Every local newspaper and community circular has it, usually on (or near) the inside back cover.
A major realty company pays for a full-page ad where they list all the realtors and real-estate agents serving that area.
What do you see?
Row after row of almost identical-looking headshots taken by the local family photographer (glamorous).
Every one of them displaying their cell phone number (WOW!) so you can call them any time, day or night (color me dazzled here in 2020).
You might as well close your eyes, jab the page, then open your eyes and call whichever one your finger landed on, as far as that goes.
So, How Can Realtors And Real Estate Agents Stand Out From The 35 Others On The Page?
Let me share something that recently happened for me.
See, after years of swearing I’d never buy a house, that I’d always enjoy the apartment lifestyle and the low maintenance/high mobility that comes with it, I’m thinking about home ownership now.
The main reason is due to how, due to this COVID thing, I did not get to go swimming once in the entire year 2020 – even though the apartment community I live in has two HUGE swimming pools.
Those swimming pools have been closed all year.
But if I had my own house, with a yard, and my own pool, it would be open every day, for me.
I moved to Las Vegas back in 2013 with the goal – the expectation – of being able to jump in the pool at any time of day, any time of year.
Anything less is unacceptable – and this really sucks.
I Really Needed Some Help From An Expert On This One.
Not too long ago, I met a couple of really sharp realtors at a cigar event here in Las Vegas.
Boy, did I have some questions:
How hard is it to dig a hole for a swimming pool in Las Vegas? (Tougher than you think – see below.)
Is it better to buy a house that already has a pool, or a house with land to put in your own?
Since most of Las Vegas is bundled into HOAs, how do you navigate those… waters… if the house doesn’t have a pool, but you want one? Remember, some of the more irritating HOAs get bent out of shape if you leave your garbage can out 6 minutes after 5pm, whether you’re home from work or not.
Can you find a good place with no HOA and skip the hassle – or does NOT having an HOA cause a different hassle?
Is it possible to buy land where you can still do whatever you want with it, in a city where zoning ordinances have almost totally blocked even the chance of there ever being a Tiny House community?
And Then I Dug Deeper. Literally.
Since we were discussing digging holes for swimming pools (wow, that almost rhymes), I remembered something else.
I wish I had a basement.
Funny thing, though: most houses in Las Vegas don’t have basements.
There’s a reason why, of course:
Caliche.
It’s right under the sand, it’s harder than limestone, and it costs way more to chisel through and dig out than the amount of value it’s likely to add to the house.
I’ve been here for seven years, and up until then, I had no idea – I thought it was because the sand made it difficult to stabilize underground walls!
The Neighborhood Circular Does Not Reach People From Other Cities Considering Moving To Yours.
How are your prospective buyers and sellers going to know who to work with, when they don’t even see your local full-page ad with the headshots and cell phone numbers?
Aside from the user reviews, sites like Trulia basically serve up the same smorgasboard.
Take Las Vegas, for example.
This is, after all, still a town that more people move to, than come from.
And funny thing:
With all the population shifts we’re seeing in this country – along with technological and cultural shifts that make them possible – the smart realtors I speak with keep saying how MANY cities are experiencing bigger outfluxes of existing residents and influxes of new residents.
That’s a LOT of prospective customers and clients!
Imagine hosting a podcast with episodes where you can:
Share search-engine optimized short episodes where you answer these types of questions for someone considering coming to your town
Record episodes where you answer the frequently-asked questions in detail – so those who are binging the yahoo out of the googles see YOU as the helpful realtor or real estate agent (and will be more likely to call you, and possibly only you, when it’s time)
Interview other experts who answer questions for your audience (and with whom you can build business referral alliances)
Have an optimized podcast website that attracts prospective home buyers in your city – like birds to a feeder
Get prospective buyers subscribing to you – and telling others about you – as they turn ONLY to you for up to a full year before they even plan to move
Be a source of information and resources for home buyers (think about what they will need AFTER they buy the house – oh, the possibilities are ENDLESS)
Form partnerships that create new streams of revenue for you, just by being of service
Right now, this is basically… well… an open house.
And as I said, your market of buyers and sellers is likely far outside the reach of your neighborhood circular, or even the search results on Trulia.
Podcasting gives you the reach you need to succeed:
