The 5 Step Plan That Makes It Easy to List FSBOs

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2 The 5 Step Plan That Makes It Easy to List FSBOs 1

3 The 5 Step Plan That Makes It Easy to List FSBOs It s easy to list FSBOs WHEN you do it the right way. Read this book to discover how to easily list lots of FSBOs Ben Curry of Smart Agents 2

4 Published by Legacy Media Networks Copyright 2016 Legacy Media Networks All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. 3

5 Table of Contents Part 1: Introduction One 9 Why Most FSBOs Need Your Help Two 11 Why It s Easy to List FSBOs Three 15 How to Prove to FSBOs That They ll Get More Money If They Hire You Four 21 Warning! The Traditional FSBO Strategy Is Flawed Part 2: The 5 Step Plan That Makes It Easy to List FSBOs. Five 23 4

6 The 5 Step Plan Revealed Six 25 Step #1: Get FSBOs To Talk to You Without Rejection Seven 39 Step #2: Follow Up Eight 43 Step #3: This Strategy Makes It So Much Easier to List FSBOs Nine 47 Step #4: Sometimes You Have to Do This to Get the Listing Ten 51 Step #5: Leverage Yourself with Virtual Assistants Part 3: How to Leverage Yourself Using Virtual Assistants Eleven 65 5

7 How to Find Your First Virtual Assistant Twelve 85 Interviewing and Hiring Virtual Assistants Part 4: How to Manage Your Virtual Assistant Thirteen 101 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Working with Virtual Assistants Fourteen 107 The Easiest Way to Manage Them Part 5: Closing the Seller on Hiring You Fifteen 115 How to Get Every Seller to Like You So, They List with You Sixteen 121 How to Dramatically Boost Your Listing Presentation Conversion Seventeen 127 6

8 How to Do a Killer Listing Presentation And Get the Listing Eighteen 135 About the Author Chapter 1 Why Most FSBOs Need Your Help You may not know this. But, but it's true. Most FSBOs do a horrible job marketing their house. If a realtor put the same amount of effort into marketing a house that a FSBO did, they d be at risk of losing their license! Here's an example. I recently did a study and pulled up twenty FSBOs. Most of them didn t put much effort into marketing their house. Only two or three of them had good quality 7

9 pictures. The rest had low quality pictures probably taken by a cell phone. The angles were bad. The houses didn t look nice. Several houses had the main picture showing the person holding the camera. The camera was in selfie mode when they took the picture, and you could see the person in the picture holding the camera! Eight of the sellers didn t even have a sign in the yard. Is that crazy or what?!! For sale by owners do not understand how challenging it is to sell a house. They think it's so easy. After all, if they did think it took any effort, then they would probably hire a realtor! They don't know much about marketing. They definitely don't know anything about staging. They don't want to paint. 8

10 They don't want to fix up their house. Bottom line: They re not willing to invest the time necessary to sell their home. Here s an example from a FSBO I listed recently. The home had been on the market for almost a year. The owner tried selling the home for an entire year. During that time, the house was dirty and didn t show well. The seller had never cleaned the house. It was a vacant investment property. A few weeks after I listed it, I got him to clean up the place. It showed so much better! A little while later, we got an offer. Here s another big disadvantage that FSBOs have. They simply do not get as much interest from buyers at least compared to homes listed 9

11 with a realtor. They just don't. It doesn't make rational sense, but it's true. Here's an example. I listed a FSBO a little while ago. The home had been on the market for 3 months at $220,000. Three or four people looked at the house. All of them told him that the house was overpriced. They thought that the house was a rip off at $220,000! I put it on the market for $240,000. Why? It was worth it. It sold in about three weeks for $240,000. That's the difference. When a house is listed with a realtor, it s easy for other realtors to show it. More showings = a higher sales price. I can t believe anyone tries to sell FSBO! Can you?! A lot of people try FSBO just to see if they ll get lucky. Those are the easiest to list. Okay, let s continue. Let s talk about why it s easy to list FSBOs. 10

12 Chapter 2 Why It s Easy to List FSBOs The biggest advantage to listing your house for-sale-by-owner is the lack of competition. All realtors know about the potential of expired houses leads, so those homeowners get a lot of calls. I sell in the Jacksonville area, which is a bigger market of about 6,000 realtors. When a house listing expires, those homeowners will receive anywhere from phone calls from realtors. On the other hand, FSBOs may only get fifty calls over the course of three to six months on the market. These numbers show that the competition for FSBOs is reduced, making them much easier to list. 11

13 When I was young, I remember being chased by a much larger kid who was going to shove me down to the ground. I was running, and as I ran around the corner, I came to a door that I tried to push open. I pushed as hard as I could, but the door would not budge. Suddenly, I realized that I had to pull the door open not push the door open. I pulled on the door, and it easily gave way, allowing me to escape the building. It's a simple story, but it illustrates an important point about listing FSBOs. If you don t know how to go about it correctly, it s going to feel overwhelming, challenging, and frustrating. But, if you know the one little secret that makes all the difference, getting a FSBO to work with you is easy. The reality is that approximately twenty-five percent of all FSBOs put their house on the market for a few weeks, just to see if they 12

14 can get lucky without hiring a realtor. Every once in a while, in a hot market, they do get lucky, and their house sells in a week or two. Usually, they won t end up selling for the same price they would get with a realtor, but every once in a great while, they will get lucky and net more money on their own. Seeing an example of success, others might try FSBO for a few months. But, if they re motivated, they need to sell eventually. When that point comes, they ll go looking for a realtor. That s when you, as a realtor, can tell them everything that needs to be done in order for them to sell their house: staging, cleaning, better-quality pictures, better marketing, and more exposure. If you know how to get these listings at the right moment, you can list a high number of FSBOs. You just have to know the secret. 13

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16 Chapter 3 How to Prove to FSBOs That They ll Get More Money If They Hire You Agents sell homes for more money than FSBOs. But, not every agent honestly believes that this is true. Until you really understand that fact, you ll always struggle to list FSBOs. Why? Because Before you can convince someone else, first you have to convince yourself. Perhaps this story will help convince you. I recently listed a FSBO. The house had been on the market for three months at $189,900, with little activity. I put the house on the market for $200,000. It sold two months later, for $198,000. On their own, given how long their house had been on the market, the seller would likely 15

17 have accepted an offer of $185,000, had it been made. Perhaps they would have accepted an offer as low as $180,000. But, I was able to sell it for more money. How did this happen? Here are the four reasons it happened, and they re the same reasons that ninety-one percent of all sellers use a realtor to sell their home. Reason #1: We can sell homes for more money. Most sellers net more money in their pocket, even after they pay the agent s commission. The typical home sold by an agent sells for $245,000, while the typical FSBO home sells for $210,000. This doesn t mean that an agent can sell the home for more money every single time, but the numbers support that they often can. Reason #2: The whole selling process is easier when you hire a 16

18 realtor. I talked to a title company manager who handles FSBO closings and realtor closings. He told me that when a FSBO sells their home, it takes about forty-five days for the two parties to sign the sale contract. He said that sometimes they don't sign the contract at all, until they sit down for the closing process. When a realtor sells a property, the sale contract is usually signed in less than forty-eight hours. This is no small matter. Have you ever heard of "buyer's remorse?" That's what it s called when a buyer makes a makes a commitment to your home, and then begins to question the wisdom of that decision. It doesn't matter if the decision was good or bad. I've seen buyers get buyer's remorse even when they were practically stealing a home. Sometimes it goes so far that they actually change their minds. If you have a signed 17

19 contract when the buyer tries to back out, then you can hold their feet to the fire. If not, then they walk away, and you have to sell your house all over again. This doesn t mean that someone can t sell their house themselves. They probably can, eventually. But, unless you have sold a lot of homes yourself, you probably are not going to be as successful and efficient as a realtor would be. Reason #3: A good realtor can save hours of your time. Realtors save you time, because they are equipped to handle all the tedious tasks for you. They are experts at financing, home inspections, surveys, title work, appraisals, negotiations, and so much more. It is estimated that agents do different tasks in the process of selling a home. It s better for someone else to do that for you. 18

20 Reason #4: They solve problems. Problem solving is the most important part of a realtor s job. Selling a home is complicated, and there are multiple things that can go wrong throughout the process. A realtor is an expert at handling these upsets, and is motivated to make sure that you are successful in your sale. 19

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22 Chapter 4 Warning! The Traditional FSBO Strategy Is Flawed The traditional FSBO strategy is flawed, because it centers on realtors making potential sellers feel foolish for wanting to do things on their own. The reality is that the seller is much better off with a realtor, but explaining that to them needs to be handled the right way. Another flaw is that most realtors only call an FSBO lead once. FSBO leads are different from expireds, because they require a longer sale process. It s about building a relationship not about making a sales pitch one time and closing the deal. You ve got to build that relationship by genuinely wanting to help them, and following 21

23 up. You need to be helpful. Interestingly, many realtors aren t willing to put in that extra effort because they re looking for a fast, proven result. That isn t how FSBOs work. If you want success with an FSBO, you need to think long-term. Make an appointment with seller, just to preview their house. Or, meet with them just to talk about their options and develop a good rapport. Those relationships are invaluable. I have met with several FSBOs through preview appointments, and my conversion rate with those appointments was almost as high as my conversion rate with expired appointments. If you re serious about FSBOs, you have to value those appointments as highly as an expired listing appointment, even if the results are slower. 22

