As I’m going down through the list of what to do and what not to do and comparing the articles, I’m struck with a polar opposite. One says don’t advertise, because Facebook is a social site, and ‘members can smell a sales pitch’. The other says buy advertising and pick your demographics and monitor your statistics.

So what does an agent do?

Well the simple answer is to advertise that you’re not advertising on Facebook. After all one expert says advertise, and the other expert says don’t. That way you’re taking the advise of both and covering your basis. Course I’m being flippant and that’s the point.

From a purely business standpoint, joining Facebook is a really smart long term strategy. From a personal standpoint it is a really great opportunity to connect with long lost friends and stay current with closer friends and acquaintances. After all not everyone is a professional salesman that has a thousand and one things to do. Some people are spending a lot of their free time connecting with others they know. Who knows how long Facebook will be ‘THE’ place to gather for social interaction? All I know is right now it is ‘THE’ place to connect with other like minded people and a place to discover people that have similar interests and hobbies.

So what about advertising on Facebook?

It’s easy to answer that one. You advertise. But not quite in the way I think either one elicited in their articles.

So if you wanted to buy advertising space what would you do? Create an ad that says “REALTOR® for hire” Call 999-999-9999. Probably not. I think that would probably be a waste of money. However, you could create an ad right now that says something like “The Facts on the $8000 Tax Credit.” (Granted that’s probably not the best headline in the world, but you should get the point.) That would be unobtrusive, would be glossed over by everyone that isn’t in the market or could care less, but just may catch the attention of someone who is curious about the tax credit money. The ad should take them to your website where you capture their name, email address, mailing address, and yes, even ask for their phone number, and then you’re autoresponder can automatically send them the report. It’s creative, it’s unobtrusive, it’s extends your brand and value and it creates another connection for you.

Other ways to advertise without advertising is to post industry figures, information about a neighborhood happening, you’re take on a new restaurant, etc. What you’re trying to do is show that you understand the neighborhoods in which you do business and you are the expert in your area when it comes to real estate. Not the blatant advertising that one author is referring to which would go something like this. “Now is a good time to buy a home, give me a call.” Yea, that’s pretty weak, and it does simply smell.

Oh, and yes, I would most definitely do one other thing. When you list a new home, I would put that information out there. That’s not blatant in your face, I want your business advertising. That’s just smart business.

I like Donald Trump. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, I don’t watch much TV so I’ve have to admit that I don’t watch The Apprentice. In fact the only time I ever watched was to tune into see Gene Simmons, and he got ‘You’re Fired’ the next show. He was pretty arrogant and off the mark for the show I watched, but in his world, he really was not arrogant, he was just being Gene Simmons. Shame because Simmons in my opinion is a business and marketing genius.

What does this have to do with advice for new real estate agents? We’ll first of all is a blog post on TrumpUniversity about the very subject of this post and to date the comments are pretty enlightening, and second based on my exposure offering real estate marketing products to agents, I’ve noticed some patterns. I’m sure I’ll explore it more and more on this blog, but for now this is a good place to start.

I’ll pose the question here and the Donald’s answer, and you can go to the post to read the comment.

I am really feeling at a loss as new agent in real estate. I have not been able to land one deal and am not sure if it’s me or what it is, for the most part. I don’t have the right people around, everyone claims they have already bought. Am I that late in the game?

Some specific points to consider are:
• Learn your area from the inside out. If you don’t know the neighborhood you’re trying to promote or sell, you are doing yourself and your clients no good. What businesses are doing well? Which aren’t? How are the schools? Playgrounds? Crime rate? The best grocery stores? Hardware stores? Restaurants? Parks? Transportation? What makes the neighborhood desirable? Undesirable? Be honest. Point out the negatives. Even desirable areas have what can be considered drawbacks. One neighborhood I know of was considered to be ‘hotel row’ even though it was apartment buildings because there were none of the typical amenities like grocery stores within a short distance. It didn’t provide anything that would make it seem like a neighborhood. To some people, that would be fine, to others, it wouldn’t. Clients are wary of a glowing report because it sounds too much like a sales pitch. Give an honest assessment. If you don’t live in the area yourself, talk to people who do.

• What kind of broker would you like to have? Be that kind of a broker.

