4 Lead Generation Ideas For New Real Estate Agents
Becoming a real estate agent is an excellent career move. You have the potential to earn a substantial income while doing something interesting and fun. You've passed your exam, gotten your license, and signed on with a real estate company. The next step is to begin proactively generating leads. After all, if you are one of the many real estate agents who only earn a commission, you need to get some leads in your pipeline immediately, so that hopefully you can begin earning a few months from now. Here are a few lead generation ideas to try:
Network in Person Like Crazy
Eventually, most of your leads will hopefully come from referrals as your happy customers start to recommend your services to their friends and family. But when you're first starting out, you need to actively network as much as possible to generate that early business. Look for professional networking events and meet-up groups in your area.
Bring business cards, aim to be genuine and easy to talk to, and let those in-person connections happen naturally instead of being aggressive in your approach. Those new contacts likely all know at least one person who will be selling or buying a home in the next few months.
Build an Online Presence
These days, at least 44% of home buyers begin their search online. This means it's crucial to have an online presence from the very beginning. Your website, blog, and social media presence are all ways to generate leads. You may want to hire a professional digital marketing expert or service to get your online presence set up. This will mean that it's SEO-optimized from the start, allowing prospective customers to easily find your blog, website, and social profiles when they search for a real estate agent in their area.
Your online presence, especially social media, is also a great way to build a community and interact with prospects. Be sure to respond to comments and questions promptly and with tact and professionalism.
Invest in Traditional Advertising
While digital marketing is a powerful tool, you shouldn't overlook the importance of traditional advertising methods for generating real estate leads. These methods include things like ads in local magazines and newspapers, yard signs, billboards, and even television commercials. Since traditional advertising can be expensive, it's wise to start small, keep track of which methods are generating the most consistent leads, and then focus your budget in that area.
For example, if you are getting a lot of leads from people who noticed your billboard while driving, it may be worthwhile to add another billboard at a second high-traffic location in your city.
Sign Up for a Real Estate Agent Lead Service
Perhaps the wisest investment you can make into your lead generation strategy is signing up with a real estate agent lead service. What these services do is target quality leads that perfectly fit your customer persona. They guide these leads via targeted advertising to sign up for your email list. Lead services also automate much of the lead generation and nurturing process to save you serious time while getting better results.
For example, they may send a welcome email on your behalf to interested leads. This ensures that the leads you receive in your inbox are truly interested, cutting down on wasted time spent on unlikely prospects.
As you can see, there are several proven ways to take control of your lead generation as a new real estate agent. Life as a new real estate agent is exciting, and by following these tips, you will help ensure that it's lucrative as well.