Some Realtors get a little too crazy with their closing gifts.  Most have their name emblazoned on whatever it it may be.  What I like to do is inexpensive and well received.

I go to the $1 store, yes the $1 store, and I buy two small garbage can or buckets.  I fill it with the things that most buyers will need but forget where they are packed.  Here are some item ideas.

• Paper Plates and cups.  There will be food of some kind.
• Paper Towels.
• Toilet Paper.
• Tooth brushes and tooth paste.
• All purpose cleaner
• Soap
• Bottles of Water
• Screwdrivers
• Hammer
• Snacks sometimes
• And always garbage bags.

That only cost $14.  Besides this being the perfect usable gift for your client, on the marketing side they will remember you every time they use those handy items to save them a trip to the store or some kind of improvisation.

photo via http://www.flickr.com/photos/80546354@N00/

• Coupons on the back.  Seemed like a good idea but I didn’t repurchase.
• Odd shaped cards
• Odd textured card
• Cards with your hours listed
• Cards with a “different” photo (posing on your car, next to your dog, etc.)
• No card, which causes you to take their information

I think something unique can work but I have kept an average card just because I forget to get something interesting.  I was told by a friend in the promotional item business that the average views a business card got was 3.

1. When you gave it to them.
2. When they saw it accidentally
3. When they threw it away.

The coupon card had 12 offers on back that only had to be shown to the business for my client to receive them.  I only gave out a few as I switched companies soon after.  Ooops.

I like cards that are arranged so you have to turn in 90 degrees from normal to read it.  Something that makes someone do a double take on your card would seem to be helpful.  I see reasons for and against off size cards.

One being that it will be larger or smaller than the rest and become more noticeable.  It will either stick out or fall out.  It doesn’t fit the holders or pages well but as Realtors we may not have our cards put with other business cards.  If we can get them to email us once, most likely they will have our information for a long time.

According to Redfin, craigslist draws more attention to your listings than any other site.

I haven’t had much success with craigslist finding buyers for my listings but I know it has sold homes. One almost client wanted to wait over a holiday weekend to list while he did some repairs. We spent way too much time configuring the flier and base colors to get maximum effect. We spent more time on minituae and I was willing to do it because he was going to be an involved seller.

The funny part is while we were working on all of these colors and planning, his basic Times-Roman lettering in craigslist with one picture grabbed a buyer. He sold it the day before the listing went active.

Two points were made. One is that craigslist works and that you don’t always need flashy advertising. Here is how I work craigslist.

I use postlets.com for other reasons too but it is perfect for craigslist. There is a spot where they have html code that you copy and just paste into the body of craigslist. Fill in the header, price and location and you are done with a quality online flyer.

Vflyer.com can be used on craigslist as well but I am not as familiar with it.

I will also make a separate listing in the basic style on craigslist. Some don’t like the slickness of the flyer. This way you can get attention by both.

Create a craigslist account and when they expire you can easily relist them. If the information has changed such as price, then you have to redo the craigslist ad.

In a future post I will talk more about Postlets.

photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/acloudman/

One is that they want to justify their workday. If at the end of the day they say they were at the office for 8 or 9 hours, it sounds good to their spouse or even themselves.

Two is that they are inefficient or using ineffective tools and theories.

In this blog I will help you with becoming more efficient but you need to be honest. If you can get your work done in 3 hours, fine. Do that and then do something else. I will agree that you should work more and optimize your day but the more honest you are the better you can adjust your activities as you are ready to take more on.

Understand I don’t want you working just 3 hours a day but by starting with that and teaching yourself to be focused you can add on time. Just like exercise, you may not be ready to run a marathon. Just accomplish what you can.

If you force yourself to work 8 hours when you aren’t prepared you will cheat. You will talk to people, surf the internet, etc. You will pick up bad habits that will be tough to lose later.

Trust me.

Take a notebook and make entries every 15 minutes or so to see what you are doing. It works like a diet journal or a budget. You have to know where your resources are going. This way you will see how your energy and activities flow.

If you notice that you aren’t getting things done, stop. If you feel pressure to go back to work then do it. You will be growing that internal motivator that you will need when times are hard.

And don’t hang around the agents with bad habits. It is just like school. Be careful who you hang around.