Ten New Year tips for real estate agents in 2013. By Tim Mansfield

We can’t all be Mark of FB with his billion members, but you have to admire the guy. He is now one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the world and is still only 28 years old.

And we should be inspired by him. He realised only a decade ago that new technology and the Internet was the way to go in the 21st century, and has built his dream from there.

He used the world wide web to do something that we can all do today – we can communicate directly either by email or through our websites and blogs to a targeted audience that is interested in what we have to say. It is still all about old–fashioned ‘networking’.

It is still about communicating with other human beings and getting our own message out to them. But nowadays it is also very much about using new age media as well, and it costs absolutely nothing.

The trick is to use ‘social media’, and this can be defined as ‘Social media marketing is the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites’.

What has not changed in so few years is that social and business networking still works very much ‘on the ground’ and person-to-person, and this still means building your own brand by word of mouth and personal recommendations. But it now has to include your own branding on the web.

It won’t be very long before you just say a search phrase out-loud like “Find me the best real estate agent in Sydney” and the wall of your living room will light up with the answer from your favourite avatar; mine is a Swedish blonde but you can have anyone you like. And Mr. Google King of Search Engines please take note because this is the way to go in future (and 10% of the idea is fine for me ok . . . ).

According to a comment on Wikipedia this is how the network effect works:

‘Network effects become significant after a certain subscription percentage has been achieved, called critical mass. At the critical mass point, the value obtained from the service provided is greater than or equal to the price paid for the service.’

The mind boggles after reading this quote so what does all this mean for you as a real estate agent?

Read my tips below and decide for yourself . . .

1.      It’s a New Year so get your critical m’ass moving! Don’t sit around waiting for things to happen to you. Make them happen instead.

2.      Build your own personal brand. At the end of the day it’s your own hard work and effort and you deserve the kudos.

3.      Start by building your own network, and don’t just rely on your agency’s database (you don’t control it and they are usually out-of-date anyway).

4.      Don’t listen to your boss’s insistence that you stay glued to your desk all day long on the ‘phone. The ‘bums on seats’ theory for real estate agents does not work. You need to get out there in your own market area and work it constantly.

Talk to people, buy them a coffee, rub shoulders with them; tell them what you do and how you can help them. The real estate business is a ‘hard contact’ game. If you don’t make an effort to meet and engage with people they won’t know who you are!

5.      Work smart. Get rid of the BS in your work-life and use every minute of the day to achieve your own dreams. No-one else can do it for you.

6.      Create your own internet blog or website and get yourself up on the web! There are simple and totally free ways to start branding yourself and get promoted on-line almost overnight.

7.      Befriend a Buyers’ Agent (also known as Buyers’ Advocates). These guys will introduce you to a qualified buyer for your listing and save you a lot of time and effort . .  so work with them. You can read an article I wrote last year about this by clicking on the following link: ‘Selling agents and buyers’ agents work together but have opposing goals’

8.      Be good to people every single day, and help them in whatever way you can. Make an effort to show that you are not just interested in yourself. If you take a genuine interest in other people they will always help you down the track.

And do something different so that you stand out in the crowd – here is a suggestion:

Stand outside your local Newsagents store every other day this month and give a red rose to every lady who comes in or out with a sincere “Happy New Year to you!” This works wonders (but have your business card ready . . .).

Of course if you are a girl you can always give the guys a kiss and you will win their hearts!

9.      Don’t lose your confidence or give up half way through your efforts to build your own network (or achieve your own dreams) . . .  it can take months or years. People who don’t want to be in it are not important; it is the ones who are in it who will give you the business.

10.    NEVER give up! If you are finding it hard to get listings or a sale doesn’t go as well as you hoped, keep on trying. Your efforts will be rewarded sooner or later so hang in there.

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Happy New Year!!

PS – If you enjoyed reading this article please comment below!

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