Do You Prospect the Internet?

How many times have you gone to the local board meetings, whether it be your local school board or your local board of Realtors, and tried to prospect for potential clients? Do you go knock doors in your service neighborhoods? Do you hang door hangers, do you leave your business card with new people you meet? 

If you're a successful Realtor you have done one, if not all, of these prospecting activities. But what about people on the internet who don't know any real estate agents, don't really know what an agent does, or don't really know they want to buy a house yet?

How do you prospect the internet?

Do you even know what prospecting the internet is?

No, I don't mean ranking well in search engines for your obvious keywords, like "my town real estate." I mean truly prospecting people, who are on the internet searching, not quite knowing what they want yet, but find you. Not because they typed in the obvious highly searched keywords for your town, city, county "real estate" but because you have a long tail strategy for picking up the people who aren't familiar with your brand.

If you don't know what longtail keywords are, I suggest you read this post by Avinash Kaushik called:  How Thick Is Your Head And How Long Is Your Tail.

Prospecting the internet, is like prospecting the cocktail party. You talk with people who aren't really looking for a home, but you know in the future they will need someone, or know someone who is going to buy/sell a home. The same goes for people on the internet searching related information to buying and selling homes. 

Example 1:

People searching for school information, aren't necessarily searching for a home yet.  However, if you can convince them you know about schools in your market area, and you write about the ins and outs of your school system, when that person begins to look for homes after deciding the schools in your area would be great for there kids, guess what?  They are probably going to use you, as long as you hooked them with some quality information.

Example 2:

Say someone in your town is hiring people, not just the local Burger King joint, but a large technology employer. They need to fill these positions right? What happens if someone finds your blog written about this tech company hiring? Say they call that company and get hired? Now they need a home in your area. They will likely call you, you have already helped them find a job, and now they will expect you to help them find a home. 

Example 3:

You live in a college community, people from around the country are going to school in your community. What happens if their families want to move close to them? This does happen, as I received a prospect about 2 months ago who's daughter is moving to Logan Utah to go to Utah State University next fall. She found me because of my website, which has some information about the university. 

She started reading my blog about our job statistics, safe neighborhoods, and school information. She wanted to know if our schools were hiring here, her husband is getting his teachers certificate this spring, and needs a job. So, because I wrote about school information, crime rates, and job rates in my area, she wanted me to supply her with more information.

She found me, not because of my keywords "my town real estate," but because I prospected the internet with relevant information that someone would be looking for, while searching for information about my town.

Here's Why You Should Prospect The Internet This Way

People who are searching using some main keywords, like: "my town real estate" or "my town homes for sale," already know your brand, or someone else's brand. They aren't necessarily looking for you, they are looking for houses. 

By prospecting the internet with relevant information that a potential home buyer is looking for before  they start searching for homes like school information or jobs, you will already have these people hooked. So when they actually type in the word "my town real estate" they will probably just type your name with it.

There are many searchers out there that are in the "prospect" stage. They aren't necessarily looking for a home right now, but they will be someday. They may also know someone else who is looking for a home, and if you can hook them by prospecting the internet, you will have long term internet success!

Good Luck! If you want a more detailed explanation I would highly recommend you go to that link and read that blog.

Lisa Udy

Immaculate Homes

www.LisaUdy.com

www.LoganRealEstateInUtah.com

Lisa@LisaUdy.com