Great idea Gaylen ~ I like to stand out by extensive online marketing.

Nice! 5 stars for sure. We all need to be thinking like this. As a mortgage lender we have always emphasized our differences - our niche. When people think "real estate investing loans - commercial or residential" they think Novation Mortgage. Even though we're not seeing as much business now we're seeing more than most of our competition. Thanks, Gaylen. Nice post.

Offering the homeowner a staging consultation is another idea.  Sellers will see this as a value added service and appreciate your extra effort to get them more for their home.  For a few hundred dollars (I charge $225-$350 depending on square footage) a professional stager will provide the seller with a detailed room by room report on what they can do to improve the appearance of the home and make it appeal to the most prospective buyers.  If you have a motivated seller that is willing to invest a little time and effort, the results can be a quicker and more profitable sale.  

Great incentive there for sure!  We try to stand out by being upfront and an honest real estate group.  One of the great things about being part of a team is what our listed clients might not have gotten from the listing agent they usually get from the assistant. 

Case in point--we have a home listed by an elderly gentleman.  The listing agent and him kinda of rub each other the wrong way and amazingly enough he hasn't switched companies.  I had the opportunity to go out and meet with the gentleman to add a sign rider to his existing sign.  Well, apparently he got what he was missing from the listing agent because now he calls me for every little detail and tells me that he will be with us until the end.

Setting yourself apart is giving that special little touch when it is needed!

Hi Gaylen, nice layout on the marketing aspect of separating yourself from other agents and career professionals.  Great post.

Anybody can lean on someone elses services and offer them like a home warranty or a buydown program, but I think those ideas are simply just GIMMICKS!  Not many educated people fall for GIMMICKS!  Instead I am completely up front, brutally honest, and have a PLAN! 

The majority of agents who I compete with for listings simply fail to PLAN!  I won my first million dollar listing over many other so-called "superstars" or "big gun" agents because I simply walked in the door and handed the seller an agenda to go over for the evening.

Being detailed oriented and honest and likeable are the most important traits in a real estate agent and you can definitely see that FIRE BURNING inside them when you meet one of those agents that has it!  They make the other agents cower in the corner and go back to their office and play floor duty waiting for the phone to ring!

If you actually sit down and develop a comprehensive detailed approach and a business plan (which may take several weeks, months, years, and really should always continue to be fine tuned every once in a while) and then work that PLAN to the fullest daily, you will NEVER have to worry about getting business and making money in real estate!

LINDA - Honesty is always necessary and you are certainly right on the money with your details.

GARY - Thanks, there are lots of ways to market and I'm sure you have many that you have been successful with as well.

MICHAEL - You certainly have a right to your opinion and if you feel the above are gimmicks, so be it. However, I think you missed the point since my post was over one aspect of a total plan, not the entire plan. But thanks for taking time to respond.