Dear Customer, Enjoy this
Month's Issue of the Master
Marketing Newsletter™
A Guide to Strategic Marketing
for Top Producers

Clean Slate Club!
Your perspective can--and will--have a tremendous impact on how you experience the new year. If you are living an abundant life--rich in the knowledge that you love what you do and are passionate about providing your clients the very best products and services--you will set the pace for an extraordinary year.

If, by contrast, you view the year ahead as 12 months filled with more debt, complicated challenges and an overwhelming feeling of doubt, then you will subconsciously set the tone for a difficult 2007.

As independent contractors and, frankly, as human beings, it is our right to choose how we greet each new day, each new challenge.

This month, consider your slate clean. Never mind disappointments of the past and, for all they are worth, accomplishments you’ve achieved so far. This is a new year. A unique opportunity to bring your best self to the table. A chance to master the balance between personal, professional and family time. The slate is yours. What will you write?

Six Steps to Setting the Pace
for Success in the New Year
Simplicity, Systems and Key Strategies for Sales Professionals
By Julia Escobar, Corporate Marketing Director
No matter the market you're in,
each new year brings with it both challenges and opportunities. What becomes of them is up to you!

Top sales professionals consistently overcome the challenges and embrace the opportunities. It all begins with a focused plan, the right mindset and the willingness to implement systems and strategies key to sales success.

As the new year dawns, why not embrace the opportunities before you and accept challenges as the competition eliminators that they are. Jump in with both feet, whole heart and the same strong-mindedness that catapults mega-agents to phenomenal heights. Here are six steps that will help get you there:

1. Find your bull's eye. Any successful business plan begins with a vision of what you would like to achieve. Many rookie agents mistakenly make that goal non-specific and ever changing. Without clear definition and an unwavering commitment to vision, it is far too easy to stray
off course.

How do you hit the bull's eye? Start with the focus of an athlete, add the stamina of a scholar, and mix it with the precision of a surgeon. Sit down today and write out what you want to achieve this year in specific terms - with tangible, attainable, just-beyond-your-reach goals. Make the goals personal to you - not what others want or need you to do. Your vision has to inspire you daily, monthly and throughout the next 12 months. Make it just lofty enough that you have to stretch, and make sure it's something that you are passionate to the core about.

Got it? Now take that paper, with the written words of what you want to accomplish - or, better still, pictures of all that you wish to attain over the next year - and make three copies. Place one copy on the mirror you face each morning and night, carry one in your planner as a reminder of what you are working toward, and give one to your integrity partner as your commitment to do what you say you will do. Now you have an achievable goal - your own personal bull's eye to hit.

2. Back it up with a budget. Amazingly, about 90% of agents only make enough to break even at the end of the year. Why? Too often, it's because they don't accurately assess how much they need to cover their expenses and fund their visions.

Sales is a numbers game. How much do you need to achieve your goals and meet your monthly expenses, including costs that directly promote and propel your production to the next level? Many business analysts suggest at least 10% of your income should stay within your business. Invest in yourself, in your career and in that vision, and you will build an unbeatable foundation for your future.

Start with what you need to make, on a monthly and annual basis. Create two spreadsheets to track your income and expenses. Your personal budget will reflect personal and family obligations such as your mortgage, insurance, food, clothing, contributions, etc. Your business budget will reflect the 10% or more necessary to maintain a healthy career (i.e., advertising, collateral material, desk costs, automobile, cell phone, education, marketing expenditures, dues and convention expenses). Be as thorough as possible with this budget to avoid finding yourself short at year's end. Add the estimated cost of your "vision" for the year, whether it's a substantial increase in dollar volume, a new car, a family trip, investment property, etc.

Now you have your target amount - a tangible, calculated number that you can track backward to coincide with daily activity. How many calls do you need to make to talk to enough people, to set enough appointments, to list enough houses, to close enough transactions, to realize your goal? Give yourself some "wiggle" room to accommodate the inevitable mishaps along the way.

Next, with calendar in hand and your whole year ahead, physically write out what you need to accomplish each day. Make sure to schedule vacations and personal time, and adjust your work days accordingly. Commit to those numbers with unquestionable focus, and you will have the year you imagine.

3. Commit to consistency. The key to recurring referral revenue lies in a commitment to consistent, effective communication. Based on the 3-7-27 law of marketing, it takes at least three contacts for a consumer to remember your name, up to seven contacts for a prospect to place your name with your line of business, and up to 27 contacts for a customer to like you, know you and feel comfortable enough to trust you with their business. Unfortunately, many inexperienced agents quit after one or two contacts - even though most transactions are made well after the fifth.

You can boost your referral base in the coming year by applying a BusinessBASE™ system of consistent follow up. Free to you by visiting our site, this client follow-up program is based on a Send-Call-See approach to referral marketing every three to four weeks. The system includes myriad reasons to make contact, ways to increase your customer's comfort level and creative systems for adding tremendous amounts of prospects to your sphere of influence. Far beyond a "mailing list" marketing program, we even guarantee six additional transactions in the coming year if you put the system in place.

4. Work high-priority activities. As a professional salesperson, you get paid to do three things: prospect, present and close. Those are the activities closest to your revenue line and should remain your daily focus for the best opportunity to hit your goals.

