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rapture, hang in there,,,,perserverence will pay off
we all start out slow,,, to attract buyers,,,i damn near put my own house up for sale!!!
i'll give you one of my good marketing ideas,,cause i like you..
i picked up 12 listings doing this,, in a short amount of time,,and it grew from there.
this is "feel-good" marketing,,,not cold calls or direct, or waste money on mailers,
first, i want you to search the internet for gift baskets,,for THANK-YOU's
(if you have a buyer, that just purchased the home,) (look at the items going in to them)
id say around 90% of the homes sold around here,,are from people from outside the area,,,so,say you want to give a gift basket to your buyers the new owners,
gift baskets arent the goal here,,listings are
so,,,get a listing (addresses) of all the independently owned businesses in your area,,everything from bakeries,,,to candle shops,,and even local contractors, especially restaurants and service industries,,target businesses that have the owner in the store,,not chains or franchises,,
now,,you physically go to these businesses,,,,,say you go to a bakery, ask for the owner,,tell him/her you are putting together a gift basket for someone new in the area,,,and ask if theyd like to contribute a gift certificate ,,,,maybe 10 % off thier first purchase,,,tell the bakery owner,,you've been there before he has great baked goods,,and your potential buyers will be new to the area,,and he will pick up brand new customers,,,,most store owners will jump at this,,,(how many times do we go past businesses close by,,we've yet to stop at?)
when he gives you the gift certificate,,,GIVE HIM YOUR BROKER BUSINESS CARD,,SMILE AT HIM/HER,, ,,now at this point,,you are giving a business owner your personal card,,,,and he's feeling pretty good ,,because he thinks you are trying to bring new customers to his business,,
most of the time,,the owners will ask some questions,,,just be very cheerful,,and be honest,(dont start overselling yourself),,at this particular time,,,,this is where i had many owners,,,start to think aloud,,,"I"'ll be downsizing soon,,to a smaller house" or thinking of investing in some land,,and even the business!,etc,,,,then tell him,, i'll be happy to assist you,,,and when you are ready please give me a call, dont push them into it,,(most business owners are bombarded by salesmen,,,and some despise them),,but at this point,,,most that had real estate interest,,,said ok,,,start sending me whats on the market,,also tell him,,,with every new buyers client,,you will come back for another gift certificate,,,this may prompt him,,to market you! and let you place a big sign of yourself,,at the business
this may work with just about any business,,,from bowling alleys, to car dealerships,look at the paper,,see who's advertising,, or when driving around town,,make a list who to visit,
the goal is to give a business owner your card,,under the guise,,,you are actually promoting thier business,,(new customers)
now,,,say you do this, and get many gift certificates, you can show this awesome gift basket to your peers and sell them. i chose not to sell them,,,i wanted something unique myself,,and the new owners were ,,surprised and thrilled to have a large amount of gift certificates, to local businesses,,
good luck!!
and DONT get discouraged if a business-owner says no,
most will say yes,,because they will think you are going to thier competition if they say no,,
here's another good tip,,tell some of these business owners you've seen thier ad in print somewhere,,they pay big bucks to advertise,,,tell them it was a good looking flyer/ad....usually they'll start complaining about the cost of the ad,,this is when you inject,,,,,"if there's room on your flyer" id think about sharing your advertising costs (by placing a picture of you in it) and have the owner recommend you,,,
hardware stores, and independent grocery stores will do this,,(not chain owned stores)
Thank you.....I had some similiar ideas in mind to cross advertise. Marketing is one of my strong points, I do have a lot of ideas and I think the advice you gave me I can really use. Thanks again.
rapture, hang in there,,,,perserverence will pay off
we all start out slow,,, to attract buyers,,,i damn near put my own house up for sale!!!
i'll give you one of my good marketing ideas,,cause i like you..
i picked up 12 listings doing this,, in a short amount of time,,and it grew from there.