24 Chapter 5 The 5 Step Plan Revealed This chapter covers the five steps of the FSBO plan in summary, followed by a series of chapters that deal with each step individually. Step One Start conversations. Get to know the potential FSBO seller, and let them get to know you. The connection you develop will help you get the listing. Step Two Follow up on the conversation. Turn those conversations into relationships. Follow up, until they're tired of trying to sell the house themselves, and they decide to list their house with you. Step Three Use the Smart Seller Plan strategy. This strategy, explained in detail in a later chapter, 23

25 will make it so much easier and faster to list a FSBO house. It will make you the best choice in the eyes of any potential seller. Step Four Consider buying the listing. Whether or not this is a smart move depends on the circumstances. Personally, I have made great commissions off of listings that I bought. I ll explain the pros and cons of buying listings in a later chapter. Step Five You're going to want to systematize everything. In this step, I show you the easiest way to systematize everything that you do so you can build an entire system that brings in FSBO listings for you like clockwork. That's a summary of the five steps. The next few chapters will look at each of these steps in-depth. 24

26 Chapter 6 Step #1: Get FSBOs To Talk to You Without Rejection The key to getting FSBOs to be willing to talk to you is to be helpful. I give them a copy of my book: For Sale by Owner Guide. 25

27 It shows them how to sell their home without an agent. I give away my book, because it establishes me as an expert. Here s another strategy that sets you apart from your competition. Have you ever heard of samples? You go to the grocery store, and people give you a free 26

28 sample of their cheese. So, you eat it, you think it's good, and as a result, you buy some of their cheese. This works, and it also works for real estate. Here's a quick example of how samples enabled one company to dramatically beat their competition in an industry where most people don't give away samples. I was walking through Savannah, Georgia recently on vacation, and one of the stores had a little sign in the window that said free cookies. I'm walking around, and I'm not really hungry, but you know what? Free sample cookies - let's try it out. There are lots of shops. Some are busy, some are not, but I decided to check out the shop that had the free cookies. I walked in, and these free cookies were tiny. They were probably a half-an-inch in diameter the tiniest little cookies. You could try one chocolate and one peanut butter. This store was busy. In fact, it was 27

29 probably the busiest store around. I tried some of their different cookies. I didn't end up buying any, but if I had been in the mood to buy cookies, I probably would've bought one of their standard bags of cookies, for six or seven dollars. Why did this store offer free cookies? It was to get people in the store, so people could see what they had to offer. They had more people in their store than anyone else around. I'm sure they sold a lot of cookies. You can offer a sample of what you do to FSBOs. What's a good sample that you can give away to FSBOs, to get your foot in the door and let them see what you have to offer? Offering free pictures works well for me. It takes about an hour to take pictures of the house. You get to talk to the people, go through the house, see the house, and talk about some of your marketing ideas. This has enabled me to 28

30 list a lot of FSBOs. Once this gets me in the door, I have my assistant call and offer the pictures. I ve gotten several listings as a result. I have listed several of these houses, and I never did the free pictures. But I got the listing because I offered free pictures. My assistant, who does all my prospecting, contacted one seller. I don't do any prospecting myself in real estate. I have virtual assistants do all of it. The seller had been FSBO, but was finally ready to just hire a realtor. My virtual assistant called and offered the pictures, but the seller was so impressed, they just skipped right to hiring me to sell their house. I've even gotten referrals from doing the pictures. I took pictures for one seller, and her house ended up selling FSBO. But she referred me to her friend, and I listed his $400,000 29

31 house. Here are a couple of scripts you can use to get your foot in the door with FSBOs. The first script has worked very well. I think it s because it s so simple and honest. (Turn over to the next page to see the first script.) 30

32 FSBO Script - 1st Call Step 1: Make sure you are talking to the owner. Hey, do you have your property for sale? Alternate: Hi, I m calling about the home for sale. Is this the owner? Step 2: Ask if they have a minute to talk. I just had a quick question for you. Do you have a minute? Step 3: Find out when they are open to hiring a Realtor. Realtor calling version: My name is. I m a local realtor here in. Assistant calling version: My name is. I work for a local realtor here in. But, I m not calling you to list your home. (Slight Pause) I was just wondering if by chance, down the road, your property doesn t sell might you consider hiring a realtor? 31

33 Step 4: Get their address. Ok. Well, then let me do this. Can I get your so we can send you some information and, by chance, you ever wanted to contact us then you could? Pause for a second to see if they ll give you their . After 2-3 seconds, say the following with a downswing: What s your address? Note: Unless they object assume they want to give you their address. Step 5: If you think there s an opening, then continue. Now, if you could sell your home with a realtor, and they did all the work and you still NETTED the same amount of money in your pocket is that something you would consider doing? Most will say, Yes. If so, then continue: I know this may sound crazy, but in most cases, a realtor can sell your home for more money. For example, there was recently a 32

34 FSBO on the market for $220,000. After four months on the market, they hired a realtor. The realtor sold it for $240,000. Even after paying commissions, the seller got an extra $5,000 in their pocket. I m not saying this happens every time. But, it happens more often than not. [End Script.] I recently used this and got a $350,000 listing. My assistant happened to call the seller at just the right time. They had given up on selling FSBO and were looking for an agent. I had a good presentation, and they listed with me. The other script I use is where I offer to take free pictures of their house. It s worked very well for me. You can see it on the next page. 33

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36 FSBO Script Free Pictures Step 1: Make sure you are talking to the owner. Hi, I m calling about the home for sale. Is this the owner? Step 2: Ask if they have a minute to talk. I just had a quick question for you. Do you have a minute? Step 3: Find out when they might be open to hiring a realtor. Realtor calling version: My name is. I m a local realtor here in. Assistant calling version: My name is. I work for a local realtor here in. But, I m not calling you about listing your home. I wanted to see if I could offer you FREE, PROFESSIONAL-QUALITY pictures of your home. You can use those pictures to market your home for sale by owner. (Slight Pause) Do you think that s something you 35

37 would be interested in? (Pause and wait for them to reply.) Most people will reply, Why would you do that? It sounds like a scam. To which you reply, It s like when you go to the grocery store and someone offers you free samples. They give you the food samples, whether or not you buy more food from that. That s why I m giving away the pictures. It s a free sample of what I can do to sell your home. (Slight Pause) Is that something you d be interested in? Step 4: Schedule a picture appointment time. (I prefer to take pictures on Friday or Saturday. So, that s when I schedule it. You can do a different time.) When would you be available on Friday or Saturday for me to come out and take the pictures? Step 5: Confirm the address and time. [End Script.] 36

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39 Here s something else that has worked very well. I drop a copy of my book, For Sale by Owner Guide on the homeowner s door. 38

40 I ve gotten listings from leaving my book at the seller s door. I put it inside a small plastic bag that hangs on the door. I get the bags from 39

41 Uline.com. If they are home, then you knock on the door of the FSBO and ask the seller if they'd like a copy of your For Sale by Owner guide. I haven t gotten any listings from that. But, 40

42 other agents have. One agent in New York gave a book to a FSBO, and a week later they listed their home with her. 41

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44 Chapter 7 Step #2: Follow Up I remember that, back in 2003, I worked as an assistant on a team. This team mailed all the FSBOs in their marketplace a series of generic, watered-down letters. I was the assistant, and it was my job to mail those letters to the FSBOs. The letters were automatically printed through Top Producer. We'd mail out the same watered-down letters week after week, and rarely saw a listing come from it. Their primary purpose was assist the team leaders with prospecting. We weren t terribly advanced at marketing, but no one really was at that time. We did get some business from the letters, and I believe that they did assist with prospecting. But what is really interesting is that we listed several homes a year, simply because we kept mailing the FSBOs when no one else 43

45 was. Our persistence paid off every time we got a call from a FSBO wanting to list with us. When the team leader met with the FSBO lead, often the person would tell the team leader that the reason they had called his office first was because of that stack of letters they had received. If we were so good at marketing ourselves to them, we must be good at marketing houses, too. According to all the studies, you have to continually follow-up with leads to secure their business. This is especially true with FSBOs, because they take longer to nurture into a listing. If you look at the study below, you will see seventy-nine percent of all realtors have given up on the FSBOs after the third call. 44

46 If you continue to stay in touch and build rapport, you're going to get the listing down the road when they re ready. If you call an FSBO back a fourth time, you've pushed yourself ahead of 79% of all your competition. Since only a handful of agents focus on securing FSBOs, that limits your competition even further. Beyond that, the potential seller will respect your determination and persistence. Who wouldn t respect that kind of follow-up? The key is to keep yourself motivated to follow-up with them. The best way to do this is 45

47 to consider each FSBO lead that you build a relationship with the same as an expired listing lead. Often, I will offer to go by a FSBO home and give suggestions on ways they can better market their home. Help them out that way, and most likely, it will turn into a listing for you. I converted as many of those soft-sell appointments into listings as I converted expireds into listings. Of course, you ll want to build up to this preview appointment. The first time you call them, just ask them how long they plan to market their house themselves before they would hire an agent. Next, offer them free pictures of their house. Then offer them a free copy of a book about selling your own house. Finally, after you d made several calls and switched up your offers enough, ask for that preview appointment. 46

