As Realtors we have different busy seasons, I'm sure it is different in different parts of the country, but in Ann Arbor, and all of Michigan our busiest selling seasons are Spring, Summer and Fall. In the winter months, with cold and snow, the market, even a sellers market slows down. A wise Realtor will prepare for the season and store up for those months when the buyers are not so plentiful. When I first became a Realtor in 1995, that was impossible to do..........I lived commission check to commission check.
Remember the Aesops Fable about the Ant and the Grasshopper? Basically, the story is about the ant that worked hard all year and stored up food for the winter and the grasshopper played and sang his violin and stored nothing. When winter came, the grasshopper learned a valuable lesson, it is better to prepare for the days of necessity.
Preparing for the next year, should be something all of us in business do each year. So every year, about this time, I choose to evaluate all my marketing efforts. I ask myself what worked? What didn't work? What brought in clients? I use an excel spread sheet throughout the year and after each closing I record the following:
Name of Client
Address of Property
Gross Commission
Closing Date
Referral Fee Paid
Buyer Agent Paid
E & O Insurance
Children's Miracle Network Donation
Net Commission
Where my Buyer and Sellers came from, ie...internet, (which web site) referral (RE/MAX, or past client, friend) Be specific show you can track more effectively.
I can then successfully evaluate my marketing dollars and allocate for the next year. I started tracking all of this is 2004 and that is how I knew newspapers ads didn't work in the Ann Arbor market anymore. Because I track where my transactions come from I could stop spending money on marketing that didn't work. Consequentially, I did and do less and less print advertising.
This year, I didn't renew my Enhanced Listings on our favorite web site. Enough has been said here so need to elaborate on that. You can read Maureen McCabes post if you want more details. It's hard to let go of certain things even if you know they are not productive and the best use of your money. But, we are in business and we need to make those tough calls and make good business decisions.
In real estate, (at least in most companies I am familiar with) we look at the end of the year and evaluate how our production was for the following year. Starting in January, most real estate companies start their production volume over, with new numbers. Some companies go by Gross Commission, others track by the millions you sell. Regardless, we start over.
I never liked that.......you work hard ALL year, sell X amount of houses and in January you start over with 0. I've often pondered why we do that. Personally, I would rather just keep on keeping on.
It is like Monopoly where you have to go back to jail and start over. Well, I'm sure there is some method to all the brokers madness, so I take this time of year to evaluate where my business came from, what I will cut out, what I will put more money into.
One other marketing strategy I use is my pay-per-click campaign for my web site Search Ann Arbor Houses.
Blogging is one new area for me in 2007, I started on Activerain in December 2006, wrote a few bad posts, read the guidelines and improved. That is one area of marketing I will expand upon in 2008. It has improved my Google rankings from page who knows where to pages 1 and 2 for the key words I track and want business from.
What's working for you?
What are you cutting out?
What are you going to do different?
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Hi Missy;
Great Post!! I also agree with you that "it is better to prepare for the days of necessity"