e-ttraction for Real Estate Agents - 5 Digital Tips To Dominate Your Local Area

blog 2015

23 June

I have been working with several real estate agents lately and have developed a red hot strategy to help them stand out in their target suburb of choice. Every since I completed a national speaking roadshow with LJ Hooker last Spring, the team at Socal Star and I have been helping many agents develop their Personal Brands and stand out online.

Our strategy has been proven in other industries and we know if you follow the process and do the work it can get you more leads. So if you are an agent looking to stand out from the 45,000 other agents in Australia, follow these five key tips.

1) Get LinkedIn Rocking

When someone refers you as the agent of choice in an area, they will pass on your name and possibly the company you work for. Don't let them see your Facebook page or worse some MySpace old site. Direct them to your awesome LinkedIn profile which details your work experience, life experience and qualifications.

A properly constructed profile will tell them why they should buy from you. It will also show up No. 1 in a Google search for your name so put some effort into it.(A good blog to catch up on how to build a LinkedIn profile for leads is here)

2) Get a Personal Website

A personal website will set you apart from the pack. It shows you have enough skills and presence to warrant a website. Just like a speaker on a stage, it says credibility just because you are there. I suggest dedicating your site to sharing valuable content with your audience about how to buy better and also specific content about the area you represent. Remember it's your website so just be yourself.

There are a bunch of ways to share content from blogging if you like writing, articles if you don't and videos if you prefer to speak. Whatever the format a personal website is your only 'owned' content station, compared to the 'rented' spaces of social media.

(These are about a thousand bucks so pretty reasonable if you think of one lead being worth about $5k)

3) Get a Suburb Website

You have a choice with the URL that you buy. It can be www.yourname.com.au if you are focusing on a personal website strategy or your location www.realestate'suburb'.com.au if you want to own a particular area. The choice really depends on if you want to move your brand around or stay put in that place awhile.

Either way please ensure you buy the .com.au address so it shows up in Google as a local search. Also remember you need an ABN to buy a .com.au address.

(If I lost you there in the second paragraph with the URwhatsiz just give me a call, happy to explain)

4) Create Valuable Content Weekly

This is the hard part. Bill Gates famously said content is king way back in 1996 and it has never been truer than today. With the change of Google search algorithm to focus on longer content, rather than keywords, Blogging is back in fashion. Hence why LinkedIn introduced blogging awhile ago and personal websites are key to your digital strategy.

Words are still best so if you can't write or don't have time to then outsource it. There are a lot of journalists who use to work for newspapers looking for this type of work so check out elance or Upwork (formally oDesk) for some assisted help.

5) Connect to Leaders in Your Area

Once you have your LinkedIn, website and content plan you need to connect to the important people in your area. Pick the influential ones who can influence the opinions of others. You know the ones. They are captains of the footy club, on the school council, leading the retail committee etc. Be generous to them with exposure on your website and blog. Support them and they will reward you with valuable word of mouth. We all know word of mouth is the goal, because my friends, they equals referrals. The first thing referrals do is check you out online and an awesome online presence means they will call you as qualified leads. Leads turn into sales and that's money in the bank!

There you have it a simple but powerful plan on how you can stand out in your local area as the leading real estate agent. If you are interested in finding out more just book a free 30 minute strategy session with me here.

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(the link is http://www.andrewford.com.au/book/)

Andrew Forde-ttraction

Andrew Ford

Marketing expert Andrew Ford, the founder of Social Star, has discovered the secret of ‘Powerful Branding’. With a fire for unleashing people’s inner brand and developing business models to generate profit from an individual’s passions, Andrew leverages ground-breaking digital and social media marketing techniques to create digital strategies for clients to attract maximum opportunities. Having established a strong name for himself in the field, Andrew blends traditional business techniques with now-necessary tools for entrepreneurs to achieve scale, quality, and influence in their niche. Andrew’s comprehensive business background and qualifications consist of a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) (RMIT 2003), a Graduate Certificate in Management (MBA Executive Program, University of Sydney 2005), and a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Swinburne University 2011). Continually on the cutting edge of his own education, Andrew has tested his marketing theories in forums such as the BCG Business Strategy Competition, which he won in 2005 against all Victorian MBA schools, and the Venture Cup Business Plan Competition (Swinburne University 2003), which he won in the Masters category. With experience working at Hewlett-Packard, Sensis (Telstra) and IBM, Andrew also has mentored dozens of junior staffs to help them achieve their professional goals. Meeting and influencing high-profile public figures helped Andrew to realise just how many professionals require more understanding and control of their public brands or appearance, and need help with the skills to use the many amazing free tools at their disposal to generate success. At Social Star, Andrew consults with clients to uncover their personal brand – both where it is today and where it can be tomorrow – and refine and define how that should be displayed in social media in order to attract their perfect target audience. Andrew mentors his clients to rapidly grow their business’ audiences, resulting in larger potential client bases and higher revenue. Applying formulas that integrate over twenty years of Andrew’s business experience and fifteen years of formal business education, Social Star specialises in building clarity and velocity for clients’ brands using the ‘Understand, Build and Leverage’ methodology. ‘Having a Personal Business enables people to have an authentic, congruent connection with their valued clients and partners, using their brand as the bridge,’ says Andrew. ‘I’m highly driven to work with the new breed of entrepreneurs and small business owners – people who have a passion for making the world a better place. Traditional business models are stepping aside as people follow their innermost dreams and my role is to see them operate within their values while creating wealth. Some people think you have to sacrifice what you love to be successful in your business, yet it is actually the opposite. Follow your passion and success will come.’ Lecturing at Swinburne University from 2009 to 2011 on brand dynamics and digital marketing, presenting at numerous conferences, and consulting to hundreds of clients, Andrew has seen his philosophy work that if you follow your unique path, based on your skills, experience, values and goals, you will automatically attract the opportunities you desire and achieve the success you deserve. Living his mantra, Andrew has created a successful business and attracts high-profile clients including musicians, athletes, authors, models, entrepreneurs, professionals and small business owners, helping them find their ‘why’ in their business and fulfilment in their lives. Business for Andrew is more than work, it’s personal. Running a personal business means that he is able to fulfil all of his values rather than separating his life from work. It supports his two boys while providing social opportunities, educational development, fitness opportunities, spiritual fulfilment and many valuable friendships. Social Star has now become the vehicle for Andrew to crystallise his mission in the world, to help people love what they do, supporting his ‘why’, that if more people loved what they did, the world would be a better place.

http://www.andrewford.com.au/