Special offer
Janeen Fisk, OWNER/REALTOR (Fisk Real Estate LLC)

Spam prevention
Rainmaker
5,583,278
Barbara Todaro
RE/MAX Executive Realty - Happily Retired - Franklin, MA
Previously Affiliated with The Todaro Team

Listings are the name of the game in real estate....

listings are found offline(direct mail marketing).... buyers are found online (wordpress website)

Feb 19, 2018 10:54 AM
Rainmaker
1,052,176
Candice A. Donofrio
Next Wave RE Investments LLC Bullhead City AZ Commercial RE Broker - Fort Mohave, AZ
928-201-4BHC (4242) call/text

What bullseye are you aiming at -- that is the real question!

 

Feb 19, 2018 10:55 AM
Rainmaker
7,835,323
Roy Kelley
Retired - Gaithersburg, MD

Make sure your website is the best in the market.

Follow the advice of Barbara Todaro for a post card campaign that never ends.

Feb 19, 2018 10:22 AM
Rainmaker
1,502,898
Ryan Huggins - Thousand Oaks, CA
https://HugginsHomes.com - Thousand Oaks, CA
Residential Real Estate and Investment Properties

Janeen,

 

I'm an independent agent in my family's brokerage.  I'm the sole agent and in charge of the office, marketing, online, etc.  Our primary focus is on selling listings that come from our investors and my sphere and our past clients.  Buyers, we do not recruit but we work with them when they get referred to us or if we pick them up from a listing.

 

I do a lot of the "leg work" myself because that's how my brain works, so for me I'm more likely to spend TIME rather than MONEY.  With all that said here is where I spend my TIME and MONEY:

  1. SEO - This is mostly a time effort, researching, writing content, building links, creating or acquiring worthy content.  For example two of my best pulling pages are my listing of area employers and a blog post about collecting short-term occupancy taxes for Air BNB.  It actually outranks AirBnB's website for "Airbnb Ventura County"!!!
    The best resource for SEO and a lot of virtual admin/marketing tasks is Katerina Gasset 
  2. Website - This is mostly time (because of SEO).  The money spend is $15/yr for the domain name and around $9/mo for hosting.  I do the design, updates, server maintenance.  I'm a retired computer geek with a Masters in Computer Science, so that kind of stuff makes me happy.  :)   We do not do an IDX because it does not fit our business model.
  3. Facebook Ads - This is the largest money spend we do.  We'll run ads to generate buyers for our listings.  Usual spend is $20-$40 over a 5 day period.
  4. Printing - Flyers for listings and other marketing needs, printed at the local Kinkos or Office Depot.

 

What we don't do:

  • IDX - since we don't target buyers
  • "Community awareness" advertising such as: Shopping carts, school sports team, golf courses, etc. - These typically have no direct ROI.
  • Radio/TV/Newspaper advertising - Dead mediums in my view
  • Paid business directories - been there, done that, never again
  • Paid backlink networks - Frowned upon by search engines.
Feb 19, 2018 11:02 AM
Ambassador
3,344,906
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

I am a solo independent broker.  My budget and most of my time is spent on my WordPress sites.  I do not pay for leads or ads.  I may budget for ads at some point in the future but to date, I have not spend any money on ads. I integrate IDX on my WordPress site.  It works for me. 

Feb 19, 2018 10:13 AM
Rainmaker
763,783
Tony Lewis
Summit Real Estate Group - Valencia, CA
Summit Real Estate Group Valencia & Aliso Viejo

Google would be where I'd start.  Popping up first would be great.

Feb 19, 2018 10:02 AM
Rainmaker
1,390,113
Wayne Zuhl
Remax First Realty II - Cranford, NJ
The Last Name You'll Ever Need in Real Estate

1. Google

2. Networking

 

Feb 19, 2018 10:42 AM
Rainmaker
289,719
Dario Ferreira
Attleboro, MA
Internet Marketing & SEO

Start with Google Adwords and SEO.

When the leads start coming in via the SEO efforts, decrease your Adwords and concentrate on SEO only.

Eventually you'll have plenty of leads via organic results, and won't need Adwords. Depending on your website's current status, it could take up to a year or more to see a steady number of leads.

When I say website, I mean a website with IDX.

Feb 19, 2018 10:13 AM
Ambassador
6,392,929
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Hardcore blogging, sharing the posts to other social media, and possibly boosting the posts on FB.

