As I prepare to do a feature interview for The Commercial Appeal's (A main Memphis newspaper) business section on the Spanish services I offer, in the city, it occured to me that my fellow Realtors need these service more than anyone.  Then, I realized that there was a disconnect between the non-Spanish community, their requests for the services, and actually translating it into business.  Here's what I mean:

Agent A calls me to translate all of her marketing materials into Spanish, buy ad space for her in the Spanish newspapers, magazines, and radio stations.  She feels pretty good about her chances of landing a few new clients in the area's estimated 300,000 Hispanics.  She's good....or is she? Agent A starts to receive calls, in Spanish, from these potential homebuyers...but she doesn't speak, or understand, a lick of Spanish- problem!

So, this led me to figure out a well rounded solution (which is my specialty, among other things!).  Now, in addition to just translating your materials, you need to think about having at least a Spanish answering service and an interpreter to travel with you.  Even better, what if you had a service that would handle all aspects- translation, hiring bilingual staff, and media buying?  Ingenious, right?!  I thought so, that's why I started consulting those exact services!

This is not actually an ad; it's a way to make Realtors examine what they really have to offer the Hispanic community.  You can have just as much an opportunity ti reach that market as a native speaker, or a fluent speaker, you just need to plan and have the correct network in place.

Good Luck!

-Dominique