48 Of course, if you don t have time for all of this, you can always hire a virtual assistant to help you with some of the process. Chapter 8 Step #3: This Strategy Makes It So Much Easier to List FSBOs Let's continue from step two. You are now in the process of following up with the FSBO lead. You're staying in touch. They re close to listing with you, but they re hesitant. They know you re the best agent, and they re going to list with you, but they re reluctant to commit. What do you do? I use the Smart Seller s Plan, which is essentially an exclusive agency listing. This kind of agreement means that the seller lists with you, and agrees to pay you your commission if you or any other realtor sells the 47

49 house. At the same time, the seller retains the right to market their house on their own, and owes you nothing if their house sells as a result of their own efforts. When I call a FSBO lead and ask if this plan seems attractive to them, a lot of them will say that it does, because it doesn t require full commitment to a realtor. They still have the right to market on their own, and to hold out hope of selling their home that way. What s interesting, though, is that once you list the house and begin doing the work to market it, the seller will often stop doing their part of the marketing because they feel like it s being handled by someone else. Within two or three weeks, they're relying on you to sell their house. Not everyone likes this strategy. Nobody 48

50 can promise you that you won t run into a situation where you ve put time and money into marketing a house, and the owner manages to sell it on their own. However, in my experience, I have never had a problem. The potential benefit largely outweighs the risk of this approach. You can do two things to minimize your risk. Make sure that it is your sign in the yard, and that the Zillow listing is under your name or company. If the seller already has a Zillow listing, Zillow s support team can help deactivate it, so that you can put the house back up with you as the listing agent. There can be complications with this if the Zillow listing does not get correctly transferred. Again, this approach is not without risk. But, everything comes with a risk, and this is still a great way to get listings no one else gets. Sometimes there is an issue with listing 49

51 an exclusive agency house with MLS. If that situation occurs, I simply list it as an exclusive right-of-sale agreement. Then I write into the agreement a little bit of legalese stating that, if the seller found a buyer on their own, they do not owe me a commission. This is similar to the approach taken when, prior to listing with you, the seller already has a buyer lead. Overall, this approach may not be traditional, but it does work, and I ve made a great deal of money from listings that I ve secured through this method. 50

52 Chapter 9 Step #4: Sometimes You Have to Do This to Get the Listing People don t always like to admit this, but sometimes you have to buy a listing. When the market is hot, you actually want to buy listings. In fact, when the market is really hot, and there are a lot of FSBOs, the only way you're going to be able to list any of them is if you buy the listing. This method usually works out in your favor, because you generate a lot of activity for the client, driving up the price. I met with a FSBO twelve years ago. He had his vacant lot priced at $180,000. I told him that I thought I could sell it for about $200,000. I listed it at that price, and, after about three months, it sold for $185,

53 His net, after commissions, was $174,000. Basically, he made money by hiring me to sell his vacant lot. Let me explain why. His net profit after commissions was about $174,000, but if had sold the lot on his own, he likely would have accepted an offer in the $170,000-dollar range. So, he made more money than he would have, and he didn t have to do the work. He got a great deal, especially considering that most FSBOs have to put in hours of their own time to sell their property. He saved a lot on time investment as well. I ve done this same thing with many other FSBO listings. On multiple occasions, I have secured a FSBO home, then listed it for $10,000-$15,000 dollars more than the owner felt they could get for the home. Even if I do not end up selling the home at a higher price, the seller ultimately realizes that they haven t really lost that 6% commission, 52

54 because I ve done all the work for them, and they likely would have ended up with a much lower offer anyway. Buying a listing can be a great strategy. It s not something that you would want to do all the time, but, used correctly, it can often work in your favor. 53

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56 Chapter 10 Step #5: Leverage Yourself With Virtual Assistants You're a realtor, you're busy, and you get interrupted all the time. So, if you build a system that relies on you to do the work, it may crash and burn. Why? Because you're busy. It s difficult to control your schedule. And the interruptions never stop! The phone's going to ring, you're going to meet with sellers, and you're going to work with buyers. You are going to be busy, and you can't rely on yourself to have the free time every day to implement your FSBO marketing plan, just like the McDonald's CEO can't do everything themselves. 55

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58 However, the McDonald's CEO can systematize what they do by using employees. Don't hire on an expensive employee. Get a virtual assistant. You can hire a virtual assistant to do all the work for you for about $2-3 dollars an hour. You can have them pull the FSBO leads. You can have them call the for sale by owner leads. You can have them do everything. Obviously, you have to make sure that anything that requires a license is done by you, and not done by the virtual assistant. I have my Virtual Assistants setup listing appointments. Turn over to the next page for an example. 57

59 My Virtual Assistant helped me list this house: She setup the appointment and I listed the house. She did all the work of contacting the FSBOs to find the ones interested in hiring an agent. You can have your virtual assistants pull the leads and call tem for you. They can put your leads into a database or CRM and track tem for you. 58

60 I would have them call the leads, using the scripts that I'm going to give you below, and find out if there's any opportunities to get the listing. Here is what I do that gets the most listings. When I first started out, I did a lot of cold calling. I actually became fairly good at cold calling. I wouldn t say that I was the best at it. But I got listings, and that s what mattered. I developed my own scripts, voice inflection, and methods for handling objections. However, I knew there was a better way. So, I put a lot of time into direct mail. I ve obtained many listings from direct mail. Then I started mailing out books. That worked even better than direct mail. And, eventually, I found that this worked best: Mail the sellers a book and then follow up by phone 4-5 days later. I call this warm calling. You get the 59

61 results that a good cold caller gets without the rejection. Often, when you follow up, people recognize your name. Oh yeah. You re the guy who mailed that book to me, they say. We recently did a marketing test here in Jacksonville to see how this worked. We had ten for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) homes, and we sent all ten of them a copy of our For-Sale-by-Owner book. Out of those ten FSBO homes, one owner called back on his own, and we met with him to talk about listing his house. However, we went back and called all ten FSBOs, and we set up appointments with two more of them. Because we follow up after mailing the book, the owners are already pre-sold on working with our team. They're already interested. They had simply procrastinated about 60

62 calling us. So, when we follow up, we re able to quickly set an appointment. The bottom line is, we tripled the results we would have had from just mailing out the book and waiting for them to call. Have your Virtual Assistants call the FSBO and offer them free pictures that you will do, because it's a great way for you to build rapport one-on-one with the seller. Have them call the FSBO every single week and do the follow-up for you, so when the homeowner does get tired of selling FSBO, they end up listing their house with you. Here are some of the scripts your assistant can use to call the FSBOs and cultivate them, so they turn into listings. (Turn over to the next page to see the first script.) 61

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64 FSBO Script - 1st Call Step 1: Make sure you are talking to the owner. Hey, do you have your property for sale? Alternate: Hi, I m calling about the home for sale. Is this the owner? Step 2: Ask if they have a minute to talk. I just had a quick question for you. Do you have a minute? Step 3: Find out when they are open to hiring a realtor. My name is. I work for a local realtor here in. But, I m not calling you to list your home. (Slight Pause) I was just wondering if by chance, down the road, your property doesn t sell might you consider hiring a realtor? Step 4: Get their address. Okay. Well, then let me do this. Can I get 63

65 your so we can send you some information and if, by chance, you ever wanted to contact us then you could? Pause for a quick second to see if they ll give you their . After 2-3 seconds, say the following with a downswing: What s your address? Note: Unless they object assume they want to give you their address. Step 5: If you think there s an opening, then continue. Now, if you could sell your home with a Realtor, and they did all the work and you still NETTED the same amount of money in your pocket is that something you would consider doing? Most will say Yes. If so, then continue: I know this may sound crazy, but in most cases, a realtor can sell your home for more money. For example, there was recently a FSBO on the market for $220,000. After 4 months on the market they hired a realtor. The realtor sold it for $240,000. Even after 64

66 paying commissions, the seller got an extra $5,000 in their pocket. I m not saying this happens every time. But, it happens more often than not. [End Script.] I recently used this script and got a $350,000 listing. My assistant happened to call the seller at just the right time. They had given up on selling FSBO and were looking for an agent. I had a good presentation and they listed with me. The other script I use is where I offer to take free pictures of their house. It s worked very well for me. You can see it on the next page. 65

67 FSBO Script Free Pictures Step 1: Make sure you are talking to the owner. Hi, I m calling about the home for sale. Is this the owner? Step 2: Ask if they have a minute to talk. I just had a quick question for you. Do you have a minute? Step 3: Find out when they might be open to hiring a realtor. Assistant calling version: My name is. I work for a local realtor here in. But, I m not calling you about listing your home. I wanted to see if I could offer you FREE, PROFESSIONAL-QUALITY pictures of your home. You can use those pictures to market your home for sale by owner. (Slight Pause) Do you think that s something you would be 66