this is "feel-good" marketing,,,not cold calls or direct, or waste money on mailers,
first, i want you to search the internet for gift baskets,,for THANK-YOU's
(if you have a buyer, that just purchased the home,) (look at the items going in to them)
id say around 90% of the homes sold around here,,are from people from outside the area,,,so,say you want to give a gift basket to your buyers the new owners,
gift baskets arent the goal here,,listings are
so,,,get a listing (addresses) of all the independently owned businesses in your area,,everything from bakeries,,,to candle shops,,and even local contractors, especially restaurants and service industries,,target businesses that have the owner in the store,,not chains or franchises,,
now,,you physically go to these businesses,,,,,say you go to a bakery, ask for the owner,,tell him/her you are putting together a gift basket for someone new in the area,,,and ask if theyd like to contribute a gift certificate ,,,,maybe 10 % off thier first purchase,,,tell the bakery owner,,you've been there before he has great baked goods,,and your potential buyers will be new to the area,,and he will pick up brand new customers,,,,most store owners will jump at this,,,(how many times do we go past businesses close by,,we've yet to stop at?)
when he gives you the gift certificate,,,GIVE HIM YOUR BROKER BUSINESS CARD,,SMILE AT HIM/HER,, ,,now at this point,,you are giving a business owner your personal card,,,,and he's feeling pretty good ,,because he thinks you are trying to bring new customers to his business,,
most of the time,,the owners will ask some questions,,,just be very cheerful,,and be honest,(dont start overselling yourself),,at this particular time,,,,this is where i had many owners,,,start to think aloud,,,"I"'ll be downsizing soon,,to a smaller house" or thinking of investing in some land,,and even the business!,etc,,,,then tell him,, i'll be happy to assist you,,,and when you are ready please give me a call, dont push them into it,,(most business owners are bombarded by salesmen,,,and some despise them),,but at this point,,,most that had real estate interest,,,said ok,,,start sending me whats on the market,,also tell him,,,with every new buyers client,,you will come back for another gift certificate,,,this may prompt him,,to market you! and let you place a big sign of yourself,,at the business
this may work with just about any business,,,from bowling alleys, to car dealerships,look at the paper,,see who's advertising,, or when driving around town,,make a list who to visit,
the goal is to give a business owner your card,,under the guise,,,you are actually promoting thier business,,(new customers)
now,,,say you do this, and get many gift certificates, you can show this awesome gift basket to your peers and sell them. i chose not to sell them,,,i wanted something unique myself,,and the new owners were ,,surprised and thrilled to have a large amount of gift certificates, to local businesses,,
good luck!!
and DONT get discouraged if a business-owner says no,
most will say yes,,because they will think you are going to thier competition if they say no,,
here's another good tip,,tell some of these business owners you've seen thier ad in print somewhere,,they pay big bucks to advertise,,,tell them it was a good looking flyer/ad....usually they'll start complaining about the cost of the ad,,this is when you inject,,,,,"if there's room on your flyer" id think about sharing your advertising costs (by placing a picture of you in it) and have the owner recommend you,,,
hardware stores, and independent grocery stores will do this,,(not chain owned stores)
Wow, thank you. As a new and struggling agent in CA, this is a great idea! As a former owner of a small business before I got my real estate license, this does come across as a powerful, up close and personal way to remember a realtor, who may not even be a thought at the moment. It is also a great way to get the business owner to pass along some of his leads to the realtor. As a realtor, the thought of sharing a business person's ad is a new concept.I could run a small business card ad in my monthly newsletter, could feature a few other small business owners. Great tip! Hope you don't mind me using this also.
