What's the one thing that I wish I knew when I first started real estate 20 years ago? Well I wish I would have known that my job was not to be a real estate agent. Of course, you think you are, but no your job is to be a marketer. I don't care if you're the best real estate agent in the in the universe; if nobody knows about you it doesn't make a difference that you're a great real estate agent.
Who Knows You?
You could have the best tools, the best practices, you could be the best negotiator ever, you could be the best agent in your office! But if nobody knows about you it doesn't make a difference! What I wish I would have known when I first got into real estate was that my job was to be a marketer first.
So let me ask you a question is your job to sell yourself or to sell houses? What's the answer? Well the answer is both, but if you can't sell yourself how are you going to sell houses? So once you get that house how are you going to sell and market that house? How do you position yourself differently and show houses differently?
Market Differently Than The Competition
How do you show the market differently? When you can market yourself then you can market the houses. When you could show how marketing the house is differently positively affects the seller. Suddenly you now have a value ad, let me give you an example. most agents will say things like hey when I list your property, I’m going to do a broker tour. Which by the way we all know doesn't really work?
You are doing a broker’s tour because you don't know how to market correctly. You do a broker tour because that's what everyone else does. You do what everyone else does. You do a broker’s tour, but honestly buyers know about the properties before their agents even do. Buyers know more about the property than their agents do.
The agents are only going to the brokers tour because they want to have the free lunch; that's really the case. But it sounds good to a seller until you meet with somebody like me that basically teaches people the reason why brokers tours do not work and how they're ineffective and why they need to do something differently, which is to market their homes online.
Then I show Mr. seller when marketing online here's why it's so important did you know according to the national association of realtors Mr. seller that 67 percent of buyers will walk through a home that they see online. That means it's my fiduciary obligation to make sure that I get your home online and I expose your house to the masses.
Learn To Be A Marketer
My point is that you need to learn to be a marketer. When I can market my properties when I can market myself and expose myself to the masses, then I am showing up where people are looking. Why do you think that McDonald’s markets online? Well McDonald’s markets online because they know when they market online during the super bowl, they know that they're getting mass exposure and they understand that marketing is key, and marketing is attraction.
When you market properly people raise their hand they show up and they say hey I’d like to do business with you I need more of what you have. Well, how do you get people to raise their hand? You market to them online by adding value, serving not selling! Solving their problems! Becoming their solution! Giving them as much value as possible! Talking to them about anything and everything real estate or community related! Being that go-to trusted real estate agent through marketing!
Your job as a real estate agent is to make sure that anytime anybody thinks about real estate or their community, they absolutely think about you. Why would they do that? The only way they're going to be able to do that is if they see you! For you to be known you've got to be seen you've got to be heard! Marketing is attraction so your job is not to become a real estate agent your job is to become a master digital marketer. As marketers our job is to go where our clients are. where are our clients? They're online!
179 Days
Let me ask you a question, when you want to buy a pizza where do you go? You go online. When you want to get your nails done where do you go? You go online. When you want to make a major investment did you know that people usually do 179 days (on average) of research prior to acting? So let me ask you as a marketer are you marketing yourself so that you're showing up in that search during those 179 days? Or are you just showing up when they're looking? Because they do a post on Facebook and say, “who's a good real estate agent and then there's 8,000 agents that like say “I am” “I am”, and people refer someone.
Your job is that they never even ask who the best agent is, because you've been marketing to them for those 179 days while they're looking. So that when they're ready to take action that you show up in that search. You show up, you're top of mind, they've already thought about you.
Conclusion
That's your job as a marketer I want you to think about Google, Nike Whole Foods all the other fortune 500 companies. What do they do? They market online! There are billions and billions of dollars every single day being spent on marketing people's products online. So, your job as a real estate agent is not just to be a real estate agent it's to be a marketer first. Be a marketer first, everything else can be googled. Everything else can be taught by your broker marketer first agent second.
