3 Ways to Be More Consistent with Your Marketing Efforts

Everybody wants to be successful. Many agents have all the knowledge, skill and expertise to become the best Realtor in their market. Yet so few Realtors ever realize the position of "top producer" in their area.

Why is this? If "Agent X" is just as smart, talented and proficient at practicing real estate as "Agent Y", why is it that Agent X is a top producer, and Agent Y is considering choosing another profession?

It's very simple. Top producing agents are consistent in everything they do. They market themselves and their listings in consistent, measured ways every day, ensuring their pipelines are never empty. "Feast or famine" is not in the vocabulary of a top producer. Instead, they have a clear defined path to success, and they religiously follow that path, constantly evaluating and tweaking it. They do this until they've realized maximum results and solidified themselves as the thought leader that every homeowner should call to list their home.

Some of you may feel overwhelmed at the notion of trying to organize your real estate practice to achieve this. Odds are, you've even tried in the past. It may have worked tremendously well. So well, in fact, that you were at maximum capacity and had to stop marketing yourself to take care of the clients you had at that moment—only to later realize your pipeline is dry after you wrap that business up. That's the 'feast or famine' scenario I mentioned above.

The key is to really hone in on the definition of consistency. Remember: it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. The key to consistency is:

Small efforts, repeated day in and day out, that lead to your success

A key take-home is that this will not happen over night. If you rush it and try to do everything at once, you will inevitably get overwhelmed and fall back into that feast or famine scenario. If you focus on processes that allow you to incrementally let you do this, day in and day out, even though it may frustrate you at first, you will soon see the rewards as you become more efficient and close more business than you ever imagined possible.

So do I do it myself, or do I hire someone to help me?

If you are an agent that works alone, and already are maxed out, this process can seem daunting. One option to combat being overwhelmed is to hire someone to help you. You might hire an assistant for a certain number of hours per week to aide you in this process. You may even decide it makes more sense to hire a firm, such as ours, to help set up the marketing strategies, do the research, developing the content, and even execute it for you, allowing you to focus solely on your clients and listings.

Today, though, rather than discuss the merits of hiring an assistant or a marketing firm, I thought I would share some tips for those with the goal of being more consistent on the path to success.

Tip 1: You HAVE TO have a plan

One surefire way to ensure you cannot maintain consistency with your marketing is if you don't plan ahead. Agents are some of the busiest people ever. Many times they are wearing multiple hats, they're their own bosses, and sometimes they spend most of their days simply reacting to issues that arise with listings. They're working for their business, rather than working on it. Because of this, you have to have a plan.

So the best way to combat things not getting done is to first know what it is you need to do. Plan your attack. If you are a cold caller, figure out how many hours per week you need to be on the phones. If you are doing postcard farming campaigns, at bare minimum, plan a marketing outline that details the topics of the cards for each month. If you are doing Facebook advertising, be sure to plan the month's campaigns at the beginning of every month. Take into account the image ads, listing ads, sold ads and coming soon ads that you are going to be using throughout the month.

Tip 2: Set an appointment for your marketing

One thing I learned over the past 20 years I've been helping agents is that so few of them actually block off time to market on a day to day business.

Cold callers are the exception. They have this down to a science. So much so that I know if a prospective client is a cold caller, it's going to be hard to meet with them anytime other than afternoon. The reason for this? They have slotted their cold calling time, know it's important, know it has to happen at that exact time, and will not move that time for anything.

Everyone involved in marketing efforts to hrlp build your real estate practice HAS TO do the same thing. Marketing is how you grow your business. It's not only that, however. When you put that time on your schedule, you have to relentlessly honor it. Again, little movements every day is the formula for success. Set up that time each day, and commit to doing this.

Tip 3: Use technology to help you become more consistent

You have one of the greatest tools in your arsenal today that can put you head and shoulders above your colleagues from earlier eras. That tool is technology.

I understand that the word "technology" can elicit some fear or anger in many agnts' minds. This is understandable. Historically, when dealing with real estate professionals, we've seen a fair number simply freeze up or refuse to listen when we discuss technology with them. Additionally, given the number of disconnected tech platforms out there that are simply "another monthly bill" for agents, it's understandable why the suggestion of another tech tool would upset an agent. The fact remains, however, that the right technology does work, can free up your time, and will help you.

There are plenty of technologies you can employ that fit this description and even work with your existing systems. (In fact, I have a list of favorites that I will share with you in my next article.)

There are many ways you can plan the growth and development of your real estate practice. But the one one theme that needs to be at the core of everything growth related is consistency.

To view the original article, visit the Leading Agent blog.