Do you have a Facebook business page? A twitter account? A blog? According to statistics by NAR, 98% of homebuyers start their search for a home on the internet. Do you have a presence on the internet? How are you being found amongst the thousands of other “me too” agents? What is setting you apart from the agent down the street? What is your USP (unique selling proposition)? The days are gone when you were successful alone using outbound marketing like postcards, magnets, grocery carts, and recipe cards. Today agents need to be online.
Are you a Content Curator?
How do you differentiate yourself from all the rest while online? You need to be a content curator! A content curator means that out of all the content you find on the social web you pass on the most valuable information to your network. More importantly A Content Curator is someone who continually finds, groups, organizes and shares the best and most relevant content on a specific issue online.
Are you this type of agent, providing valuable and useful information to your followers or are you just posting your newest listing to Facebook? By becoming a content curator your friends, connections and followers won’t have to plow through masses of tweets, blog posts, news feeds, and search results to find quality content. You will have already done the work for them. This establishes you as the “expert”, “the one who knows”, or “the trusted advisor”. That is how you gain social capital. The goal is to become the person that your network looks to for information and advice.
Whether you are generating your own valuable information or curating it from other sources below are some suggestions on how you can take it to the next level:
- Use Twitter lists- create lists you can follow of local relevant content. This could include news services, communities or important people. Share what you learn and learn how to share.
- Use Google Alerts- search relevant key words or phrases of particular cities or geographic areas to find out what people are looking for. Have Google notify you via email whenever that topic arises. This is a huge time saver and a way for you to spread the news.
- Photos- Take photos that tell a story of the area you specialize in. Using one of the many apps create fun and unique photos of homes or areas that you can discuss or talk about. This is a great way to show you’re the expert in a particular area or neighborhood.
- Zite- Use this great iPad app that curates content to your liking and displays it beautifully on your iPad. It does the searching for you so you can share it with your network.
- Past clients- Do you need and excuse to stay in contact with past clients? Reach out and ask to take a photo or do a quick video testimonial using an app like TOUT or VIDDY. You could have multiple success stories to share.
- Current client listings- When servicing current clients ask yourself, how can I tell a story in a compelling way about this house? Video is the future. Are you just taking pictures with your camera phone? Is that what your clients want or do they deserve better? Educate yourself about video.
Chris Baker
Tech Guy Title Tips
www.lakesidetitle.com/blog
