Advertising sells. As real estate agents and salespeople, one of our primary roles in the house selling process is to effectively market and advertise a client's home. I would venture to guess that you advertise your listings with flyers, brochures, and ads in newspapers and magazines. But just how much effort do you invest in advertising yourself?

At the recent Superstar Retreat 2007, hosted by Bill Barrett, the 50 top-producing agents and team leaders discussed this very topic. The question the group addressed was, "How much money do you spend on advertising SOLD listings versus current listings?" Common sense might tell you to invest more in advertising your current listings; after all, you have to sell homes and satisfy your clients' needs in order to earn commissions and positive word of mouth advertising. However, most of the top-producers invest significantly more in advertising their SOLD listings.

The recommended ratio: 80% SOLD listings versus 20% current listings.

In other words, if you're going to advertise a full page of listings, eight out of every ten of the listings should be of a home you sold. Two of ten should be current listings. You might want to leave one open spot labeled something like, "See Your Home Here."

The reasoning behind this approach is that sellers are not interested in how many homes you have for sale, but in how many homes you have successfully sold. Whenever I advise homeowners on how to choose a listing agent, I always tell them to look for an agent who has the most SOLD signs in the neighborhood. This applies to newspaper and magazine advertisements, too. Advertise your success by advertising your SOLD listings.