68 interested in? (Pause and wait for them to reply.) Most people will reply, Why would you do that? It sounds like a scam. To which you reply, It s like when you go to the grocery store and someone offers you free samples. They give you the food samples, whether or not you buy more food from that. That s why I m giving away the pictures. It s a free sample of what I can do to sell your home. (Slight Pause) Is that something you d be interested in? Step 4: Schedule a picture appointment time. (I prefer to take pictures on Friday or Saturday. So, that s when I schedule it. You can do a different time.) When would you be available on Friday or Saturday for me to come out and take the pictures? 67

69 Step 5: Confirm the address and time. [End Script.] 68

70 Here s something else that has worked very well. I drop a copy of my For Sale by Owner Guide on the homeowner s door. 69

71 I ve gotten listings from leaving my book at the seller s door. I put it inside a small plastic bag that hangs in the door. I get the bags from 70

72 Uline.com. If they are home, then you knock on the door of the FSBO and ask the seller if they'd like a copy of your For Sale by Owner guide. I haven t gotten any listings from that. But, 71

73 other agents have. One agent in New York gave a book to a FSBO, and a week later they listed their home with her. 72

74 Chapter 11 How to Find Your First Virtual Assistant The first thing I do when I hire a new assistant is explain what the job entails. Secondly, I clearly state all the benefits of completing the job. One important benefit for the assistant is that I will always give them the day off whenever there is a national holiday in their country. If they chose to work on those days, we will pay them extra for their time. So, they know we will respect whatever date is, for instance, the Filipino equivalent of the Fourth of July. Since I rarely have to pay an overseas assistant half as much as I would pay an American assistant for the same work, I try my best to keep them happy, hardworking, and committed to my company. Imagine having someone who works for 73

75 you all day, and you only have to pay them $500 dollars a month. You could even get people to work for $300 or $350 dollars a month. When you choose to pay higher than this, you tend to get better employees. For example, you can employ an incredibly capable accountant from the Philippines for just $500 a month, and if you are willing to pay $800 or more, you will get the best of the best working for you. My own standard price is 500 dollars, and I no longer offer anything below that benchmark. Paying your workers $500 dollars a month means that you pay them $25 for every working day. For them, that's really good money. When you give them benefits, such as one vacation day per year, plus all public holidays, you can expect them to stay loyal and hardworking all year round. Another thing that I put in my advertisements is a test task. I ve included samples here. Setting a test task is probably the best way 74

76 to screen people quickly, especially when you have plenty of applications to go through. If that doesn t appeal to you, you can use another style for your advertisements. I think this style is almost as effective as the previous one, and I ve included a sample. I tell prospective applicants to send me an with, "application for the position of a virtual assistant" as the subject. I also ask them to send me answers to some questions in the . The questions I ask them are chosen for some specific reason, which I will explain. The first thing the will do is help you identify people who won't, or can't, completely obey instructions. You should completely avoid such people. In every job advertisement, I try to quickly identify and dismiss those who won't obey simple instructions. It may be because they didn't pay enough attention. This was a method I created when it 75

77 became too stressful to go through the hundreds of applications I received. I realized it was a waste of my time to go through one or two hundred resumes knowing that most of them exaggerate the person s skills. So, I devised an effective method to identify the best of them without wasting much time. This is a method that I used frequently, but after a while, I started using test tasks. The first method requires the applicant to send me an , from which I can observe two things: whether they read the entire job advertisement, and whether they carefully noted all of its details. This is much better strategy than just allowing them to hit a button and apply through a website. I will tell them to type in something like, "I am fantastic," or "applying for the position of a virtual assistant. I vary the words I ask them to include in the subject line, depending on whether the advertisement is for a graphics designer, SEO specialist, a writer, or some other job. 76

78 Once I have given the instruction, I can quickly filter out the applicants who did not follow my instructions. This helped me save a lot of time before I decided to start using test tasks. When I have gone through this process, I am usually able to drastically reduce the number of applications from 200 to less than 40. That's about 80% fewer resumes to go through, and 80% of my time and effort saved. Test tasks can produce the same results, and finding a good test task is quite easy. All you have to do is develop a test based on the skills they will need to complete the tasks you have for them. For instance, I will have a graphic designer create some graphics for me as their test task. Then I can easily choose the best design out of the submissions. For a writer, I may have them write an article for me on a topic of my choosing, so I can evaluate their writing skills. It is in your best interest to closely match 77

79 the test conditions to the task you have for them. Also, don't give them more help in the test than you will when they start working for you. For example, you should only give an SEO specialist sample articles for the test task if you will continue giving them sample articles to use in their regular work. If you eventually need them to do their own research, then you should have them research for the test task too. Once you have identified one or two people who impressed you, then you can begin conducting interviews. My interview is usually in the form of a test task. I check the they sent, because I want to see that they obeyed my instruction to the letter. Then, if they did, I send them a test task. This is how I reduce applicants from hundreds to maybe 10 or 20 before giving a test task to in order to know which one of them is really worth the trouble. The test is very important, and even more so when you are looking for a virtual assistant 78

80 with a specific skill set, like graphics, SEO, or writing. The test tends to expose mediocrity. Here s an example. Perhaps you need an assistant who will build a website for you. As a test task, you could give them access to a simple website, and ask them to make some specific changes. If that s not feasible, you can ask them to explain the process of editing a website, in step-by-step detail. Based on their responses, you should be able to tell which applicant is the most skilled web developer. Or, you could have them create a page for you on their own website. You can request that they place your logo or some other item on their site so that you can be sure they actually created the site content. Good web developers should be able to do this in very little time. There are a lot of ways to get creative with the hiring process. Sometimes I ask for samples. I may ask a web developer to send me links to all the websites they have built in the 79

81 past year, requiring at least five links. This gives me the opportunity to observe their skills closely. I bring up the websites during interviews, and ask them questions about how the site was built, and how much time it took them to get it done. You want someone who can do good work for you in the shortest time possible. In the event that two of your applicants to similar-quality work, you can differentiate between them by seeing which one finished faster. Recently, I interviewed two men who had, by coincidence, built fairly similar websites. One did it in just two hours, while the other one took two weeks because he was wasting time with unnecessary tasks. The first applicant liked to get his work done quickly and move on, while the other got too caught up in the minute details that, ultimately, didn t matter. In the end, the latter s website may be 80

82 slightly better, but it took too much time to get it there. I prefer people who do good work in good time, so I hired the first applicant. The test task will show you a few things. It will show you those who are really interested in getting the job, because it is those people who will take the time to complete your task. It will also show you how each applicant thinks, and what their work style is. This is why I think that a test task is the best way of interviewing. even though it might be difficult to design a test task for some jobs. I once needed to hire a web programmer, and it was a bit difficult to design a test task for him. I decided to do a paid task instead. I got him to build me a little web program that allowed me to modify my website without using Dreamweaver, WordPress, or any of the higher-end programs. 81

83 Another factor you should consider when hiring someone is their location. You can add it to the questions in your job advertisement, or you can tell them to include where they are from in the . You can also look them up on their website, or Facebook, to see where they are from, exactly. I pay attention to their location because experience has taught me that people who come from major cities never stay on the job for long. For example, people from Manila rarely keep the virtual assistant job for more than a few months, because there are so many job opportunities in Manila. It is best to hire people further away from the big cities. You can do online research to help you figure out which cities or areas are best for hiring virtual assistants. While you want to stay away from the big 82

84 cities, you also don't want to hire from a place where there is no internet connection. If you hire from a place where the internet is not good, that may pose a serious communication problem. If you want more options for job advertisement strategies, you can always visit the website platform you plan to use and see what other people are posting. You ll be able to borrow from their ideas, and you ll get a feel for your competition. It is useful to know how much people are offering for jobs similar to those you need done, and this will help you design your own advertisement to be attractive to potential applicants. If you want to post an advertisement for a web developer job, it will be good to know that most people are paying between $500 and $1000 dollars for that kind of work. Otherwise, you may offer only $200, and not receive any good applicants. Also, you may want to know about the conversion rate from USD to 83

85 PHP. You can always check Google for the current market rates. You can always go to this Google converter right here and check the equivalent of your USD to PHP. Presently, the exchange rate is 44 pesos to one dollar. So, if, for example, you want to pay an assistant $10 per hour, you can easily put that into the calculator and see what that translates into in pesos. If you re interested in exploring the website platform to learn more about advertisement strategies, click here, and you will all of the job categories. When you post job advertisements online, for instance at onlinejobs.ph, you may get as many as one or two hundred people bidding for the job. This next section teaches you how to qualify applicants for the job you re proposing. This might involve going through hundreds of resumes, or test tasks, to find those who are most fit for the job. I want to teach you how to do this most 84

86 effectively. I look at several factors when considering applicants. First, as I ve mentioned, I look through the I asked them to send me. Sometimes I ask them to explain why they want the job, or when they can begin working. I also want to see evidence of their work experience, and figure out their salary expectations. Of course, there are plenty of other questions you can ask, but these provide a good base of knowledge. It s important to decide whether or not you will pay the applicant to complete the test task. I have come to realize that many people from the Philippines have been shortchanged by employers in the past. Someone hire them to work on something for a week, and then disappear without paying them. Unfortunately, they frequently deal with this, and are understandably skeptical as a result. Because I know this, I sometimes decide to pay for a test task, but most of the time it s not necessary. However, any time that I post a job 85

