Orlando Real Estate : What's your advice on marketing?

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What's your advice on marketing?

By: Chantal Gakwaya
Thursday, November 29, 2007 11:01 AM

In my first two years as an agent I have budgeted 20% of my gross income on marketing and plan on bringing that down to steady 10% by my third year.

I'd like to hear from the brokers and those that are successful in this industry; what percentage of an agents gross income you feel should be applied to marketing to maintain a healthy balance between properly servicing clients and 'making it as a success' in the industry?

I know this is a broad question, but I'm sure there are benchmarks that will indicate what is too little to generate business and service clients properly and what is too much in the sense that one begins eliminating their income.

Comments

Member Since '05	Lonn Dugan said: Chantal, your plan sounds very good. I spent about 30% my first couple of years, then gradually dropped to 10% Most experts say 10% is about right if you want to be a market leader. Some say 5% will work, but I think you would have to be an uncommonly strong personal networking referral generator to make this work. So, what's your style? Are you more of a networker, or more of a marketer? November 29, 2007 11:54 AM
Member Since '06	Chantal Gakwaya said: Lonn thanks for the info. Personally I dislike networking for the purpose of getting business. I know some are experts at networking and make a lot of money that way...it's just not for me. I do however like to socialize and I'm heavily involved in a lot of non-profit groups. Oddly enough I get a referral or two every once in a while from my social networks. I think networking should have a dollar amount put on it. The amount of time put into networking could be spent somewhere else earning an income - so I suppose that can be tracked and added to the marketing budget. November 29, 2007 12:18 PM
Member Since '03	Mike Farmer said: More than the percentage (because I would gladly pay 50% in marketing costs if my net is gigantic as a result) is the effectiveness, the return on investment, of your marketing efforts. I would develop a good strategy for determining which dollars spent on which type of marketing creates the best return on investment. You may have to ask a lot of questions to your prospects to follow the trails and see how they get to you. But the closer I can narrow down my marketing efforts to those that are producing, then cost becomes a secondary concern. November 29, 2007 12:43 PM
Member Since '03	Gary Szolosi said: I agree with Mike on the approach being ROI. There is a diminishing return and sometimes throwing more dollars at something does not gain greater results that are worth the dollars. So a good analysis of the return provides the foundation and further investment should always be tied to results. November 29, 2007 3:04 PM
Member Since '06	Chantal Gakwaya said: I agree you Mike and Gary...thanks for the advice :). I also am seeing the internet as providing the most leads and getting some good ones out of it. Most of my money right now is going into internet marketing. I find that if I call the leads as soon as they sign up to the website the 'quality' of the lead is tenfold those that get left to drip mail. I think most people that say internet leads are bad are the ones waiting a week to follow up with them or leaving it to the drip mail to convert them. November 29, 2007 3:45 PM