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Are you looking to hone or develop your real estate marketing plan?

For those looking for marketing tools for realtors (R) and real estate agents, the “best practices” of multi-million dollar agents includes several “pillars”, or sources of leads, and refinement to the three key points of client contact. These three key points of client contact are initial real estate lead production, point of sale (listing presentations and buyer representation processing), and post-sale referral generation.

One common mistake agents make is choosing either a “consumer direct marketing” approach, or a “referral only” approach. This is a mistake simply because to achieve top performance, you’ll need both. Fortunately, when done well, this does not need to be expensive. A referral-only real estate marketing plan is based around actively cultivating (farming) a group (farm) of referral sources. For most systems, this is based around systems of consistent contact to ensure presence of mind and respect by potential referrers, usually via handwritten low-tech stamped notes, monthly phone calls to people who have agreed to refer you when they hear of people who want to buy or sell, occasional client parties, and occasional pop-by’s to see someone in person a few times per year. These systems are carefully designed to look casual, but when combined with real estate newsletters and tools, will cause your farm to both like you personally and respect you professionally. Imagine getting 2-3 referrals per month from a financial planner, another 2-3 from a tax professional, another 1-2 from your grandmother, etc. and you really have a solid base of business. Closing ratios on referrals are always much higher from referral marketing, and the cost-per-lead is lower.

So why not use just that?

Because you may not have 1,800 people who like you and will refer you, and even if you did, there are surely some people buying or selling in your area who would like to work with you.

But they don’t know you.

It’s up to your consumer direct marketing to change that. While bus stop ads can help neighborhood visibility, who honestly calls a realtor because they saw a bus stop ad? Print ads and bus stop ads these days should be used only after you have completely dominated the real estate internet marketing in your area.

How do you dominate an area? Message and delivery. These days, delivery happens via internet for over 90% of buyers, and virtually all sellers who research agents online before selecting which agent to sign with. While the internet is a large space, you can dominate page 1 of Google using our free report on search engine optimization (SEO), and dominate other areas through pay-per-click (PPC), social media marketing (facebook, myspace, twitter, etc.) and trafficked verticals like craigslist. Our company focuses on creation of incredible, compelling offers so you don’t have to, though you can certainly create your own.

Here are a few suggested pillars to consider:

Expired Listings & Withdrawn Listings. These are the easiest “cold leads” you’ll find. If you decide not to purchase ours, you can certainly create your own. The #1 mistake people make in expired listing marketing is expecting immediate conversion. Usually sellers get flooded with offers immediately, but relisting activity peaks at 6 to 8 weeks after expiration or withdrawal. Pair up with a mortgage lender to reduce the cost, as this can produce refinances and loan modifications.

- FSBO’s. A strong FSBO pillar alone can get you 1-3 listings per month in an average area. For this you’ll need a real estate postcard marketing system or fsbo postcard system. Click through to our site below for some free templates and help on this.

- Homebuyers. The #1 most common mistake in real estate marketing for homebuyers is offering a home-buyer’s seminar. Try “fishing upstream” by instead offering a “credit seminar” or at least adding that to your marketing. We have an online system for this, that if you choose not to buy you can certainly model on. Be sure to “market to the unaware”, i.e. people who haven’t yet decided to buy a house, because chances are if they know for sure they want to buy a house, they probably know an agent. Be the agent (or broker) to plant this seed and most likely you’ll get the business, instead of their “dog’s former owner’s cousin who practices real estate on the side”.

- Investors. A lot of agents ignore this market, but a single good investor client can get you numerous deals per year, both buying and selling. If you’re just out of real estate school starting out, don’t start here – they’ll eat you for lunch and suck up your time, but if you have the other pillars down cold, this can put you into the big leagues, with millions of dollars in commissions.

- Relocation. This can be a tough market to crack, but that barrier to entry can work for you once you do. This is not for the rookies, but for experienced agents with top-notch customer service and the first pillars down, this should be on your real estate marketing plan. Maximize your real estate internet marketing to start working on this business, and use a lot of online video such (again, see our site for examples to model on or purchase).

- HR Benefits. Human Resources real estate marketing for Realtors and lenders can be an excellent source of business. This is a perfect agenda for a mid-career agent.

