Tips for Creating a Strong Online Presence

John Skrabec, Broker Owner of Live Urban Real Estate in Denver, discusses four critical strategies for building an online presence for your real estate business.

BrokerIPTV: Today we are talking with John Skrabec, broker-owner of Live Urban Real Estate in Denver, Colorado. How are you?

John Skrabec: Good Dan, how are you?

BrokerIPTV: Good thanks. Today we are going to talk a little bit about things you need to do or how to succeed in Denver real estate and Im sure everybody says, "Well, what's that one thing?" I don't know if there is, I mean, ever one thing.

John Skrabec: Yeah, I don't think there is either.

BrokerIPTV: But what would be your top?

John Skrabec: For me, be different. I just think that there is, there are so many brokers in the Denver Metro market, most of them blend in with one another, frankly and I think that if you can be different and start crafting an image and a brand around a unique selling proposition, a unique personality, that's where you have to start.

BrokerIPTV: Like, go to all your showings on horseback and...

John Skrabec: Well if you want to take it that far, I suppose, but I think its more about telling a story, crafting a personality, an image that you can then translate into all your marketing efforts, whether thats online, whether its a print collateral, advertising, newspaper advertising, we even do some radio, all those kind of things, and you start kind of crafting that image. I think the biggest mistake brokers make is that they see brokers doing certain things and they copy and mimic that its the worst thing you could do, because you just get lost in the crowd.

BrokerIPTV: You know, I talk about that all the time, I say be true to yourself, don't try to put yourself in a box and do something that does not come naturally to you, for instance, me I'm an online guy, I spend all my time online, that's where I build my business, that's what I do. I am never going to be a door-knocker type of guy, but that doesn't mean that's not going to work for someone else.

John Skrabec: Absolutely. No, what works for you, be true to yourself and I think that's a great way to put it.

BrokerIPTV: Sphere of influence, I mean obviously this term has been around since the dawn of real estate.

John Skrabec: Sure.

BrokerIPTV: Who do you know? Who is in your group? Who is in your circle? How do you market to them best?

John Skrabec: Well I think it depends on who it is and how you are going to talk to them. Everybody has probably a market that social media is going to work for them. So you have your Facebook and your Twitter followers, and you're talking to them and engaging them on that level, maybe blogging, an e-mail or newsletters to a certain extent. But then you have kind of the non-techie people that maybe a printed newsletter works better, one-on-one, phone calls, meeting people one-on-one, having coffee, connecting with your sphere that way, I don't think you could put all your eggs in one basket in that sense, and it kind of comes down to integrated marketing, using a multitude of marketing tactics in many different ways to connect to different parts of your audience.

BrokerIPTV: Alright, lets say you've got your brand, lets say you've got your sphere of influence, how do you go about crafting that message?

John Skrabec: Well, I think really understanding who your target market is, and then starting to mimic their style and the kind of the words they use and the phrases they use, and understanding that, I think that's really being, being able to be changeable and nimble to be flexible and being a good listener frankly, to hear what they are saying, whats important to them and then starting to mimic that stuff back. And that's possible to do certainly one-on-one, you could also do it online using technology and you know quickly changing information on your website that's more relevant to your target market, because you're starting to understand what their needs are.

BrokerIPTV: John, thanks, great information, I appreciate you being here.

John Skrabec: Thanks a lot Dan.