87 advertisement where the test task will produce content that is useful to me in one way or another, I make it a point to pay the applicant. Usually the test task is just something to help me determine their abilities, but on some occasions, I do actually profit from the work they produce. Sometimes I will also pay an applicant for the test task if I know that completing it will take them considerable time. For example, If I have someone develop software for me as a test task, my primary goal is to see if they can do good work. However, I know it will take them a great deal of time to complete the task, I might pay them for it if they do a good job, or when I eventually hire them. I once gave a couple of applicants a test task to create some posters for a local event that would be taking place around that time. When I gave them the details for the job, I told them that we might pay them five or ten dollars, depending upon the quality of their work. This helps assure applicants that I m not trying to cheat them out of their time. 86

88 However, I prefer to design test tasks that I don t have to pay for. To do that, you have to make sure that whatever you are asking them to do will not take more than half an hour. If the task won't take long, many people are willing to complete the work, except those who work so slowly that they think it would take six hours to complete the test task. Those people won't bother to do the task. and that's a good thing because you would not want to hire someone so slow anyway. I only do paid test tasks once in a while. You have to exercise some caution though when doing paid test tasks. When I started using test tasks in job advertisements, I volunteered that I would pay five or ten dollars for the test, depending on how good the posters were. I had to change that policy when I saw the quality of the posters that some applicants sent in. There were posters so poorly done that they weren t even worth $1. When I saw that trend, I edited the job advertisement to say that I would pay ten dollars 87

89 to the applicants who went onto the interview stage. That is my method of qualifying people. A well-structured test task is still your best bet for qualifying people under any circumstances. Let's discuss a few of the test questions and the motive behind them. Why do you want this job? This question reveals the applicant s motivation. I am not interested in anyone who says that they are just looking for something short-term, or just experimenting with online work. I don't want this because I invest time in building a relationship with my employees, and in training them. After I have done all of that, I want them to remain with my organization for a long while. Can you give me examples of past work? This question is designed to verify that the person is the expert they claim to be. If you are looking for a writer, and he doesn't have 88

90 samples to show you, then you may be hiring somebody with no experience. Jobs like SEO and graphics usually require someone with a bit of experience. and those who have experience will always have plenty of samples to show you. When can you begin working? I ask this question because I want to know if the applicant is going to be available within my time table. It is common to see applicants who currently hold a job at a local company, but are trying to change jobs. Some of them want to be able to work from home, so that they will be able to take care of their children and manage their homes without hiring help. However, people who are in the process of changing jobs may not be able to start working on your job immediately. They may need to wait until their two weeks notice is over, and this can cause a problem if you are in a hurry. "How much do you want me to pay you 89

91 monthly?" Sometimes I phrase this question differently: "What is the maximum amount you think you can make as a virtual assistant. Whatever form the question comes in, the motive is always to see if their expectations are similar to what you would like to offer. If they overvalue themselves, they probably won't be happy with the job. If they undervalue themselves, then you can save some money giving by giving them only what they asked for. I have used this method in the past, when I didn't want to tell people how much I wanted to pay. Instead, I wanted to see how much they thought the job was worth. I don't use that method often anymore. But before I stopped implementing it, I realized that those who undervalued themselves were usually those who lived far away from a major city, or those who were inexperienced If I simply set the price at $500 dollars, then I may end up overpaying someone who is not experienced enough to earn that kind of money yet. Because I prefer not to overpay or 90

92 underpay, I saw some benefit to this method. But I stopped doing this because when someone would undervalue themselves, and I would pay them the amount they asked for, I found that they often quickly left for a job that paid what they deserved. I was losing good employees. This is one of the reasons that I rephrased the question. By asking, "What is the maximum amount you think you can make as a virtual assistant? I can identify what people would hope to make. This question helps me identify people who are freelancers at heart. They may be taking the job in order to stay busy for a short while before they begin true freelancing again. This type of person may say that they are interested in taking a steady position for a short while so that they do not have to continually market themselves. When you hear responses like that, or when someone tells you that they think they can earn $100,000 dollars per year, that shows you that they are overreaching. That kind of money is hardly obtainable 91

93 in the Philippines, unlike in the United States. When you interview people, try to identify those with the above type of mentality. Out of every ten people, you are bound to find one or two who exaggerate what they are worth. Paying them the amount they ask for may not be prudent, even if you can afford it. You might also want to ask why they want to earn the amount they offer. If you run into someone who thinks they can support a large network of people, like their family members, with the money you give them, you might want to think twice about hiring such a person. When you know the person's motivation, it will help you decide if they are the best fit for your job. If the person has the right motivation, it will help build a great working relationship, they will be satisfied with the job, and they are far more likely to stay for a long time. 92

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96 Chapter 12 Interviewing and Hiring I actually conduct the interview. Most of the time, it s important to have someone with a good English accent. You will want to communicate with them without difficulty, either via phone or Skype. Personally, I like talking to the person over a live microphone, so I just go ahead and put on my headphones or turn my speakers on, and I m able to talk with the candidate. Of course, there are other options, like Google Chat, or Google Hangouts. It s important that, when you talk with them, the person responds quickly and easily. If they take a five or ten second pause before responding to a question, their English skills may not be sufficient. Make sure they have a highly skilled in the English language. We will discuss that more later, when we go through the questions you ask 95

97 in the interview. When beginning the interview, it is nice to start with a certain amount of small talk. You might ask them how they are, what the weather is like, or what specific area they are from. There are a couple of reasons to do this. First, you want to make the candidate is relaxed and comfortable. They may be nervous about the interview, so allowing them to see that you re a normal person is helpful. There may be instances where conversing on the phone is not as important. For example, if they have a great deal of experience and can communicate effectively through , it may not be a problem that they don t speak well on the phone. A person who lacks the ability to speak English well usually gets paid less money. This can be both good and bad. You just have to determine the importance you place on English skills. There are virtual assistants who have worked with me for many years, and I have never once spoken to them on the phone. 96

98 For example, I have never spoken to my programmer. In fact, I can guarantee that his English is terrible. But, he is excellent at what he does, and he writes well, so his lack of spoken fluency doesn t matter. If spoken English skills aren't important to you, I would suggest interviewing via chat. You can use the Skype chat function, and see how quickly they can respond to your written questions. There are many other chat programs as well, such as Google Chat, MSN Messenger, or Yahoo Messenger. Keep in mind that it may be a problem if they don't respond quickly in a chat conversation. We will now discuss particular questions you may want to use during the interview. This first one falls into the chit-chat category. I usually begin with, Please tell me something about yourself, because I want the person to volunteer information without my having to ask a more specific question. Sometimes the candidate will try to clarify whether I mean something personal, but I avoid 97

99 answering this because I want them to tell me whatever they feel most comfortable telling me. I invite them to allow me to get to know them a little better. During this portion of the interview, I don t talk much. I simply react and respond when appropriate, and try to build rapport. On occasion, I might want a few more details about what they ve told me, so I ll ask questions. Often you can find out why they re not at their former position anymore. Was their employer unhappy with them? Did the company close? Was the candidate fired? Next, I usually ask, What type of work have you done until now? This question is very generic, and they might even repeat some of what they said in answer to your first question. Sometimes I will vary the questions, or skip some of them. Another good question to ask is, In your area, what's the best internet you can get? Keep in mind that it s possible that they 98

100 don t have good access to the internet. Let's assume that you need a video editor. He or she will need to take video footage that you make in the United States and edit the footage on their PCs, before they to send it back to you. If they don t have good internet, they would perhaps need an entire working day to download a small video. That s going to be a waste of your time. Internet speed might not be so important if you hire a graphic designer who has the ability to work offline. In that instance, he can simply get online when he needs to submit his work. The same is true for a writer. It s important to make sure that your assistant has the best internet access possible, and to also consider whether or not they can afford to pay that internet bill. If you want to hire someone for $100 dollars a month, and their internet bill is $25 dollars a month, that indicates they are going to be living below the poverty level. T hat can be a red flag for you, and you may not want to hire them. I suggest that you hire 99

101 someone for such a small amount of money. You also might want to ask them if they went to college, and where. This will help indicate their ambition level. If you have multiple candidates, you likely want to hire someone who went to college over someone who didn t. You will also want to ask them about their desired salary. Ask them how or why they came up with the figure they ve offered. You will want to make sure that they are not motivated by greed or the desire to get rich quick. Perhaps they want to provide for their children, or help pay family medical bills. These answers will help you determine who to hire. I often avoid people who are too ambitious, because I know they will quickly become dissatisfied and move on. I also avoid people who are actually freelancers, not virtual assistants. It may also be a good idea to ask them for the highest amount they can reasonably imagine making in one year. Because in the Philippines it is customary 100

102 for a person to make about $300 dollars a month, their reasonable annual income is between $3500 and $5000. If someone hopes to make $100,000 dollars a year, or anywhere close to a salary more common in the United States, that may be a red flag. The next question you should ask is, Do you have an account on freelancing websites, and do take jobs there? I don't tell them the names of the websites, unless they provide them themselves. If they do provide the names of the websites, it is usually Freelancer, Upwork, or Elance. If they are actively freelancing, and getting a good amount of work, I usually decide against hiring them. Freelancers are often working for more than one person at a time, and may not be as devoted as a virtual assistant would be. I have never had a good experience hiring a freelancer as a virtual assistant. One of the last questions I usually ask is, When can you start, if I decide to hire you? In a situation where I like the candidate and instinctively feel they will do a good job, I 101

