By Deborah Boza-Valledor Chief Operating Officer Realtor Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches

Top real estate agents are always looking for ways to increase their success and profitability, especially in South Florida’s exciting and unique marketplace. Marketing plans are an important part of an agent’s business. If you don’t have any, you could be missing key elements to achieving business success.

This year you can get off to a great start with our Top 41 Marketing Tips for 2007, compiled from the book “1,200 Great Sales Tips for Real Estate Pros.”

Here are some highlights:

Enhancing your Web site

1. Target a niche
It’s nearly impossible to connect with everyone in your market, so choose a specific audience. Start by identifying something you are passionate about, like working with first-time buyers or selling waterfront properties, and craft your content around that niche.

2. Center on your audience
Instead of writing all about you, tell customers what’s in it for them. Focus on how your services will make their lives easier. Turn every “I” on your site into a “you.” If you include a bio on your site, keep it brief and use bullet points to list career highlights; bullets are easier to scan on the Web.

RAMB purchases two Web sites, Showcase and Immobel for each of its members. Take advantage of these resources. With Showcase, you can add featured properties, links to community information, and the MLS listings/IDX. You can also link it to your 13-language Immobel Web site. Immobel takes only 20 minutes to set up. Use the e-Marketing tool to send full-color flyers on your listings to those in your database in the language of their choice. Clients can search, save and have new listings sent to them automatically.

Niche markets to consider

1. Pet owners
A survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association in Greenwich, Conn., found that 63 percent of all U.S. households – 69 million – own pets. If you share a passion for pets, let prospects know you’ll treat their furry friends right.

2. Golfers
There were 28 million adult golfers in the United States in 2006, according to the National Golf Foundation in Jupiter, Fla. Can you say “golf course community?”

At RAMB, we offer over 700 seminars and events each year, including designation courses to help you target niche markets. Visit miamire.com, and click on “Education and Events” for our calendar.

Foreign markets to target for investors, retirees or second home buyers

1. Pacific Coast of Nicaragua
This remains one of the world’s best bargains. With a dramatic coastline, rugged shores, cliffs and rocks, crashing surf, hidden coves, and pinkish-white sand, residents enjoy the same beaches as in Costa Rica or Southern California, but at one-quarter or one-tenth the cost, respectively.

2. Buenos Aires
The Argentine Peso, after nearly a decade pegged to the U.S. dollar, has leaped from a low of 19 cents to around 30 cents. For investors willing to move quickly, the opportunities in this cosmopolitan city are promising.

RAMB has the largest International Council in the world. Its International Referral Network boasts over 50 partner associations around the globe. Our partnerships create unlimited business and referral opportunities for our members. Visit miamire.com for our International Schedule of Events, which includes conferences, expos and trade missions in Europe, Asia, Latin America and the United States.

For the complete version of the Top 41 Marketing Tips for 2007, visit miamire.com and click on the “International” tab.

Source: “1,200 Great Sales Tips for
Real Estate Pros;” edited by REALTOR
Magazine’s Christina Hoffman Spira with
Mariwyn Evans.

Deborah Boza-Valledor, CIPS,CRB,CRS,
GRI,TRC, is COO of the 13,000-member Realtor Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches (RAMB), which includes 12,000 members in their Residential Association and more than 1,000 members in their Realtors Commercial Alliance. The Association also hosts the largest local International Real Estate Council in the nation, with 1,400 members. RAMB recently celebrated its 85th year of service to the industry, the public and the community.