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How Do Real Estate Agents Attract Clients?

Posted by Evie Brown on May 30, 2022
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To be a successful real estate agent, you need to have a system for getting clients. There are many ways to do this, and in this blog post, we will discuss some of the most effective methods. Networking is one of the best ways to get leads, and online marketing can also be very successful. We will also talk about how agents can use social media to attract new clients. By following these tips, you will be able to increase your business and find more success in the real estate industry!

If this is the first of my blogs you’re reading, my name is Evie Brown, and I’ve been a licensed REALTOR® for over seventeen years. I love what I do, the people I meet, and the excitement my clients experience when I hand them the keys to their new homes. I’ve made so many friends along my journey as a professional Real Estate Agent, and I’m happy to share my knowledge with others that are budding in their careers. As a reminder, I am always looking for people to join me in eXp Realty, and I’ll be writing a blog about that later, as well.

Let’s start with business networking.

When you hear the term “business networking”, what do you think of? For some people, it conjures up images of stuffy boardrooms and shaking hands with strangers. But networking doesn’t have to be so formal or intimidating! One of the best ways to network is simply by talking to people you already know.

Think about the people in your life – your family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. These are all potential clients, and even more importantly, potential marketing associates! By building relationships with these people and letting them know that you’re a Real Estate Agent, you’ll be top of mind when they or someone they know is ready to buy or sell a home. I leverage Business Networking International, more widely known as “BNI“, exclusively.

What is BNI and how can it help my real estate business?

 

Imagine going to a room full of people, and you’ve all come together with the common goal of providing referrals to each other. In a nutshell, that is BNI. BNI is a membership-based referral marketing organization, and everyone you connect with in BNI is part of your marketing team. And when I say “Everyone”, BNI currently has almost 300,000 members worldwide as of this writing. Here in the Phoenix, Arizona area, we have 84 chapters, seven more chapters forming, and over 1600 members spread throughout those chapters.

When you’re a BNI member, you have the opportunity to give and receive referrals. When you give referrals, not only are you helping out your fellow members, but you’re also building relationships and trust. These things are important in any business, but they’re especially important in real estate. After all, buying or selling a home is one of the biggest transactions most people will ever make, so it’s crucial they work with someone they can trust. 

BNI Logo - Business Networking International

By getting to know the members in BNI, and giving them referrals, you’re showing them that you’re interested in more than just making a quick sale – you’re interested in building long-term relationships.

I’m in the “Masters of Business” BNI chapter in Chandler, Arizona. I started this chapter over six years ago. One of the benefits of joining a BNI chapter is that it’s industry-exclusive, meaning once you’re in a chapter as a Real Estate Agent, no other Real Estate Agents can join your chapter and all other members in your chapter will provide Real Estate referrals directly to you. Another advantage of BNI is that once you join a chapter, you’re free to visit any other chapter as a Guest. You can even visit chapters where other Real Estate Agents are members, and there are advantages to this, as well. Networking with other Real Estate Agents is a great way to build your network. If you’ve built a great relationship with other Real Estate Agents, consider what happens if they get too busy to take on new clients, get sick, go on vacation, move out of the area, or retire. They’ll need someone to send referrals to, as well. This is true of nearly every professional in every industry, so nearly every industry can benefit from BNI.

 

And what about receiving referrals? Well, that’s where the networking pays you back! When someone in your BNI chapter comes across someone needing a Real Estate Agent to buy or sell a home, they will refer that person to you! This is true not just of the people you meet that are members of the BNI organization, but visitors that come to your chapter as well. Visitors are people that are not in BNI but have been invited by other members to attend. It’s beneficial for anyone wanting to build a network of trusted referral partners to visit BNI, and visitors often spend money with members of the chapters they visit, regardless of whether or not they join the chapter. I’ve also received referrals from BNI members in other states, where a client was moving across the country and the BNI member referred them to me simply for being in BNI!

Get clients as a real estate agent by using online marketing.

 

There are several ways to do this, but one of the most effective is through pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. This is a form of advertising where you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. You can use PPC ads on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo, or social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. The key to success with PPC is to create ads that are relevant and targeted to your potential clients and target the geographical area where you want to transact business. For example, if you’re targeting first-time homebuyers in your area, your ad should include keywords like “first time home buyer” and “homes for sale in Tempe” (I say “Tempe” because the market is hot there right now and it’s part of my area).

