It’s commonly agreed that you need to spend money to make money in business, and that does tend to be fairly far-reaching truth. It’s possible to be on board with that understanding but still keen to gain advantages for yourself that don’t come with a cost attached to them. As this relates to real estate agents it is probably true that most of them will be very judicious about where their marketing expenditure is allocated. This is especially true for the portions of that budget that are dedicated to their aim to generate real estate leads in Canada. It’s something an agent needs to get right, because much of the success they’ll have with growing their PREC will be riding on it.
For this reason what you’ll find with real estate lead generation strategies is that most realtors will be going down the same proven-effective paths. We’re 2 decades plus into the information age now and for this reason many realtors choose to buy paid real estate leads from a provider like us. They are comfortable with making this part of their expenditure because they know they are getting an inside track into contacting these ready-to-buy-or-sell prospective clients before any other realtor does. The value in that needs no explanation, and the same can be said for other lead generation approaches for realtors that require them to spend money.
However, there’s value in free ways to generate leads too and while an agent shouldn’t expect to get the same level of substance out of them there is still the possibility of getting legitimate leads and the accompanying chance of converting a lead into a client in real estate. They’re worth considering, and what’s also good about them is most of these approaches also don’t require a whole lot in the way of time and effort too. Sure, you’re not going to get the same level of potential return like you would from paid Google Ads for realtors. But at the same time if any of them create even just one new client who agrees to sell their home through you then it’s immediately and entirely wort it.
So what we’ll do with this week’s blog entry here is expand on our regular discussion of how to generate real estate leads Canada to cover ways agents can do that without incurring an expense of any sort. Turns out there is more than a few options that qualify as ones where it’s entirely possible to drum up new clientele and any number of them may be one you can incorporate along with your paid real estate leads to broaden your horizons with the ways realtors can create new clients.
Appealing Alternative
The ongoing need to generate real estate leads can be a source of stress for real estate agents and brokers. Especially those who are new to the business and anxious to start earning a good living from working as a real estate agent in Canada. Buying leads through ads or agencies are always options, but some agents may start to see that they can’t justify the cost as they’re not getting the volume of leads they were expecting from their efforts.
This will have them looking at budget friendly choices if they can discern any that are available to them. Here are 9 solid ways to generate leads
Career Days
If it’s possible to go to local schools in town and offer to speak at their career day or job fair then this is something you can consider. Create a fun presentation about real estate for kids and do what you can to engage teachers, parents and other adults too.
Hand-Written Notes & Postcards
There are real gains to be had if you can make contact with people in a way that comes across as genuine and authentic with a sincere message of being ready to help if and when the need arises for these people. It may require the cost of stationary and postage, but that expense is minuscule in comparison with the alternative for real estate lead generation strategies. Individuals searching for a good real estate agent will want guidance on the home buying/selling process from an actual person. Contact materials that are smartly crafted and have that genuine tone to them show you care and are willing to go the extra mile to meet your clients needs.
Backlinks
Back linking is having links to your website located on different pages on the Internet, and it will involve the master of those pages agreeing to link your website for real estate agents. Good back linking can provide huge SEO benefits as well as higher traffic to your page. Make a LinkedIn account and link your website. Be sure to reply in blogs and link your website, register on Yelp and link your website. Try to get as many good backlinks as possible, and take the approach of offering some type of reciprocal value to others, which may include having backlinks to THEIR site through yours. This is especially good and natural for other professionals who are industries that will crossover with real estate and home ownership.
Divorce Attorneys
Philandering is as prevalent as it has ever been these days. It is frequently for this reason that men and women who are homeowners together will choose to separate from each other via a divorce. Often times it will mean the man is going to be spending long portions of the year in the Philippines from now on, so it does make sense for these couples to sell the house as they move forward with the divorce. It’s for this reason that establishing a contact with a divorce lawyer can be another of the free ways to get real estate leads.
So try to connect and network with local divorce attorneys and let them do the work for you. Give them your business cards or brochures and be ready to help someone start their new life.
Life Insurance Agents / Personal Bankers / Financial Planners
The logic here is the same one that applies for the divorce attorneys we talked about here just now. These others professionals are also ones who are trusted with a great deal of personal information about finances and people’s long term plans. If it’s possible to connect and network with anyone in this realm too then it’s also a good idea to generate real estate leads in Canada. If you and these other professionals get along well then they likely won’t mind referring clients to you. You can then return the favour and exchange a number of business cards so that your partner can quickly refer clients to you.
Guest Lectures
Agents who have a good mix of industry and market knowledge and the ability to speak well can do really well by speaking at career days. Get in touch with local universities or community colleges and ask about any organization meetings you can speak at or professors you can work with. You may end up networking with young adults who are ready to buy their first home soon and will be open to speaking with a realtor at this time.
Develop Niche
Agents really can set themselves apart in the real estate world by developing a niche and then embracing it to its full extent. This will look different for each person based on interests, location and target market, but it has a lot of promise as a way to draw like-minded leads to you and have them become leads that eventually enter your sales funnel. After you have developed your niche then you should tailor your website, social media pages and blog around it.
Online Community Pages
Realtors that make the effort to interact with prospective clients – in any manner – tend to do better with getting new clients in real estate. This can take many forms, but an incredibly easy and versatile form is through online community pages/forums. Examples will be Facebook, Reddit, community websites, LinkedIn or any other digital platform where people are interacting with the professionals they may want to work with based on their current ambitions. Realtors do well when they offer advice, opinions and expertise.
There are huge gains to be had with client generation if you can establish yourself as a neighbourhood expert online and have these would-be clients thinking that no one knows it better than you. Taking a multi-faceted approach to doing that is what real estate agents will need to do if they’re to have real success with this, and it’s good to know that some of those approaches with real estate lead generations strategies won’t require you to be putting dents in your marketing budget. They may not have the same power as paid real estate leads, but there’s more to be had there than you might think.
Sign up for real estate leads here and start receiving a monthly quote of buyer and / or seller leads that will put you immediately in touch with people who are quite likely to buy or sell a home in the foreseeable future.