103 usually offer them the job at the end of the interview. Therefore, I need to know when they can start working before I make that official offer. These are just some of the questions I use during an interview. You don't have to use all of them, or ask them in this order. These are just examples that you can use if they are helpful to you. Paying a Virtual Assistant When you decide to hire someone full-time, you need to research the public holidays in their country. If the person is going to work part-time, this step may not be necessary. You should know that, in the Philippines, there is something called Bonus 13 th Month Pay. This is required if you own a company in the Philippines, or if you employ someone from that country. Let's assume that you own a McDonald's in the Philippines, and you have employees working for you. You are required to pay this bonus to each employee. 102

104 Therefore, in December, you pay anyone who has been working for you for at least a year an entire additional month s paycheck. I usually pay this before the holidays, so they have time to shop and prepare for the season. You can also consider giving that person a week or two off somewhere over Christmas. If you choose to do that, you ll be paying them two months salary despite the fact that they re only working two weeks. If they have only been working for you for six months prior to Christmas, you can prorate the bonus. Since it was the middle of the year, you'd just pay for half of a month extra. Similarly, if they have only been with you for three months, then you give them one quarter of a month s pay extra. Regarding holiday pay, you have two options in the Philippines. First, you can offer your Filipino employee the five paid holidays that an American employee would receive: Christmas, New Year s, Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and Thanksgiving. 103

105 This is not terribly desirable for them, because those holidays do not match their own public holidays. Your second option is to recognize the Filipino holidays, and give them those days off with pay. You can also offer to pay them overtime if they choose to work on Filipino holidays. It is then expected that you would pay them double on these days. If you pay someone $500 a month, divide that by twenty days to get $25 dollars a day. That is not a high sum to double. You can decide which of these options works best for you, but I usually prefer that my overseas assistants take American holidays. It is a good idea to create a work for hire agreement. Let's assume, for example, that you hired a web developer, or an article writer. While they work for you, they are developing work items, and a work for hire agreement ensures that what they produce belongs to you, not to them. If you neglect to get this document signed, in the event that the assistant is fired or quits, they have the right to claim all of the work they 104

106 developed, preventing you from using it in the future. Perhaps you hired someone to develop some software over the course of a year, and it cost you a few thousand dollars or even $20,000 to complete this project. Now, if you didn't sign a work for hire agreement, your assistant has the to clone this software, resell it, and even compete against you. Your competitor may contact them and offer to pay more for the content. This is not that uncommon, so it is important to have the protection of a work-for-hire agreement. This is more important for some hired positions than others, but it is always a good safeguard. I send them the work-for-hire document, and ask them to sign it. If they do not own a scanner, but do have a smartphone, I ask them to make a photo of the document, and then mail it back. That's all they need to do. However, sometimes the assistant will tell you that they do 105

107 not have a scanner nor a smartphone. In this situation, you should ask them to send you an in which they state that they, agree to all the terms and conditions in the work-for-hire agreement that is attached in this . Once they do this, you have their word. In the future, if you need to, you can show them that and remind them that they do not have the right to sell their material to anyone else. Usually I like to make sure that people understand these terms and conditions before I invite them to work for me. Making sure that the assistant and I have a clear understanding is far more important than the actual document, because, if we are being honest, I am not going to sue them over the material. It is usually not worth the time. However, I do want them to understand what I expect. Let's discuss employee paperwork for 106

108 virtual assistants. I have a lot of documents, employee handbooks, and materials for employees who work in an office. In-house employees probably sign pages of agreements. However, when you hire overseas, that is not necessary. Sometimes all I obtain is a work-for-hire document. I usually create a document that explains how many hours the assistant has agreed to work, and what I have agreed to pay them. It is not complicated. I then state that, This is your job offer with all of its terms and conditions. Should you make a decision to accept the offer, please reply and state in the that you agree with the terms and conditions. Most of the time, this type of document is good enough, especially if the employee is not particularly skilled, or if the job does not pay much. However, it is important to pay close attention to the hours they ve agreed to work. Consider what the assistant will be working on, and how often you will need to contact them. When you do this, consider what they'll do, 107

109 the type of person you have and how often would you need to communicate with them for them to do their job. Many people use the system in which they have their workers work four hours of the employer s time, and the same number of hours in the Philippines time. I have learned that, in the Philippines, people usually go to work at 6:00, to work graveyard hours. Or they work from 6:00 to 10:00, or they go to work at 3:00. The solution to this that I like best is asking them to work from 6:00 to 10:00 their time, and then four more hours on your time. This usually ends up being a good solution for everyone. The time difference is exactly twelve hours from Eastern Standard Time. An agreement regarding hours will, as usual, depend on the job at hand. I have four or five graphic designers, two of whom are working independently on the creation of unique graphics. They do not often need to communicate with my team, so I have them work from 8 pm to 12 am their time. When they finish those four 108

110 hours, they can work any other four-hour block that they choose. Allowing an assistant to choose which hours they work is attractive to them, but if you give them full freedom, keep in mind that you will want to stay up to date with what hours they are actually putting in. I don t recommend this second option because it can make contacting your assistant difficult. Some questions may go unanswered for twelve hours, and by then, the answer may be too late. Lately, I have been insisting that my assistants work only my hours. Often, I have to pay more for this service, but it is valuable to have them at my disposal for the full day. If I do pay extra, it is not a huge sum of money. Most of my virtual assistants make between $350 and $500 dollars a month. Let s discuss ways to pay your virtual assistant. In the very beginning, I never put my assistants on US payroll. I also deduct US taxes, simply because they already pay taxes in their own country. I usually pay through PayPal, as it's the easiest method 109

111 for everyone. If they cannot accept PayPal payments, it can be quite inconvenient. I don't hire people who need their salary paid via wire transfer, or any other way which is a hassle for me. When I first began hiring virtual assistants, I did hire people who were unable to get payments via PayPal. I sent them money via Western Union, but that was complicated and expensive. It added the inconvenience of having to go to a store, which may not always be possible. My recommendation is that, if you cannot pay them via PayPal, do not hire them. It is easy enough to find someone who does have a PayPal account. While I am not an attorney, or an account, it has been my experience that there is no need to fill out any taxes paperwork for overseas virtual assistants. I have never needed to. However, keep in mind that this is not official legal advice, but just my experience. I simply track what I have paid to overseas contracts, and report that to my CPA at the end 110

112 of the year. Overseas employees pay taxes in their own country, and I provide them with proof that they work for my company. With all of this in place, I have never had an issue with paying people overseas. If you are concerned, you can always your assistant to provide you with an invoice each month, for your records. If you keep those invoices for your taxes, you are better protected against any potential audit. I have a programmer who sends me an invoice for every paycheck. I suggest you employ the method that works best for you. 111

113 Chapter 13 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Working with Virtual Assistants After many years in the business of employing virtual assistants, I have learned the many mistakes people make. This chapter includes the most common mistakes. The first mistake people make is hiring someone as a virtual assistant, when that person actually wants to be a freelancer. You cannot expect someone who loves being a freelancer to make a good virtual assistant. It just doesn't work. I also avoid virtual assistants who work two jobs. Some have a local job, and others are virtual assistants to two different people overseas. 112

114 I only work with people who are ready to concentrate on the work I give them exclusively. I need people who will stay loyal to me, and I pay them very well in return. I prefer not to share my virtual assistants because I don't want them to be overstressed. They are human beings, and there is a limit to the number of hours they can work without feeling drained. If they work for me every day and, at the same time, they are also working for someone else, they will feel exhausted, and that will affect their output. Also, a freelancer is rarely satisfied with a virtual assistant position because they are constantly on the lookout for better jobs. A freelancer knows that easy jobs, or lucrative, overpriced gigs come along sometimes, and this will not allow them to concentrate on the task at hand. I have seen how freelancers work once employed as virtual assistants. I have experienced a virtual assistant who did a great job one day, but disappeared the next because they were working on a new job they just 113

115 landed. When they come back, they will offer excuses, then work hard again, then disappear a few days later because they landed another freelancing job. The second mistake you should never make is spending hours sorting through submitted resumes and contacting potential candidates. Always make sure that you re posting advertisements that help you weed through the replies and narrow down whom you want to interview. The third mistake you might make is to hire someone without consistent and reliable internet access. In developing countries, you usually find that people have internet problems, whether with connection or widespread blackouts. This is why you must find out if the person you are interviewing will have access to good internet connection before you hire them. People who live in rural areas often have this problem with their internet. Ask the interviewee if internet is going to be a problem, 114

116 and how they would handle happens situation, if it arose. You should also ask how frequently there are blackouts in your candidate s region. For example, in the Philippines, it is quite common that your employee be unreachable due to blackouts for one-two days a month. Naturally, people closer to the cities will suffer from this less. Typhoons, which are similar to hurricanes, also happen in the Philippines, and may destroy someone s house or property. When this happens, it's usually in the news, so you should be aware of what is going on in the areas you have employees. In these instances, it is important to be compassionate, and to do what you can to help. Sometime ago, a massive typhoon struck, and hit some of Filipino employees. We were unable to reach those it had affected, for about a week. When we could make contact again, we donated to some of the suggested charity organizations, and personally helped a few of our assistants who had lost some of their 115