If all of this sounds good, first, see what you can swipe and implement. Don’t re-invent the wheel, because everything you need for all of the above pillars have been produced. Focus your time and budget, and setup the systems starting with the pillars above. As you get them stabilized, within a month, you should not spend any time whatsoever on production of these leads. Just setup the system, then leave your pay-per-click budget alone and just keep an eye on profitability, and hire offshore e-assistants for other tasks like craigslist marketing. Roll the pillars out, and within six months, there is absolutely no reason why you won’t be the #1 agent in your area, with the #1 paycheck. The tools are built and ready to work for you.

Roger Vetruba
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/real-estate-marketing-plan-736787.html

Create a fun and sensory stimulating balance beam with the Tactile Walking Path with Curves and Squares . This balance beam set has both straight and curvy boards that can be arranged into numerous paths. As each new configuration is created kids can improve their motor planning and they will not be bored with the same straight lines they get with a standard kids balance beam. The bumpy surface of the boards stimulate nerves on the foot sole and provide a lot of sensory input. The set is geared toward helping to improve a childs balance and self confidence. This is the perfect balance beam activity set for occupational therapy, sensory integration therapy, classrooms, P.E. classes and more. There are some examples of various configurations in the pictures below. Includes: 8 curve pieces 8 straight pieces 4 square pieces Please allow 5 – 9 business days for delivery

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Do you want to have a successful start to your Home Based Business? I sure did and I am assuming you want the same to happen for you. Well, setting up your home office the right way makes a big difference in your business success outcome. You may or may not agree, but it has made an impact in my experience and many others I have talked with.

For example, you are talking with a prospect and you need your business partner to speak with them, but you don’t have 3-way calling setup on your phone system. Guess what, you now are going to miss out on some invaluable training because you will not hear how your business partner handles the prospects questions.

8 Tips for Setting up Your Home Based Business for Success

1. A great phone plan is essential to your success, so make sure you have the following:

* UNLIMITED Long Distance

* 3-Way Calling

* Caller ID

* Call Waiting

* Voice Mail

* Call Forwarding

* Anonymous Call Rejection

* Call Return

* Repeat Dialing

2. You must have a calendar

Your calendar is the backbone of your office. Without it, nothing moves forward. You can choose an online calendar such as in Google or Yahoo or in Outlook, or you can purchase an appointment book from your local office supply store.

3. Your computer software tools:

* High Speed Internet Access

* Adobe Acrobat 8: Free download – http://www.adobe.com/

* Flash Player plug-in: Free download – http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/

* Internet Explorer: Free download – http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.asp (Internet Explorer 6 is sufficient)

* JavaScript: Free download – http://www.java.com/

* Email Software – You may want to use Outlook or Outlook Express for your business email. Most other people use one of these, so it will keep uniformity in your business organization.

4. A good filing system

Staying organized is extremely important because doing so will help you work efficiently. Organization is very personal, so I suggest you personalize your folder names in a way that makes sense to you.

Here are some examples of folders you will need:

* Your “Main Business” Folder

* Sample Business Emails

* Training Material

* Advertising

* Announcements and Promotions

* Faxes

* Leads

* Tax records and payment receipts

5. Email signatures

Your signature should include a closing, your name, contact information (website, email address, and phone number) and a quote or favorite expression is optional. (always be mindful if using a quote to keep the message appropriate for a business environment)

Your signature can be a powerful advertising method, use it wisely.

6. Staying connected: Instant Messenger Service

Instant Messenger services allow you to communicate with your online contacts, get your questions answered and leverage your time because your phone line will be open for incoming calls from prospects.

Be sure to get the instant messenger ID of your mentors and business partners so you can always be in touch!

Yahoo Instant Messenger: http://www.messenger.yahoo.com

MSN Instant Messenger: http://www.msn.com

AOL Instant messenger: http://www.aim.com

Skype: http://www.skype.com/

7. Shopping for office supplies

You will need:

* Large 3-Ring Binder with Tab Dividers

* Plastic Sheet Protectors

* Calendar

* Pens and Pencils

* Paper (printer paper and writing pads for taking notes)

* Correction Fluid

* Manila folders

* Plastic organizer to hold pens, paper clips, sticky notes, etc.

