I still see agents who reject online marketing all the time. They say that all online leads are: low quality, lousy, unqualified. Agents are afraid Understandably, they're afraid to lose money on ads that don't work. They may have tried to run some ads online on Facebook or Google or any other channel. But then they tried to send direct messages to those leads who said they're interested, and found out many were plain uncontactable. Those whom they managed to get a response from were a combination of curious, not ready, 'just looking' or plain click happy who love to click and click. Therefore, agents end up thinking that marketing doesn't work. That's the WORST conclusion to make! They conclude it's that it's a waste of money to advertise online. They think that Facebook doesn't have serious buyers or sellers. They conclude after spending $100, that Facebook doesn't work. That's NOT True! In fact, one of my agents, Raama, closed a deal in just 6 hours flat! From the time the ad went live, to the time the seller applied for a Loan, all it took was just six hours! And it was a serious, ready to sell home owner on Facebook. Not someone who was 'just curious'. So how did he do it? Here's Something Well Known But Little Understood Everybody knows that almost everyone is online, right? But that wasn't the case ten years ago, am I right? So, ten years ago, someone reading the physical, offline newspaper had to be very serious about buying a house, then and only then they would call up an agent, right? Who would call up an agent asking for the price and saying that they anyhow called them on the phone, for no reason. It wouldn't happen! So in general, ten years ago, you had to be almost ready to move. Well, that's no longer the case nowadays. Online Vs Offline Since everyone is online, it is a hundred times EASIER, MORE ACCESSIBLE and PAINLESS online. Easy: It's easier for prospects because in the past, prospects had to spend money, effort and time in order to search for homes. That's no longer the case now. They can find out for free, they can find out much faster and and they don't have to spend a lot of effort. It's too easy. Accessible: There's a ton of information available online. Data is quadrupling every 12 months now. By next year, because of 5G, the amount of information available online will 10X every year! Think about this for a second. The human race is getting buried under a TON of information, and much of it is unorganised. Painless: There's no fear of loss because there are no consequences online. They don't have to give up anything personal. No mobile. No email. It's just a messenger app with their face. Anyone can be anonymous and hide behind a fake profile. They're not obligated to go see you in an appointment after they know your price. They can simply read up your listing without even telling you that they were there! No wonder there are so many click-happy people who click on anything and everything that they come across online. No wonder prospects tell you they that they were 'just curious'. And they know you will accept this excuse of theirs. You're not the first agent they told that to and got away with. So, they know it's all too easy. But the agent, who is on the receiving end, doesn't think so. He ends up misunderstanding. I say misunderstanding because, many agents only see the tip of the iceberg. It's easy to miss because, the rest of the iceberg is hidden. That's like 80% of the entire iceberg. What's happening with the online platforms is that because EVERYONE is there, including both qualified and unqualified prospects, by its sheer volume, agents get overwhelmed by unqualified leads. 3 UNIVERSAL TRUTHS First, in any market, the number of unqualified and not ready prospects is always MORE than the number of active buyers and sellers. Second, the percentage is roughly CONSISTENT both offline and online. Meaning, at any time, only 5% of prospects are actively looking. the other 95% have a mix of potential prospects, future and bad prospects. Third, precisely because online is so easy, accessible and painless, Facebook sends you more unqualified ones. The population is the same, the number of qualifieds is the same, just that the larger percentage of unqualified are more active. Here's how I solved this for Raama I make prospects jump hoops. By making them fill up more and more forms online, those who end up at the end of this funnel are guaranteed to be more qualified. Why? They said that by their actions. I also target buyers, knowing that sellers also need to buy after selling. I did this because targeting sellers as buyers is a smarter way. Why? Sellers know they will get hounded by every agent if they say they have a unit to sell. But if they shop around as a buyer, they have less stress. So, to all those agents who think Facebook doesn't work, I say, you need a better strategy. As the entrepreneur, your job is to find all the places where your clients are hanging out. You just need to do a slightly better job of making prospects jump hoops to get to you. That's all!