If success is not coming as easily to you as you would like, many choose to stop doing certain things in order to save money.

There are certain things that you can stop in order to save money for your business, but there are some that you cannot stop.  ADVERTISING/MARKETING is one of them.  Yes they are ways to market your business that are for FREE.  If you have the time to do this, then by all means use these methods.  But do keep in mind that your time =money.  So if your time can be better spent elsewhere, you should spend the money, so you are not wasting your time.

Marketing for your business is one aspect of the business, that you should not skimp on.  If the public doesn’t know you, your business, or what you do, then your business cannot grow, nor will it be able to make money for you.

In real estate it takes money to make money.  So if you are starting to use marketing methods that are FREE, and you get some leads and close some deals, make sure you take a portion of each deal to put towards marketing. The more marketing you do for your business the better you business will do.

Now “marketing” in real estate encompasses everything that you do to promote yourself and your business.  That can include, your business card, your website, doing online marketing, print marketing, radio/tv.  Put the money that you have set aside on the marketing that will yield you the best results.  Slowly you will close more transactions and you will be able to put more money towards your marketing, thus allowing yourself to position and promote your business as you see fit.

It’s been a while, but this certainly hits the nail on the head.

When you start advertising, I’m sure you are going to hear the term ROI constantly.  But really what is ROI? And is it truly important?

R.O.I. = Return on Investment

Regardless of what business you are in, you must keep track of your ROI.  This means, figure out what your expectation is on the investment and track the results.  Is your investment profitable?

Now the term investment is generally used in reference to money that is being spent, but it can be something else ie: your time.

Let’s break this down further.

I will use the example of someone who is using Google Adwords to promote their real estate business and hoping to gain seller and/or buyer clients.

• If you are spending $500 a month a google adwords, that is $6000 annually being spent.
• How many clicks should you expect for a $6000 annual budget?
• How many leads / conversions can you expect from a $6000 annual budget?
• What is your average commission amount for homes in your area?

**the number of clicks and leads you can expect change from location to location.

So for this example and ease of calculations, I will say that for $6000 you will get 300 leads.  (Note: this # is totally incorrect, there is actually a formula that can give you a better estimation of what conversions you can expect).  I will also say that the average commission amount for listings in my area is $10,000.

Now, out of those leads, how many will you close? Generally in real estate, online leads have a 1% closing rate.  Therefore for every 100 leads you get you should get 1 closed transaction. Therefore out of 300 leads, expect to close 3 leads. 3 x $10,000 = $30,000.  Therefore if you spend $6000 you can expect to get a revenue of $30,000.

To get your ROI you need to do some math (30,000-6000)/6000 = 400%.  Therefore, for every dollar you spend, you can make $4 back.

That is a great ROI.  And therefore the investment of $6000 would be a good one.

Every prospecting method that take on, you may not have an expected ROI or  well known % to use.  In cases like, you will have to analyze your previous success and create your own percentage.

Each month / quarter / year; you should be measuring your ROI and only continue with the methods that are proving useful to you.