We all know marketing is useful, beneficial, and effective. Marketing takes many forms: personal contacts, ads in the paper, optimized web sites, open houses, farming, and the list goes on. Have you heard the saying "the definition of 'dumb' is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"?

So how do you decide what marketing technique you're going to use and how much to spend on it? It takes a plan.

The first thing you want to do is to analyze where your business came from over the last two to three years. As we progress in our real estate lives, we gain confidence and then we become "too busy" to continue farming, "too busy" to take phone duty, "too busy" to hold Open Houses. Many of these activities are the ones that contributed to making us a success. Look at each piece of business you've had and track it back to its source. If it came as a result of some action you're no longer doing, make a commitment to go back to that activity.

Next, make a complete list of all marketing techniques you've heard about. Look at each one of them and make a determination if you're comfortable with the activity. It is far better to do several techniques well and consistently rather than doing many techniques poorly and inconsistently. You will also need to look at the costs involved. Use the formula, cost vs. benefit. What financial benefit will I gain, and at what cost?

Last, but far from least, go back to basics. When I took my pre-licensing course, the sales instructor told me that I should always carry 100 business cards in my pocket. She told me to leave them everywhere.

Hold an Open House that is well organized and will bring out potential buyers. Make the invitations to the Open House creative. Even if only the neighbors come, several more people will have then seen the property and can become an extension of you to sell it.

Create an email newsletter. There is a wealth of information on the internet that you can insert into a newsletter to make it interesting. Give good information and the readers will continue to come back to you.

Design your own list of "basics" and marketing techniques. Commit to it; analyze it quarterly; modify it when necessary.

Hope this helps. See you next week!

Back to Ronnie REALTOR^® Archive >>