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Two Real Estate Geographic Farms to Consider for Fall

Aug 7, 2024

So, what are your business marketing plans for spring 2024 real estate marketing? Sure, much of the decision-making will center around what’s happening with the economy.

Market soothsayers are hedging their bets when predicting what the Fed will come up with during the March meeting. The latest jobs numbers seem to be the fly in the ointment.

“But Fed officials have repeatedly indicated that they want to be sure that inflation is coming down sustainably before they’ll consider cutting rates, and a more balanced labor market is part of that,” says Molly Grace at BusinessInsider.com.

If you want to play it safe, you can rely on tried-and-true marketing methods. One of the best of these is farming.

Let’s look at three farms we think are worthy of your consideration.

Baby boomers in highly rated-school districts

This year, baby boomers will turn 60 to 78. Last year, the National Association of REALTORS’ surveys found that baby boomers now make up the largest share of both homebuyers and sellers.

In fact, this cohort makes “… up 39% of home buyers – the most of any generation – an increase from 29% last year.” That’s an astounding statistic. A 10% jump in real estate activity in one year? From a group of people who have been stubbornly sitting in the home they’ve lived in for 15 to 20 years?

They’re moving; you should be at the forefront of your market to capture this business.

Then, there are the Gen Xers and Millennial moms and dads who are still in the child-rearing phases, longing to get juniors into a good school district.

That’s the perfect starting point for an agent looking for a new marketing method: farm those baby boomers living in decently ranked school districts. I would market to all of them, particularly those who live in multi-story homes.

Stairs are hard on the knees and we’re betting they can’t wait to get into a home without the climb.

The Absentee Owner Series is shown above. To learn more, Click Here.

Absentee owners

While being a landlord isn’t quite as painful now as it was during the pandemic, the economy still isn’t where it should be, and many Americans are pinching pennies.

Because of this, many landlords are thinking about cashing out. This is an easy audience to market to because most of it is done via direct mail.

It’s somewhat quick and easy to set up, and landlords (most of them, anyway) are eager to learn about the market and what their rentals might be worth right now.

However, this one requires consistency in nurturing. Consistent mailings will keep you top-of-mind but don’t neglect the Just Listed and Just Sold postcards pertinent to the landlord’s property.

Spring will be here before we know it, so let’s get ready!

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct, response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts and engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you. Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 6-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 6-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

3. The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review

The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review allows you to enter your business goals for the remainder of the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closings, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here

4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

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Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

Two Important Factors to Consider When Choosing a Geographic Farm

Dec 16, 2021

One area of real estate marketing that can’t be ignored if you intend to enjoy long-term growth in your real estate business is Geographic Farming.

Why? Because it alleviates the ongoing frustration of constantly chasing new commissions.

You’re working strategically with a focus that will benefit you now and well into your future, ensuring you don’t end up like 85% of agents who continue to struggle.

The secret to choosing the right geographic farm

Adequate research is the key to locating the right farm for you and your business.

Even if you find a geographic farm that you think works for you based on location and number of homes your research isn’t done yet. There are two more crucial factors that can’t be missed.

Two Important Factors:

Turn-Over Rate – Ideally you want a location with at least a 10-15% turnover rate. You can easily determine the turnover rate by dividing the number of homes in the farm by the number of homes that have sold.
Competition – If you choose a farm that already has an agent who appears to have achieved penetration in that market, you will find yourself working much harder and longer to see any positive results. It’s preferable to find an area where an agent has less than 10% of market share. Or an area where a previously aggressive agent has slowed or stopped marketing.

Time to Take Action

Once you’ve chosen the perfect farm it’s time to take action.

Get out and meet the people in this location (weather and restrictions permitting) It’s time to make your name, face, and brand as visible as possible, to begin the process of becoming identified as the neighborhood expert.

Canvassing a neighborhood may be old school, but it also makes you highly competitive.

In a market where so many agents are relying on email and social media to spread the word, walking your farm gives you a definitive advantage.

Shown above, Holiday postcards. Mail first class by December 18th to arrive on time for Christmas. See more, **HERE**

Your goal is to help people get to know you, like you, and trust you enough to do business with you.

You can’t do that sitting in your office. In fact, statistically, it takes 27 contacts to create effective branding of who you are and what you do.

In addition, to walking your farm, send out direct mail marketing at least once a month and call them at least once a quarter.

A great marketing piece to send this time of year is a holiday postcard.

Work Smart – Automate

So, how do you free up the extra time your farm will need from you? By automating your marketing wherever you can.

The perfect place to begin your automation is with a postcard campaign. This ensures you are in front of your homeowners consistently no matter how busy you get.

More importantly, as the people in your farm become familiar with your face, they will begin to identify you as the real estate expert in their neighborhood.

And, people choose real estate agents who:

Know their neighborhood
And, know how to get results in their neighborhood

The Top 7% of Agents

The top 7% of agents in the country have one thing in common – they have strategic, focused long-term marketing in place.

They aren’t leaving things to fall through the cracks or living commission to commission. They’re following a solid, systematic plan to generate business utilizing a farm as one of their main areas of focus.

So, join the 7% by getting started choosing your geographic farm. Then launch a Get More Listings postcard campaign and begin the process of branding yourself as their neighborhood expert!

