There are cheaper ways to increase traffic and leads, such as creating helpful and shareable content, using social media, and conducting keyword research.
You don’t need to spend a lot of money to make your business known in your community. You can get more leads and improve your image as the local expert by making some adjustments to your schedule.
1. Set Up Office Hours At Your Local Coffee Shop
A real estate agent’s job includes many hours spent doing paperwork that is not very exciting either in an office or at home.
To get through the monotony, you probably drink a lot of coffee, tea, or other caffeinated beverages.
I believe that you are either drinking your morning coffee or wishing you were at your favorite coffee shop while you read this.
How many people frequent your favorite coffee house in an hour?
You can break up the monotony of working from home by spending a couple of hours each week working from your favorite coffee shop.
This way, not only will you get your work done, but you’ll also create public awareness for your real estate business and get more leads.
To make that happen, follow the next few steps.
- Pick a day and time – Take a look at your schedule, and pick a day and time on which you can spend a couple of hours on a coffee house of your choice. Pick a time that not only fits your busy schedule but that is also convenient for your demographic and/or area that you’re serving. And if it’s a time in which the coffee house has a good amount of traffic, even better.
- Let everyone know – Once you’ve decided what your “coffee shop office hours” will be, let everyone in your sphere of influence know. Advertise on your social media and community pages that you’ll be offering free real estate advice in your favorite coffee shop at that time. Finally, update your social media status to indicate that you’re now in your coffee house office, ready to offer free real estate advice to anyone that comes to you.
- Boost your post – Facebook gives you the ability to boost any one of your posts so that it reaches hundreds (or even thousands) of people in any targeted area and demographics that you pick for just a few bucks.
- Make yourself stand out – When you arrive at your coffee house, sit in a place where you’d be easy to spot. Place a small stack of your business cards on the table, and if you have clothing branded with your real estate logo, make sure you wear it as well. You can also go to your local print shop and have them print you a laptop sleeve/sticker that advertises your real estate services. It could say something like “ask me anything about real estate.” That way you’ll invite anyone around you in the coffee shop to approach you for real estate advice.
It may not be immediate, but it won’t take long to start getting real estate leads, and it’s a low-cost, unobtrusive way to get started.
If you meet someone, it’s probable that they want to be your client.
2. Interview Local Businesses You Frequent
Even though technology in the real estate industry is constantly improving, the same old saying is still true: “real estate is local”. This is why it’s so important to become a well-known and trusted expert in your local area.
One way to make your small business succeed is to develop relationships with other businesses in your community.
Local businesses need love too. Show them some by writing about them on your blog or vlog.
You can write an article about the business, or make it an interview. If the business owner is interested in an interview, ask them questions such as how long they’ve been in the community, what it’s like to serve the community, and why they decided to open the business.
If you don’t have a lot of time, you could record the interview and transcribe it later into a text post.
Share your article about the business with your friends and followers. Post lots of pictures, and include a link to the business’ website.
Make sure to follow the business and owner on your social media accounts. That way, they will be notified when your article is published and will have a chance to see your new articles and real estate blog posts.
If you want to be a pillar of your community, support local businesses. This way, you will encourage them to use or refer your services to their own network.
3. Join Community Groups Around Your Hobbies
Why not find a community group in your area, both online (ex. Facebook) and offline, around that hobby and join it? Not only will these communities help you further develop that interest, but you’ll have the opportunity to gain new friendships and new real estate leads.
In order to build relationships with people in your community and expand your influence, consider joining groups that focus on shared hobbies and interests. When interacting with members of these groups, be genuine and avoid coming across as pushy or sales-oriented.
You should join these groups because you’re interested in the hobby, not because you want to benefit from your new acquaintances. The real benefits come from sharing information about your day job as a real estate agent.
4. Give Back By Supporting Local Charities
Many real estate agents realize that unless they deal exclusively with international clients, they rely on the support of their community to keep their business going. As a way to show their appreciation, many agents choose to give back to their community.
One way you can help improve your community is by supporting local charities. This allows you to help those less fortunate than yourself while also feeling good about strengthening your community.
When the community becomes aware of your charitable side, you are seen as an individual rather than just a real estate agent focused only on making money.
To find the right charity(-ies) to support:
- Find what you’re passionate about – Look for charities that support causes that you ACTUALLY care about, not those that you think people want you to care about. Start building relationships with the members of the charity, and find unique ways to support them.
- Find ways to give back in your day-to-day life – Whether it’s volunteering your time, helping with donations, participating and supporting their events, or using your contacts to find great deals for their activities, think of creative ways in which you can support your charity of choice.
- Share your experiences – Whether it is by blogging about it, posting updates on social media, or recording videos of the events, by spreading the word, you’ll help the charity to gain visibility in your community.
Although you may feel strongly about supporting your local charity, you don’t need to dedicate a large amount of time to it. By keeping your involvement simple, and not taking on more responsibility than you can handle, you can still make a big difference. Even small contributions every few months can have a significant impact.
