By Marki Lemons
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Women are a force to reckon with. According to NAR’s 2009 Member Profile, 60 percent of REALTORS® are women. Now it is time for women to represent 60 percent of the growing world of foreclosures and short sales.

To succeed in the world of foreclosures, short sales and REO properties, one must change their marketing strategy. You will need to set goals and create a plan to support those goals. Your income will determine your marketing efforts.  A marketing plan should be long-term and strategic with the ultimate goal of attracting customers seeking your services.

Today we are conducting business in a buyer’s market with more than 5 million homeowners who have missed at least one mortgage payment. Regardless of the changes in the market, the key elements of a marketing plan do not change. You are responsible for personal promotion, controlling your image and differentiating yourself from the competition.

Realize you are an entrepreneur. Most licensed sales agents and brokers are independent contractors and control their own destiny. Prior to launching a marketing campaign, please review your company policy to ensure compliance. It is your responsibility as an entrepreneur to let the world know that you sell real estate and that you specialize in foreclosures, short sales and REO properties.

I’m a walking billboard for Marki Lemons Unlimited. My car has decals. I wear my logo on shirts and jackets. I carry business cards and post cards. I wear my REALTOR® pin. I mail to distressed homeowners. I conduct homebuyer seminars. I blog. I network. And I write articles exclusively about short sales and foreclosures.  I understand that I’m an entrepreneur who runs a distressed real estate business.

Set your financial goals. The list of personal promotion can go on, and on, and on. However, marketing takes money, and you must first decide how much money you will invest into your business to ensure you achieve the desired return.

Each year, sit down and set annual financial goals. It is important to put them in writing, because it forces you to visualize them and it creates a commitment on your part. This simple step can create your personal roadmap to success.

Establish a marketing plan. The next step will entail actually creating a plan of action. Remember the old adage, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Your plan of action should answer the question, “How do I reach potential buyers and sellers?” There are numerous marketing options available to market your services to distressed homeowners and buyers looking to purchase a short sale or REO property. To optimize success, I recommend a combination of direct-mail, telemarketing, Internet marketing and seminars.

According to real estate mentor Miguel Berger, “One should create a blog, reduce traditional advertising by up to 90 percent and increase online advertising as much as possible.” The Internet can be an affordable and highly effective marketing vehicle if used correctly.

My current marketing plan includes direct-mail of postcards; a homebuyer’s seminar, “Foreclosure Buyer Boot Camp,” a lot of social networking, blogging and ezine; and community events. (Check out Marki's brochure and postcard.)

Seminars are highly effective for marketing to potential clients. According to NAR’s 2007 Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers, 57 percent of all buyers and 77 percent of first-time homebuyers thought the benefit of the real estate agent during the purchase process was that the agent helped buyers understand the process.

According to real estate instructor Doug Devitre, “REALTORS® must become educators, presenters and fluent communicators in order to serve their buyer clientele. Buyer/seller counseling sessions explain the process but are limited to one on one with the client. Homebuyer seminars are better because they group like-minded consumers together to understand the process.”

You can set up these seminars at your office, local park districts, community centers, churches, trade organizations and so on.  In addition, you could present online webinars and teleconferences and archive your pre-recorded seminars on your Web site or blog.

Once you set up the seminar, you will want to post flyers around the community and to advertise the event online, in local newspapers and radio, if your budget allows for it.

Marki Lemons, ABR, ABRM, CRS, CRB, GREEN, SRES, has used her dynamic, professional attitude and vast experience to become known as Chicago’s “Queen of Foreclosures." She can be reached at 888-205-4615 or mlemons@rubloff.com.