Don't Cut Back Double Up Instead
The time has come. In this upside-down economy, it's time to do something special with your marketing. I'm sure you've heard agents discussing what they're going to do. I'm sure you've heard advice-givers saying, "Reduce your marketing and advertising until the market comes back."
The time has come. In this upside-down economy, it's time to do something special with your marketing.
I'm sure you've heard agents discussing what they're going to do. I'm sure you've heard advice-givers saying, "Reduce your marketing and advertising until the market comes back."
Well, I'm here to tell you to do just the opposite. Yes, that's right. It's time again to be a contrarian. A contrarian is someone who does the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing - and by doing so, he or she reaps the rewards nobody else is claiming!
This could never be more true than right now. I'm so sick and tired of hearing agents and brokers say that now is the time to "cut back". Cut back?! Are they serious?
Now is the time to DOUBLE-UP, not cut back. Now is the time to get serious by marketing yourself and your listings like never before. Now is the time to get out there, be seen, and be in the field.
Get out of your office. Get away from your desk. Get working.
The productive agent who markets fast and furiously right now will grab all the business that other agents are leaving on the table. The productive agent understands that it is very profitable to be a contrarian.
Here are some tips to get you started:
Hold Open Houses.
I've said it before. I'll say it again. Open Houses are the most under-utilized tool at your disposal. But no matter what anyone else tells you, open houses work.
Every agent who has taken my advice by holding consistent Open Houses has seen an increase in sales. At first, it felt like it wasn't working. Lo and behold, contacts made at those Open Houses started calling.
If you have listings and you're not doing Open Houses right now, shame on you. Not only are you missing out on giving your seller exposure, you're missing out on giving exposure to yourself.
Double your self-marketing efforts.
Now is the time that your marketing presence needs to be turned up several notches. Now is NOT the time to rest on your laurels. Now is the time for massive action.
Keep your ads running. Keep your mailers going. Keep all of the marketing you've done in the past alive and kicking. The biggest mistake agents are making right now is to pull back on their marketing because they think the market is slow.
Be a contrarian. Do the opposite of what everyone else is doing. This is the moment for you to double up on your marketing, not take it down to half-power.
Market your listings like never before.
This is critically important right now. Market your listings in print. Market your listings with mailers. Market your listings online.
Just make sure you don't slow down or stop. Smart agents are using marketing right now to elevate themselves to a higher level.
It's actually easier to do this now because everyone else is cutting back. By being the only one who is doubling your efforts, you will stand out. Talk about marketing power!
Case in point: A client of mine with lots of listings. Her broker recently told her to pull all her ads because he said, "You are wasting your money."
Can you believe that? Needless to say, I told her to do the exact opposite. I told her to DOUBLE-UP on her marketing efforts, including advertising.
Together, we created a new presence for her. Instead of just her old small ad, we increased the size. At the same time, we decreased the frequency of the ad.
So, it's still costing her about the same amount of money, but she looked like she was running bigger ads than everyone else on the days that she ran them. These ads were noticed by more people and generated a solid number of calls.
This is a prime example that people are still responding to marketing and advertising. All you have to do is adopt the contrarian mindset and start doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing.
So, get out there. Get busy. Get marketing.
Don't cut back - double up!