real estate marketing: Are You a Real Estate Agent Missing This Referral Source?
- 04/04/14 04:15 AM
When you're 100% dependent on real estate commissions for your livelihood, quality referrals are key. Without new prospects coming into your pipeline, you can't build your real estate business. Some of the typical ways real estate agents find new prospects include: Attending networking events. Distributing door to door flyers. Buying leads. Knocking on doors. Hosting open houses on their own, or another agent's, listing. Running expensive newspaper and billboard ads. Websites, blogs and social media. Networking with real estate agents in other markets. The problem with most of these methods is you're marketing to people who may or may not be … (47 comments)
real estate marketing: Real Estate Marketing - What Does Your Head Shot Say About You?
- 03/13/13 08:55 AM
Real estate marketing pretty much comes down to business cards, advertising, networking, social media, websites, blogs, signage and open houses. As much as we'd like to pretend otherwise, how we look counts for a lot. Since many real estate agents include their head shot on business cards, For Sale signs, advertising and more, it's important to think about what your photo says about you. Your Real Esate Agent Head Shot Is Key to Your Business Image Your head shot communicates a lot about you as a real estate agent and gives your prospective clients a sense of what it might be … (2 comments)
real estate marketing: 3 Steps to Boost Real Estate Business with Holiday Gifts
- 12/08/12 02:08 AM
Are you thinking about gifts for your real estate or home staging business clients and prospects? It’s tricky figuring out the best approach. Get it right and you can actually boost your business for 2013. Get it wrong and you might inadvertently offend the people you want to impress, or send the wrong message altogether. Like anything else you do to connect with clients or potential clients, business gifts are part of your arsenal of real estate marketing or home staging marketing. Here are 3 steps to getting it right: Step 1: Decide on your business objectives for gifting Before you … (1 comments)
real estate marketing: 5 Ways to Scare Real Estate Clients Away at Your Next Open House
- 09/12/12 06:54 AM
The post by Pacita Dimacali on Active Rain Still Holding Open Houses? That's Old Fashioned makes great points about why this real estate marketing tactic still works and why agents should do open houses. Unfortunately, sometimes real estate agents make mistakes that scare away potential clients! As a home buyer who has lived in 4 different cities, I've added many a real estate agent to my "Don't Deal With Them" list based on their open house behavior. This means: I won't hire them when I'm ready to buy or sell my next property. I'm less likely to go to any of … (33 comments)
real estate marketing: When You Become a Trusted Advisor, You Have a Client for Life
- 01/19/12 09:18 AM
I recently finished reading Seth Godin’s Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, which is written for people still toiling away inside corporations but it offers some interesting insights that we can use as real estate and home staging professionals too. Godin argues that every workplace has traditionally had “management” and “labor” but that now there is an important third group, which he calls “linchpins.” Regardless of whether they are low down or high up in the pecking order, these are the people who make things happen. They create order out of chaos, make connections and they lead others. In so doing, they become … (2 comments)
real estate marketing: Real Estate Agents Stop Preaching To The Choir, Start Convincing Clients!
- 11/27/11 08:25 AM
Charlie Dresen's recent post, "What Do Realtors and Bookstore People Have in Common?" inspired me to write this. I'm not a real estate agent, but I've been a client of many agents while buying and selling 8 homes in 4 cities. I believe real estate agents today are in much the same position travel agents were about 15 years ago. Back then, if you wanted to book anything but a very routine trip, a travel agent was your "go to source" for: information about the destination insider tips on what to see and do there advice on where to stay, … (10 comments)
real estate marketing: 7 Ways Real Estate Agents Shoot Themselves in the Foot
- 02/21/11 01:56 AM
Rita Fong wrote a great blog post How come some agents can't close a deal?, which attracted a ton of comments from real estate agents. Some acknowledged that there are agents who just aren't that good at what they do, others pointed out that some clients really don't know what they want. All true of course. Since I've worked with a ton of agents (good and bad) in 4 different cities along the way of buying and selling 7 different homes (I lived in all of them), I wanted to weigh in with my perspective as a CLIENT, hoping it will … (10 comments)
real estate marketing: Recession-era marketing for real estate agents
- 12/02/09 05:05 AM
This recession has a bright spot. One of the things I really appreciate is that I'm not getting deluged with real estate agents' calendars for 2010. You know the kind, filled with stunning homes that only a millionaire could afford and imprinted with the agent's contact information. I got one from my mortgage broker but that was it. Thank goodness! These calendars always go straight into the recycling bin and I've never understood why so many agents normally send them out. If I've bought or sold a house with you, then a calendar is kind of an insulting gift. Kind … (10 comments)
real estate marketing: Slow market a great opportunity for those with the right mindset
- 04/28/09 07:09 AM
Who was it that said, when others are excited that's the time to sell and when everyone else is scared, that's the time to buy? Warren Buffet? It might have been said about the stock market, but it totally applies to making money in real estate in my opinion. I'm not a real estate agent, but I have bought 8 homes in both slow and hot real estate markets. If I hadn't bought my dream home on Mother's Day two years ago, I'd be selling and trading up right now. This is a great market to buy in if you're ready … (13 comments)
real estate marketing: A short cut to pay day for real estate agents?
