“Denise, I’ve been wondering … What percentage of my income do you think I should spend on marketing?”

A:  I get this question all the time, and I have to tell you – there’s no one right answer. There are so many complex variables that go in to the costs of marketing that I can’t tell you what you should spend. There’s no magic percentage! I can tell you, however, what kind of activities you should be doing, and you can then do some research from there. You should have a great website, one that generates leads for you. There’s an upfront cost to that, and a monthly maintenance component. You should also be involved on social media on some level, and that’s virtually cost free. If you are a listing agent, you need to create top-notch marketing materials, and that starts with top-notch photography. Don’t cheap out on either the photography you use, or the paper you print on. As a listing agent, you may also want to do just listed radius marketing, or hold open houses – and both require good materials to generate results.