Right now, Geographic Farm Campaigns are on sale 10% off the first month!

Shown above: Get More Listings postcard campaign, available in the FARM Campaign section. Learn More, **HERE**.

To Launch a Farm Campaign,

Hit the “CLICK HERE” link, below (from a desktop or laptop computer).

USE PROMO CODE: FARM10 to get 10% off the first month of a FARM Campaign.

Start now, CLICK HERE!

Details: Take 10% off the first month of a FARM Campaign for a limited time (excluding tax, postage, data, EDDM. Sale ends at midnight Saturday, 12/18/21).

Please reach out to our support team at 866.405.3638 with questions or if there is anything we can do to help you with your success.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some helpful tools to support your success.

1. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

2. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here

3. The Automated Way to Become a Neighborhood Brand

Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically each month to an exclusive carrier route. Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

4. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

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The Real Estate Mailing List Guide outlines the top tools for generating targeted prospecting lists including Baby Boomers, Empty Nesters, Investors, Lifestyle Interests, High-Income Renters, Move-Up Markets, and more. The Guide also defines done-for-you marketing campaigns to match these markets. –Click Here

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

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Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! –Click Here

7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

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The “Crush It” Guide includes easy steps to launching an effective direct mail marketing campaign, how to create a targeted prospect list, the perfect way to layout marketing materials for success, seven opportunities available to target in your area right now. –Click Here

While you’re online scheduling your Holiday postcards to go out, consider launching an annual Holiday scheduled campaign.

Real Estate Circle Prospecting: It’s Geographic Farming on Steroids

Aug 17, 2020

Goals. We all have them, some of us have more than others. Reaching them is the true challenge in any business.

ChicagoAgentMagazine.com recently published the results of a survey of agents asking about their lead generation goals through the end of 2020.

One of the questions asked was how much money they plan to spend on marketing this year. Nearly half of the agent respondents said they will spend between $0 and $150 a month. Sadly, of these agents, 23% will spend between $0 and $75 a month.

Naturally, the cheapest lead generation and marketing methods were the most popular. For instance, 65% of respondents plan on “making better use of social media.”

Then, 62% will be organizing their CRM to become more efficient in their marketing. Third on the list was “spending more time with family and friends.”

Hey, if you spend only $75 a month marketing your business, you’ll have loads of time to spend with family and friends.

Increase that amount just a smidge, however, and you may just need to pencil-in that “time with family and friends.” And, that’s a good thing, at least for your bank account.

Americans, by and large, are staying home a lot more.

Some states are “pulling back on re-openings,” according to Paul Davidson at USAToday.com.

There is a bright spot for real estate agents. Millions of people are spending lots of time at home, and direct mail has become one of the best means of communicating with them.

Choose a neighborhood

Yup, it’s time to start focusing on farming, if you haven’t already. Well, farming with a twist, circle prospecting to be precise.

Circle prospecting is an amazing way to get your name and branding in front of consumers without violating safety protocols.

With this type of prospecting you aren’t obviously fishing for leads, but spreading some news – homes in the neighborhood (or nearby) that have been listed for sale, are under contract, have sold or are being held open.

You’re offering something of value.

The first step in the process is to choose the area in which you’ll prospect. If you currently have a listing, or someone in your brokerage does (let’s hope so!), choose that neighborhood and, perhaps, those adjacent to it. Then, create a targeted mailing list.

There’s more than one way to circle prospect

Some agents are actually comfortable and successful with door-knocking around listings.

More agents, however, are more comfortable with direct mail. And, with social distancing mandates in place, this method of circle prospecting is the most responsible.

The bonus is that, right now, direct mail is the method most likely to meet with success, and for a number of reasons:

1. Many agents have cut their marketing budgets, while some have stopped spending on marketing. With the pool of competition all but drained in this regard, your chances of success increase exponentially.

2. Those agents who are still marketing are gravitating to free marketing, such as promoting themselves to their friends, family and followers on social media. Others are going heavy on email marketing. Again, this lessens the mail arriving at consumers’ homes, heightening the chance that your mailed pieces will get the eyes on them.

3. “Checking the mail” is something most of us can do without exposing ourselves to the virus. It also gives us something to do while we’re stuck at home. For instance, how many catalogs have you leafed through that you would’ve otherwise thrown away?

4. Then, there are the facts about the effectiveness of direct mail:

92% of consumers say they prefer direct mail over digital when making shopping decisions
70% of them prefer USPS-delivered mail, according to William Boynton at Postalytics.com, citing a report from the National Association of Advertisers (ANA).
Nearly 15% of millennials surveyed feel that print messages are more trustworthy than those that are digitally delivered, according to a report from the USPS.

What’s next?

Now that you have your list and your strategy (prospecting around listings, solds or open houses), it’s time to round up the resources you’ll need to kick off and maintain your circle prospecting campaigns.

Naturally, we recommend checking out the brilliant array of targeted postcards offered here. From Get More Listings postcards to the Mega-sized, Market Dominator (with 100% impression rate) you’ll find what you need to get your campaign going and keep it going.

Send the More Inventory postcard from the Get More Listings Series to an area where you want more listings.

