We all know the expression "think outside the box" but how many of us ever do? We advertise in the same publications and fight for the bus stop bench space when it becomes available but with so many people doing the same things, how do you standout?
We use creative "unique" slogans or catchphrases that all sound alike. We buy domain names for template websites that all look and sound alike (www.insertlocationhomesforsale,com). We are a dime a dozen. For most of you referral business and name recognition are the lifeblood of the industry, but for those of us still building our business, how do we set ourselves apart. What do we do to make our name recognizable.
This is my fourth market. My fourth time building my business from scratch. We have been moving from university town to university town. Finally, now that my wife has finished her university education and I can focus on a long-term relationship with clients, I can use what I have learned over the years to build a sustainable business. But what have I done to succeed (she is a PhD with no student debt) in 3 previous markets where I didn't know a soul when I started. I manipulated the media.
Every media outlet needs stories and if you can provide them, they will print or air them. I have never been in a market where the content and advertising fill the paper perfectly. I see it as my challenge to find and create content that they can use to fill that space.
Let me be clear. I do not spend any money on print advertising. I do not buy bus bench ads. I have not sent mailers, calendars, pens or any other promotional material. This may change as I am more focused on repeat and referral business.
I create news and I am always the headline. And sometimes the news is barely news, but it gets in the paper. This Halloween, for example, I carved pumpkins for an Open House. If I hadn't sent photos to the media my six hours of time and $15 worth of pumpkins would have been viewed by less than 20 people. Instead, my photos were published in 2 local papers with a readership of over 50,000 each. These were my pumpkins and the photo that appeared.
.This year I decided to gift-wrap the home that I sold closest to Christmas. It has so far been seen in print in the Toronto Star, Canada's most read daily newspaper, Metro News, with over 1 million daily readers, Oshawa This Week and SNAP Oshawa. Tonight it was seen on CTV national news by colleagues I worked with over 400 kms away and by thousands here in my city. Video content was also posted at http://newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/144414 My total cost...$25.
So think outside the box. Be creative and build name recognition quickly, with very little money. My exposure this year is valued at well over $50,000 and I have spent less than $100 to achieve that.
Please reply and share your ideas and feel free to steal mine. I would love to know how they work for you.
Why use one Realtor when you can CHOOSE STU!!!
I wish you all good luck in 2010.
Stuart.
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