One thing we talk about constantly at PrinterBees is that the best marketing strategy is consistency. However, if you’re running your real estate business by yourself, it can be really difficult to get your marketing out on a regular basis.
Are you currently sending farming postcards monthly, following up with door knocking, and getting the clients that you’re looking for? If not, you might benefit from getting an assistant.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to find a budget for a full-time salary. There are a lot of affordable ways to get help. Here are some ideas!
Get a Marketing Assistant With Outsourcing & Automation
The first idea won’t cost you very much at all. Consider outsourcing some of your marketing fulfillment and using automation to follow up with inquiries and prospects.
Outsourcing
You might not realize it, but when you order your farming postcards through PrinterBees, we can take care of mailing for you. With your mailing list, we can ensure that all of your postcards are sent on time, every time.
We’ve worked in real estate – we know that there’s nothing more common than well-meaning marketing sitting in piles around your desk because you don’t have time to send it.
Make sure your marketing dollars aren’t wasted anymore! Let us take care of your mailing.
Automation
Do you reply to all email inquiries within one hour? That’s how fast 89% of clients expect you to reply. If that’s not realistic for you – and it’s not for most business owners – you need email automation.
With Infusionsoft, you can gain the benefits of email campaigns, immediate follow-up, and nurturing and education emails. You don’t have to type these out – you can put your prospects into a campaign and emails will go out automatically as scheduled.
If you want to learn more, we wrote a post a few years ago about how using automation has revolutionized our business! Check it out!
Consider a Virtual Assistant for Part Time Help
If you are nervous that you aren’t going to find good help in your area, or you don’t have desk space to have an assistant work with you, why not hire a virtual assistant (VA)?
A VA works at their own home and takes care of specific tasks as assigned. Generally, you choose how many hours a week you want them to work for you, and pay accordingly.
There are two kinds of VAs that can help you – a general VA, and a real estate specialist VA.
Here are some tasks a general VA can do for you:
- Update listings on the MLS, Zillow, or other portals
- Enter leads into your customer relationship management (CRM) system
- Updating social media accounts & answering comments
- Research on listings or leads
- Handle scheduling and your calendar
- Reschedule late/canceled appointments
- Monitor Help a Reporter Out (HARO) to offer you as an expert for quotes
This is only a sample – there are so many things a general VA can help you do!
You can also find a real estate specialist to work as a VA for you. What exactly you need will define who you look for.
Here are some ideas for a real estate specialist:
- A virtual transaction coordinator
- An inbound leads assistant who help qualify and nurture leads
- An outbound sales VA who can do cold calls, identify expired listings, and more.
Make sure that they have the proper licensing to perform the work you’re looking for, and that they are licensed in your state. If the VA lives out of state, they may not have the credentials you need.
Know if You Need a Real Estate Assistant
You may think you don’t need an assistant because you haven’t reached a specific level of revenue or sales. However, that’s not the only indicator.
Is your real estate marketing falling to the bottom of your to-do list? Do you find that mundane but important tasks are getting pushed back until they become an emergency? Are you concerned that leads are slipping through your hands?
If so, then 2019 could be the year to get a real estate assistant!
Do you have an assistant, either on-site or remote? How has it impacted your business? Share in the comments!
This article originally posted on PrinterBees' Real Estate Marketing Magazine.
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