Todd Bates - Stop Wasting Money on Ineffective Farming

Farming. And we’re not talking corn fields and chickens. As a fellow REALTOR, you know what I’m talking about: marketing an area for listings.

Our goal is to pick a farm (aka neighborhood), plant seeds, cultivate it, and watch it grow. Then, our favorite part… the harvest (i.e., collecting those commissions). Farming, in real estate agent terms, is simply to market a target area with the goal of earning a great living.

One important aspect to consider in farming is how much to SPEND. We all get bombarded with sales pitches from companies selling paper goods and trinkets to REALTORs to use as farming tools. So… do you spend the extra 40 cents each for the glossy postcard? Or, buy 1,000 fly swatters with your name printed on the back?

Tough decisions.

I listened in on a conference call this week with Todd Bates, who offers coaching to real estate agents, on “How to Choose, Target, and Dominate your Farm Area.” It was an enjoyable and informative call - here is what I learned:

According to Todd Bates, founder of the Master Your Marketing program, we need to stop wasting money on farming gizmos that don’t work. He has worked with thousands of clients and tested the results of common items and mail pieces used by agents. Based on experience, he has come up with a list of ineffective farming tools.

Todd Bates says DON’T send these out to your farm:

1. Newsletters in the mail
2. Magnets
3. Calendars
4. Recipe Cards
5. Personal Brochure
6. Personal Magazine
7. Anything in a Business Envelope
8. Sports Schedules (and related “lists”)
9. Holiday Reminders (mailings, October pumpkins, July 4th flags, etc.)

Now… I can just hear your gasps and feel your tempers flaring. How many of us have done one or more of the things in the list and actually GOT business? Probably all of us.

And, I don’t think Todd is saying that we won’t get any business from these. I think his point is that to be more effective, we need to stand out from the crowd. There are ways to have a better return on our marketing dollars - and ways to spend less and still get more business.

For the REALTOR who is just starting out with little or no cash (or for any of us in a slump), Todd has some excellent news on how to get listings quickly through farming. That’s good news for those of us who thought we needed to wait 6-12 months… just to see if our marketing actually worked.

Here are some of Todd’s recommendations:

Pick the Right Farm: This is important because picking the wrong farm could mean alot of wasted time and money for you.

• 750-1000+ homes (this is a minimum)
• 8% or more turnover rate (if no one ever moves in/out, you make no $$)
• Median price range for your market (recommended because this is what sells the most)
• Do NOT choose an area if one agent dominates more than 20% of the listings (because you don’t want to spin your wheels competing with an established agent)

Make your Marketing Message Powerful and Risk-Free: You need to separate yourself from the crowd so that among all the agents a seller can choose from, they choose you.

• Commission Rates (have 3+ plans to choose from)
• Statistics that Sell You (do your homes sell faster?, for more money?, etc.)
• Testimonials from Past Clients
• Marketing Plan (have yours detailed in your pre-list package)
• Team (get one, even if it’s just one assistant to help you with all the detail and follow-up work)
• Offer a Guarantee (I’ll sell your home in X days or ___, etc.)

Schedule your Marketing Plan: Todd says to plan this 6 months in advance. And get help so that things get done on time. Your goal should be to reach a 20%+ market share of all the listings in your farm.

• Todd promotes a 12-4-3-2 plan
• 12 times per year: Send out a direct mail piece.
• 4 times per year: Send out a market update.
• 3 times per year: Make a personal contact (door knock, phone call, voice broadcast, etc.)
• 2 times per year: Invite your farm to an event or sponsor an event in the community.

It’s important to understand and stick to a marketing budget. While you may still be huffing over Todd’s controversial “no” list of farming pieces, see what you think of his list of effective farming tools:

Farming Tools that Todd Bates loves:

1. Door-to-door flyers
2. Small “Just Listed” or “Just Sold” postcards
3. emailed Newsletters
4. Inserts in the local paper or neighborhood publication
5. Direct mail piece followed up with a voice broadcast

While the best methods to use in a successful farming campaign can certainly be argued, one thing is for sure: Farming can only be successful if you are consistent and persistent with your marketing message.