* Post it Notes

* Paper Clips

* Stapler

* 3-Hole Punch

* Filing Cabinet

8. Creating the mood – your office environment:

Your office should buzz with positive energy. Motivate yourself by posting your goals and the reasons “WHY” you started your home based business. Family photos may help you keep your focus. Motivational slogans or an inspirational quote can keep you focused on your goals.

Decorate your office in a way that reflects your taste and personality. Create an up tempo climate which motivates you to do your best. Your environment should promote a peaceful, yet exciting atmosphere for you to work in, so use pictures or anything that will create this scenario for you.

One of the biggest perks of working at home is having the freedom to personalize your workspace, so be creative in setting up the ideal work environment.

These 8 simple tips that we have covered can help you to a successful start in your business. By following these tips, you will be able to expand your business and keep your business flowing. You will be more focused on building your business and that is your goal, is it not? I wish you the best in your business venture.

Brian Jones

Home based businesses often start out at a disadvantage. There you are, in your spiffy, well-appointed home office (or with your laptop on the couch), all full of vigor and enthusiasm for the adventure you are about to embark on. You’ve already spent your first million in your head. You know you have a product the world simply cannot live without.

But there’s one problem: no one knows you exist. No problem, right? You’ll just take out an ad in all the big papers, get a prime spot on the radio and litter the city with billboards shouting your virtues. At least that was your plan until you realized that the only thing in your wallet is a picture of your mom.

There’s no question that when you are starting out in a home based business, getting yourself noticed is the biggest challenge, especially when funds are limited. But there are cheap, effective ways to get the word out there.

Hopefully, the reason you decided to start your business is because you believe that people in your community have a need for your product. Once you’ve pitched to your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, veterinarian and mail carrier, it’s time to broaden your efforts to reach the community at-large. The way to do that is through cost-effective advertising efforts.

You don’t need to spend lots of money to get your potential customers to take notice. That’s likely good news, since you probably aren’t rolling in cash. If you were, you wouldn’t be starting a home based business. But before you start recklessly allotting your advertising budget, stop for a moment and keep the following things in mind.

* Test the waters first. Don’t jump into too many advertising outlets at once, or you’ll never know which one is the most effective. If you try one thing at a time, you’ll be able to gauge the success, or failure, of each. Even if you ask your customers how they heard about you, that information is never 100 percent reliable. People may have heard about your business through more than one outlet, but only remember one! Don’t spend big bucks until you know what works.

* More money doesn’t necessarily mean more exposure. When you are just getting started at running any business, particularly a home based one, you need to learn ways of promoting your business in ways that don’t require a lot of cash output. Some examples:

1. Word of mouth. This can be invaluable to a small business. If you do good work for one person and he tells 10 more, and each of them tells five, it won’t take long for your client base to grow.

2. Business cards. You can print out professional-looking business cards on your home computer, using sheets of business cards available at any office supply store. Hand one to anyone who is willing to take one.

3. Press releases. These are easy to create and can be distributed by e-mail once you have a client base. They are easily forwarded and can serve as a kind of cyber word-of-mouth service. It’s also a good idea to send releases to your local newspapers. You never know when they’ll decide to feature your business. Don’t forget to include a way for your customers to get in touch with you.

4. Radio and television ads. You may think that radio and television ads are way out of your modest advertising budget, but that’s not necessarily true. If you buy non-primetime ads, you will get exposure without having to fork out lots of dough. Prime time for TV is between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., and for radio it’s 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contact your local stations and see if you can buy some non-prime time. Remember: if people didn’t watch TV in the middle of the night, infomercials wouldn’t exist!

What all this boils down to is there are lots of ways you can blow your own horn without spending bundles of cash. Take advantage of every way you can advertise and soon you’ll see your home based business, and your advertising budget, grow.

Dominic Boykin
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/buzz-on-a-budget-advertising-your-home-based-business-without-breaking-the-bank-695366.html

Business Plan Pro is the best selling, most recommended business planning Software available. Produce a professional and customizable business plan that gets results. Over 500 sample plans, plus instructions and examples.

