Why this is important: Real estate agents need clients. FARMing converts a set of neighborhoods into a vibrant collective of owners, ready to hire the dedicated agent. Follow these steps to create yourself as the “go-to agent” through consistent application of FARMing practices.
FARMing: Cultivating new leads then harvesting
FARMing is a business event undertaken to convert a set of neighborhoods into a vibrant collective of owners, branded to turn to the dedicated agent. This creation of yourself as the “go-to agent” can be fully accomplished within two years through dedicated and consistent FARMing.
While you follow these important FARMing steps, keep in mind the importance of building and maintaining a strong brand.
Step 1: Find a mentor
Step 2: Choose your FARM
Step 3: Prepare a script
Step 4: Craft your FARM materials
A creative personal style helps you stand out from the competition. Additionally, magnetized notepads or schedules that can be affixed to a refrigerator ensure your name stays fresh in their minds.
Choose your brand
In the real estate profession, image is everything. How potential clients see you determines whether or not they will want to hire you – and if they will remember you and your office when their need for a real estate service arises.
In marketing yourself and your agents, set yourself apart from competitors in your area, without becoming so specific that you cut out a large segment of the market. For instance, branding yourself as simply “the short sale expert” is great for a few potential clients, but not for most.
One direct way to do this is to brand yourself as the neighborhood expert. This works for buyers and sellers of all home types in the neighborhood, and is easily customizable for each neighborhood you may market to, called your FARM.
Be truthful when choosing your brand. If you’ve never worked with seniors before, don’t tout yourself as a specialist in senior living.
Likewise, if your marketing materials are to include a headshot, don’t use a picture taken twenty years ago. If you choose to include your picture, have a professional photo taken every two or three years. A current picture avoids awkwardness or confusion when a client finally meets you.
Editor’s note – Download and use any of our free 300+ FARM Letter templates as part of your marketing strategy to reach potential clients in your target community.
Consider (or reconsider) a catchy slogan
While you want clients to remember your name, you certainly don’t want them to roll their eyes when they think of it.
Stay away from cringe-worthy slogans, especially ones that are inappropriate — even if you think it’s funny, it won’t be the case for your whole client base. You will also want to ensure the pictures or graphics you use to depict your business are family-friendly.
However, if you come up with a catchy slogan that’s fun, inoffensive and helps clients remember your name, then go for it. This also works well for agents who don’t yet have a specialty. Instead, they can let potential clients know what other advantage working with them offers.
Choose the characteristic you want to highlight, like honest, friendly or speedy.
However, don’t be generic when branding your business. Fit your chosen brand characteristics to your specific talents and personality. Start by including your name in the slogan: “Betty Brown, the speedy agent.”
Better yet, make it rhyme so your potential clients can easily remember you: “Don’t clown around, sell it fast with Betty Brown.”
You can also use your slogan to highlight your real estate specialty: “The South Bakersfield Expert,” or “Selling South Bakersfield since 2025.”
Marketing your brand
When implementing a successful FARMing campaign, consistency, persistence and commitment is key. It takes 3-5 years before FARMing begins to pay off with a steady stream of transactions. Consider each door knock an investment of energy in your future career. In the meantime, you are always prospecting when in conversation with anyone, and that means asking for information that generates a lead.
Explore all possible leads. After each conversation, ask if the homeowner knows three neighbors or acquaintances who are considering buying or selling. Get their name and email address. Google search them, learn something personal about them. When a good lead does not answer the phone, email or knock on the door during the week, try again on the weekend.
Your full effort yields a full return.
Other residential specializations to mention in your marketing are:
- first-time homebuyer expert;
- Spanish-speaking or bilingual;
- experience with luxury homes; or
- distressed property negotiator.
If you specialize in multiple forms of real estate, order different business cards for each specialty. That way, if you run into someone interested in buying their first home, you can hand them the business card which says “First-time homebuyer specialist.” Likewise, when you speak with a residential investor, you can hand them your “Residential investment specialist” card.
Do note that agents cannot brand themselves as “independent real estate practitioners” who provide real estate services without the supervision of an employing broker. No. A DRE-licensed agent cannot advertise themselves as an “independent” or “freelance” licensee. To do so, they of course would need to first obtain a broker license.
Once you have the perfect brand for your business, how do you put yourself out there and get more clients? Infuse your brand into all forms of marketing, including your:
- agent website;
- professional email signature;
- business cards;
- FARM materials that you drop off while door knocking in the neighborhood(s) you FARM;
- signs; and
- mailed marketing materials which you send to former and potential clients.
Plan the timing of your strategy, be consistent, and keep in mind it will take several months or even years before you notice an effect. Thus, it’s important to set aside time in your schedule and money in your budget to market yourself over several months.
If you’re completely new to real estate marketing, it will likely take three to five years before marketing your brand pays off with a reliable stream of clients. On the other hand, if you already have past clients but are changing your brand to reflect a need in the community, the results will arrive somewhat sooner.
Also consider investing in a couple out-of-the-box marketing strategies. For instance, become “the engaged real estate agent” by sponsoring a stretch of highway or volunteering to sponsor local youth sports teams. Your sincerity and service to the community become part of your brand — not to mention the opportunities you’ll find to meet new clients while engaging with other community volunteers.
Avoid these common mistakes
Once you’ve nailed down your brand image and marketing strategy, go back to check for common errors before implementing it. Once you’ve built a brand, it’s difficult to change, especially if you’ve made a negative impression on your community — so get it right the first time.
Avoid:
- using all capital letters or multiple exclamation marks to describe yourself or your services — it comes off as insincerity, closer to a used car salesperson than a trustworthy professional;
- misspellings or grammatical mistakes — this makes you look either unintelligent or unable to pay attention to detail, which are traits clients don’t want in their real estate agent; and
- giving up on your brand strategy after only a few months of marketing, as it will take months or years before the payoff is noticeable.
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This content was originally published on the journal over separate posts throughout April 2023. It has been combined and updated as of April 2025.
