The following is excepted from REALTOR Magazine Online:
Daily Real Estate News | January 3, 2007 How Do You Market Yourself?
REALTOR® Magazine wants to hear your marketing strategies and tips for an upcoming article. We're looking for practitioners who can tell us how they promote their business and themselves on either $1,000, $10,000, or $100,000 marketing budget. If you're interested in sharing your insights for the article, contact Melissa Dittmann Tracey at mtracey@realtors.org or by clicking here.
I have replied to her, and I hope many other ActiveRainers will as well. Here is my reply:
You have asked for marketing stories related to promoting yourself on a budget. As a new REALTOR, licensed in PA in August of 2006, I have struggled with that concept quite a bit. I am looking forward to reading the article, and I thought I should share some of what I have done over the past months to market myself on a minimal budget.
In today's market, as more and more buyers begin their search on the internet, having a search engine put your name in front of an interested buyer is a key goal. What I have begun to do to increase my internet presence on a shoestring is to write blog articles that target the market I am looking to farm. The only cost to me is the time and energy it takes to research the topic, and put together an article which is (hopefully) seen as thoughtful, informative, and encourages the reader to contact me for information that may support them in their home search.
I found a very user friendly website tailored for Real Estate Professionals, that is completely free, so it fit my budget quite nicely. It is called the ActiveRain Real Estate Network. You can link to it here or go to http://www.activerain.com/. They are currently developing a sister-site which will be targeted at the real estate consumer, http://www.localism.com/. The blogs that members of the activerain community post will be featured for the local consumer there. So far, I have been impressed with the quality of the network, and the search engine results that I have gotten from using the site. Here are a few of the examples of the Google search results:
- a search for "Darby Borough Homebuyer" shows links to my blogs at the top two spots.
- a search for "Swarthmore Homebuyer" shows links in the the #2 and #3 spots.
When I research an area for a potenial buyer, I will write a blog article that summarizes the information, and include not only the quantitative data, but also the qualitative analysis that I bring to the data. By saving this report in a blog format, I am able to share that data and analysis with other clients and potentially attract their business as well.
There are many useful blogs posted by other professionals within the ActiveRain site, and I have gained quite a bit of insight by reading them. As I finalize my business plan for 2007, I find that many of the strategies I am including were in some way influenced by the tips I found from reading the high-quality blogs there. As you research your article, you may want to search some of the other activerain blog articles, as well. (www.activerain.com/bloghome)
One non-technical marketing method that has cost me next to nothing is by talking about what I do with my children. My three-year old twins like to carry one of my business cards when they are in daycare, so they can "hug and kiss my picture if they get sad." One of their teachers saw my card, and later asked me to help her in her home search. Not everyone has a pair of 3-year old rainmakers they can rely on, so I realize this tip may not help many other Realtors our there, but it has worked for me!
Good luck as you compile the information for your article. If I can be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact me.
Richard "Rich" Schiffer
Weichert Realtors, West Chester, PA
(610)436-0400 ext 134
(610)506-2663 (cell)
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