Three Ways to Stay Visible in Your Market

With 2012 shaping up to be a great year for the real estate industry, it's important to make sure you stay out in front of the rest of the agents in your area. As spring gets rolling and, therefore, the busy real estate season kicks up and more folks start looking to buy, you want to make sure that when home buyers and potential home buyers near you are looking for a real estate agent your face comes to mind. Make sure to not let the busy season do all the work for you. Stay on top of being visible to clients and prospects!

Here are 3 easy ways to stay visible in your area:

• LinkedIn – This social networking site is specifically designed for professionals. If you haven't signed up, definitely take the time to do so. (It's free!) One of the ways you can use this site to up your visibility is through word of mouth, the most powerful form of advertising. LinkedIn offers recommendations – other professionals as well as personal connections can leave recommendations for you right on your profile page. That means that whenever a prospect views your LinkedIn profile, they will be able to see all the wonderful things that your past connections have to say about you! And don't worry – your recommendations can be both personal and professional. So don't hesitate to ask both types of connections to provide recommendations for you.

• Facebook – Everyone and their brother is on Facebook nowadays, so why not use it to your advantage? Try to engage your followers on Facebook at least once a day. Interact with them by responding to and creating wall posts, posting links, asking questions, and any other way you can imagine. If you have a little time, try interacting with your users via a live Facebook chat. All you do is post a picture on your Facebook and ask your followers to post comments on the photo. Because of the nature of Facebook's technology, you can respond to questions in pseudo real time, making it very much like a live chat. On our Homes Connect Facebook page, where you can find everything about Homes.com for Real Estate Professionals, we have been  holding these chats fairly regularly. Stay tuned to the Homes.com blog and Facebook page to be in the know!
• Drip Email Marketing – One of the easiest ways to stay connected to prospects and clients is by adding them to your drip email campaigns. That makes communicating with several prospects at a time quick and painless, letting you get to the real nitty-gritty of your job as an agent – showing houses and making sales! Drip email campaigns let you connect with buyers and potential clients in a minimally intrusive but still extremely effective way, putting your face and your services in their email inbox – a place they frequent, no doubt – periodically. When the time comes for them to look to buy, your name will be etched in their minds!

As helpful as "the busy real estate season" and high projected home sale numbers are, your efforts to market yourself cannot slack. Meet these encouraging statistics halfway by staying visible to your clients and prospects. How do you plan to stay visible during the busy real estate season? What method works best for you?

To view the original article, visit the Homes.com blog.