Alex surely has that "smiling all the way to the bank Colgate special smile" doesn't he?

So with all the "Specialists" designations available on line, agent Pat could easily run out of space on the business card.

Pat Producer
State Agent No. 007, GRI, CSS (The seniors thing) CCS (For condos) CHPS (for horse properties), CSSS (short sales), CHRS (Home retention), CBFP (for beach front, CMPS (mountain properties, CDPE (distressed properties thingy) CIAS (investor agent newbie one)

Did I miss any?

I market myself as a brand. I am under a broker, so my advertising follows the proper protocols. However, the key is MICRO and HYPER LOCAL! So my FB business pages focus on that in order to target those in a smaller specified area, although I am licensed for an entire jurisdiction. Other agents (especially in my company) ask me what I do and I tell them, and they merely say "oh that's not how you should get business" or "that never really works". NOT TRUE. With anything, you need to REALLY engage it and give it at least three months, maybe four before you see any REAL return! But Facebook is a good way to put yourself out there with your expertise. I also have two blogs, one of which is a photoblog a GREAT way to show potential buyers outside of the area what your particular city is about outside of the usual photos and posts about the State house, etc

Okay, I was really dragging my feet on starting a Facebook group, but this last post has pushed me over the edge. For some reason I had to read the hype on business Facebook group about 10 times before I was convinced! I'm all practiced up with personal Facebook though, so it shouldn't be too difficult, so why not?

After years of dominating every search engine in my market with multiple sites. (at one time I had the first 9 spots for "My market real estate") and making great money from the web ...... I've watched the quality of the leads generated from random organic searches diminish over the last 30 months to the point that I don't work SEO anymore at all.

Yesterdays News.

With the advent of Social Media, buyers and sellers are looking to their networks for recommendations and information when shopping. There’s comfort and security in dealing with someone you’re been introduced to by a person you trust.

Over the last 2 years I’ve worked hard at building a presence on FB, Twitter and LinkedIn ~ cultivating relationships, driving people to my websites and “working the room” to encourage people advocating for me.

The results have been better each year and quality of the contact (conversion rate) has been 100%.

Having said that – I think it’s great that the other realtors in my market are spending time and money on SEO

Cheers Dave

By marketing I assume you mean: how do you obtain clients that will do business with you and because of this, provide you with commission checks.

I've been out of the real estate biz sales biz for 4 years (purchased a property management business thank God.) I used to farm a horse property subdivision and I called expireds. This worked well for me at the time.

Now:

I am using an aggressive mail campaign to go after expireds and I am also door knocking expireds (few people have landlines any more, so I door knock).

I also door knock owners who have received notices of default in an effort to obtain short sale listings.

Don

I've been having success with hanging door hangers, believe it or not. It's passive marketing in a way, but potential clients pay more attention to a door hanger than a regular flyer. Plus, I sometimes run into a live person in my door hanging travels, and those end up being the best contacts.

Maui,
I would like to start marketing to expireds and fsbos, too. I have been checking out some campaigns but there are so many and prices to obtain systems are all over the place. Can any of you recommend a campaign that works well?

I believe I get the most bang for the buck advertising properties rather than myself specifically using a a mixed media approch that incorporates traditional media, digital media, social media, repeat business /referrals programs and WOM!

Why focus on advertising your properties? Because it gives you two for one - exposure for your property and yourself as the contact person. The more people see your name and your listings, the more they will want to learn more about you and what you can do for them.

Below are a few ways to get exposure for your listings and yourself.

Branding - make sure everything is consistent with your image from your business cards, website, print, newsletters and other. Use the same images, colors, logo in a distinct format so people will begin to recognize you and your listings or information. Consistency is key.

Traditional Marketing:
Print: Newspapers, magazines, HOA newsletters, specialty pubs, business cards.
Signs: Yard signs, car signs, billboards
Direct Mail: Post cards or letters to target market, area or sold home radius mailing.
Canvassing: Introduce yourself to the neighbors where you have listings. Maybe they need your services or know someone who may be interested in your listing.
Cold-call: Get a list of expireds or a neighborhood you want to farm and start calling to introduce yourself and follow-up.
Networking: Check out Meetup.com for networking opportunities
Press Release: Send out a press release about your property to local publications and online.

Digital Marketing & Listing Sites
Your Website.com
Broker Website.com
Local online mls
NAR Realtor.com
Local online publications & classifieds
Craigsist.com
Trulia.com
Zillow.com
LuxuryHomesandAutos.com (great place to market luxury properties)

Social Media - Get the word out!
Facebook | Personal network | FB Page & groups | FB Ads
Linkedin
Twitter
Blog
Guest Blog
Message Boards
Email Marketing to Realtors and Client Base
Flicker - upload photos
Other

Repeat Business & Referral programs
Always stay in front of your customers (email or newsletter) and always be asking for referrals.

WOM (word-of-mouth)
Do a great job and deliver on promises and you'll get lots of WOM!

Hope this helps :)

Laurie
LuxuryHomesandAutos.com

The best thing to do is get a real estate CRM system like IXACT Contact and start creating drip marketing campaigns and sending out mass email pieces to stay in touch with your sphere.

[url=http://www.ixactcontact.com]Real Estate CRM[/url] IXACT Contact, for instance, has pre-designed letter and email templates. Flyers and an e-newsletter template will be released next week. Sending out something like a monthly e-newlstter is very easy and cost effective using a CRM, and will produce great results in terms of increasing your referral and repeat business.

Strong internet presence with lead capturing website. Follow-up emails to those who sign-up on your website is important. Many third party vendors allow for search capabilities via IDX or VOW, ensure to include this on your Site. Definitely setup a facebook page and twitter as well.