The old marketing adage says credibility plus visibility leads to profitability. You’ve spent time and money to build your identity as a credible, expert real estate agent. Marketing consistently can help you to stay visible and get the profitability you deserve.
Here are five ways you can raise your profile in your market:
Get on Board! A fabulous way to get on the radar screen of influencers while doing something good for your community is to serve on a Board. People who serve on boards tend to be active, well-connected in the community and socially conscious. Generous people like those who donate their time, are good to know and connect with. Find a Board that is likely to need your credibility-building expertise in real estate, such as an organization dealing with affordable housing. Follow your sincere interests so you’ll have a fun time while making powerful contacts.
Drip Marketing. As a real estate agent, marketing yourself may feel uncomfortable, and that cause you to do less than you should. The idea behind drip marketing is to get on the radar screen of your prospects and contacts on a regular basis, just like a drip from your leaky tap. Eventually the teeny drip fills up a tub to overflowing, and your “touches” lead to new clients, referrals and other opportunities. The best way to stay in ongoing contact with your community is with a monthly newsletter that shares useful information, either by email or print. Other good ways to touch clients are with postcards and special occasion mailings. For key influencers you can even place phone calls to touch base, drop off gifts on a quarterly basis or meet for coffee.
Strategic Visibility – Referral Partners: While it’s good to have a high profile in your community, it also works to be strategically visible with those key influencers we just mentioned. If you follow the 80/20 rule, you’ll know that 80% of referrals come from just 20% of your contacts. Knowing, and nurturing relationships with, a select group of referral partners can keep you stocked with all the leads you can handle. In addition to the obvious ones like mortgage brokers, title companies and home inspectors, seek out divorce attorneys, remodeling contractors and well-connected past clients.
Know the Corporate Relo People in HR. If your community has large businesses, you can build a nice niche helping executives relocate and find homes in your area. When I returned to the US after 7 years overseas, the HR department at one leading soda company set me up with a relocation specialist who normally worked with their foreign executives (guess I was one too after 7 years abroad!) For this agent, marketing to international companies and being known as a relocation specialist was key to getting leads.
Build Online Visibility with a Blog. We’ve talked before about the importance of blogging for your real estate agent website, but did you know it’s also a visibility strategy? Blogging is a powerful traffic generator and can attract qualified leads to your website. How do you know they’re qualified? If you blog using key search terms, then you’ll connect with Internet searchers who are looking for the information you are providing. Busy people don’t search for information online for no reason; they’re usually motivated to act now. The beauty of a blog is that you become more credible as an expert. After all, anyone regularly publishing informative articles week after week must know her stuff, no?;-)
Let’s face it: Real estate is a competitive field, and you’ve got to stand out to be a successful agent. Marketing yourself on a regular basis will ensure you are able to help more people and enjoy a profitable business. Isn’t that why you went into this career in the first place?