Business Plan - Marketing section

[Trevis Kelley]

I have been working on my business plan for the last week or so.  Research has been a huge part of it, though I have a good portion of the plan written now.  What I am looking for now is some help with making a marketing plan when I am first starting out.

I am not by any means a marketing expert.  In fact, I am more of a newbie when it comes to marketing than when it comes to investing in real estate.  I have assisted with being landlord for my parent's properties, and we have only used Craigslist.  What I am wondering is, what does a top-level marketing strategy look like?  I have spent many hours on Google trying to find an answer, but I feel like I am spinning my wheels.

What better place than here to find answers?  Thank you so much!

Trevis

[Bill S.]

@Trevis Kelley what size is your market? Personally I haven't seen too much marketing by landlords. Sure each big box company has all their properties on web site so I suppose if you were moving from city A to city B you would be inclined to use them if they had properties in both. Outside of that, I don't see anyone marketing for brand recognition. If I google my area for an apartment, all the first page results are places where people advertise apartments for rent (craig's list and rent.com). There are a couple of pay per click ads for apartment complexes. I understand what you are trying to do and perhaps in a smaller community it would be beneficial.