How To Start A Real Estate Business

Updated: January 18th, 2023

How To Start A Real Estate Business

Are you looking to start a real estate business?

If you talk to any entrepreneur, getting started is one of the hardest parts of launching your own business.

There are many things to consider, such as:

  • Validating your business idea
  • Setting up your business structure
  • Launch ideas for your business
  • Determining your marketing strategy
  • And much more!

In this detailed guide, we lay out all the steps to help you get started and run your business successfully.

market size
$2.69T
avg revenue (monthly)
$381K
starting costs
$11.7K
gross margin
90%
time to build
210 days
growth channels
Word of mouth
business model
Brick & Mortar
best tools
Instagram, YouTube, Canva
time investment
Full time
pros & cons
39 Pros & Cons
tips
12 Tips

💡 Introduction To Becoming A Real Estate Agent

Is Becoming A Real Estate Agent Right For You?

There are many factors to consider when becoming a real estate agent.

We put together the main pros and cons for you here:

Pros of becoming a real estate agent

• Flexibility

You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.

• Ability to start your business from home

It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!

• Little startup costs required

The cost to start a real estate business costs significantly less money than most businesses, ranging anywhere from 62 to 23,259.

• Rewarding work

Starting a real estate business can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.

• Scalable

With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.

• No overhead costs

To get your real estate business started, there are no costs associated with overhead, storage, packaging, etc. This will save you a lot of time and money!

• Meaningful business connections

You never know who you will meet as a real estate business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity!

• High margins

The gross margins for your real estate business are typically around 90%, which is considerably high and allows you to grow your business and manage costs easily.

• Quick build time

The average time it takes to build your product is quick - typically around 7 months. This will allow you to bring your product to market faster.

• Pick & choose the clients you work with

Real Estate Businesses have the ability to choose the clients they work with. You have the freedom to work with only a few loyal clients or with hundreds of clients!

• Control of workload

With becoming a real estate agent, you have the unique ability to choose how little or how much you want to work. You also have the freedom to decide which projects you want to work on, and can turn down the ones that do not interest you.

• Gain exposure and experience

This career allows you to gain experience working for multiple different businesses - which will benefit your resume and also keep things interesting for you!

• Unlimited income potential

With becoming a real estate agent there is no cap as to how much income you can make. The stronger your business skills and the more energy/time you put into your career, the more you'll make.

• You are your own boss!

With becoming a real estate agent, you are the one to make decisions for almost all of the operations. Calling the shots can be empowering and liberating!

• Higher likelihood of getting referrals

This business is all about referrals, which can be a a very impactful way to attract and retain customers. It's critical that you have a great referral program in place that incentivizes your customers to tell their friends about your product.

• Simple business model

A real estate business has the advantage of a simple business model, which makes launching and building the business more seamless.

• Control your own destiny

Becoming A Real Estate Agent allows you to control every aspect of your life and make your own dreams come true every day.

• You can decide who you work with

Gone are the days of working in a toxic work environment with employees that you may not vibe with. As a small business owner, you get to decide who you work and surround yourself with.

• Express your opinions

With becoming a real estate agent, you can express your opinions and knowledge to your audience, which allows you to build your own reputation and identity.

• You can work from anywhere!

Not only can you start your real estate business from home, you can also run your business from anywhere in the world. This is the entrepreneur dream.

• You get to inspire others

Your business is one that encourages and inspires others, which in itself, can be very fulfilling.

• High Hourly Pay Rates

On average, the hourly pay rates are high for your real estate business - which means quality of clients is often superior to quantity of clients.

• Never a dull moment

With starting a real estate business, there is truly never a dull moment. Your job offers a lot of variety and allows you to meet interesting people from all walks of life.

• Various different ways to make money

With starting a real estate business, there is not just one business model to choose from. This field is amazing in that there are various different ways to make money. Although this may complicate things, it's great to have different options and sources of revenue.

• Can build solid foundation of clients

It's unlikely you will have one-off customers as a real estate business. Typically, you have a solid foundation of clients that use your product and services regularly.

Cons of becoming a real estate agent

• Crowded Space

Competition is high when it comes to your real estate business, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.

• Longer Sales Process

A real estate business can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.

• Work can be inconsistent

As a real estate business, the amount of work assigned to you and schedule tends to be more inconsistent, which may make your income less stable. It's important to set boundaries and budget accordingly based on the amount of work you plan to have.

• Lack of benefits

With a real estate business, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming.

• Isolation

Often times, as a real estate business, you typically work alone and do not have much face-to-face interaction with other team members.

• Taxes

As a real estate business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.

• No safety net

Typically, as a real estate business, you do not receive a consistent pay-check and instead earn money based on your transactions each month. During the slow periods, you typically take away less since the job is based on commission. It's important to budget accordingly for the slow times.

• Stressful work

This line of work can be stressful for both you and your clients. This type of transaction is a significant financial decision for your client, so expectations are very high for you. Although this career path can be very rewarding, it also comes with its challenges and stressful moments.

• Time commitment

With becoming a real estate agent, all responsibilities and decisions are in your hands. Although this is not necessarily a negative thing, work life can take over at times. This can place a strain on friends and family and add to the pressure of launching a new business.

• Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone!

Although this is exciting for some entrepreneurs, it can be a big challenge for others! You may find yourself in uncomfortable social and business situations, jumping into tasks and responsibilities you aren't familiar with, and pushing yourself as far as you can go!

• Minimal physical activity

A big part of starting a real estate business is sitting at a desk for the majority of the day starting at your computer. Some may enjoy this, but others may struggle with sitting for the majority of your day without much physical activity.

• Learning Curve

When you start your own business, you no longer have upper management to provide you with a playbook for your roles and responsibilities. You should know the ins and outs of every aspect of your business, as every decision will come down to you.

• Easy target for criticism

Since your real estate business has the ability to reach a large audience, you'll need to be able to handle criticism. The internet can be a cruel place, and regardless of your intentions, many people will disagree with you and even take their criticism too far. To survive in this industry, you'll need to have tough skin (or at least learn this along the way).

• The job can be demanding

This is one of the major disadvantages starting a real estate business. It's important to understand that you may need to make yourself available on a 24/7 basis.

Players

Big Players

Small Players

Search Interest

Let's take a look at the search trends for real estate services over the last year:

How To Name Your Real Estate Business

It's important to find a catchy name for your real estate business so that you can stand out in your space.

Here are some general tips to consider when naming your real estate business

  • Avoid hard to spell names: you want something easy to remember and easy to spell for your customers
  • Conduct a search to see if others in the space have the same name
  • Try not to pick a name that limits growth opportunities for your business (ie. if you decide to expand into other product lines)
  • As soon as you have an idea (or ideas) of a few names that you love, register the domain name(s) as soon as possible!

Why is naming your real estate business so important?

The name of your business will forever play a role in:

  • Your customers first impression
  • Your businesses identity
  • The power behind the type of customer your brand attracts
  • If you're memorable or not

It's important to verify that the domain name is available for your real estate business.

You can search domain availability here:

Find a domain starting at $0.88

powered by Namecheap

Although .com names are the most common and easiest to remember, there are other options if your .com domain name is not available. Depending on your audience, it may not matter as much as you think.

It's also important to thoroughly check if social media handles are available.

As soon as you resonate with a name (or names), secure the domain and SM handles as soon as possible to ensure they don't get taken.