- 03/27/09 08:11 AM
I can't imagine spending weeks on end driving clients around to see one disappointing property after another. One peak inside and you know you probably wouldn't buy any of these houses either! Yet there you are flicking on the lights and stepping over the clutter, hoping against hope that someone will actually make a decision and you'll actually see a payday in a few months. I can't imagine spending money on desk fees, fliers and advertising month after month, no closer to unloading those listings despite the price reductions. Knowing these are dead listings, yet having to put on a cheery … (7 comments)
real estate marketing: Home staging doesn't work
- 03/15/09 11:22 AM
"Home staging doesn't work," says the group of real estate agents sitting before the home stager trying to talk about her business. It's amazing to me how many agents are still resistant to having their clients' homes decorated to sell. I challenge anyone to spend 4 minutes watching this video and then tell me that it wouldn't be easier to sell the staged property than how the home looked before. Which version of this property would you rather show on your own website when promoting your services? Some facts to note before watching: this Westport Connecticut house has sat on the … (10 comments)
real estate marketing: Real Estate Agent Loses Client for Dropping Purse and Getting Lost
- 02/25/09 02:20 AM
I read a blog post today by Clint Miller called "Death of a Salesman" listing the subtle and not so subtle ways a real estate agent can kill a client relationship. Often ignored basics like: being inaccessible, being dishonest and ignoring simple manners. It's sad these basics have to be stated, but here we are with about 1.3 million Realtors in the US and approximately 98,000 in Canada so there's bound to be a lot of riff raff. There are thousands of reasons for a client to fire their agent, or not recommend them to others, especially in a competitive market. … (9 comments)
real estate marketing: Desperate Sales Tactics Echo Glengarry Glen Ross
- 02/24/09 05:24 AM
I wrote a blog post recently called The Stench of Desperation which attracted some excellent examples from readers of desperate marketing efforts they've seen that don't really help build business and may in fact make you look so desperate people won't hire you. For example, Diana Young wrote about an agent who advertised fortune telling and tarot card reading for agents who attended her broker's open house! Wow, and here I thought the important thing about getting brokers into a house was for them to actually look at it and perhaps recommend it to appropriate clients! Yesterday I actually got a … (5 comments)
real estate marketing: Put your game face on and get out there and build your business
- 12/02/08 12:47 PM
Every entrepreneur experiences a period of time where confidence levels drop only to be replaced by soaring levels of fear and insecurity. The secret to making it through those days, weeks or even months of feeling insecure is to put on a brave face and keep going anyway. Stepping out of your comfort zone to build your own business takes more than just “know-how”; you also need courage, determination and a very good game face. I imagine even President-elect Obama has moments where he thinks, “What have I gotten myself into?” It's not like he can push a giant “pause button” … (7 comments)
real estate marketing: Marketing Plans: Does Size Really Matter?
- 08/30/08 12:26 PM
I'm a firm believer in the old adage that "failing to plan is planning to fail," but I'm also not from the school of thought that believes you need a full-blown multi-page marketing plan to succeed, especially if you run your own business. And I say this as someone with an MBA in Marketing who used to get paid many thousands of dollars to write marketing plans for companies. I've been an entrepreneur since 1989 and I've always found that the longer the plan I write for myself, the less likely I am to follow it. Part of why I've chosen … (34 comments)
Articles of interest to home stagers and real estate agents to improve understanding of the business of home staging (real estate staging, house fluffing).
When you're 100% dependent on real estate commissions for your livelihood, quality referrals are key. Without new prospects coming into your pipeline, you can't build your real estate business.
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