Here are some of my suggestions:

On some morning, look in the MLS for vacant houses. Make a list of houses you are interested in seeing, get out there and take a look. Take a friend with you that likes going to see houses. This will give you a jump start on what is on the market and help you price your potential listings.

Hold open houses for other agents, it will give you the opportunity to meet with buyers and hone your communication skills. Plus you get to see more houses that are on market.

Wear your name tag everywhere and always have cards on you. Once in a while, someone will stop you with a question. Occasionally someone will mistake you for a store employee, but that gives you an opportunity to laugh about it, talk to that person and hand out a card. Don’t have your card holder buried in the bottom of your purse, have it in your jacket pocket or somewhere you can access it instantly.

Join your local Chamber of Commerce or other business organizations, go to the functions and network.

If you have hobbies, use that as a chance to meet people. Go to crafter’s markets or craft shows, even better, set up a table where you can hang some advertising for your RE business. Or say cats are more your thing, join the local cat fancier’s club. You get the idea…

Participate in home shows or other events that people attend and you can get a table fairly cheap. I recently went to a fund raiser for the local humane society and there was a RE office in town with a table set up. They did have a nice RE display, but it was an animal event, so most people were walking right by. They needed to give dog and cat people a reason to stop at their table.

Don’ts – Don’t spend money on companies that say they will give you leads, they generally stink. Don’t get a reputation for being difficult or hard to get a hold of. Don’t spend a bunch of money on mailings unless you can give people a reason to call you. The introduction and promo letter is nice, but as Ron said, the response rate is very low. Ask your trainer about what you can offer (besides the free CMA that everyone else offers) that will make your phone ring. I did alot of mailings this year, and I got two listings from them, but that was alot of work for that low of a response.

Don’t promise what you cannot deliver. Don’t say things like “I can sell your house in 60 days” – people remember those promises and will gladly tell friends you are full of it.

Good luck, keep your chin up, a smile on your face, go out there and get those listings!

DON’T fax every person in every office the same fax about your listings or services. Its not necessary. Many offices have a bulletin board or the agents can go on-line to the brokerage web site OR YOUR web site OR YOUR broker‘s site.

DON’T text message for the same reasons.

DON’T use direct mail to promote your listings and services.

Some time ago, I read a statistic which may or may not be true today:
FOR EVERY piece of direct mail a company or an individual sends, ONLY 1 in 100 will respond to that direct-mail promotion.

At today’s postal rates – 1st class – that’s $41 you could use for other purposes. THAT’S the cost JUST for the reponse! This DOES NOT include the cost of buying the stationery and envelopes, toner etc.

JUST to get the appointment is 1 in about 250-500. Your costs are accelerating, aren’t they? AND you STILL DON’T have a sale!

It takes about 1,500 to 2,000 direct mail pieces to get JUST one appointment ALL the way to the closing/settlement/escrow.
That’s about $600 to $800+ before you see one dollar – not to mentin your time – “spinning your wheels”, wasting your time.

((((You haven’t made the sale – yet.)))))

DON’T lease or spend [notice I didn't say "invest"] your hard-earned money for a piece of equipment with automatic phone dialing and recording/speaking features, telling agents about your listings and services.
Do you like getting those telemarketing calls?
Do you like or mind getting any telemarketing calls?

If I haven’t discouraged you, we’ll move on to the “grey area”: “cold canvassing”.
Its a terrific way to meet people face-to-face, one-on-one! It requires going to the same houses about once every two weeks – or even more frequently.

Know your market AND your product. Know how to solve various situations ["problems"] which arise on a regular basis.

When you DON’T know how to solve those problems, you KNOW what hoops and hurdles you have jump over, under, around and through to speak with the right person to get the answers and solutions to get your deals to the settlemnt table/to closing/to escrow.

The above are the DON’Ts, here are a couple DOs:

AND what about the cost of your business cards? Do you think you can “cut corners” and make a good impression with those thin, flat, lifeless, computer-generated cards?

PLEASE DO yourself a HUGE favor: Invest your time to sit down and properly design your business cards. If you aren’t sure, please go to a professional printer or graphic arts store and ask for help and guidance. Those folks should amaze you with ideas and concepts. In the long run, good, professionally printed business cards with raised lettering and features, go a long way to show others you care – about yourself, about your business and about your clients.

When you leave, your contacts and clients have two things:
1] Good, bad or indifferent – the impression you left.
2] Your business card.

Don’t you think it makes good sense to invest your money in a good, quality business card? Have your cards professionally printed.

Find an investment group – or two – or more with professional real estate investors. JOIN it/them &&&&&&&&&&&&& BE ACTIVE!!!! Get on committees, get to be known as a “can do” type of person. You should have fun [and Yes, some aggravation, too]. You should make some friends and begin building your client base. You should get leads! AND look how much time, money and aggravation you’ll save! LOTS!

As the saying goes, “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.”

What the saying doesn’t tell anyone or even mention is: YOU MUST get out there and let “the world” know about that better mousetrap!

Thanks for asking your Q! I enjoyed answering it!

VTY,
Ron Berue
Yes, that is my real last name!