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YOU as a Product! (The four P's of marketing YOU!)

Now, i'm sure we all know the four P's of marketing:

Product

Price

Placement

Promotion

Now, most of us use this method to promote listings, but how many actually use this formula for self-marketing?

Lets take a peek at product YOU! Maybe this will get your gears going!

You - The Product.

How can you improve quality?
Have any new products or upgrades lately?
How do you provide better service and support?
Do you have a warrantee?
Are you a bundled product? ;)

You - The Price.

Cuts costs? Reduce prices? AACK! (there's that commission thing again)
Do you offer discounts for quantity or loyalty?
Do you offer better terms?
Are you low risk?
Maybe if you made a list of what it costs you - out of pocket, to market a property + the cost of your company to market the property - and the fact that you do not get paid unless it sells = could that make a happy customer?

You - Placement.

How do you reach out to prospective customers?
What is your image?
Who is your target market?
Do you just generally reach out to geographic areas, blindly?
How to you reach new groups of customers?
How do you sell yourself on the web?
Do you ask where people have heard about you - and track it?

You - Promotion.

How can you improve the quantity and/or quality of leads through direct response ads, trade shows, websites, newsletters, e-newsletters, direct mail, brochures, letters, etc?
Can you update and polish your image by upgrading your business card, letterhead, website, or other materials?
Is there any way to raise the power of your ads and marketing materials?
How about writing letters that create high involvement?
Is there anyway to diagnose your style issues - to make sure you are reaching a maximum audience?

Some things to consider adding to your ads and marketing/promotional materials:

Toll-free telephone/fax numbers
Website Address
E-mail Address
Free offers
Give them a reason to contact you!
Publicity (media coverage of some type usually tends to generate leads - how can you get this?)

And here's a question for you: How old is the picture on your marketing materials? Are all of your materials (area info included) up to date with all the correct phone numbers? I see area info in really ugly BW photocopies that look like they are from the 1970s! And they have the wrong area code! lol But the thing that makes me chuckle the most is when I get mailings with a photo that has GOT to be from Glamour Shots (or something similar) and looks NOTHING like the agent! I sometimes wonder what decade the photo is from! ;)

But seriously. I think most of us really do spend soooo much time marketing properties that we slack off on marketing ourselves. I'm sure there are many things that agents can do to promote their selves that are free too - just be creative!

What type of marketing has gotten you the highest response rate? Does anyone cold-call anymore - and find it succesful?

Obviously, this does not apply only to realtors!

Posted by Jane E. Haas on 05/02/2007 10:38 PM

Comments (34)

jane haas, coldwell banker, real estate, monmouth county, realtor, nj, marketing, sales, home, house

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34 Comments on YOU as a Product! (The four P's of marketing YOU!)

MAY

2007

Jane you got my "gears going"...I chuckled at the point of updating that marketing picture...there's a married couple with another brokerage that have been around forever as has their picture...he has a mullet and she has Tammy Faye Baker hair...I saw them recently and he's bald and she's now sporting a new do...but the marketing materials still have the old picture...

Cheers,
Uzi Husain
Arizona Realtor, serving Goodyear & The Phoenix metropolitan area

Hahaha... you must wonder what people say after only talking them on the phone and seeing their picture! You know, I often think it makes a perfect place for impersonation, which is another good reason to keep your photos up to date!

MAY

2007

I actually have a question for everyone. As far as print advertising, where have you had the best responses? Curious how many actually do advertise in the papers, magazines, etc.

MAY

2007

Thanks for the reminders Jane!

My photo is ten years old, but I just lost the 30 pounds I had put on, so, other than the fact that I now have somewhat of a stubble goatee from time to time, you still get what you see with my photo.

Nevertheless, I will do as you suggest and get a new one taken soon. After all, I see myself everyday. Maybe I just THINK I still look like that!

We should all take time to re-evaluate our marketing materials.

Great list!

MAY

2007

Haha - I bet the style has come back into fashion too, right! =D

Great Post Jane,

I gave it a 5 and a bookmark. Terrific reminder that we should work harder on ourselves than we do on our business. I'd like to use my 1992 pic, but no, I use one from a couple of years ago. My last picture was done 4 months ago, but by the time the photog finished with it, I looked embalmed. I don't use a picture on flyer's or some postcards and I stopped newspaper ads for the most part. I ran a couple of 800 dollar ads that ran for 3 months and didn't get one call. Money well spent. I think people pick up the free homes mags and look for their price range or go to the internet and run neighborhood searches. I'll be running a full page in one of those mags next month and will track it's effectiveness. I've also been a part of what's called the Costco Roadshow where we CB agents have a booth at the store and sign up people who want to participate in the Costco/LendingTree program. Hasn't produced anything for me yet other than talking to a couple of Realtors who were shopping! I have to rethink my participation as a 40% referral fee just doesn't seem right. Jane, you got me going and I thank you for the wonderful post.

Bob Volanti Coldwell Banker Premier Real Estate

This is a GREAT post! Too many people fail to recognize that in this business, what you are marketing is YOU.

YOU are the product. Providing the property is almost the service you deliver. Any idiot can show a home (trust me - I've seen some all time idiots in this business). Taking it from this point to the settlement table is where the professional shines.

Invest in yourself FIRST - the rest will follow.

