My niche was almost preordained

It will be hard for some to understand, but about fifteen years or so ago, I got sick of real estate. I had been in the business for 19 years. I'd been an owner-broker for 9 of those years.

If you work in a city you won't be able to relate - but I'd gotten weary of hunting for missing septic tanks, finding wells that turned out to be on the wrong parcel, and searching for survey stakes that someone had moved. Because I was an owner/broker, I'd also become worried about liability. I was fairly certain that at least one of my agents wasn't being honest with clients.

The only parts of my work that were still fun were writing the monthly newsletter, writing promotional articles for the newspaper, and writing ads. I enjoyed bringing in customers for my agents, and I loved maintaining our status as the #1 agency in town.

But when the phone rang, I thought "Don't let that be for me."

Marketing had already become my niche within the industry - I just didn't recognize it as such. 

So - I sold the agency to the woman who had started with me as an agent when I opened the office 9 years earlier. She was a friend - I thought.

Big mistake. Or rather, staying on and working for her was a big mistake. I don't know why I did. Perhaps because I didn't yet have a different path to follow.

The atmosphere changed and the office was no longer a friendly place to be. Before too many months, I started working from home, and soon learned that when my clients called, my (former) friend told them that I had retired and she could help them.

Meanwhile, my interest in writing and marketing had led me to enroll in the AWAI copywriting course. I was fascinated. In 2002 and again in 2005 I traveled to Florida to attend their "Bootcamps" and enjoyed every minute of listening to speakers who have gained renown as copywriters and marketers.

A presentation by Valerie Young of Changing Course was the final push I needed to turn to copywriting full time. She told a story about her Mom - and how she waited too long to follow her dreams.

At that point, I thought I was sick of real estate, so I branched out every which way. It was fun - I wrote for a balloon artist in Minnesota, a valet service in New Jersey, a man who created hairpieces for movie stars in Hollywood, a lady who sold herbal remedies, and many others. I learned a lot about occupations that I'd never thought about before, and I got acquainted with some wonderful people.

I also wrote for a number of animal rescue organizations, simply because animal rescue is an issue that matters to me.

But... real estate gets in your blood. When the opportunity came to write for a REALTOR(R), I took it - and I was hooked.

It is, after all, what I know. I've been in agents' shoes and I understand the challenges and the frustrations. I also understand the fears and frustrations that buyers and sellers face. With the additional training I received, I learned better how to appeal to those clients and speak to their inner fears and desires.

Over the years I've learned more than I ever learned as an agent, because in our little town there are no such things as condos and townhouses. We don't deal with Homeowners Associations. I only ran across two short sale situations in the entire 19 years. I knew nothing about selling a home in probate.

Learning about these and other situations in order to write for my clients has expanded my education - all within my own little niche.

So here I am. I no longer market my services to those in other industries. 

I write for real estate, and I'm happy to do so.