Let me start by saying that I’m not a big fan of most Real Estate Marketing books. The vast majority I’ve read focus on outdated and/or manipulative sales practices or hype up how quickly you can make zillions of dollars. Thankfully, this book isn’t one of them.

Instead, Cook relays a number of tips that any new agent would be wise to heed. The first is that there are no shortcuts – that if you want to succeed, you’ll need to work hard. Yes, there are stories of people who stumbled upon big deals during their first few weeks on the job but there are far more stories about people who didn’t get paid for upwards of 9 months after kicking off their Real Estate Marketing career.

The secret to Real Estate Marketing success is preparation and this book gives it to you straight. You’re going to be running a business, which means you need resources and a supply of cash not only to live off of until you get your first paycheck but also to pay for all the expenses that come with starting out on your own.

You’re also going to be working long hours – an informal Real Estate Marketing study quoted in the book found that the average new agent works 6.27 days per week and 7.85 hours per day – so you’ll need to make sure your family understands that you’ll be putting in long hours for little pay.

And, of course, Real Estate Marketing competition is fierce. Sometimes, you’ll be working with your colleagues against competitors. Sometimes, you’ll be working with your competitors against colleagues. Sometimes, buyers won’t understand how agents work and will sign a deal without you.

Where do you find clients? Cook gives a number of tips. He advocates marketing yourself rather than your firm, suggests you create a database from your sphere of influence asap, and provides stories from agents on what marketing tactics worked best for them. Still, you can’t go wrong with networking. It’s better to get out and talk to Real Estate Marketing people than sit alone in your office.

Cook’s tone is realistic but positive. His purpose is to debunk the hype surrounding the “get rich quick in real estate” mentality while encouraging those that are willing to put in the work. The book is also big picture focused. While Cook does provide some details in each chapter, most are starting points rather than detail focused essays. The result is a quick paced book that doesn’t become bogged down in the details or overwhelm its readers.

Cook uses interviews with agents to emphasize many of his points. Most chapters include interviews and tips from successful agents on how they handle tough issues like marketing best practices, defending commissions, and working with family and friends.

Overall, this is a great Real Estate Marketing book for those considering real estate careers and new agents looking to make a successful start.

by Frank Cook
Publisher: Dearborn Real Estate Education (June 5, 2002)
ISBN: 0793154375

Princeton Junction, NJ, March 01, 2007 –(PR.COM)– www.bloggingsystems.com – Blogging Systems Group, the leading provider of blogs to the real estate industry, augments offerings to leverage its blog technology and help employers reach and hire hard-to-find talent via its new service, Career Connection.

Career Connection is an online, customized career community that gives companies a personal voice on the web and an avenue with which to communicate with tough-to-reach talent.

“Fortune 1000 companies face an enormous hurdle in attracting top-tier talent, especially those not actively seeking a new position,” said Richard Nacht, Founder of Blogging Systems. “The Blogging Systems’ Career Connection builds a talent pool of highly sought after candidates leveraging Web 2.0 technology and enabling candidates to advance their careers by fostering peer networking.”

The company sponsoring the Career Connection site is able to overcome hurdles associated with finding industry talent including:

Finding Passive Talent – Those individuals who excel at their position, but who are not actively seeking a new job

Provide a great Candidate Experience – Traditional recruitment gives a candidate one option – apply for a job. Career Connection provides canidates a place to advance their career, network with peers, and receive the most up-to-date career information from the web in one location.

Build relationships with Candidates – The Career Connection allows a company the ability to build relationships with a talent pool and brand themselves as a leading employer leveraging Web 2.0 recruiting technology.

Dave Lefkow, CEO of talentspark, a consulting firm that helps companies use technology to gain a competitive advantage for talent said that, “Blogs are a big part of the future of online recruiting. Leading companies are just beginning to use blogs for a number of purposes in their recruiting and sourcing efforts. Blogging Systems Career Connection is taking a very unique approach by creating content, communities and technologies to engage niche and passive job seekers.”

Blogging Systems has hired Steve Amsden to bring Career Connection to the recruitment market. Amsden, VP of Recruitment, has over 15 years of experience in the recruitment space with leading companies including TMP Worldwide and Monster.

“Reaching and attracting talented individuals is no small feat for companies. Both money and resources are wasted when the perfect hire is not found,” said Amsden.

