Most real estate agents get started in real estate with a minimal marketing budget, or no marketing budget at all. In fact, my first year in real estate I literally spent no money at all on marketing or advertising. There are some great ways you can get your name out there without spending a dime, and bring in buyer and seller leads. That's a great return on investment!
Free Website
If your budget is tight, you can quite easily build yourself a free website to advertise real estate and to set yourself apart as a local professional that knows the market. With all of the new blogging sites that are so easy to use you can get started in just a few minutes. I would suggest checking WordPress.com, Blogger.com, or Tumblr.com. These are three of the easiest to use blogging platforms, and all of them are free.
You simply create an account, log in, and start typing. You should type about current market conditions, new listings, foreclosed homes in your area, new condo developments, or anything else that is relevant to your local real estate market. An agent that I have worked with in the past gets well over 100 leads every single month from his blog, which now has over 500 pages on it.
Free Online Classifieds.
You have probably already heard of Craigslist and some of the other free advertising sites. Don't underestimate the power of the sites. And try this: When you post ads, put a link back to your website with a reason to click on it. For example "click here to read my new article on how to get cheap foreclosures".
This will start building traffic to your website and start getting your name out there a lot more than if you don't have a link to your website or blog.
Free Offline Classifieds
In my local area, there is a bi-weekly newspaper that is published that offers free classified advertising. The circulation is pretty good, so it really makes it worth it to advertise in publications like this if they are available in your area.
Word of Mouth
Talking is free. Every chance you get, talk to people about real estate. And be sure to stay in front of them. Get phone numbers and email addresses. Send out a monthly email that tells about a couple new listings you found on the MLS that look like good deals.
Call to action on your business cards.
Ok, I realize business cards aren't free, but I'm just going to assume you already planned to buy some. So if that is the case, the change I am going to suggest is free. I want you to add a call to action on your business cards. Something similar to what I suggested you do with your classified ads. You will put your website address, with a reason for them to visit your site. Something like: "See my new foreclosure deals BEFORE they get listed". Or something along those lines. Or maybe you will want to offer a free report, or some other bonus for them visiting your website. Just make sure you have a contact form on the site to collect their information.
I've got more free real estate sales tips available at http://www.rltynow.com
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