Why Aren't You the Town Star?

Why Aren't You the Town Star?

If local buyers and sellers aren't thinking of you first, and heading to your website first, then you're missing out on a huge chunk of business

If the Internet has taught our industry one thing, it's that information overload can severely hamper one's ability to run a successful firm. Twenty years ago it may have been enough to slap a simple "LarryVecchio.com" website together, spread the word to your sphere of influence and sit back while people flocked to your site for information and data. Today it takes a lot more than that to get people to do business with you online. Online clutter is at an all-time high, with literally millions of real estate websites vying for a small slice of qualified buyers and eager sellers.

So how do you stand out? How do you develop a web presence that not only looks great and provides dynamic information and data, but that literally reaches out to your potential customers and pulls them in? You do it by becoming the town star. And you become the town star by developing and using web-based tools that clearly delineate you as the "go to" real estate agent for a specific town, development, city or state.

Who is the Town Star?

The town star is the agent who has the most successful business. She generates more business than any of her competitors, and she doesn't have to pour her money down the online lead generation drain to get that business. Instead, she uses exclusive websites like "SurfYourTown.com" and business-to-business advertising to grow her company.

Allan Dalton, former CEO of Realtor.com and co-founder and president of RISMedia's Top 5 in Real Estate, says "consumers can't resist" a real estate business model based on their own interests, and more specifically their local, town, and community concerns and informational needs. "For years our industry has wrestled with where to place the greatest emphasis," Dalton says. "Should companies be company-centric, agent-centric or consumer-centric?"

A fourth choice may be the best one: community- or town-centric, according to Dalton. "[Agents] need to be community leaders," he says. "I have long believed that the only way we have access to people is through their concerns. So if someone want to build greater SEO (Search Engine Optimization) effectiveness then the key is to own keywords that the consumers living in specific towns and communities are attracted to."

Where real estate professionals tend to use the word "markets" when describing the geographic areas where they do business, for example, consumers are more attached to "towns" and "neighborhoods." They care less about what their local MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) is doing as a whole, and would rather drill down to a more personal, local level, particularly when shopping for a new home.

"Personal brand building can benefit by an agent becoming symbiotic with online town branding," says Dalton. "The concept of helping agents become the symbol of all things local...the ultimate "Real Estate Townie," if you will, is brilliant."

Star Quality

To help her agents become town stars, Tina Caggiano, broker-owner at Better Homes Realty in Brick, N.J., provides them with the tools they need to localize themselves and stand out online. Sites like "HomesinBrick.com" and "HomesinGreenbriar.com" have come to the forefront of her plan as more and more agents learn the value of developing star quality online.

"To work this business successfully, you have to become the town star," says Caggiano. "Otherwise, you risk losing a lot of business to your competitors, many of whom are already stars in their own right. You have to get to the point that, when consumers think of real estate, they think of your name as being synonymous with it. That's where most agents miss the boat."

Caggiano says several of her agents have already secured domain names and developed websites around the town star concept. She points to a 3-agent team that works a 2,600-home adult community in the area as one example of the strategy in action.

"The agents have set themselves up to be the de facto professionals for anyone looking to buy or sell in the Leisure Village community," says Caggiano. "As a result, they're involved in a high percentage of the transactions that take place there. When you think of Leisure Village, you immediately think of Barney, Phyllis and Earl."

Creating True Value

When you become the town star, you not only increase the number of transactions for a particular area, but you also establish yourself as a credible, reliable source of information for the town or city. People call on you for everything from property tax information to the inside scoop on new developments. They know they can count on you. When the time comes to buy or sell - or, to give someone a referral - they think of you.

And to think that all of this starts online, with a simple "HomesInYourTown.com" website that's targeted to a specific geographic region. You don't have to spend days on end hanging seed flyers on doorknobs, calling FSBOs (For Sale By Owners) and cold calling expired listings to find new business. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars a month buying leads from a generation company, and you don't have to beat your head against the wall, wondering where your next commission check is going to come from.

You simply take the time to establish yourself as the town star through a strong, targeted web presence. Start by developing a community-based website (like Caggiano's agents did) and filling it with useful, consumer-centric content that's focused on the community (and not you or your broker). It's not that difficult, but it does take dedication and perseverance. By taking these steps now, you'll be well braced to not only deal with today's market conditions, but also any that the market of the future throws at you.

 http://www.homesinyourtown.com

About the Author

A licensed real estate broker and mortgage broker in multiple states, Larry Vecchio is president of Better Homes Realty, in Hazlet, N.J. With 22 offices and 500 sales associates, Vecchio's firm posts sales in excess of $100 million annually, and is the purveyor of over 1200 websites, including HomesinYourTown.com and BetterHomesUSA.com. Well versed in the real estate industry and the front-seat role that technology has taken in a field he's been active in since 1981, Vecchio also heads up Intercounty Mortgage Network, a Hazlet, N.J.-based mortgage banking company that specializes in resident financing.