New Year's Resolutions for Realtors

It's not too early to start thinking about what you should be doing in 2012 to increase your real estate business. Here are my top 3 New Year's resolutions for real estate agents. Anyone have any others they'd like to share?

1.  Improve your contact with your past clients.

We all know the disparity between the percentage of buyers and sellers who report being happy with their agent right after the transaction, and the percentage who actually end up working with that agent on their next transaction.  Are you doing everything you can to keep yourself in their minds as "their" agent? As a trusted professional they can feel comfortable sending their friends and families to? Are you providing valuable information in your contacts with them?

2. Analyze where your business is coming from.

When was the last time you sat down and analyzed where your business is coming from? Are you spending money and time on resources that aren't showing results? Could this money and time be better spent on expanding your efforts on activities that have been bringing business in?

3. Master an online or social media tool.

Many agents are overwhelmed by the number and variety of online tools and social media sites they are "supposed" to be using. How many agents start a blog because the local association had a class on it, then open a Twitter account because someone else has one, then start a Facebook page and don't know what to do with it?  Soon, they have accounts all over the place, which are being updated infrequently, if at all.

If you are in a situation like this, my suggestion would be to pick one of these tools or sites, and master it. It doesn't even matter which one. It could be a Facebook business page, slideshows and videos on YouTube, a premium account on ActiveRain, Trulia, or Zillow, or a WordPress blog.  Just pick one.  Mastery of one tool will give you the confidence to attack others. Also, many of these sites work well together, and mastering one will gradually introduce you to useful features of other tools.

If you follow these 3 resolutions, I feel confident that you will increase your business in 2012.