This time of the year is the perfect time to consider what new strategies and tools you'll need to stay competitive in the coming year. Your business planning, ideally, should be part of the last quarter of the year so you can hit the ground running in January.
An important element in your business planning for 2004, after you have gathered the information on what worked and didn't work (or worked less efficiently than you would have liked, given the dollars invested), is allocating your marketing dollars for the coming year.
Some of the important questions are:
- What 20 percent of your dollars are giving you 80 percent of your results ?
- What segments of the market are responding to your efforts?
- Where are you getting diminishing returns for your dollars?
- What new market trends or niches do you want to expand into in 2004?
- How can you give value to your target market markets that will differentiate your services from everybody else?
The answers to these questions will help you decide where to judiciously spend money in 2004, rather than just adding new marketing to the old. Technology continues to afford us opportunities to build our brand and name awareness in many different ways. Perhaps, though, the good news is that the number of new products and "must haves" has slowed from the crazy days of the dot.com heyday. At the NAR tradeshow in San Francisco, it was actually manageable and allowed time to talk with the tried and true suppliers who were offering new enhancements as well as take a look at a few new tools.
Here's a quick overview of some cool tools for 2004:
CreateAPlan developed by Wright Computing is the ultimate tool for business planning. This service not only helps you pull all your numbers together for short and long term projections, but also enables you to do all those "what if" scenarios, like cutting your commission ½% or hiring an assistant. Download the free demo to take a look at what you get. At only $49.95, you'll be right on top of your numbers. And it will make it easy as you go through the year to pull a current report and know EXACTLY where you are in relation to your goals for the year and what actions need to be taken.
RESPOND by seminars and systems by Pat Zaby Finally! A user-friendly database for real estate agents that doesn't require a monthly fee, isn't difficult and works with what you already have: Outlook! As a business coach, I am very excited about this product, because finally you can have real estate information on your contact fields, the ability to apply and create "campaigns" (action plans) and seamlessly connect with the hundreds of marketing pieces in The Marketing Library or any materials you create. Every agent needs systems to stay in contact so they can focus on seeing the maximum number of people in person! It has a "no-risk, 30-day, money-back guarantee", so you can try it and then decide.
450 Ideas To Sell Your Home Faster is a downloadable ebook for you to WOW your potential sellers with. For a one time charge of $24.97, you get unlimited rights to download and reproduce this great book. For an additional $20, you can have the setup done to add your personal information PLUS for a limited time, you also get 2 extras: Moving With Kids and Moving with Pets! Whether you use them to give you an edge in getting the listing or as a value give away for prospecting FSBO's ... this will be the best $45 you spend this month.
Take some time today to decide on a few things that will give you the edge in 2004. What do you need to become more systematized so you can be more efficient and less busy? What do you need to differentiate yourself on listing appointments? How can you reach more people through warm contacts, rather than cold? These answers to questions should provide you with a few ways to tweak your marketing plan for 2004, so you can make it the best year yet!
Published: December 19, 2003
Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.
 Joeann Fossland ePRO, GRI, MCC, PMN, SRS is a dynamic speaker and business coach. Co-creator of THE REAL ESTATE GAME® and NoBloggerLeftBehind.com, she provides coaching solutions to enhance your effectiveness and life balance. You can subscribe to her free weekly tips, attend free monthly tele-seminars, and find out about classes delivered by email and personal coaching by visiting Joeann.com or email her at .
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