#1 Way to Stand Out in a Shifting Market

Your online leads are about to take a hit. 

Economists predict home sales will drop this year, and it will cause consumers to reconsider how they find a real estate professional to work with. At the height of the pandemic, buyers were willing to hop on Zillow and work with the first agent who could get them into a property. And sellers who didn’t want 3-5 agents coming into their home for a listing presentation hired the first person they spoke with. 

But that was when homes were basically selling themselves. 

Now, the stakes are higher. The market is shifting. And consumers are paying closer attention to who they hire. 

So, if you can’t rely as heavily on online leads, how will you stand out?

Build Your Brand

If you want to continue doing as many (or more) deals as you did the past two years, you need to get your name out there more than ever. The agents who create a brand for themselves will win.

If you don’t have a big brand right now, it doesn’t mean you’re doomed. It means it is time to start.

And I get it – there’s fear around putting yourself out there. Look at it this way: if your well-being depended on you losing 50 pounds or your health would fail, you’d be in the gym, you’d be eating healthy foods, and you would continue to practice these habits daily. Your business is like your health. Without working on your brand daily, it will fail. 

But I’m Not Good on Video!

We’ve all heard people say, ‘I’m no good on video!’

No one is at first. I certainly sucked:

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When I started my career in 2012, it was obvious how important it was to build a brand so consumers would see me as a knowledge broker. So every day, I made a video. And every day, little by little, I improved. 

I’m still not where I want to be, but it’s all part of the process. When it comes to branding – and everything else – my goal continues to be: Be a little bit better today than you were yesterday.  

Produce, Produce, Produce

Just like you don’t work out once and expect to lose 50 pounds, you can’t post one video and expect 50 leads. Consider video a muscle you need to exercise over and over in order to see (and then build upon) results.

Here are three ways to create more video and build your brand:

1. Schedule time for video. If it’s not scheduled, it won’t happen. Set a time every week to batch record video. Put it in on your calendar and commit to it just like you do for prospecting. Repeat forever. 
2. Lean into what works. When something is working and you are getting high engagement, double down on it. Either repurpose your content or create a reaction to the piece. When you pay attention to what gains traction on your channels, it reveals a style you can lean into.
3. Accelerate your brand. Form or join a network of people in your community. Engage in their content –  and have an agreement that they engage with yours. Use a Slack channel or text thread to communicate: ‘I just posted on IG – go juice it up!’  This accelerates your reach and gives you the opportunity to reach more people.
4. Bonus tip. If you’ve already been posting and building a brand…go look at your old stuff. You’ll see how far you’ve come, and be able to create something new with it.

Once you get into the habit of creating and posting content, focus on diversifying your online presence so that your brand reaches people from all angles. 

Agents React

If that’s not enough to get started, here’s a little more inspiration, directly from agent comments: