Smart Agent Branding Strategies from Some of Today's Top Agents

By Julie Escobar, Director of Corporate Marketing, ProspectsPLUS!

It's not always easy to make a name for yourself in today's market. With both marketing dollars and hours in the day in short supply and competition fierce, learning the best branding practices in the business for creating your own niche is a "must-do."

Recently, I had an opportunity to sit down with three top real estate professionals, all in different markets, with different niche interests to find out what THEY do to ensure they are ALWAYS making a name for themselves. This month, we'll explore the top strategies used by Kathy Casarin -- Expireds and FSBOs, Bob Daniel, a Short Sales Specialist, and Karin Hill, an outside-the-box manager whose team of agents embrace a wide variety of community-minded niche markets!

First up, Kathy Casarin. Kathy started in this industry at what some believed to be the worse possible time, but her broker, her character and her "let's get it started" attitude propelled her to the top of her game. Kathy specializes in Expired listings. Why? "Listings were the name of the game and they still are," said Kathy. "When I first started, my broker warned me against being a 'secret agent.' Listings mean your name is now on a sign, on the web, in the paper and in the minds of area buyers and sellers. The more you get the more exposure you have."

Why Expireds? "I chose Expireds because you know they want to sell, and more often than not, you know what went wrong with the listing. It was either not marketed properly, overpriced, had a bad photo or no photo, incorrect information, etc. I knew that if I could be better prepared, do my homework and truly educate sellers, I could win their trust and get the listings. Choosing one niche helped keep me focused and helped me to get really good at one thing: listing Expireds. Once you learn to be the best at that one thing, it gives you the confidence to grow, expand your business, and all that 'good work' and confidence will bring you more buyers, listing leads and referrals! My advice? Take one niche, perfect your system, make it your own, and then build the next."

What does Kathy do differently to ensure that 100% of the Expireds she markets to call her for the listing? Clearly a shutterbug at heart, Kathy first takes a few good pictures of the home. "I like to look at homes from different angles, and show it from the perspective of someone who is looking to buy." She then takes those digital pictures back to her office and uploads them to her ProspectsPLUS! software to create the wide variety of marketing pieces she uses in her pre-listing package. Feature property flyers, pricing brochures, the Merchandising Review and more get added along with a personalized cover page and marketing plan. She then binds everything into a professional booklet using her new binding machine, and puts them in the mail to her prospects. "A lot of people cold call, but with the DNC and time constraints, I've just found this to be a highly successful way of doing business. January's production has just exploded. I hit the ground running this year, marketing to all the Expireds in my area and I've literally had homeowners who have had their mail delivered at 10:00 am, and call me at 10:30 am to come list their house. They appreciate and respect that I've done the homework ahead of time. I've answered their questions before they even knew they had them, and in many cases, I've already proven that I can do a better job of marketing their home than their previous agent. The ProspectsPLUS! software makes it easy, my system keeps it streamlined and I love that I can help people get their home sold."

What about FSBOs? "I've approached FSBOs, or what we now call, "unrepresented sellers," in much the same manner. I think education is still the key. I understand their goal to sell their home and save the commission, but it's really all about showing them what it's costing them to try and market their home themselves and the time and money they have to invest. I also help them understand those things they never realized would be part of the process such as ensuring that they are showing their home only to pre-qualified buyers, and, of course, safety concerns. It's still about doing your homework, preparing your best package, and educating sellers right up front as to what they need to do to get their home sold and why you're the best person for the job!"

Best Tools of the Trade: ProspectsPLUS!, Facebook, great website, digital camera, good printer, binding machine, great attitude!

Many thanks to Kathy and all three of our special guests; I appreciate all of you for sharing your terrific ideas and career experience. Please look to the March and April editions of the newsletter to learn the best practices in the industry for short sales and niche marketing from Bob Daniel and Karin Hill.

Need some help finding and growing YOUR niche market? Contact me today at 866.405.3641 or email us at pmc@prospectsplus.com.

Want to learn more about our special guest panelists? You can reach Kathy Casarin, Prudential Preferred Properties at www.readytorealestate.com.