I'm in the middle of working on my marketing plan and am currently reading Guerilla Marketing Excellence by Jay Conrad Levinson. Jay's 2nd Golden Rule hit me smack dab in the middle of my forehead.
"The ability to accurately define your precise market or markets
dramatically affects your profitability"
Ouch! That hurts (in a good way). So this comes to mind. How many of us have actually sat down and decided who we wanted as clients? I'm not talking about prospecting Realtors, FSBO's, etc. I mean have you sat down and "claimed" your clientele? Who do you want to service? I've decided to put myself in the "Situation Room", my personal term for defining the people and situations I want to work with. Here's a portion of my list to date:
- Families living in and around my subdivision, being transferred out of the area and need to sell fast.
- Couples who have just bought their first home and need to combine his and hers
- The widow who is downsizing and relocating to be near family
- Young couples who are selling their first home to move up
- The single bachelor who has next to nothing in the way of furniture and ready to sell his condo
My list will be constantly changing as it will be a living, breathing document. I want clients who are easy to work with, open to allowing me to come in and make those desperately needed changes, who are willing to pay, and will tell everyone they know about me and my company. Not too much to ask for. So many of us focus on what we don't want, start claiming exactly what you want!
So many times we take a marketing shot in the dark hoping to attract anyone who has a pulse. You can't be all things to all people. It's time to focus. In real estate that is referred to as finding your niche market. How about defining your client and marketing directly to them? Get to know your customer. What do they read? What groups do they belong to? Do they respond to phone calls, email, letters, on-site visits? What activities do they do on the weekend? Figure out what "turns them on" and speak to it. Get inside their minds and figure out why they would do business with you. Be on their wavelength. Attend events they attend. Join groups they join. At that point you will have so much business, you will have to turn it down. So get ready to aim, fire, and hit that bulls-eye.
Happy Marketing!
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