All in all its been a frustrating week with activity levels not as high as they could and should be, and I am determined that next week will be more constructive.
My mail shot has so far reached about 3000 East Grinstead residents and the remainder of the 5000 printed should be delivered next week. On top of this, I have been delivering leaflets to the much sought after Forest Row and Ashurst Wood areas and I will continue this next week.
I have booked a half page advert in next weeks local Observer to complement the flyer that is going out.
Friends & acquaintances in the area who have received the flyer through their door are impressed with the quality of the content and the paper itself! They comment that the presentation is good and shows that they would receive a good personal service.
I think the market is in a state of limbo and hopefully the calm before the storm, although talk of another recession isn't helping much.
Meridian FM, our local radio station, is still blasting out my radio commercial, and Lorraine and myself are contemplating a joint venture campaign on the airwaves in a few weeks;- watch this space!
I am paying a lot of attention to various social networks as I believe that this is another important tool and seemingly more agents have the same impression, and certainly there is one local multiple franchised agency who seems to compete with my volume of tweets
Today we have spread our wings to the local post office and left various advertising material prominently displayed, and again its another channel to get our name out there thus increasing local awareness.
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Its tough out there
Being quite an impatient person I guess I would have hoped for a lot more positive activity than I am getting right now!
I have to keep reminding myself that its only January and I should know only too well that historically things do kick off slowly at the start of every new year. Nevertheless, I would have hoped for more positivity to our early promotions both on the radio waves and through letter boxes, and I hope this is the calm before the storm because I am well prepared for it and always function better under pressure.
There is a temptation to do more local media advertising promoting the name, but I have pledged to Lorraine that we will resist this until we start to see rewards for our initial efforts and outlay.
Driving around the area clearly there is a dearth of other agents boards, I expect numbers will increase over the next few week and I shall continue to monitor the situation whilst also keeping a check on the competitions web sites.
It is apparent that a couple of the larger corporate agents are already showing healthy numbers of new instructions if messages on their adverts are to be believed.
Looking in local agencies the numbers of staff employed still appears quite sparse, with one or two agencies clearly running with half empty offices and an array of vacant desks.
We are now in to the second week of my Radio commercial on Meridian FM who have been playing around with the times the advert goes out and with the hopes of maximising the audience and increasing the prospects of potential business. Lets hope so and don't forget my 0.50% fee structure with NO VAT for a limited period and a considerable potential saving on fees.
I have to keep reminding myself that its only January and I should know only too well that historically things do kick off slowly at the start of every new year. Nevertheless, I would have hoped for more positivity to our early promotions both on the radio waves and through letter boxes, and I hope this is the calm before the storm because I am well prepared for it and always function better under pressure.
There is a temptation to do more local media advertising promoting the name, but I have pledged to Lorraine that we will resist this until we start to see rewards for our initial efforts and outlay.
Driving around the area clearly there is a dearth of other agents boards, I expect numbers will increase over the next few week and I shall continue to monitor the situation whilst also keeping a check on the competitions web sites.
It is apparent that a couple of the larger corporate agents are already showing healthy numbers of new instructions if messages on their adverts are to be believed.
Looking in local agencies the numbers of staff employed still appears quite sparse, with one or two agencies clearly running with half empty offices and an array of vacant desks.
We are now in to the second week of my Radio commercial on Meridian FM who have been playing around with the times the advert goes out and with the hopes of maximising the audience and increasing the prospects of potential business. Lets hope so and don't forget my 0.50% fee structure with NO VAT for a limited period and a considerable potential saving on fees.
Friday, 20 January 2012
Getting my hands dirty
I have never been a person who does not mind 'getting my hands dirty' and have just spent the last couple of hours hand delivering one of my latest circulars to roads in close proximity of where I live. It's amazing how many different types and strengths of letter boxes there are. Thank goodness we have some plasters in the house! There also appears to be a large number of dogs who seemingly are on patrol and savage anything which enters their house!
Our main canvass of the area starts tomorrow with the start of several thousand letters being professionally delivered, I hope! Then we just wait for a reaction and phone calls.
Meridian FM has been busy broadcasting my advert four times a day and has started playing round with the timings so that audiences are maximised. I have to be honest and say I think the advert sounds pretty good and well presented however it's results that count and here's hoping for some!
I did whimsically think about hiring some glamorous dancing girls and have them parading up and down East Grinstead high road for PR but people may have got the wrong sort of idea as to the type of company Terry Carr Residential is.