Need help targeting a specific niche of buyers or sellers? Use our Demographic Search Tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy). Or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are some helpful resources we’ve made available to support your success.

1. Become a Neighborhood Brand

Become branded in a specific neighborhood with a 12X15 marketing piece sent automatically each month to an exclusive carrier route. Watch this video to learn more or Click Here.

2. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

3. The Free 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 2020-Planner-3D-999x1024.jpg

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. –Click Here

4. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

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Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan. – Click Here

5. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

6. The Free Online ROI Calculator

7. The Free Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

Driving New Listings with Geographic Farming

Sep 14, 2017

Leaving Nothing Left to Chance

By Julie Escobar

Competition hasn’t been this fierce in years so savvy agents are using every tool at their disposal to generate new listings, stay top of mind, and brand themselves as the neighborhood expert to call. Staying in touch with the VIPs in your sphere of influence makes sense. Those folks know you, trust you, and are already willing to do business with you. But how do you cultivate new relationships in markets that you really want to make an impact? You use smart tools that connect you with consumers in communities. You offer items of value. And you get out there and meet the people.

Todd Robertson recently shared five tips for making the most of your geographic farm and sphere:

Ask for referrals. Never be afraid to ask for new business. When you get comfortable with the level of service you provide, asking for the business gets easier. Get to the point where you KNOW that you have a marketing plan that helps sellers get the most from their house. Know that you can assist buyers in finding the perfect home for their family. Know that you are an advocate for consumers, and know that you are the best person for the job – then you have an obligation to let people KNOW that you are a real estate professional who can help.
Mail consistently (3-7-27 law). We’ve shared before the 3-7-27 law of branding, which is that it takes three contacts for someone to recognize your name, seven to put your name with your business and twenty-seven to become a brand in someone’s mind. If you are losing business to other agents in your market area, is it because they are consistently making more contacts and staying more top of mind than you are? It’s a tough question to ask, but if you can show up, and show value consistently, then sellers and buyers are going to consider you the brand to trust with their real estate investment questions and needs. Mind-share equals market share. Our Market Dominator members know that they are showing up month after month with the 12×15 Market Dominator to ensure this kind of consistency and value are creating that mind-share and market share.
Let people know what areas and price points that you service. Through your marketing and prospecting, let people know where you do business. If you’ve ever lost a listing because a friend or acquaintance said, “Oh, I didn’t know you worked that area,” you’ll get the message behind this step.
Train on how you take referrals. Let folks know that their referrals are important to you and how they can best deliver that information to you. “Shoot me a text, an email – or give me a call if you know someone who is looking to buy or sell a home.”
Thank your VIPs. Thank everyone for their referrals. Go the extra mile. Send a card or letter to them after the fact. Say, “Thank you for your kind referral. It’s the lifeblood of my business and no small thing, I know, so I appreciate it. Know that I’ll treat them with the highest possible level of care and you can rest assured they, and their interests, will be well taken care of. I’ll also keep you posted on how that referral is going so that you know your friends or relatives are in good hands.” Stand out in every way. People want to do business with those who they know can get the job done with the least number of headaches and the highest return on investment. They also want to work with people who are service-minded and extraordinary in their client care. That old adage, “they don’t care what you know until they know that you care” has never been more true.

Showing up in every way possible in your market place is critical to owning that market share.

Take the time THIS month to put your plan in place to ask for referrals. Can you make ten extra calls this week towards that goal?
Be consistent. The 12×15 Market Dominator is a powerful way to show up each month with value-added content and calls to action. Follow those mailings up with phone calls and door knocking in that geographic farm to help folks put your face with your name and know you are a resource they can count on.
Review your marketing tools, your website and social media. Are you letting people know the areas you serve?
Remember to let people know how to reach you if they have referrals. Review your business cards, email signature line, and marketing tools.
Send thank you messages weekly. We’ve got some easy-to-order Thank-You postcards that can streamline that process.

Make real estate farming a top priority this season and you’ll start to see returns on that investment. Stay strong, and let us know if we can help you.

If you’d like to learn more about the Market Dominator, call Todd Robertson at 702-683-1967.

Need additional marketing help? Contact our team at 866-405-3638.

Geographic Farming: More Relevant Than Ever

Jun 19, 2017

Six Answers You Need to Know

By Julie Escobar

With markets and competition heating up this summer, geographic farming is more relevant, and results-producing than ever. It’s what is differentiating top agents from lower producers, and what is setting some apart as leaders in both their marketplace – and in market share.

To learn more, we asked Todd Robertson about what he is seeing trend across North America right now. Here’s an excerpt from our interview:

Q: Todd – there was a time when agents got away from geographic farming but now it’s back stronger than ever – can you shed some light on that?

A: Here’s what we’ve found: With all the ‘noise’ out there now, social media, Zillow, Trulia, email, spam filters, online ads – a lot of home buyers and sellers aren’t responding to the noise. Yet, a LOT of agents are still hiding behind their computers. We know that 95% of people check their mail every day – and direct mail is standing out from the ‘online’ noise. It used to be that farming was expensive. Mailings were expensive. Now with technology and new USPS tools, it’s much less so, and with most agents still not in that space – those who do jump in – WIN.