Here's some inspiration for naming your real estate business:

  • Cal-American Homes check availability
  • Protect real Estate check availability
  • Corsair Real Estate check availability
  • Purchased Sense Real estate check availability
  • Citylights Real Estate check availability
  • Sand and Sea Realty check availability
  • Highrise Realty check availability
  • Herringbone Realty check availability
  • Be Realty check availability
  • Archstone Real Estate check availability
  • Urban Pacific Real Estate check availability
  • Home Sweet Home Properties check availability
  • Professional Homes check availability
  • Broad Street Realty check availability
  • Engel & Volkers Real Estate check availability
  • Peak Properties check availability
  • Avenue Realty check availability
  • Heartland Real Estate check availability
  • Brick Lane Realty check availability
  • American Traditions check availability
  • National Property center check availability
  • Home Sweet Home check availability
  • Creative Property Management check availability
  • Summit Properties check availability
  • Paragon Properties check availability
  • Banyon Tree Realty check availability
  • Beacon Homes LLC check availability
  • Since Real Estate check availability
  • Home & Hearth Realty check availability
  • Buyer’s Market Real Estate check availability
  • Pennsylvania Real Estate check availability
  • Sterling Property Advisors check availability
  • Platinum Realty Group check availability
  • Cornerstone Estates check availability
  • The Home Genies check availability
  • Christian Real Estate check availability
  • Standpoint Real estate check availability
  • The Broker Network check availability
  • Landmark Realty check availability
  • Your Choice Real Estate check availability
  • New Way Real Estate check availability
  • Homestead Properties check availability
  • Full Spectrum Realty check availability
  • Texas Real Estate check availability
  • Capstone Real Estate check availability
  • The Good Home Team check availability
  • Oak & Stone Properties check availability
  • Metro Realty check availability
  • Township Properties check availability
  • Beachfront Realty check availability
  • Red Door Realtors check availability
  • Atlas Realty Group check availability
  • Broadleaf Homes check availability
  • Bungalow Realty check availability
  • Toward Property agents check availability
  • Property Gurus check availability
  • Metroplex Realty check availability
  • Real Homes check availability
  • Prestige Properties check availability
  • Land Monopoly Real estate check availability
  • Lifestyle International Realty check availability
  • Proverbs Realty check availability
  • Bottom Line Realty check availability
  • Star Island Realtors check availability
  • Lake & Company Real Estate check availability
  • Excelsior Real Estate check availability
  • Vantage Point Properties check availability
  • Equinox Properties check availability
  • Multi homes property adviser check availability
  • Northwest Premier Brokers check availability
  • Picket Fence Realty check availability
  • Asset Realty Group check availability
  • Sequoia Real Estate check availability

Read our full guide on naming your real estate business ➜

How To Create A Slogan For Your Real Estate Business:

Slogans are a critical piece of your marketing and advertising strategy.

The role of your slogan is to help your customer understand the benefits of your product/service - so it's important to find a catchy and effective slogan name.

Often times, your slogan can even be more important than the name of your brand.

Here are 6 tips for creating a catchy slogan for your real estate business:

1. Keep it short, simple and avoid difficult words

A great rule of thumb is that your slogan should be under 10 words. This will make it easy for your customer to understand and remember.

2. Tell what you do and focus on what makes you different

There are a few different ways you can incorporate what makes your business special in your slogan:

  • Explain the target customer you are catering your services towards
  • What problem do you solve?
  • How do you make other people, clients, or your employer look good?
  • Do you make people more successful? How?

3. Be consistent

Chances are, if you're coming up with a slogan, you may already have your business name, logo, mission, branding etc.

It's important to create a slogan that is consistent with all of the above.

4. Ensure the longevity of your slogan

Times are changing quickly, and so are businesses.

When coming up with your slogan, you may want to consider creating something that is timeless and won't just fade with new trends.

5. Consider your audience

When finding a catchy slogan name, you'll want to make sure that this resonates across your entire audience.

It's possible that your slogan could make complete sense to your audience in Europe, but may not resonate with your US audience.

6. Get feedback!

This is one of the easiest ways to know if your slogan will be perceived well, and a step that a lot of brands drop the ball on.

Ask friends, family, strangers, and most importantly, those that are considered to be in your target market.

Here's some inspiration for coming up with a slogan for your real estate business:

  • The keys to your home.
  • In the best of company
  • Real Estate Without the Hassle.
  • Results that Move You.
  • Our reputation is as solid as concrete.
  • For exceptional service, call.
  • Your Dream Home Awaits.
  • Homes and local scoop for the real estate obsessed
  • Quality is what we pursue, We know what we do.
  • Selling one yard at a time
  • The only two names you need to know for honest answers are
  • Nobody does it better
  • Helping You Get More For Your Real Estate
  • Construction you can count on.
  • Going Above and Beyond To Find Your Next Home
  • A home-grown success!
  • You will be moving in the right direction with (name).
  • We Will Sell Your House, or ERA Will Buy It!
  • No One Has More Experience Or Expertise To Help You Than An Agent Who Is A Realtor.
  • Coming soon to a closing near you!
  • Advertisement punchline: building India
  • Real Estate Services At Their Peak.
  • Your Realtor for Life!
  • The power tools to sell your home
  • Selling one yard at a time.
  • The best in the business
  • Your number 1 Property Advisor.
  • If you have the opportunity to suggest a real estate agent to anyone, think of me
  • A referral from you is the highest compliment I can receive!
  • A Premier Real Estate Professional.
  • Call ____ for your real estate chat
  • Helping you find the property of your dreams.
  • The shortest distance between paradise and the place you call home
  • Change Begins At Home!
  • The only two names you need to know for honest answers.
  • A tradition of trust.
  • I did it again!
  • Realty executives international. Experience excellence
  • Luxury home decoration services.
  • The Best in the Business.
  • Helping San Diego Find Where To Live
  • From concept to creation.
  • “We’re the key to your new home.”
  • More space between you and your neighbor
  • The keys to your home
  • Masters of Consistency and Quality.
  • In a class by herself.
  • I am here for the most important person of all
  • Where Dreams Come Home.
  • The creativity of the new world.
  • Creating quality urban lifestyles, building stronger communities.
  • Everything she/he touches turns to money.
  • You can judge a person by the company they keep
  • Click or Call We do it All.
  • More space between you and your neighbor.
  • The Home Advantage.
  • A vision for your life
  • His/her name is a household word
  • Click or call we do it all
  • “Real estate cannot be lost or stolen. Nor can it be carried away.”
  • Great Things Come Out Of All My Transactions.
  • A good real estate agent doesn’t disappear once the closing papers are signed
  • See you in nine months
  • The beauty you need to see.
  • Nobody does it better.
  • My only purpose is to deliver successful results.
  • Home is where your story begins.
  • I’m your REALTOR. Welcome Home.
  • A traditional of trust
  • Experience has its rewards.
  • Good Design for Good Moments.
  • I’ll lead you the way home.
  • Helping you find the property of your dreams
  • Bringing It All Together.
  • Above the crowd
  • NAR is the Voice for Real Estate
  • Above the Crowd.
  • Your edge in Real Estate

The Consulting Business Model

When implementing a consulting business model, you have a number of approaches to choose from:

Here are a few of the most common consulting business models:

1. The Time-Based Model

This is one of the more traditional consulting business models - where your rate, terms, and scope of work are outlined at the very beginning of the project.

Typically, with this model you would choose a day rate or an hourly rate.

2. The Project-Based Model

With a project-based model, you and your client agree on the scope of work you will be performing for a set amount of money.

There is typically a contract in place which covers the deliverables and expectations from both parties.

3. The Retainer-Based Model

The retainer model involves providing ongoing service for your clients over a specific period of time.

You may not provide a specific deliverable for your client, but instead, a broad scope of work over a set period.

4. The Consulting-Firm Model

This model is becoming more and more popular. The consulting firm model involves hiring freelancers or employees to complete work for your clients on your behalf.

Typically, in this situation, you still manage the relationship with the client, but you delegate some or all of the work to your team.

Which model should you choose?

The best way to determine which business model you will choose is to research other entrepreneurs or agencies in your space that are offering the same or similar service.

This will allow you to identify your competition, set your pricing, and determine your target audience.

Learn more about starting a real estate business:

Where to start?

-> Real estate business plan
-> How to finance a real estate business?
-> How much does it cost to start a real estate business?
-> Pros and cons of a real estate business

Need inspiration?