Wow, thank you. As a new and struggling agent in CA, this is a great idea! As a former owner of a small business before I got my real estate license, this does come across as a powerful, up close and personal way to remember a realtor, who may not even be a thought at the moment. It is also a great way to get the business owner to pass along some of his leads to the realtor. As a realtor, the thought of sharing a business person's ad is a new concept.I could run a small business card ad in my monthly newsletter, could feature a few other small business owners. Great tip! Hope you don't mind me using this also.
trish, start using your contacts or developing some (networking )
if you dont have a readily available list of "contractors" then make one..
anything from flooring to landscapers, painters, electricians, to full construction companies.
as part of your own "marketing strategy" go visit these contractors,,make an appmnt,,over breakfast,(or thier place of business) tell them you've had questions about contractors in the area,,,and you not only want a business card, but you want to recommend them personally. why?? because, say you are meeting a couple landscapers, you go to thier place of business, ask for thier card,,any pictures of recent jobs,,etc,, and bingo here you are again in front of folks marketing yourself, under the guise of promoting them,
i particularly like landscapers and here's why, i "buddied" up with a local landscaper, and we sent mailers, around to the waterfront homes around the lakes in the area,,his advertisement on one side,,mine on the other.
trish, when i look around to the brokers that try to "niche" themselves apart
the most i see in this area is for horse-owners.
i think a "niche" that would be a good idea is for the mobility challenged.
specialize yourself in your market, of houses that have the entry ramps,
and possibly lifts and stair chair lifts,,you can learn all you can about those items and other items for the elderly. (visit again the stores and contractors,,you are networking. you can be the "independent living" specialist broker.
everyday, there are thousands of new buyers/sellers,,,some older fella or lady,,who just lost thier spouse,,looking to "downsize" or it could be any one of the thousands of sellers/buyers who have a bad hip, or knees,,,that need to move to a house with one floor,,no stairs,!!
rapture, hang in there,,,,perserverence will pay off
we all start out slow,,, to attract buyers,,,i damn near put my own house up for sale!!!
i'll give you one of my good marketing ideas,,cause i like you..
i picked up 12 listings doing this,, in a short amount of time,,and it grew from there.
this is "feel-good" marketing,,,not cold calls or direct, or waste money on mailers,
first, i want you to search the internet for gift baskets,,for THANK-YOU's
(if you have a buyer, that just purchased the home,) (look at the items going in to them)
id say around 90% of the homes sold around here,,are from people from outside the area,,,so,say you want to give a gift basket to your buyers the new owners,
gift baskets arent the goal here,,listings are
so,,,get a listing (addresses) of all the independently owned businesses in your area,,everything from bakeries,,,to candle shops,,and even local contractors, especially restaurants and service industries,,target businesses that have the owner in the store,,not chains or franchises,,
now,,you physically go to these businesses,,,,,say you go to a bakery, ask for the owner,,tell him/her you are putting together a gift basket for someone new in the area,,,and ask if theyd like to contribute a gift certificate ,,,,maybe 10 % off thier first purchase,,,tell the bakery owner,,you've been there before he has great baked goods,,and your potential buyers will be new to the area,,and he will pick up brand new customers,,,,most store owners will jump at this,,,(how many times do we go past businesses close by,,we've yet to stop at?)
when he gives you the gift certificate,,,GIVE HIM YOUR BROKER BUSINESS CARD,,SMILE AT HIM/HER,, ,,now at this point,,you are giving a business owner your personal card,,,,and he's feeling pretty good ,,because he thinks you are trying to bring new customers to his business,,
most of the time,,the owners will ask some questions,,,just be very cheerful,,and be honest,(dont start overselling yourself),,at this particular time,,,,this is where i had many owners,,,start to think aloud,,,"I"'ll be downsizing soon,,to a smaller house" or thinking of investing in some land,,and even the business!,etc,,,,then tell him,, i'll be happy to assist you,,,and when you are ready please give me a call, dont push them into it,,(most business owners are bombarded by salesmen,,,and some despise them),,but at this point,,,most that had real estate interest,,,said ok,,,start sending me whats on the market,,also tell him,,,with every new buyers client,,you will come back for another gift certificate,,,this may prompt him,,to market you! and let you place a big sign of yourself,,at the business
this may work with just about any business,,,from bowling alleys, to car dealerships,look at the paper,,see who's advertising,, or when driving around town,,make a list who to visit,
the goal is to give a business owner your card,,under the guise,,,you are actually promoting thier business,,(new customers)
now,,,say you do this, and get many gift certificates, you can show this awesome gift basket to your peers and sell them. i chose not to sell them,,,i wanted something unique myself,,and the new owners were ,,surprised and thrilled to have a large amount of gift certificates, to local businesses,,
good luck!!