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Home based businesses often start out at a disadvantage. There you are, in your spiffy, well-appointed home office (or with your laptop on the couch), all full of vigor and enthusiasm for the adventure you are about to embark on. You’ve already spent your first million in your head. You know you have a product the world simply cannot live without.

But there’s one problem: no one knows you exist. No problem, right? You’ll just take out an ad in all the big papers, get a prime spot on the radio and litter the city with billboards shouting your virtues. At least that was your plan until you realized that the only thing in your wallet is a picture of your mom.

There’s no question that when you are starting out in a home based business, getting yourself noticed is the biggest challenge, especially when funds are limited. But there are cheap, effective ways to get the word out there.

Hopefully, the reason you decided to start your business is because you believe that people in your community have a need for your product. Once you’ve pitched to your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, veterinarian and mail carrier, it’s time to broaden your efforts to reach the community at-large. The way to do that is through cost-effective advertising efforts.

You don’t need to spend lots of money to get your potential customers to take notice. That’s likely good news, since you probably aren’t rolling in cash. If you were, you wouldn’t be starting a home based business. But before you start recklessly allotting your advertising budget, stop for a moment and keep the following things in mind.

* Test the waters first. Don’t jump into too many advertising outlets at once, or you’ll never know which one is the most effective. If you try one thing at a time, you’ll be able to gauge the success, or failure, of each. Even if you ask your customers how they heard about you, that information is never 100 percent reliable. People may have heard about your business through more than one outlet, but only remember one! Don’t spend big bucks until you know what works.

* More money doesn’t necessarily mean more exposure. When you are just getting started at running any business, particularly a home based one, you need to learn ways of promoting your business in ways that don’t require a lot of cash output. Some examples:

1. Word of mouth. This can be invaluable to a small business. If you do good work for one person and he tells 10 more, and each of them tells five, it won’t take long for your client base to grow.

2. Business cards. You can print out professional-looking business cards on your home computer, using sheets of business cards available at any office supply store. Hand one to anyone who is willing to take one.

3. Press releases. These are easy to create and can be distributed by e-mail once you have a client base. They are easily forwarded and can serve as a kind of cyber word-of-mouth service. It’s also a good idea to send releases to your local newspapers. You never know when they’ll decide to feature your business. Don’t forget to include a way for your customers to get in touch with you.

4. Radio and television ads. You may think that radio and television ads are way out of your modest advertising budget, but that’s not necessarily true. If you buy non-primetime ads, you will get exposure without having to fork out lots of dough. Prime time for TV is between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., and for radio it’s 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contact your local stations and see if you can buy some non-prime time. Remember: if people didn’t watch TV in the middle of the night, infomercials wouldn’t exist!

What all this boils down to is there are lots of ways you can blow your own horn without spending bundles of cash. Take advantage of every way you can advertise and soon you’ll see your home based business, and your advertising budget, grow.

Dominic Boykin
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/buzz-on-a-budget-advertising-your-home-based-business-without-breaking-the-bank-695366.html

A Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) plan can be created for anything. Natural disasters, business plans, infrastructure projects, daily operations of a business, sports teams, really anything that has the possibility of not running right can have a plan. For this article the term will be project, which is open to your interpretation on what a project actually is.

Who takes the kids to schools when the primary driver has the flu? That is the most basic BC plan.

What do we do when we get a flat tire? That is the most basic DR plan.

These 2 examples may not be written out, but they are just as valid as any other plan, and there is usually a plan in place. And yes, you can have one half without the other or call the plan DRBC if recovering from the disaster is a higher priority than continuing business.

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans are developed for certain circumstances that have the probability of occurring. Spending years of work and millions of dollars to secure a data center in the Atacama mountains desert region against flooding is useless. Equally useless is spending years of work and millions of dollars to prevent a New York snow in the winter.

There are 4 primary categories that are considered important in BCDR; avoidance, mitigation, transference and acceptance. Acceptance is contested as an option because there are not many people want to build a plan that says we accept a risk and a failure and can not mitigate, transfer or avoid it. There are cases when there is no real option other than accepting that there may be failure.

A sample project is to install a new telephone system in my office.

