You’ve probably heard the age-old saying, “If you chase two rabbits, you catch none.”
This is the single-biggest problem I’ve noticed as I work with real estate agents from across the country. Very few agents struggle because of a lack of effort; they struggle from a lack of clear vision and poor execution of that vision.
Real estate agents are very quick, like many of us are, to fall victim to “shiny object syndrome.” They might start out with a good niche, but when the newest opportunity shows up, they quickly ditch “what was” for “what is.”
Let’s rein in your focus, give you a clear vision and a step-by-step plan to execute that vision to perfection.
What do you need to have a successful niche website?
1. A website
When you are trying to create yourself in a niche market or with niche buyers or sellers, you need to stand out.
The cookie-cutter website won’t do that for you. That is what everyone else has.
Invest some time to research what successful agents in your city and across the country are doing. Or find that start-up that will make you their first customer in your area.
2. Pick your niche market
Now, don’t feel like you have to only choose one. You can have several, they just have to be easily identifiable on your website. Here are some suggestions.
- Luxury expert: You can create custom pages with IDX searches just for homes $500,000 and up for each city you want to establish yourself or grow in.
- First-time homebuyers: This market is huge! Millennials are making up over a one-third of the buyers market right now, and that’s not changing anytime soon. We (I’m barely a millennial) don’t know what we are doing when we buy our first house. Help us. How do you help? Content, content and then — more content (we will talk about this later).
- Military relocations: If you live near a military base and/or you have served or have a family member who is serving or has served, that could be a great fit for you.
- Young families: My family is gearing up to move right now. My wife’s no. 1 priority is identifying where our son will go to school. Start collecting school information for your surrounding niche areas. Go introduce yourself to the principal, and ask if you can do a Facebook Live video to interview him or her and tour the school (thank you, Jeff Lobb, for this idea!). They all love free publicity.
- Pick a city/community: Again, video and Facebook Live should become your best friend. Go interview owners of new restaurants. Do a live tour of the local park. Go live from a sporting event of a hometown team. Invest in sharing the story of your community from your website.
3. Start a blog
Become the expert in your niche. And guess what? You don’t have to be an expert at first to portray yourself as one.
Most agents do such a poor job of having good content on their site; you could look like the expert with about two to four weeks worth of work.
Make sure this blog is hosted on your website as well. That way, when you share it, your URL is getting free advertising.
4. Create content for days
Content does two things: It provides your visitors with valuable information that they are interested in, and it helps you rank organically over time on Google.
The more content you have, the greater the opportunity to show up in the specific searches you are targeting. And don’t go pay some company to “blog” or “write content” for you.
Google hates copy-and-pasted stuff. Be original. It might not sound as poetic coming from you, but Google will love it because it doesn’t exist anywhere else.
And if you don’t have the time, make the time. You’re a business owner, not a sales person — it’s worth the investment.
5. Be you
The worst thing you can do as you embark on this journey is to look at what others do and just try to be a copycat. It might work at first, but you’ll grow to hate it.
The most successful real estate agents I know are the ones who don’t give a crap about what others think. They know who they are, they embrace it, they don’t apologize for it, and they find buyer after buyer and seller after seller who love and respect them for it.
The main thing to remember as you discover what your niche is: it takes time.
Most likely, you won’t be an overnight success. So stay committed to the process, the vision and your goals. If you try something for a month and it doesn’t work yet, stay the course. You got this.
Kyle Draper is the president and co-founder of AgentImpress.me. Connect with him on LinkedIn or follow him on Instagram.
