Building Your Book of Business

The face of real estate is getting younger... literally. As the baby boom generation reaches retirement age, there is a huge void to fill in the real estate industry. Recent NAR studies show a large portion of the "active" agents are leaving the business for retirement and there is a huge opportunity for younger agents to move up. Gen X and Y – as well as "Millennium" agents – are increasing being recruited during this paradigm shift in the market place. (See more on the "Changing Face of Real Estate" in my next installment.)

For those new to the business, it is the perfect time to get into real estate, not only due to changing demographics, but also due to advances in technology that allows you to create a complete marketing identity from day one.

The recent death of an old friend – Marsh Fisher -- spurred my memory on just how much the real estate industry has changed over the past four decades.

Fisher was one of the founders of the CENTURY 21 System. Marsh and co-founder Art Bartlett came up with the idea for the CENTURY 21 franchise back in 1972 while brainstorming at a coffee shop in Santa Ana. It was a meeting of the minds that revolutionized the real estate industry.

It was some 20 years later when I joined the company, and by then the brand was WELL established. And yes, I wore the original "mustard" colored sports coat that had come to identify the CENTURY 21 brand. One thing for sure, when you wore the jacket, people knew you were a real estate agent. And, in this case, not just any real estate agent: a CENTURY 21 agent.

Soon, everyone was seeking a unique identifier, but CENTURY 21 led the way and reaped the benefits of this new form of "identity marketing." Early adapters always reap the bounty when major change takes place in any industry.

It was marketing magic. Backed by its National Advertising Fund, the CENTURY 21 System become a household name. For agents and brokers it was a boom. Suddenly people are approaching you anywhere and everywhere--at the market, at the movies, out to dinner.

I was there during the transition from the "original" to the more subdued camel colored "Gold" coats. Still the brand identity had been established and this new form of "pull marketing" was well entrenched.

Today we are on the verge of another paradigm shift, this one rooted in new technology. What this means to you is the ability to envision your market niche, go out and create an identity and lifelong campaign to promote yourself and start building your book of business.

This is the kind of basic public relations that you can incorporate into your marketing plan that costs almost nothing and can add up big over the course of your career.

Here are five things to consider when creating your plan of attack:

• Walk the walk. It sounds old school, but success is the residue of hard work. Getting out and meeting people is the key to establishing your identity in the areas you are farming.
• Research and refine your market niche. Knowing the people is one thing, knowing the neighborhood is another. Credibility is the key to success and you must clearly establish yourself as the local expert.
• Don't reinvent the wheel. To be successful in this business, you have to have effective, tested systems in place. There are good programs out there. Find one that works and adapt it for your own use.
• You are the brand. Display your professional information every day and in every way. Make sure it is clear, concise and consistent.
• Find a mentor. There is no doubt that succeed begets success. Find someone in your office who you admire and see if they will work with you. It can be tough to find the right person, but when you do it will pay off in accelerate knowledge base and success.

Rich Hudson is owner of One-Stop Desktop. The company specializes in keyword-rich, highly localized copy for real estate websites, website review and analysis, marketing and public relations, online publishing, social media and more. For more information, email Rich at [email protected].

To view the original article, visit the WebsiteBox blog.