• The more specific your area of expertise, the more customers you will attract.
  • Always keep the final "review" in mind when working with clients.
  • Take baby steps when choosing a domain, and start with just one.

Talk to any trainer, coach or real estate leader, and they will tell you that real estate is a long-term career, that 80 percent of all new licensees get out in the first two years and that 80 percent of those that are left never make it past five years in the business.

These are the stats that were given to me when I first took a real estate course in 2002. I spent the first 12 months eating through my savings account and — 25,000 marketing dollars later, I still had no closings.

I was not the rookie of the year, although I wanted to be.

I realized two things that year and every year since:

1. I had to stop trying everything and try one thing long enough to see results.

2. I had to decide who I was going to align myself with and stick with them through thick and thin, and be loyal to my silent mentors.

Eight months later, I had my first closing on a house valued at $208,000.

Goal and customer loyalty

The 18 months it took to get to my first closing was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I learned to get focused, be specific, define a niche, be consistent with my marketing to that niche and to stay loyal to my prospective customers who may or may not even know who I am yet.

Coaches will tell you to stay the course for 12 months to see results; I will tell you to stay the course for 24 months to see real results.

My third year in real estate, I netted $250,000, which was low compared to the goals I had written down, but I was certainly happy with the increase.

I can attribute most of the rise in income to being focused on a geographic area, but specifically to picking a very narrowed domain name that targeted the customer I was trying to attract.

Stop being everything to everyone and be a specialist. Define that specialty with a domain and market it.

Your first thought when someone tells you to just focus on a micro area of a county or city — a specific neighborhood, for example — is that you will end up missing out on all the other customers who don’t fit into or live in that neighborhood. That is just not true, and the only way for you to truly believe me is to try it yourself for 24 months — I challenge you!

The power of the domain

I think one of the most revolutionary and positive business enhancements is the end of the dot-com world and the increase of more descriptive domain extensions.

Those including things like .blog, .auto, .hotel, .sport, .kids, .book and for real estate agents, .homes.

There is no mystery for the customer trying to figure out what your site is about, what your services are related to, or what area you service.

It’s all about the customers, what they are buying and where they are buying.

A Buyers Journey .HOMES

So if you are looking for that one thing you can enhance your business with in 2017, it’s to get specific starting with a domain name that will quickly attract the buyers and sellers you want.

Learn more about DotHomes here, contact the director of domain sales Robert Purdy (dothomesinfo@homes.com), or request your domain here.

Cheryl Spangler is the principal broker and co-owner of FORBZ Real Estate Group. You can follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Email Cheryl Spangler

Show Comments Hide Comments
Sign up for Inman’s Morning Headlines
What you need to know to start your day with all the latest industry developments
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive marketing emails from Inman.
Success!
Thank you for subscribing to Morning Headlines.
Back to top
×
Log in
If you created your account with Google or Facebook
Don't have an account?
Forgot your password?
No Problem

Simply enter the email address you used to create your account and click "Reset Password". You will receive additional instructions via email.

Forgot your username? If so please contact customer support at (510) 658-9252

Password Reset Confirmation

Password Reset Instructions have been sent to

Subscribe to The Weekender
Get the week's leading headlines delivered straight to your inbox.
Top headlines from around the real estate industry. Breaking news as it happens.
15 stories covering tech, special reports, video and opinion.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
It looks like you’re already a Select Member!
To subscribe to exclusive newsletters, visit your email preferences in the account settings.
Up-to-the-minute news and interviews in your inbox, ticket discounts for Inman events and more
1-Step CheckoutPay with a credit card
By continuing, you agree to Inman’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You will be charged . Your subscription will automatically renew for on . For more details on our payment terms and how to cancel, click here.

Interested in a group subscription?
Finish setting up your subscription
×