Better Seattle

Why Localizing content is the future

Others are skeptical, but I am not. I sit speechless in awe of how simple ActiveRain is making it to deliver one's message as an expert in a market area. Over and over again, I found that the number one factor my clients considered in their choice to work with me was my ability to demostrate my expertise to them . This had to do with how much I devoted myself to researching for their ideal homes, how familiar I made myself with the market, and how well I conducted myself ethically and professionally. Localism is great because it allows me as an agent to get that expertise out to the consumer directly and en masse, instead of having to spend time on formalities to finally meet them and "prove" my expertise in person. As the originator of the expertise, I am the source of meeting their needs. Why at that point would they choose to work with someone else?

(Disclosure: I'm the wife of one of the owners (of ActiveRain) and have off and on thought of leaving the real estate field. Until recently when I started to understand the significance of Localism, and the way ActiveRain works seamlessly with it, taking regular blog posts geared toward the consumer and showcasing the realtor's intimate knowledge within a certain market area. It is what I have always wanted... and I am more excited now than I have ever been about real estate in my whole career.) 

Because of Localism's structure, within a short time, it will ensure the number one, two, or three, spot in search engine rankings throughout the US. It will carry far greater power than an individual blog, solely because the strategy behind it's system and how the search engine optimization is done will surpass the reach of a lonely blog. Clients searching for my market area will come across article after acrticle as well as picture after picture of evidence of my expertise. What's best? It will be free for me. I won't have to spend any more money marketing myself unless I choose to. And like things that become stable and a part of life, and with which soon people no longer remember how to live without, both ActiveRain and Localism will be so embedded in the consumer's mind that life without the internet and our currently changing markets will seem foreign to us. We will have adapted, and thriving. 

We need to make ourselves purveyors of expertise. No matter the medium, we are an integral part to buying and selling homes. We should not compare ourselves with our neighbor who may close three transactions a year and does not work in the field full time. They are far more common than the image of the regular "punch it out like clockwork" realtor who we fear will plow us down.

Part 1 of series 

Part 3 of series

[note: Part 1 addresses my experience with non-traditional mediums of real estate as the primary source of my business, and Part 3 explains how Localism.com alleviates my biggest complaint with real estate. These two sections are the background for why I feel Localism is so amazing!]

As mentioned above, Localism.com presents the realtor as the community market expert. My greatest frustration with the real estate field is the great waste of energy and effort in proving my expertise to a potential client. Before the client will often consider working with me, I have to display an inordinate amount of expertise. As the market becomes more and more heavily oriented toward the internet, making oneself known online seems like drowning in the abyss. How can I be differentiated? How can the consumer in my area come to know and see me as the expert that I am? 

Localism provides the realtor with optimum search ranking and traffic, and the only limit to how much of an expert the realtor wishes to portray oneself as is up to the realtor to decide. When consumers read my articles and view my pictures, I gain instant credibility without having to say one word. They become more committed to working with me from an initial stance (without having yet spoken to me), and I can feel inspired and further rewarded for pursuing even greater levels of community and real estate expertise, which will then turn around and bless me again! 

Bill Leider asked what will that new relationship look like under new and changing market conditions? Localism, powered by ActiveRain, takes relationship to another meaning.  It preserves the personal while providing a service to the consumer. This is far better than any passive advertising could ever do, to those you have not met. Some one may read your local area blog posts, while searching for this and that around their community, and because you are meeting that need, a relationship is already starting to take shape. A positive association is being made with you, even though they haven't met you. This sure beats them tossing that postcard in the recycling bin.

Once they've worked with you on a transaction, they feel comforted to see that you are continuing to be a source of top notch community expertise. Your regular participation on Localism.com will show that you are committed to the cause of the community, that you know its pulse, and that you will be there in the future as a source to continue to meet their quality of life needs.

I am very, very excited about this. I am excited about this for my personal sales. I am excited about how I feel this will elevate the satisfaction I receive while merely doing my work. I plan on mastering the opportunities provided through this venue and finding new ways to grow and adapt through it. ActiveRain and Localism will continue to grow and adapt. The realtor will become a redefined force in the community, and one that will not fade into the sunset, but become a stronger pillar in the community. I hope you will join me in this fascinating journey!

Part 1 of series

Part 2 of series 

This three part blog series is in response to Bill Leider's Post:  http://activerain.com/blogsview/39377/Relationships-New-Definitions-For

Fascinating post! I have to agree with you [Bill Leider] whole heartedly, because it's changing right under our noses!

My experience in non-traditional mediums of real estate

As a younger realtor, from the moment I entered the field and hit the ground running, I worked almost exclusively with internet-generated buyers (not by choice, but by necessity). I started as a loan officer at age 20 and as an agent at age 23. None of my friends were in the market to buy, and I had few connections. I was consistent and followed through with my internet clients. If I told a client I would do something (send out a list of homes, find out a particular detail about a particular home) I did it, and always energetically and willing to serve. I started developing patterns for how to bring clients from one stage to the next, and soon figured out how to qualify clients at different stages of the buying process, and not waste time on them if they were not ready or eager to buy within the next 30-60 days. 

