The world is quickly changing, and the way in which today's Real Estate Agents, and Realtors® do business must change as well.
It wasn't long ago when a Realtor® would rely primarily upon yard signs, newspaper advertising, the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), and mailings to drive the bulk of their business.
There is a mighty blowing wind starting to stir, and the Realtor® who doesn't have their sails in the right direction, will likely find themselves out to sea, with no wind at all.
The once mighty Sunday real estate section has become a thing of the past. It was ridiculously expensive to buy advertising, and newspapers themselves, all over the country, are becoming extinct!
Secondly, the cost to deliver information by mail is slow, and a large burden to your bottom line.
So, where is this all headed?
The answer is simple, but will require a measure of paradigm shifting: the smart Realtor® will build their own online social media site/blog, and begin to control their own message delivery system with a significant savings to the bottom line of their profit/loss statements.
The early adapters will command a huge advantage!
Please read on...
10 Critical Reasons Smart Real Estate Agents and Realtors® must become Bloggers
- A blog puts, in the Realtors® hands, the same tools, and technologies that launched the television industry, the magazine industry, and the newspaper industry. Those industries are now suffering because you no longer need them to deliver your message!
- A blog allows you, through well thought out content, to become a thought leader in your community. In the future, a few key Realtors®, in your town, will have built large blogs/media sites, with multiple thousands of subscribers. This will give them a voice that is currently not available. Imagine, for example, having your own television station. Could you produce a weekly show, share you expertise, and take control of a significant portion of the market? Yes! A blog will do that for you.
- A blog is rediculously inexpensive. The initial cost to build your own blog/social media site is very, very reasonable.
- A blog will raise your standings, significantly, in Google searches. If someone is moving to your town, they are going to start with Google. If you have built your own blog/social media site, and are producing consistent, valuable content, then you will rise above the fray. This is a certainty!
- The MLS service is currently one of the largest sources of leads, to the typical Realtors® website. The problem is...they were searching for a particular house, not a particular Realtor®. If they come to your site, through an MLS search, then you will capture their trust with wonderful content that describes why they should do business with you!
- Most people are not readers. However, the primary tool for communication in the real estate industry is text. The wise Realtor® will provide, very easy to produce, videos on their blog/social media site that will share your smiling face, describing to them the value of your particular real estate service. The wise Realtor® will provide, very easy to produce, videos of their clients, singing their praises in testimony.
- Furthermore, along the same lines, the wise Realtor® will consider producing a weekly, or perhaps monthly podcast. This is a simple, easy to produce audio message, that is down-loadable to your clients iPods, informing them of your local real estate markets, and where opportunity lies. This will move you leaps and bounds above your competition.
- The existing major media structure will find you, and call upon you for expert advice. When I built my first blog, nearly five years ago, I was interviewed by NPR, quoted in Business Week, and interviewed by U.S. News and World Reports! This all happened in the first six months!
- You will become significantly easier to refer. Asking your clients for referrals requires a fair bit of action on their part. With a highly visible, and valuable blog/social media site, referring your service to their friends is incredibly easy. In fact, when you produce a highly valuable video, for example, they will gladly refer you, their real estate expert, to their friends. To make that referral is as easy as forwarding your video to them. This way, you are standing there using your own words to build trust in their minds.
- Most will try building their own blog/social media sites and fail. Right? The 80/20 rule! The smart Realtor® will see this opportunity, build it into their business structure, and over time will build a valuable, online media site that is daily read, viewed, and listened to...by thousands!
Shameless Commercial Plug
I am a very successful, 20 year business veteran. I also had under my belt, the #2 blog/social media site, in the world, in my particular niche, prior to selling the business the blog was built for.
There are a great many people who would purpose to sell you a blog. Very few, however, will be able to package that with my business experience, blog/social media experience, as well as 12 months of my consulting to assure your success, with built in accountability.
Send me an e-mail, right now, and lets set up a time for a free 15 minute consultation.
I look forward to hearing from you.
