When business is brisk and you’re running all day to tend to your current client’s needs, marketing is an activity that can easily be shoved to the back burner.
You know that marketing is necessary, and you know that if you don’t keep up with it you’re going to find yourself “unemployed” some time in the future. But still… by the time you’ve done everything you must do in a day there’s little energy left for marketing.
There are two solutions for this problem, and you should be using both of them.
The first is to set up automated systems that will do the marketing and follow-up for you when you’re too busy to catch your breath.
This can easily be accomplished with the use of autoresponders. It takes a little time to get them set up, but once they’re in place, they work without you having to think about them. Since real estate does have its busy and non-busy times, use the non-busy days to automate your system.
You can use autoresponders to capture new prospects on your website or to send periodic emails to past clients and those in your sphere of influence.
On your website you should have at least two methods of autoresponder capture: one for buyers and one for sellers. If you serve specialized niche markets, such as sellers who need help with short sales, sellers whose homes have expired off the market unsold, buyers relocating from other areas, or first time buyers, you can also create a series of follow-up letters for each of them.
To entice visitors to leave their names and email addresses with you, offer a special report.
Prospective buyers and sellers should receive email from you weekly – and each message should offer useful information. Simply writing to say “I’m here and I want your business” is apt to get your emails deleted before being read. So take the time to write or buy a good set of letters for each of your autoresponders.
But what if you’re busy now and you haven’t gotten a system in place?
Do the other activity that you should do each and every day, even after your system is in place: reach out to one person in some way. Automated email is good, but everyone appreciates a personal touch thrown in now and then.
It may be picking up the phone to check in with a past client or a current prospect. Or, if the only time you have available is late at night, it can be a personal email or a hand-written thank you card to someone who is either a potential customer or a potential source of referrals.
Not every contact you make will result in immediate business, but a few of them will. And, a few of them will result in business next month or the month after.
By being consistent you’ll assure yourself of future business. And even after a busy day, all of us can find 5 or 10 minutes to write an email or a thank you card.
By: Marte Cliff
About the Author:
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
