Marketplace Presence Matters: 3 Strategies to Help You Own Your Neighborhood
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As real estate agents, a huge part of our personal brand is the area that we serve. For example, the name of my blog is “The Southside of Chicago.” Why? Because this neighborhood is my stomping ground! It has become a part of who I am as a real estate professional, and I want to make sure folks are aware of that relationship.
Yet building a brand identity doesn’t happen overnight. These days, it’s not enough to say you live in a neighborhood and then expect the listings to come pouring in. You want to intentionally cultivate a presence in your marketplace, so that when people think of your specific area, you are the first person that comes to mind.
Here are three strategies to help you establish your local voice.
- Place a sign in the yard of your listings.
In San Francisco, JP Morgan Chase shells out $16 million a year for the naming rights on the Chase Center. They are paying for their brand to be seen and heard by millions, if not billions, of people all over North America. Think of your sign in the yard as naming rights for your listing. Every day, people will pass by and see your face or business on display. When you have multiple signs in an area, it translates to even more credibility for what you do. Passersby will wonder who this super-agent is, and associate you with success.
- Provide updates on life and culture in your marketplace.
Have some fun with this one! Go live on Facebook, start a YouTube channel or even send your database email updates with local happenings. You can talk about new construction projects, performances coming to town, upcoming art exhibits – anything that adds value for residents. When you establish yourself as the community voice, you demonstrate your knowledge of the area. As folks in your database get ready to buy or sell, they know they can trust you to get them the right fit for their lifestyle.
- Establish a strong network of people who would refer you.
I coined something years ago that I teach at our Buffini & Company real estate sales training workshops around North America. It’s called the Mayor Campaign – if I’m popping by a past client or grabbing lunch with a new relationship, I always follow this dialogue:
“Oh by the way…if you were buying or selling a home, or had a friend or family member that was, do you have a real estate agent you would refer them to?”
When you have more advocates, you also have more influence in your neighborhood. Think about it – if you have 100 people in your database, and 50 of them are willing to refer you to others in town, you have the potential to increase your database by 50 percent. The more troops you have on the ground, so to speak, the larger your presence becomes in the marketplace.
If you own your marketplace and acquire more listings in your area, you will quickly become more powerful than any online real estate service. For other tactical real estate solutions & strategies to help you get more listings, join me at Buffini & Company GameChangers. This one-day workshop takes a deep dive into the strategies that will help you win the game of real estate.
Joe Niego
