It’s projected that this year, there will be more than 6.1 million homes sold in the U.S. That’s a lot of homes being bought! Whether it’s downsizing for older adults or purchasing a larger home for younger adults with growing families, people sell homes and purchase new ones at an astounding rate. This helps to explain why being a real estate agent like poway realtor is a great profession, because there are always people looking to sell or purchase homes.
Becoming a realtor is not a walk in the park. It takes dedication, commitment and a lot of study and hard work, but once you take the required courses and pass your state’s licensing exam, you have a career that offers no boundaries when it comes to earnings. Real estate brokers are always looking for dedicated, hard-working people to hire, and once you’re affiliated with a broker you’re ready to get to work.
Because it’s a competitive field, many other realtors are out there looking for leads as well, so there are some things you’ll have to do to set yourself apart from the competition. Being a real estate agent is like opening a small business. While you usually work for a real estate broker, you’re really an independent contractor. You set your own hours, the days of the week that you’re willing to work and you determine just how many clients you want to acquire.
Finding New Clients
Most everyone has a friend or family member who works in real estate. That’s a very real roadblock for new agents who are looking for clients. But it’s certainly not insurmountable, and it takes some work and effort to get them. Think of acquiring clients as building a brand - your own brand. You’re the provider, and you want to get people to want to work with you.
One of the ways you can do this is to become an “expert,” a knowledgeable advisor that has the answers people are looking for. The information most buyers are looking for include what is the right neighborhood for their particular needs, financing questions and home prices, among others. So the real estate agent who is prepared has the upper hand when people are interviewing potential realtors.
Because you’re a brand, you’ll need to market yourself to a wide range of potential clients. New agents find that friends and family only go so far, and once those lists are exhausted, they need to reach out to people they don’t know. There are various marketing tactics you can use to successfully accomplish this.
Build An Online Presence
Most people go online before they go out and look at houses. That way they’ll have a good idea of prices, neighborhoods, schools, shopping and other factors that go into helping them choose where to purchase a home. So you’ll need to be online as well, by creating a professional website. It may cost a few dollars to get it done, but it’s money that is well spent!. In addition to having a custom website designed, there are many templates you can purchase or rent on an annual basis. If you do go with a custom website, remember that there are inexpensive freelancers available to you through websites like Upwork.com and Guru.com. You can view the freelancer’s previous work, get bids and discuss project parameters and timelines.
Outbound Marketing
Other successful tactics you can use include developing podcasts, holding webinars and inviting targeted groups to meetups. Each one offers you the ability to capture names and email addresses for additional follow up, and helps you build a database of potential clients to nurture.
Another approach is creating a newsletter that you can mail out monthly to your prospect list, the one you build from all of your other activities (like podcasts, webinars, etc.) The newsletter can be offered on your website (another way to capture email addresses) as a download, and it could contain information about new listings, new retailers and restaurants entering specific neighborhoods, school information - all the topics that prospective buyers are interested in.
Find Clients Using Search Engines
Many realtors use people search engines to qualify leads. Use Nuwber, an online tool that lets you research leads that come to your website, or from any emails, texts and other communication tools you use to attract clients. All the names and emails you get from your podcasts, webinars and meetups can be researched on Nuwber to help verify who the people really are and gain additional information about them.
Advertising
Advertising your “brand” makes good sense. The key is where to put your money so it does the most good for you. With 9 out of 10 buyers looking online at Zillow, you may want to advertise there. In order to advertise on Zillow, you have to become a Zillow member. Next, you’ll want to be a Zillow Premier Agent, which will let you use Zillow’s ad platform so you can create local Zillow ads and Trulia listings. For the cost, this is a good investment!.
Social media platforms are another good place to put your real estate ad dollars. Facebook is one example - most everyone connects on Facebook and your ads could be targeted using Facebook’s tools, and could direct viewers to your website to learn more about you, about any new home listings you feature or for a myriad of other reasons. You could also try to get potential clients to follow you on YouTube, by creating your own channel that has weekly updates, open houses, new listings and more. It is relatively easy to put together, and there is always online help to get you started.
Build Partnerships
Another tactic for marketing yourself involves building partnerships with people within your community who can introduce you to potential new clients.
This would include local bankers, real estate investors, financing experts, attorneys who specialize in real estate and many others. Just remember that this partnership is a two-way street; while you are hoping to be introduced to potential clients, they are as well. It is a win-win for all involved, and the client benefits too.
