Calendars and the real estate industry seem to go together like cookies and milk and every year REALTORS® and mortgage professionals dutifully set aside a handful of important marketing dollars to produce them to send to their client and prospect lists.  But are these calendars doing any good in the marketing effort?  Could you create a 'better' calendar that marketed you more effectively than what's been done before?  I think you can!  Here's how:

1)  Remember that most folks will get many calendars tossed their way each year but one or two will actually get used consistently.  Figure out how to be one of them!

2)  Calendars serve multiple purposes.  Some quickly identify the date and relate it to a day (like this one here with the cookie).  Others provide a space for notes to be recorded alongside a future date-- they become a planning and a reminder tool.  Decide which "purpose" will serve your marketing best and design that kind of calendar for production.

3)  Are you aiming to be tacked up on the wall or are you hoping to get carried in the bottom of a purse?  Decide whether it makes sense for you to be mobile or static to attract the best audience.  Great pictures lend themselves to being hung on a wall somewhere and typically earn 'repetition' viewing.  Great planning tools typically have less emphasis on the artwork (but still SOME emphasis, mind you!) and more on the portability and usability factors.  You need to decide.

4)  Make your calendar visually attractive and interesting.  Don't skimp on production.  You're competing with others that will be focused on being attractive, cute, or otherwise engaging.  You need to be attractive and engaging as well!  You don't have to hire a full graphics team to make something nice but you do have to put some thought and effort into not being ordinary.

5)  Give your audience a good reason to keep your calendar visible and in use.  Add something surprising and useful on each page.  Use your calendar date reminders to drive your clients back to your website where they can get: coupons for discounts that might be timely each month, suggestions for actions the audience should take, reminders of maintenance they should consider, and trusted referrals where your target audience can receive a special service or rate.

6)  Plan ahead.  Every year we get slammed here with orders for calendars starting around the end of August.  We stay busy printing these until well into the holiday season.  Calendars are surprisingly affordable, easy to produce yourself, and one of the few things you can do that really can emphasize you all year long.  Consider inviting clients to "host" a month in your annual calendar and display a photo layout of their special room or home feature-- the one they are most proud of after buying a home with you or that you've helped them prepare to showcase their home for the 'next' owners.  Turn your calendar into a neighborhood "Architectural Digest" that rewards clients and encourages others to refer business your way!

7)  Stay tuned and bookmark this blog for more upcoming tips on making your calendars and other marketing materials as effective as possible.  And don't forget to use your ActiveRain discount code when you place an order!

Chris Hendricks