Q: We’ve all seen agents who get frustrated because they want instant results – and farming just isn’t that kind of marketing. What do you say to agents who want instant gratification?

A: The truth is we are in an instant gratification mode. We’re looking to the lottery for a quick million, fast food for an instant meal, and whatever ‘golden ticket’ it might take to unlock the key to right-now success. But what I like to share with agents is the hunter vs. farmer mindsets. The hunter is great at getting on the phone, shaking the trees, finding those expireds, FSBOs, SOI leads, anything that will generate business today or this week. Where the farmer isn’t crazy about all that possible rejection, so they slowly and surely cultivate an area with direct mail and email marketing. After 25 years in this business we do know two things though: Patience and persistence will always win and combining the two skills of hunting and farming are your best means of generating long term success at a whole other level. You do have to be “all-in” – but it is so worth it.

Q: In your talks and webinars you speak about putting ALL the pieces in place – can you share more about what you mean by that?

A: Well this kind of goes back to my last answer. You really CAN dominate a market area and out-pace any competition if you are willing to streamline your practices – and do it all. Not one thing. Not the easy things. But all of it. Direct mail. Just Listed. Just Sold. Door knocking. Aggressive open houses. All of it – and not just once but really adhere to that 3-7-27 rule of marketing I’ve shared in the past where you’re continuously making impressions and staying top of mind because the competition, for the most part, is not going to be as committed to doing it all. If you are? You win.

Q: Follow up is a critical part of marketing, but so many agents are reluctant to walk their farm or pick up the phone. What’s your best advice to get over that hurdle?

A: Well, the tough advice is that if your mindset is ‘I’m afraid or unwilling to prospect’ then perhaps this is not the profession for you. If we look at the old 80/20 rule which says that 20% of the agents do 80% of the business, we know that those numbers are now outdated. In today’s world it’s 93/7. 7% of the agents are doing 93% of the business. The reason lies right here – prospecting. Following up. I like to tell my audiences, “If the game is scheduled, and you’ve chosen to play – you might as well win.” So if you are in this business to help people – then remember, you are paid in direct proportion to how many people you help, and how good you are at that help. So don’t just put your toe in the pool – jump in. Don’t be that agent who tried something once, or twice, or three times and throws up their hands and says, ‘this doesn’t work’. Stick with it. The year is half over. Don’t fall into that – it is what it is mindset where it is all right to be average, or less than your goals. You get paid in proportion to how many you help. Get out there and play hard. If you get a no, pick up the phone again, and again. It’s a numbers game, but more than that, it’s a people game. Find the next person to help.

Q: This is a busy time for agents – and many are so busy working IN the business, they don’t stop to work ON their business. What can you share with our readers regarding blocking time so that nothing falls through the cracks?

A: It’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae, I know. The feel-good work. The paper shuffling. The non-confrontational. Top agents though know that the highest and best use of their time is doing three things: prospecting, presenting, and closing. The rest they find solutions for. Automated marketing. Virtual Assistants. Database management systems. Marketing systems. They are effective time managers – that’s the level you need to strive for.

Q: The Market Dominator is hard to ignore when homeowners get it in their mailbox – can you tell us a little about the science of its size, content, and calls to action?

A: Well it’s the largest piece allowed legally through the USPS system. It’s got 100% impression rate. It’s coated on one side, full color and on great paper. Most importantly, it’s filled with the kind of content people want to read. Not salesy – hyped commercial stuff. But real world content. And real world calls to action. It’s relevant and fun and ‘share-able’ for people. And it gets the job done. I just heard from one of our customers who has done 16 transactions this year so far, three directly as a result of the Dominator. Take a look and let me know if you have questions. It’s a powerful tool for agents who are really interested in dominating their own geographic farm.

Thanks so much for your time Todd. For those interested in learning more about the Market Dominator, you can watch Todd’s informative video here. For questions, give Todd a call at 866-405-3638. Now, go out there and dominate in YOUR favorite geographic farm!

Plant the Seeds Now, Harvest Listings Later: Smart Farming Strategies for Summer

May 23, 2025

Summer is more than just a season of sunshine and vacations; it’s a strategic period for real estate agents to cultivate relationships that can lead to listings in the fall. By implementing effective farming strategies now, agents can position themselves as the go-to experts in their chosen neighborhoods. National Association of REALTORS®

Why Summer is Ideal for Farming

The summer months offer a unique opportunity to engage with communities. With longer days and numerous local events, agents can increase their visibility and connect with potential clients in a more relaxed setting. Engaging in community activities and attending local gatherings can significantly enhance an agent’s profile. styldod.com

Effective Farming Techniques

Consistent Direct Mail Campaigns: Regularly sending newsletters, market updates, and personalized messages can keep agents top-of-mind. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, consistent communication is key to building trust within a community.
Hosting Local Events: Organizing neighborhood events or sponsoring local activities can provide direct interaction with residents, fostering relationships that may lead to future listings.
Leveraging Social Media: Maintaining an active online presence by sharing local market insights, success stories, and community highlights can attract and engage potential clients.

Geographic Farming Campaigns are shown above. To learn more, Click Here.

The Long-Term Benefits

Investing time and resources into farming during the summer can yield substantial returns in the fall. As the market picks up, agents who have established trust and familiarity within a community are more likely to be contacted for listings. Building these relationships takes time, making the summer an ideal period to start.

