Your comprehensive 'give-to-get' real estate marketing plan

Would you like achieving the maximum return on your time and your marketing dollars?

If so, take the next seven weeks to follow our give-to-get marketing plan for National Spruce Up Day on November 19, 2016 — or use it anytime you would like to build your business using give-to-get-marketing.

What is give-to-get-marketing? The idea is simple: When you give to others, others give back to you. It’s the same concept as paying it forward: When you help someone, a different person in the future will help you.

How give-to-get marketing works

I recently ran into Mary Tennant, the past President and COO of Keller Williams and current Board member. When I told Mary about National Spruce Up Day, she explained why KW Cares, RED Day and events like Spruce Up Day are such powerful business-builders:

“Where else can you demonstrate your product (real estate), get exposure for your business and show how dedicated you are to helping your community?”

Dog Beach Cleanup Day in San Diego

How to implement your give-to-get marketing program

You have an excellent opportunity right now to leverage National Spruce Up Day, a massive grassroots national initiative to clean up, renovate and improve the overall appearance of our local neighborhoods and to help residents who may lack the funds or the abilities to make those changes themselves.

Use the plan outlined below for not only Spruce Up Day, but also any time you want to use give-to-get marketing to help your community.

The strategy works for individuals, teams, offices, local YPN or WCR chapters and associations. Also, check out the photos from Dog Beach Cleanup Day in San Diego for more ideas.

Dog Beach Cleanup Day in San Diego

Week 1: (10-3-16) Identify how you want to participate

Questions to answer:

• Do you want to be a lone participant, work with your team, your office or perhaps your entire company, your local YPN (Young Professionals Network) or WCR (Womens Council of Realtors) chapter or local association?
• Who do you want to help? You can ask the owners of any of your current listings if there is a neighbor who could use you/your group’s help on Spruce Up Day.
• If you are currently involved in a charity such as Habitat or Rebuilding Together, is there a project you can begin or work on November 19, 2016?
• If you have a different charity of choice — such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, ALS or autism and so on — are there families whose properties need raking, yard cleanup, some paint, storm windows or some other type of help?
• If you’re active at your place of worship, in scouting or other groups that give back to their communities, enlist their help to assist other members in your group who may be struggling with illness or other difficulties.
• Once you have identified the group you would like to serve, decide on what activities would be appropriate. (Need ideas?)

Week 2: (10-10-16) Reach out

• Determine the details of how you conduct the event — what you will do, where you will do it, and how many people you expect to participate — and be sure to pay attention to parking considerations.
• If you’re working with a group, use email or social media to obtain additional volunteers.
• If you don’t already have a Facebook business page for your business, set one up using the name of your project, your city, your target help group, and the date (for example, Smithville Spruce Up Day 11-19-16.)
• Add a tagline to explain what you will do: “ABC Real Estate joins forces with Boy Scout Troop 716 to rake leaves, mulch, and repaint equipment at the Smithville Elementary School playground.”
• If you are doing print marketing for your project, order your print materials.
• If you are working with a group and want to be identifiable to the public, order T-shirts, caps or other identifying outerwear.
• Order print marketing pieces (see below for content ideas).

Week 3: (10-17-16) Nail down logistics

• Send/post marketing piece No. 1 announcing the project and post it on social media as well (ABC Real Estate joins Boy Scout Troop 716 to Spruce Up 15 homes of people whose children are hospitalized with cancer).
• Determine the exact locations to be involved in the event, the activities to be performed, and how many people will be needed.
• What tools will be needed and who will supply them?
• What arrangements (if any) must be made for parking and access to bathroom facilities?
• Will you be providing water, snacks, lunch or a combination of refreshments?
• If you’re doing a group event, will you be seeking sponsors who can contribute food, beverages, or other useful items?
• If you need materials, see if your local hardware or big box home supply store will donate materials or give you coupons for discounts on needed materials.

Week 4: (10-24-16) Begin implementation

• Send/post marketing piece No. 2 with ideas that your sphere could use to spruce up their own houses to assist in the effort. (Use www.spruceupday.com/moreinfo for ideas).
• Identify who will be responsible for picking up any food, tools and other items needed for the event.
• If you are coordinating a multi-pronged effort (removing the graffiti in one area and sprucing up properties in an adjacent area), decide who will be in charge for each project.

Week 5: (10-31-16) Continue implementing logistics

• Send/post marketing piece No. 3: Provide clients links to coupons or other resources for preparing their homes for fall, including tuning up their heating system, trimming trees and other fall home improvement projects.
• Contact the press and confirm any press release dates.
• Have volunteers sign up for specific parts of the tasks you will be doing: raking, touch up painting, picking up trash, mulching, putting up storm windows, etc.
• Arrange for distribution of the T-shirts, caps or any other materials that you ordered the day of the event.

Week 7: (11-7-16) Notify volunteers of event details

• Send/post marketing piece no. 4: Use Spruce Up Day to make your neighborhood and your listings look their best by having owners put up their holiday lights and decorations the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
• Send out event details to volunteers including the hours of the event, the address of where to meet, any age restrictions, where to park and any required clothing such as gloves, boots or hardhats that volunteers may need to bring.
• Notify volunteers whether food and drinks will be provided or whether the volunteers need to bring their own.

Week 8: (11-13-16) Finalize logistics

• Send/post marketing piece No. 5: Join us for National Spruce Up Day, November 19, 2016, to help a neighbor or friend who needs help raking their leaves, cleaning up trash or preparing their property for winter.
• Take before photos of the locations where you will be working to show before and after results.
• Reconfirm who is participating, where and what roles each person will play.
• Resend logistics and event details the Monday and Friday before the event.

Spruce Up Day: (11-19-16)

• Implement your plan, post your photos and videos on your website and your social media accounts.
• If you have a Twitter account, tweet about your efforts throughout the day at #SpruceUpDay.

Week 9: (11-20-16) Thanksgiving Week

• Follow up by thanking those who participated. You can use the photos and videos for creating your late fall and winter marketing campaigns.
• Be sure to post your before and after photos as well.
• Our next National Spruce Up Day will be in either late April or early May 2017.

Use the plan in this column any time you want to implement a give-to-get-marketing plan for your community.

Bernice Ross, CEO of RealEstateCoach.com, is a national speaker, author and trainer with over 1,000 published articles and two best-selling real estate books. Learn about her training programs at www.RealEstateCoach.com/AgentTraining and www.RealEstateCoach.com/newagent

Email Bernice Ross