Of all the hair-brained things I’ve ever done with my business, this was one of them. Yes - there have been many, but this one stands out in my mind as one of the biggest wastes of money. The problem is that it seemed like such a good idea!! I won’t say it accomplished NOTHING, but it was close to nothing. I fell prey to the lights and the dazzle and all the not-so-subtle promises of success that are targeted directly at my kind - small business owners.  It wasn’t the first time I’d tried to go big and easy in hopes of a quick return on investment. It’s just that this time it was more expensive. What did I do? I spent money on advertising in the wrong place!

In my efforts to be a better writer than I am, I may have caused you to expect that I lost tens of thousands of dollars. Forgive me if I over-dramatized but the $2600 we wasted was a big deal at the time. Heck, it still would be! You see, there is an entire industry built around trying to sell things to small businesses to help them sell themselves. In a way, it’s even what we do for our clients. We’re here to help them market their own small real estate business.

The industry I’m referring to is the industry that sells you the opportunity to see your name - your business name - in lights! It’s kind of a thrill, really. It’s not that there’s nothing wrong with this industry, - they most certainly have their place. It’s just that if you’re like me, seeing your logo on a billboard or in the phone book or custom pens or stress-balls or letter-openers or stuffed animals or any number of other things makes you feel a little more “professional”.

After all, what fly-by-night operation would be able to have their logo engraved on 6,000 custom glow-in-the-dark snorkels and distributed to all the local real estate offices, right? Ok, so it wasn’t snorkels. But we did sink $2,600 in to lighted bus-bench ads. Yup. We designed the ads and strategically placed them next to several of the big real estate offices in a city nearby. The idea was that over the 2 months we had them, real estate agents would drive by dozens or even hundreds of times and were bound to see them and act. Great theory. Care to take any guesses on how many calls we got from new clients as a result? Yup. Zero.

It could have been any number of things - from the length of time not being enough to a poor ad design. Who knows. Bottom line is that if I knew then what I know now - I could have put that $2600 to FAR better use! Other things that haven’t worked so well? Yellow pages, flyers in real estate offices (limited success) and radio ads.

I’d like to share with you what has worked well for us. Keep in mind each market is different, and everyone’s skill sets are unique so your mileage may vary. The following methods are tried and true for our business and may help you out!

1. Google. Can’t say it enough. At this point we spend the majority of our marketing budget on Google Adwords. The nice part here is that if your ad isn’t clicked on - you don’t pay. I can’t even begin to scratch the surface on all the control, capabilities, strategies and techniques you have with this marketing tool, but suffice it to say that if you manage it right, it can give you a great return on investment.

2. Google. I know I said it twice - but it’s important! This time though I’m not talking about paid search (Adwords), I’m talking about your organic search results in Google, Bing and any other search engines. Again this is an art and a science, but if you can place on the first page for key search terms like “Real Estate Photography Denver”, “Colorado virtual tours providers” etc., it will bring many clients to you.

3. Trade shows. Be there. Just do it.

4. One-on-one personal contact. This isn’t the quick solution to reach thousands at once without effort... but reaching thousands at once without effort is expensive AND it doesn’t work. Find a client you want to woo. Call them up and offer them something, a coupon, a discount etc and share with them what you can offer. Buy them lunch. Breaking the ice may require that you join and participate in your local board of REALTORS... this way you’ll get the chance for them to get to know you. Give it time and don’t rush things, but be diligent!

I’d love to hear your success and failure stories on the topic of marketing and advertising! Post your comments and share with me and others what has worked and what has flopped.

Tim

Colorado Virtual Tours

www.ColoradoVirtualTours.com

Vantage Point Imagery

www.VantagePointImagery.com