You must:
- Market and promote yourself effectively and consistently
- Continue to learn and improve your skills
- Build your reputation with each client, customer, and transaction
This site is dedicated to helping you build a successful career in real estate as you do all three. It’s a work in progress, so come back often for new “free letter” offers, and new products and services designed to help you.
NOTE: If you’re here to learn more even before you become licensed…
You may know that the pass rate for the real estate licensing exam is alarmingly low. Read this article for tips on how to study for the exam – so you can pass the first time!
Once you’ve passed that exam…
Be sure to incorporate these 7 Essential Real Estate Success Tools into your day-to-day life. Hint: These are tools that money can’t buy.
Your Website
Yes, you do need your own real estate website!
Your broker’s site may bring visitors to the company, but if you’re just one of many agents, it won’t do much to build your business. You need your own, and it needs to promote you.
Before you get started (or if your current site isn’t effective) read this advice.
Yes, you can do it yourself
When you don’t have unlimited funds to hire a web developer, the idea of creating your own website can be daunting. I know – I’ve done it!
As a total “non-techie” I thought creating a website would be far beyond me, but with a little help from some friends, I’ve done it more than once. Today WordPress makes it easier than ever. But yes, figuring out how to manipulate WordPress does require a learning curve.
Hang in there. Read or watch tutorials, and get help from friends. When you’ve “got it” you’ll feel the joy of being self-sufficient.
Your Real Estate Blog
Real estate is a relationship-driven profession, so you do need one. In fact, if you want to build a successful career in real estate, I recommend two. One on your own site and one on Active Rain.
The blog on your own site will help add pages and content for SEO while it gives visitors a reason to come back again and again. And when they’re used to getting their real estate advice from you, they’re more likely to choose you when they need an agent. The one on Active Rain will give you added exposure, links back to your own site, and the opportunity to build relationships with agents in other communities who might refer to you.
Here’s help…
If you think you don’t know how to blog, or can’t come up with ideas, check out the Active Rain posts featured on this page. You’ll probably get so much inspiration that you’ll be up all night writing.
Visit my Real Estate Marketing Blog!
Your Active Rain blog will let both agents and prospects get to know you better and will help drive traffic to your website.
Your Active Rain membership will keep you in touch with other agents and keep you up to date with what’s happening in the world of real estate. If you’re new to the business, go there and read, read, read.
Remember, agents refer clients to other agents they know and like, and if you “get active” on Active Rain you’ll get acquainted with agents who just might be sending buyers into your community.
Your Real Estate Agent Bio / Agent Profile
Those who track and study consumer behavior say that the “about” page is the 3rd most often read page on a service provider’s website. Be sure you’re happy with what your page says about you.
Read more about why the content of this document is so important and see samples on my Better Bio page.
This same bio / profile is needed for inclusion on your company site, Active Rain, LinkedIn, Facebook, and any other social marketing networks you use.
And yes, even if you’re a new agent with no experience yet, you CAN have a persuasive bio. Read how it’s done.
Reviews & Testimonials about Copy by Marte…
Announce Your New Career to Your Sphere of Influence
You might not realize it, but you do have a sphere of influence. It consists of all those folks who know you and like you – and it’s probably larger than you imagine.
One of your first tasks upon becoming licensed should be to reach out to that sphere and let them know about your new career. But don’t say “I’m now a real estate agent and I’d like your business.” That just sounds like desperate begging. Instead, let them know that you want to be their information resource.
Toward that end, I’ve written a letter that you can customize and use before the day is over.. click on Add to Cart below to go to my shopping cart, where you’ll find the letter is FREE.
Next, gather more people. This blog post about reverse networking is one way to accomplish that task. Another way is by reaching out to other business people with an offer to send referrals their way.
Use these Free letters to build a successful career in real estate by expanding that sphere…
To help you expand your sphere of influence, I wrote a set of 3 short letters you can send to other business people in your community. Your successful career in real estate will hinge on how many people know, like, and recommend you.
Request yours for FREE at the Copy by Marte website.
Prospecting Letters will also help you build a successful career in real estate
Staying in touch via postal mail or email is one sure way to be the agent your prospects think of when they’re ready to buy or sell homes or land.
But… writing effective real estate prospecting letters means spending at least a couple of hours on each one – and that’s if you enjoy writing. If you don’t enjoy writing, you could spend many more hours.
Now you don’t have to take that time away from meeting clients face-to-face or enjoying free time with your friends and family. Instead, you can simply choose one or more of 40+ pre-written real estate prospecting letter sets, personalize them, load them into your computer and/or your autoresponder, and you’ll be finished in less time than it takes to write just one good letter.
Interested primarily in listing expireds? Choose one of these Expired Listing letter sets.
Want to help FSBO sellers? Choose one of these For Sale By Owner Letter Sets.
No listings of your own yet? Use this set of Just listed, under contract, and just sold letters to gather listings around other agents’ new listings.
If you want a successful career in real estate, always stay in touch with past clients…
Staying in touch with past clients is one of the most important things you can do to create a successful career in real estate. When I think back to the single most important thing I wish my first broker had taught me, this is it.
She couldn’t teach it because she didn’t do it herself. When we closed a transaction, the file went into the file cabinet and the people were forgotten. I don’t like thinking about how much business we lost with that foolish practice.
I recommend that you start a past client database from the day you close your first sale – and don’t let anyone go unless they ask to be removed. If you don’t know what to say, month after month, use my Event-themed Staying in Touch Letters. When you visit that page, you’ll find a link to a sample, which you are welcome to copy and use.
In addition, send past clients your market updates, just listed cards, and news about the community. Just because they’ve already completed a transaction doesn’t mean they aren’t still interested in the local real estate market. AND… when they hear from you regularly, they’re far more likely to refer others to you.
For New Agents: 107 Ways to Build Your Real Estate Career on a Tiny Budget
This real estate e-book focuses primarily on real estate marketing and self-promotion, but also includes tips you can use to build your reputation and improve your skills.
More advice…
When you take listings, you’ll need to write property descriptions…
Make your descriptions stand out – and make the phone ring – by following the suggestions on this page.
Marketing Ideas to Make You Shine
Want to make yourself stand out by doing some things the other agents in your community probably aren’t doing? Then adopt the ideas you’ll find in this outstanding blog post by Wayne and Jean Marie Zuhl.
More Free Real Estate Resources:
Free Letter to HR Directors
Introduce yourself and show them how you’ll help make their jobs easier.
Remember, even if there are no major corporations in your city, schools also have new employees coming in, so you do have the opportunity to help relocating home buyers. Click on the button below to go to my shopping cart, where you’ll find the letter is free.
Free Feedback Letters
After a transaction closes, use these forms to create goodwill and assure that those clients will not only return to you, but send you referrals.
Simply cut and paste your FREE Feedback letters from this page.
Come back often
Please do come back to visit often – I’ll be adding more!
Yours for boundless prosperity,
P.S. If you’d like to take your marketing in a better direction, do the exercise in my Questions for Realtors list. It will help you see the unique benefits you bring to the marketplace, so you can better focus your promotions.