-> Other real estate business success stories
-> Examples of established real estate business
-> Marketing ideas for a real estate business
-> Real estate business slogans
-> Real estate business names
-> Real estate business Instagram bios
-> Real estate business Instagram captions

Other resources

-> Profitability of a real estate business
-> Real estate business tips
-> Email templates for a real estate business
-> Blog post ideas for a real estate business
-> Real estate business quotes

🎬 How To Start A Real Estate Business

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How Much Does It Cost To Start A Real Estate Business

If you are planning to start a real estate business, the costs are relatively low. This, of course, depends on if you decide to start the business with lean expenses or bringing in a large team and spending more money.

We’ve outlined two common scenarios for “pre-opening” costs of becoming a real estate agent and outline the costs you should expect for each:

  • The estimated minimum starting cost = $62
  • The estimated maximum starting cost = $23,259
Startup Expenses: Average expenses incurred when starting a real estate business. Min Startup Costs: You plan to execute on your own. You’re able to work from home with minimal costs. Max Startup Costs: You have started with 1+ other team members.
Office Space Expenses
Rent: This refers to the office space you use for your business and give money to the landlord. To minimize costs, you may want to consider starting your business from home or renting an office in a coworking space. $0 $5,750
Utility Costs For Office Space: Utility costs are the expense for all the services you use in your office, including electricity, gas, fuels, telephone, water, sewerage, etc. $0 $1,150
WiFi & Internet: Whether you work from home or in an office space, WiFi is essential. Although the cost is minimal in most cases, it should be appropriately budgeted for each month! $0 $100
Total Office Space Expenses $0 (min) $7,000 (max)
Employee & Freelancer Expenses
Payroll Costs & Fees: Payroll cost means the expense of paying your employees, which includes salaries, wages, and other benefits. This number depends on if you decide to pay yourself a salary upfront and how many employees you have on payroll. At first, many founders take on all responsibilities until the business is up and running. You can always hire down the road when you understand where you need help. Keep in mind, if you do plan to pay yourself, the average salary founders make is $50K. $150 $250
Total Employee & Freelancer Expenses $150 (min) $250 (max)
Website Costs
Website Builder: The cost of your website will vary depending on which platform you choose. There are many website builders on the market, so it's important you choose the right one for your business and overall goals. To learn more about your options + how to build a great website, check out this article. $10 $500
Web Designer: Web design includes several different aspects, including webpage layout, content creation, and design elements.If you have the skills and knowledge to design your website on your own, then outsourcing this to an expert may not be necessary. There are plenty of other ways you can design a beautiful website using design tools and software. $200 $6,000
Domain Name: Your domain name is the URL and name of your website - this is how internet users find you and your website.Domain names are extremely important and should match your company name and brand. This makes it easier for customers to remember you and return to your website. $12 $200
Business Email Hosting Service: An email hosting runs a dedicated email server. Once you have your domain name, you can set up email accounts for each user on your team. The most common email hosts are G Suite and Microsoft 365 Suite. The number of email accounts you set up will determine the monthly cost breakdown. $1 $15
Website Hosting Costs: Server hosting is an IT service typically offered by a cloud service provider that hosts the website information and allows remote access through the internet. A hosted server can help you scale up and increase your business’s efficacy, relieving you from the hassles of on-premise operations. $0 $300
Total Website Costs $223 (min) $7,015 (max)
Business Formation Fees
Small Business Insurance: Depending on which state you live in and the business you're operating, the costs and requirements for small business insurance vary. You can learn more here. $500 $2,000
Permit and License Fees: Depending on your industry, there are certain licenses and permits you may need in order to comply with state, local, and federal regulations. Here is an article that goes over all the permits and licenses you may need for your real estate business. $50 $700
Lawyer Fees: Although you may want to avoid attorney fees, it's important that your business (and you) are covered at all costs. This comes into play when creating founder agreements, setting up your business legal structure, and of course, any unforeseen circumstances that may happen when dealing with customers or other businesses. $0 $1,500
Set up business: LLC & Corporations: The first step in setting up your business is deciding whether your business is an LLC, S Corp or C Corp. The cost for this depends on which state you form your business and which structure you decide on. We put together an article that goes over the 10 Steps To Setting Up A Business. $50 $500
Total Business Formation Fees $600 (min) $4,700 (max)
Software Expenses
Design Programs & Software: These programs might include the Adobe family of design tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and others. This is typically a monthly subscription ranging from $10-$50/mo. $0 $50
Email marketing tool: If you plan to grow your email list and email marketing efforts, you may want to consider investing in an email marketing platform (ie. Klaviyo, MailChimp). We put together a detailed guide on all of the email marketing tools out there + the pricing models for each one here. $0 $100
IT Support: IT support installs and configures hardware and software and solves any technical issues that may arise.IT support can be used internally or for your customers experiencing issues with your product/service.There are a variety of tools and software you can use to help with any technical issues you or your customers are experiencing. This is a great option for businesses that do not have the means to hire a team of professionals. $150 $2,000
Accounting & Invoicing Software: It's important to have an accounting system and process in place to manage financials, reporting, planning and tax preparation. Here are the 30 best accounting tools for small businesses. $0 $50
CRM Software: CRM (customer relationship management) software system is used to track and analyze your company’s interactions with clients and prospects. Although this is not a necessary tool to have for your business, implementing this, in the beginning, may set your business up for success and save you valuable time. $12 $300
Project Management Software: You may want to consider using a project management and collaboration tool to organize your day-to-day. This can also be very beneficial if you have a larger team and want to keep track of everyones tasks and productivity. For a full list of project management tools, check out this full list here. $0 $25
Internal Communication Tool: If you plan to have multiple members on your team, you may want to consider an instant message tool such as Slack or Telegram. The cost is usually billed per month (approx $5/user/month) or there are freemium versions available on many platforms. $0 $20
Social Media Management Tools: If you plan to do social media marketing for your real estate business, you should consider investing in a social media automation or publishing tool. This will save you time and allow you to track performance and engagement for your posts. Here is a list of 28 best social media tools for your small business. $0 $50
File Hosting Service: It's important to make sure the information for your real estate business is stored and protected should something happen to your computer or hard drive. The cost for this is affordable and depends on how much data you need to store. To learn more about the different options and pricing on the market, check out this article. $0 $299
Total Software Expenses $162 (min) $2,894 (max)
Advertising & Marketing Costs
Business Cards: A real estate business involves quite a bit of customer interaction, whether that is attending tradeshows, sales calls or simply having face to face interaction with prospective clients. Business cards are a great way to stay front of mind with your clients. $0 $50
Networking Membership Fees: Joining local networking groups or your chamber of commerce is a traditional yet effective way to promote your real estate business - but these fees add up! It's important to choose the right group(s) that align with your business and help with growth. $0 $250
Direct Campaigns, Printing and Mailing: Although it may sound old-school, traditional marketing methods can be a cost-effective way to drive awareness for your brand. This includes flyers, postcards, sales letters, coupons, special offers, catalogs and brochures. $0 $300
Press: If your business and story is unique enough, press and media attention may come to you, but odds are, you may need to do your own outreach and budget for this. We put together a guide here that discusses different press opportunities (both free and paid). $0 $500
Google Ads: With Google Ads you have the ability to control how much you spend by simply setting a monthly budget cap. Additionally, with these ads you only pay for results, such as clicks to your website or phone calls! It's okay to start with a small budget at first and make changes accordingly if you see valuable returns. $0 $300
Total Advertising & Marketing Costs $0 (min) $1,400 (max)
Total Starting Costs $62 (min) $23,259 (max)

Raising Money For Your Real Estate Business

Here are the most common ways to raise money for your real estate business:

Bootstrapping

You may not need funding for your real estate business.

In fact, many entrepreneurs take this approach when starting their own business, whether they have a little amount of cash or a substantial amount to get started.

So what exactly does the term "bootstrapping" mean?

