First let me start by wishing everyone at AR a Happy, Healthy and Properous New Year!
My goal for New Year's day was simple. I was determined to organize all my receipts and get my books ready for tax time. Well after 10 hours, yes 10 hours, my work was accomplished. I strongly advise all to start sorting and organizing for two reasons.
1. When you see how much you actually spent on marketing and accessories, this will cause you to revamp your marketing strategies as well as shop a little more savvy for accessories.
2. The relief, after the shock wears off, is just an incredible weight off your shoulders. Organizing our own work spaces as well as our own inventory books and receipts will destress us, leaving our creative minds to focus on what we do best.
I, for one, will definitely not be spending as much on advertising this year as I did last year. WHY?? Because most of it did not work. What I have found to work best is meet and greet. I have shared this information before and it is worth sharing again. Form alliances and pick a few key businesses to network with.
Some of the companies that I network with are:
A. All Jersey Movers - The sales person and I met at a realtor's presentation and hit if off. Now we each have our own territory that we cover, yet include each other on the jobs. Just today, the sales person called me because he was meeting with a big builder about doing a Sellers Seminar and asked if I wanted in....YEAH! Then I asked him to come with me to a realtors presentation on January 16th. Each of these contacts would have not been possible without each other getting out there.
B. Pulte Home Builders - I am starting a big job on January 13 for someone who is buying their new construction, but needs to sell their home. Meet with builders, their buyers cannot buy until they SELL their house first.
C. Real Estate Attorney - He has many realtors that he works with and when he visited each one for Christmas, my Gift Certificate for a Free Staging Consult was in each basket. He has also displayed my brochure and articles in his office. OKAY he was my former boss, but you have to know some attorneys, or someone who knows someone, right?
D. Go back to realtors offices that have used your services before and tell them you think it is time to come back into their office and address their agents again. It works, I am going back to a company I spoke at in May of last year. If a company has 45 agents and you only met 20, that is alot of work you could be missing out on.
E. Mortgage Companies - They do loans for new buyers, right? Don't those buyers have to sell their houses in order to buy? Establish a relationship with one or two companies and work with them exclusively.
F. Join your Local Chamber of Commerce and GO to their meetings. This has worked for me and honestly has cost me the least. One was $75/year and another one was $125/year. Each event (breakfast, lunch, dinner) has a small fee attached, but guess what? I went to a breakfast event in December, put my card in a raffle drawing and won....$100 worth of FREE events, so if breakfast meetings cost $5.00 that is a lot of FREE Breakfast and networking I can do.
G. Visit Open Houses - Val Allocco has some goodies she gives to the realtors. I only did this about 4 times, but guess what, I got 2 jobs out of it which generated 2 realtors presentations which generated 3 more jobs..JUST DO IT!
Again, these are the things that I will be focusing on. It is easy to sit behind a computer and email or do mailings because let's face it, sometimes we are just not comfortable meeting people one on one. BUT IT WORKS! People will buy you, before they buy your services. Let them get to see what a great person you are and let them know that they could trust you. BE YOURSELF and DON'T TRY TO COPY SOMEONE ElSE.
Here are 2 quotes that have motivated me in the beginning of my business and I plan on going back to my humble beginnings, I hope they help you as well. BEST OF LUCK TO ALL IN 2007!
First Quote: Every day do (1) thing that makes you uncomfortable!
Second Quote: If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.
Happy Marketing to all
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