Working with charities can help you expand your network and might result in more leads for real estate opportunities.
5. Provide Free Real Estate Advice To Your Community
Most real estate agents love talking about how they are unique and different from other real estate agents in their area. This is usually because they have more experience, local expertise, or a high volume of sales.
Not everyone is willing to make claims even though they could prove it.
If you would like to show off your expertise, you can spend some time giving free real estate advice.
There are many ways to start a business. You could start a YouTube channel, have a live conference, do a Facebook broadcast, have a radio show, or start a podcast.
If you’re struggling to come up with a topic to write about, take note of the questions your clients are asking. If one of them has a question, chances are many other people in your community have the same question.
If you want to expand your sphere of influence, try connecting with local experts. For example, you can team up with a mortgage broker to produce valuable content. This will help you both reach a larger audience.
If you have a strong social media presence, you could try answering questions in real-time.
In addition to being a great way to demonstrate your real estate expertise, your blog can also be used to promote valuable articles and local guides for your community on social media pages.
6. Master Cold Outreach
No one likes the feeling of having to cold call potential customers, but it’s a necessary evil if you want to succeed in business.
Instead of worrying about writing a cold email, use a template to help you get started. AeroLeads can help you compile a list of potential customers to contact.
If you can get over your cold-calling nerves, and master the art of talkin to strangers, you’ll be surprised by how effective it can be for you real estate lead generation. A tool like CIENCE can be a great help when it comes to outbound prospecting.
7. Send Handwritten Thank You Notes
A great way to make a lasting impression on your clients and increase word-of-mouth promotion of your services is to send handwritten notes through snail mail. In today’s age, this can be seen as a unique and thoughtful gesture.
Saying congratulations or thank you to anyone who sends you a referral can make your clients feel appreciated.
8. Sponsor a Housewarming Party for Clients
One way to get people talking about you as a real estate agent is to help plan and host a housewarming party for new homeowners once they’ve settled in.
If you help them put on a party or even just send them a housewarming gift, they’re sure to tell everyone how great their real estate agent was.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to spend a lot of time or money to make a big impression. Even the simplest contributions can make a big impression on your client and their partygoers.
If you host a party, send invitations, and wear a name tag, you can start generating leads right away.
9. Check Out Expired Listings
Do you ever think about looking at old, expired listings to generate leads? It’s not just a good idea to look at listings that have recently expired, but also ones that expired a year or more ago.
The people mentioned in the text may have had a bad experience with a previous agent and given up on selling their house. However, they could be a good lead for you to nurture.
Sellers may feel pressure to try to sell their home again if they are unsuccessful the first time. You can offer advice and support, but let them know that it’s okay if they’re not ready.
10. Offer Free Real Estate Advice
If you want to attract potential home buyers or sellers when you’re working in public, try setting up a small sign that reads “free real estate advice.” This way, people who are interested in buying or selling a home will be more likely to approach you and ask for help.
Make sure you have business cards ready to give to anyone who seems interested in buying or selling. Also, provide a way for them to write down their contact information, like a notepad or clipboard.
You can also promote your Facebook messenger as a way for people to send in questions and get free, basic advice.
In order to add a customer to your CRM, you can use a messenger bot to request their email address or phone number. This will allow you to keep the communication line open via FB messenger.
Generating leads through free consultations can help you to identify qualified buyers or sellers.
11. Get Involved in Social Media Groups
joing groups on social media platforms, such as Facebook and LinkedIn. You can probably find several neighborhood and city groups near you, as well as some groups related to your industry.
Make a name for yourself in local social media groups so that when locals are ready to buy or sell their home, they will think of you.
12. Host a Workshop for Homebuyers
A workshop can be a great way to generate leads while also providing useful information and tips, especially for first-time homebuyers.
There are two ways you can put this together. You can do it online with a webinar software like Demio or Livestorm. Or you can do it in-person by renting out a small event venue in your area and promoting your event to upcoming homebuyers.
If you want to be able to contact attendees after the event, you can either leave cards in everyone’s seat or collect email addresses when they sign up. This way, you can add them to your digital marketing funnel and stay in touch until they’re ready to buy.
13. Use Digital Marketing
Digital marketing allows you to target your audience using online methods such as social media, email, and blogs.
The goal is to produce valuable and interesting content that establishes you as an expert in your field and in your locality.
Some ways to keep your business at the forefront of people’s minds are to send regular newsletters with valuable information, use Facebook tools to help you post content more easily, write blog content you can share online, and more.
One way you could improve your real estate business is by creating a YouTube channel and making videos. Another method you could use is by taking videos with a drone, which can be effective in marketing.
Conclusion
A real estate agent’s primary objective is to be an ingrained member of the community. By making a point to be known as a benevolent and helpful member of the community, it will be easier for the community to identify you as the go-to real estate authority.
As long as you plan your time correctly, you should be able to do all of these things without too much trouble or taking up too much time.
