It’s finished now, and you can read all about it at www.promotemyrealestatecareer.com.

In it, you’ll find 107 ways to promote your career, and all but about a dozen of those ways are either completely free or cost only the gasoline to get you out and about.

If you have a different kind of business, I also have an e-book for you. In it you’ll find a plan to keep people coming back to your physical store, or to keep ordering your party plan merchandise or “door-to-door” products such as Avon.

Read more about How to Market a Local Business.

The truth is, you can do a great deal to help yourself by spending your time and using your imagination.

Yes, you need a good website, and yes, your website needs good copy. You also need business cards. But beyond that, a whole lot of what you could get talked into will be a waste of dollars.

The catch is, you do have to spend the time.

Just as there’s no magic pill to give you good health, there’s no magic pill to make your business take off.

When that happens you wonder if you did something wrong. Was there a problem they didn’t mention when you were working with them?

Probably not. The real reason is probably that you failed to stay in touch.

Failing to stay in touch means they might have forgotten your name after a couple of years. And if you’ve changed offices… they might not know where to find you. So even if they thought you were the best agent in the universe, you won’t get their business.

Start with staying in touch immediately after the closing.

Send a thank you letter with a brief questionnaire asking for feedback on your service. It will let you know what you did right – and occasionally you’ll hear what you did wrong! Don’t be afraid of that.

Welcome that kind of feedback because it gives you the opportunity to let them know you care. Write back and thank them for letting you know and for helping your career by letting you improve your service.

Next, start staying in touch every 2 to 4 months – unless you know that they have friends or relatives who are about to make a move. Then you want to make contact more often.

If you really want to make a big impression, send a magazine article about their hobby, a birthday card, a clipping about them or a family member from your newspaper, or perhaps a copy of something you’ve read that will benefit their business.

If you don’t have anything that’s “just for them” send a newsletter, a postcard with a funny joke, a pretty picture, or perhaps an article about getting the house ready for winter.

And, since most people are interested in the real estate market even if they aren’t buying or selling, a quarterly update would likely be welcomed.

While you’re at it, do remind them that you appreciate their referrals and that you’re always available to answer any questions they have about real estate.

Your goal is for them to think of you first when anyone mentions real estate. You accomplish that goal by staying in touch.

If you’ve taken it a step further, you also offer a special report to buyers or sellers or one for each.

That means you have the opportunity to follow up with a “drip campaign” to stay in touch with those leads. If you do, and if you do it well, you’ll be the agent they call when they’re ready to take action.

It’s a fantastic opportunity, but too many agents are wasting it by sending letters that repel rather than attract.

Their letters say things like “If you’d like to look at homes, call me.” Or “I’m a really wonderful real estate agent, so if you’re ready to list, call me.”

Some agents send those same letters over and over and over. And what do consumers do? Most merely hit the delete button.

Instead, you need to be sending information they’ll be glad to get – so that when they see your name in their in-box, they’ll open your message and actually read it.

What can you send instead? Market information, for one thing. People who are interested in buying or selling are interested in what goes on with the local market.

So give them statistics:

• How many homes have sold in the past month?
• Is this more or fewer than the month before, or this month last year?
• What has been the average price?
• Is this average higher or lower than the previous month, or this month last year?
• How does this compare to national trends?

Unless you’re writing to people who responded to a specific special report – such as one for FSBO’s, Expired Listings, Short Sales, or First time buyers – then your information has to be generic.

You can do that and still offer useful information. But you do need to separate buyers from sellers.

You can give general tips on buying – such as paperwork to take along when meeting with a lender, getting ready to view homes by narrowing your “want” list, etc.

And you can give general tips on selling. That opens you up to everything from proper pricing to staging the house, to the reason why sellers should be absent during showings.

This is a time to avoid specifics. Don’t assume that your reader is a first time buyer or a newlywed or a retiree. Doing so shows that you don’t know who they are and many will see it as insulting.

Finally, unless you know you are proficient in grammar and spelling, get someone to check your work before you send it. Misused words, misspellings, and garbled sentence structure will do you more harm than sending no letter at all.

Remember, everything you send represents you and your professionalism. Make it good!

You can write these letters yourself… but if you’re short on time, short on writing ability, or just don’t like to write… use mine.

Visit Copy by Marte for a wide assortment of letters, all ready to personalize and send.

Some say they simply can’t make a living any more. “Nothing is selling” is a refrain I’ve heard from agents from coast to coast. Many of these agents are dropping out of the business or trying to work part-time while they take a job that pays wages.

Others say they’re doing fine – that they always make money during bad times.

So what gives?

I believe the difference lies in their attitudes and expectations. Each agent gets what they expect to get, because their expectations color their activities. And their activities determine their success – or lack of success.

I can almost guarantee that the agent sitting in the office playing video games isn’t making any money. Neither are the ones gathered in the break room crying about how bad things are. They don’t expect a buyer or a seller to call, and they don’t reach out to anyone because they “know” that no one is interested.

Then there are the ones making money. They’re either on the phone or out there making contact with potential buyers and sellers. They’re also studying – learning how to deal with the new regulations. And they never stop marketing. Instead, they’re finding creative ways to market their services without spending a ton of money.

