Does anyone have any experience advertising in church bulletins. It seems like a good idea to me. I am a fairly new agent and I am willing to put most of my earnings into advertising for awhile.

Also, I would like some input for what others feel the best and most cost effective methods of advertising are.

Advertising and marketing are by trial and error...just the nature of the beast. In today's market, I believe it's very important to have a lot of internet coverage. 75-80% of buyers go to the internet first.

What are you advertising? listings or yourself? or both? If you are active and involved in your church, might be a good idea to put an ad in there. Are there any other Realtors advertising in it? It's always good for people to constantly see your face...you never know when they or someone they know will need a realtor.

Cost effective, in my opinion is all relevant. If you get one sale from an ad, it can pay for itself. Give something 3-6 months before saying it doesn't work. With direct mail people need to receive something from you at least 7 times...ads are similar, especially if you are new.

Hope that helps. Where are you located?

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I am in Anne Arundel County, MD, between Washington DC and Baltimore and also close to Annapolis. The market is very good with a lot of turnover in houses and pretty good prices. But it is also highly competitive for agents.

Since I am retired I don't need to make a lot of money from RE but I don't want to waste my time either. In the little time I have been an agent it has become obvious to me marketing is extremely important. But it is also possible to spend a lot of money on advertising that is ineffective. So, while I am willing to spend on advertising I am going to try to make wise decisions.

As you say, some will be trial and error. I will try church bulletins for a year and see if I get any return from it.

Hi Anne,

I was thinking of doing the same thing but I decided to call some of the agents that did advertise (I knew them personally too) to see what their response rate was. I found that they received more business from groups they were involved in at church rather than the bulletin itself.

So I decided to send a note card (professional of course) to the parish members to announce my affiliation with my brokerage and offered an incentive to parish members. I donated 5% of my commission to the building fund in their name if they bought/sold a home through me. This was stated in the note. I received 2 clients from these cards so they paid for themselves.

I guess you have to weigh how much your church bulletin ads cost vs other means. In my case the bulletin ad costs $500 a year. My note cards costs $375 including postage but it took more of my time.

Now that I have had time to reflect on this decision I believe your money is better spent on your "niche." If you live in a condo then you should be spending money on sending out relevant information to those condo owners at least 6 to 7 times a year. You want to become their "come to" real estate professional for all aspects of real estate.

Good luck.

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Stephanie Mattingly

What I have found is that members of your church tend to find an agent outside of the church, so that they don't hurt someone elses feelings if there is more than one agent at church.

But, they are first to recommend members of their congregation to others.

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Randy Watson Texas Real Estate Agent
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