OK, so this post today, is geared towards hopefully helping someone in their business and also to give the consumer an idea of how I handle my marketing. I've read quite a few posts on ActiveRain and other forums that I participate in wanting to know what marketing works and whether or not we should try this of that. First let me say, the most important think about marketing, by far, is consistency. Whatever plan you implement, in your business, you must commit to it for a minimum of one year. If you are not able to make this commitment then don't waste your time or your money. You would have better luck buying lottery tickets. All marketing needs to be a long term plan. There are NO quick fixes or miracle cure alls in Real Estate. I will be doing these things until I am an official old "codger". ***OK just trying to tie in my codger graphic by Jay Merton.
The things I do, I have been doing for years. I rarely change my plan and if I do it is usually to add on, not to change. The best way to demonstrate this is to show you what I do and how it pays off. So here goes:
So, as you can see, it's not one thing that I do. It's a combination of many things that are all connected to each other. My market area, Poinciana Fl, is very defined. I do not wander into unknown territory. I do what I do very well and I stick to it. I've actually had my competitors tell me how "lucky" I am to have so much business just "fall in my lap". They truly don't "get it". If you are relying on luck in Real Estate, well like I said earlier, go buy some lottery tickets. The odds are better.
Does this help?
Give me a try for professional and attentive service. My 14 years experience and good "Old fashioned" hard work will fulfill your Real Estate needs. My wife is expensive and I can't afford to lose!:
Fishing for foreclosures in Poinciana FL.
Buying foreclosures in Poinciana Fl.
Conflict of interest OR business as usual?
Smart business or redlining? What say you?
News flash!! Housing downturn culprit discovered!!!
Working expired listings. It's a tuff job but someone has to do it!!
Advanced commissions. What do you mean I have to pay it back?
Broker Bryant.....you're FIRED! Or not.
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No. Our competitors don't get it. If they did they wouldn't be telling us how lucky we are.
Luck and Real Estate have nothing to do with each other :)
I looked at Quantum mail. Seems like a good place. Consistancy is definately the key. And for the most part, all old school. I also noticed some New School stuff like blogging, but I did not see that you use email. Have you tried it witohut success? Interested to learn more.
R
The key to your success is consistency - made me look at my print marketing and I seem to be all over the board - am taking your model and making it my own.... thanks
It's so easy to get frustrated with print marketing within the first couple of months because it doesn't seem to be working. You're marketing is proof that it does work, if you stick with it. Thanks for sharing.
I've just finished reading The Millionaire Real Estate Agent and one of the concepts that really stuck with me was that you should have a plan that you stick to. Once you've done that consistently and seen results, THEN you can start making changes in small increments and keeping/discarding them as you see results. Sounds like you knew this way before everyone else! Thanks for detailing so much information about your plan.
Hey, tell us more, keep'em comming. Thank you for sharing, this was really very interesting. Will make sure Cyndi reads this too.
Thanks for sharing your marketing plan with us. Consistency in marketing was one of the my goals this year and I am glad to see it truly works. I have been wondering about the print ads and if they worked, and after seeing this post I will try that too. I tried Homegain in the past, but I guess I gave up on it too quickly, I think I'll try it again after all there's nothing to lose.
Thanks for sharing this, Bryant. A well-thought out, and clearly effective, marketing plan. And a good ROI I would say. Nope, luck has nothing to do with it.
Jeff
We get tired of marketing campaigns long before our prospects do. It will generally take many repetitions before a prospect even notices our marketing. There's no quick and easy solution.
Be consistant, it works for me! :-)
I am not much of a gambler and follw your rules as well. Most advertising does not give you a lot of bang for your buck. Most advertising looks like all the other ads, so you don't get set apart.
I tell everyone that works for me to stop worrying about external paid for sources of business through ads. Go and get it yourself.
Stan...
If I were to send you a Broker Bryant figurine (doll) would you bury it in your yard? :)
Hey. I should order Broker Bryant Shovels too, that way when you move you can dig up your Broker Bryant figurine (doll) ...
SVW (smiling very wide)
TLW...ROAR!
Bryant, Thanks for sharing you have a solid marketing plan! I do have a question on Expired listing, do you just mail letters as well as Postcards? I also visit the Expired in my expanded area and knock on the door... Also do you use redx? I was a big redx fan but when I moved from Boynton beach to St Augustine my MLS is not Compatible with redx, I am in the process of developing a manual system which is a huge undertaking and would appreciate any feedback on how you manage the leads. I utilizes Act for my contact manager and need to find a way to import the expired listings, I have a programmer that is go to scrape the Property appraisers data and hopefully import it to ACT.
Thanks in Advance...
Bryant,
"Does this help?" YES, thank you, thank you, thank you. In so many offices no one tells you these things when you're new. After spending yourself into the poor house and spinning your wheels you are left scratching your head wondering what to do and you can't even rope in any clients. I WILL put this to good use. :)
Bryant-
Thanks for the ideas. It looks like you have a well deversified system in place.