Well, I think the problem is that we tend to market ourselves, get listings from that then just market the listings and not ourselves anymore due to lack of time. I think the most effective ways to reach out to your audience is to show that you provide value. Putting top in sales, top in bla bla bla.. i dont think that necessarily shows what kind of value you can provide your audience with. Why should someone call you? Don't just assume they will see Tops in.... and assume you must be valuable! Always answer the 5 W's - Who, What, Where, When, Why - Who are you, What do you do, Where do you do it, When you do it, Why should they call you?

5 W's and 4 P's! Hahaha

BTW - know a big blooper I see on webpages - NO ADDRESS OR LOCATION! Look at your page - do you say WHERE you do business? lol

Nicely said and done...Very educational indeed...

MAY

2007

Jane, great material. I was looking for the 4 P's, I had fogotten them. Thanks!

MAY

2007

Good Post Jane, Some us just aren't as pretty as we used to be and hide behind old photos.

MAY

2007

It all sounds good jane. But how much does it costs. When you get down to it prospects don't care about how polished your brochures are. They only care about their situation. A homeowner trying to move want to know can you sell their home at their price and in their time frame. A person trying to enter the real estate market for the first time want information on financing options.

It doesn't cost me a dime. I designed my own website and took my own photo, designed my own brochures and printed everything at my office on the color laser printer. I also have a tri-fold that I designed with my info and first time buyer info! ;D Also, I barter a lot! I was able to advertise in several flyers for the police benefits because I helped designed their program. I do that for other organizations too. Be creative, but always look professional. If a homeowner interested in selling their home sees that your material is shotty looking, you really think they will want you representing their home? They may assume your home marketing material is just as bad! So yes, they really do care.

Get creative!

THanks Jane, I am trying the less expensive stuff, did my own website and all my marketing materials, lets see what it will bring, I did 4 sales from my website last year. not much this year yet but still working a few leads.

MAY

2007

Well, the thing with the web is to figure out what people will use in keyword searches so your website will come up everytime. Do a search on your own, pretend you are a buyer or seller in your area... what keywords will you use to search? Write them down and use them in your keywords area on your website so the robots search them!

MAY

2007

I one saw a picture of an LO that I swear was her HS graduation picture (she was in her mid-40's).

Good post, Jane

Haha, I just saw a picture of a property listing, well, here, you tell me what you think this says about the agent...

This is listed for $900,000:

Nice. Over the years I interviewed and hired hundreds of sales candidates. I always asked them, eventually, the old "features versus benefits" question but with a twist-- I made THEM the product. Since they knew themselves better than anyone, they should be able to "sell" themselves, enthusiastically, and make it relevant for me as a "buyer" of their skills. Your post reminds us all to do the same thing in our marketing materials!

MAY

2007

As we get older we for get the fundamentals. and everyone looks older to but us. Its time for a new pic.

Ken

Jane. Great post. We all personally become a "brand" over time...

-Meg

MAY

2007

Oh I'm bundled all right - but I looked better in the 70's -glamour shots - great idea.

LOL

Great post for all of us no matter what we do for a living. If they don't like me - they won't hire me - if they can't find me or don't know what I do - I will be very lonely and broke.

MAY

2007

good post !

MAY

2007

Good post... I have always been a proponent of the seven P's... Proper Prior Planning Prevents P--s Poor Performance.

Hello Jane, you got me. I am one of those agents with a 10 year photo...guess it is time for a change. Haha!!!! At least my hair is the same

SEP

2007

I'm a bit late to this article... so glad this site has a search engine. Great post.

SEP

2007

I like that give them a reason to contact you. Thanks great blog. Bookmarked.

I think this is all more important now than ever, given the media seems to be hell bent on telling people they will sell their homes if they drop the realtors. We have to be experts in this market more now, than ever! Don't be afraid to say all the things you do, no matter how small it is - everything takes time to complete, time that most homeowners don't have. We need to keep up on the mortgage market and which companies are going under - thereby rendering pre-approvals through them useless. How many FSBOs would know that or think to ask how current the pre-approval is? Don't give away all those secrets to homeowners, but it's just something you should know and advise them of when going on the presentation or even when working with your buyers. You have to let them know your worth, the reason they need you, the reason you are getting paid. Just as everyone else does at their work! I think too many people look at real estate as a hobby, instead of a career. Change their mind!

Jane

Good post! Some very sound advise. I currently cold call and love it, it takes awhile to get your act down but once you do it is a great way to prospect.

I liked your comment on the age old photo's, if your going to lie about what you look like what else are you going to lie about?

You must have taken a marketing course in school. I remember all those things and have made them apart of my business plan. Thanks for the reminders. Don't forget to start out with the vision and what you want first!

SEP

2007

I agree, we ALL need to make more time for ourselves!

NOV

2007

Jane, in advertising I would definitely agree with you to offer something free. It's a hook to get them to respond. Also, differentiating yourself from other Realtors as far as your service is key too. Getting feedback about where people heard about you is a brilliant idea. Why don't we all ask that one?

Wow Jane, you wrote this so long ago, and we still refer to it ALL the time, just wanted to thank you for working hard on this post.

NOV

2007

Thanks for taking the fundamentals and applying them again in a new perspective. I'll make some changes and upgrades as a result of your clear presentation.

I"m glad everyone still refers to it! It really is a basic plan that never goes out of style! So important too in this type of crazy market!

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