Dominate A Micro-Market!
A micro market?! That sound’s incredibly small right? RIGHT! I can’t get enough business from a micro market right? WRONG!
Every year there are thousands and thousands of agents cleaning up by taking over a micro market. Not only is it way more cost effective, but it can also make you the King (or Queen) of your area. You can own it quicker, take a bigger market share, and get way more off shoot business when you learn to master the art of micro marketing.
Here are 4 strategies you can start today to take over your micro market:
1. Choose A Geographic Niche.
If you are looking to start a geographic niche, it’s helpful if you already have some “ins” with the area. If you live in a specific neighbourhood, condo building, home owners association etc., it can be very advantageous to pursue marketing to the area you already live. A critical thing to look for is the turn over… Just because you live there, doesn’t mean it will be worth pursuing. Industry experts suggest a 10% turn over per year or more. Keep in mind you aren’t going to get 100% of the deals in the area, but if you can aim to eventually own 10-20% of the area, you can do well. Let’s take a neighbourhood of 500 homes as an example. Let’s say there is a 10% turn over in the area, that’s 50 homes a year. If you can get to 20% market share, that’s 10 listings a year for your taking! (Don’t forget that many of these sellers will be buying, and you also have the opportunity to double end the deals. So let’s call it 20 ends in one year from a simple 500 home geographic area! Not to shabby!
2. Focus Your Marketing on Social Media.
One way to get into the community for little to no cost is to create a community blog/social media space. You can update it with local events, news and insider information. You may just want to pepper that with your own real estate information if you want to get seen 😉 One agent who has really mastered this is Jeff Thibodeau of Re/Max Twin City in Brantford with his Facebook page www.Facebook.com/WeLoveBrantford. He has got nearly 10% of the local Facebook users on his page and is actively working the community to grow his business. This strategy works. I have seen agents do it all over North America and have excelled at it. It costs very little but is highly effective when done correctly.
3. Be a PR Maven
If you own a neighbourhood, own the media around it. Become the community ambassador for your area. Newspapers and reporters are starved for content and are usually more than happy to feature you if you have something interesting or newsworthy. If you are running a community page, you are the perfect person to get in the media to tell the rest of the world what’s happening in your neighbourhood. Try it, you will be shocked at how easy it is to get press.
4. Get Subscribers
You should be doing everything you can to capture email addresses. Everyone can get phone numbers, but if you control a list of emails in your area, you can get the right information in front of the right people! Get registrations at open houses, get sign ups on your community pages, host local contests/giveaways in exchange for emails, do online marketing to get sign ups. If you can control the emails in the area, you can control the area!
So these are just a few examples of how you can start dominating your micro market and build a world class business. (At least kick ass neighbourhood business!) So get out there and start owning it. You will be thankful you did!
Ryan Smith – The Niche Agent
“Your Niche Is Our Niche”