Keep in mind your target demographic and purpose with each post, especially those that get a boost.

Feb 19, 2018 08:31 PM
Ambassador
2,684,009
Fred Griffin Florida Real Estate
Fred Griffin Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

    Direct mail postcards for sellers.  Trade-size, large print, branded, consistent.  Use EDDM from USPS.  @Barbara Todaro already answered this question, she will have the 411 on direct mailing.

    Internet for Buyers.  Katerina Gasset or Debbie Gartner or Tammy Emineth or Anita Clark will have good advice for you.  Search out their blog posts; read their articles.

    If you plan to spend money on ZTR or other lead buying sites, scroll through this question thread, look for the answer by Richard L. McKinney P.A. who has a lot experience with this.

    

Feb 19, 2018 12:15 PM
Rainmaker
711,752
Lynnea Miller
Bend Premier Real Estate - Bend, OR
Premier Real Estate Service in Central Oregon

Have a dynamite website that has active lead capture. 

Feb 19, 2018 11:22 AM
Rainmaker
2,240,975
Andrew Mooers | 207.532.6573
MOOERS REALTY - Houlton, ME
Northern Maine Real Estate-Aroostook County Broker

List More, Sell More. Barbara Todaro Is Right.

Feb 19, 2018 01:19 PM
Rainmaker
2,220,323
Anthony Acosta - ALLATLANTAcondos.com
Harry Norman, REALTORS® - Atlanta, GA
Associate Broker

On a website.

Feb 19, 2018 12:33 PM
Ambassador
2,178,533
Carol Williams
Although I'm retired, I love sharing my knowledge and learning from other real estate industry professionals. - Wenatchee, WA
Retired Agent / Broker / Prop. Mgr, Wenatchee, WA

Are you talking advertising or marketing?

Feb 19, 2018 11:19 AM
Rainmaker
5,216,353
Wayne Martin
Wayne M Martin - Chicago, IL
Real Estate Broker - Retired

Roy Kelley got here first! And he nailed it!

Feb 19, 2018 10:30 AM
Rainmaker
399,703
PropertyMinder (AccelerAgent)
PropertyMinder, Inc. - San Jose, CA
Modern Tools for the Modern Agent

Hi, Janeen Fisk,

Great question! The company I represent (PropertyMinder) offers a fully loaded website and marketing suite that's helping agents boost their online marketing exposure and, more specifically, sell more homes (most notably in Silicon Valley where inventory is at an all-time low). 

We don't really like to be too "salesy" in our approach. So, if you'd like a quick evaluation of your current marketing technology and/or website, and how ours can empower you, please let me know. We'll keep it short and sweet. Our web specialists are all standing by ready to for a quick one-on-one. 

Hope we can connect sometime!
- Tim

Feb 20, 2018 11:43 AM
Ambassador
5,229,439
Debe Maxwell, CRS
Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC
The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

Entertaining your sphere and direct mail...don't waste money on online leads!

Feb 19, 2018 10:00 PM
Rainmaker
4,319,419
Praful Thakkar
LAER Realty Partners - Andover, MA
Andover, MA: Andover Luxury Homes For Sale

Janeen Fisk - target specific neighborhood for direct mail.

Feb 19, 2018 08:58 PM
Rainmaker
2,182,502
Michael J. Perry
KW Elite - Lancaster, PA
Lancaster, PA Relo Specialist

Boosting AR Blog Posts to a very specific FB audience 

Feb 19, 2018 04:39 PM
Rainmaker
5,772,575
Ron and Alexandra Seigel
Napa Consultants - Carpinteria, CA
Luxury Real Estate Branding, Marketing & Strategy

Janeen,

I have no idea, and I would have to research your marketplace to tell you exactly where your $$$ should be spent.  However you have good advice from the membership.  A

 

Feb 19, 2018 01:25 PM
Rainmaker
1,844,271
Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
Real Estate Broker Retired

Facebook leads to their website.

Feb 19, 2018 01:05 PM
Rainmaker
292,685
Jack Lewitz
Exit Strategy Realty - Evanston, IL

Past clients.  Ask them for new business , ask them to give you a referral , ask ask ask 

Feb 20, 2018 08:57 AM
Rainmaker
1,574,666
Gary L. Waters Broker Associate, Bucci Realty
Bucci Realty, Inc. - Melbourne, FL
Eighteen Years Experience in Brevard County

Internet juice.  Maximize exposure on the Internet because that is where the buyers and sellers are these days!

