STEP ONE: Who Is Your Tribe?

real estate marketing

This Is Step One In Our Five Step Series “Fail-Proof On-Line Real Estate Marketing System For Non-Techies”

There is a revolution going on in real estate marketing today due to the technological advance of the Internet and Web 2.0 capabilities. Why? Because many Web 2.0 marketing strategies are free or practically free. In addition, the Internet makes delivery of the marketing message practically instantaneous. In contrast, “traditional” real estate marketing methods – primarily direct mail and print media – are expensive and slow to deliver returns relative to the Internet. But it is precisely because of the Internet’s affordability and speed that there is a lot of “noise” on the Internet today. A TV ad promoting a particular search engine describes the situation perfectly: today’s consumer puts in a search term and is inundated with thousands – if not millions – of entries that have nothing to do with what they are actually searching for. They are completely overwhelmed with too much information – most of which has nothing to do with anything they are looking for. So what must you, as an individual, DO to be “heard” above this deafening roar?

STEP ONE: Determine Your “Tribe”

The problem of information overload presents its own solution: the first thing you must do is determine who you want to communicate with – who is your ‘tribe’?  The best way to be heard in a sea of information overload is to carve out a very small area of focus. This will make it easier for you to be heard and to be noticed. No one can make this choice for you – you must figure this out for yourself. However, for most real estate agents, this is actually a pretty simple and obvious, ’no-brainer’ decision. If you have been selling real estate for any length of time, you probably already HAVE a community responsible for most of your business. It may be something as simple as where you live.  Or  perhaps it is what is called your ‘Sphere of Influence” - your college pals, an organization you volunteer for, a hobby you have – your running group, for example; maybe it’s other school parents. Whoever your “tribe” is, it is important that you identify them as such. And if nothing automatically springs to mind – here is a strategy that can help you figure it out: Block out at least 2 hours of uninterrupted time just as you would an appointment in your schedule. Get out of the house or the office. Make for your friendly neighborhood coffee house or public library. Someplace where you can spread out a writing tablet and not be disturbed. Be sure you turn off your phone!

What Are Your Strengths/Interests?

Spend the next 15 minutes brainstorming your strengths, skills and interests; your areas of expertise. Do not filter the information – just keep writing. (Tony Robbins actually recommends that you may want to do an exercise like this standing up. Standing puts you in a more resourceful state than sitting.) DO NOT STOP UNTIL YOU HAVE A GOOD LIST! You must write AT LEAST 10-12 things! This is the beginning of articulating your value to your tribe – what you have to offer.

Who Is Your Ideal Prospect?

Once you have a good list, now it is time to figure out who your Ideal Prospect is. Articulating your strengths and interests should be a pretty good jumping off point for figuring this out. If, for example, you are an avid golfer, it becomes obvious that you will have a natural affinity for working with other golfers. What can make this assignment even easier is to imagine a recent customer that you really enjoyed working with. What made that experience enjoyable? The more specific you can be in identifying your Ideal Prospect – the more clearly you can “see” them – the easier it will be for you to communicate to them – in THEIR language.

“But I Don’t Want To Limit My Options!”

The idea of this exercise is to give you clarity about the specific type of client you are going to pinpoint in your real estate marketing efforts. One pitfall that most real estate agents fall into is that they feel they can be of service to anyone. They fear that pinpointing their real estate marketing efforts will ‘pigeon hole’ them into too narrow of a focus.

Here is the good news: once you have adequately ‘saturated’ a particular area of focus, there is nothing preventing you from taking on another one.

If you are finding it difficult to limit yourself to just one type of Prospect, then create as many different types of Prospects as may seem appropriate. For example, my ‘broad’ category is residential real estate – single family homes, condos/town homes, small buildings and small mixed-use buildings under 20 units. Specifically, however, I focus my marketing on two areas: a geographic ‘farm’ and on entrepreneurs, small business owners, and investors.

How I determined my areas of focus:

Working a geographic farm was really a no-brainer decision. It was where most of my sales came from already. It only makes sense: being around the ‘hood, I was on top of what just came on the market, what the house down the block sold for, who was moving into the area, what long range changes were being discussed. Working my second area of focus – entrepreneurs, small business owners and investors - was equally obvious. First of all, some clients that already knew me, trusted me and that I had a good relationship with asked me to help them with their real estate investments. Secondly, I have had my own real estate office since 1998. As a small business owner myself, I found it easy and natural to relate to other small business owners. Which brings me to an important point: as you change, grow and learn – so will your career. As you acquire new interests and new skills, you will acquire new clients. My first broker advised me to read broadly and learn many things beyond real estate – that it would be important to building stronger relationships with my clients. He was right! And while I focus all my marketing to two areas, that doesn’t mean that if business comes in outside of those two specialized areas, I don’t handle it. But those two areas are where I focus my real estate marketing efforts.

“OK, NOW what?”

At the end of this 2 hour exercise, you will have identified and written down the profile of your Ideal Prospect. Writing it down is important – because it is easy to get distracted or forget. You want to have it down in black and white so you can stay focused. And if you have more than one, then you must prioritize the list. Which one do you want to do first? Second? And so on… It will depend on your market area, but you probably will not want to handle more than 2 areas of focus. Staying on top of ONE area is a lot of work. Staying on top of two is for a crazy person. If you spread yourself too thin, things begin falling through the cracks. And if you have done a good job of laying the foundation, you open the door for someone else to come in and grab your hard-earned market share. At this point, you have: 1.     Clearly written down your strengths and interests; 2.     Clearly written down the profile of your Ideal Prospect; 3.     Decided which profile you want to focus your real estate marketing efforts on. Now your next step is to create a “tagline” that speaks to your Ideal Prospect. Tomorrow, I will cover Step Two: Creating Your Compelling Tag Line. Done well, this will pull your Ideal Prospect to you like a bee to honey.

“Dedicated To Your Success!” Mary Nack Neil Venketramen

Want more? Click here right now and start receiving our Free Seven Day Mini-Course – “Pull Clients To You Like Magic” CLICK HERE NOW FOR STEP TWO OF “Your Fail-Proof Real Estate Marketing System For Non-Techies” real estate marketing