CRSs are turning to radio, podcasts and web videos to promote their brands—and it’s working.
By Megan Craig
When Michael Thorne was asked to speak at a major RE/MAX convention in Las Vegas, he was excited—but he had no idea the speaking engagement would change his entire business
Slated to speak with another agent, Thorne, a CRS at RE/MAX Little Oak Realty in western Canada, arranged a meeting via online video chat app Google Hangouts to get better acquainted with his speaking partner, a veteran agent from New Jersey named Dave Fauquier. That Hangouts session was the impetus for the duo’s online show, “Mobile Agent TV.”
Within a few weeks of that Hangout session, the pair went live on Google Hangouts with their first episode. It was an 11-minute-long adventure Thorne called “truly horrible.” But they enjoyed it, decided to keep going and hit their stride by episode 10 or so. That was more than three years and 100 episodes ago.
There are more than 2 million licensed real estate agents in the U.S., and some agents are coming up with creative ways to set themselves apart from the competition. Through podcasts, radio shows, cable access television shows and online videos, agents have found a new way to connect with a larger audience while making themselves useful to potential clients.
Let’s Put on a Show
As technology evolves, almost anyone can create a show, and that can help your business, both with branding and by keeping you up to date on current topics. If you want to host a program, here are a few things you’ll need to get started:
- A forum. Figure out what medium best fits your style and goals. Will your show be on YouTube? Will you produce a podcast and make it available through your business website? Do you have connections at a radio station?
- The right equipment. You can put on a show with very little. Your iPhone has a camera and microphone. The show can become as high-tech as you want, depending on how much you plan to spend on microphones, cameras, soundboards and other equipment.
- A little preparation. You might be in for a surprise the first time you get in front of a microphone. Practice talking through your show before actually airing it to make yourself sound more professional.
Starting a Show
James Brockway, CRS, a residential and commercial broker at Brockway Realty in Texas, hosts an AM radio show called “Everything Real Estate,” which focuses on all aspects of home buying, selling and staging.
But Brockway didn’t just fall into his radio show. He says it took years of being an active member of the community—through the chamber of commerce, economic development groups and other area development groups. That’s why, when the owner of the station was looking to fill an hour of airtime with real estate information, he thought of Brockway.
“I think you have to lay the groundwork,” Brockway says. “Make sure you’ve secured your presence wherever you are—go to broker open houses, be on social media and do positive things in the community.”
That’s also how Kim Laforet, CRS, a broker and founder of Laforet Team in Lansing, Michigan, came to be on the radio. She’s the real estate guru on the “Your Home in Focus” segment of Michigan’s Big Show starring Michael Patrick Shiels.
“They started a radio show, and they wanted experts in different fields, and I was asked to be the real estate expert because they’d heard of me,” Laforet says. “So even though I’m not promoting myself [on the show], I’m getting great exposure as an expert.”
Of course, those who don’t want to wait to be approached can take Thorne’s path: decide you’d enjoy doing a show while also providing a service, and do it. With an almost endless array of apps and websites to post your own videos, all it takes is the desire to make it happen and a little effort, he says.
A Boon for Business
Thorne says he got into this very specific form of broadcast because he wanted to make a lasting contribution to the real estate industry. The exposure his business gets—an average of a couple of hundred live viewers, 1,000 replays on YouTube and another 3,000 listeners of the audio-only podcast version of the show—is just a bonus.
“Numbers aren’t the most important thing. It’s the deep connection we get with the loyal followers who say they learned something from our show,” Thorne says. “The biggest two winners in this whole process are [co-host] Dave and myself because we get to sit down with the brightest minds in our industry and just be curious about the real estate industry, and that keeps you thriving.”
Laforet and Brockway both say their businesses have benefited from the exposure.
“I can point to quite a few sales that have come because someone says, ‘I heard your name.’ Top-of-mind awareness is so important in this business, and the consistency of this program has branded me and my team,” Laforet says.
But doing a show is only part of the equation, Brockway says. The secret to success is following up the show with other exposure in the market.
“The show alone is not going to jettison our company and give us tons of business, but by being involved in city happenings, being big on social media, plus the show—we leverage all of these bits and pieces to add more momentum to our brand,” he says.