Feb 20, 2018 06:22 AM
Rainmaker
900,118
Olga Simoncelli
Veritas Prime, LLC dba Veritas Prime Real Estate - New Fairfield, CT
CONSULTANT, Real Estate Services & Risk Management

Very locally, I woud think, with strong community ties.

Feb 20, 2018 06:04 AM
Rainmaker
921,504
Annette Lawrence , Palm Harbor, FL 727-420-4041
ReMax Realtec Group - Palm Harbor, FL
Making FLORIDA Real Estate EZ

Ryan Huggins - Thousand Oaks, CA  provided a generous and through response to your question.  Some really actionable stuff.

I would add an additional dimension. 

Small, local, independent real estate company?  Let me play the devils advocate. "Why would ANYONE want to do business  with a company no one knows?"

The answer to that question must be demonstrated on your website. Then commit to 'feeding' your website. At first, paid traffic, then funnel, content with pillar posts ending with conversion.

I suggest, instead of broadcast marketing, you embrace 'inbound' marketing principles. The cost per conversion is more but the number targeted is much smaller resulting in lower cost and incredible conversion rates.

Feb 20, 2018 05:47 AM
Rainmaker
3,071,489
Tony and Suzanne Marriott, Associate Brokers
Serving the Greater Phoenix and Scottsdale Metropolitan Area - Scottsdale, AZ
Haven Express @ Keller Williams Arizona Realty

Barbara Todaro nailed this one!

Feb 20, 2018 04:56 AM
Rainmaker
4,800,082
Gabe Sanders
Real Estate of Florida specializing in Martin County Residential Homes, Condos and Land Sales - Stuart, FL
Stuart Florida Real Estate

Look for a niche in your marketplace.

Feb 20, 2018 04:53 AM
Rainmaker
1,712,676
Joe Pryor
The Virtual Real Estate Team - Oklahoma City, OK
REALTOR® - Oklahoma Investment Properties

Depends on your business model. I am investments only so that is all I target.

Feb 20, 2018 04:51 AM
Rainmaker
4,434,127
Gita Bantwal
RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA
REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel

Depends.

Feb 20, 2018 03:51 AM
Rainmaker
809,258
Kasey & John Boles
Jon Gosche Real Estate, LLC - BoiseMeridianRealEstate.com - Boise, ID
Boise & Meridian, ID Ada/Canyon/Gem/Boise Counties

We are a small independent real estate company and we use BoomTown and adwords. We do quite well. -Kasey

Feb 19, 2018 10:39 PM
Rainmaker
3,988,007
Debbie Reynolds, C21 Platinum Properties
Platinum Properties- (931)771-9070 - Clarksville, TN
The Dedicated Clarksville TN Realtor-(931)320-6730

You need for sale signs in front of house to bring in calls. Then those listings will be put online and that will bring in listings. Work on getting inventory, reaching out to sellers.

Feb 19, 2018 08:06 PM
Rainmaker
5,005,333
Dorie Dillard Austin TX
Coldwell Banker Realty ~ 512.750.6899 - Austin, TX
NW Austin ~ Canyon Creek and Spicewood/Balcones

I'm with Barbara Todaro ..listings are the name of the game in real estate!

Feb 19, 2018 06:49 PM
Rainmaker
259,317
Lesley Wilson-VanGoethem
Innovative Realty Solutions Group - Winter Springs, FL
Residential Real Estate Broker Associate

Past customers

 

Feb 19, 2018 04:08 PM
Rainmaker
3,986,258
William Feela
WHISPERING PINES REALTY - North Branch, MN
Realtor, Whispering Pines Realty 651-674-5999 No.

I use small local paper in my area. Also some target ads in larger papers

Feb 19, 2018 03:40 PM
Rainmaker
2,781,123
Richie Alan Naggar
people first...then business Ran Right Realty - Riverside, CA
agent & author

I always been a beleiver in ones own backyard...Go from there

Feb 19, 2018 02:13 PM
Rainmaker
5,104,931
Nina Hollander, Broker
Coldwell Banker Realty - Charlotte, NC
Your Greater Charlotte Realtor

The answer to that would very much depend on where you are located, what kind of competion you face in your market.

Feb 19, 2018 11:06 AM