This method essentially refers to self-funding your businesswithout external help or capital and reinvesting your earnings back into the business**

Bootstrapping means building your company from the ground up with your own, or your loved ones, personal savings and reinvesting all earnings back into the business

Here are some tips to consider when bootstrapping your business:

  • Use your savings as your capital - one of the best ways to bootstrap your business is to collect your savings and use them as startup capital. This will also help you avoid using your personal or business credit cards when getting started.
  • Determine exactly how much capital you need and how much capital you have to get your business off the ground. Generally, when bootstrapping your business, you may want to consider starting a business that involves less startup capital.
  • Consider starting a business that will generate immediate returns so you can put money back into the business
  • Be as lean as possible - this refers to cutting down expenses as much as possible, such as payroll, fancy software tools, unnecessary travel, renting an office, etc
  • Consider outsourcing instead of hiring - in the beginning, you may not need to hire someone permanently to help run your business. It tends to be much less expensive to outsource work to a freelancer and hire someone permanently down the road!

Want to learn more about bootstrapping your business? Check out this article

VC Funding

VC funding is a traditional and long process, but an effective way to raise money for your business.

The term "VC funding" refers to venture capital firms investing in businesses in exchange for equity.

The VC's (venture capitalists) are an individual or small group investing in your business and typically require substantial ownership of the business, with the hope of seeing a return on their investment.

VC's are typically the best approach for businesses with high startup costs - where it would be very difficult to raise the money on your own or through a loan.

When deciding whether to take this approach, it's important that you have a few things in place first, and know what you're getting yourself into:

Determine if your business is ready

Having an idea is not enough to get VC funding.

Typically, VC's will check to make sure you have these things in place prior to closing any deal:

  • An MVP (Minimal Viable Product)
  • A founding team with all proper documents in place (articles of organization, business formation)
  • A validated idea with actual customers buying your product/service

Get everything in place and build a pitch deck

A VC individual or firm will be expecting a fine-tuned presentation that gives an overview of your business.

Here's what you should consider including in your pitch deck:

  • Management team, their previous experience + current roles in the business
  • Market challenge and solution
  • Company financials - including a P&L statement, cash flow statement, and projections
  • Company progress
  • Investment amount - how much do you need and why?

Research the right VC to fund your business

Research the types of VC investors out there and what niche they focus on.

Then, put together a list of target VC's you want to approach and your strategy around setting up meetings.

Be sure you have everything in place (as discussed above) before setting up any meeting!

Make sure the terms and expectations are right for your business

Committing to VC funding is a big deal and a decision that should not be made lightly.

Although the money and experience from VC's can help your business quickly grow, you are also giving away a stake in the company, and the money comes with strings attached.

Be sure you do your due diligence in finding the right investor - one that truly believes in the growth and success of your business.

What Skills Do I Need To Succeed In Becoming A Real Estate Agent?

As a real estate business, there are several essential skills and characteristics that are important to identify prior to starting your business.

Let’s look at these skills in more detail so you can identify what you need to succeed in your day-to-day business operations:

Resarch and Writing Skills

Research and writing skills are critical when becoming a real estate agent. Here's what this looks like:

  • Basic computer & technology skills (Microsoft office or Google sheets/docs knowledge, data input, and proficiency in typing)
  • Creativity & originality in your work and approach
  • Great communication skills and ability to meet deadlines
  • Understanding of SEO

Other skills that businesses find valuable include digital marketing skills, basic web design, and accounting abilities. Some employers may also look for a real estate business that has a bachelor's degree or formal education.

Additionally, you may want to consider putting together a portfolio of past work and experience. This includes samples of writing/research pieces, from school projects to internship work to career experience.

Design Skills

Whether you are the one designing the product or the decision-maker for the product, an eye for design is critical when becoming a real estate agent. Here's what this looks like:

  • Creative Thinking - the ability to develop or design different products or ideas
  • Visualization - being able to imagine or visualize how the product will look
  • Articulation - the ability to communicate what the design will look like and how it will be executed
  • Detail-oriented - paying close attention to all of the small pieces when designing or working on a project
  • Some technical skills - knowledge of the design software you are using to create the product or build prototypes.

Other skills that may be valuable to have when becoming a real estate agent include digital marketing skills, branding experience, and basic business knowledge.

Business Savvy Skills

When becoming a real estate agent, there are a few fundamental business skills you will want to learn in order to be successful:

  • Leadership and training skills: A great team starts with YOU. Make sure you have all company policies and training procedures in place prior to hiring your team
  • Decisive and self-confident: Over the course of your career, you will need decisions that could impact your business significantly. It's important you are able to think clearly and rationally about these decisions.
  • Ability to understand the financials: You don't need to be an accountant, but it is important that you are able to clearly understand and define metrics such as expenses, revenue, profit, margins, COGS, etc.
  • Strategic Thinking: Setting clear goals and benchmarks, identifying opportunities, risks. Ability to effectively communicate these insights to your team.

These are a few of many business savvy skills you should have (or work on) when becoming a real estate agent.

For a full list, check out this article here.

Customer Service Skills

Friendly communication with customers and the ability to address service issues is a critical part of the job.

Here are some customer service skills you may want to consider prior to becoming a real estate agent:

  • Professionalism: The way you act, present yourself, and respond to situations all leave an impression on your customer. It's important to stay professional at all times when handling customer requests or issues.
  • Problem-solving: When issues arise, it's important that you are able to think quick on your feet and address the situation with a calm and clear solution
  • Friendly-manner: This is an obvious one, but customers truly appreciate someone that can respond in a quick, efficient, and friendly manner.
  • Proficient in writing: These skills include the ability to write well-crafted emails, service tickets, and any other programs used by the business (ie. chat functions, SMS texting)

Self Motivation Skills

Self motivation and discipline skills are critical in order to become successful in this field.

It's likely that you will find yourself starting and running your real estate business from home, which could mean there are more distractions for you.

Here are the basic skills needed for self motivation & discipline:

  • Becoming a self starter: It's important that you are capable of independently completing a task without the help or direction of anyone else
  • Listening and following directions: When you are given direction by others, it's critical that you are able to follow directions and ask the right questions in order to get your job done
  • Taking the initiative in problem solving: Instead of taking the easy route, you'll need to learn to troubleshoot issues on your own as much as possible.

Advice For Becoming A Real Estate Agent

We've interviewed thousands of successful founders at Starter Story and asked what advice they would give to entrepreneurs who are just getting started.

Here's the best advice we discovered for becoming a real estate agent:

T. Cory Lewis, founder of T. C. Lewis & Co. Real Estate ($500K/month):

You have to look back at decisions, review, and revise so that you never have that undesirable outcome again.

Read the full interview ➜

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Brandon Turner, founder of Open Door Capital ($1.5M/month):

Assuming another downturn was inevitable due to that cyclical nature (but not knowing when that downturn would occur), we asked ourselves, “what type of real estate will do well if the United States economy were to decline?”

Read the full interview ➜

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Andrew Detweiler, founder of The Rockville Real Estate Exchange ($15K/month):

If you focus on trying to convince people that they need something when they really don’t want it - or don’t see the need - that’s a recipe for failure.

Read the full interview ➜

-

T. Cory Lewis, founder of T. C. Lewis & Co. Real Estate ($500K/month):

Grit and persistence can take you a long way - a lot further than good grades or an expensive suit.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Gino Barbaro, founder of Jake & Gino ($200K/month):

You need to ask your customers/students what questions and challenges they are facing. I made the mistake of creating content that I liked or thought was relevant. I am not trying to add value to my life, but my students.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Druce, founder of Stacked ($60K/month):

We saw immediate growth from doubling down on content. Our strategy in terms of SEO at that time was to focus on long-tail keywords that the bigger players were not targeting

Read the full interview ➜

-

Rachel Hernandez, founder of Adventures in Mobile Homes ($10K/month):

When things don’t go your way, you need to be prepared mentally to push forward despite the obstacles. Never give up. Know your “why” first and the “how-to” will come later with time and experience.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Jason Yarusi, founder of Yarusi Holdings ($0/month):

The trial of doing and learning is where success lies. Those that wait get left behind. Those that start the journey today learn the steps needed by leaping.

Read the full interview ➜

-

Write a Business Plan

Writing a business plan from the start is critical for the success of your real estate business.

Why?

Because this allows you to roadmap exactly what you do, what your overall structure will look like, and where you want to be in the future.

For many entrepreneurs, writing out the business plan helps validate their idea and decide whether or not they should move forward with starting the business.

