How Jim Majka & Tim Meyer emerged from the masses to become one of Virginia’s leading real estate teams.

It’s no secret that getting noticed isn’t easy in the competitive world of real estate. To the consumer, agents can appear like nameless carbon copies of one another. But Jim Majka & Tim Meyer have managed to stand out by incorporating proven personal marketing strategies into their business.

“One day we were walking through a parking lot and this guy comes up to us and says, ‘Aren’t you Jim & Tim, the Power of 2?’ That kind of stuff happens all the time now,” Tim says.

Tim and Jim — A team approach has brought them success.

But that sort of recognition didn’t happen overnight. While they are now a record-breaking real estate partnership in Virginia, Jim & Tim will tell you the seed of their extraordinary success was planted in 1999 at the Hobbs/Herder Gateway.

Investing in The Future

When Jim & Tim attended their first Gateway, they had hardly even joined forces. Jim was a veteran in Virginia real estate planning his eventual exit from the business. Tim, on the other hand, was a former client turned assistant when Jim recognized his business savvy, people skills and organizational skills. Sitting next to each other for three days, hearing innovative marketing strategies, exchanging ideas and getting to know each other better at The Gateway, they decided to form a team and invested in their future together.

“We started off with one of the packages, bought the brochure, got the powerkards, got out internet done and just started branding ourselves,” Tim says. “Everybody said, ‘You guys are crazy. It’ll never work.’ But we did it anyway.”

Rising to the Top of the Industry

And the results are hard to deny. After launching their campaign in 2000, the phone began to ring. The first year using their Hobbs/Herder marketing materials, Jim & Tim became the top agents in their office, closing 59 units for a total of $7.5 million. Despite more than doubling their dollar sales and nearly doubling the number of units sold from 1999, some people in their office still felt Jim & Tim’s newfound success was a fluke.

But it was the furthest thing from it. For the second year in a row, Jim & Tim led their office in sales in 2001, selling 80 units and raising their production to $10.5 million. Their Long & Foster office is the top office in their region, putting Jim & Tim among Virginia’s leading real estate professionals.

More Helping Hands

Since their business took off, Jim & Tim have also added two buyer’s agents, a full-time licensed office manager and an assistant who handles all of their mailings and marketing plan to their team. Now the little team who started with two acquaintances has become a six-person operation with Jim & Tim and their “The Power of 2” slogan at the forefront. Despite their unprecedented success, Jim & Tim refuse to rest on their laurels.

“Returning to The Gateway every year is very important for us because number one, we have a lot of friends there. Number two, and most important, is we keep learning.”

Multi-Media Marketers

In addition to their direct mail campaign and dynamic Web site, Jim & Tim have supplemented their direct mail campaign with both TV advertising and print ads designed to be placed in newspapers and magazines. Today, when Jim & Tim’s colleagues see one of Jim & Tim’s Hobbs/Herder-designed TV commercials or ads in the local newspaper, there are no more jokes, only respect. Tim says it best:

“This is life-changing. I’d like to say thank you Hobbs/Herder for coming to our office.”