I received a good enquiry from another investor yesterday looking to buy property in East London where a 25% discount can be envisaged but unfortunately the only thing I had in East London was a commercial investment,a shop and upper part in Walthamstow, but the yield was not enough for this gentleman.
My website is getting plenty of hits even at this early stage and I will continue to promote it through the various social media networks.
Our first local media advert has appeared today and the paper has kindly,(not), placed it on the back page of the sales section. It leaves plenty of room for improvement and ultimately needs to be advertising local property. Hopefully our next advert will contain stock and we will get a more prominent position.
The next 14 days should provide an early indication as to progress at Terry Carr Residential, so watch this space.
Our main canvass of the area starts tomorrow with the start of several thousand letters being professionally delivered, I hope! Then we just wait for a reaction and phone calls.
Meridian FM has been busy broadcasting my advert four times a day and has started playing round with the timings so that audiences are maximised. I have to be honest and say I think the advert sounds pretty good and well presented however it's results that count and here's hoping for some!
I did whimsically think about hiring some glamorous dancing girls and have them parading up and down East Grinstead high road for PR but people may have got the wrong sort of idea as to the type of company Terry Carr Residential is.
I received a good enquiry from another investor yesterday looking to buy property in East London where a 25% discount can be envisaged but unfortunately the only thing I had in East London was a commercial investment,a shop and upper part in Walthamstow, but the yield was not enough for this gentleman.
My website is getting plenty of hits even at this early stage and I will continue to promote it through the various social media networks.
Our first local media advert has appeared today and the paper has kindly,(not), placed it on the back page of the sales section. It leaves plenty of room for improvement and ultimately needs to be advertising local property. Hopefully our next advert will contain stock and we will get a more prominent position.
The next 14 days should provide an early indication as to progress at Terry Carr Residential, so watch this space.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Busy Busy
It was an eventful day yesterday with more and more enquiries being received and many more from my website www.terrycarrresidential.co.uk, with particular interest from developers regarding the 27 one and two bedroom flats for sale in Aldgate for a cool £15.2m
With the prospect of several new local instructions being received imminently including a couple of rental investments together with a lovely four bedroom 2 bathroom detached house, things are looking promising.
I had a long chat the other day with a very helpful guy at Zoopla that offers a competitive package for new starts like mine and wants to help the smaller business 'get on board'. As I rate Zoopla highly, (having used them before),
I will certainly keep them in mind.
While queuing up in the post office today, I noticed with interest a local agent was advertising on a plasma screen in the shop (£25pm I think). Judging by the length of the queue and the slowness of the staff this could be another interesting advertising tool. Amongst the many reasons why this agent felt he should be instructed to sell your property was that his advertising on social network sites, and I must say this is a good idea and something I do a lot of.
It would be so easy to invest in all sorts of advertising media, web portals, a shop front etc etc but my aim is, slowly but surely. get the name of Terry Carr Residential out there and eventually becoming a successful household name.
Can I just mention again that for a limited period we are offering a 0.50% sole agency commission structure, with NO VAT to pay....so if you have friends, family living in the East Grinstead and surrounding areas who are interested in selling and would like a FREE market appraisal they can reach me on 01342 53 77 53 or 07879 475 019
.
With the prospect of several new local instructions being received imminently including a couple of rental investments together with a lovely four bedroom 2 bathroom detached house, things are looking promising.
I had a long chat the other day with a very helpful guy at Zoopla that offers a competitive package for new starts like mine and wants to help the smaller business 'get on board'. As I rate Zoopla highly, (having used them before),
I will certainly keep them in mind.
While queuing up in the post office today, I noticed with interest a local agent was advertising on a plasma screen in the shop (£25pm I think). Judging by the length of the queue and the slowness of the staff this could be another interesting advertising tool. Amongst the many reasons why this agent felt he should be instructed to sell your property was that his advertising on social network sites, and I must say this is a good idea and something I do a lot of.
It would be so easy to invest in all sorts of advertising media, web portals, a shop front etc etc but my aim is, slowly but surely. get the name of Terry Carr Residential out there and eventually becoming a successful household name.
