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My "not" marketing, yet marketing secret weapon.

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 GREC# 169695

So many people will tell you that facebook is "yesterday" when it come to marketing.  However that's not been my experience.  Now, I don't "pay" to be on facebook.  Nor do I have a credit card connected to my account or boost or promote ads.  But I run a community group.  And said "community group" suggests my business page to the members.  

The Group is called Lake Sinclair area community page.... it's a place where referrals can be asked for, businesses can be promoted, reviews of local businesses (good and not so good) can be posted, lost animals, found animals, local news, and it was recently a great place to get updates when lots of people in the county were without water when we had 72 hours of below freezing weather which was great for next year's peach crop and bad for old pipes. As a community service I've done things like offer water when we have outages, offer phones to be charged when we have lasting power outages or a place for morning coffee when the power is out in subdivisions.  I'm fortunate that my office is on the same feed line as the fire department right down the street, so my office getting power restored has always been priority because the fire department needs power so they don't have to manually open doors when they get calls. 

I have allowed other local agents to always participate and advertise their listings.  I try to answer consumer questions in a timely manner.  And it has helped bring me business.  I always invite new buyers to join the group and in the years since I have had it I have been recommended over and over by these past clients to people who ask "who's a great agent?" in the group.  Recently a past client said "they treat you like family".  I can't think of a greater comments than a past client who feels like they are "part of the Lane Realty family".

I haven't done it lately, but always when I have a "contest" on our business page I share it there and it always brings people to my business page.  I know a LOT of people have moved on from Facebook and are using instagram, tictok or even linked-in for business, but my office does a large amount of business with seniors who are looking to retire to a nice lake community.  It seems that facebook is still a favorite among the age group we seem to do 75% of our business model with. 

So without "in your face" advertising I "advertise" by hosting the group.  I have had lots of business come from clients who have said "I see you on Facebook a lot".  And hosting the group doesn't require THAT much attention.  I would say I'm there 15 minutes to an hour each day and that totally depends on the day.  We had an earthquake recently and I was there a LOT that day. Most days it's just popping in to add new people (approving those wishing to join) and it's fairly easy to spot spammers.  When new people join they can post unless it's approved by me and so if it's CLEARLY spam I just block them.  

So sometimes you can "advertise" without buying an ad.  I've been doing it for years.  I often go to other small businesses and share things.  I also go to official postings when we have road closings, road work, power outages, water outages and share the information from the source to get the information to local homeowners. I always try to be helpful and not make it about Lane Realty, yet offer my business as a place that will help the community.  The time and effort I put in has come back to me in the way of business.  So while I'm not "advertising" anything other than the occasional listing there, it still puts me and my company at the top of mind to local folks often.

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706-485-9668  us on facebook

Tammy@Lake-Sinclair.com

(Click on Lane Realty Logo for web site)

Tammy Lankford, Broker/Owner

 

Broker License # 169695  Lane Realty License # H-11420

Real Estate Instructor License # 355089

Call me today for all your Lake Sinclair real estate needs.

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Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Aura Alex ah yes, I have a couple of other "groups" that don't have other members yet as well.  But some day.... my grandsons will get to see them.  One is Grammy loves Cooper and the other is Grammy loves MJ.  It's photos of them and shared memories and hopefully when they are grown and I am dead and gone they can visit those pages with their own grandchildren and tell them about Grammy

Jan 28, 2023 06:52 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Dr. Paula McDonald basically just pop ins for 5  years.  I have managed a post or two annually and quick pop ins here and there.  I have a full plate.  Real estate... which was super busy, I keep my grandsons 1 or 2 days a week and I also manage health and financing for the husband with dementia for a dear late friend, and I teach not one but two children's Sunday School classes because another teacher is out with recovering from a stroke.  So I have 4 year olds to 5th graders which is a challenge to do, but I do what I gotta do. 

Jan 28, 2023 06:56 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Kat Palmiotti it has worked well.

 

Brian England I certainly agree.

Jan 28, 2023 06:57 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Erik Hiss Sometimes it finds you. Look through your past sales and see what kind of pattern you see.... what age bracket were most of your buyers? first time? retirement? condos?  just pick one and work towards becoming the expert at it.

Jan 28, 2023 08:03 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Joe Jackson you have a good week too

Jan 28, 2023 08:05 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Sheri Sperry - MCNE® and allowed me to get to know so many people in my community which is fabulous.

Jan 28, 2023 08:08 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Pat Starnes-Front Gate Realty There are a few local yard sale groups that have had that happen.  So we have questions like "do you live in the area?" and "what street do you live on?"  if the answer to what street do you live on is "yes" the likelihood is it's a spammer so their profile is checked out and if confirmed because 6 months ago their profile picture was a different person they are blocked.

Jan 28, 2023 08:10 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Carol Williams it's also been a great way to meet new people (that weren't my clients) and some of them have become new clients when they are moving up/down or away.

Jan 28, 2023 08:11 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Kathy Streib I would venture to say that 90% of clients don't use insta gram, tictoc or snapchat... a lot do also use "neighbors" and I pop over there and answer questions as well.

Jan 28, 2023 08:13 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Adam Feinberg ah yes, my husband has issues with poor people management at his job too.  But he's too close to retirement to change careers at this point.

Jan 28, 2023 08:15 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Paddy Deighan MBA JD PhD I would venture to say most of my "new leads" from internet come from my site (which obviously isn't free), but for local peeps this group seems to keep my company in the forefront of people's minds.

Jan 28, 2023 08:16 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Mary Hutchison, SRES, ABR it does seem to work for me

Jan 28, 2023 08:27 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Greg Mona I would say it's also about imbedding yourself in your community and being neighborly... at least in rural markets.

Jan 28, 2023 08:28 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Wendy Rich-Soto, Realtor/Broker Associate you never know when another agent's "coming soon" will be your client's dream house.

Jan 28, 2023 08:29 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Jan Green - Scottsdale, AZ I do think the rural market I'm in makes this work so well. There's certainly a neighborly aspect to the group.

Jan 28, 2023 08:30 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-939-2727 yes, we're all well and I have always enjoyed being part of the community I live in, so the FB group is just an extension of the way I live my life.

Jan 28, 2023 08:31 AM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375

Tammy Lankford, Yes, and "the way you live your life" is a great benefit to everyone who knows you or lives around you! All the best - Lynn

Jan 28, 2023 11:32 AM
Roy Kelley
Retired - Gaithersburg, MD

Thank you very much, Tammy, for sharing some of your success.

I highly recommend the use of Facebook groups. 

Jan 29, 2023 11:57 AM
Diana Dahlberg
1 Month Realty - Pleasant Prairie, WI
Real Estate in Kenosha, WI since 1994 262-308-3563

Facebook Groups!  Who would have thought!

Jan 30, 2023 12:10 PM
Debe Maxwell, CRS
Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC
The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

I remember when you started this page and you've been devoted to its excellence for YEARS, Tammy. You always impress me with your knowledge and dedication to your area. You are the #1 Lake Sinclair Ambassador, hands down. Hugs, my friend!

Feb 04, 2023 08:20 PM
Patricia Feager, ABR,CRS,GRI,MRP
DFW FINE PROPERTIES - Flower Mound, TX
Selling Homes Changing Lives

Tammy Lankford, - you are so wise. Your photographs, especially the sunset is GORGEOUS!

I often wonder how much further I could have gotten in business if you were my Mentor or Broker?

Feb 24, 2023 02:28 PM