Your Simple Marketing Plan

When I’ve been invited to speak to a group of REALTORS® one of my first questions is “WHY” are you in the real estate business?  You may think it surprising, but more that 70% of the time, the answers I get are:

“I love homes.”

“I love helping people”

NEWS FLASH!  Ask any of the other business people in the nation!  The correct answer is:

TO MAKE MONEY!

It’s funny, many REALTORS® feel embarrassed to talk about MONEY.  The reason you work with charities is to HELP people.  The reason you buy Architectural Digest and go to Annual Home Shows is because you ‘love’ homes.

Sadly, many of the REALTORS® I meet are afraid to talk about money, especially commissions, because they don’t believe they provide enough value to justify what they earn.

Business is business.  Certainly, if you love what you do, it makes SUCCEEDING IN BUSINESS a lot easier!  If you want to make money in the real estate business, you need to move up from a real estate salesperson to a Real Estate Entrepreneur.  To SUCCEED as a Real Estate Entrepreneur, you MUST HAVE A MARKETING PLAN.

Use these questions to clarify your marketing objectives for your real estate business.

My Mission

• Why are you in business?
• What is your vision for a successful business?
• What are you big-picture objectives?

My Product and/or Service

• What product or service do you deliver?  Describe it.
• Do you have packages?  What are they?

My Ideal Client

• Who is your ideal customer? 
• Why do they need you?
• How can you identify your ideal client? 
• What behaviors, situations or circumstances are present for them to recognize a need for your services?
• What is the relationship they want from you?
• What do you have to do to be whom they want or need?

The Benefits to My Clients/Customers

• What are the benefits to your customers?
• Why would they want or need your service?  (Over another agent?)  Describe a scenario.
• What do your clients come away with when they choose you?

My Positioning

• Who are your competitors for your clients’ time and money? 
• What else could your ideal client spend his/her money on?
• How do you and your product or service compare? 
• Why would a customer choose you over your competitors?
• How are you different from your competition?
• How do others describe you and your service OR how do you want them to?
• What makes you special?

My Price

• How much do you charge?
• How much business do you need to get to maintain your business?
• What is your profit margin?
• What do you project in terms of income, expense and profit for the year?

   

My Promotion

• How do you get the word out?
• What 8-11 things can and will you do consistently to build your business?
• When will you do them?
• What marketing materials do you need?
• Do your materials look like who you are/want to be (consistent with your positioning)?