Real Estate agents and Mortgage Lenders help people every single day with either financing or selling homes to people that they will own.  Ownership is something that we all take pride in.  Owning homes, cars, iPad’s, and all kinds of other things.  We like to “own” things…agreed?  It makes us feel good…a sense of accomplishment.  Since we are in the business of helping people own homes I find it puzzling when I meet with Realtors and Lenders that I find out there is very little of their business that they own.  The worst part is that they don’t even know or realize it.  Let me explain:

Do you Own It?

As Real Estate agents you are a self employed person…you are in fact your own business.  Everything you do within that business is to promote you and your brand.  Promote ways you are different from your competition such as a slogan, tag line, website, YouTube channel, or your specific target market.  Your Real Estate website (WordPress) in my opinion is the HUB and center of your business.  This is where you want to drive traffic so they can watch your videos, read your blogs, and see you convey a message to your target audience.  The problem is so many Realtors don’t own their website.  They join XYZ brokerage and are immediately handed a website.  It is the same website that every other Realtor has at that brokerage, and the website is owned by XYZ Real Estate company.  Not only is the website not yours…but since it is a template site you might not have the ability to add the necessary blogs, video, or info to make it more unique  to you.  The other issue is if you ever left XYZ brokerage then what happens to your website with your content?  That’s right…poof!  This is also true for Realtors who have their own website but it leased through a handful of  template website making companies.  An example of this is you pay $150 to set it up and $49.99 a month to have it.  Sound familiar?  You are now dependent on that company to make the updates to your site, add content, and any other changes to how it looks.  You are not in control of your destiny.

The same goes for a Real Estate agent’s email address.  If the email is @XYZbrokerage and EVERYTHING is tied to that email.  If  for some reason the relationship with the brokerage ended…what happens?  Yes…you can get a new email a lot easier than a website, but how tough is it to tell everyone you have ever encountered in your Real Estate career that your new email is something else after 20yrs?  My all time favorite is the Real Estate blog that is not on or tied to the Realtor’s website.  The blog is on another website along with every other Realtor’s blogs…in which the Realtor pays a monthly fee ($80+) to write on their platform.  Yes…it is important to have a blog for your Real Estate business but better for not only you, but the consumer to have it on a website that you own, along with your blog.  You want to do everything in your power to make sure your website content is easy to find for your target audience.  If not they will click off and go somewhere else.

What to do

I want to firstly say…there is nothing wrong with having that company website or email address.  Those are given to you so leverage it however you can.  What I am saying is don’t rely on it because relationships do end, but your business doesn’t. 

Website:

If you don’t have your own Real Estate website get one.  Tell you company thanks for the free website but your main goal is to build your brand and get leads to your website that is about your business.  My advice is to get a WordPress site.  Google loves WordPress and it is a great platform to have your site built. It will allow you to have your blogs, videos, and other content added easily by YOU and you own the site.  Let me say that again…you OWN the site. 

Email:

 
If you want to continue using your company email go for it…but have it backed up or forwarded to a Gmail account…or just use Gmail for everything. 

Contact Management System:

A good CRM is essential for organizing your busy Real Estate life.  Use one that is a 3rd party company that has customer service and can help you 24/7.  The CRM will be housing your entire database so having it tied to a 3rd party company makes it a non issue if you ever move to a new Real Estate company or start your own.

Takeaway

Take a minute and look at your Real Estate business.  Do you own it?  If you are renting some of it or all of it you are potentially taking a big gamble.  Take the necessary steps to make sure you are in control of your destiny in your business because know one cares more about your business than you do. 

My name is Wade Vander Molen and I am the Director of Sales/Marketing for Stewart Title and Escrow.  If you need help with your Real Estate marketing, getting found online, or just setting up some initial systems please fill out the form below and I will contact you shortly!

Work With Wade

Interested in growing your real estate business with Pruitt Title? Please fill out the form below and I will contact you shortly. Thanks, Wade "DCTitleGuy"

    I help my clients with all facets of their real estate/mortgage business on behalf of Pruitt Title in the Northern Virginia/Washington DC area. Let's work together!

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