One of my favorite quotes about advertising is from editor and novelist Edgar Watson Howe: ”Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does.”

As a real estate agent, you already know that listings need to be advertised to be seen by home shoppers. The hard part is determining how to market both your listings and your services.

AllBusiness.com published a Top Ten Tips for Effective Advertising below. (Notes in parentheses are mine.)

1. Go after your target audience
2. Highlight your competitive advantage
3. Establish an image (brand yourself)
4. You have to spend money to make money (advertising effects sales)
5. Advertise in the right places (see tip #1)
6. Don’t allow your budget to run your advertising campaign
7. Diversify (put your listings everywhere homebuyers look)
8. Don’t try to be everything to everyone (specialize)
9. Test your ads in advance
10. Monitor your ads (ask “How did you hear about me?” or “Where did you see this listing advertised?”)

The good news is that advertising with Homes & Land already does most of this for you.