117 property. We wanted them to know that they are part of an organization that cares about what happens to them. That is how we relate to all of our employees, clients, and colleagues. Another mistake people make when hiring virtual assistants is hiring people from the big cities. You want to hire from areas that are a bit rural. I have had bad experiences hiring people from Manila, because they will either expect you to pay more than you are willing to pay. They will soon leave to find better opportunities because of the abundance of opportunities in their area. Instead, you should look for people who live in the more rural provinces, where there are fewer distractions. Rural people are usually quite happy to work with you, and they love the idea of working with an international company. 116

118 It s important to ask questions about their location, because that can determine their loyalty, longevity, and pay scale. 117

119 Chapter 14 The Easiest Way to Manage a Virtual Assistant Now that you have hired someone, and they have signed all the required documents, how should you manage their work? How do you keep them busy, and what are some good ways to train them? We will begin this chapter with a discussion on training. One training tactic I like is actually shooting screen-cast video. I usually have two pieces of software at my disposal for this. Jing allows you to create a five-minute video for free. The videos must only be five minutes. But, once you have recorded it, you can simply press a button to host it, making it available to your assistant. This is a free service. Snagit has similar features, but includes the option to host the videos immediately, and allows for videos longer than five minutes. 118

120 However, this account requires a one-time fifty-dollar fee. This software is best if you need to post significantly longer videos. You can also record videos on your own, then upload them to YouTube as private videos that you share only with your assistant. It would be easy to store past videos here, and reuse them in the future. I try to keep the videos simple and instructive, regardless of which platform I use to upload them. When you give your assistant a few tasks to accomplish, they may finish them more quickly than you anticipated and have questions about what to work on next. But, if you're a busy person, like a real-estate agent, you may not be able to respond to them for several hours, or maybe for a full day. To avoid these situations, I provide my assistants with filler work in advance, so they always have something to work on. I often do this with graphics designers, 119

121 web developers, and article writers. You should try to provide them with numerous tasks up front, so that if they need to wait for feedback from you on one task, they can work on another filler task in the meantime. For example, with an article writer, you can give them a list of articles that you need for your blog, and then have them research, or even write the articles. Instruct them that they should work on one of these projects whenever they are waiting for a reply from you about some other project. This also works with a graphic designer. This helps you avoid having your assistants just sitting there on-the-clock, while they wait for you to give them new instructions. You may have some assistants who would be likely to clock out in that situation, and end up not working the full forty-hour week. Since you ve agreed to pay them for forty hours, and they re relying on that money for their families, it is in everyone s best interest that you keep them busy with plenty of tasks. I use Time Doctor for managing people who work for me. I like them to go to 120

122 timedoctor.com and track their hours. I don t always use this site for everyone, but I do for most. Time Doctor is simple. All the assistant has to do is log in, then clock in and out at the appropriate times. This is similar to other time monitors, but has the added feature of taking screenshots of the employee s computer. Time Doctor takes screenshots at random times, between 3 to 7 minutes. Using these screenshots, you can monitor the productivity of your virtual assistant. However, I actually don t use this software for micromanaging people. I just use it to make sure they are clocking in and out regularly, and to try and keep them honest. In rare cases, potential employees have been resistant to this software, however most people are willing to use it. In my experience, people who resist using the software are people I don t want to work with anyway. I now have a clear rule that, if they won t use Time Doctor, I will not work 121

123 with them, even if I have already offered them the job. There are a few setting in Time Doctor that you want to use to your advantage. The most important setting is the one that prevents employees from editing their timesheets without your approval. I think this is obvious why. Someone could try to work off-the-clock, then log in forty hours of edited time, with no screenshots provided. This is a way for them to beat the system, and you should not allow it. You must also decide how you are going to share information with your virtual assistant. We use Google Drive in most cases. But if you have some large videos, or other large documents that you need to share, I recommend utilizing Dropbox. However, whenever possible, I recommend using Google Drive. It is simple, and convenient, especially if your company utilizes Gmail in any way. 122

124 Finally, it is a good idea to have your virtual assistants update you every day about the work they have completed. You can use project management software for this. Ask them to sign up on Trello or Basecamp, so you can communicate with them through that program. Ask them to post updates each day before the clock out. You can also use for this. The important thing is that they give you an update each day before they leave their desk. The update does not need to be detailed; in fact, it is best if it's just a few bullet points to tell what they worked on that day. Have all your employees do this, regardless of where they are, as it assists you in effectively managing them. The update also gives them the opportunity to tell you if they need help with anything they re working on. Whenever a problem occurs, they should be able to tell you, 123

125 so that you know what is happening. It is more important to have daily updates when you have a virtual assistant who does a number of different tasks for you, which require clarification and input from you. You should read these updates every day, and reply, so they can continue with their work. However, assistants who just repeat the same tasks every day may not need to update you as frequently. The reason daily updates are important is because they show that the person you hired is actually doing the work you want them to do. It is difficult to work under conditions where you are not aware of what your employees are doing on a daily basis. You cannot tell if they are working effectively, or if they are working at all. Then, in a bid to find out, you may send them an that sounds offensive. Requiring daily updates helps you avoid all of these problems. 124

126 I want to reiterate that it is important to treat your employees well, and to pay them what they are worth. You know that whatever you pay them will still be less than what it would have cost you to hire someone here in America. Try to pay them well so they are happy working for you. Give them some days off work every year, and pay them for those days. Respect their public holidays, and give them a little bonus every now and then when they impress you. You can even give them the thirteenth month bonus. It won t affect you much at all, but it will mean a great deal to them. Understand that the people you hire will have feelings. They are not machines. When you treat them nicely, you will be surprised to see the amount of goodwill, productivity, and creativity it inspires. And they will be loyal to you. Well, that about sums it up. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. You can our support department at 125

127 Or, call us at Thanks for reading! 126

128 Chapter 15 How to Get Every Seller to Like You So They List with You I've seen a lot of realtors get listings, even though they don't do the best job. Maybe I should say they do a low-quality job. The reason they got that listing was because the seller liked them. You don't have to do a low-quality job selling houses in order to use that same strategy. Instead, you can do a great-quality job selling houses and still use this strategy to get more listings. That is, you can figure out how to get every seller to like you and build rapport with people. It's so important to build rapport. One of the things I recommend doing, if you want to learn how to build better rapport with people, is get the book, How to Win 127

129 Friends and Influence People. It's an excellent book, and it will show you all the ins-and-outs of how to build better rapport with people. Use me as an example. I have gotten a lot of listings from showing people how I do a better job at marketing their house. But, I've also gotten a lot of listings just because I was good at developing rapport with that seller. Here is my biggest advantage in this area: I'm a good listener. Maybe I'm not the best listener, but I am halfway decent at it. I will sit there and listen to someone. They'll tell me their story for an hour, or sometimes two hours. (I try not to let it go that long.) But, I remember a recent example about a former architect. I sat there for an hour, and he told me stories. I was genuinely interested in what he had to say because I love houses. I didn't back slap him. I wasn't fake. I asked him questions about how he designs houses. 128

130 We talked for probably an hour-and-a-half. I'm not sure if that was what got me the listing, but I think it was a big part of it. So, do this: Listen to people. Let them talk! It makes a huge difference, because everybody wants someone to listen to them. So, let them talk. Let them feel important. Don't be fake about it. You've got to be genuine. If someone wants to talk about architecture, then I ll listen for hours. (At least if they are a potential customer.) Architecture has a big impact on what I do, being a realtor. I asked him about drawing the best floor plans. Specifically, I asked him how to get the house to look more attractive, so it is easier to sell. I'm naturally interested in the answer, because it has so much to do with real estate. Let s imagine you meet a guy who works on cars. Some people who work on cars can make a lot of money. They live in high-end homes. Talk to them about cars. What do you do? How do I figure out how to fix my car? How do I find the best 129

131 mechanic? You just talk about their interests are and how it relates to you. You do need to be careful with this. You don't want them to take up too much time, but if you let them talk for a while, you'll develop really good rapport. Here s something else that has helped me develop better rapport. I used to be very argumentative. I argued with everybody. After reading How to Win Friends and Influence People and becoming better at listening to people, I stopped arguing so much. As a result, I get along with everybody a lot better. And not just with listening presentations. I ve also gotten better at interacting with other realtors, people at the office, and more. Here is the fastest way to get someone to like you instantly. Give them a genuine compliment. You don t have to be a glad-handing, back-slapper, fake person. Don't be a fake! 130

132 Find one thing that you can genuinely compliment them on. You can find something positive about everybody you meet. Here s an example. My hair is slightly thinning. So, if I were to meet somebody who I didn t hit it off with, who had a thick head of hair, I could positively compliment them. I could say, "Wow, you have a really nice head of hair. I wish I had hair like yours." There are lots of different little things that you can do to compliment people. When you do that, you'll get the listing. Here are some other things you can do to get the seller to like you. Have some empathy for their situation. Find out exactly why they are selling. Find out their goals. Find out their frustrations. Everyone wants someone to listen to them. And you will also improve your odds of getting the listing. Here s why. You will know about their biggest concerns and problems when you give the listing presentation. So, you are way less likely to say 131

