7 tips to take your real estate business to the next level
If indications are right, 2018 should be quite the interesting year in real estate.
If you’ve decided it’s the year you’ll take a giant leap forward in your real estate business, well, I’ve got your back, read on for tips on how to do just that.
Treat your business as a business
It is not only a business, but it is one in which you are the CEO. So, act like a CEO.
Do you have a business plan? If not check out our Free Online Realtor Business Plan.
“If I asked you to drive from Omaha, Nebraska to San Diego, California what would be the first thing you would do? Probably mapquest and plan out the directions!” suggests Bubba Mills of Corcoran Consulting and Coaching.
“If I ask you how to do 50 transactions in one year, then shouldn’t you do the same thing?” he continues.
Those “directions” can be found in a business plan – the roadmap for your real estate business.
And, if you do have a plan, does it still require the use of outdated strategies? Update your Real Estate Marketing Plan to meet the needs of today’s real estate practice and today’s real estate consumer.
Next, build a budget, itemizing how much you’ll spend on your car, your dues, desk fees, E&O insurance, your listings and all the other things you spend money on in your business.
A budget is the only way to ensure you’ll meet your income goals by the end of the year.
Let the past guide you
Decide to focus on what has brought you success in the past and do more of it.
Perhaps choose the one tactic that worked best for you as a new agent and concentrate on that for a time.
Was it cold calling?
Sending postcards or newsletters? Door knocking? Whatever it was, resurrect those skills that worked in the past and put them to work helping you jump to the next level.
Start one new thing this year
Try your hand at something you haven’t done before such as automating your Just Listed/Just Sold Postcard mailing.
Free up time from manually handling your Just Listed Just Sold Postcard mailing and automate it instead.
It’s easy to do, affordable and takes the ongoing stress of getting those cards out in a timely manner off of your shoulders.
This leaves you more time to focus on other areas of marketing that need your attention.
How about trying your hand at sending a newsletter?
Las Vegas agent Debbie Drummond tells the story of how a newsletter helped her snag a client for a luxury high-rise condo after an agent who lived in the building failed miserably.
The couple ended up calling Debbie after they received her newsletter. “The newsletter has proven to be a money maker,” she tells Tyler Zey at easyagentpro.
Hire help
The quickest way to move your real estate business to the next level is to stop doing things that don’t make you money.
Hire an assistant to do them for you.
“If I had to touch every single piece in my system myself, I would never be able to produce multiple amounts of volume,” one of Las Vegas’ top producers tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“You have to be efficient, and you have to leverage the system (by hiring).”
Think you can’t afford an assistant? Try going the virtual route first. If you choose a virtual assistant who specializes in real estate you’ll do away with the time and effort involved in training him or her.
Two to consider are Kim Hughes & Company and Real Support. Both companies specialize in supporting real estate agents.
Pay tribute
To truly move your business to the next level, you need to admit that it’s time to stop ignoring your past clients.
To drive this point home, did you know the cost to acquire a new client is five times higher than pursuing someone you’ve already worked with.
Ready for another powerful statistic? Nearly 40 percent of home sellers found their agent through a referral (according to the NAR).
If your website isn’t effective, fix it
Who in your market ranks organically for your preferred keywords?
If it isn’t you, maybe you have some website issues. Check out the sites of those who do and vow to beat them at the Google game.
What are they doing that you aren’t? Typically, it’s the agents who post content consistently that get the best organic rankings, but go through the sites, page-by-page and learn from them.
Take time off
Taking time off actually increases our productivity by 80 percent, according to researchers at Alertness Solutions.
They are a company founded by former NASA scientists that provide fatigue management consulting services.
Research from Harvard University, however, cautions that unless your vacation is planned (at least one month ahead) and you travel far from your work, you won’t get a good ROI on that time away.
Unplug – completely – while you’re away and your focus will be stronger when you return to work, according to researchers at Boston College Center for Work and Family.
Rest and recharge your way to the next level in your real estate business.
Choose a Newsletter or the Market Dominator to send to 200 homes in your Geographic Farm in the month of January! Make sure they know YOU are their neighborhood expert.
The ProspectsPLUS! Team are your biggest fans! We are here to help you succeed in 2018. Please reach out to us if there is any way we can help you at 866.405.3638.