Lee Davenport

By Lee Davenport

If you are a newer real estate licensee, you’re likely trying to “crack the code” on how to attain regular closings. In other words, enough closings to meet your financial needs and to make this career path worthwhile.

You may be spending a small fortune to generate online leads, yet feeling like your business is just not where you expected it to be at this point. The issue may not be your lead sources, but rather how your markering come across to potential clients. I call this your marketing presence.

How do you know if your marketing presence is the root problem or if it’s time to ditch your lead generation strategy? Keep reading.

You’re Underutilizing Your Marketing Presence

• Have you ever shared important real estate information without your branding attached?
• Have neighbors overlooked you when buying or selling?
• Do your friends and family sometimes forget what you do?

Image by Mudassar Iqbal from Pixabay

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you likely have a marketing presence issue. I know, I know—you took a bunch of classes to get your real estate license, but this is the first time you’re hearing about this. Let the bygones go.

To put it very plainly, your marketing presence helps people—who are already bombarded with products and services—remember you. Real talk: You don’t have to spend a dime to have a solid marketing presence. I know some people like to obsess over color schemes and logo designs, but that’s really not a marketing presence if you’re not using it consistently enough so people remember you. The bigger focus here is whether every piece of marketing that you put out into the world is imprinted with your distinct brand and messaging so people will come to you.

We tell our buyer and seller clients that Google can help them find basic information, but the nitty-gritty details of their particular transaction would benefit from the wisdom and vantage point of someone who’s involved in real estate deals on a regular basis and understands the nuances. That’s where you can add value—as long as clients know you’re there for them.

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know (And You Don’t Go to Who Does Know)

Sure, you can take a new, unfamiliar road trip and not use your favorite GPS app. But the trip will likely take longer and be more frustrating. Waze could have warned you about the roadblock before you got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

While you may be an independent contractor, the success of your business does not have to be solely on you. Well, “physician, heal thyself,” or better yet, “agent, advocate for thyself.”  That means connecting with an experienced broker, colleague, or coach to mentor you and hold you accountable.

Those who have attended my social media and marketing compliance classes have given me an endearing moniker: “Compliance Connie.” As Compliance Connie, I urge you to take a current marketing compliance refresher before you begin to improve your marketing presence. Here’s one from 2019 to get you started. No point in getting fined because of a memory lapse or oversight of legal requirements.

You Don’t Know the Shortcuts

It’s natural to not have the know-how when you’re new to something. Sadly, many novice agents will voluntarily go through “the school of hard knocks” trial and error until something sticks. The problem with this approach is that many agents will ditch a method prematurely when it’s not working the way they tried to use it. Think of it like ditching your iPhone because you can’t figure out how to airdrop files to your laptop.