My big advice is do not purchase any leads no matter how good it sounds from a company, invest anything you want into learning and education. If you want to built a fancy website, buy a course that teaches you wordpress, if you want to do Google Ads, Google actually has free training to become a AdSense guru. Time is the biggest investment, but it will save you thousands, and make you a better business owner.

For the first 6 month, it is going to be tough and difficult. Door knock and introduce yourself as the new agent to your farm. Hand out newsletter that you can print for free from your home warranty or title companies. Attend local board meetings, investors meetups, and do lots of open houses. Social media is the new marketing....so blog away. Network on FB, twitter and LinkedIn, and Pinterest. It really has nothing to do with how much you allocate toward your marketing. It is all in your consistent action plan. Good luck!

Nattalie, start a Facebook page for the first community you want to sell in. Take a million pictures and post them, attend any neighborhood events, then report on them. Post informative, regular content. Become versed in their HOA information inside and out. Cost: ZERO
For your 200-300 monthly budget . . . EVERY time you sell something, send out postcards to the neighborhood letting them know. Nothing succeeds like success.

 Nattalie Cornwall your situation is not uncommon, and familiar to all of us.

BIGGEST BANG for your buck? Clearly those things you can do that cost no dollars yield INFINITE return...in other words, a really BIG BANG.

Experienced agents send newbies out on the freebie missions entirely unprepared. If someone opens the door or walks over the threshold,...What in the world are you going babble about that has any relevance to that person?  "What's your home worth?" just does not get the job done.

So...

STEP ONE is understanding "What do you have to talk about that anyone wants to listen to?" (some suggestions are coming)

STEP TWO, what of those things delineate you from the vast sea of smiley faces that compete with you?

NOW, you have something to talk about that the hearer is able to hear.

What I have found is EMPOWERING the home seller and home buyer with access to the CIS Score to be a delineating factor. You may find that any set of information that is not directly associated with current listing and market trends (smiley face programs) will distinguish you. (note: there was two suggestions for something to talk about)

For you today, plan to snag a few qualified open houses. Crunch the data exactly like you see in my Market Reports seen on AR. Then purpose your open house to enroll BUYERS. Buyer Elite Plan (a loyalty program) and First Look option (a benefits program)  have proven effective in getting buyers to self-select.

Of course you may not have any of the plans I have mentioned. 

The biggest bang comes from knowing how you have defined your business within your plan and focusing your efforts to achieve your goals. Without a plan you can not know you are lost until you run out of money.

With a plan you can identify those who have self-selected to be candidates in your value proposition and respond like..... "Did you know," you begin, "that the First Look' option allows you to see homes before they come on the market? Would that not give you a great advantage?" you ask the open house visitor who has raised their hand.

OF course if you choose the FIRST LOOK value proposition, introduce yourself to other 'First Look' participants so you can have inventory with which to work that no one knows about. 

Get your face on all social media and be consistent in using and your message.  Don't autopost anything and be real.  Learn the inventory and the neighborhoods well.  Create your own real estate message to deliver when asked about the local market.  Talk to everyone you know and let them know what you do.  It's a process that can take time so be consistent in your endeavors, follow your business plan and don't think about how much money you need to put into the business to succeed but how much of your time and effort to get your name out.   

Active Rain is an awesome investment - learn from the best of the best here.  Blog, and post from here to all your social media sites.   It's so fun going to events ie., weddings, graduations etc. and people say, "Hey, you're all over the internet!"   Thanks Active Rain!  

Hello Natalie.  Many good answers here.  I put education at the top along with person to person calls.  Whether phone or actually in person.  As someone said it is where someone is comfortable.  DO NOT buy in on the constant ads telling how easy this will be to be on top is used.  This IS NOT an easy business.  One must actually work, be committed, be consistant, and constantly learning.  If you have someone in your office that you see as successful ask if you might spend a little time with them to be mentored.  Just the fact you are here and not afraid to ASK gives me a hint you will do well as long as you do not expect it to happen over night.  Make it a safe and fun weekend.  Best to your success.  Mark

1.Blogging is cheap, free on some sites. 

2. Craigslist is free for appropriate listings. If you have permision of a listng agent in your office, advertise their listing

3. Facebook posts. You can boost for $5.00

4. Instagram & other social media sites.

5. MailChimp  for email blasts (free).

6. Postal Newsletters to a targeted market area.

You go girl. 