133 something stupid and lose the business. Maybe you never say something stupid. (If so, then good for you!) I do, from time to time. How many showings have you had so far? This question is going to give you an important reading into the situation. If there have been a bunch of showings that is not a bad sign. It s a good thing. This means that people are interested in the property. Did You Have Any Offers? This may be the biggest factor. If they ve been turning down offers, it shows they aren t flexible. If you decide it s worth it, you re going to have to work hard to convince them to lower the price. Find out what the offers were and how they were structured. With new information, you will be better equipped to present a pricing and marketing plan that positions the property to sell quickly. 132

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135 Chapter 16 How to Dramatically Boost Your Listing Presentation Conversion Here's the number one thing you need to do to dramatically boost your listing presentation conversion. It s not that complicated. But hardly anyone ever does this. Prove that not all agents are the same. Here's an example of this. I know of a man who is extremely business-savvy. He runs a multi-million-dollar business with thirty employees. He s tremendously sales-savvy, has been in sales for twenty years, and has plenty of experience selling all sorts of different products And yet, this man couldn't figure out which real estate agent was better than other real estate agents. All the agents looked pretty 134

136 much the same to him. He didn't know enough about real estate to figure it out. Even though he knows how to sell something, he still didn't realize that selling your house is the same as selling anything else. The realtor s job is this: sell the house. Anyway, he ended up hiring the top agent in his area. This agent sells the most houses in his area. I don't know exactly how he found the agent. I think he checked out the different realtors, found the person who sells the most homes in his area, and just hired that agent. He interviewed several different people, but nobody blew him away. Nobody showed him why they were different. As a result, he just hired the biggest agent. He figured they would get him the best results. Here's how I avoid appearing as the same as everyone else. When I meet with a seller, and I show them that real estate is not all luck. There actually are things that a realtor can do to get a seller a better 135

137 result. The first thing I do in my presentation is show where I was able to sell a house that another realtor was not able to sell. But, I also do this: I show them that not all homes sell for what they are technically worth. Here s how I do that. I went into my local market place and found a neighborhood where just about every single house is identical. I found a neighborhood where the developer built all the houses almost exactly the same. This developer had a really good location. Since the location was so good, he built almost all of the houses with exactly the same floor plan. I guess he thought, Hey the location's so good, we don't have to make the houses that different. We'll just build a really basic floor plan that everybody will like fairly well. That will sell. Guess what. He was correct. They did sell 136

138 pretty well. So, this neighborhood is the perfect statistical case study that proves that identical homes sell for different prices. Here are the two houses that I show in my listing presentation: Zillow thinks these houses are worth about the same amount of money. I may not agree with Zillow s values. But I do agree that they are worth about the same amount of money. I researched why these homes sold 137

139 for different prices. The only difference I can see between the two townhomes was that one was in better condition - and the agent did a better job marketing it. I am familiar with both properties. I used to live in this neighborhood. In fact, I lived right across the street from one of them. Here is how to do the same thing in your marketplace: Look for a neighborhood where all the homes are very similar. Neighborhoods with condos and townhomes are excellent for this. Then, you can meet with a seller and tell them: Not all homes sell for what they are technically worth. Look here's a condo that sold on the sixth floor of this building for $450,000. A unit with exactly the same floor plan on the fourth floor sold for $498,000. That's a 10.7% difference in price. They had a similar number of upgrades. When you do this, the sellers are going to realize that real estate isn't all luck. The agent 138

140 you hire matters. There actually is a difference that the agent can make. If you hire the wrong agent, it can cost you 5%, 10%, and maybe even 15%. You don't need to geek out on data. Just show them a quick example. Look for the smoking gun on some good examples. You don t need to show extreme examples. A 5-10% difference in price is adequate. 139

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142 Chapter 17 How to Do a Killer Listing Presentation And Get the Listing Here is the most important thing that I have done to get more listings: I show how I can do a better job at marketing their house. I show them how my marketing plan will increase the odds of their house selling, and selling for more money. #1: I give the sellers a copy of my FSBO Book. (You can see a sample of the front cover of my book on the next page.) I gave away about 300 books in a six-month period. During that time period, I listed about thirty homes. Every one of those sellers got a book from me. I mailed it to them, or dropped it off on their door. Here is the front cover of the 141

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145 #2: I show them lots of case studies. For example, I might say something like this, "Look at this house right here. John was trying to sell it himself for $285,000. But he wasn t having much luck. I looked at his house and immediately saw that it was underpriced. But that s not what John thought. After all, several buyers had looked at his house and told him it was a rip off! They thought it should have been priced at $250,000. But I saw the value. So, I put it on the market for $299,900. I did a good job at marketing it, and I sold it a few weeks later for $296,000. Now, my marketing helped out quite a bit. But this story also illustrates how a realtor will get you more interest in your home. That s why you should list your house with me. #3: I show them that real estate is not luck. Not all agents are the same. (I talked about 144

146 this at length in the previous chapter.) It's not all luck. There actually is something to this. The realtor you hire can get you a better result. I show them that they may not get a fair price for their house if it isn t marketed properly. And, since I do great marketing, I might actually be able to sell it for more than another realtor. Or, I'm going to sell it faster. #4: I show them how I will do a better job at marketing their house. I go through all the different things that I do differently to get more buyers interested in the house. Here s a quick list of the things I do differently that cause homes to sell for more money: I take excellent pictures. I understand online marketing and how to hook the perfect buyer who will fall in love with their home. I do special marketing that causes buyers 145

147 to fall in love with the home and happily pay the asking price. I m good at solving problems. But, I don t just hype things up. I back up everything I say with proof. For example, when I m talking about excellent pictures, I show them pictures of different houses. While I'm sitting in the presentation, I'll say, "Okay, look at this. Imagine you were looking for a house online and you've got these three houses right I show them three different houses. (An example of that PowerPoint Slide is on the next page.) 146

148 Most people choose either the top or bottom house. (You may not be able to see it in the picture, but the middle house is ugly.) When they do that, I ve validated what I said. They just told me there's a difference in which house they're going to click on first. I show actual case studies about how I sold a house that another agent was unable to sell and sold it without dropping the price. I show them two different pictures of the same house. Then, I ask them which one they think looks better. I talk about charm, and how I will find their home s natural charm and showcase it. I 147

149 show them how charm can sell a house. The bottom line is, I take everything that I do and show how it will get more buyers interested in their house. And it works. Before I adopted these four steps, I didn t get a lot of listings. But once I started using them, I listed five-to-six homes a month. The only reason I didn t list more is because I didn t have enough time! Here are some of the things that my Instant Listing Presentation already has built into it. It talks about the seven different things I 148

150 do differently from other realtors that cause my listings to sell for more money. It has data with specific examples that prove that not all real estate is luck. I show them how I will use a commonly overlooked service to post their home to 100+ different websites. I show how I use Ad Agency Marketing to sell houses that other agents are unable to sell. (The Listing Presentation comes with training on how to quickly and easily do this yourself.) I have examples of homes with good pictures (mine) and bad pictures from another agent. I explain how the pictures caused the home to sell. I have good examples of exactly what a charming picture is. I show the contrast between a good-quality picture and a charming picture. I show them several different case studies and present them in a way that the sellers understand how I am different from other 149

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152 Chapter 18 About the Author Ben Curry is one of 10 children. Ben's Dad worked hard to provide a good life for his kids. So, he didn't have a problem getting his kids to help out around the yard. Ben's parents had 16-acres and a Plant Nursery. He spent many afternoons in his childhood pulling weeds, mowing, and working on a never-ending list of projects. He got his start in real estate when he was 19. He started out as a buyer s agent with a large real estate team in Gainesville, Florida. Eventually, Ben moved over to the listings side of the business. He paid the bills, but never excelled at listings. After the real estate market crashed, Ben got into Short Sales. He became one of the best short sale negotiators in the country. He successfully negotiated over 70 Short 151

153 Sales during the downturn. Most of them were approved in days. Eventually, Ben found his calling with direct-response copywriting. Once the real estate market picked up, he decided to test his new skills in real estate. At first, he failed miserably. None of his marketing expertise was bringing in listings! Even though he works hard for his customers he s just not a sell ice to eskimos type. So, he didn t get many listings. So, he went back to his old job and worked on some new marketing strategies. Specifically, real estate books. On the next page, you can see some of the books that Ben helped develop. 152

154 Here are some of the Listing Getting Books that Ben helped develop: He developed several listings tools that all work together. Any agent that uses these tools can quickly and easily get a lot of listings. Once the tools were perfected, Ben decided to, give it another try. He got back into real estate. The results were much different this time around. He listed six homes his second month in the business. Over the next six months, he listed thirty-five homes. (You can see some of them on the next page.) 153

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156 Here are some of the thirty-five homes that Ben listed in his six months selling real estate in Jacksonville, Florida: During that time, he perfected the entire book marketing system. Today, you can use the same system that Ben used. If you d like to get the system, then send an to support@smartagents.com. Tell them you d like more info on the Book Leads Program. 155