Can I just mention again that for a limited period we are offering a 0.50% sole agency commission structure, with NO VAT to pay....so if you have friends, family living in the East Grinstead and surrounding areas who are interested in selling and would like a FREE market appraisal they can reach me on 01342 53 77 53 or 07879 475 019
.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Action Stations
An active week is anticipated with the commencement of my radio advertisement going out on the airwaves three times a day for the next month on Meridian FM, professionally read by Krys O'brien an actress and local celebrity.
We hope this will create a general brand awareness to approximately 25,000 listeners in the East Grinstead and neighbouring areas: -so here's hoping.
We have our first local media advertisement appearing on Thursday, which we expect to reach a similar audience as the radio commercial.
Later in the week we are blitzing the area with several thousand leaflets to home owners, offering our services plus an opening offer of 0.50% and NO VAT for a limited period on sole agency instructions. Having researched the area we are confident that this is a very competitive rate with other agents charging anything between 0.75% and 1.5% plus VAT for sole agency instructions.
We have received two enquiries already from people interested in working for the company, but recruitment is not a priority at the moment.
Our website www.terrycarrresidential.co.uk is looking better and already we are showing healthy volumes of hits and that is very encouraging. There still plenty of photos to download: Thank you Lorraine!.
We are receiving a number of very useful enquiries for all sorts of investment properties in London and Sussex and have clients very keen to purchase land in Sussex or Surrey for multiple development, with or without planning.
We hope this is going to be the start of a very busy and successful week at Terry Carr Residential and with the numbers of viewers growing on this blog every day it appears we have a keen audience.
We hope this will create a general brand awareness to approximately 25,000 listeners in the East Grinstead and neighbouring areas: -so here's hoping.
We have our first local media advertisement appearing on Thursday, which we expect to reach a similar audience as the radio commercial.
Later in the week we are blitzing the area with several thousand leaflets to home owners, offering our services plus an opening offer of 0.50% and NO VAT for a limited period on sole agency instructions. Having researched the area we are confident that this is a very competitive rate with other agents charging anything between 0.75% and 1.5% plus VAT for sole agency instructions.
We have received two enquiries already from people interested in working for the company, but recruitment is not a priority at the moment.
Our website www.terrycarrresidential.co.uk is looking better and already we are showing healthy volumes of hits and that is very encouraging. There still plenty of photos to download: Thank you Lorraine!.
We are receiving a number of very useful enquiries for all sorts of investment properties in London and Sussex and have clients very keen to purchase land in Sussex or Surrey for multiple development, with or without planning.
We hope this is going to be the start of a very busy and successful week at Terry Carr Residential and with the numbers of viewers growing on this blog every day it appears we have a keen audience.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Calm before the storm
With activity levels high and expectations growing, we go in to over-drive and are gearing towards a hectic time next week.
We are busy proofing adverts and other marketing literature and also preparing a forthcoming radio commercial going out on Meridian FM for a month. It's all very exciting.
I am getting a number of calls from businesses offering assistance in one way or another; accountants, insurance companies and solicitors.
With the exception of one local Estate agent, others in the area have ignored my request for agent to agent co-operation which is probably no more than I expected.
My website www.terrycarrresidential.co.uk is now looking good (thank you Charlie at Deeper Insight). It's not quite the finished article, but getting there and now needs to get plenty of local properties loaded on to it.
I am still carrying a number of prime located investment properties in London including a 28 room HMO in Maida Vale, a large office building in Hammersmith with scope for Residential use subject to usual consents, and various blocks of flats.
As an opening offer and to kick things off, we are offering for a limited period, a 0.50% sole agency commission (extremely competitive) and NO VAT, so there is a big saving there for vendors.
Terry Carr Residential is linked to a number of different Web Portals and with more being added regularly, we really want to market instructions extensively and efficiently.
We are busy proofing adverts and other marketing literature and also preparing a forthcoming radio commercial going out on Meridian FM for a month. It's all very exciting.
I am getting a number of calls from businesses offering assistance in one way or another; accountants, insurance companies and solicitors.
With the exception of one local Estate agent, others in the area have ignored my request for agent to agent co-operation which is probably no more than I expected.
My website www.terrycarrresidential.co.uk is now looking good (thank you Charlie at Deeper Insight). It's not quite the finished article, but getting there and now needs to get plenty of local properties loaded on to it.
I am still carrying a number of prime located investment properties in London including a 28 room HMO in Maida Vale, a large office building in Hammersmith with scope for Residential use subject to usual consents, and various blocks of flats.
