Friday, April 24, 2009

Real Estate Marketing Success Tips

What sets the big real estate income earners apart from the average agent who barely makes a living? Have you ever asked this question?

Do you remember the 80/20 principle? Where 80 percent of the business is done by 20% percent of the people? Well in real estate, they (NAR) now claim it is 7/93. That is that 7% of the agents get 93% of the business. Well, I am not sure how they determine this, but there is one thing that is certain. The majority of the money is earned by only a small minority of the agents.

Doesn't it make you wonder what the difference is? With so much information available, why isn't everyone at the top of their game? When I asked myself this question, I began to look for answers. And do you know what I found? I have found that there is a big "untruth" out there. I found that most agents believe that all that is separating them from the big money is information. They believe that if they only knew what the others know, success would be theirs.

If information alone were the key to your success, you would still have to be sure you are getting the right information, wouldn't you? And there lies yet another problem. Not only are you told to get more information, you are more than likely getting the wrong information. Let's face it. Most agents with a little bit of experience are capable of seeing a transaction through from beginning to end. Yes, some are better than others, but most can get the job done. The first misconception is that you have to be great at what you do in order to get more business. And it is not true. It's the "build a better mouse trap" theory. If it's better people will buy it. Bull! Nothing can be further from the truth. Being a better agent by itself will not make you any more money.

Let's see how this really works. You decide to become a real estate agent because you think you can make a lot of money, and you can. You take a short course on licensing and you go and pass the test. Your first question will be, how do I get business? They didn't cover that in the course, did they? As if that isn't enough to discourage you, there are thousands of others with the same idea. They too are getting their license. In any business where the potential earnings are high and the barrier to entry is low, you will have a great deal of competition. Many people get their license and then don't know how to get their first deal. Who do you turn to? Your broker? He will train you because he knows how, right? Well, in most cases the broker isn't much help. Think about it, They depend on you to bring in business for them. If they were great at it, they would be giving you deals to follow up on all day long. But they don't, because they can't.

So, how do those big earners make all of that money? How do they do hundreds of deals a year as they claim, when the average agent only does a handful? One of the things they have in common is that most have a team. They couldn't possibly do that much alone. But that is not why they are successful. Many people make the mistake thinking they do so well because of the team, when in fact, it's the other way around. They are able to have a team because they know how to keep a team busy. They can keep them busy beacuse they know how to bring in business.

So the question now becomes, how do they bring in so much business? And the answer is marketing. They have become far better marketers than agents. This is why they are able to make the money that they do. When I say marketing, I am not talking about the typical things that real estate agents do. What most agents do is not marketing, at least it's not effective marketing. This is evident by the fact that most don't know where their next deal is coming from.

The truth is that very few people understand marketing. Out of those who do, most are not selling real estate. This leaves a door wide open to opportunity for you. By becoming an effective marketer, you will put yourself lightyears ahead of the your competition. But it takes more than buying information. If you have bought any of the marketing programs and were disappointed, you already know what I'm talking about.

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