If you’re not building your email list, you’re not building your real estate business!

If you’re in real estate anywhere, I’m sure you’ll know what I mean when I say our industry is highly competitive.

So I’d like to give you some basic tools and ideas to help you move towards becoming the real estate authority in your area and give yourself a compelling point of difference.

I know of many areas where there are more than 500 agents all competing to win the hearts and minds of buyers and sellers. Yep. Scary but true!

In fact, it’s probably safe to say that real estate has never been this competitive.

To illustrate, I’d like you to do something for me.

Open a Google.com search on your browser and type in ‘real estate’ and your area.

You’ll mostly see a list of companies at the top then trailing down, some individuals.

But if you’re not on page 1 then it really doesn’t matter anyway because research says that very few people will look past page 1.

If you’re on page one (I mean you personally) then I’m impressed. If the message you’re using is good, you should be printing cash because of all the seller and buyer traffic you’re getting.

But chances are you’re not on page 1 of Google because, as I mentioned, it’s so competitive and the big real estate companies and dominant domains have deep pockets with plenty of cash to throw at Search Engine Optimization solutions to catch maximum eyeballs.

That means you need to look elsewhere to build your following to ensure your new business pipeline is always full!

That means you need to get a little innovative and creative.

While the others are zigging, you’re zagging… you with me?

And if that Google search has left you feeling a little flat and unloved, I’ve got some great news.

It’s fairly obvious there are too many agents. But the good news is that very few agents are also good at marketing themselves making it easier for any agent who knows about marketing to shine!

If you’re not convinced, take a look around. Can you see how most agents are doing the same old thing?

From every indication it would appear that less than 5% of agents are really any good at marketing which is why 5% of agents seem to do at least 80% of the business but probably more.

The rest are lost in a sea of confusion and marketing experiments.

They try different ideas with limited success but nothing seems to change.

Meanwhile, the good agents, the 5 percenters, are cleaning up.

They have multiple lead generators and contact ‘attractors’ working for them 24/7.

So here’s the thing: The agent with the most contacts wins.

Quite simply, if you’re not building your email list and contact database, you’re not building your business.

Let me put it another way.

The more contacts you have, the more business you will do.

And if you think I speak with fork tongue, come back when you’ve finished this article and watch this interview with Sydney agent, Adrian Bo. Adrian has 12,000 contacts which is why he makes a gazillion dollars in real estate each year.

The fastest way you can join the 5 percent club is to start being awesome at attracting and keeping an ever-growing list of contacts.

Let’s look at where the low hanging fruit is waiting for us. It’s plump, ripe, juicy and just ready for us to devour!

As I type these words and as you read them, a buyer or seller (and probably both) is doing a little Google search all of their own. They may have even typed in your name to check you out.

They might be looking at your website, the quality of your images and a hundred other things to see if they and you might be a fit.

I think it’s safe to assume that an increasing number of your NEW contacts will be finding you online and that’s where ‘the funnel’ comes into play.

I want you to imagine your business as a giant funnel.

I drew this on a plane so it’s a little rough but you’ll get the idea.

Can you see how the output of your funnel is entirely dependent on the input? In other words, the more that goes in, the more you can expect to come out.

So what I’m saying is that it’s really all about the numbers.

It may be a search, it might be social media, who knows and who cares as long as your funnel fillers are set up and cranking like crazy!

Here’s a quick to do list to make sure you’re on track.
1. Get a state-of-the-art CRM
2. Systemize your ‘funnel fillers’
3. Provide awesome engaging contact