You may want to consider expanding upon these sections in your business plan:

  • Executive Summary: Brief outline of your product, the market, and growth opportunities
  • Overviews and Objectives: Overview of your business, target customers, and what you need to run your business
  • Products and Services: Specifics on the products and services your business will provide
  • Market Opportunities: Analysis of customer demographics, buyer habits and if your product is in demand
  • Marketing: Outline of your marketing plan and how you plan to differentiate yourself from other customers
  • Competitive analysis: Analysis of your competition and the strengths and weaknesses therein
  • Operations: Hierarchal structure of the company and what it will take to run the business on the day-to-day
  • Leadership Team: Detailing roles and responsibilities of each manager based on their specific skill-set
  • Financial Analysis Understanding of all expenses, operating budgets, and projections for the future.

Learn more about how to write a business plan here

Determine Which Business Bank Account You Need

There are hundreds of banks out there, and it can be overwhelming to find one that's right for your business.

Here are some factors you may want to consider:

  • Location - Is your bank close enough that you can easily make deposits or get cash?
  • Low Fees - Make sure to understand any and all fees associated with setting up and maintaining your bank account. Ask for a list - banks usually try to keep this hidden and in the fine print.
  • Online Banking Services - Make sure you can easily navigate through your online portal and you have easy access to everything you need.
  • Line of Credit - What do your options look like (even if you don't need this now, you may need this down the road).
  • Every bank has something that differentiates them from the rest, so make sure whatever that is applied to your needs and values.

Check out this list of the 13 Best Banks for Small Business in 2020 and what makes them so unique.

When it comes to setting up your business, you may find yourself in a place where you have to make some financial and legal decisions.

The first thing you'll want to decide on is whether you want to be an LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp.

These three options are found to be the most common when starting a small business, and all serve to protect your personal assets and also provide you with certain tax benefits.

  • LLC: All income and expenses from the business are reported on the LLC personal income tax return.
  • S corp: Owners pay themselves salaries + receive dividends from profits.
  • C Corp: C Corps are separately taxable entities that file a corporate tax return (Form 1120). No income tax is paid at the corporate level and any tax due is paid at the owners individual expense.

Depending on where you're conducting business, you'll also want to consider securing the proper permits, licenses and liability insurance.

Learn more about securing the right permits and licenses ➜

Need to start an LLC? Create an LLC in minutes with ZenBusiness.

How Do I Pay Myself As A Small Business Owner?

Most entrepreneurs start a business to do something they love- but at the end of the day, you still have bills to pay (maybe now more than ever).

But it's important to strike the right balance - if you pay yourself too much, you could be putting your business at risk.

There are two common ways to pay yourself as a business owner:

1. Owner's Draw

Many entrepreneurs pay themselves through an owner's draw. This means that you are technically sean as "self-employed" through the eyes of the IRS and are not paid through regular wages.

At the point that you collect money from the draw, taxes typically are not taken out - so make sure you are prepared to pay these taxes once you file your individual return.

As an owner who takes a draw, you can legally take out as much as you want from your equity.

This type of compensation is suited for Sole props, LLCs, and partnerships. If you’re an S corp, you can pay yourself through both a salary and draw if you choose.

2. Salary

If you decide to pay yourself a salary, you will receive a set and recurring amount. This will be taxed by the federal government and the state you reside in.

The reality is that it can be really complicated to set your own salary, so we have some tips for you to consider:

  • Take out a reasonable amount that allows you to live comfortably but also sets your business up for success
  • Consider the number of hours you are working weekly + the type of duties you are performing.
  • Set your salary based on your industry-standard, location, and profits (or projected profits)
  • Look at your P&L statement: Deduct your own pay from that amount. This is important so you can first tackle important business expenses, and then pay yourself from the amount leftover.
  • Pick a payroll schedule (and stick to it)! In the US, it's most common to pay yourself and employees twice a month.

https://media.giphy.com/media/xT0xeLTRncS90ptpfi/giphy.gif

To learn more about how to pay yourself and what is a reasonable amount, check out this article.

How To Price Your Real Estate Services

One of the most challenging aspects to becoming a real estate agent is determining how much to charge for your real estate services.

When businesses under-price their product, this can be extremely detrimental to their bottom line and reputation.

Often times, businesses under-price their products to drive demand and volume, but that last thing you want is for customers to view your product/service as "cheap." Additionally, this can have a big impact on the type of customer you attract, which can be difficult to recover from.

On the other hand, when businesses over-price, this tends to be just as damaging to the business.

When customers buy, it's likely that they will explore the internet and look at other competitors to ensure they're getting the best value + deal. This is why it's so important that you research your competition and understand where you land in the marketplace.

Here are some factors to consider when pricing your product:

Understand your customer

It's important that out of the gates, you identify the type of customer you want to attract and how much they're willing to pay for your service. One great way to do this is by surveying your customers. Here are some important items you'll want to takeaway:

  • Customer demographic: Age, gender, location, etc.
  • Buying habits of your customer: What they buy + when they buy
  • Level of price sensitivity with your customer

All of these segments will help you identify the type of customer you're attracting and how to price your product accordingly.

Understand your costs

When pricing your real estate services, it's critical that you first identify all of your costs and consequently mark up your real estate services so you can factor in a profit.

The actual cost of your real estate services may include things like:

  • The actual cost to make the product (ie. raw materials, supplies, manufacturer).
  • Shipping + overhead fees
  • Rent
  • Operating costs to run your business

You may want to consider creating a spreadsheet with every single expense involved in operating/owning your business. This will give you an idea as to what you need to generate in order to at the very least, break-even and will help you price your products to factor in a profit.

Create revenue goals

When determining the price of your real estate services, you'll want to create goals for revenue + how much profit you want your real estate business to make.

This process is simpler than you may think:

  1. Think about your breakeven cost (by completing the above step).
  2. Create a revenue goal based on your break-even cost
  3. Evaluate the # of items you plan to sell in a given period (make sure this is a realistic number)
  4. Divide your revenue goal by the number of items you plan to sell

This figure will help determine your estimated price per product in order to meet your revenue goals.

Evaluate your competition

The last piece in determining how to price your real estate services is by simply looking at your competition.

The best way to do this is by finding like-minded businesses that offer product(s) with similar perceived value. Then, you can compare prices of the different businesses and determine where your real estate services fits best in the marketplace.

All of these factors play an equal part in pricing your real estate services, so it's important you evaluate each one individually to come up with an accurate price that will help optimize your business from the start.

Rate Calculator: How to Calculate The Price For Your Real Estate Services Services

Our calculator is designed to be simple and easy to use.

The goal is to help you set realistic expectations and understand the hourly rate you should be charging to make your desired profit.

Please input below:

Identify Target Customer

A very critical piece in building real estate business is to identify your ideal target customer.

  • Develop a niche and create a consistent brand that reflects your target customer.
  • The colors, logo, content, and overall website should resonate with your target customer and should draw them in by helping them solve their specific "need".

Building an MVP (Minimal Viable Product)

When building a real estate business, it's critical that you first validate your product/service rather than rushing to build it right away.

This could save you months, if not years of building the wrong product/service.

If you're hoping to decrease any sort of risk that comes with launching your real estate business, designing a prototype can be a great way to de-risk your situation.

The point of your real estate services prototype is that it doesn't have to be perfect.

In the beginning stages, it doesn't matter how rough V1 of your prototype is, it's more important to just get started and you can always refine from there based on feedback from your network and most importantly your customers.

How To Build A MVP

Here are several different ways of building a prototype/MVP:

  • Start by building a landing page to see if customers actually need your product and if they are willing to pay for it
  • Build a very basic version of your idea and ask for immediate feedback from potential customers
  • Present a problem and solution via Facebook/Instagram Ads and see what the response is like

Andrew Detweiler, founder of The Rockville Real Estate Exchange dives deep into the process of designing and prototyping their product:

Case Study

Based on what I had learned in my years at start-ups (and not being a tech guy), I knew I wanted to throw something up as quickly as possible and start iterating from there. I built a website through WordPress and used an IDX plug-in to get rolling.

