detrimental decisions in your marketing, you need a plan. A good marketing plan is your “bible” – the document that guides you, keeping your decisions on track with your larger strategic goals. It’s the document that will make it easy to project a consistent brand in every media. It will make integrating your strategy online and offline a smooth, effective process.

But how to create said marketing plan? I’m glad you asked. . .

Step 1: Know your customers

Your first step to developing an effective marketing plan is to “get to know” your customers. Ask, and answer, these questions:

8 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Marketing

4 Steps to Sold: Making AIDA Work for You in Real Estate Marketing

by Molly Castelazo | August 21, 2009

Has it been one week already? Wow, how time flies by.

Last week I wrote about 5 smart marketing moves you can make to boost your real estate business without breaking the bank. #4 was to “Keep ‘AIDA’ on your mind.” In his comment, J. Lamar Ferren asked that I go into some more detail about the AIDA formula. So without further ado. . .

What is AIDA and How Can it Help in Your Real Estate Marketing?

AIDA was devised, by the real Mad Men, as a way to walk a prospect through the psychological steps he takes on the way to engaging your service. For real estate investors, AIDA is the process by which you convince a seller to sell to you, a buyer to buy or a renter to rent. For real estate agents, AIDA is the process by which a prospect becomes a client.

I figure it’ll be much more fun to look at AIDA in action, rather than read me just blathering on about it (I’ll do that, too, of course ). So I’ve copied a real estate agent’s postcard below. Take a look:

4 comments Read the full article →

Real Estate Marketing

When You Feel Like Chicken Little: 5 Smart Marketing Moves to Boost Your Business Without Breaking the Bank

by Molly Castelazo | August 14, 2009

Have you caught yourself lately thinking, “The sky is falling!”? I sure have. Against my own better judgment, I find myself compelled to make decisions that are based on fear, which is no way to make decisions (no matter how rational that fear may be).

Yet as scary as the real estate market and economy are right now, they won’t be scary for ever, and now is the time to make smart decisions based on sound judgment and good business sense. Not on fear that the sky is falling. You can counter your Chicken Little tendencies with these 5 easy, smart marketing moves. Moves you can make today to build your real estate business without breaking the bank.

Smart Marketing Move #1: Put yourself in your clients’ shoes

Imagine your clients asking you, “What’s in it for me?” The fact is that your prospects don’t care what you can do; they care what you can do for them. When you pitch your prospects, always answer – before they even ask – how you will help them achieve their dreams or solve their problems.

2 comments Read the full article →