By Lanard Perry / Published on August 20th, 2006 / Marketing
without a plan. And as the saying goes, failing to plan is as good as
planning to fail.
Sure, some do the usual and expected things to cultivate new business,
like mailing letters and post cards to friends and relatives, phoning
acquaintances, and giving out business cards to any and everybody
they meet.
Heck, some are courageous enough to "cold call" prospects, the most
dreaded of all tasks! And while all of these activities are good things to
do, they don't necessarily translate into new business opportunities -
now or later!
And while these may be good strategies you need more. But instead of
working harder why not work smarter?
The most successful Realtors and Real Estate Agents have "lead
generating systems." Some Farm Expired Listings for huge profits.
A good listing system can:
ojump start new or average real estate sales career
obring in real estate listings on a regular basis; week after week
ogenerate prospective buyers and sellers
ogive you marketing exposure in months rather than years
oposition you to know the best real estate investment buys
Personally, I love Expired Listing Systems and their laser beam like focus
on warm, responsive sellers. Sellers that are typically still Realtor friendly,
eager to sell and will do what it takes to get their properties sold.
Owners of expired listings are motivated for many reasons; double
mortgages, vacant properties, terrible tenants, recently married and
combining households, recently divorced and liquidating real estate
assets, and on and on.
Plus, they have gone through a listing cycle and may be anxious to get
on with their lives. But, as you know, or will soon learn, all listings aren't
worth having.
As for me, I initially listed every property that I could; vacant land, single
family homes, condo's, triplexes, mobile home parks, mobile homes,
homes in top notch condition, fixer uppers, whatever.
And I got to feeling pretty darn good (and just a little smug) as my listing
portfolio grew to more listings than I could manage.
So, I first hired a part time clerk/assistant to help me market my listings,
then took on a newly licensed salesperson as a partner and split the
listing fees 50/50. Pretty soon my listing system was humming and I was
averaging 1-2 listings a week.
I then had an army of agents working for me day and night, as almost all
of my listings were in the Multiple Listing System. Working to get me paid,
even when I was chaperoning field trips, getting a haircut, or just taking
a day off!
That's what a good real estate listing system can do for you!
So, if you don't have a good listing system you should get one. After all,
if real estate listings are the lifeblood of the industry then how successful
can you be without them?
About the Author
Lanard Perry is the author of "Farming Expired Listings", a real estate listing system that shows Realtors how to average 1 or more real estate listings a week. Visit http://www.farmingexpiredlistings.com for a FREE Sample Chapter.