"I've spent a lot more money on radio ads. I've spent money on magazine and newspaper advertising. But it's like zero results, which shocked me. I thought I'd get some. But at the end of the day, nothing has been as good as Vyral Marketing."
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| John McMillan, COO |
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Hal: And I have to tell you, you want to write this down. The only one I've held onto is Vyral Marketing.
Andre: Awesome!
Hal: I've spent a lot more money on radio ads. I've spent money on magazine and newspaper advertising. But it's like zero results, which shocked me. I thought I'd get some. But at the end of the day, nothing has been as good as Vyral Marketing.
That's the only thing I'm keeping, and there's a reason for that.
Andre: We appreciate that. Out of curiosity, how are you able to track that? That's one of the questions a lot of people ask us. I've never seen any direct ROI from that type of marketing? So how do you justify the expense and track the results from the program?
Hal: Well, I mean, the program has two purposes for me. One, obviously, to generate business. But two as a way to stay in touch with my clients. You know, Mike Ferry coaches me. Tells me to send out a mailer once a quarter.
Okay, well I get some response. But that is more in my opinion a form of branding and staying in touch. For me it's a way now with the size of my database to - it's almost like making a phone call to those 4K and some people that are in my database and provide something of value.
I mean, I have had several people - there are several ways they come to me. One, I'll get direct response. Hey Hal, I saw your email. you're in the market. I'm thinking about selling my house. So I might get a listing from that.
Friends are moving into town. They want to buy a house.
I might have got a source on a lead somehow, but I at least call them up once. And that was good. But they got my videos, and they called me back because of my videos. That was probably the best source I've had for Vyral Marketing.
Andre: Awesome! I appreciate that. So before you got started with us, what were some of your initial fears or frustrations?
Hal: Would I be any good on camera? What am I going to say? It was totally unknown to me.
So I had probably all the same fears anybody else was going to have. The two biggest ones were what would I say, how would I do on camera, would I look stupid. Just the normal stuff.
Andre: Everybody has those fears. It's like, oh gosh, I don't know what I'm going to say. I don't want to look dumb in front of my database. I'm really worried about sending out a video that doesn't look completely professional like a commercial. We hear it a lot.
How did you overcome that? Your videos are fantastic. You do a great job on camera. Do you just feel like you have the personality for it?
Hal: I had to. As my business has grown, I've had to become a better presenter. And quite honestly if I had had Vyral Marketing 10-15 years ago, it probably wouldn't have been as effective, because I don't think my presentation skills were as good.
And honestly, it's made me have to raise my game. Because I see so many other videos, and I'm always trying to capture ideas from wherever it is, whether it's Vyral or other business ideas. So I see people that are doing things right, and I see people that probably need some improvement. And I try to use that to my benefit.
Andre: Very cool. So back to the marketing you said you were doing before. You said you really weren't doing much before - just prospecting and following up with people, following the Mike Ferry model there. Other than the quarterly mailings, were you doing anything else to stay in touch with their database?
Hal: Not really. And I haven't been systematic enough on the mailing. In fact, I get people that, okay, I've got a designer to design these postcards. You're in charge. Call me once a quarter. Remind me. I will give you the business. You just need to remind me, because in my office we get so busy we forget.
So one of the great things you guys do is you constantly remind us. Hey, it's time for video. So that accountability you provide definitely has value for those of us that may not be as structured on those things that aren't day to day.
Andre: Awesome! And kind of back to the ROI thing. As far as referral and repeat business, before you started with Vyral, where would you say your business came from? Was it follow up or FSBOs or expireds? Where did you see most of the calls coming from?
Hal: Mostly my database. I would say 60-70% past clients, sphere of influence. So for me specifically I go with a lot of out of town clients or older people that might move away.
So it's important for me to branch out just beyond my past clients. And I've done a pretty good job over the past 5-6 years of adding to my database. But now I talk to anybody, if I'm prospecting and I call an out of town order, are you interested?
-No I'm not.
Well, I either have a lead and say yes, they're going to do something. Or, I get an email. So I have two purposes. One is like, hey small changes in the market can have a huge effect on the value of your investment. Obviously you want to be in touch with the marketplace. What's your email address and I will keep you posted.
Expanding that database has been very helpful and important for me. So it's been, it just plays in on multiple levels on how I get business and how I can use that database and how I can use Vyral.
Andre: Awesome. And I've got to commend you. I see the emails coming across from you and your team all the time of, hey, can you add this person to my database? Hey can you add this person to my database?
Hal: And it's still fun, because I'll have somebody who has a property here. You look at the Bay Area. I'm in Quincy, California. And I'll call them and say, hey, I've got a buyer looking for a place. Do you want to buy it? No, but I get your videos. Keep me posted. If I ever need anything, I'll call you.
Well how cool is that? I may never have to call them again. Just because I'm staying in touch and providing relevant content for them.
Andre: That's awesome. Now you've said you've gotten some people that respond back directly to the emails. You've gotten some people that call you up from that stuff. Do you have any specific stories or examples of situations where you've seen a direct return from doing the videos specifically?
Hal: I think one was - I'm not sure how the people met me. I got an email from somebody the other day. And I'm not even sure how they got my website. I think somebody passed it on. And the guy said, hey, we're having trouble with our agent. We want to hire you. Will you come list our house or talk to us about it? Absolutely.
