What type of marketing approach when starting out in the business aside from a web site?

Please discuss!

hit expired and fsbo.

simple, low cost and it works. you have an endless supply of sellers who need your help.

What's the best way to go after expired listings and FSBO's?

I am assuming door to door or mailings?

You have to define what part of real estate you want to go after before creating a specific marketing campaign around it.

This is the first step everyone misses and they ar elike deer in headlights. There are different approaches to different parts of real estate.

Open house..they were free and great way of meeting the neighbors who are thinking of selling.

Your Sphere...Contact everyone you know and let them know you are in business

Hitting FSBO and Expired are great but you need to have a right approach.

Assist a top producer in your office. When I started the top producer in my office had so many leads he could not manage and passed me what he thought would be a potential some of them end up buying or selling.

Good Luck
Ritu

Agreed with estatereal. FSBOs and expired are the easiest clients out there. Go for them. It's free and easy. Greatest return on your investment, if any investment at all...

When I first started, I did a lot of open houses. Its a great way to meet buyers and sometimes sellers. My first buyer that wasn't from my SOI was from a open house.

The most important thing to remember, is that YOU are the reason you will do business...not the company you work for. You need to create your own unique brand/identity, so that someday in the future, if you decide to walk away from this industry, that you have created a business that could potentially continue to generate income for you long after you sell your last house.

As a former Coldwell Banker agent, and now a Keller Williams agent, I can now say that I completely understand the philosophy that KW holds: The agent is the brand of recognition and the company is the brand of reputation...not the other way around!

i have noticed in this order

best to worst

knocking
calling
mailing

the idea of any of them is to speak with the person

In my opinion the most important step is to develop your sphere of influence. Not as a source of business, but as a source of referrals. After all they know you and trust you and are the most likely to want to help you in your business.

In addition here are a few things to work on:

[*]Develop your USP (Unique Selling Proposition).
[*]Familiarize yourself with the community you will be selling in.
[*]Learn the Lingo—Glossary of Industry Terms.
[*]Learn the Lingo—Glossary of Industry Terms. Learn about important legal issues.
[*]Learn as much as you can about the “anatomy of a sale” and working with buyers from your manager and other realtors.
[*]Learn as much as you can about working with sellers.
[*]Have a professional photo taken for use on your business cards, your broker's Web site and your own and other personal marketing materials.
[*]Find top performers in your market or other markets and ask them to mentor you.
[*]Attend open houses to see how other realtors act.
[*]Order open house signs with your name on them. Get a minimum of 10. These are "free" advertising around town when you hold an open house.
[*]Ride along on showings with senior realtors in your office.
[*]Glean as much information as you can from realtor web sites and start putting together your personal sales manual full of tips, checklists, how-to’s etc.
[*]Meet with everyone in your office and let them know you are available to assist them in their marketing efforts. Ensure you are listed on the real estate companies web site.
[*]Learn your MLS inside and out.
[*]Get a blank copy of the Contract for Sale and Purchase that your company uses.Highlight any area or information you don’t fully understand so you can discuss it with your broker.
[*]Order your business cards and put your photo and email address on them.

I don't remember where I first saw this list, but I hope you find it useful.

Did all of you create a business plan/marketing plan before starting out?

You want a basic plan of action and marketing and then follow it. Too many people HIDE behind systems and busy work. Finding your direction you want to specialize in,learning,and getting out there and doing it daily is how success will happen.

Don't do "paralysis by analysis"

I have seen people right 50 page business plans but haven't talked to one client yet or closed a sale.

^^^^^agreed... i dont care how great a plan you have. if you dont have clients your 50 pages would better be used as TP!

go knock on some doors! find clients or you will have no business

Here is a simple questionnaire to get you started on your business plan:

1. How much income would you like to earn during the next twelve month period? $ __________

Compensation Plan:
2. What would forecast your average sales price to be next year?
3. What is the average commission percentage fee paid by sellers in your area on the first $ 100,000?
3a.What is the average commission percentage fee paid by sellers in your area on the balance?
4. Do you pay a franchise fee to your broker? If so, what percentage do you pay as a franchise fee?
5. Do you pay a fixed monthly fee to your broker? If so, what is your fixed monthly fee?
6. Do you pay transaction fees to your broker? If so, how much do you pay per transaction side?
7. What percentage of your commissions do you receive after 'splitting' with your broker?

Business Mix: (note: your answers for questions 8 and 9 must total 100)
8. What percentage of your total commissions do you estimate will come from listing sides next year?
9. What percentage of your total commissions do you estimate will come from buyer sides next year?

Listing Lead Sources: (note: your answers for questions 10, 11, and 12 must total 100)

10. What percentage of your total listing leads do you estimate will come from active prospecting next year?
11. What percentage of your total listing leads do you estimate will come from direct mail next year?
12. What percentage of your total listing leads do you estimate will come from unsolicited referrals next year?

Listing Activities:

13. What percentage of your total listings do estimate will actually close next year as opposed to expiring?
14. How many property owners can you make contact with during one-hour of active prospecting?
15. What is the average # of property owners you must contact via phone or door-to-door prospecting in order to schedule one listing appointment?
16. What percentage of people who receive direct mail from you will actually respond? (A conservative estimate of response rate to direct mail advertising is 15/100ths of one-percent (.15)).
17. What is the average # of listing appointments you must complete in order to successfully take one listing?
18. How many weeks do you intend to work during the next twelve-month period?
19. How many days do you intend to work per week?

I am not sure of the original source or how much I modified it, but I would be happy to give credit where credit is due if you know the source of this questionnaire.

Hi Tycoon, I started 4 months ago in real estate at probably the worst possible time. I picked the wrong/ or perhaps right agency to work for and have increased our market share from 3% to 12% in those 4 months. The following is what I did to get myself started.
1) Volunteered at the local school canteen. Being primarily a female domain having a male there to help once a week or fortnight really got the girls talking (free advertising!) 2) I started a Real Estate & Community Newsletter which I deliver to 2000 homes every month. 3) I found a community issue that needed addressing (which was the lack of facilities for teenagers) in my area. I got a petition together and got 600 signatures. From there I found a local councellor (local govt) who would support the idea and organized a press conference and photo opportunity with the politician and around 60 kids. Call all your local newspapers and radio stations and let them know its a big deal. I had 4 papers attend and do an article on the proposal. This gave me anything from page 3 to page 18 in the local papers. 4) Become real good friends with your local coffee shop! I get my daily coffee from the same place every day. They ended up putting my business cards on their register which has given me at least two appraisals so far.

I guess the biggest thing you need to do is look at what the other agents do and either do it differently or do it better!