Marketing - it's the job that many real estate agents love to put off until later, and the one that absolutely should never be ignored. If you don't do it regularly, you could wake up one morning and realize that after today's closing, you don't have anything else going on.
I don't know why so many people dislike writing - I personally love it and thought that marketing was the most "fun" part of being a Realtor. That's probably why after 19 years of dealing with buyers and sellers I decided to quit and focus all my energies on marketing for other people. I'd much rather make someone else's phone ring than have to leave my comfortable chair and drive all over town with strangers.
But that's just me. The fact remains that the majority of real estate professionals don't enjoy self promotion, or even marketing their listings. So they put it off, and end up doing it in a rush just before an ad deadline.
There are two things wrong with that procedure. The first is that without a plan for marketing, you're apt to get talked into spending money on all sorts of things that don't do you a bit of good. I know, because when I was "too busy to think" I often fell victim to smooth-talking sales people. I shouldn't have let that happen, and neither should you.
But unless you make time to really think about what you're doing - and to create a marketing plan - you can easily be talked into needless expense.
The second thing wrong with haphazard marketing is the copy you send out. You either sit down and scribble off an ad because the newspaper rep will be there in 20 minutes, or you make a few notes and let them write the ad for you. Ugh! Bad copy either way.
Good copy takes time - sometimes one simple space ad or letter can take 3 or 4 hours to refine. But if you don't take the time to do it right, the money you spent to place the ad or mail the letter was wasted. And as for letting ad reps write your copy - just don't do it! All you'll get is a carbon copy of every other ineffective ad out there.
So, instead of wedging your marketing efforts in between other tasks, block out a couple of hours at least every other week. Make a firm appointment with yourself. Then, if someone wants to intrude on that time, simply tell them you're sorry, but you already have an appointment.
In the rare case that a customer simply must take those hours, immediately re-schedule the appointment with yourself. Your marketing appointment really could be more important to your future than taking Mrs. Smith back to see that condo for the 4th time because now she wants her sister-in-law to see it. So don't let those hours get taken and not replaced.
As an agenda for the initial appointment, write down "Marketing plan." Then take that time to think about what advertising you've done that got results, and where you spent money that brought no return on investment.
List all your different prospecting activities, and schedule when you will do each of them. If you send a newsletter every other month, write down the date you'll mail it and then go backwards to block out the time to create it, have it printed, affix the labels, etc. If you call each of your past clients every 3 months, schedule those calls in your day planner. If you run a weekly ad in your local newspaper, schedule the time to write the ad 2 or 3 days in advance of the deadline - so you can re-read it and make final revisions before time to submit it.
By the way, if you aren't keeping track of where you got your clients and customers, start today. Just ask them how they found you - people will be more than happy to tell you. And when you get to a place where over 50% of the people came from referrals - give yourself a present!
Then spend your time and your money on the other activities that produce the greatest return. Remember the 80-20 rule. 20% of your marketing likely produces 80% of your profits, so concentrate more heavily on those efforts and ignore the others. (Look at the money you'll save!)
If you really hate to spend time producing great marketing pieces, then you do need a copywriter. I'd love to help you with that, and so would several other real estate copywriters.
If your marketing budget is already stretched, you might be interested in a service I offer that's less expensive than traditional copywriting and still gets you the same great results. It's called Copy on Call, and it's designed to take your ideas and words, inject some direct marketing techniques, and turn them into marketing that gets results.
Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional writer, do block out the time for marketing. Your career really does depend on it.
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