Over the next three years, I played around with the design and figured out where I needed things to be. Throughout the first two or three years, I would say I had probably hacked together my tech stack using about 15 or 20 tools - tools like Mailchimp and Leadpages, plug-ins like Sumo Apps, etc.

I didn’t want to pay $20K for a website that I would likely want to change a week later. In other words, I had to figure out what I wanted to build first before actually building it.

It was a painstaking process, but I’ve whittled down that tech stack to about four different vendors at this point - Gsuite, Salesforce on the back-end, WordPress on the front-end, and Clickfunnels to manage email campaigns.

My last step - which I’m at now - is creating a completely custom front-end tech product that is 100% proprietary, integrated with Salesforce, and belongs to me.

Here’s a screenshot of my homepage when I first went live (this was before I was a broker, so I had to call myself The Detweiler Group and use RE/MAX branding on the site).

I’ve bootstrapped everything along the way, intending to fire myself from each job as I’ve gotten farther along. For instance, at first, it was just me working on everything.

After a year or two, I wound up hiring a Salesforce consultant (to help with my back-end build) and a digital marketing specialist to help me test out ads and work on my tech stack.

Later I drilled down and hired someone specifically to work on the technical aspect of the site. When I had finally had something I thought was worth protecting, I employed a lawyer.

I’ve drilled down in that manner to include a graphic designer, an SEO specialist, and a video marketing person, an admin, and a few more folks at different times throughout the years. The farther I progress, the more jobs I fire myself from and bring on a specialist to handle that work.

-  
Andrew Detweiler, on starting The Rockville Real Estate Exchange ($15,000/month) full story ➜

🚀 How To Launch Your Real Estate Business

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Build A Website

Building a website is imperative when launching your business, and with the right tools in place, this can be a simple task to check off the list (without having to hire someone).

  1. Pick a domain name that's easy to remember and easy to type
  2. Choose a Web Hosting Plan (ie. Shopify, Squarespace)
  3. Make sure you choose the right theme and design
  4. Implement the proper page structure (ie. about page, contact page, pricing etc)

To learn more about how to build a stellar website with little stress, we give you all the details on this step-by-step guide.

Best Website Platforms To Use For Your Real Estate Business:

There are a variety of websites platforms out there, and it's important to choose the right one that will set you up for success.

Here's everything you need to know about the two most common platforms for your real estate business:

WordPress

Free and open-source content management system based on PHP and MySQL.

Free to use/open source but you will need to pay for the hosting.

Businesses using WordPress:

834 successful businesses are using WordPress ➜

Get WordPress ➜

Squarespace

The all-in-one solution for anyone looking to create a beautiful website.

  • Personal Plan: $12/month
  • Business Plan: $18/month
  • Basic: $26/month
  • Advanced: $40/month

  • Pricing: Freemium

  • Twitter: @squarespace

  • Website: squarespace.com

Businesses using Squarespace:

131 successful businesses are using Squarespace ➜

Get Squarespace ➜

Web Design

Once you have chosen the domain, web hosting, and platform, it's time to get started with the design phase.

Themes are a great way to produce the fundamental style and identity of your website - this includes everything from your font design to your blog post styles.

One of the best ways to get started is to simply explore the various themes (free or paid depending on what you're looking for) and test them on your site.

If web-design really isn't in the cards for you, you may want to consider outsourcing a web designer to help bring your vision and brand to life.

Traditional Launch Strategies For Your Real Estate Business:

There are various different ways you can launch your real estate business successfully.

Here are a few different strategies to get customers excited about your real estate business:

  • Set up a Facebook page for your business. This is a great way to establish an online presence
  • Host an event in a fun location with drinks & food. This is a great way to get exposure in the local community.
  • Get Press! Pitch your story to the media and you may just land in an amazing publication
  • Live sales to get customers excited
  • Send a hand-written letter in the mail with a discount on your services to the local community/neighborhoods.

T. Cory Lewis, founder of T. C. Lewis & Co. Real Estate dives deep into the process of launching the business:

Case Study

We eventually pulled the trigger on our own office space, hired some key folks away from the firm where we had worked, and hit the ground running representing new development projects and perfecting the sale of spec homes. That was all in 2006, and then by 2008, we all know what happened to the market. And we didn’t really know what we were going to do. I think that looking back, we are thankful that we hadn’t had years of ‘easy money’ success in real estate so that when things turned south, it wasn’t great, but we weren’t that far in over our heads. We hadn’t really made any money yet anyway.

Then we had a client from North Carolina that came to Tennessee to buy a small apartment building in Kingsport - it was either distressed or in foreclosure. And he asked that if he bought it, could we manage it. He wanted to know if we offered that, or if we could recommend somebody that did because he lived out of state and would need somebody. I confidently said yes, of course, we can handle it. So, we made the offer, he left, and I went to tell Haize (my wife) that I was working on this deal, I thought it was going to be accepted, and she had to figure out what property management was and does before we had a closing. And that’s what we did. We quietly went to work figuring out what was expected of property management, and if there was any way that we could make money from it.

That closing happened, and our thirty-day old property management program was implemented. We developed some rudimentary documents mostly based on places where we had lived previously. And that property led to another from another past client, and we realized that we had enough revenue coming in from management to pay the utility bills at the office. And we knew that we were onto something. And with no real estate purchases or sales really happening during the real estate crash at the time, we had also stumbled upon what people were doing - they were renting.

This process led to us realizing the connection between the things that we had outlined in our original plan that we wanted to be involved in - the diversification into real estate sales, development, remodeling, and construction - and it was just missing the property management component that put it all together. It also built-in monthly revenue that could be budgeted around for growth and stability. It became our key to the investor doors that we had wanted. They hired us for management, we would clean up a big mess at a complex with maintenance and vacancies, and we would talk them into hiring us for more services. TCLewis Facebook photos.

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T. Cory Lewis, on starting T. C. Lewis & Co. Real Estate ($500,000/month) full story ➜

🌱 How To Grow Your Real Estate Business

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Social Media Advertising

Social Media Advertising is one of the leading ways to get the word out when it comes to real estate business.

There are various different Social Media platforms available to you. Some may be more critical for your marketing efforts than others, however, it's important to have an understanding of what's out there and available to you.

Let's talk about a few of the main platforms and what makes them unique:

  • Facebook Advertising - more than 2 billion monthly users. Facebook is the best for lead generation + capturing email addresses for e-commerce businesses.
  • Instagram Advertising - approximately 500 million monthly users and has a higher audience engagement rate than any other platform. Instagram ads are best for linking to a product page or landing page and reaches the 18-29 age group most effectively.
  • Twitter Advertising- Small businesses typically use twitter ads to drive brand awareness, but the platform is meant more for organic engagement (and is not as heavily used for paid advertising)
  • Pinterest Advertising - 175 million monthly users and most effectively reaches the female audience. Pinterest is great for promoting products without "promoted". The promoted pins have a way of blending right in.
  • LinkedIn Advertising - 227 million monthly users and is geared towards the B2B market and generates the highest quality leads. Great platform for recruiters, high-end products and services that will help businesses

It's important to first define your goal/objective so that you don't waste time and money into the wrong platform:

Here are some different questions to ask yourself as it relates to your goals:

  • Do I want to simply drive brand awareness?
  • Do I want to drive users to my website to gather information?
  • Do I want to increase sales and get my customer to take action?

From there, choose the platform that targets your audience best and start experimenting!

Learn more about social media advertising ➜ here.

Case Study

Founder Andy Hayes talks about mastering FB ads and the pixel:

The biggest bang for your buck will likely be mastering Facebook and it’s platform - which we all know is pay for play, so you’ll have to come up with a small amount of budget to start for marketing.

We’ve spent countless hours (and paid numerous coaches) before we cracked the code that works for us on Facebook, but it is working really well for us now.

