Do you keep in touch with your customers? How do you do that? I'll tell you some of my ideas!

When someone emails me or calls me, I immediately put them on my mailing list. Now "I" don't innundate them every day or even every week except to perhaps follow up once; however, I do place them into my email newsleter by www.RealtyTimes.com.  I personalize my newsletter by writing an aritcle specific to our market or to sellers or buyers, but I keep myself in front of them every month. Some clients have turned into buying/selling clients 6 months, 1 year, 2 year's later. One client to whom I had sold a home couldn't find my telephone number because he lives out of state, and voila, my email newsletter showed up in his inbox. He called me, listed his home, and that is one story.

I also purchase personalized cards, Color for Real Estate, www.CFRE.com. They have sets of cards for five years that I have sent out to my clients on a regular basis. This is especially useful for those clients that don't have email (I know, I know ... there are still a few that do not have email.)

The third thing I do is: every year I order 1000 of the calendar magnets from www.MagnetsUSA.com.  My husband puts my business card on the magnet, and I distribute them to three farming areas hand delivered by a family with lots of kids that I pay, AND I send them to my past clients - all of them. They look forward to that refrigerator magnet believe it or not, and they always have my number and face in front of them just in case they know of someone that wants to buy/sell a home or if they themselves are in the market.

Believe it or not, our former clients are not always faithful to us! I know that comes as a great surprise to all of you; however, keeping myself in their minds, in the email, in their snail mail and on their refrigerator surely helps.

I have literally learned to spend lots of money marketing myself. It does pay off. My three websites, my blog on my website, this blog, and on and on it goes. People typically don't just drop in your lap and beg you to sell their home or help them find one. YOU have to make it happen in every conceivable way. Ongoing continuing education, hearing other Realtors tell how "they" do things, and reading blogs like we have on AR are great resources.