Marketing is the bane and boost of every business… but how do you make an impact today on the rest of your year? Here are some fast and easy ideas to make you a hero in your customer’s eyes:

1. 1. Double (Or Triple!) Your Database – Cut your cost in half! – Joint Market! Team up with a Realtor and send out joint mailings! Use a newsletter format (more room for customization) to mail to their database. You get twice the marketing impact for half the money! Another idea – print YOUR side-by-side financing options on the back of THEIR listing fliers.

2. 2. Care for Clients’ Kids! Ever try taking a loan app with cranky kids around? No need to fret – preparation can convert crybabies to calm and happy children! First make sure you have some snacks – crackers and juice work great. Then, a fun activity with a reward for quiet creativity! Find a great coloring book, make copies and invest in some crayons. Offer a prize for completed works of art!

3. 3. Ask for Referrals Every Time You Email! What a simple idea – yet I see very few loan officers or Realtors doing it. A simple tagline added to your email signature is all it takes. Say something like this: Please call or email me with your referrals – my philosophy is to focus my time and resources on clients who know my adherence to excellence rather than market to strangers.

4. 4. Write Thank You Notes! No – not to people who give YOU business, but to people whom you give business TO! Write your florist, your grocer, your insurance man, etc. Let them know you appreciate them and make sure to include your business card in the envelope!

5. 5.Set Up an Email Home Financing Course! Imagine a marketing idea that costs you NOTHING once you set it up! Imagine a little box on your website, or an address in your signature file, that allows your clients and prospective clients to sign up for free information on Smart Home Financing Tips! All you do is write the series of emails you’d like sent, and when they sign up they receive one or a series of emails at a timing that you designate. Easy… Effective and FREE! For a free autoresponder service check out www.sendfree.com.

6. 6.Let Your Realtors Know Their Time is Precious! Invest in some three-minute egg timers (the kind with the sand) and give them to Realtors you’re interested in joining forces with. Attach a note: I’m more interested in helping you build your business than taking up your time… Keep this timer by the phone. When you make a long distance call, limit the call to three minutes to keep the long distance expenses down and to make the most of your time. Call me for more business building ideas.

7. 7.They May Forget You But They Remember Food! How about taking a bread machine to the next open house you help out at? Or advertising “Hot Loan Rates” in the parking lot of your office building… invite all the neighboring businesses, past clients, etc. And be sure to let the papers know!

8. 8. Map It Out! Include a mini-map on the back of your business card for homebuyers to find your office with ease!

9. 9. Thanks A Million (Maybe) For That Referral! Send your referral sources a lottery ticket and a thank you note and hope for the best! (Imagine the great publicity if they win!)

10. 10. Ask for Testimonials! Third party testimonials often carry more weight than you telling people how great you are. Make an after closing survey a regular part of your sales process. Then publicize those words of praise! Have a testimonial page on your website and include testimonials in your brochure. And don’t forget to pass on the praise to the referring Realtor! You may even want to ask questions on behalf of the Realtor as well… giving them testimonials to use in their own marketing.

© 2007 by In Touch Today Corporation and its licensors. This article may be reproduced only in its entirety. In Touch Today is a marketing company based in Denver Colorado that assists professionals in increasing their repeat and referral business as well as building professional referral sources and prospecting new clients. www.intouchtoday.com