and DONT get discouraged if a business-owner says no,
most will say yes,,because they will think you are going to thier competition if they say no,,
here's another good tip,,tell some of these business owners you've seen thier ad in print somewhere,,they pay big bucks to advertise,,,tell them it was a good looking flyer/ad....usually they'll start complaining about the cost of the ad,,this is when you inject,,,,,"if there's room on your flyer" id think about sharing your advertising costs (by placing a picture of you in it) and have the owner recommend you,,,
hardware stores, and independent grocery stores will do this,,(not chain owned stores)
Hi mainebrokerman
Awesome just awesome idea you have there , you have let the cat out of the bag now so to speak. You could apply this just about to anything.
I say no more about it.
i picked up 12 listings doing this,, in a short amount of time,,and it grew from there.
Mainebrokerman, great ideas, thanks for sharing.
The first broker I worked for before going on my own said, if you (anyone) stood on a street corner and said to everyone who walked by, "you don't want to buy a house do you" and hand them your card, that you could make a great living in real estate, just by doing this, nothing else. I was incredulous. "Any street corner?" "What if no one walks by?"
I was talking about this with a woman in the office and said let's go try this. Being new at the time I was a bit shy about talking with people for business. I talked her into it though and we went to the post office. There were a lot of people walking up and down the steps going in and coming back out. I stood on the steps for 5 minutes and handed my card to everyone who walked by, saying "you don't want to buy a house do you". Well 3 people stopped and I got 3 leads!
The woman was embarrassed and kept saying "John let's get out of here", so after 5 minutes we left. I ended up doing a lot of door knocking and did well with this, but never tried that first method again. However, I am convinced that had I done nothing else, I would have made an even better living in real estate than by knocking on doors.
In fact I eventually got tired of knocking on doors. It works well, much better than putting an ad in the paper and answering phones, but is a lot of work and takes time.
Were I starting at the beginning again, or were I starting again now and not semi retired, I would stand on a street corner like he told me. I could probably do that 15 minutes a day and get more leads than knocking on doors for an hour or two.
Summing up, there are 3 things to do to be successful in real estate.
1) Get leads: see the people, give them your card, write down the information they give you, find a reason to get back to them, keep a record of your leads, sort them by order of priority (A+ leads etc), they are valuable;
2) Follow up: see them again, in person of course, and give them the information they are looking for (at this point you're almost home free);
3) Close the sale. Doing the 1st two makes this last one automatic.
I will add a 4th one that I feel is very important. Do your business your own way that suits you. Don't waste your time with ads in the paper, real estate schools, floor time, cell phones, fancy computers, or spending money on any other useless frills. Look for the things that are free, cost little or nothing, and help you to meet your goals of seeing more people, getting more leads, following up with your leads and closing the sale. This is all that you need to do, nothing else.
I will add a 4th one that I feel is very important. Do your business your own way that suits you. Don't waste your time with ads in the paper, real estate schools, floor time, cell phones, fancy computers, or spending money on any other useless frills. Look for the things that are free, cost little or nothing, and help you to meet your goals of seeing more people, getting more leads, following up with your leads and closing the sale.This is all that you need to do, nothing else
In today's day and age, I really can't see how you could work in real estate without a cell phone, digital camera and a computer. Also, real estate school and continuing education are requirements, so I wouldn't call them useless frills. But, I do agree with running your business your own way and finding out what feels most comfortable to you. If you get involved in activities, make yourself seen in places where there are lots of people, then you'll always have new opportunities to create more business.
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Thank you for a great tip!
, you have let the cat out of the bag now so to speak. You could apply this just about to anything.
