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REALTOR® Emeritus | | Marketing your brokerage Developing Public Relations Strategies | | ||
|  Setting Marketing Strategies Analyzing the Business Climate Creating Your Market Identity Planning Your Advertising Coordinating Company and Salesperson Marketing Developing Public Relations Strategies Enhancing Customer Service | 5 No-Cost/Low-Cost Publicity Ideas PR doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective.
Portions adapted from Real Estate Office Management, 3rd edition, Real Estate Brokerage Managers Council, Real Estate Education Company, 1996 9 Tips for Better Speeches Most real estate professionals are already experienced at giving presentations, but speaking effectively before a crowd requires a few new skills.
Adapted from Handbook for Public Relations Writing, Thomas Bivins, NTC Business Books, 1992 7 Benefits to Using a PR Pro If you want to make the most of your public relations opportunities, consider hiring a public relations professional. Using a professional will cost money, and finding the right person or company can be complex and time-consuming, but the benefits will far outweigh the disadvantages. 1. Public relations professionals bring an outside, objective perspective to your situation and may see pluses—and minuses—you miss. 2. Public relations pros are familiar with the key media outlets in your area. They know exactly which editors will be interested in a specific story. 3. Public relations pros have established working relationships with top people at media outlets. They know the best times to reach their contacts as well as how and when to submit a story. 4. Public relations professionals understand what kinds of stories sell. They know which angles are interesting and effective and which have been exhausted. 5. Hiring a PR pro enables you to maximize productivity. If you turn PR tasks over to a professional, you and your staff will be free to focus on your own jobs. 6. Outsourcing public relations often saves money. A PR professional has all the resources in place to get your publicity done, including research capabilities, and extensive media databases that would take you time and money to create and keep current. TIP: Be sure that all mailings done by the firm are targeted to the appropriate editors. Just as with prospecting, mass mailings to uninterested customers are less valuable than targeted ones to motivated prospects. 7. Outsourcing public relations keeps PR efforts from being neglected. It’s too easy to neglect public relations when business is booming, but since PR is the agency’s business, it will keep the process on track. And when a big project or rush job comes along, a PR firm can assign as many people as necessary to get the work done quickly and efficiently. Adapted and expanded from Betsy Nichol, “When Hiring a PR Agency Makes Sense,” in Franchising World, September/October 1997 TIP: Most companies need to seek the help of a PR professional from time to time. Even if you can handle routine PR tasks in-house, you will benefit from calling in a PR pro for special projects, such as opening a new office. —Chad Kaydo, “How to Hire a PR Firm,” in Sales and Marketing Management, April 2000 In Real Life: Hiring a PR Pro > | |