other options instead of buying leads

1 Farm by mail. Wallach uses a free National Association of REALTORS® membership tool, Realtor Property Resource, to generate geo-farming lists to send a mailer every four to six weeks using her bulk mailing permit. She says for every 1,000 she mails, she gets one good lead. For $425 in costs, she makes $8,000 in commission.

2 Be a part of the community. Moore recommends engaging in the community, whether it’s joining a service organization, club or chamber of commerce. Wallach even generates leads by doing paperwork at a coffee shop with a stack of business cards in front of her.

3 Become the expert on social media. “We live in a world of creating impressions online,” Johnson says. “If you’re looking like you’re the only REALTOR® in town then people are going to think you are.”

Rich and Moore say that becoming the go-to expert in your community on social media is important. Promoting business owners and community leaders in videos and photos goes a long way.

4 Work your sphere systematically. “Learning how to work your sphere correctly will get you the best return,” Johnson says. He sees a 10% annual return doing this. In his database, he keeps an A group of 50 people that actively refer business, a B group that keeps him top of mind and a C group that will either move up or off his list. The A group is where he spends most of his time building relationships. Rich recommends making personal contact with your SOI four to six times a year. Break down the total touchpoints over time to determine how many you need to connect with each day and stick to it.

Moore recommends simply following up with past clients. “Don’t take a cold lead to a hot lead to getting them through the transaction and then let them go back to a cold lead.”

Regardless of how you generate leads, there is always cost involved, so paying attention to the ROI of that financial decision is essential.

“When it comes to the decision to buy leads versus generating organic leads, it’s important to remember that either lead type involves an investment of some kind,” Rich says. “We will either be investing our time, our money or a combination of both.”