Don't buy leads, don't spend much on a fancy website (but do get one if your company doesn't provide one), do invest in networking with sphere-of-influence and community groups (pick a couple that interest you and get involved, letting people know you are an agent). Ask a few very successful agents in your area if mailings work for them. If they say no, believe them and don't bother. If the answer is yes do small, targeted mailings with frequent touches and keep it up. It can take 12+ touches to become a familiar name wherever you farm.

#1 - Create a business plan.  That will include the answer to your questions.

If you can spare $200 a month you can get get a farm started. Smart ones focus on condos etc instead of bigger homes where you can walk through and bulk mailing.  If you do it right you may get calls as short as 3 months for listings.  Another is knock on apts for buyers. Beware of restrictions....  

The ActiveRain membership and what it buys is a very good start little Ms. Nattalie Cornwall 

I suggest to get your social media channels cranked up and get a good webpage and CRM that will capture leads. Don't get sucked into buying leads but hit the pavement and meet people and ask for business. Get names, numbers and emails and add them to your datatbase. Stay in touch and before you know it your business will grow.

For my two cents, all of my listings and potential listings have been from my sphere of influence.

The best investment you can make is to get your own personal website and market that on your cards, etc.

Do the free stuff too.  Get the realtor.com profile, the zillow and trulia profiles.  Just don't fall for the paid leads they'll try and sell you... they're never worth the money.  Advertise where it is free or low cost.  Blog as an expert*, because guess what... you are one!.  Door knock, offer to hold open houses for other agents.  I had one agent call me from 20 miles east of me trying to hold one of my listings 20 miles west of me open.  It was a hot listing.  I denied it because I was doing one there already, but my brokerage has worked with other agents in the past and they've gotten buyers and a listing from it.

* Legal definition of an expert: "One who knows more about a subject than the common person."  As a realtor, that means you are an expert.

Good Evening Ms. Cornwall, A good starting marketing budget for a newbie would already be the investment you have made in yourself...to become a realtor, congratulations! Now some of the resources offering the biggest bang for the dollar would be everyone in your office. Those especially with the most experience. Never be afraid to ask for help, better still, guidance. Seek out a mentor, then listen and learn...

Start with doing the basics first:

1-1000 business cards then make a list of everybody you know, met, use services, etc. Contact every single person on the list, and let them know your in the real estate business  and would like them to think of you aqnd refer you everytime a converstaion comes up about buying and or selling a property. Give them more then a few cards for them to have to hand out. be sure to keep good records of everybody you contacted.

2- Walk to every home in your neighborhood and let them know your in real estate, hand out cards, print some helpful flyers.

3-Everybody you meet, make sure you let them know your in real estate and hand them your card and if you can get there card.

4- Leran how to do open houses and then do one every weekend for agents in your office. Not only will you learn from listening to what other agents talk about with their clients but you will also get to talk with potentuial buyers who if they come alone will be your client.

5- When you do open houses canvas the neighborhood the day before letting everybody know about your open house and leave a flyer for them. 

These are great ways to build your confidence, your customer database and your knowledge of real estate and do it without spending a whole lot of money. Its also a great way to create business that will result in commissions. 

Buffini CRM Pro Buffini & Company  is $140 per month (this is what our office has paid since joining so I can not say if there has been a price increase or decrease). It is a fantastic program and it's excellence exceeds the price! Each month we receive a valuable printed flier with great information for home buyers, sellers, and prospects; audio CD with information to help your marketing and referral business; cards and envelopes to send notes to all your clients; and referral stickers to use for letters and pop-bys. There is also an email that goes with the monthly flier that you send out for your email campaign. The program tracks your marketing, gives you a detailed list of where you are spending your time, it prompts you to accomplish marketing tasks such as calls and visits and keeps track of any and all information you'd need. You can put the app on your phone which makes it easy to take with you. I really couldn't list all the benefits here but here is the link for Buffini. Bonus: you'll have contact with a coach who can assist you with all of your questions! 

Roy Kelley -- Good advice on the Facebook group. I just started one and named it to match my domain name.

Starting your database is FREE. Do not put this off! I started mine in a spiral book, graduated to M$ Excel.  Evernote is FREE and easy to learn. 

