Community Involvement Revolutionized For Real Estate

Real Estate is a Busy Profession

Real estate agents and brokers have a history of building both meaningful and profitable  relationships through community involvement.  It’s not unusual to see an agent or a broker join civic organizations, sponsor softball teams, and become active in local planning and government.  We know all of that works and is rewarding but there is only so much that you can do with the limited amount of time that you have.

The Internet has changed and improved many ways that we do business and go to market.  One significant advancement emerging onto the scene is Google+. This provides a new way to be involved and target your community through its community feature.

Example of real estate agent using Google+ for community building

The Solution

The image above is of a brand new local community for Taos, NM set up by a real estate broker.  If you set up a profile on Google+, you can then start your own communities. You will find that the communities on Google+ are so new that there is ample opportunity to be the first real estate business in your area.  What you’re trying to do is to place content and attract followers from your community who will want to participate in discussions, upload area photos and in general, be actively be involved.  In return, your followers can advertise their softball schedule, church activities, bake sales, etc.

Be sure that you are not setting up a community entitled “YourTown Real Estate Community.”  That’s too “sales-like” in most cases.  You want to be more general. Consider setting up a community for the area without any limitations, as in “YourTown,” and providing information about the area. Next, you can place categories (as illustrated in the image on the left) and one of them can be real estate.  This is a more subtle approach to marketing, much like going to a Rotary meeting and not forcing a business card on everyone there.  You mix, mingle and communicate, taking marketing opportunities as they arise.

Once your community is set up and you have some photos and posts there, send out an invitation to your entire contact list to join.  Once you get the ball rolling, you’ll find that the sharing nature of social media and Google+ will grow your community quickly.