Plan the Campaign

Map out a schedule for your marketing campaign using either an electronic calendar tool such as Microsoft Outlook, Now Up-to-Date and Contact, or a handheld organizer. For example, if you send postcards to your "farm" every month, or an e-mail newsletter every month, or test a new type of marketing or advertising twice a year, schedule these as well as the deadlines for producing these materials. With a schedule, you'll know they happen on time every time.

Similarly, when marketing a listing, schedule the open houses plus the deadlines for creating the flyers and newspaper ad copy, for e-mail or postcard mailings advertising the lists to your "farm" or contact list, and for distributing flyers to other agents.

Don't forget to schedule in time to update your contact lists periodically. Even if you add new contacts as they come in, you need to remove "cold" leads, opt-out requests, bounced e-mail addresses, and so forth on a regular basis. You should plan to review your contact list twice a year or once a quarter to understand whom you are marketing to so you can assess whether you need to change the mix.

Also, schedule timeonce or twice a yearto assess your marketing efforts and fine-tune your business plan.