Hello there,

I am writing a business plan for my new business as a real estate agent. I am wondering if there are any free templates out there anyone could recommend? I've written a lot of it already, just want to make sure I haven't missed anything. I've found many samples of general business plans, but not real estate specific plans.

Also could anyone help on differentiating between marketing and prospecting? my thoughts are:

marketing - website, general advertising, branding (gets the leads)
prospecting - is more following up on leads generated from the website, newsletter, etc.

but is generating leads - marketing or prospecting?
is sending out "just solds" and "just listeds" marketing or prospecting?
etc.

Thanks for your thoughts,
Sara

Sara you are over thinking this.Some spend tons of time buried in plan and paper so they don't have to talk to scary buyers and sellers.

Any type of marketing you need to constantly test and track it's effectiveness. If you don't know what is working and what is not you can't run an effective business.

Decide what TYPE of real estate you are going after such as residential,commercial,land,leasing,etc.

Then set up different campaigns for expired's,fsbo's,hot properties that are not listed at all but would be in high demand in your area.Then set a dollar amount and time spent on each campaign and test and track. You have to commit for a certain period of time to get enough data.

A big mistake is agents starting out "THINK BIG" and mail 5,000 fliers out.

2 things will happen:

1.You will get little to no business and would have spent tons of money you don't have to stay in business.

2.You will get so much business you will get overwhelmed and drop the ball building a bad rep and losing income opportunities.


So start small and when you start seeing results from a certain campaign then start ramping it up so you can handle and grow your business in a smart way.

If you are planning to do a large mailing, spread it out over time so that your responses don't come all at once. Also, I am not a big fan of flyers, as they tend to be treated as Junk Mail.

When I started out I targeted investment properties. Through the public records available through my MLS, I culled out a list of non-owner occuppied properties. Then I sent each of them a personalized letter introducing myself. Also, from time to time, I would send them information that was pertinent to them (such as new town codes regarding rental properties). It was a lot of work, but it paid off. In my first year I obtained 10 listings!

Hi Sara!

I agree you may be overthinking this a bit. Just take a deep breath, calm down, and really think about what you want your business to look like - WHAT do you want to do all day? What are you comfortable doing? What sorts of marketing works on YOU? If you were in the market for a real estate agent, where would you go to look for one? What types of marketing make sense to you, as opposed to what types just seem silly?

It's easy to forget to talk to your gut and trust what it tells you. It's also easy to be brainwashed into believing that there is only ONE WAY to succeed... and that's to do it the way everyone else is. But you know what? Almost everyone else is failing. And you know what else? They're all pretty much doing the same things.

Your business plan is more than just prospecting. It should also include what you're going to do on a daily basis to increase your market knowledge, your contractual expertise, your understanding of the buying and selling processes and how you're going to be the best thing to ever happen to your clients.

Okay, so this is all rather philosophical, so here's a little substance. My business plan includes six categories:

1. Prospecting
2. Education
3. Organization
4. Competence-Building
5. Team-Building
6. Client-Service

Just have a brainstorming session with yourself to come up with as many ideas as possible for each category. Later you can focus on each item and determine if it's something you want to do, can afford to do and will do.

Huh, I posted a response yesterday but it's not here? Does that happen often? I will try to recap:

Yes, I do tend to over-think, but when I'm finished analyzing everything, I do get out there with confidence! I just passed the exam and am interviewing with agents and brokers. the B-Plan is just planning until I am signed up with a firm.

Thank you to all of you for your thoughtful comments!

SuperRealtor - I appreciate the take-it-slower advice.

Tom - I like your idea of contacting investor owned properties, I've been thinking of doing that myself.

Jennifer - thank you for the Bus plan points. They are very similar to my own. I do have a question though, what is the difference between the categories "education" and ""competence building"? I haven't read your book yet, but have heard wonderful things about it! I am keeping my eye out for it in the bookstores.

Cheers,
Sara

Good question, Sara - "Education" is taking classes, either for required CE credit (which you probably won't need for awhile) or just to learn stuff. "Competence-Building" is your actively doing activities that will make you better at the job of being a real estate agent - e.g. previewing properties, attending inspections and closings with other agents, visiting open houses, practicing with your contract software, preparing mock CMA's - things like that.

My book isn't readily available in bookstores, but it is on Amazon and my website.

BEST OF LUCK!!!

Just my opinion. Jennifer is not here to sell here books. I own several of them, promote her, and she gives me no discounts.

I loved her Dedorked Letters book ( I bought it from her website). "Sell With Soul" was good also.

Yes working with investors is great because you get repeat business. You have to have experience to know how seperate the wheat from the chafe.

Many investors will waste your time and there are some good ones in between.

As far as Jennifer she probably makes much more off of speaking engagements then the book. The book is a way to become an expert on something. It is shown when you start writing books you are seen as an expert on things but must have credentials to back it up or you lose all credibility.

On selling books if you sold a 1,000 at 19.95 that isn't even 20k and that is before printing and shipping costs. I don't see books as a huge money maker these days.Kind of like musicians used to make money off the cd's but now make a ton off of the concerts instead.

Hey, how did this turn into a discussion of Jennifer's income?

Super - you're right. Book sales are not the way to riches, or even minimum wage. Net profit from each book ranges from $4 - $12 depending on where it sells. And believe me, real estate books do not sell by the millions. In fact, I have several more books in me, but I have to actually restrain myself from writing them to focus on activities that actually create income.

Okay, so this is sort of related to business plans! Make sure your business plan supports your desire to earn an income!