Becoming a successful realtor is more than handing out a million business cards. Developing a marketing strategy and business plan, identifying ways to set yourself apart from other agents, and committing to bringing unique value to your customers are all important steps towards your success.
Where to start
Many real estate bloggers tackle the topic “where to start” by suggesting mentoring, choosing the right real estate agency, budgeting, goals, and more. These recommendations are important, but your success can start even earlier.
What are you doing to prepare for your career before you finish your studies and pass your licensing exam? Have you started to identify:
- Marketing ideas that are affordable with your budget and achievable with your personality or style?
- At least a generalized budget for your first marketing campaign?
- A financial backup plan to get you through the first few months of building your business before revenue is generated? (Your first income may be 60 days or more from your starting point.)
- Real estate markets in which you could become the expert in the sector?
- Your first goals as a new real estate agent?
There are many ways to prepare to market yourself for success in real estate before you even receive your license.
Begin
Experienced agents recommend interviewing potential brokers before committing to a particular agency. Your ideal brokerage firm will be where you will be trained to become a qualified agent.
Next, identify a likely mentor at your new brokerage, an agent who is already established and successful, and who is willing to form a mentor-student partnership with you. A good mentor can help you craft a realistic first marketing budget, nurture leads, build lasting client relationships, and hone your knowledge of all the details of making sales. Absorb everything you can from your mentor.
Establish a business plan including:
- Clearly defined goals – what do you want to accomplish, expressed in concise, measurable and achievable terms.
- Services you can provide (even in the early days).
- Your first marketing domain.
- A budget that identifies all possible expenses (including every element of the cost of living and conducting business).
- Financing that covers your expenses for at least the first 60 days.
- A marketing plan to systematically and effectively inform your sphere of influence about your services.
Stand out
What can you do that will set you apart from other agents in your area? Look for simple things you could do that most other agents don’t. One blogger recommends being “quietly efficient,” like returning phone calls from prospects and customers within an hour of receiving them.
Build your customer-agent relationships by looking at the services that are most meaningful and convenient to them, including preferred ways to communicate with your customers. Become well known for your follow through and consistency.
Find a niche and master it. Is the condominium market only adequately marketed? Make yourself known as them condominium agent in town. Are you creative in transforming hard-to-sell properties? Build your early career and your reputation in one targeted market at a time.
Use media
Billboards, newspapers, and real estate magazines are all traditional ways to market your services and listings. They are always useful tools. But if you don’t use the internet and social media, you’ll be way behind the competition.
Develop a web presence. Keep content fresh and current and include your personal thoughts and ideas. Use the Internet, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest to help you build relationships with your prospects and customers.
Cultivate your success
Success in real estate often starts with simple steps and small actions. Staying focused on your business plan, becoming a niche market specialist, and discovering ways to set yourself apart from other agents are all ways to start marketing yourself successfully in real estate.