I do one thing, I do only one thing. I have done only one thing for the past 12 years. I advertise on the Internet. Works for me and it's all I plan to do ever.
Have a web site?? Work it, work it, work it.
Tangerine. Is it an edible citrus fruit or is it a lip gloss??
Hi Bryant - You forgot to mention one very important marketing channel -- your MLS. I'm sure that you put very detailed info and plenty of photographs in each of your listings. And from there the content is picked up by Realtor.com, MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate, etc.
Many agents only enter the 'required' fields in the MLS with just one photo of the house. As a point of differentiation, our team has a couple of pages in our listing presentation showing a basic MLS listing versus the added details and photos that we include. More info in the listing leads to greater exposure, more showings and quicker offers.
Hi BB, you look different everytime I stop by LOL but of course oooooh so good looking :-) Stan, I have never even heard of a thingy that opens packages. I used to market a gripper (for jars) but now I will be on a search. LOL Burying Broker Bryant. Is that alliteration? BB I will try to be patient and stay with plans for a year.
Hey BB. I do have another question. Is this how you have been marketing your whole career? I only ask because sometimes newer agents (ME) may not be able to afford that much to start out.
Thanks for the help.
Bryant, thanks for sharing this. I actually wondered what things make up your marketing plan so I was happy to see this. It seems your magazine rates are much cheaper in Poinciana. But it's all relative, isn't it? You've mentioned your average home price in the past and it's less than ours as well. Consistency is key. I've got to finish out this expensive year before I start fine-tuning my own marketing. Thanks.
Rich, I use E-mail constantly. Just not for marketing. E-mail I my preferred way to communicate once I have the business or once the deal is negotiated. E-mail marketing to me is SPAM.
Thesa, Consistency and having a very precise target market. If you are all over the board you might try being a little more precise on who or where your marketing is directed.
Jim and Maria, the biggest mistake folks make is stopping their marketing right before they start getting results. Keep at it.
Betsy, I've never read that book but heard it was very good. The key is to implement the things you learn. I have no problem sharing what I do because I know, odds are, that very few people will do them any way.
Bob, thanks for reading. I promise to keep throwing my stuff out there.
Ava, make your plan and stick with it. It WILL pay off.
Jeff, come on man, it's ALL luck. :)
Sharon, that is so true. I try to automate as much as I can, like mailers and print ads are usually ordered a year in advance. That way whether I feel like it or not they are still being done.
Super Luke, thanks for reading. Keep at it.
Stan, maybe next year I will put together a Faces of Broker Bryant calendar with all the graphics folk have made for me. I'll make sure you get one.
John, since I have a very distinct market I don't have many competitors in my print media. One of them I am the only REALTOR® in it and the other has only two others but their ads are nothing more than their listings. I advertise me and my company not my listings, except for the free home guide and I only use that to get business for my buyers agent.
Mitchell, all I do with expired listings is mail my letter one time. That's it. No follow up. I do however get to mail about 300-500 a month. I use post cards for specific monthly's to certain areas of my market and I send out 250 just listed and just sold for every property. Very old school but it works.
Roberta, I'm glad it helped. That was my goal.
John, thanks for reading.
Lenn, You are the MASTER(Mastress?) of your domain(pun intended). My market is mostly working class folks and many don't even have Internet access. So I need the print media. Plus as we all know the Internet is more geared towards buyers than sellers. I'm hoping my new local blog will change that some once it is ready for launch.
John, I am a master of MLS marketing. 95% of my listings sell through the MLS with "Range Pricing" being my secret weapon.
Carole, Alliteration? What the hell does that mean? OK so a few years ago TLW decided since everyone was big on burying St Joseph, that we would send out little Broker Bryant dolls(action figures) with a note telling them to bury Broker Bryant for a quick sell. It's actually an excellent marketing gimmick that we have not put into play, yet.
TLW, We definitely need to get an action figure for Stan. I think he would like it. As big as I am getting maybe one where you can rub it's tummy for good luck. :)
Bryant- Your plan certainly explains your success.. simple.. to the point and consistent.. Thank you for sharing..
Brett, with the exception of the post cards, pretty much. The ads were quite a bit less back then but I've used the same media for 13 years. I've also done expireds for 13 years. I've had my website for 9 or 10 years. HomeGain, since they started about 8 years ago.
Maggie since the print media are specific to my market and put out by the HOA the rates are definitely lower. HOA news letters are an excellent source for inexpensive print media. Years ago my nmarket had their own cable TV company and I use to have a 30 second spot that only cost me about $200 a month. It played 10 tines a day on USA, TNT, TBS and a few others. It was awesome. I canceled it because I couldn't go out in public anymore without folks walking up to me. Made grocery shopping very difficult.