Simple things I'd learn from my clients would shock me. Over the phone, on my first call to them in response to their inquiry, they might mention that they had specifically asked another realtor they had spoken with for info on one-story properties, but the agent hadn't listened and emailed them gobs of two-stories as well as mobile homes. I was horrified at first. I thought, "What sorts of things do I do that they never tell me about?" and later, "How could the agent not listen?"

I believe that for a good handful of agents, they don't operate their business the same way they require their doctor or dentist to do. The inconsistency, lack of follow-through, and poor ethics is not their strongest testimony. 

What you write, Bill, at first glance seems very scary. No one wants to believe they will be squeezed out of the market, that the market will change so much, their expert services will no longer be needed. And, if I hear you right, that is not what you are saying. In fact, you are saying the market will change (undeniable), and that many agents will leave the field. Even in California, this is not so hard to believe. Based on which ever stats you choose to use, 20% of agents do 80% of the business... perhaps now this number is even further skewed, but not by the market changes in real estate, but by the recent boom that is now fading away, which made real estate appear like a profession where money fell out of the sky. Thousands more jumped into the field, dreaming of easy money. Is it something like 1 in 4 adults in CA have their license? (Could that be right?)

In fact, the majority of agents close a few deals a year, aren't at the top of their game, and maybe don't care to be. They want easy money. Do you have a friend who claims he or she is an agent, but you don't see numbers from them? What is it they do, if they have no clients, with their days? Do they wait around, or go get the business?

I started out as a stuttering and awkward-around houses young adult, who was even more awkward and uncertain-of-herself in-person, working with many clients twice my age. As far as I could see, I had the odds stacked against me. I didn't listen to the odds. I emailed, called, and befriended internet leads.  I put in the hours it took and was willing to fall flat on my face learning how to make it work. Everyone else in the industry was touting marketing to your social group, farming, etc. I have never farmed, and only two properties I sold were to clients I knew on any level before they became my clients. In my first 16 months I closed 30 transactions, 28 which I cultivated through internet leads.

Part 2 of series

Part 3 of series

"A dog is a man's best friend."

For those who prefer their furry friends in the canine variety, Laguna Beach offers multiple dog outing options. One of Simon's favorites, the Laguna Beach Dog Park is located off highway 133/Laguna Canyon Road and south of the El Toro Road. Open from dawn till dusk daily except for Wednesdays (maintenance) and before and after it rains, the park is fully fenced, offers a water fountain, spigot, water dish, and picnic tables.

    LB Dog Park rules:

• Please pick up after your dog in and out of fenced area.
• Enter and exit park with dogs on leash.
• Dogs must possess current license.
• Please remove aggressive dogs from park. You are responsible for your dog's behavior.
• Professional dog training is not permitted.
• Spike or pinched collars may not be used.
• Sports activities, bicycles, picnics on the grass, etc. are not allowed.
• Please remove any balls or toys that belong to you upon leaving.
• Please do not leave dogs unattended at park. 

Most beaches in Laguna Beach allow dogs year-round, under some restriction. September 17th - May 31 dogs are permitted on leash during public hours. June 1st - September 16th, dogs are permitted before 8 am and after 6 pm. As always, please preserve our beautiful beaches and pick up after your dog. 

Special tidbit about Laguna and dogs: 

Most sidewalk cafes with outdoor eating areas entertain patrons with their dogs. If your dog is well-behaved, he will be welcome here. 

  The coyotes are calling right now, their voices from far off. As soon as my husband finishes his last business call, we will be out the door to a romantic dinner. I hear the coyotes again. I saw one the night before last, standing in the middle of the street and back lit by the streetlight behind him. His ears were perked up, he stood still. My dog gazed back at him. Simon, my German shepherd, would have approached, except for my steering him down another street.

Last night, a large deer glided off, startled by our entrance. I encounter deer every four or five nights, often not more than twenty or thirty feet off. These late night dog strolls have become a magical encounter with a world with which I had previously lost touch. It is as if nature has been invited into my backyard. Once the hour gets later, the owls will start to hoot. They are magnificent creatures, their voices low and strong, melodic and rhythmic.

This is what I love about Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach is 100 percent authentic life at its best.  A town boasting a mere population of 18,500 residents, it is surrounded by natural wildlife preserves on nearly all sides, with the ocean itself a marine preserve. Its citizens are committed to various non-profit causes, the fundraiser being the most popular of social events. For a city this small, Laguna locals are educated and vocal with their beliefs. Laguna features 17 churches, as a well as an atheist group which meets weekly. In correlation to its residents, community activism is high, with groups gathering to serve the community or those in less fortunate straights within other cities. Above all, Laguna Beach is a city that cares. It cares about protecting wildlife; it cares about those in its community dying of AIDS. It cares deeply about education. Most notably, Laguna Beach cares about the Arts.