Career Connection is formally launching its Customer Advisory Program. Leading companies such as Boston Scientific have already joined the program to help fill their critical hiring positions and partner with the Career Connection. If you are interested in joining the Customer Advisory Program please contact Steve Amsden at steve.amsden@bloggingsystems.com.

About Blogging Systems Group
Blogging Systems provides real estate blog platforms that produce a low-cost, high results tool for Community networking (both offline and on the internet), effective communication and collaboration, competitive marketing, sales and customer relations.

Blogging Systems provides turn-key blog networks which are the ultimate real estate marketing tool. Ours is a “soup to nuts” approach with experienced blog professionals who guide clients through the process step-by-step. Not only do we provide the most robust real estate blog platform on the market today, we back it up with training and technical support. Clients receive a turn-key system and the training and knowledge needed to use it as a complete real estate marketing system.

All Real Estate Marketing marketers face challenges, and real estate marketing is no different. But sometimes we have a way of letting our challenges grow “too big for their britches.”

In our minds, hurdles can become impossibilities, when in reality they’re anything but impossible.

To overcome a real estate marketing challenge, you simply have to look at it with a fresh perspective, ask the right questions, and then charge ahead.

With that in mind, here are some of the common Real Estate Marketing challenges I’ve heard real estate agents express over the years, as well as ways to overcome those challenges:

Marketing Challenge #1 – I don’t know anything about Real Estate Marketing.

Every Real Estate Marketing marketer approaches their first project with little or no practical experience. Practical experience comes from, well, practical experience. So in your real estate marketing endeavors, start by gaining a knowledge base through reading and research. Then build on that base through actual experimentation.

“Analysis paralysis” affects a lot of would-be marketers. This is the condition where every element of a marketing campaign is analyzed, scrutinized and conceptualized — to the point that nothing actually gets done.

Learn as much as you can about a particular Real Estate Marketing channel or tactic by studying what others have done. Then get out there and do it for yourself. Sure, you’ll make mistakes. We all do. But that’s part of the learning process.

Real Estate Marketing Challenge #2 – I don’t know where to start.

If you’re new to the world of real estate marketing, start with the basics. First determine your goals. This will make the entire process easier. Too often, I see people define marketing goals that are overly vague. “I want to grow my business,” is not a marketing goal — it’s something we all want.

Of course you want to grow your business. But to gain any direction from this step, you have to get specific. For instance:

“I want to create an educational website with free downloads and reports, and promote the site with direct mail. Using this system, I want to capture 20 new leads per month.”

Now that’s a goal — specific, measurable and directional.

Real Estate MarketingChallenge #3 – I don’t know anything about technology.

Technology. The word alone scares people. But in truth, marketing technology has evolved to a point of user-friendliness that it never had before.

Today’s marketing tools — from website creation to list management — are more usable than ever, even by people with little to no technical skill.

And even when you can’t find user-friendly technology to help you with a certain marketing task, you can bet there’s a vendor willing to step in.

When researching technology, break the process down into simple parts. First, refer back to your goals from Challenge #2 above. What technology can help you achieve those goals? Once you’ve answered this question, you???ll have taken an ocean of technological possibilities and narrowed them down to a channel that best applies to you.

And always remember: technology can deliver the message, but it can???t create the message. It can help you show the value of your services, but it can’t create that value in the first place. That’s your job.

Real Estate MarketingChallenge #4 – I don’t have time for marketing.

This one is simply a matter of priorities. If your marketing is a top priority, then you can make time for it. Here’s an easy way to do just that:

Start small, with just an hour a day. Spend 15 minutes reading up on a particular marketing tactic, and 45 minutes actually practicing it. The 15 minutes of research also helps reduce Challenge #1 (not knowing anything about marketing).

Real Estate Marketing Challenge #5 – I’m new to real estate.

Every expert from every industry was the new guy or gal at some point. They managed, and so can you. Even if you???re new to real estate, you’re still a professional, right? You???ll find that people judge you by your personal behavior as much as your credentials.

When it comes to your marketing message, this means being knowledgeable and professional. Proper spelling, relevant information, professional design and delivery — these factors add up, and they’ll help you make a strong impression regardless of how long you’ve been practicing real estate.