Some of the most important things to know when it comes to FB Ads:

  • Start with retargeting (that’s showing ads to people who already know you but did not purchase). Master this - and start building information on your Facebook Pixel - before you do anything else
  • Once you have that down, try working with the 1% “Lookalike” audience to prospect for new customers. This may take awhile because your pixel audience is small, so try layering on interests - 1% Lookalike and your largest competitor, for example. Don’t use interest-only targeting until you master this.
  • Great photography and videography is key, as is smart copy. Research what’s out there in your industry and constantly test - what works for one company may not work for other people.
  • Make sure you have good offers. For example, we have a $5 trial for our subscription, which converts affordably - if we promoted our subscription with the standard $30 front charge, it wouldn’t be as cost-effective.
-  
Andy Hayes, on starting Plum Deluxe Tea ($75,000/month) full story ➜

Improve your SEO

SEO is not just about driving traffic to your site, it's about driving the RIGHT traffic to your site, and ultimately, converting leads into customers.

One of the most important aspects of SEO is understanding what your customers are searching for, otherwise known as "keyword research."

Here are some tools that can help you choose the right keywords for your real estate business.

Publish Great Content

Finding keywords is an important piece of the puzzle, but Google also ranks your site based on the actual content you produce, as this is what your customers are reading and engaging with.

There are various different "forms" of content that you may want to consider diversifying on your sites, such as blog posts, articles, studies, and videos.

So let's discuss what google considers "good content:"

  • Length - This will vary depending on the page, however, generally having a sufficient amount of content helps search engines recognize that your site is a good source for a specific topic
  • Engagement - The longer people stay on your website to read your content, the higher Google will rank your website. It's important to have informative and "thick" content that keeps people reading
  • Avoid Duplicating Content - Google will recognize this and may consider your content to have low value
  • Ensure pages load quickly - This will also help with engagement and time spent on your website
  • Shareability - Create content that people want to share, and is easy for them to share, especially to their social media accounts (ie. "click to tweet" is a great example of this).

Another element of creating good content is creating consistent content.

If (and hopefully you are) publishing content frequently, it's important to stick to a schedule - this helps build brand trust and easy user experience with your customers.

Planning out your content with a content calendar is key to staying consistent.

Here are a few great content calendar tools that can help you:

  • Trello
  • Airtable
  • If you prefer to keep it simple, your average spreadsheet is just as useful!

Backlinks

Backlinks are an important piece to SEO, as they allow for other websites to link to your content.

Search engines recognize that other sites are essentially "verifying" your content and essentially rank you higher because of this.

Of course, some links are more valuable than others and can affect your site in different ways.

For example, if a highly valuable and credible site like the New York Times links to a page on your website, this could be remarkable from an SEO perspective.

Aside from organically getting mentioned from other sites, there are other ways that you can increase and earn backlinks:

  • Create infographics with relevant data that people want to share
  • Promote your content on different sites/look into "guest blogging"
  • Contact influencers/journalists/bloggers and ask them to mention you!
  • Write testimonials for other sites in exchange for a backlink
  • Leverage existing business relationships

Learn more about the fundamentals of SEO ➜ here and check out Neil Patel's 3 Powerful SEO Tips below

Build A Blog

One of the most effective ways to build brand awareness and grow your business is through consistently blogging.

We've outlined some useful tips for you to consider when creating content:

Consistency and Quantity

Quality is important, but it should be the standard for any content you publish.

What’s more important is consistency and quantity.

Consistency is as simple as committing to publishing and sharing a certain number of posts per week. For me, that’s three per week right now.

This kind of commitment is key, because one day, a random post will blow up, and you will have never expected it.

Oversaturation

The easiest mind trap is to think "I’m posting too much", and “I need to give my readers/audience/this platform a break”.

This is nonsense.

There is no such thing as oversaturation. Well, there is, but it is just someone else’s opinion.

For every person that tells you you are posting too much, there is another person that wants even more of your content.

You should ignore people’s opinions on how much you post.

Patience & Persistence

Keep posting, keep trying, and keep putting out good content on the regular. Your time will come, and when it does, it will change everything.

The only thing you have control over is your content.

You can’t control how people will react to it. You can’t control pageviews, likes, or shares.

So the only metric you should focus on is how much content you can put out in a week, month, etc.

Where to share your blog content

Mailing List

I know it sounds obvious, but the best places to share your content is on your mailing list. It is guaranteed traffic and it is a great way to get rapid feedback from your most loyal readers.

Send newsletters often. I have done once a week since starting, and I’m moving to twice a week soon.

Work on increasing your mailing list as well. Look into ways to increase your conversion rate to your mailing list. I added a flyout popup thing to my site and now I’m collecting ~30 emails per day.

An email newsletter is one of the most powerful assets you can have and it is worth its weight in gold.

Reddit

Reddit is one of my favorite places to promote content.

It is a very scary place because you will often get banned or heckled, but it can really pay off.

Create social media accounts for your blog, the main ones I use:

Twitter Facebook Instagram LinkedIn

Set up Buffer and share all of your blog posts to all of your accounts. All of these little shares really do add up.

Automate this as much as possible. I automated all of my social media for Starter Story.

Facebook Groups

When I started out, I put together a spreadsheet of relevant Facebook groups for my niche, and I would post to these groups whenever I had a big story I wanted to share.

Experiment With Pay Per Click Ads (PPC)

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a performance-based marketing method that allows you to show specific ads for services or products oriented to a very defined target, with the goal that the user visits your website or landing page.

Here are some tips to consider:

  • Consider connecting the ad to your corresponding landing page so that the audience receives the necessary information after clicking on the ad.
  • Conversion Tracking: When running PPC campaigns, be sure to run the ads with conversion tracking.
  • Focus on quality keywords, even if there are few as this will save you time and money. When assessing the performance of a keyword, it's important to track the expense, conversion, and cost per conversion, as well as the ROI.

PPC advertising can be a very important lead generator as long as it's done properly. Your PPC campaign is intended to drive traffic to your website and help the business scale.

Additionally, if the campaign is not having the desired results, you can make the necessary changes immediately to improve them.

Case Study

Ryan Schortmann, founder of Display Pros talks about their investment in PPC Ads:

My name is Ryan Schortmann and I’m the founder of Display Pros. We are a custom trade show display booth company offering easy to use portable display “kits” for small and medium businesses wanting to get into the trade show game.

It did not take long to come to the realization that to compete at any reasonable level, we were going to need to take the plunge and invest in Pay Per Click ads and display.

From experience, I know that it is important to give Google’s hivemind some time to settle in before each campaign starts seeing consistent results (this is largely dependent on budget).

A certain amount of PPC budget must be viewed as a “marketing research” expense and then you can look at the analytics data and make informed decisions on where to refine, tweak or plain scrap an idea.

Google Shopping was an entirely new concept for me. You can’t assign keywords to products so at first, I was asking myself “How the hell do you refine these?”. Then I found some good reading material and courses and learned of some advanced methods that the pros are using. It turns out you can utilize negative keyword lists combined with the priority setting on each shopping campaign to “shape” the keywords that are coming in and how much you are spending on them.

To learn more about PPC Ads and Google Shopping, check out this video to learn everything you need to know!

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Ryan Schortmann, on starting Display Pros ($30,000/month) full story ➜

Grow Your Email List

The more engaged list of emails, the more engaged customers, which ultimately leads to more sales.

One of the best ways to start growing your list is by providing your customer with something free (or discounted) in return.

This could also be anything from:

  • Ebook
  • Fascinating case study
  • Video series
  • Free week of the product
  • Discount on the product

Learn more about how to grow your email list and improve email marketing ➜ here.

Case Study

Dylan Jacob, founder of Brumate states their email collection tactic that is proven to work:

We use Spin-a-Sale for this (you spin a wheel for a discount code in exchange for subscribing to our email list). This has been the best email-collecting tool we have found because the customer truly feels like they won a prize rather than just a coupon code.

Even if a customer doesn’t convert right away, if we have their email we have a 19% chance of converting them into a future customer whether that is through future promotions, new releases, or simply just sending an email at the right time for a purchase to finally make sense for them.

We also have a return customer rate of over 14%, so one out of every 6 people we convert will end up buying from us again with an average order value of over $60.00.

