Real Estate and Professional Marketing - Episode 8

We share a simple plan to turn local reputation into consistent results using client stories that answer real questions, spark referrals, and boost search visibility. 

From unlocking hesitant sellers to helping new agents turn “green” into an advantage, the throughline is authentic, example-driven content.

• why a strong local name still needs marketing
• how to pull “someday” sellers into action
• using real buyer and seller examples in content
• turning client pride into social reach
• new agents leveraging mentors and energy
• authenticity as a repeatable business system

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Transcript

The Rural Realtor’s Website Challenge

Strong Brand, Still Do Marketing

Unlocking The “Is It Time?” Sellers

Use Client Stories As Content

Case Study: Bay Area To Dream Home

Referral And SEO Flywheel

New Agents: Turn Green Into Grit

Universal Lesson: Tell Truth, Add Value

Share Wins And Wield Authenticity

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome back to Marketing from the Car. I'm your host, Brian Ostropsky. And today I want to talk a bit about uh realtors, real estate professionals, probably folks in any profession, for that matter. Uh, but I had a conversation last week with a woman in a uh very rural community looking for a website. And we were talking about what she was looking for and what some of her goals were for the site. And she talked about, you know, looking professional, looking still with it. Some of the younger professionals uh maybe had it together a little bit more. She didn't want to fall behind, which is all fair in terms of presentation. Uh, and so we're talking about helping her tell her story because as I always say, I don't know what your problem is, but the solution is content. And she said, Well, you know, I grew up here, I went to middle school here, everyone knows me, all of this sort of thing. And so uh she's in this envious position of having a strong brand. And often people in this position will make the mistake of saying, therefore, I don't need to do marketing, as if Coke and Pepsi are unknown brands trying to get you to be aware that they exist, and yet they still spend billions of dollars a year. So we talked a bit about that. And I said, okay, so on the one hand, you want to uh create value compared to these new competitors. That's cool. And and in her case, there's also one other thing. You know, a lot of people have been sitting on property for years, generations, perhaps, and they're thinking to themselves, is it my time to sell? Is now a good time? And I'll put it off, I'll put it off, I'll put it off. Who knows how long they've been doing that for? So her marketing could not only outcompete other people, her marketing could bring in an entirely new segment that is otherwise untouched because of this, you know, is it the right time thing? And so, just like always, the best content is examples from your business. For her, it will talk about the homes that she's sold as the listing agent and as the buying agent and the different details that go into that. Um, you know, asking the sellers what were you looking for with the listing agent? What were you worried about? What surprised you? What were you hoping to accomplish? And along the way, some of these folks are gonna say, Well, this property has been something we wanted to sell for 10 years, and finally now is the time. And she can suss out some of those details, and that can maybe help their friend down the road who has a similar situation. So there's this big opportunity to pull people into the fold. Some years ago, uh, we worked with a real estate agent in Northern California, and their whole shtick, or at least where they were trying to get to, was to be the agent you would go to to buy your dream home if you were leaving the Bay Area, which was crazy expensive, and coming to the area that we lived in, which was only you know, a bit expensive by comparison, it was far less expensive. And so they wanted to help people, you know, cash out, take a bunch of money, buy this dream property, all this stuff. And so one of the things we worked with them on doing was sharing examples of doing that. So and so from this community sold this property for this much. You know, woe is me. It was a postage stamp. I sold it for 1.2 million. And I moved to this new area, to this new town, and I bought this five-acre piece with this big house and the swimming pool and all the things. And here's what I was looking for, and here's what they did, and awesome. And this approach is really powerful because you start to tell this story like you get it, right? Everyone wants to know that you get it. But it also is this referral hack, it's this SEO hack because now the person that bought the property moved from a town that you list by name. And so people in that town searching for relocating may find you because Google makes that match. And oh, by the way, they have friends who they left who are now hearing about how they have this great house, you know, a few hours away or whatever. And now they get to promote themselves, you know, brag about themselves. Look at this great house I bought. So they share your stuff, all of a sudden you're parachuting into that audience on social, and they're all going, Oh, I want to go too. Maybe maybe I should call these guys. Maybe, maybe they could help me out. And so, whether you're looking to tap into a new market, a new geography, a new type of market in terms of the need that your customers have, uh, in terms of bringing in customers who don't even know their customers, or even the flip side, if you're new into a role, you don't need to hide it. If I'm a brand new realtor, I probably want to play that up. Make it a positive. You know, I'm I'm pretty green, but it means I'm gonna run through walls for you. And if you have a mentor or backing, play that up. You know, I'm pretty green, but I have this team behind me. I'm gonna go to them, I'm gonna make your experience awesome because I'm trying to build a brand. I'm gonna I'm gonna turn that potential negative into a positive. And the reality is it's gonna come out, so own it, make it an asset, make it something that people are really looking forward to. And then if they go, well, somebody might have more experience, well, you, yeah, that's true, they do have more experience. Although the my my mentor back here has 20 years, so you're not gonna lose any of that, but you're gonna get my enthusiasm. And whether we're talking about a restaurant or we're talking about a retail play, some of these things apply. Now, professional services are obviously a bit different, but um, but if you can take what's true about you and you can tell your story in a way that adds value for people, and you can tell the story in a way that connects with what they're looking for, you're gonna be in really good shape. So as you think about your marketing, think about the conversations you have, the uh messages that you're relaying to people, the questions that they're asking you, and then just share the wins. I help these people do this thing, I accomplished this project. Here were some challenges, here's how I overcame it, which means you know I can help you overcome challenges as well. At the end of the day, authenticity is one of your unique superpowers. You just have to learn how to wield it so that you and your community can take back local.