In 1956, long before Tinder or Match.com, a single Swedish sailor named Ake Viking took his search for love to the sea.
So, he wrote a short message, “To someone beautiful and far away.” Then, he addressed it and stuffed this note into a bottle and tossed it into the sea. He waited. And he waited. And then, some 2 years later, Ake’s message was answered by a Sicilian woman named Paolina.
She replied, “I’m not beautiful, but it seems so miraculous that this little bottle should have traveled so far and long to reach me that I must send you an answer.”
Then, the two began a correspondence that ended in Ake’s move to Sicily to marry his “lucky” match made by the sea.
I like this story because it reminds me of how many brokers are still selling boats today:
1) Get a boat listing
2) Toss the listing onto a multiple listing site (MLS)
3) Pray for a miraculous buyer
This is the old-fashion way of selling and marketing yachts.
And I call this, “Boat in a Bottle Marketing.”
And it’s a BIG, waste of time, money, and effort.
Now, don’t get me wrong… it worked great years ago — when there were fewer MLS sites, fewer magazines, and fewer marketing channels. But today, your prospects are scattered across thousands of different channels like websites, social media, YouTube, podcasts, magazines, newspapers, apps, MLS, classified ads sites, and on, and on, and on…
It’s an OCEAN.
And yet, some brokers are still tossing listings into it like Ake Viking — fingers crossed, wishing and waiting for their “Paolina” to respond.
The boating industry has gone through the BIGGEST transformation in the last 15 years and boat brokers must adapt or get left behind.
Because Facebook, Google, Instagram, and Youtube are the new Yachtworld.
Now, you may think that people are not on social media to buy a boat, but people who are buying boats are on social media!
So here is the deal: If you realize that the old way isn’t working anymore and you want to find a better way… I’d like to help you implement the same marketing systems I’ve used to successfully sell boats for myself and my clients.
I’m looking for brokers and brokerage owners who are driven, dedicated, and ready to take their business to the next level.
Sales professionals ready to make a dramatic shift and experience an accelerated growth in their marketing & sales.
However, there’s one condition: You own a brokerage firm OR you’re an experienced broker not afraid to invest in yourself to get serious ROI.
If you feel this is for you, shoot me an email and or WhatsApp me.
Now, I want people who are FAST decision takers. I don’t have time to respond to one million questions. As Sheryl Sandberg said (COO of Facebook), “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on.”
Oh, and one last thing: keep your eyes open for my next newsletter because we’re going to look at the future of boat sales in 2019 and the top 5 trends for next year.
To your success!
— Vincent Finetti
Founder & Instructor
Yacht Sales Academy
P.S. Try a listing strategy from my FREE Listing ebook here.
P.P.S. I’m doing an exclusive virtual Listings & Sales Workshop with a small group next month to go deep in applying my best strategies to your brokerage business.
Would you like to join us? If so, go here and enter your name and email for more details!
P.P.P.S Check out my client results here.
