Leverage the Power of Advocacy as a Marketing Tool
6 Ways to Promote Yourself and Raise Your Profile
Those in our community advocating the hot issues stand out amongst peers and clients alike. Promoting a cause presents you as a thoughtful and knowledgeable member of your community. It affords you mention in the press, in online forums, and at association meetings, all of which help to promote your brand and your local involvement. Finding the right cause ensures you develop the right passion and interest in order to truly commit to advocating that cause.
Here’s a few examples of areas where advocacy can help raise your community profile:
- For nation-wide, or state-wide causes - be the local go-to agent for your Realtor
associations. If you are a member of NAR, for example, get more involved with the
national topics affecting REALTORS and their businesses. The larger associations
exist to give REALTORS more power on a National front but this doesn’t mean they
do all the work. There is a misconception that the associations are meant to work
FOR their members, when in truth their best work is WITH their members. They can
always use extra assistance on a community level to help raise awareness and promote
useful activities to assist on the hot-button issues. This can result in press mentions
for the REALTORS involved as well as opportunities to contribute to the editorial
section of your local newspapers. Get in touch with yours today to find out how
you can contribute.
- Get involved with some of your local, community level issues. Is there a local watershed that needs saving from further development? Are the city planners getting lax on road improvements? Is there a favorite charity that you can spend more time campaigning for? Again, every one of these affords the opportunity for mention in the press, either as part of the story content, as an expert testimonial, or even as a concerned advocate, writing to the editorial pages in order to raise more awareness for the topic at hand.
- Contribute to the Editorial pages (reader comments) of your local newspapers often - on topics with which you are involved as well as others. Stand out as the REALTOR
- and you always include that in your signature line - who takes pride in her/his community, and actively participates to make it a better place for everyone.
- Get online more. Be outspoken on blogs and discussion forums that deal with national and local real estate issues. Start your own blog to specifically speak to these issues. Participate in the local debates online regarding environmental issues. Existing social sites like FaceBook
and ActiveRain are phenomenal not only for networking but also for educating yourself on key topics. Start or participate frequently in any discussions or groups surrounding topics important to you and your community. Stand out.
- Attend your local council meetings when your chosen topics and issues are being discussed. Take the opportunity to speak out at each meeting you attend in order to more closely associate yourself as an informed participant.
- Be charitable. Nothing demonstrates commitment to your cause like personal contribution. Promoting a policy of donating a portion of your commission toward the charity, foundation, or issue of your choice demonstrates a higher level of advocacy. One that anyone in your community can get behind.
Participation in any of the above gives you an opportunity to educate yourself and others, becoming the local expert not only on the real estate market, but on those issues affecting that market and the community around you.
EDUCATE. PARTICIPATE. ADVOCATE.