- Traditional media – print, TV, radio, buses, park benches, etc.
- Networking – joining civic groups and community involvement.
- Internet – A personal, brokerage or franchise web site.
The super agents of the future are likely to be those who recognize a fleeting opportunity to use the Internet to combine marketing and networking. The first site in a community to do this right will have a huge advantage.
A blog is a website, but better.
While most real estate websites are inactive for long periods after their construction, a blog is a continually updated information resource for visitors. The right blogging platform actually makes it easier for a real estate professional to get their personality and expertise out there for all to see. Don’t think of this as an either/or decision, or a need for two sites, as the answer is in a combo approach.
Using free WordPress blogging software and less than $12 per month for hosting, a networking powerhouse is only a short few weeks away. Simply, we create an online destination for community information, and we let the community do most of the work for us. Yes, someone will need to write real estate material for the site. The vast majority of that writing will be explanations of how it all works, things you explain to buyers and sellers every day. Think of it as a written version of your verbal answers to everyday questions.
- “What documents will I sign at closing?”
- “How does title insurance work?”
- “When do we get the keys?”
If you sit down and list the questions you get every day, you’ll not have to come up with an original blogging idea for months to come. This material adds the “local real estate expert” factor to your marketing. Added benefit - the next time you get one of these questions in an email, link them to the blog post with the answer to save time and get a new reader! Real estate specific material is important, but the networking component is community content, and lots of it. The good news is that you can get almost all of that content freely and enthusiastically written for you at no cost.
Most real estate agents and brokers are doing a great job of joining, participating and networking in their communities. All we’re going to do is multiply your networking using a community blog. To best illustrate that you can make this happen, let’s look at a real life example of the experience of a real estate broker who was doing a lousy job of networking. If he could become effective at community networking, any of you can.
“Blogworking” instead of networking.
There is a broker in a small town who absolutely hated networking and most of the activities agents use to meet new prospects and build out their sphere of influence. In fact, some called him the “Hermit Realtor”. He made most of his commission income from his website, working with out-of-area buyers for vacation homes. He rarely got a listing, as you have to work the local residents for that, and that just wasn’t his personality.
This broker didn’t join or network, and rarely met new people in the area…until the blog. He decided to redesign his site, moving to a blogging platform and the idea that he wanted to be a community resource. Not wanting to approach businesses directly, he joined the Chamber of Commerce and asked them to announce in their weekly email newsletter that he was hosting a community calendar and doing write-ups on local businesses at no charge. Within weeks:
1. A local public relations firm imported more than 200 future events into his calendar. They gladly continue to gather events and email them directly into his online Google calendar. Broker’s time required per week – 20 minutes.
2. The town PR person began to send him emails with town meeting minutes and other items of interest. They don’t put them on the web, and were thrilled that he would take the time to cut and paste the text into a blog post (great stuff for the search engines). Broker’s time to copy over a post – five minutes.
3. Local business owners called and emailed to get on the list to be interviewed for a feature post and a site link. The broker spends about an hour for each business interview and posting, but does it when he has the time. This fit his personality better, as he was sought after and providing a service they valued.
4. Site statistics showed lots of new traffic to the site from searches for all types of keyword phrases related to local events, and business products and services. “HisTown calendar” search phrase brings new visitors every day.
5. A local mortgage person contributes weekly mortgage commentary.
6. Think about the content going out in printed form from neighborhood homeowner associations. Have them email you the Word or other file they built it in. Copy and paste for unique content about homes and neighborhoods, not to mention the goodwill you generate.
Less than 10% of the text going up on the blog each week is written by the broker now. Yet he has created a networking monster! Staying with only real estate content would require fierce keyword competition for the few who are buying or selling at any given time. Gaining thousands of readers for community content is just waiting for the inevitable…they’re your loyal readers when they decide to buy or sell.
The opportunity is now, and the tools are at your disposal at very low cost. Those who grab their community participation first will be the super brokers of the future.