As an opening offer and to kick things off, we are offering for a limited period, a 0.50% sole agency commission (extremely competitive) and NO VAT, so there is a big saving there for vendors.
Terry Carr Residential is linked to a number of different Web Portals and with more being added regularly, we really want to market instructions extensively and efficiently.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
NETWORKING
My partner Lorraine has recently introduced me to the interesting and very important world of Networking.
Clearly I can see the need for any particularly new business to network, meeting up with similar people, exchanging views, ideas and of course business cards.
I have so far only been to 2 or 3 meetings, during which time I have made a number of new contacts:solicitors, IFA's, accountants, website advisors and fellow estate agents.
These meetings usually last 1 to 2 hours and are probably available throughout the country and definitely worth an hour of your time - and mine!
With media advertising booked for next week, a local radio campaign too and lastly a huge mail drop in the area, I remain hopeful that the buzz will soon begin and I will be inundated with valuations and instructions.
Clearly I can see the need for any particularly new business to network, meeting up with similar people, exchanging views, ideas and of course business cards.
I have so far only been to 2 or 3 meetings, during which time I have made a number of new contacts:solicitors, IFA's, accountants, website advisors and fellow estate agents.
These meetings usually last 1 to 2 hours and are probably available throughout the country and definitely worth an hour of your time - and mine!
With media advertising booked for next week, a local radio campaign too and lastly a huge mail drop in the area, I remain hopeful that the buzz will soon begin and I will be inundated with valuations and instructions.
Monday, 9 January 2012
Marketing a new brand
I have no delusions about marketing a new brand as I have done it many times in my career, but the difference now is this is MY new brand and MY business and I have no one else to answer to.
Having been an Estate agent for more than 30 years, I have obviously seen the many ways of marketing brands some of which were interesting, others that were appalling, but suffice it to say I have many innovative ideas up my sleeves.
A tight budget is of paramount importance to any new business, as it is easy to get carried away and roped in to marketing situations that may be costly and have little or no assistance to your business. Since setting up Terry Carr Residential, I have received all sorts of calls and marketing literature from various sources suggesting all sorts of success rates from their products - but I am not that gullible or stupid!
I need Terry Carr Residential to be a recognised brand name on the High Street (even though it I am not actually on the High Street).
Having been an Estate agent for more than 30 years, I have obviously seen the many ways of marketing brands some of which were interesting, others that were appalling, but suffice it to say I have many innovative ideas up my sleeves.
A tight budget is of paramount importance to any new business, as it is easy to get carried away and roped in to marketing situations that may be costly and have little or no assistance to your business. Since setting up Terry Carr Residential, I have received all sorts of calls and marketing literature from various sources suggesting all sorts of success rates from their products - but I am not that gullible or stupid!
I need Terry Carr Residential to be a recognised brand name on the High Street (even though it I am not actually on the High Street).
Friday, 6 January 2012
TERRY CARR RESIDENTIAL LONDON & SOUTH EAST IS BORN
I am delighted to announce that I have now launched my own company Terry Carr Residential London & South East.
The business is home based In East Grinstead, West Sussex (who needs a shop front these days when most business is done via web portals?) dealing with local properties throughout the area.
I shall retain my London contacts and still deal with a number of investment and non-investment properties, many of which can be seen on my shortly to be updated/improved web site at www.terrycarrresidential.co.uk.
My NEW office telephone number is 01342 53 77 53.
To launch my company, I am offering a 0.50% commission structure for a limited period and NO VAT will be payable.
If you know of anyone looking to sell in the general West Sussex area, I will be pleased if you will pass them my details and I am happy to carry out free and non obligatory valuations.
If you have enjoyed reading my Blog please let me know and comment on this page and I will continue it and keep you updated with my latest venture?
The business is home based In East Grinstead, West Sussex (who needs a shop front these days when most business is done via web portals?) dealing with local properties throughout the area.
I shall retain my London contacts and still deal with a number of investment and non-investment properties, many of which can be seen on my shortly to be updated/improved web site at www.terrycarrresidential.co.uk.
My NEW office telephone number is 01342 53 77 53.
To launch my company, I am offering a 0.50% commission structure for a limited period and NO VAT will be payable.
If you know of anyone looking to sell in the general West Sussex area, I will be pleased if you will pass them my details and I am happy to carry out free and non obligatory valuations.
If you have enjoyed reading my Blog please let me know and comment on this page and I will continue it and keep you updated with my latest venture?
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