I recently found a GREAT post from Michelle in the Nashville, TN market area. I think that her ideas of finding ways to differentiate herself from the local competition are evidence of her being 'on track' as a successful agent/broker.

Now, many of us would say: 'just work hard and give great service', etc. - however the key to REALLY succeeding is to create a brand and identity for yourself and align your marketing to leverage that to your base/sphere/public... and STICK WITH IT.

Check out her post, and also I've copied my response here for your convenience. I like where she is going with this and the bottom line is - she's thinking like a BUSINESS with her personal BRAND in mind. Whatever she comes up with as her strategy, I'm confident we'll be hearing more about Michelle in her market - as a top producer!

Great Post by Michelle in Nashville

-TM

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Michelle,

Great post!

1st of all - I have to commend you for entering the business THIS YEAR! You are obviously a optimist and that attitude (can-do) is evident in your post.

There are 'many ways to skin a cat' as you know, and I see alot of great ideas here already. The limit of 5 approach you mention is pretty cool - I agree that you'll need to market like the dickens to back it up - BUT - imagine the CALIBER of listings you'll be able to get :

* Priced RIGHT
* Clean & Staged
* GREAT Location
* Creme' de la creme (best of the neighborhood, showcase properties)
* SERIOUS and committed sellers willing to do what it takes to sell

Regarding the '6th listing' etc., you could always take that on w/a partner or better yet, I've seen brokers offer differing 'levels' of service for their listings: Premier, Gold, Standard etc. (call them whatever you want).

For example, you could offer a limit of 5 properties listed as Premier' - with all the benefits that your marketing plan offers them - and 6,7,8 etc. still get listed, but perhaps don't qualify at that level. This typically includes different commission % etc.

Not all brokers can pull this off - and you may not want to go this route - in any case, differentiating yourself from the agent/broker/team with 100 listings is a great approach, and I like the way you think!

-Tim Mancuso