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Often a small business owner or real estate agent must design his or her own marketing materials. Companies run out of marketing materials, or smaller independent realtors may need some made for them and do not have the in house marketing specialist to razzle dazzle sales prospects with their graphic art. Whatever the reason it means making sure the materials are the best quality they can afford to represent their business and make a good impression. While making up the design of these materials it is important to keep a few things in mind.
Design, Design, Design
Whether it is a product sales sheet or real estate agent business cards the marketing material is going to end up in front of a sales prospect. Make it the best marketing collateral that you can. The sales professional will look better if the marketing material looks professional as well.
When the marketing materials are created they must be planned out well to communicate the right message you are trying to send. The entire product must be well organized and professional. Since the pictures are usually the focal point, they must be crisp and clear. This is important because the product is representing a company and ultimately you are judged by the quality of your materials. If the pictures are blurry and the design is choppy, clients will view it as second-rate and your company along with it. Use photo quality images, 300dpi if you are using a photo. Cell phone cameras are an excellent tool but be mindful of resolution. Customers may decide to find a different real estate company with better marketing collateral.
The appearance of real estate materials includes the materials it is constructed with. If an agent is trying to make a good impression, it should be made out of the best materials available. At least 14PT card stock. Extra thick paper stock and glossy finishes are signs of a well-made business card or realestate brochure. Business Card Genius is an online site that provides these services, but not the only one. Although we take it a step further and use 16PT card stock because you can feel a difference. These final touches cost a smidge extra, but dramatically improve the appearance. The entire appearance of realtor materials can affect a client?s view of the business. Be mindful that saving $10 on business cards can cost you a commission on a sale. Choose wisely.
Gone are the days when customers are still willing to keep plain-looking business cards. 90% of the cards given to customers are thrown away; they are bland and do nothing for the sales prospect. Do you want to be in the 10% that are kept? A well-designed business card will get you there. When it comes to your business card for real estate, you may want to leave it to the experts to provide you advice on how to combine the right elements to get you noticed. A logo is essential; it will also be highly advisable if you can add a photo to your business card. It becomes easier for your customers to associate your business with your face. It increases your credibility. You can also check out the portfolio page for many excellent samples for real estate business card designs. Stay away from generic templates offered by companies. It won?t help you be unique in your customer?s perception.
Branding
A large reason marketing materials use the same format on all of the different pieces is to build the company brand. Whenever someone sees a logo or design on a realestate brochure or a broker business card, they start to develop a familiarity with it. This familiarity may cause them to lean towards one real estate company rather than another. Brochures, business cards, presentation folders, and realtor envelopes must all contain the company?s logo and design to make the system work most effectively for you. The agent?s picture will also be printed so the client can get familiar with them as well as to associate the agent with the brand.
Choose The Correct Card Stock For Your Customer
Business Card Genius makes use of 16pt heavy card stock for their business cards for real estate agents. Few of our competitors do the same. For us its a no-brainer. Heavier thickness card stock for the realtor business cards is to make sure that they are rich in texture, especially when printed in full color. If you purchase business cards at a local print shop you will be offered generic business card paper which is often 12PT card stock. The cards will be untreated. You can put some text on it and a logo.
Let us be clear. It is OK to purchase a generic card from a generic printer for a generic customer where you are not worried about building a relationship to market and sell high value items. If you need maximum impact you should choose the best cards, not the generic ones. That means the heaviest card stocks, the best treatments, and the brightest colors and clearest pictures you can find. If you believe your customers prefer the feel of a linen card then go with that. 100LB linen paper is good quality and most customers will realize that is the case.
Business Card Printing Shapes
The business card for real estate may have different kinds of shapes. The most usual design is the square corner card, but you can also get rounded corners or fold-over cards which basically looks like a small brochure. The interior part contains the contact information of the real estate broker, while the front may contain the photo of the agent, logo, and other graphics.
Balance Images and Text
It is essential that texts should be highly visible on your business cards. Fields such as your name, contact details, e-mail and office addresses, and other pertinent details should be readable. Make sure your graphics do not detract from the text. You need the text. Make sure the text does not over power the graphics either. Good internet printing companies have good designers who will be able to get this right for you. Use them if you don?t have experienced in-house people. I would suggest trying them at least once in any case. My company makes cards for people in different geographic areas where different card styles are used. Often we can suggest styles from other areas you haven?t seen before which will make them more unique for your customers.
Buzz
The best marketing materials create a buzz around them. Your customer?s remark on them to you, will remember them because the marketing materials stood out, and will show them to their friends, business partners, and acquaintances. Make sure your Brochure is THAT brochure. If a real estate agent has to make their own marketing materials they should keep these tips in mind. A good presentation of you is what keeps clients coming back. A quality printer is capable of helping agents make their own custom real estate brochure, business cards, postcards, and envelopes. Regardless of how the economy is doing there are always people who are looking for homes or are selling them to prospective buyers. This means that you have a very huge market waiting for you out there.
Call To Action
You can also enhance the effectiveness of your business card for real estate by including a call-to-action tagline, slogan, or sentence. It may be a short phrase or a sentence that will compel your clients to contact you for a deal or for more information of your services. You can have these taglines printed in the back and front portions of your business card.
Patrick lives and writes on a variety of topics in Connecticut. The principal behind Business Card Genius, an Internet Printer catering to sales professionals focused on affluent target markets, he is deeply involved on a day to day basis with technology and small business operations. He can be reached at pjc@businesscardgenius.com
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