If new to Real Estate, you might be forgiven for wondering where on earth to start and how you can make a success of your role. Whilst on one hand you might be thinking that you need to actively search out for deals, another part of you is wondering whether you should invest in a course to get your skills up to scratch and then of course, there is always a direct marketing campaign but which to do first?
Many agents involved in Real Estate forget the importance of creating and fine-tuning their strategic marketing plan, instead it can often be left to day to day planning and a great deal of potential revenue and market potential can be lost. It might be that you are feeling confused by the whole business as there are so many avenues to explore but never forget the basics, the foundations of which will generate future rewards and greater publicity within the marketplace.
First thing is to get focussed. Sharpen your concentration and think with clarity. Real estate is a competitive market place so you need to have your wits about you. To get to any end goal, you will need to understand how to overcome any obstacles and pre-empt any potential problems that will need to be solved, and these will vary depending on which aspect of the market you are looking at.
Writing down an action plan will help you determine first of all, who your likely clients are going to be, and this could be a mixture of owner sales, landlords who wish to sell up, 2 home owners, probates, or foreclosures etc. So if you are thinking of creating a marketing plan, then you need to think about any direct mail that will reach out to these groups of people or whether a general advertising campaign in your local press will suffice.
Equally, how do you want them to respond to you? By email, telephone or letter? Will you have a recorded message available to those who ring in or will you direct them to your website as well? It’s important to think about what you want to achieve, what is your message, what can you do for your potential clients? It’s also essential to have a viable budget. Work out how much you can afford on your campaign and stick to it. It’s easy to blow the budget and in the early days, your budget is likely to be limited.
Timing is everything in marketing terms. Your campaign needs to be topical and ideally it should solve problems for those who receive it. Your marketing campaign is the light at the end of a dark tunnel for many, it’s the way forward for others who are ready to invest and it’s the end of a depressing and traumatic time for those who are going through probate. It’s essential that your marketing campaign is powerful and tailored towards those on your list of prospective clients. Will your campaign make them sit up and think of you when they need a real estate agent? If no, then it’s back to the drawing board with your campaign approach.
How are you starting your campaign? A case of cold calling? Or will it be via an estate representative? Choosing how and where your campaign is seen is the difference between a winning and a losing marketing program.
Creating a winning marketing campaign takes time so take heart if yours doesn’t work initially. The whole real estate caboodle is a complicated one, it is a sharp learning curve all the way to the top and to give yourself a fighting chance of standing out from the crowd, you need to put yourself ahead of the competition. Knowing your competitor is vital because you need to know how they work, think, act and even how they approach their potential clients. You are not going to be a mirror image of these agents; you need to stand head and shoulders ahead of them. You can do this by considering how they operate and identifying any successes and failures, but do remember that they will also be doing the same to you.
