Niche marketing isn't exactly new to the real estate business but it can be a very fun and effective way to "build a community" within a region, market or area of expertise. I feel very fortunate to be heading to Seattle this week to attend "REBarCamp" (has nothing to do with alcohol) at the Zillow headquarters. There, I will learn a lot more about social networking, blogging and more ways to promote my business. One of the many reasons I am heading to Seattle is because of my friend, Rich Jacobson. You see, Rich has agreed to join me in a session at this "un-conference" to talk about "niche marketing." To be honest, I am really looking forward to it, partly because I think it will be a lot of fun and partly because I have a LOT of respect for Rich and for many of the people that will be attending the conference.

The timing is interesting as just yesterday my friend Mike Price from Diverse Solutions called and asked me to do a "podcast" with him about a niche market that I have been working on. Mike took some time to talk to me about the work I have been doing with RailLife.com and put together this very nice blog post titled "Nichefy Your IDX - Running The Rails With Nick Bastian" One of the many things we talked about in the podcast is how we have used the Diverse Solution product on the Rail Life Real Estate pages to show people what types of housing is available near many of the light rail stations. Their product has been really great to work with and I am looking forward to adding a lot more options in the near future, I can't thank their design and support staff enough...

The term "nichefy" might be a Mike Price original but it sure was fun to talk to him and it was a great "warm up" to what I hope to share with my friends in Seattle. If I'm lucky, all will go well and I won't trip over too many of my words. Rich has promised to do all of the heavy lifting as his experience as one of the "Active Rain All Stars" certainly qualifies him for much more than I. 

The niche I will be talking about has to do with homes located near the new, 20 mile stretch of light rail line in Arizona which travels from Phoenix to Tempe and into Mesa. If you can't join us in Seattle but you have questions about the communities along the light rail line, please feel free to contact Nick Bastian - Realty Executives, Tempe AZ via the web or feel free to call me at 602-803-6425. You can aslo get some great information on the subject by visiting www.RailLife.com.

You can listen to the Diverse Solution podcast here...