Arran Events, Advertising and Marketing

I am not sure about anything in Realtor marketing before the 70’s but I have been thinking over the last couple of days about what has been, and what is, and what will be in the future for Realtor marketing. This will probably be a multi part post as I am not sure exactly how long I will be able to go on for with each post.

First of all, back in the 70’s many Realtors where using geographic farming techniques or just talking to friends and neighbors. The real organized way to do Realtor Marketing at the time was to find a small geographic area and walk around knocking on doors. This was a very effective method that still works although the original idea was diluted by losing the knowledge of the area and instead getting a larger and larger farm market. There is nothing wrong with geographic farming and I know of many Realtors that make it work still although I believe that it is not nearly as effective as it once was for a few reasons.

First of all geographic farming is time consuming in an area of 500 homes and most Realtors have tried to increase the size but have to reduce their effectiveness. How do Realtors do this? Well most of the time the Realtor will instead of door knocking and getting their face out will instead phone through an area and either before or after send a newsletter or a notepad or some thing else. I know that it works but it the personal feel of the Realtor coming to the house has been lost in a way.

Second there are many more Realtors know then there ever have been. As home prices have skyrocketed the number of Realtors has skyrocketed as well. Trouble is sales have not kept up and the average Realtor makes just over 30,000 dollars a year. I know that becoming a Realtor is a bit of a fad and I am sure like any other market things will equalize over the coming years I am not really sure what is going to change that. If you are a Realtor now and facing this huge number of Realtor issue then you must set yourself apart by using Realtor Marketing in a different way.

In the 80’s more and more realtors had started doing Realtor marketing by using the phone to do farming and databases were just starting to get into place so that Realtors could access past, present and future clients could be easily mailed to and contacted. Again this was a very successful method of marketing but as the 90’s started and especially late in the 90’s as Act, Maximizer and Top Producer became popular as Realtor marketing tools and cheap enough for many Realtors to be able to afford. The type of Realtor Marketing that had earlier been very successful become oversaturated and lost its initial effectiveness. I am sure that this method has become less and less effective but is still popular and easy to do for most Realtors. I know of some Realtors that will mail a letter a day to expireds for two weeks or Realtors sending some kind of mailing to past clients every two weeks.

Now that we are into the internet age and with access to MLS info only a mouse click away Realtor marketing has again changed. If you are looking to make a difference then you must again go back to the way that Realtors worked in the 70’s and that the most successful Realtors have worked over the last few years.. No, I do not mean go door knocking but instead make sure that you are getting into the customers head by being likeable, trustworthy and top of mind by being a person and not just a voice on the phone or a signature on a letter or email.

It is more important now more than ever to be sure to use technology and to personalize your service. I believe that the best was to do this is to have a website that speaks in your own words and follow that up with a weblog that talks about not only real estate and contains Realtor marketing but also personal stories that create an aura ofbeing a real person instead of just a salesperson..

http://realtorweblog.xptechsupport.com

Tags: Marketing, Realtor marketing, sales

Want a fast way to get customers? Do you want people to really pay attention to your ads and read them all the way through? Here is a tried and true ploy that has earned its tried and true status because it works.

Put an ad in your local newspaper with a headline like this: “There’s a Spelling Error In This Ad – If You Find It, We Will Give You $__.” The dollar amount can be anything, but this ad will work best if it is proportionate to the cost of your products or services.

Within the first paragraph you will tell readers that the dollar amount will be given in the form of a gift certificate to anyone who finds and circles the error and brings the ad into your place of business.

Don’t make the gift a coupon or a discount. Your customers will feel cheated if they get anything less than a real gift certificate that can be used to buy any of your products or services.

Then write a really compelling ad, but place the single error late in your copy. You want people to read all or most of your ad, so make sure they must read at least enough to really understand your offer.

Combine this promotion with a really enticing offer with a very strong benefit. Don’t combine it with a discount, however. You will already be giving away a gift certificate so you don’t want this ad to cost more than the face amount of the certificate.

