March 28, 2010
Real Estate Marketing | New Agents – Your First Step In Real Estate Marketing Is To Contact Your Sphere Of Influence
When you get a real estate license and hang it with a broker, one of the first things the broker will tell you is to contact your sphere of influence. It’s the first step in real estate marketing for individual agents.
You may never have heard that term before, so you might say “Who?”
Well, of course you know by now that your sphere of influence includes all the people you know in any capacity. Maybe even some you don’t really know – such as your Mom’s friends and your children’s playmates’ parents.
Your job is to let them all know that you’re now a real estate agent and that, of course, you’d like their business.
So what are you going to say? You certainly don’t want to sound like you’re begging, but if you don’t tell them you can help and they hire some darn stranger you really are going to feel like kicking yourself.
So make an announcement – much the same as you would announce your marriage or the birth of a child. Simply share your happy news with your friends.
You can include the reasons why you chose this career – reasons that will, of course, show your dedication to and fascination with all things real estate. You can also offer your services as their “information source” about the local market.
You can mention the hours you’ve spent viewing homes and studying the listings and sales in order to prepare for your new career. The idea, of course, is to convey the feeling that you’ve been out there learning all you can about your market and you know the latest information.
I like the phrase “You now have a friend in real estate” – used to convey the idea that they no longer have to take a chance with a stranger who may or may not know the market well and who may or may not be reliable.
If you want to make it short and sweet, use the greeting card format. This works well because the shape will entice people to open it. Make it convey your excitement as you embark on your new career, and emphasize the fact that they can call on you any time for information. You could say “You now have a friend in real estate. So whether you need to buy or sell or just want information about the market, call me!”
Be sure to include your business card in the envelope!
Once you’ve sent your initial announcement, I believe you should send a monthly, or at least quarterly, newsletter. They may forget about your announcement, so you need to keep reminding them. When you use the non-aggressive approach of simply conveying information, they will welcome your messages and they will see that you are becoming “the” expert in your chosen niche. You could call it “stealth” real estate marketing.
Your newsletter should include a short promo about your services, but more about market conditions and things going on in the neighborhood. You can even include buying or selling tips, or announcements about upcoming events.
Just make sure it’s a topic of interest to the majority of homeowners and would-be homeowners. Do include information about your new listings, and make sure your listing clients are on your mailing list!
Marte Cliff is a Freelance Copywriter who specializes in writing for real estate and related industries.
She’ll help you with one letter, or an entire marketing plan. For Real Estate agents and brokers who are ready to get full value from their websites, she’ll be happy to put together an entire package – from the web copy to the lead generation packages that make an agent’s phone ring.
For busy agents on a budget, Marte offers pre-written letter sets for use in postal mail or in e-mail continuity campaigns. The current selection includes letters for FSBO’s, Expired Listings, Short Sale sellers, First Time Buyers, and a set for new agents to send to buyers. Read what’s included in these sets by visiting http://www.copybymarte.com/pro/prospecting.html
Marte’s weekly ezine for real estate professionals offers tips and hints for building a successful business. To subscribe, and to see other resources available for real estate sales professionals, visit her at http://www.copybymarte.com
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9 Comments on Real Estate Marketing | New Agents – Your First Step In Real Estate Marketing Is To Contact Your Sphere Of Influence »
April 4, 2011
kadaHeividisk @ 10:26 pm:
http://verifiedfile.com/images/realestate.jpg
Atlanta Area Real Estate
We are a real estate marketing firm specializing in lease purchase home sales, by private homeowners and new construction home builders.
If you are moving to the Atlanta area due to employment reasons or any other reason, we make locating the perfect home easy. TheLeaseOptionKing.com
May 1, 2011
Tracy @ 2:30 pm:
ZIllow.com is such an awesome tool!! I can't wait for it to be available in Canada. I jsut listened to some REALLY cool stuff from the NAR convention from the people at Zillow. Big Plans are in store and technology is sure to take over and make the internet a better place for buyers!
To keep a continuous flow of real estate leads coming in try This Real Estate Marketing Tool
May 12, 2011
Kwikflips @ 9:07 am:
yes– this is done by those whom have already had several properties for more than 10-15 years since they have already built up a knowledge base and learned their own method of handling the negotiation.
June 1, 2011
Law Man says let the FACTS rule @ 8:45 am:
Not very. The rich get to control government and funnel the money upwards. They use the system to benefit themselves and we are forced to live with their rules. We should be Capitalists, but we need to protect our government from being controlled by the rich. We need a government that acts in the interests of all taxpaying Americans, but we don't need to become Socialists to do it. We just need to have the gall to take our government back from the rich. Its pretty simple. A government that represents the Working Class would make a fairer social contract for everybody. Capitalism isn't the enemy. The enemy are the rich who want to control our government. The "Free enterprise/ Small Government" slogan is a favorite weapon for the rich. They want to neuter and control government to selfishly benefit themselves at the expense of others. They have no interest in a strong government that represents the interests of all Americans. What we need to do is vote all Republicans out of office and get some Business reform, Campaign Finance Reform, and Lobbying Reform.
July 31, 2011
Maxwell @ 2:03 pm:
and very few of those loans would have gone bad if banks weren't black mailed into offering loans to borrowers who couldn't afford them.
The Community Reinvestment , was passed by Congress in 1977 to reduce discriminatory credit practices against low-income neighborhoods, a practice known as redlining. Community Organizers (ACORN) seized this legislation and black mailed banks.
August 6, 2011
TallulahBankhead @ 8:53 pm:
i live around the corner from where the cab driver was shot.
My understanding is that Classon is the dividing line between CH and Bed-Stuy, then it's Bed Stuy. Or is that some real estate marketing pablum?
I'm hoping that cab drivers take mercy on me and realize that not all fares are waiting to shoot them in the face in the same way I take mercy and realize not all cab drivers refuse to pick up black people.
October 25, 2011
@ 6:26 am:
http://verifiedfile.com/images/realestate.jpg
Atlanta Area Real Estate
We are a real estate marketing firm specializing in lease purchase home sales, by private homeowners and new construction home builders.
If you are moving to the Atlanta area due to employment reasons or any other reason, we make locating the perfect home easy. TheLeaseOptionKing.com]]>
November 12, 2011
Victor @ 10:47 pm:
There are a couple of key elements in your story, 1st, He "asked" Fannie and Freddie to make loans to poor minorities, That is asked, not FORCED like Barney Frank did. 2nd, Your quote,"providing down payment assistance, increasing the supply of affordable homes, increasing support for self-help homeownership programs, and simplifying the home buying process & increasing education" What is your point there, is helping a person a bad thing?
Funny how I see nothing saying Bush forced banks to give loans to unqualified people, just a few things making it easier for a person ABLE to make their monthly payments to get a loan. But I do see many issues with Barney Frank and FORCING banks to give bad loans to people who cannot repay the loan,
November 19, 2011
gmcoulton @ 8:25 pm:
Yeah actually. While a lot of advertising for property sales and leases are done online, I would say that most are still done the old fashioned way. Just look around your town for "for sale" or "for lease" signs. If you are looking for them, you will notice they are everywhere. Many people sell through an agent to make the paperwork easier for themselves, but you don't have to. If a sign says "for sale by owner" then there is no agent involved.