O.K., pop quiz here. How many "touches" or contacts with a past customer does it take to build name recognition? The answer I've always heard is eight. How many of you have contacted your past customers 8 times this year? I would dare to say it is, at best, once or twice.

How about this? What are you doing to bring new customers into the fold? Is your marketing hit or miss? Do you half-heartedly approach this daunting task? Do you have a written game plan regarding your marketing including actions required and amount of money to be spent?

If my guess is correct, the answer is probably no on all counts. Marketing takes up time, it's daunting, it's complicated, it's expensive, but it's also the one thing that we all have to do if we want to be in business tomorrow.

Now I know most of you dread the thought of marketing. I have a marketing degree, so it is my thing. My partner, Dave, gets glassy eyed thinking about it. Last week he was in my office and I was in the process of telling him about a great new marketing campaign we would be embarking on. In the middle of my euphoric raving extolling the virtues of marketing and how many new customers we could reach, he just sighed and said, "J.R., I wish I could tell you I cared, but I just can't." Most of us are like Dave. We don't care as long as the phone keeps ringing, but while the phone is ringing you should be hitting your marketing the hardest, because when it stops ringing, it's too late.

So, how do you get started? First thing's first. Remember, it's extremely expensive to get a customer in the door. Once he or she is in the door, not only do you want to make them a customer for life, you want to make them an advocate for life. And what do they advocate? Why, your business of course! Not everybody will buy or sell a house every day, but most people know someone who will several times per year! Remember, REPETITION BUILDS RECOGNITION. You want to build mind share, that is, you want your name to be at the front of a person's mind when they are casually talking to that potential client. "Hey Bob, you know I just overheard you wanted to sell your house. Let me recommend an agent for you." Why would they recommend you? Because they just got a postcard or a letter or a phone call or an e-mail from you last week and you are at the front of their mind. You've built MINDSHARE!

There are many programs available out there to remind customers who you are. Some are expensive, some are less expensive. (Hey, this is part of your budgeting plan for marketing) You could do it yourself. That's fine until you get so many past clients that you can't keep up. We have newsletters printed out with our contact info on them. We mail them monthly. We also use a program called The Turning Point that sends out cards with our contact info as well as the Realtors' contact info on them at specified times. Look around the Internet. You'll find plenty.

Secondly, a well thought out and well-defined marketing plan is worth it's weight in gold. We use a combination of networking groups, e-mail, this blog, direct mail pieces and direct sales to get the word out. Look at the list of tools I just wrote. Only one of them (direct mail) actually costs us any money. I have always believed in the face-to-face, direct contact, build a relationship sales method. This isn't for everybody. Some people think that throwing a lot of money at marketing in the form of magazine and newspaper advertising is enough. I guess that's fine if you have deep pockets, but I don't necessarily buy into it. I always enjoy seeing a mortgage company with a lot of print advertising. This tells me two things. Number one, they are spending a lot of money. I like that because I like my competition wasting money. Number two, I know they're wasting it, because I've never seen anybody really make a phone call off of a mortgage ad and it lets me know they aren't tracking where their leads are coming from, because if they were, they would know they are wasting that money.

This brings me to the third and final point. ALWAYS KNOW WHERE YOUR BUSINESS IS COMING FROM!!!!!!!!! People will spend money and when you ask them where they are spending it or where it's most effective or what get's them the biggest bang for their buck; they ain't got a clue. We personally keep a daily log that Dave and I fill out every day and it shows where the lead came from, who it was referred from, the buying and selling agent and the seller's info. This is all entered into a database and tracked. It took a long time for me to get my partner Dave (non-marketing guy) to start doing this, but now he does. (and it only took 2 months worth of beatings!)

Anyway, I hope these tips help. If you have a solid plan and are willing to be consistent and persistent; I think you'll find you're spending less time and money on your marketing while still getting the greatest return on your investment.