This tactic forces readers to do something they don’t ordinarily do – read your entire ad carefully. Take advantage of this by making a truly exciting offer. You want readers to be glad they read the ad and feel they are getting more out of this promotion than merely the face amount of the gift certificate.

Increase the effectiveness of this campaign by capturing their contact information for future mailings. Not only do you want to get traffic through your door, you want to build a database of customers to send out your future offers.

And by the way, don’t make the spelling error too hard to find. Your goal is for everyone to be able to spot the mistake. They just have to read 90% or more of your copy in order to find it.

Obviously you can’t run this same campaign every week, but you can run it once a year. And each time, you will see tremendous results.

What makes this ad work is the motive of getting something for nothing. It not only appeals to a little greed, but it also makes the whole thing a game in which you have challenged readers to match wits with you and find your error.

COPYRIGHT(C)2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.

Download your free copy of 99 Ideas For Writing Irresistible Web Content, written by Charles Brown, a Dallas, Texas based freelance copywriter who writes web copy, advertisements, white papers and direct mail. Subscribe to his “Freelance Copywriter Secrets” at http://dynamiccopywriting.blogspot.com or contact him at 817.715.3852 or **charbrow@gmail.com**.

Tags: copywriting tips, freelance copywriter, ghost writer, writing web content

After 15 years in the sign business, I can usually tell which new business will fail within minutes of meeting with the client. I can tell when I hear what percentage of their total budget has been set aside for signage. I can also tell when they show me that they have more interest in getting a low price than getting a sign with a design that is compelling enough to draw people into their place of business.

I want to ask them, “Is a $1000 sign really cheaper than a $10,000 sign”. When they say “Yes, it is”. I want to explain to them that if their business fails because of poor signage choices, then how much did they really save on that $1,000 sign? On the other hand, if their business succeeds beyond their wildest expectations and it is due in part to their clever and effective sign content, then wasn’t they extra $9k the best decision they could have made? It pays for itself and then makes them money if it helps keep them from “going under”.

Signs are best looked at as “advertising”. It is arguably the most effective and most important advertising purchase a new business owner will make. IF you purchase a $10,000 neon sign or a $10,000 electronic scrolling LED message board sign and you get 10 years out of it; you just paid $83.84 per-month (plus any upkeep needed or electricity used) for that point-of-sale advertising. How does that compare to what your business spends on other forms of advertising like the “yellow pages” or Radio or NewsPaper advertisements?

The final point I would like to make about giving your business sufficient signs is that you should continue the branding thought your business. Don’t stop at one large entry sign. Put signs on every side of your business that is exposed to traffic if your local sign code allows it. If your town allows sidewalk signs, then put out a “sidewalk sign stand” to get the attention of the foot traffic. Be sure to put logos on each parking sign and a vinyl or etched logo on your front door and put some branding on the custom printed “welcome mat” that your customers wipe their feet on. I don’t know how many times I have heard a customer say “we just had our best month ever” on the very month proceeding the upgrade of their poorly designed and insufficient signs. There are many sign advertising opportunities available and the best decisions will be made with the help of a sign design professional. When in doubt, just look at the size and quality of the “complete sign package” that you see at the biggest retail chains. Look at both the interior and exterior signs and ask yourself if you are as well represented with your signage. You can be sure that their accountants have researched this to death before approving such a large sign budget. So, if it wasn’t “good for business” to have an extensive and complete sign package, then you would see very small sign packages with just one or two “low end plywood signs” at most of your top retailers ….and you just don’t see that happening very often.

My name is Tom Dalton. I spent 10 years as the primary sign designer for a commercial sign company in Normal, Illinois. I am now part of Signs Direct, Inc.. SignsDirect’s web page is at http://www.signsdirect.com and we specializing in mail order delivery of both retail advertising signs and DOT approved traffic signs. SignsDirect has been doing business online since 2000. We also sell products other than signs; such as sign hardware and sign stands and sign installation tools.

Tags: led sign, neon sign, no parking sign, parking sign, sidewalk sign, Signage, signs