As a Realtor, your main job is to help people buy their dream home or sell their home to the right person. But what if you could already have a network of local businesses and leaders within the community to help make your clients feel right at home during a big move?
Immersing yourself into your community sounds challenging, but there are ways to kickstart your career as a real estate agent by tapping into your community and inviting them to participate in a podcast. After launching my podcast, St. Pete Soul, in 2020, I was able to not only showcase St. Pete’s small business owners and their stories, but create opportunities for my business and my clients! Not only did it grow my business as a real estate agent, but it also connected my clients with the best small businesses in the area—from interior decorators, to ice cream shops, and yoga studios.
A big win from my podcast is that it’s helped me plug into the community and expand my reach. Every time I interview a local business owner, we both double our audiences. On top of that, those businesses often refer people to me just as much as I refer to them!
The other benefit of having your own podcast as a Realtor is that it’s a great icebreaker with new clients. People who are interested in relocating to your area or buying a second home can listen to the podcast and get a sense of who I am and what the community is like. I don’t need a pushy sales pitch. The podcast provides valuable and relevant local content, and it shows my local expertise.
Steps to Get Started on Your Podcast
For real estate agents interested in starting their own podcast, here are some tips to get closer to that goal.
1. Determine your audience, goals, and message. Mine is locally focused to help grow my network and connections with business owners and to provide valuable content to St. Pete residents, visitors and clients. Pick the goal and message that works with your personality. If you love meeting people and hearing their stories, especially if they run a business, you can support small business owners by putting them at the forefront of your content. Some other options include:
- Real-estate-specific content
- Local leaders, celebrities, heroes
- Sporting events and activities
2. Research podcast hosting platforms and find one that gets your podcast published in all the top places people listen. In addition, you may need to buy equipment. Nowadays, you can create a decent podcast with just your phone. But if you want higher quality sound and presentation, invest in microphones, headphones, an audio mixer, and recording and editing software. The other option is to see if local radio stations have a studio for podcasters.
3. Start creating a Guest Wishlist. For your first episode, you may want to work with someone with whom you already have a great rapport. It makes it easier on you and a great introduction to your podcast for your listeners. Use that first episode to attract new guests. It’s surprisingly easy to book guests, especially when the podcast content is mutually beneficial.
4. Decide the frequency and then set reminders for each deadline. Whether you have a weekly, biweekly, or monthly podcast, make sure you set calendar reminders to book guests, record an episode, edit, and post your podcast. If you don’t set reminders, months can go by without posting an episode.
Final step, be strategic in sharing the podcast. You will need to post on social media, in your newsletters, and on your website. If you’re really adventurous, you can add a video component and build out your YouTube channel. If you don’t want to videotape the whole podcast, using snippets of video to promote your podcast can go a long way.
5. Promotional sharing. In general, make sure you are promoting that you have a podcast. Share it on your website, add it to your bio in all places, talk about it at networking events, make a business card to hand out, talk about it on social media, etc.
To create a referral network with other agents, use the podcast to show that you are an expert in that location and make it easy for agents to refer clients that are moving to your location.
I am honored and grateful to have the opportunities I’ve had within the St. Pete community. It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago, I myself experienced the stress of moving across state lines and had to go it alone with my husband, Stephen. It was that difficult move that made me realize how important it is to have someone in your corner. My goal is to be that connection for people moving to St. Pete. My podcast is just one way I became a connector of people and the final piece of the puzzle making me the Relocation Expert of Tampa Bay.
I do understand exactly how people who have uprooted their whole lives feel. I want to give them the resources that they need and connect them to the community so that they feel like they’re coming home.
