I was coaching a new real estate agent today. Jack's been in business for two months, he's new to San Diego, has never done real estate before, hasn't had a speck of business yet, and I believe he will be a top producer. Why? Because he's working hard, doing the right kind of real estate marketing.
Working hard at the right things has always been the secret of success.
At a time when many real estate agents are asking me "What kind of prospecting should I be doing in this market?" Jack is going old school. He's geographic farming...but with a new twist.
Jack's Real Estate Prospecting Plan
I could just say that Jack is adding web-based marketing to his geographic farming, but that wouldn't mean much. So instead, I'm going to list many of the things he's done or is doing since getting his license two months ago:
Got a URL for the neighborhood he wants to "farm".Bought an inexpensive, but very effective real estate website with IDX ($30/mo).Did SEO (search engine optimization) for that site so that in just two months it's on page one of Google...without spending on AdWords. (There are about 80 key steps involved in this, but he's listed them all out for me to repeat for others.)Joined the community council for his farm.Began writing articles for his website about his farm...building up to 50 pages of content.Began visiting businesses that related to his interests and needs. He talks to the owners and tells them he'd like to do business with them. Gets to know them. Communicates. Asks how he can help them.Created a Facebook Business page and connected to 800 friends. The page links back to his website.Things we talked about adding to the mix:
Creating a "real estate benefits" portal for his business contacts.Finding out who has a small or "hobby" business in his farm area and promoting it locally.Holding "Power Open Houses."Doing door-to-door campaigning to introduce himself.Blogging about his farm.Using a database to follow up in addition to using Facebook.Using free give-aways to entice connections.Using Craigslist video strategies.
Jack's big problem will be holding it all together when people start to call him and he's got several transactions running at once. But frontloading his marketing will help get it systematized before his business picks up and he has no more time for marketing.
As I was leaving the building where we were meeting, another agent, Jerry, stopped me to ask me about working short sales. He felt this was the way to go to build his business and wanted to know if I could recommend a company that would provide him with short sale leads.
Later I thought about the differences between these two agents. Both are great guys. Both are going to be very successful. But in very different ways. I suspect Jack will be more successful in the long run, because he'll end up with a large database full of personal contacts, whereas Jerry will get business faster and continue to be successful so long as the short sale market stays strong, and beyond if he follows up well.
Every agent is good at something...and finding that "something" is the key to unleashing your potential. Find your sweet spot at Real Estate Business Coaching.
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