In a Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plan, avoidance is building steps into your project to eliminate the risk or to protect the project from anything negative by means that you will determine.

My project may be late because it takes place from 15 December to 15 January, a time when many of my staff will take vacation. I can avoid an impact on my project by requesting an extension on the project, requiring additional resources, requesting extra money or many other options – you are limited by your imagination.

The idea behind transference is that the possibility of financial impact to the project is limited by contracting out some aspect of the work. I transfer the responsibility for part of the project to someone else. Transferring responsibility does not transfer accountability. The person in charge still has to accept that a failure is related to improper planning.

My December project may be late so I have hired a company to accomplish 3 critical tasks. If these tasks are not finished on time and in sequence, the project will not finish on time. I have signed a service level agreement with the vendor and the company will put all the resources required to deliver on time. If they fail to deliver on time they will not be paid, it the overall project is late because they fail to deliver on time they will pay me $1000 per day for a maximum of 15 days.

Mitigation is the part of the plan that takes the most thought. If mitigation is done properly then avoidance, transference and acceptance are clear. Mitigation is something you do to reduce the probability or consequences of a risk impacting your project. You may also define an acceptable level of impact that does not threaten the completion of your project Mitigation is very often costly and time consuming.

My December project requires new telephones for each of the 500 desks in our office. My regular supplier can guarantee 400 telephones at an $262.50 per phone, a 25% discount. The supplier is also reasonably sure to deliver the 500 on time and at the same price. To mitigate the risk of having 100 people without phones I agree that the supplier contract with a third party and buy 100 phones at the standard $350 price

1. Total cost of 500 phones from one supplier 500*262.50=$131,250.
2. Total cost of my phones from two suppliers (400*262.50)+(100*350)= $140,000
3. Mitigation cost $8750
4. Solution, pay the slight increase.

Second scenario for a larger company:

My December project requires new telephones for each of the 5000 desks in our office. My regular supplier can guarantee 2500 telephones at an $262.50 per phone, a 25% discount. The supplier is unable deliver the 5000 on time and at the same price. To mitigate the risk of having 2500 people without phones discuss with senior management to contract with a third party and buy 2500 phones at the standard $350 price, plus 10% for shipping

1. Cost of 2500 phones from one supplier 2500*262.50=$656,250.
   
2. Cost of 2500 phones from second supplier 2500*385=$ 962,500.
   
3. Total budget for phones $ 1,312,500
   
4. Total cost of phones $1,618,750
   
5. Mitigation cost $ -306,250
   
6. Solution – do you have $306,250 spare, or do you delay project completion?

Acceptance is the decision to accept certain risks and live with them. This means you do not change the project plan to deal with a risk or identify any response strategy other than agreeing to accept the risk if it is too costly or time consuming. A decision must be made to accept the risk, and the consequences. This decision must be made by a person with the highest level of authority. If the risk comes to pass and something fails the decision may mean late delivery of a project or failure as a team.

Second scenario similar to the one above:

My December project requires new telephones for each of the 5000 desks in our office. My regular supplier can guarantee 2500 telephones at a $262.50 per phone, our standard 25% discount. The supplier is unable deliver the 5000 on time and at the same price. To mitigate the risk of having 2500 people without phones discuss with senior management to contract with a third party and buy 2500 phones at the standard $350 price, plus 10% for shipping

1. Cost of 2500 phones from one supplier 2500*262.50=$656,250.
2. Cost of 2500 phones from second supplier 2500*385=$ 962,500.
3. Total budget for phones $ 1,312,500
4. Total cost of phones $1,618,750
5. Mitigation cost $ 306,250
6. Management does not have $306,250 to spend on the project and accepts that there may be a late delivery on some phones.
7. A mitigation plan will be put in place to make sure that the problem is handled the best way possible.

As stated above, a Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) plan can be created for anything. The coach of a team has a replacement in mind when players are injured, Floridians board up windows when a storm comes. The most important part of your BCDR is realizing that you need one and start defining the actions that people will take when things go wrong, and at one time or another – they will.

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Cindy King
http://www.articlesbase.com/project-management-articles/business-continuity-and-disaster-recovery-categories-718828.html