So it's probably the best pre-listing package possible, because they get to see who you are versus a resume or a list of references or a list of homes you've sold. They really get to see who you are. And honestly I haven't scratched the surface, in my opinion, of leveraging the Vyral system. But I get a lot of benefit anyway.
And then I sold more expensive listings. Last year, I listed a house for $1.475M. And they called because of one of your videos.
Andre: Wow!
Hal: It's done, paid for, so that just pays for it. And everything else is just gravy.
Andre: That's great.
Hal: So I can knock out video in 10-15 minutes. I've got to spend some time thinking about my content. But it's very efficient with my time. I like that as well.
Andre: Awesome! Well, if you could pick one thing, what would you say you enjoy the most about working with Vyral Marketing?
Hal: I love the fact that if I continue to do this and build my database, I could potentially cut down on my prospecting some day to an extent and have a recurring business instead of having to reinvent the wheel all the time. It provides me a venue to reach those people, to provide something of value, and if they're thinking of real estate, they're definitely going to click on my video. If they're thinking of doing something, they're going to be watching. And then they're going to call me.
So that's it in a nutshell. You guys are great. You provide amazing support and customer service. But at the end of the day ,the way it makes my business easier and come to me more is what I love the most.
Andre: Sure. So leverage is a big aspect of it for you as well on top of the return.
Hal: Oh, without a doubt, it's leverage.
Andre: Awesome! So if you had somebody come to you and say, Hal, I'm thinking about doing this Vyral Marketing thing. What would be something you recommend to somebody before they get started with the service?
Hal: Quite honestly, you've got to make sure you're a pretty good presenter. You're filming a small commercial. And there's nothing more important when you're in real estate than having good presentation skills.
So you have to take a little bit of time and run a few samples, make sure you're smiling. If it gets to be too serious, then it's like, gosh I don't smile.
My listing percentage, on listings I've taken has gone up because of Vyral because I'm recording myself. And I've seen, that is a weird thing I'm doing. I've got to stop doing that.
So it's really a great feedback system for becoming a better presenter. The only thing I would hesitate anyone on is take some time to improve your presentation skills. Do some things in front of a camera so you that you look and feel natural so you're like Dan Rather on the news rather than someone at a high school level, if that makes sense.
Andre: And you come across very real. I've had the wonderful pleasure of actually meeting you in person in the past. And between you on camera and you in person, it's the same person to me. I feel like I get to know you anyways, which is fantastic. You do a great job.
Hal: And that comes with a little bit of practice. It was not always that way, trust me. So that's a learned skill. It's easy to get nervous, and I rarely do now when I do these videos. What am I going to say? And if you can just have a conversation with the camera. And Mike's a great guy to watch. And other people do these videos that are great to watch. You can learn from that. And that helps your business in two ways at once, which is good.
Andre: Awesome! And then just the last question is on a scale of 1-10 how likely would you be to refer Vyral Marketing to your friends?
Hal: Oh yeah. They call me, I tell them I can't recommend it enough.
Andre: Awesome!
Hal: I've taken a little bit of your advice. If you have 3 people in your database, you're not going to benefit from it. But if you're building your database and you want to build a long-term business, it's very valuable.
Andre: So how do you add to your database? Obviously you're calling and prospecting. Is that your focus of how to add people, just through new people and prospecting?
Hal: Yes. Quick little story. I would get everybody's permission. And then, I've been at it about a year and a half. And we do a Christmas event for friends, clients, and so forth. And I wanted everyone to get this announcement about this Christmas event.
So I told my assistant, don't just take people out of our database. Take every email address I have and send this Vyral video out. So I went from approximately 1300 people to about 4300 people that got my video in one fell swoop back in November, let's say.
And I realized there's no reason not to put everybody I know in my database. And there will be a few people that opt out or their address is wrong. But the benefit is - there's nothing to lose. It's like, should I call this person or not? Just call them and find out.
Should I put this person's email address in my database? Just put it in.
That's critical. I do it by contacting a lot of people. I talk to them. Do you get my videos? Is it important for you to know about real estate? Whatever my little script is at the time; there's just one or two. And I add them to my database. And 99% of the time, they like it. A small percent don't, but I'm not worried about them.
Andre: Yeah. And again, I've got to give you full credit. You do a great job of growing the database, and then the results show it too. That everybody opts in or requests to be contacted. You have phenomenal open and click rates on your videos and emails.
Hal: Cool.
Andre: Do you actually use the open and click reports that we send?
Hal: I glance at them. Again, I'm not leveraging them enough. These people requested information, so I should call those people.
I do need to get better at that. You guys are generating business for me that I'm not capitalizing on unless they just come knocking on my door. So I've got to do a better job of that. But I do look at that. And part of what I look at is I've only done one video these last two months. I've got to get two out.
So all the metrics you give, who's opening, who's talking to, it's all very valuable. It's just kind of daunting because of the number of people. I'm always shocked.
I have to say, the other thing I love about it is the - oh my gosh! That person watched my video. I haven't talked to them in years. That is awesome! I should call them.
I mean, it's just an amazing good system you've got. I love it!
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