Realtor Business Card Collection

"What's in YOUR Wallet?"

I don't collect stamps or coins or baseball cards.

I collect other Realtors' business cards.

Not as keepsakes -- no one's that nerdy -- but to get design ideas.

What makes for a good Realtor business card?

One that stands out -- in a good way.

Miniature Billboards

The business card's front side is necessarily limited by certain conventions, i.e., the need to communicate your name, broker, and contact information.

However, the back side allows for more creativity (mine is a screen capture of this blog's masthead).

Other Realtors, meanwhile, use side 2 of their business cards to make a pitch for referrals; provide mortgage principal and interest tables; or even provide metric conversion charts (to that one, I suppose I have to add, "go figure").

However, my (second) favorite is fellow Edina agent and blogger Aaron Dickinson's: 'Write on me, I'm good for taking notes.'

And so it is.

P.S.: For a decidedly improper use of other Realtors' business cards, (re)read "Reason Not to Lie #37."

P.P.S.: The ultimate business card?

A vanity license plate.

Mine reads, "MY RLTR" -- as in, "There goes my Realtor."

"Always be . . . Selling"

Lockbox Combo as Marketing Tool

After doing a couple thousand showings (and opening that many lockboxes), it's rare that I run into something unusual -- at least that doesn't involve a foreclosure.

But up until today, I can't say that I've ever opened a lockbox where the three letter combination was part of the listing agent's marketing: "Wow!" (no punctuation or exclamation marks).

Fortunately, it was -- "wow," that is (otherwise, it would have begged the unfortunate alternative, "Bow-wow." Sorry).

Realtor Haiku

This could be a trend with legs.

Other suitable lockbox adjectives, depending on the property: "Big," "Hot," and "Hip."

P.S.: Probably the worst last name I can think of for a Realtor these days is "Short" -- because every home they list would, by definition, be a "possible Short sale" (sorry, again).

"Don't Miss the $8,000 Buyer Tax Credit!"

Realtor Marketing Faux Pas

Thought you missed the $8,000 tax credit available to new Buyers?

Not according to the Realtor ad I saw (several times) playing on the preview loop at the Hopkins movie theatre tonight.

Besides extolling her 20 years experience selling local real estate, the agent's ad trumpeted that "there was still time to take advantage of the $8,000 Buyer tax credit."

That would be the $8,000 tax credit that expired April 30.

Oops!

Glad it was a Burnet agent, not an Edina one.

"Pot Shots" and Search Engines

Time to Broaden My "Sphere?"

Funny how key word searches work.

A post I ran last month, "Price Opinion -- or Pot Shot?," was actually about Realtor feedback -- both the informed and uninformed kind.

But I guess I shouldn't be surprised when, scanning the search queries of visitors to this blog today, I noted "marijuana friendly Realtors" (as I've disclosed previously, I can see visitors' referring URL, search engine, and search words -- but not their identity).

Well, no, that's not currently part of my "marketing sphere" (what Realtors call their circle of contacts, prospects, past clients, etc. -- also called their "sphere of influence).

But just for the benefit of any future visitors to this site attracted by this post -- I'm officially agnostic on the subject (i.e., what consenting adults do privately is their business).

As they say, "the only color that matters in real estate is . . . green" (sorry, couldn't resist).

P.S.: on a more sober note, there have been a couple documented cases of vacant homes in the Twin Cities area being used as grow operations. Such endeavors not only pose multiple safety and security threats, but are seriously illegal. No sane Realtor wants anything to do with that . . .

Real Estate Signage: Less is More

Resisting the Urge to "Over Stuff"

I think an effective real estate sign is like a headline: it should be bold, focused -- and communicate one thing, well.

Instead, what I'm increasingly seeing are real estate signs that pack in ever more info.

Like the agent's Web site, email address, cell phone, broker info -- and on and on.

The result is inevitably a too-busy sign, with lots of small type . . . that no one reads!

Not exactly a good omen for that Realtor's marketing prowess.