• Build a list of potential buyers and sellers. Don’t try to sell them anything if they aren’t interested, but give thought to their needs anyway. If you can find out what people need and what they want, you will have some satisfied clients in the future.

• Interview electricians, plumbers, repair people, painters, landscapers, etc. Build a list of trusted vendors. Then offer to connect them to potential customers. You are building a network that will benefit everyone.

When we started offering web sites and property search functionality for agents and brokers (see MLSSoftware.com) in 1991, I thought we were stepping into a world where I could relate. Being a life long salesman, I thought this was great. I’ll get to talk to real salesman all day long, and it will be a no-brainer to sell my products, after all, you may have heard the old adage, “It’s easy for one salesman, to sell another salesman.” Wow, I couldn’t have started this subsidiary at any stranger of a time.

According to statistics from NAR, The National Association of REALTORS, there was approximately 750,000 agents nationwide in 2002. I believe it was in 2007 that number had mushroomed to over 1.2 million agents. Obviously with money flowing like a wide open faucet, everybody and their brother thought they could be a real estate agent. Indeed, the barrier to entry was not and still isn’t that hard. You take some classes, learn the legal requirements to sell a home, pass a test, and voila, you’re a real estate agent. Since the melt-down in the past couple of years, I think that number has settled back down to roughly the 750,000 agents before the boom.

The vast swelling of agents that came on the market, knew little if anything at all about sales, marketing, or even how to talk to another human being they did not previously know. The answer given is a very good guideline to stop and take a look at the basics. When we prepare websites for agents, in some cases, we can’t even get them to tell us anything about the area in which they work.

So what is Donald saying?

1.) Put together or update your list of everyone you know. That includes everyone in your immediate and extended family, the people at your church, the organizations and clubs you belong to. Put together a mailing list, email list, and phone number list of everyone you can think of.

2.) Put together a list of everyone in business that you come into contact with, the lawyer, the title company, every mortgage person out there, the plumbers, electricians, doctors, etc. Take them all out to lunch, and ask how you can help them get business. That’s right, don’t waste your money on expense newspaper advertising, or buying the next new shiny thing. A $1000 investments in lunches in the next 90 days will pay off handsomely in the long run. Zig Ziglar said it best, “You can get everything you want in life, if you’ll just help enough other people get what they want.”

3.) Systematically start calling everyone on your list. Put together a monthly newsletter and send it out. It can be as little as one page. The newsletter doesn’t have to be about real estate, per se. The monthly newsletter should however, I think, be about things to know about owning a home and depending on the time of the year,  tidbits about the season. If it’s August, you should have back to school information. If it’s March, you should be giving them information on spring cleaning, or getting a garden ready, etc.

4.) Tell everyone you know about the benefits of the $8,000 down payment assistance. It just may push those who are a little timid to even think about buying a home, realize that it’s not all doom and gloom out there and that they might be able to actually purchase a home today.

5.) Start discovering social media on the web. Join Facebook, Linked In, etc. If you want help with this area just let me know.

I’ll never forget the first few months in this business. I was working with a close friend who had been a real estate agent for over 15 years, and who the previous year sold more homes than any other agent in our area. He wanted to impress me, so I was invited to listen in on a conversation he was going to have with a prospect from California about relocating to our area. BTW, a lead he got from the website I put together for him. He spoke on the phone with him for a little while, mostly small talk, and told him he would send him a relocation packet. When we got off the phone, he mentioned to me, he thought this person was a good prospect, then he said something I’ll never forget, he said, “I just wonder how I’m going to keep track of him for the next year.” I was floored. A lot of rookies don’t look at their career as long term and forget to put systems in place to keep in contact with everyone they know. Big mistake not to have a system in place to keep track of prospects.

Let everyone you know, you’re in the real estate business, and you’re job is to help people find the home of their dreams. Become the expert that everyone seeks out when it comes to knowing what’s going on in your neighborhood. And don’t give up on someone you know or meet, keep in contact with them, via e-mail, a personal call just to check in every now and again.

Will this advice lead to a sale today? Maybe, maybe not. Pick up every book you can about selling real estate, on sales in general, on marketing. Start to think long term. Sure you have to work hard and give your new occupation a lot of thought and you need sales today. But don’t forget that if you survive the first year, you’ll need to survive year two, and year five and year twenty.