Conducting Home Buying Seminars, Part 1

How to Conduct Home Buying Seminars by Brandon Cornett

Why conduct a home buying seminar - (the benefits)
Seminars are a perfect complement to your personal marketing program. They're educational, popular and much more personal than any marketing piece. They can also position you as an authority, which can easily lead to future clients.

And who knows, you might even have some fun and meet some nice people along the way!

Where to conduct a home buying seminar - (the venue)
One of the first steps in conducting your seminar is to identify a location. When scouting out the location, be sure to ask yourself the following questions:

1. What will the venue cost?
Sometimes you can find an excellent location at no cost. If you happen to know the principal of your local high school, for example, you may be able to use the school's auditorium for an evening seminar. Otherwise you'll have to rent some space. But the potential gains far outweigh the small price you'll pay!

2. Can the venue support your presentation?
When you've identified a possible venue for your presentation, visit the site to see what it offers. Does it have adequate parking? Does it have a projector for your real estate PowerPoint presentation? How many people can it hold? Is it conveniently located? (Giving directions will be much easier if it is.)

3. Can the venue support "repeat performances"?
I recommend making your home buying seminar a regular event. Word spreads over time, and your audience will likely grow as well. Of course, you might have a "standing room only" situation on your first performance. It happens.

Following a regular schedule can also help with PR. Imagine the favorable exposure you would get if your local news did a spot on you for their real estate or home-buying segment! Conduct regular sessions and send press releases to the media, and that's exactly what could happen.

Some places you might look into as a possible venue:

The meeting room at your local library
Local YMCA or community center
High school or college auditorium
The meeting room of a nearby restaurant or hotel
How to conduct a home buying seminar - (logistics and delivery)

The Sequence
It's usually best to follow a logical timeline of the home-buying process. This makes the presentation easier to follow.

Also, if you have co-presenters (a mortgage professional, for instance, or maybe a home inspector), be sure to group all of their slides together. That way, each presenter can take his or her turn and be done. The overall presentation will be more organized that way.

The Delivery
Deliver your presentation consistently, using your slides as cue cards. Don't let questions throw you off track. Answer questions briefly and politely, and then remind everyone about the Q&A period that will follow the presentation.

I recommend having a opening and closing script that you follow pretty closely, and then improvising through the middle. The reasons for this are two-fold:

First, the opening and closing are important parts of your presentation. Memorizing a short script will help you remember everything you want to say.

Secondly, improvising the middle part will make your delivery more natural and keep you from having to memorize large amounts of information. Remember, your slides will serve as cue cards to help you stay on track for the bulk of the presentation.