By proactively engaging with communities during the summer through consistent outreach, event participation, and a strong online presence, real estate agents can lay the groundwork for a successful fall season. Planting the seeds now ensures a bountiful harvest of listings later.

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

2. The Free 2025 Q1 Real Estate Marketing Guide

Kickstart the second quarter of 2025 with our 2nd Quarter Real Estate Marketing Guide, designed to help you achieve your real estate business goals. Packed with tools like a goal-setting sheet, monthly insights, tailored task lists, and marketing recommendations, this free guide is your ultimate resource for success—download it today for FREE! –Click Here

3. The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Plan

The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for the remainder of the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closings, and so on are needed to reach your goals. – Click Here

Crush it in 2023: Check out this Brilliant Real Estate Farm Idea

Jan 19, 2023

We’re big proponents of real estate farming. Whether it’s circle geographic farming, niche farming, or something else, we repeatedly hear stories about the hefty benefits of this marketing method.

While researching different real estate farming niches, we came across one that we found especially brilliant: long-time homeowners in good school districts.

The advantages of this niche real estate farm

Homes located in a “good school district” increase in “value over time,” according to Jamie Johnson at QuickenLoans.com. This is especially important to a homeowner who needs to sell during a market in decline.

About 31% of homebuyers surveyed by the National Association of REALTORS® for the 2022 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report have at least one child under the age of 18.

The study also found that 23% of the buyers surveyed said that the quality of the school district was a factor that influenced their choice of neighborhoods.

When broken down by age, 41% of homebuyers aged 32 to 41 expressed the importance of buying in a higher-quality school district.

The higher demand for homes in a well-respected school district also means the home for sale may remain on the market for less time than other homes. Which homeowner and listing agent doesn’t want a quick sale for a decent price?

The Empty Nest Series is shown above. To see more designs, Click Here.

The kids grow up, eventually

When they do, they will (hopefully) strike out on their own. Mom, Dad, and an empty nest are what they leave in their wake.

Once you’ve chosen a school district to focus on for your farm, you’ll need to narrow down your “audience.” Start by using the median tenure of homeowners. Nationwide, it’s 13.2 years.

Coincidentally, that’s just about the same amount of time that it takes for a child to progress from kindergarten through high school graduation.

Homeowners with a 10-year or longer tenure should be among your target audience.

How is the sales activity in the prospective farm area?

Known as the turnover rate, this is an important metric when choosing a geographic farm area.

Take the number of homes sold in the past 12 months and divide that number by the number of homes in the prospective farm area. Multiply the result by 100.

“You typically want to see a 5% turnover rate or higher,” according to the experts at Realtors Property Resource®.

The next step

If the number of homes left is too large for your liking, weed out smaller homes and concentrate on those with square footage large enough to make these empty nesters want to downsize.

Now that you have your farm area nailed down, it’s time to get a prospect list. We would love to help you with that. to get started quickly and easily creating your prospect list using the Demographic Search Tool, Click Here.

Empty nesters in large homes within highly-rated school districts are a micro-niche that, if approached right, can be quite lucrative. And just in time for the spring market!

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

2. The Free 12-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks these boxes but is also a business-building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

Level Up: How to Go From Farmer to Market Maker

Jul 8, 2020

I recently spent some time talking to Todd Robertson, Director of the Market Dominator, about how agents are relying on their farms even more to keep business going during the pandemic. Todd shared some new and exciting things he’s doing to help agents level up and go from farmer to market maker.

Farming a geographic area is a time-tested, proven method for achieving new listings and referrals. Yet Todd says for many agents insecurities over what to send, how often to send it, and how to budget stops them from taking advantage of this real estate game-changer.

Those who understand the power of farming forge ahead putting systems in place, cultivating and developing lucrative relationships over time.

This results in branded awareness that keeps their name at the forefront when someone is ready to buy or sell or knows someone who is and it’s that agent who receives the call.

“These agents understand the key to successful farming is consistent marketing that allows them to stand out from the pack,” says Todd.

“I believe this is why the Market Dominator is such a popular marketing tool for agents. It’s a content-rich marketing piece, automatically sent every month, that’s literally larger-than-life”.

“And, I’m not kidding when I say larger-than-life,” Todd exclaimed, “At 12×15 in size, the Market Dominator is the largest legal size allowed by USPS. It’s a mailbox show stopper that can’t be ignored”.

That combined with content designed by industry professionals, the use of budget-friendly EDDM, and carrier route exclusivity is what Todd says makes the Dominator an agent favorite.

The leap from Farmer to Market Maker

Although the Market Dominator has been incredibly well received by agents, Todd said the current climate got him thinking it was time to do more.

With certain parts of the country just opening up again, it left many agents with only six months of 2020 to hit their annual goals. Todd said this knowledge caused him to go back to the drawing board to come up with a way to help agents level up during this remaining time.

And he found an answer. He decided to help agents go from successful farmer to market makers.

Instead of them following the traditional agent path of matching buyers and sellers, listing by listing, Todd’s helping them find a way to truly control their market and explode their growth.

