Get More Exposure - Get the steady exposure that you need in the media and in your client’s inbox.  Drip Marketing is an easy and steady way to promote you and your company to prospects over an extended period of time.  Several online services allow you to prepare content once and then have e-mails automatically sent out to your clients on a regular basis.   Here are some websites that offer this drip marketing program: C.A.R.’s free ClientDIRECT™ (www.realtydirect.net/signin.asp), www.Icontact.com, and REALTOR.COM®’s Featured CMA Farming Edition (www.realestatemarketingexpo.com/featuredcma).

Media Exposure is also an effective way of promoting yourself to consumers.  According to Edward Segal, CEO of the Marin County Association of REALTORS® and former Wall Street Journal columnist, REALTORS® can promote property by promoting themselves through their expertise, advice and opinions on the market.  Here are some ideas that could help get you the media attention you need:

·         Serve as a resource to reporters. Send letters or e-mails about your background and expertise and outline topics you can discuss.\

·         Develop news releases and send them to real estate reporters. Be sure your story idea is clear and deliver the who, what, where, when of the topic you’re pitching. Keep it succinct. Writers don’t like to wade through an eight-page release to find meat.

·         Propose story angles that hook reporters and readers. Sending releases suggesting timely stories that address local market trends, a local spin on a national story, or advice to homeowners will get a better response than a release with promotional material about
your company.

·         Reporters’ time is finite. Before interviews, think about the three most important points you want to make, anticipate what questions reporters might ask, and have answers ready for each possible question.

·         Have your statistics and information sources handy so you can refer to them during interviews.

·         Speak concisely, especially in broadcast interviews. You have about seven seconds or about 35 words to make your point. Practice sound bites before delivering them live.

·         Offer realistic market assessments, even if the short-term looks bleak. “Reporters turn to you for reality checks, not for views through rose-colored glasses,” says Segal. “Be prepared for negative questions.”

·         Get yourself listed in expert directories, such as www.profnet.com and www.expertclick.com.

·         Sharpen your PR tactics. The Public Relations Society of America’s (www.prsa.org) “Tactics and the Strategist Online” tab offers useful information, such as pitching tips.

Reach Out to New Homebuilders - Help new homebuilders and developers in California market and sell their homes.  According to California Real Estate magazine writer Bridget McCrea, REALTORS® can be a great resource to homebuilders by using their databases of qualified buyers and expansive market knowledge.

Higher-than-average commission rates, bonuses, and a new home salesperson willing to handle much of the legwork on the deal make the new home market particularly attractive for agents like Gary Gold, executive vice president at Hilton & Highland in Los Angeles. In real estate for 30 years, Gold works with developers to conceptualize their projects, and then creates and executes marketing and sales strategies around the projects. See The Rob Clark (www.therobclark.com), a novel condo project based on a fictitious character for which Gold is the head of sales.

Gold says he began carving out that niche five years ago, and advises agents to start with the basics by learning the details of every new-home product available in their marketplace. View the opportunity not as a way to a quick buck, he says, but as one to put some elbow grease into developing over time. Decide whether you’re going to “go after” the listings, or “bring buyers” to the new homebuilders, and use your real estate marketing expertise to either sign up developers/builders who need listing help, or promote yourself to buyers who are looking for new homes.

“Specialists make more money than generalists, so consider this a specialization that deserves all of your attention and effort,” says Gold. “Get to the point where you know the specialty inside and out—and where it’s all in your head—and you’ll be able to pull it off.”

Build Referrals - Building relationships with colleagues through professional meetings, education conferences, and networking groups can help you swap referrals. Ira Serkes, CRS, GRI, ABR, e-PRO, SRES®, of RE/MAX Executive-Berkeley Homes, Berkeley, typically collects $50,000 to $60,000 in referral fees each year that stem from relationships with fellow CyberStars® and CRS designees (the designation offered by the Council of Residential Specialists, www.crs.com).  The Citrus Valley Association offers its REALTOR® members various designation courses each year.  Visit www.cvar.net, then click on the ‘Education’ tab for more information.