Real Estate Blog

1. Establish an online presence. Make your business known on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Word Press, and MySpace. Professionals and younger clients especially will find you on these social networking sites, so make it work for you and your business. Check out what other Realtors have done and mimic the best ones you find out there. Be sure to differentiate between personal sites and professional or business Fan or Referral Pages and Sites.

2. Get blogging. Want to have prospective buyers and sellers coming to your website or calling you? Drive them there by consistently and routinely updating your blog about news in the local real estate market and the home buying marketplace at large. Let them know what you have sold and what has just been listed and how the overall market is faring. Remember BE POSITIVE! Tease them with information that is coming and they will be back time and time again.

3. Give your materials a facelift. Every once in a while, even the best designs need to be freshened up. Just look at major magazines and you will see that they have had their logos and color and font patterns redesigned from time to time. Trends come and go. You want your business to look cutting edge and up on the styles and times. Of course, you do not want to completely alter what is already working for you. Subtle changes in color or font can be impactful, especially if your marketing design is starting to look tired and like old news.

4. Start golfing or playing tennis at the local hot spots. It may sound like a cliché, but golf courses and tennis courts sometimes really are where the best contacts are made when it comes to real estate. Golf and tennis not your games? Try joining the local gym or yoga studio and see who you meet. Any contact is a good contact in a tough real estate market.

5. Be a guest speaker at an industry event or run a workshop for home sellers. You: a lecturer? You bet! You have loads of information and experience to share with prospective home sellers and buyers who are looking for advice now. Seeing your name and business listed in programs as an expert in the field will do worlds of good for your credibility and stature in the real estate community.

6. Create a signature Thank You gift. Want to be recommended time and again by clients who loved working with you? Leave them with a great last impression by giving them an amazing Thank You gift after they've sold or purchased a home with you. Some great ideas: wine and glasses, picnic baskets, a framed photo of their new home. A handwritten note enclosed with some business cards will seal the deal on recommendations to friends and neighbors.

7. Get involved with a fundraiser. Maybe you already have a charity or cause close to your heart, such as breast cancer awareness or heart health. Contact the local chapter tied to this organization and see how you can either start a fundraiser in your niche geographic area or join one that's already ongoing. Potential clients will associate your name with goodwill and you'll be doing something positive and that you can be proud of at the same time.

8. Do not forget that people love prizes! Why not start an incentive or drawing in exchange for potential clients' email addresses. Make the prize really good and they won't mind entering the drawing and supplying you with their contact information. Send the news of the drawing in your mailed neighborhood newsletter and give them a link on your website to enter. It will generate interest and future clients and is great for prospecting.

9. Create Strategic Alliances!  One area that puzzles me is how many people work to be cutting edge only to align themselves with someone who is riding their coat tails. Your transactions will only progress as smoothly and effectively as the slowest and least professional member of the transaction.  I work hard to provide as much benefit to my professional partnerships as I do to my clients and referral partners. 

10. Sponsor an event. Could be anything from a local school picnic, to a 5K race, to a graduation. Getting your name tied to local events where members of the community are sure to be will show that you, too, are a part of the community and care about helping out and making a positive impact. When the time comes to choose a Realtor, why wouldn't they pick you?