There are several vital steps to successful real estate investing, buying and selling. But none are as vital to the overall success of the process as marketing your property.

You have a valuable piece of property currently in your possession. There are plenty of people out there right now with checkbooks at hand, ready to buy that piece of property. But you know that if you could just hold out for a while, there’s someone out there ready to pay even more for that property. The issue is how you get bring that anxious buyer into the arena with your property.

It’s all in the marketing.

Successful marketing is vital to the success of any business. The old saying goes, “If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door.” The problem with that is that the world has to know there’s a better mousetrap to be had behind that door. Few people are going to knock on doors at random, hoping to find someone with a better mousetrap. And it’s not likely that someone is going to look you up to see if you have the their dream home – unless you’ve done your marketing.

You can market on several levels. You can market individual properties. You can market your services as a real estate investor or seller. Or you can market the package. The latter is usually a good idea because it gives you a bigger range of potential marketing strategies and it gives you a double bang for your advertising buck.

Most people involved in real estate know the value of newspapers. Those seeking to buy, sell and rent property often turn to the real estate section of the local newspaper as a premium information source. The newspaper is typically a fairly cost effective advertising tool and it’s easy to get your ads placed.

You may want to make your ad stand out, and that’s a good idea in most marketing situations. A person skimming the ads may very well look over the entire page, stopping only to read the one ad with color or a large, catchy headline. On the other hand, those seriously searching for property are not merely going to skim the pages. You have to weigh the cost for the publication you’re considering.

The mistake some people make is that they stop with the newspapers. A good sales person knows that marketing is more than simply placing an ad in a newspaper and waiting for the customers to come. Networking is probably one of the most important marketing steps, especially if you’re marketing your services.

If you’re active in the community, more people are likely to know you and seek you out when they’re looking for real estate. The more people you know, the larger your natural network of contacts. These are not usually considered “marketing tools,” but there’s no doubt as to their effectiveness.

Finally, you’re more likely to make good decisions about buying and selling, and to offer good advice to your clients if you’re well informed. There’s no better way to be informed than to attend city and county government meetings. Knowing these people also won’t hurt when you’re working through permitting and other processes.