Hand out those business cards everywhere you go. Face to face contacts are the most effective and the least expensive thing that you can do.

If the communities you serve do not have active Facebook groups, create and manage them to build your relationships. Facebook groups are free.

Add all of your contacts to your database and make sure they get an email of some kind from you every week. You many have to pay for the database but it costs nothing to send out those emails.

Spend your available money on a great website that will allow your prospects to search for homes and to link to your advice.

Fees, clothes, car... It is very expensive to get started.  Crawl before you walk. Get your feet wet for the first 6 months and create business through natural resourses such as sphere of influence, cold call, door knocking, open house, up calls.  A budget can be started once you begin to know where you fit in.

Social media is great. Also asking to do guest blogs can be effective - everyone gets something out of it. 

I did purchase leads with one of the big companies. What a waste! (Anyhow for me)  Now I'm working on facebook ads and using more social media. I thnk this is a great place to start and cost can grow as your business grows. Visiting the groups and communities seems to work for me.  Choose a farming area and learning all I can. Making cards/ flyers with some important info the home owner may keep with my info.  Using snail mail is expensive on a continual bases.  I'm learning my best resource is MYSELF, PHONE & FEET.  Our office has grown over the past year and what some agents are good at ..I'm not.  Spending time with an agent that is producing is a great way to learn.  Doesn't take long to spend lots of money if your not working on a plan. 

Welcome to the world of real estate, Nattalie --

There are some requirements that are necessary in real estate -- dues, fees, start-up costs that must be considered first.   Of course, you will need money to live as well and I'd budget six months of living expenses first before committing my first marketing dollar. 

After you have those two covered --- I'd join AR and as a Rainmaker if you can afford it -- you will find a tremendous resource for education and information that you never heard during the licensing courses.   Develop a realtionship with another agent or coach and start with a business plan.  Be consistent with your efforts and with always learning.  

 Good luck.

Rainmaker account on active rain is a good place to start.

Hi Natalie, great quesion and I like a lot of what I am reading in the responses.  That's the beautiful thing about the AR community, you ask and the answers/comments come pouring in.  Keep learning and growing your business.

A few years ago I had a buyer that HAD to buy in a certain neighborhood.   It wasn't too large, and she had to back to open space.    I created a flyer (full page) asking if sellers had any ideas of moving.    Got 4 calls, found the home for the buyer, and listed two others, plus had the purchase for one of them.  Spent one hour putting sleeves on doors and door knocking.  Money well spent.

Good afternoon Nattalie Cornwall, 

There is no simple "one size fits all" budget answer.  I see you've received many excellent ideas already.  The bottom line is that you need to find out what works best for you.

Several people have mentioned a business plan.  That's the blueprint for building your business.  Your marketing budget is a critical part of your business plan.  You should start right now on your plan for 2016.

I see you have a Point2Agent Professional website.  That's good.

You're posting on ActiveRain.  That's a very good decision  You can learn a tremendous amount here.

You have a great smile.  That's good too! 

If you like to read, I highly recommend Gary Keller's great old book called The Millionaire Real Estate Agent.  I like it because Gary says "Think Big"!

This is a great question and I would say other than ActiveRain, Linkedin, Facebook and other social media platforms. Grassroots activities such as door knocking, attending community functions while handing out your business cards with a small token promotional items such as candy bars, key chains etc. Good Luck!

Great question. Like many others I will tell you not to invest your money in paid leads.  The real answer is finding what connects you to your community.  For me an ad in a community newspaper and joining several local clubs with a diverse membership has brought me clients from across the country .

Nattalie Cornwall you can start with as low as $200/month for almost complete coaching with Buffini & Company which will cover the cost of the most important aspect of your business - your database, the list of your relationships!

And if you want it, sky is the limit.

Work that Circle of Influence, use FB, email and postal. Send them helpful tips, free calendars, cooking tips, base ball or foot ball schedules. They are all friends and family anyway so help them to think of you as the best, most eager, hardest working RE agent in the area. That effort will pay dividends for the length of your career and should cost little.

The most important bill to pay is your phone bill, then us it daily to call everyone.

I've thought about this again for a few days ...my answer is ....the very most you can spend and spend it on a personal web-site and Activerain ....and promote that you have your site!