These agents are taking a critical look at their marketing methods and measuring what works and what doesn’t work. Then they’re directing their dollars to those activities that bring them business. I may be wrong, but I think we’ll see a huge shift away from homes magazines and newspaper ads.

Since over 90% of buyers begin their search on the Internet, smart real estate agents will shift more of their attention to creating web pages that capture visitors – and they’ll set up systems to keep in touch with all their leads via email.

They’ll also do more social marketing. Agents are using sites like Active Rain to show their area expertise and drive new buyers and sellers to their websites. Those who blog regularly are reporting huge increases in sales just from this one source.

Of course, there are those who use social marketing poorly and never gain a following. I’m thinking of the ones on Twitter who post the same message about a new listing 20 times in a row. Marketers in other businesses do the same, and they’re just as forgettable.

We have entered an age of skepticism. It’s a time when we don’t automatically trust people, but wait to see if they’re worthy of our trust. We want to get acquainted and know a little about a person.
Blogging creates that opportunity for potential customers to gain insight into who you are. So does drip marketing, if you’re willing to “give away” a little helpful information in your messages.

This need to get acquainted also puts new importance on agent bios. They’re an opportunity to show potential customers that you’re a real person – with interests and passions that go beyond your professional duties. Bios give prospects a way to connect with you and trust you because you’re “like them” in some way.

One thing I believe is certain: The agents who take the time and effort to learn how to market effectively in this economy will be the market leaders when things improve.

If successful, those huge companies have built a reputation over the years – for good quality merchandise or for good service provided by a well-trained team of employees.

No one knows who “the owner” is, and they don’t care. They trust “the company” to do what’s expected.

But if you’re starting out with your own small to medium sized business, you don’t have that luxury. You don’t have a long-term reputation to back you up, so the first thing you need to do is create an atmosphere of trust.

How? By staying out of hiding.

By letting your prospective customers know who you are, and by letting them know that you take responsibility for everything that goes on in your business. By giving them a way to reach you if they have a question or a concern. By showing that their satisfaction is important to you.

There are two parts to this. First is the “who you are” aspect, and that’s the one that many small business people can’t seem to accept. Perhaps it’s because they’re shy, or unsure, but whatever the reason, it’s a mistake.

Many business owners give customers a way to get in touch, and many have very liberal return policies and do their best to give customer satisfaction. But they still hide!

Hiding is not the way to establish trust in a start-up business. In fact, hiding is a good way to create mistrust. It’s as if you’re saying “You might not like what I’m offering, so I don’t want you to know who I am!” It’s like using a blind PO Box for your mail – because you want to be ready to leave town any minute.

So first, use your name. Then share something personal. Not your life history, but something that will give people a reason to see you as someone who is “like them” in some way.

If you sell dog supplies because you’re an avid dog lover, a volunteer for dog rescue, a trainer, a handler for search-and-rescue dogs, or a veterinary assistant – say so! If you sell model train supplies because you’ve had a fascination with them since childhood, or because you’re a retired locomotive engineer, share the information!

Then, beyond the connection to your business, let people know that you’re a person outside of business. I never advise discussing politics or religion (unless they’re your business) but you can share a small peek into your hobbies, your interests, your family, your volunteer activities, etc.

For instance, you might say something like “When we’re not working, my husband and I grab our 2 kids and our 3 dogs and we head for the hills. Hiking the trails above (town) is a favorite way to spend time together while getting the exercise we all need.”

Now – you’ve just said you have a family that you appreciate, you like animals, you’re an outdoors person, and you believe in fitness. You’ve shared things that other people can connect with when they’re looking for ways to see if you are like them – or not like them.

Why do you think so many websites have an “About me” page? People who do it now may just be following the leader, but my bet is the first person who did it had a good reason – he or she knew that customers who can’t meet you in person want to “meet” you on line.

So take a look at your “about me” page – and if it doesn’t say anything beyond your professional experience and accomplishments, fix it!

Yours for prosperity,

Marte

We have to be honest here, and realize that a whole lot of agents who got in when the market was hot weren’t really trying much then, either. Just being there gave them enough business to keep them in the game. During my 19 years in real estate I met dozens of them who gave little effort to sharpening their skills – either as an agent or in marketing themselves.

Their decision to drop out is good news for you! They really were just cluttering things up and making it harder for customers and clients to find you.

Now is the time to sharpen your expertise – about all the homes for sale in your niche, and especially about how to deal with selling repossessed properties. And now is the time to market yourself as an expert.

Since many of those homes are in a pre-foreclosure state, it’s also the time to learn all you can about handling short-sales. They do require an extra dose of patience and persistence. They also call for your use of compassion and kindness, because those home sellers are in a state of unhappy turmoil.

For those who serve the market in other ways, you may have to shift your idea of who your customers will be – for instance, instead of marketing exclusively to home sellers, also market to the agents who handle REO properties.

But think about this: Those people who are not in financial trouble, but who need to sell and move during tight times, may need your services more than ever. We all know that a sparkling clean and properly staged and landscaped home will sell faster than homes that merely look “lived in.”

Your task is to show home sellers the advantage you can give them over their competition.

So get out there and present yourself as the professional they need! And if you have a hard time developing your marketing plan, get in touch.

This really can be a time of prosperity…

Marte