 

Keep in mind that PPC advertising will need to link back to your contact information in some way:

 

  • a funnel website designed to get people to reach out to you
  • a full-service website like mine where people can do their home searching directly on the site
  • an agent listing with your brokerage
  • a review site like Yelp
  • a social media page like Facebook
  • a Zillow agent listing
  • et cetera.

Remember, wherever you have your ads linking to, you should use the one with the highest representation of client trust behind it. Reviews from people you’ve done business with really help other people that have never even heard of you before trust in your ability to help them with buying and selling their homes.

 

There’s also content creation marketing

 

Content creation marketing is the latest addition to online marketing, and it’s what I’m doing right now by writing this blog post. It’s a form of inbound marketing where you create content that potential clients will find useful, and that answers the questions they have about your industry. You can write blog posts (like this one!), create videos, or even just post helpful tips on social media. The key here is to be helpful without selling and to make sure your content is easily found by potential clients.

 

Content creation marketing is a great way to get clients and agents, but you have to make sure your content is easily found by the group you’re writing your content for. One way to do this is to use keywords that people are likely to search for. For example, if you’re targeting first-time homebuyers in your area, your content should include keywords relevant to what people are searching for like “first time home buyer” or how do real estate agents get leads?” Keep in mind that you don’t want to stuff your content with keywords; just use them naturally throughout the text.

 

Another way to ensure that your content is easily found is to promote it through social media and other channels. You can share your blog posts on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or even submit guest columns to your local newspapers or other websites. Newspapers and websites are always looking for content that’s interesting and helpful to their readers, and having guest columns helps them provide content without paying a writer for the articles.

 

YouTube is also a great way to establish yourself as an authority in the Real Estate world, and one that I’m working on developing as well. Many people prefer watching videos to reading articles, since a lot of time reading requires their active focus, whereas listening to a YouTube video or a podcast can be done passively, allowing the listener to be more productive. Some people read at a faster pace than videos play, and blogs generally provide a larger reach, so blogging is currently my preferred method. As my other avenues grow, I’ll link them here and on my website!

 

Brokerage Events, Community Appearances, and Client Appreciation Parties

 

eXp Con 2021

There are plenty of ways to get new clients simply by attending or hosting social events. Larger brokerages like the eXp Realty brokerage that I’m in host events all the time, like “EXPCON“, where I had the opportunity to meet other eXp Realty agents from around the world! Remember what I said earlier about building your network and attending other BNI chapters to meet other Real Estate Agents? The same applies here! People from all over the United States are moving into Arizona, as it’s a hotspot for buying homes, and now the agents I’ve met at EXPCON have a trusted agent to send referrals to!

 

Attending community events can also help expand your network. Community fundraisers, parades, Chamber of Commerce meetings, 5K Walks for good causes, even sporting event gatherings are all ways to meet more people and expand your network. I like to keep my mind and body in great condition, and I love doing the 5K walks with friends, and you never know who they’ll bring with you or who you’ll end up chatting with!

 

Last on this list, my preferred mortgage lender, Chad Conley, and I throw a client appreciation party at least once a year for all of our previous clients, whether I helped them sell a home, or buy a new one. It’s open to all of their family, friends, and colleagues to attend, as well. We usually have the party in a large park, we pay for a food truck, and have an entertainment company provide music, a bounce house, popcorn, drinks, and take-home memorabilia. The attendees are past and present clients that we’ve built great relationships with, and they’re happy to attend and usually bring other people for us to meet, many of which we will do future business with! I’ve even had several new clients come from word of mouth from people that I met at a client appreciation party and knew someone who could use my real estate services.

 

What method of client acquisition works best for you?

 

BNI and word-of-mouth referrals in general have been the best source of new clients for me during my seventeen years as a Real Estate Agent. Interestingly enough, I’ve only been in BNI for a little over six years, but my career has been all the better for it since. The world of marketing is continuing to evolve and just a few years ago, using social media marketing and content creation weren’t even really on the radar for anyone! Real Estate Agents today have so many tools and methods at their disposal. It’s up to you to leverage the one that you feel suits your personality and ability the best. Let me know what your favorite way to acquire clients is in the comments below. And let me know if you’re interested in joining my team at eXp Realty!

Thanks for reading!


– Evie Brown, REALTOR®
eXp Realty
evie@eviebhomes.com
(602) 577-7410 direct line/text

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