Realtors - Are You Prospecting When You Should Be Farming?

Recently some words jumped out at me from a web page. They were "Farming vs. Hunting."

For some reason they stayed in my mind and I kept coming back to those words and pondering them all day. Words and their meanings fascinate me.

Later it hit me: For months now I've been using the word "prospecting" to describe the many marketing methods real estate agents use to gather in new customers and clients. The letter sets I've written for agents to use to connect with new buyers and sellers are even on a page that's labeled "prospecting."

But I was wrong.

In truth, what I've been advising real estate professionals to do is not prospecting; it's farming. Prospecting is more like the "hunting" reference that got me started on this train of thought.

You're not sifting through the sand hoping to find a golden nugget. You're planting seeds and nurturing those seeds through the growing season and into harvest. Or at least you should be.

Your first letter is the seed, and your subsequent letters are the sun, rain, and fertilizer that helps those seeds grow. When you do it all correctly, you reap the harvest of a new client or another closed transaction with a past client.

By the time your future customers have read your 3rd or 4th letter, the seeds that are good will have sprouted, and the rest of your letters will serve to nurture them. The remaining letters will add more sun, rain, and fertilizer until they blossom and reward you with a harvest.

Farming isn't limited to planting seeds via letters and e-mails you send to new prospects.

You plant another seed every time you meet a new person and give your elevator speech. You plant another every time you speak with someone on the phone and offer your advice or assistance. You plant a seed when you send a Twitter message or put a nugget of real estate advice on your Facebook page.

Your monthly or quarterly newsletters; your phone calls to past clients; your participation in community meetings; and even casual chats with those in your sphere of influence all provide nurturing for seeds you've already planted.

You may be prospecting at the same time - sifting the sand for those folks who might need your services in the future. But by continually offering your advice and assistance once you've found them, you're farming - nurturing your relationship and increasing the chance that when they need the kind of help that customers pay for, they'll call on you.

I'm sure there's not a real estate agent on this planet who doesn't know what I mean when I talk about prospecting. The word has been interchangeable with farming for as long as I can remember.

But there really is a difference between prospecting and farming, and we as marketers need to use both activities.

Marte Cliff is a freelance copywriter specializing in writing for real estate and related fields. She offers custom copy for websites, email campaigns, press releases, postcards, direct mail letters, newsletters, and more.

Marte also offers pre-written real estate letters for agents who know they need to prospect but just don't have the time or desire to write their own letters. See how she can help build your business by visiting http://www.copybymarte.com

For those who prefer the "do it yourself" method, Marte has a free report on how to organize and and write a "drip campaign" that will build trust and reel in new clients. Just visit her at http://www.copybymarte.com/dripmarketing.html to request your copy.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marte_Cliff

" I Always Do My Best to Give you the Best " So, Don't FORGET to LIKE, TWEET or SHARE THIS.)