What’s your Local Impact? Strategies for Lasting Community Involvement

As a realtor, you are a leader in your community! Roy Dekel suggests you stay focused on your value: you help make people’s dreams of a forever home come true, and your contribution to your clients is immeasurable. With that in mind, does your marketing match your impact? Chances are you are missing out on potential connections and opportunities for growth if you aren’t maximizing your influence in the area. With that in mind, you should take care to beef up your local contributions so that you can better foster relationships and become a focal part of your target markets. Here are a couple of Roy Dekel strategies you may want to try out to boost your reputation and establish true roots in your community.

Newsletters

Now, you’ve probably heard this recommendation at least a handful of times. While you may find yourself scratching your head on how exactly a regular email or physically mailed newsletter can grow your business, the reason newsletters are recommended so often is because they work! Newsletters can be tricky because the goal of writing and sending a newsletter is to send pertinent and engaging information. If you are sending out an impersonal, mass produced newsletter that has no care behind it, you probably will not get many responses. You should do your best to make your newsletter personal, and you may even find that a written newsletter is not your forte. Roy Dekel recommends you find your strong suit. If you are not a fan of writing, you may want to consider sending our video market updates or picture postcards instead. No matter which medium you prefer, you should have a plan for regular coordinated outreach to your entire book of business.   

Additional Content and Programs

As a realtor, you have a wealth of knowledge and experience that many of your clients lack. One of the best ways to encourage connection with prospective clients is by creating and branding informative materials. This can also help you endear yourself to your current clients. Roy Dekel cautions you to avoid an information overload. You need to find the balancing point where you offer value but don’t give away everything. By providing easy to read reference materials, like a first time buyer’s guide or a set of seller’s tips, you will gain more connections because you are demonstrating your expertise. Remember, you do not want these materials to be overly complicated: you are not teaching your clients how to be realtors, but you should offer them insight that can set them more at ease. Many prospective clients seek to have at least some familiarity with the market before they speak with agents, and this can prolong their home search greatly if they are having trouble finding the right kind of material. Roy Dekel suggests that you go a step further and create full on seminars or webcasts to enlighten your audience. Getting a dialogue going by demonstrating your expertise can pay dividends in the long run. Just pay special attention to the explanations in your materials. If you don’t run your material by a friend or family member who doesn’t have real estate experience, your content may be too specialized to be accessible. 

Volunteering 

Another strategy you may want to consider is giving back to your community through volunteering. By establishing connections with your local Kiwanis club, or setting up your own regular volunteer events, you will demonstrate that you take your role as a community leader seriously, and prospective clients will take note. Volunteering can be an excellent way to broaden your network and form deep connections with like minded people. Of course, it goes without saying that you should only involve yourself through volunteering if your heart is truly behind the cause you are supporting. Roy Dekel observes that, If your heart's not in it, it will soon become apparent to the people around you that are pretending to be someone you’re not. And, volunteering doesn’t need to mean developing an entire non-profit organization. It can be as simple as offering to coach for your children’s sports programs, or establishing a clothing or food drive. Like with the other strategies above, don’t be afraid to get creative! Like with all things, you get out what you put in. Your marketing and networking are only going to be as successful as you allow them to be. What this means is that you need to figure out your best approach to establish regular patterns and activities that allow you to connect with more prospects. If you don’t apply yourself, or only do what other realtors are doing, you’ll soon find yourself losing ground in your community. Instead, take Roy Dekel’s advice: embrace your role as a community leader and you leverage this to form better connections in your area!