Aryn Nichols

Are you doing something every single day to market yourself? Client follow up, social networking, wearing your nametag around town, sending an email to your database - whatever it is - have you done something today to remind people you are still around?

Do you think marketing is important enough to do everyday? Or do you think your word of mouth referrals are enough?

What is your favorite marketing method? Which one gives you the best results?

Do you have a marketing plan or do you just wing it? Do you know exactly where every marketing dollar is going?

Marketing is my passion and I believe it is the most important part of your business. You should be doing something every single day to market yourself. I don't think that marketing has to cost a lot of money - there are plenty of free options out there right now.

Social networking is the biggest free marketing option out there. If you don't have at least one social networking site you are missing out!!

About the Author: Aryn Nichols does Virtual Assistance for Time Savers Virtual Assistance and is also a consultant with Just Jewelry.

I just found this out today and it's almost over but this week was no name-calling week. It's part of the anti-bullying campaign. I don't think that it is getting enough exposure so I wanted to make it the topic of my blog today.

You can visit - http://www.nonamecallingweek.org/cgi-bin/iowa/home.html to learn more about it and see what you can do.

Are your kid's schools participating in this? Did anyone know about this already? Maybe I was the only one in the dark! Anyway I just wanted to share that to help spread the word.

Thanks!

About the Author: Aryn Nichols does Virtual Assistance for Time Savers Virtual Assistance and is also a consultant with Just Jewelry.

I am doing some research for a friend of mine and I was wondering if I could ask you all some questions. I need Realtor feed back! Please let me know what you think of the following - Out of everyone who responds I will draw one winner to get 1 free hour of Virtual Assistance to use towards anything they choose!!!

Would you consider or have you ever used a photographer to take pictures of your listings?

What would you (or have you) paid for this type of service?

How many pictures do you expect to get back?

Would you prefer going with the photographer to take the pictures?

If the price was right would you consider using this type of service?

Any other feedback you can think to give me would be wonderful. I'm thinking about adding a photographer to my team of Virtual Assistants and although she would only be available locally - I would love to know if it would be something people would want.

Thank you all so much in advance - I really do appreciate all your positive feedback I get on my blogs.

Have a great weekend!

Marketing is one of the most important parts of your business. Without marketing you have no clients and without clients - well you'd be pretty bored. I believe in doing marketing that is cheap or even free, especially in today's economy. Most people think this is impossible but I've come up with some ideas to help you on a February Marketing Plan. All of the ideas below should be inexpensive - some even free - AND they are creative. People want something different these days!

I think focusing on a "special" day or week or even month celebration is the perfect chance to create a marketing campaign!

• February is "Canned Food Month" Marketing ideas focused on this - When you advertise your open houses make a note that you will be collecting canned food for "Local Food Bank NAME" Entice people to drop non-perishable food off at any of your open houses that month and you will take it to the food bank. Get your office involved in this idea - see if you can get every agent to do this. Cost: FREE - just some of your time

• Valentine's Day is probably overdone but you can spin it into a Blood Drive. Most of the local blood banks have a bus that could come to your location. Have it at your office and get all agents to share it with their friends and family. Encourage all your clients to bring a friend or two and donate blood. Sometimes the blood bank will offer a T-shirt, movie ticket or other "reward" for donating. Find out what it is that month and tell people about it. Cost: FREE

• February 4th has been named "Thank a Mail Person Day" - Take this opportunity to give your mail person a small gift (with your business card attached of course) Meet them outside if you can that day and make it a point to talk with them and thank them for their service. Use this as an opportunity for an email marketing piece. Send a note out to your database encouraging them to thank their own mail person. Let them know what you plan to do for inspiration. Cost: Fairly inexpensive depending on the cost of your gift.

• February 7th is "Send a Card to a Friend Day" I'm sure Hallmark invented this but why can't you take advantage of it? Send an e-card or real card to your favorite clients - or the ones that are hesitant. You would be surprised how much this means to a client or potential client. Don't tell them it's because of the "day" just tell them you wanted to send them a hello. Cost: Free if you send e-cards - the cost of a few stamps if you do hand written cards.

• February 17th is Random Act of Kindness Day - Use this as another chance for an email campaign. Send a little note to your email database encouraging them to participate. Post it on your Facebook page. Give them ideas of what they can do. Pay for someones coffee in line at Starbucks, hold the door for someone, ask a stranger how their day is, take a bag of dog food to the animal shelter, bring flowers to an elderly friend that doesn't get out much, or even just a warm smile at a stranger! Cost: Free

• Are you an expert on something? Short Sales, First Time Buyers, anything buyers may want to know? Hold a free class - offer refreshments. Make flyers, pass them to everyone, ask if you can advertise on your local radio for free since it's a free beneficial class. Cost: $30-$50 for refreshments

• Keep up with your social networking! Post interesting things on Facebook - use the event tool on there to share these above ideas when you implement them. Share on Twitter and LinkedIn. People are online - that's where you need to go to find them! Cost: Free

There are some ideas to get you started or give you inspiration. If you want to brainstorm with me on any of these ideas or any other ideas I always brainstorm for free - just send me an email. I can also help you implement the ideas at a negotiated cost.

About the Author: Aryn Nichols does Virtual Assistance for Time Savers Virtual Assistance and is also a consultant with Just Jewelry.

I want to make a quick blog on a few specials I'm offering based on a certain project. Contact me today if I can help you with any of these projects. These specials are for Active Rain Members only. Please be sure to mention that when you contact me.

Simple Facebook Page setup, first 25 fans, vanity link and posting your first contest. $25.00

This includes me setting you up a basic Facebook page with your information and a few pictures. I will help you get to your first 25 fans by suggesting your page to your friends. Once you have your first 25 I will create your vanity URL and post your first contest to increase your fan base. This is about 2-4 hours of my time- my normal rates are $18.00 an hour - but I will do this for a flat fee of $25.00. Any maintenance after this point will be negotiated after wards. (If you already have your Facebook page setup and just need to do the rest - $20.00)

One Page February Email Newsletter for you to send to your database. $15.00

I will create an email newsletter for you based on the content you request and some of my own content also. Including graphics, columns, and fonts. It will be in Publisher format - or if you use Top Producer I can login and do it through there. If you use iContact, Constant Contact or any similar ones I can also login and do it there. This usually takes me a minimum of one hour but I am offering this at a flat rate of $15.00. Any additional work such as adding people to the database, email follow up after the message is sent, or anything more than one page will be negotiated at that point.

Customized February Marketing Plan. $15.00

We will talk about your goals and a few other questions then I will create a customized marketing plan that will cover the month of February. I focus on little or no cost marketing ideas - My plans will contain creative, out of the box, easy to implement ideas. Not one of my plans will include "bus bench" or anything similar. I usually spend 1-2 hours developing this plan - I will do it at a flat rate of $15.00 for you. Any implementing of the plan will be negotiated on a per hour rate.

About the Author: Aryn Nichols does Virtual Assistance for Time Savers Virtual Assistance and is also a consultant with Just Jewelry.