6 Easy Ways To Generate More Referrals
These days it has never been easier to grow your referral base. Between social media, the ease of travel and online networking, almost anyone today can build up a dedicated list of referrals to help grow their business. The more referrals you have, the easier it will be to find lucrative deals, good jobs or helpful associates. If you’re ready to start on building your network, then here are six easy ways you can grow your referral base.
- Networking Meetings. The best place to start is always in your local market and the best way to build contacts is by attending local networking meetings. These don’t necessarily have to be specific to real estate. Anything involving local council members, plumbers, electricians and so on is a great way to get to know people who can be of use further down the line. At first, you might not get much from these meetings but if you persist and continue to show up, a deal or two is bound to come your way.
- Real Estate Investment Clubs. One area you can’t afford to miss out on is real estate investment clubs. These are usually held once a month in most localities and are an invaluable source of contacts, information, and deals. In these types of meetings, you’ll find everyone who is involved in the business, viz., fellow investors, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, money lenders, and more. These are people directly involved in the business and alone may be enough to help change your business.
- Newsletters & Emails. A key thing about referrals is that you have to stay fresh in their minds. More people than you might think are interested in real estate or might be looking for a good investment. Keep in touch with former clients and also reach out to friends and family. The best way to do this is through a weekly email of the latest deals in your locality with information on how you can arrange a meeting and work together. Another good thing is the use of monthly newsletters about what’s going on in the real estate business, recommend blogs and helpful advice to people who you think would be interested. The objective of this is to remain on the minds of all your contacts for the next time they have a deal on the table.
- Social Media & Blog Posts. In today’s world, a business can’t survive without a dedicated online presence. There is no other way to reach so many people so easily than by doing regular blog posts and sharing on social media. The key to success with this is consistency. It’s not enough to post once a week or even twice. Make sure the information you’re sharing is relevant and something people would find useful or informative. You don’t want to be another spammer that fills people’s feeds with useless information. The more active you are with this, the more likely you are to find contacts who would be interested in doing business together.
- Local Contacts. It’s easy to get caught up with social media and forget about making local contacts the old-fashioned way. Using the contacts, you’ve made in the networking meetings and investment clubs, pay a visit to their business locations and develop your relationship with them. This can mean just dropping off helpful literature or arranging a short meeting to discuss the benefits of working together. The goal is not to land a deal on the spot, but to develop a good working relationship when a deal does come around.
- Real Estate Sites. As part of your social media campaign, also get involved with any popular websites like Craigslist, Zillow, Trulia and the like that provide property listings. This could be as simple as responding to a post or even making your own. This only takes a few minutes and can be a great way to meet people, you would never have otherwise.
Growing your business should be your main priority every day you get up. Anyone you talk to could be a potential referral, so have those business cards ready. With good referrals comes even more referrals and a business that will continue to grow over time.