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Dylan Jacob, on starting BrüMate ($12,000,000/month) full story ➜

Add an exit-intent popup to your online store

A great way to double, or even triple, your email opt-in rate and to grow your list is to add an exit-intent popup to your site, and offering a discount or content upgrade for subscribers.

Here's an example of what that might look like:

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Case Study

One thing that I spent years NOT doing, that I now kick myself about, is adding an "exit intent pop-up" to our site, which lets people enter a sweepstakes to win a Xero Shoes gift certificate.

That one idea has added over 100,000 subscribers to our email list, which is one of our most effective marketing channels.

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Steven Sashen, on starting Xero Shoes ($4,000,000/month) full story ➜

Improve Your Email Marketing

Different types of emails

Here are the most common types of email campaigns you can send to your customers and their benefits:

  • Welcome emails - the perfect way to provide information from the start with a clear CTA. Make sure to tell your customer everything they need to know about your product or service.
  • Newsletters - a great way to give customers updates or send out your latest content
  • Product launch emails - the quickest (and easiest) way to increase sales is by selling to current customers. Make sure they're the first on the list to know about your new product
  • Promotional emails - promote discounts, deals coupons etc. Try and make this feel exclusive and for a limited time only
  • Abandoned cart emails - give your customers a reason to complete their purchase!

Here's a great resource for finding curated email designs, for all types of email campaigns!

Abandonded Cart Flow

The abandoned cart workflow is one of the most effective strategies for turning your lead into a customer, and a powerful tool to have if you're an e-commerce business.

Think about all the times that you went on a shopping frenzy only to add items to your cart and then either forget or realize nows not the right time to pull the trigger.

Then, minutes later you receive an email saying "Hurry up! Your cart is waiting - and we want to provide you with 20% off your order."

Maybe that's the special touch (and discount) you needed to pull that trigger.

Implementing this workflow can automatically trigger this for your business every time a customer abandons their cart.

Here's a great example of an abandoned cart email from Brooklinen:

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Things they do well:

  • Showcase 5-star reviews from other customers
  • Offer a small discount + free shipping
  • Great design + clear call to actions!

🏃🏼‍♀️ How To Run Your Real Estate Business

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How To Retain Customers For Your Real Estate Business

Retaining customers is one of the most effective ways to grow your real estate business.

Oftentimes, it's easy to find yourself focusing on generating new customers, vs retaining your current ones.

Look at it this way - you are 60-70% more likely to sell a new product to an existing customer than you are a new customer.

That's not to say that finding new customers and revenue streams is not important, however, the easiest (and most inexpensive) source of new revenue is right there in front of you.

Here are some ways you can retain customers for your real estate business:

  • Responding to comments on social media
  • Send discounts (or freebies) to loyal customers
  • Provide valuable content, for free
  • Write a hand written thank you note
  • Provide awesome customer service and build relationships with customers

To find out more tips and tricks on retaining customers, check out this article ➜ here

Jordan Fulmer, founder of Momentum Property Solutions dives deep into the process of attracting and retaining customers:

Case Study

Once we began pursuing more real estate deals, we realized that locating profitable houses to buy would be our most significant challenge. And this remains to be our biggest challenge to this day. We live in a scorching real estate market, and home prices have been high and continuing to climb across the country for the last few years.

We’ve tried it all when it comes to marketing for houses to buy. We initially started by sending out direct mail in the form of postcards and letters. We were sending them out like crazy, and it did bring us some deals. The trouble was that it was extremely inconsistent. Nevertheless, we continued to do it because we didn’t know anything better.

Then at a real estate meeting, I talked to another young investor that had been having success, and he said that most of his leads were coming from cold calling and sending text message blasts. He said that he had even hired a virtual assistant to handle all of those operations. That was all I needed to hear! I felt like that was the missing piece of the puzzle. I didn’t mind dumping money into a marketing method if I knew it would provide consistent results.

The problem was, that it didn’t provide results at all. After months of cold calling strangers, we didn’t have a single deal to show for it. We eventually had to decide it was enough and try something else.

That’s the thing. It was never in my thought process to quit altogether. I was determined to figure out a way to succeed because I knew it was possible.

Around that time is when I started researching SEO. I saw a Facebook ad from a guy that felt like he was re-telling my entire story. He hit every pain point I had gone through and talked to it in a way that I knew he had experienced himself. His remedy to all of these marketing issues was SEO, and I dove into his program headfirst.

That was in June of 2021, and less than a year later, we have already begun ranking #1 for highly competitive keywords in our market! Anyone who knows SEO knows that the domain rating assigned by Ahrefs is an indicator of the overall authority of your site. In about ten months, we have grown from a zero to a 26! This took our site from past the tenth page of Google to position #1 for “sell my house Huntsville al!”

Our success with SEO can be attributed to two things. The first is that we spent a significant amount of time early on building a website that engages and builds credibility with our traffic. Not only does this result in more conversions, but it also sends ranking signals to Google when people spend large amounts of time on our pages. The second thing we have focused on is building high-quality backlinks. We consistently respond to HARO pitches, and we use our blog as a backlink magnet by writing informative content and performing outreach to build links to our articles.

Although we have worked extremely hard to rank organically, most of our leads from our site have come from PPC advertising. I initially began using PPC to drive traffic to our site so I could see how they were responding to our content. But then leads started coming in, and we kept rolling with it.

Don’t get discouraged by a sub-par deal. When conducting business, you will likely make mistakes and lose money sometimes. But these are the times that we can learn the most.

For the last several months, we have been averaging a little over one solid lead per month using PPC advertising. This may not sound like a ton, but it is a huge deal compared to where we came from with traditional marketing methods.

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Jordan Fulmer, on starting Momentum Property Solutions ($5,000/month) full story ➜

Diversify Your Product Line

Adding new products to your business is a great way to expand into new markets and grow your business.

It's important to note that adding new products and diversifying may not be in the cards for you right this moment, and that's okay. You can always consider it down the road.

Here are some reasons you may want to considering adding/diversifying your product

  • Meeting the needs of your customers
  • Establish yourself as a top provider in your industry and stay ahead of the game with competition
  • Resistance to downturns/trends fading
  • Create new revenue streams

Word of Mouth

The most tried and true way to grow a real estate business is through word of mouth - some entrepreneurs would say it's more important than all social media.

Why you should focus on word of mouth:

  • Consumers trust word of mouth above all other forms of marketing
  • 92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising
  • 64% of marketing executives indicated that they believe it is the most effective form of marketing

Learn more about word of mouth in our guide: 30 Ways Founders Grow Their Business ➜

How To Crush The Sales Process For Your Real Estate Business

You may find yourself in a spot where you're ready to hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process.

Regardless if you have one or thirty salespeople, it's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.

Mike Korba, co-founder of User.Com walks us through the entire sales process and which teams are responsible for what:

Case Study

User.com Sales Process

Each user and account is qualified with a specialist. For business leads, they are handled by the sales team, and if they are qualified we give them a demo, more than often at the end of their fourteen-day trial. If they’re happy they’ll add a payment, and get an account manager, so a customer support and success team who will help implement the solution and to use the technology.

Sometimes, users will convert naturally on their own, after using the freemium product and finding it to be something that they will find beneficial.

After they convert, we help with onboarding, give them some personalized tips for their specific business or industry to grow plus all kinds of support, for whatever they need - something we take huge pride in.

The team is right now more than 30 people, with more than half working on the IT and product side, and the rest are in three teams: Support, Marketing, and Sales who all work together very closely.

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Mike Korba, on starting User.com ($100,000/month) full story ➜

Build a Referral Program

Word of mouth is one of the best ways to get the word out about your business and acquire new customers. Especially when you are starting out, it’s important to build a solid referral program to encourage existing customers to help you find new ones.

A great way to do that is by offering a reward (ie. credit on your service or cash) to customers that refer you to their friends and family.

A fantastic referral program will help with clout, credibility, and establishing yourself in the space.

Resources

We put together the best resources on the internet to help you start your real estate business.

Tools

Books

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Case Studies

meet the author
Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.