While getting caught up in the "creativity" of designing your own marketing pieces or dredging up the latest dirt around the water cooler might be interesting distractions, such activities put you on the fast track to becoming off track. Instead, invest in yourself, in your career and in the goals you've set. Automate, outsource and streamline your marketing so you can focus on what you do best: listing and
selling homes.

5. Put systems in place. In a shifting market where competitive factors are constantly changing, putting multiple systems in place to consistently reach prospects is a must-have solution. While low producers simply wait for the phone to ring - and still others choose to "purchase" the business by spending tremendous resources on advertising, referral fees and more - top producers choose to "earn" their business daily by implementing multi-layered marketing campaigns.

Drip marketing campaigns - a series of mailings every three to four weeks that keep your name in front of prospects - offer an effective yet non-intrusive way to contact your prospects. Well-placed direct-response ads that are simple to respond to and offer low-pressure information for FSBOs, expireds and first-time homeowners also are effective. Putting a corporate marketing system in place to reach local businesses with 25 or more employees is another creative way to build your business while bypassing the Do Not Call Registry obstacles that face the majority of REALTORS® today. Look for future articles that spell this system out in detail.

6. Data mine for "best results" marketing. Once you understand the demographics and psychographics of your perfect customer profile or niche market, you can fine-tune your marketing materials to speak directly to them, their interests and their needs.

For example, you speak to a seller differently than a buyer, and you communicate with an FSBO differently than a first-time homeowner. Whatever "customer profile" best suits your style and comfort level, you have the ability to manipulate nationwide databases to find the prospects in your area that most closely fit your targeted demographic.

You also can narrow your field choices to select the criteria that interest you most. You may want to select homeowners in your area that have household incomes of more than $300,000 and have lived in their homes for at least five years. Statistics from the National Association of REALTORS® tells us that, historically, this group has a high probability of moving in the next two years.

You also can use this data mining technique to become the best in your field at niche marketing. For example, you can pinpoint local builders, small business owners or CPAs, cater to their specific needs, and become the "go-to" agent for that prospect group.

In short, be as specific as possible as you prepare for the year ahead. Whether you are goal setting, finding a niche that suits you, or establishing the right systems for your experience or comfort level, a well-defined plan with a laser beam-focused goal and an unwavering commitment to move that plan forward each and every day will undoubtedly translate into financial and career accolades over the next 12 months.

To find out more about our BusinessBASE™ system for consistent, effective follow up, visit www.prospectsplus.com today. While you are there, you may want to investigate our MarketShare Online data mining technology to get a feel for which demographic or niche you would like to target in the coming year.

Its's Here... our FREE 2007-2008 Master Marketing Schedule™, a tool designed to guide you through 24 months of strategic marketing campaigns.

If you have questions or ideas you would like to share,
call Julie at 800.287.5710.

And the Winner Is... Shirley Byrd-Solem,
Century 21 The Neil Company Real Estate
"I have been a Real Estate Consultant for 24 years; however, a move to a new state 11 months ago created a situation where I am starting all over. Recently I received a call from an elderly woman. She simply said, "Honey, I want you to come over and talk to me about selling my house."

When I asked who referred her to me, she said, "I have your card right here." I set an appointment and, when I arrived, I found a wonderful, bright, alert, senior citizen. Her daughter was present, and together they decided to list with me. I asked again how she found my card. She produced the Just Sold card I had sent through ProspectsPLUS!

I then noticed that there were three other ProspectsPLUS! cards in addition to my own. I asked, "Why me?" She explained she let her faith decide all of her major decisions. She simply closed her eyes and asked for guidance on who she should choose. I, too, am a woman of faith, and I thank you, ProspectsPLUS! for the opportunity to serve this woman while growing my business!" -- Shirley Byrd-Solem

Shirley will receive 500 FREE postcards, including postage! You could be our next winner! Just e-mail us your testimonial today to be entered in our monthly drawing! Don't delay, act today!

Book Review
Think and Grow Rich
by Napoleon Hill
As you begin a new year, an old favorite comes to mind as a great way to find the right mindset to realize your goals and dreams. It has taught hundreds of thousands of people the practical steps to high achievement and financial independence. Some classics are worth re-reading.

January Master Marketing Tips!
Start your year off on the right foot by taking a day or two to update your BusinessBASE™. Be sure to add new customers and prospects, and weed out the old ones. This will ensure you have the freshest list possible for marketing throughout the year!

If you do not currently have the BusinessBASE™ system, please visit our site today for this FREE contact management system GUARANTEED to earn you SIX EXTRA COMMISSIONS in the next 12 months!

Did you know... January is National Thank You Month! Send movie tickets to 12 of your favorite clients to thank them for letting you be “part of the picture!” 

It's also National Eye Care Month.  Reach out to local eye doctors
in your area by visiting
MarketShare Online!

Hot Off the Presses! The All-New 2007-2008 Master Marketing Schedule™ is available today! This 24-month calendar is an invaluable guide to keeping your marketing fresh, innovative and on time.
Find out more...

ProspectsPLUS! Support Center
Have you seen our new video yet? Our new corporate video was launched on INMAN Stories in October. We are excited to offer this new resource to share our story with clients and industry leaders across the country!

If you have
any technical or implementation questions, we'd be glad to help.

Just give us
a call at
800. 287.5710.

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