He says they’ve added a new valuable resource to the Market Dominator by providing agents with a Renter Prospect List from within or around their carrier route (at no cost to the agent).

And, they’re also going to pay for the first campaign out to this renter prospect list using postcards from the Rent By Numbers Series.

“Offering this additional tool is the ultimate progression for an agent who wants to truly begin to control their market,” says Todd.

Now they’re starting to cultivate relationships with some of the very people who will be interested in buying homes in their carrier route.

“Imagine how your listing appointment will go when you show an area map of potential buyers you’ve been communicating with to the homeowners,” says Todd.

“How powerful is that?” Todd continued, “Regardless of who else is competing for this listing, they can’t win. You’ve shown up with potential buyers in hand”.

Telling a homeowner you’ve already been looking for their home’s buyer for months is a strong statement. Especially considering there’s a high probability that their home’s buyer is on this list.

While other agents are discussing what they’ll do to find a buyer once the listing agreement is signed, todd says you stand alone because you’ve already done the work.

To learn more about the Market Dominator, watch this excerpt from a recent Q&A Todd did below.

For additional questions, you can reach Todd at 866-405-3638 or Todd.Robertson@prospectsplus.com or go to Market Dominator for more information. To download Todd’s book, “Become a Listing Legend”, scroll down it’s available under Free Resources, below.

If you’re interested in generating your own Renter Prospect List to market to in your Farm click here from a desktop computer to get started or watch the video below to learn how.

PLUS: When you have time…here are some Free resources we’ve made available to support your success.

1. The Free Real Estate Mailing List Guide

2. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

3. The Free One-Page Real Estate Business Plan

4. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

5. The Free Online ROI Calculator

6. The Real Estate Marketing Guide “CRUSH IT”

The Hunter and the Farmer

Jun 12, 2017

How to Add Ten Extra Transactions Per Year

By Todd Robertson

We know that for a lot of agents, prospecting is PAINFUL. It’s also the one factor that will keep so many from succeeding. Why? They fear it rather than embracing that prospecting is just part of the process. Every “no” brings you that much closer to a yes. Every conversation brings you that much more involved in building a relationship with the people in your sphere and farm.

That brings us to the point of today’s article. Hunting and farming. There are really three ways you can drive business in real estate:

Wait for it. How many agents do you know who are waiting for the phone to ring? Someone to walk through the door? Or a call from a sign or ad? Certainly the least pro-active means of getting business and one that will never take you far in this business.
Buy it. Some agents choose to buy the business, using internet leads, ads, and billboards – then WAITING for them to generate interest.
Put a system in place and actively prospecting. In a competitive market such as we have now, this is the only sure way to generate consistent results and income.

The best agents in the world want to get to the point where they do three things extraordinarily well and delegate most of the rest to others. Those two things are prospecting, going on appointments or presenting, and closing. They also know to get to the top in their markets and stay there they have to be BOTH hunter and farmer.

Hunters aggressively, consistently seek new business and generate leads. They know how many contacts they have to make each and every day to hit the numbers that will take them closer to their goal. For some it might be five live connects with people per day. For others the number may be closer to ten or twenty. That’s actively reaching out to people such as:

FSBOs
Expireds
Sphere of Influence
Business network

Farmers, by contrast, let a system do the work and consistently “touch” the folks in their geographic farm, as well as their sphere with timely, direct response marketing tools every 21-45 days. When that happens month after month after month, you create the kind of top-of-mind awareness that keeps your name at the forefront with people so that when someone IS ready to buy or sell or knows someone who is, it’s YOUR name they know to call.

What happens when you put a campaign in place, a system in place and never waiver from it, you create opportunities for additional business. You also have a better life, because you know you’ll have business and referrals coming in.

I know agents who are strictly hunters. They are always chasing new business and have never taken the time to cultivate a farm area. I can tell you for a fact that they lead more stressful lives. They have no idea where the next deal is coming from, or when the next closing will be. That’s a hard way to go and a tough way to earn a living. Farmers can count on business coming in. And top agents? They know that their marketing engine, coupled with their hunting skills will generate the number of transactions they need to hit their goals.

The truth is less than 5% of agents own a 20% market share in their areas. LESS than 5%! What that should mean to you is that there is a lot of opportunity in some geographic areas, or neighborhoods in your market that you should absolutely systematically reach out to starting now if you want to be the agent in your area to defy that statistic.

They key is to have a consistent system in place. That’s why agents love the Market Dominator system. They don’t have to think about it, worry about it, or do anything. It’s all done for them. They know every month a 12×15 marketing piece is sent out using Every Door Direct Mail, so that it literally gets in every single door in the geographic area they want to saturate and earn that 20% market share. Knowing that their marketing is working on their behalf, generating that top of mind awareness, branding them in the market place, and creating opportunities for new business takes the stress off of them. They put that piece of their business equation in our capable hands so they can then focus on doing those three things we talked about earlier – prospecting, presenting, and closing.

I’ll give you an example. I got a call last week from a young lady who called and said, “Todd, I get it, I get it!” I wasn’t sure what she was talking about until she explained that three months ago she got a Market Dominator in the mail and said she thought at the time – WOW, this agent is stepping up the game. She didn’t think much of it though she shared, because most agents are “one and done” marketers. Then she got another one. Then this month she got a third. She said, “That’s it – where do I sign up? This guy is taking my market share!”

