ActiveRain has helped me to become a local expert! 3 Interesting contacts I received this week from my "hyperlocal" blogging

A few months back, my friend Adam Waldman started the Local Expert group.  It's not just a catchy title, though, but something that we should all aspire to become in our markets.  This week, I began to see evidence that I have done just that for the area where I live, Pflugerville. 

I have written about new developments in Pflugerville, market reports, local restaurants, and more.  I received two phone calls and one email this week that indicate that far more people are reading my posts than I had realized.  More importantly, those who contacted me indicated that they value my expertise in this area of town.

First Phone Call

I was training a new agent of ours the other day, when my cell phone rang.  Sometimes, I let these go to my voice mail, but I chose to answer it since the number was unfamiliar. 

The caller greeted me and started asking a series of questions about some of the local shopping centers, neighborhood demographic information, and trends that I had noticed. 

"I bet you wonder why I am asking you this," he said.

Well, yes.  The thought had crossed my mind.  It turns out that he is a dentist looking to open a new practice a few minutes from my home, and he wanted to get my opinion on the location that he is considering.  He had read a couple of my market reports, along with this short post of mine:

Pflugerville, Texas is Getting Two New Shopping Centers!

I told him to keep me in mind if he knew anyone moving into or out of the area, and he assured me that he would.

Email from a new neighbor

I was very encouraged to get the following email a couple of nights ago, which arrived with the subject "Your Website":

Hi Jason,

My husband and I closed on our house in the Meadows on May 9 and move in this weekend (we're on Bethesda Ct.).  We are very happy about all the good news you provided and appreciate that you've gathered all of the information!  Do you have any idea when the 24-hour fitness is scheduled to open?

See you soon neighbor!

(NAME WITHHELD for the purposes of this post)

These people live about three blocks from my home.  Even though it mentions my "website", the information she referenced is from my AR blog. 

Clearly, she thinks of me as an information resource at this point, which makes me happy.  After I answered her question, we corresponded back and forth a few times.  Although this may not result in any immediate business for me, they will likely always think of me as the neighborhood expert. 

 Second Phone Call

Yesterday, while I was enjoying lunch with my family, just before a client appointment, I got a call from an Austin realtor who works for a competing company.  She has a listing in a neighborhood adjacent to mine, and she wanted to know if I would be willing to meet a prospective buyer who wanted to see the house.  She knew that I lived here in Blackhawk from reading my posts. 

After my initial and brief shock wore off, I agreed to meet the buyer.

"Maybe if my listing won't work for them, you can find them something else.  I will just go ahead and give her your cell phone number," she said.

Obviously, I had no problem with that!  I will take more of those calls anytime.

The Big Picture

So, in addition to the fact that we met with two referral clients this weekend which I obtained as a direct result of blogging here (reference: A Good "Problem" to Have! My SEO and social networking successes this week), I also got contacts from the following types of readers:

•  
  • Local business owner looking for advice
  • New resident with a question
  • Colleague who knows I am an expert in this area

Not too shabby!  As I approach my one-year anniversary here at ActiveRain, it seems as though the opportunities continue to snowball.

Thanks for reading!

Copyright 2008  Jason Crouch, Austin Real Estate Broker