I may not stop smiling all day now. You have made me oblivious to three more inches of snow. On a serious note, I have been super impressed with the numbers of internet contacts I get, with my website and craigslist being the two most common contact points for me. Craigslist surprised the heck out of me.
Darlin'... (Broker Bryant)
How about a "Budda Bubba" figurine (doll :) ??? SVW... (smiling very wide)
TLW...ROAR!
Bryant, too many people give up to easily. It does not matter if it is advertising or some other form of marketing strategy, you have to give it enough time to work. Some times you get lucky and you get a quick response, but that is not the norm, at least not for me. I got my first lead today from a Top Producer that I have been call on for 2 1/2 years. It is not going to be an easy loan, but I will get it done.
You have to be both persistent and patient in this business, and if you are the rewards will come.
Hi Bryant, you should dabble in other free Internet vertical marketing tools like:
http://www.postlets.com - great for marketing single famly homes. They are become your one stop shop!
==================
We have a similar push marketing tool at condoDomain.com for condos (but were not in your market yet...soon enough).
BTW - YO Mr. Zekas, if your out there, please don't crucify me for self promotion - haha!
Great advice! This makes me re-think my own marketing campaign. Maybe I have not been doing enough!
Bryant - thanks for the post - very informative............ LP
The Ten Commandments on BrokerBryant.com. are awesome. Such humor mixed with truth. Thanks for always sharing with us.
That is a very useful breakdown of how your marketing is working. I wish more agents on AR were as willing to share to that level as you have been.
You have made a big impact on me since joining Active Rain. Thank you!
What we love about you Broker Bryant is your willing to share your "How To Guide." Excellent BB!
Stan...
Would an 8x10 Glossy work for ya? SVW (smiling very wide) Wink. Wink.
Darlin' (Broker Bryant) I am done with the review. Time for some out of the rain time :)
TLW...ROAR!
Wow Bryant! All your ducks are ina row. You know what to expect from each source. You obviously have a spectacular return on investment. This was a great post - again.
Thanks Bryant for all the tips! Looking at your Blog at Brokerbryant.com also, your 10 Commandments are a hoot!
split marketing costs with a partner - Mortgage Partner hint hint
and double your coverage!
Stan...
No offense was taken. I know who you're talking about.
I find it interesting that a consumer, such as yourself, noticed the 'nasties' going on around here. I don't think that's a very good thing.
Maybe others will read your comment and realize that the consumer can see and read the 'nasties'...Meow :)
TLW...ROAR!
Stan...
I will look into this a bit more before I respond. I am a little brain dead this evening but would very much like to discuss this with you further. I will check in tomorrow and expand on my thoughts. I hope that this does not inconvenience you but I am exhausted. And feel that it is very important to think about all of this. You have made some very good points.
I hope you'll swing by tomorrow. I'll have my thoughts posted my mid morning Eastern time. Thanks for coming back and pointing these things out. They need to be addressed. I may even address this is a fom of a post. I'll let you know either way. Until tomorrow then. Please have a great evening :)
TLW...ROAR!
Stan, I agree 100%. We need to be real. The consumer is not stupid and they don't need a site where everyone is putting on airs and doing nothing more than "selling". Be your self for better or for worse. To me that's what separates this site from some others. But it has to stay that way. It has to stay real.
Hey hun, come back with your thoughts on this.
I will...I just need to get the morning blah blah blah taken care of :)
Stan...Just in case you missed it my name is Billie :)
TLW...ROAR
Bryant, Another good place for mailings is postcardmania.com. They do everything for you for a decent price.
Amanda
Wow great post and thank you a lot. That helps me as I'm just getting started and trying to decide where to place my time and energy in advertising.
Thanks Amanda. I love these services. You can set it up a year in advance and be done with it.
Abraham, Good to see you reading and learning. Please feel free to contact me if I can help in any way.
BB, do you have anything special, like a letter , that you send to first time home buyers?
Edith, I actually don't work with buyers. I'm strictly a listing broker. I'm the wrong guy to ask that question. I do appreciate you stopping by though.
Edith, I actually don't work with buyers. I'm strictly a listing broker. I'm the wrong guy to ask that question. I do appreciate you stopping by though.
Thanks,BB! Let me know if you come across one.
Bryant: Do you mind sharing how much leads you have to "chase" per day, per week or per month before you end up with 3 transactions a year with them?
Loreena, It's hard to say. I work all the time. My goals are to go on 3 listing appointments a week and have 4 closings a month. Most of the leads I get are just calling me to come list their property. I'm rarely competing for the listing. That comes from being in my market for so long. This has been a very difficult year so I have not met my goal of 4 closings a month but should end up with about 30 closings for the year. Not good BUT very good considering how bad my market is right now. I'm not sure I answered your question but I hope this helps.
Hey Bryant, thanks for the posts. It's nice to see what other people are doing and what has helped them become successful. It helps me refocus my marketing stratagy. Keep the good info coming!