The thing is that the Market Dominator is exclusive to the agent based on carrier routes. So that agent will continue to take market share as long as they stay in the system. She of course, chose another route and is on her way now to dominate a geo farm of her own. We had another agent call as well who was farming an area, then stopped. Another agent swept in, claimed that same farm area and started a consistent campaign and started, of course, generating the listings in that area. The agent that quit was upset to lose ground, but realized that if he had stayed with it – those listings would have been his. The truth is that results don’t usually ever come from the first “touch”. They happen when you consistently stay in the game, and usually well after the 5^th, 6^th, or even 10^th contact. That’s why it’s important to have a campaign and system that you can count on to not lose momentum. Left to our own devices sometimes, we get busy right? We shift our focus. And the ball gets dropped. Market Dominator customers don’t have to worry about that. We do the heavy lifting. They focus on prospecting, presenting and closing.

If you’re ready to have a better life – I challenge you to be BOTH hunter and farmer. As a hunter, make those weekly phone calls, reaching out to the folks in your market that can help you generate quick leads and listing opportunities.

As a farmer, I encourage you to put a system in place like the Market Dominator so that you are cultivating a geographic farm that will, in time, allow you to own a 20% or more market share that will indeed be worth five, ten, or more additional transactions to you per year.

If you want to learn more, give me a call at 702-683-1967 or email us today.

Need help building your collateral materials, sending Just Listed/Just Sold postcards, finding the right free reports for your buyers and sellers, or building a better brand for yourself?

Visit us online at www.prospectsplus.com or give us a call today at 866.405.3638.

Real Estate Farming Webinar on Demand

May 31, 2016

The word Webinar handwritten with white chalk on a blackboard

We had a great showing on our timely webinar last week — How to Pick the PERFECT Geographic Farm for Your Market. It was filled with terrific tools and step-by-step strategies for choosing the best geographic farm based on turnover ratios, home price points, and homeowner to renter ratios.

We then shared some of the tools and strategies top producers across the country are using to effectively, and consistently market to their geographic farms to gain market share — and a steady stream of referrals and commissions.

We’ve got it for you on demand now! Watch below!

Interested in finding out of if the ReboGateway tool for choosing farm areas is right for you? Call their support team today at 866-887-0206 or email them today to set up a one on one demonstration at sales@benutech.com.

Interested in finding out whether the Market Dominator System is available in your preferred carrier routes for exclusivity? Call Todd Robertson at 702 683-1867.

As always – if you have questions about any www.prospectsplus.com products or services – please contact us at 866-405-3638.

Using High Tech Data to Master Geo-Farming

May 23, 2016

Houses — Row of new residential houses in suburban neighborhood

It Happened on My Street

A Guest Blog by Brian Fox, Benutech, Inc.

It happened on my street… and I would not be surprised if you have seen it occur on yours. A for sale sign goes in the ground… and presto – soon after, more for sale signs start popping up. It’s an interesting phenomenon, but it seems to hold true in markets from coast to coast. For those reasons, you hear top real estate coaches in the industry advise their students to, “Find areas where homes are selling and market into those areas!” It works. It’s a big informational edge that increases agents marketing success rates.

So let’s take a moment and look at this turnover rate idea a bit closer. Here’s what happened on my street: no properties had been listed on my street for more than a year. Then a property went on the MLS market in June of 2015. By October, two more homes on my street went on to MLS priced similarly. All of them closed by January 2016, so in back to back months (March and April of 2016) two more homeowners on my street decided to list their properties for sale. Coincidence?

Maybe… But that’s five homes for sale on my street in the past year, when there were none listed the previous 12 months. Not only that, but within my subdivision, there is not another street that has had more than two homes listed or sold within the same time period of time. Heck, I have even entertained the thought of selling my home at the prices homes are selling at on my street! The sign posts have even got me thinking.

So in my opinion, along with the opinions of those high profile real estate coaches, it’s true… when folks see sign posts in the ground it gets them thinking… “If I could get that much for my home, I would sell”. Or, “If that home can sell for that price, and it’s smaller than mine, then mine could sell for much more…” So the bottom line: Home sales in a community seem to get the selling ball rolling! For a real estate agent, that’s a very good thing.

The only problem with turnover rate though is tracking it. There has not been an easy way to locate high rates of turnover in communities. Even if your title company or an assistant that you employ was willing to help you crunch the numbers to find the higher turnover rate areas… it’s time consuming.

That’s the reason we added the Tract Utility tool to Benutech, Inc.’s ReboGateway product.This tool instantly groups homes together by FIVE different property groupings, and displays the groups from highest turnover or sales rate to lowest rate in seconds. That’s SECONDS, not days! Not only is Tract Utility providing quick, targeted results, but it’s also grouping homes in groups small enough for agents to easily identify and utilize. Tract Utility breaks geographic areas down from Census Tracts to all the way to the housing tracts that homes are built into. What’s the most popular grouping? It’s been the “Postal Carrier Route” grouping, which is the same group of homes that the US Postal Service uses when delivering ‘Every Door Direct Mailings’ (EDDM). EDDM is the least expensive way to deliver mail, which cuts the price of mailing down to 1/3 the price of a postage stamp per door.

