For many real estate professionals, networking is one of the best ways to get new business. Developing relationships with mortgage lenders, contractors, and other real estate professionals not only helps to introduce you to new prospects, it can also help you to better support your existing client base. But in the same way a stale mailing list grows less useful over time, a stale network won’t be as helpful for growing your real estate business in 2015. With the start of the new year, now is a great time to assess the health of your network by asking yourself these three questions.
- Are you stuck in a rut? Good networking is all about building relationships. You don’t want to be a drive-by networker, dropping into groups at random and never getting to know any of the members. But the opposite strategy can be just as bad. If you’ve been networking in the same places, using the same strategies, for a while now, 2015 is a great time to get out and meet some new business people.
Joining new networks is a great way to shake things up. Meeting new potential prospects and business partners is an obvious benefit, but there are other positives as well: you’ll be exposed to new ideas, and you’ll have to explain the benefits of doing business with you to a whole new group of people. It’s a great chance to take another look at what makes your services so valuable.
- Do you have the right tools? You know first impressions matter. So if you’re thinking about branching out and expanding your network, make sure that your marketing materials are showing you in the best light. If your real estate business cards are out of date or contain inaccurate information, get new ones that showcase the best of your brand. If you’ve been networking without a professional real estate nametag, now’s the time to step up your game.
There’s no time like the new year to get your marketing collateral in order. With all the new people you’ll be meeting, you’ll need plenty of business cards to go around! It’s a great opportunity to review the message your current real estate business card sends, and see if it matches up with the way you plan to present yourself in 2015.
- Is your network big enough for your goals? When you’re first starting to grow your network, it’s easy to do it in a haphazard way, following the path of least resistance: the groups that are the closest to you, groups where you already know some of the members. It’s not a bad way to get your feet wet, but it’s also probably not the most effective way to grow your business.
This year, plan your networking in support of your business goals. Think about the clients you want to reach, and the milestones you want to hit. Then find the groups that will help you get there, and get out and start introducing yourself.