So as a real estate agent, where should you start? Right here: Successful farming is created by repetitive actions in the farm area. You can’t plant a seed (Mailer #1) and expect to reap large results in farming. It’s not enough care, not enough action to create a successful farm. Successful farms are created with regular, repetitive contact at properties in your farm. In crop farming the repetitive actions would be water and nutrients. In real estate, its repetitive actions of mailers, door knocks, phone calls and the delivery of valuable useful information to homeowners that creates large crops of buyers and sellers. That’s why we love working with and partnering up with our friends from ProspectsPLUS.com. We provide the data and they provide the branding tools such as the impressive Market Dominator. It’s the perfect way to brand yourself in a farm area, and make yourself a known entity and celebrity to the homeowners, by showing you care about them and the community.

But now let’s talk about technology and farming. Farms can be created in any geographic area… but farming in all geographic areas are NOT the same. Not even close. You could choose to farm in the dry, rocky soil of the desert… and if you use tons of water, shade, and constant care, you may be able to create a successful farm. But if you are smart, and chose an area of soft, fertile soil, a mild climate, in an area with lots of available water… wouldn’t you have a much better chance of creating a highly successful farm? Of course! The place you choose to begin your farming is a very important decision. The correctly chosen area will result in more successful farms that are much easier to create. So select the area that is right for you and your farming.

So don’t just choose an area to farm that is closest to where you live or work – it may be dry, rocky soil in the desert… (and so 1990’s style of real estate farming). Instead, you’ll want to crunch the numbers to find the community that has a perfect combination of…

Lack of solid presence of any one agent
high turnover rate
Solid sales prices
High homeowner saturation (as opposed to a large renter population)

This way, when you are ready to start investing in your geo farm, you know that you’ve got a market segment that has the highest potential for success. You can do this on your own with the help of your title company and spreadsheets or acquire access to www.rebogateway.com and use the Tract Utility to find fertile farming areas in your neighborhood. Use that valuable information to identify the top postal carrier routes, or top housing tracts with the highest turnover rates nearest you. Then begin your farming in these hand-picked farm areas using direct response tools such as the Market Dominator, Listing Inventory Series, or Neighborhood Update postcards from ProspectsPLUS.com, and a smart strategy of follow up via canvassing, door hangers, and phone calls, and you’ll be on track to build a successful farm that will continue to reward you with listings and referrals for years to come.

Join us for this week’s webinar “How to Pick the Perfect Geo Farm”, Thursday at 1pm Eastern. Register here.

Interested in finding out of if the Tract Utility tools and ReboGateway is right for you? Call the ReboGateway support team today at 866-887-0206 or email them today to set up a one on one demonstration at sales@benutech.com.

Interested in learning more about the ProspectsPLUS.com tools such as the Market Dominator to earn a 20% market share in the geo farm of your choice? Contact our team today at 866-405-3638 or visit us online at www.prospectsplus.com.

Winter Seller Scripts That Move Conversations Forward

Jan 12, 2026

Winter sellers are different. They’re not browsing—they’re thinking seriously.

But hesitation often shows up because of uncertainty, not lack of motivation. The right language can help sellers feel confident moving forward without feeling pushed.

Start by Removing Pressure

One of the biggest mistakes agents make is rushing winter conversations. Instead, start by lowering resistance.

Script:
“You don’t need to decide anything today. My job is to help you understand your options so you can move forward when it feels right.”

This immediately puts the seller at ease and positions you as an advisor—not a salesperson.

Reframe Winter as an Opportunity

Many sellers assume spring is automatically better. Calmly challenge that assumption with context.

Script:
“Winter usually means fewer listings and more serious buyers. That can work in your favor if the timing is right for you.”

This helps sellers see winter through a strategic lens instead of an emotional one.

Anchor the Conversation in Today’s Market

Fence-sitting often comes from fear of the unknown. Bring the focus back to what’s real now.

Script:
“Let’s look at what homes like yours are doing right now so you can make a decision based on facts—not headlines.”

This reinforces your role as a local expert and builds trust.

Give Them Permission to Wait

Ironically, sellers often commit faster when they feel they can wait.

Script:
“If waiting makes more sense for you, I’ll support that. And if moving now aligns better, we’ll walk through that too.”

This removes pressure and strengthens the relationship.

Use Marketing as a Soft Follow-Up

Pair your conversations with educational touchpoints—market updates, newsletters, or timely postcards. These reinforce your message after the call ends and keep you top of mind.

Winter sellers don’t need urgency—they need clarity. When your words reduce uncertainty, and your marketing reinforces trust, commitment becomes a natural next step.

Launch a Geographic Farm Scheduled Campaign and stay in front of your market throughout 2026 without effort. Here →

______________________________________________________________________

PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

2. The Free 2026 Q1 Real Estate Marketing Guide

Kickstart 2026 with our Quarterly Real Estate Marketing Guide to help you achieve your real estate business goals. Packed with tools like a goal-setting sheet, monthly insights, tailored task lists, and marketing recommendations, this free guide is your ultimate resource for success—download it today for FREE! – Click Here

3. The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Plan

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