March 12 2013
This post comes to us from the Market Leader blog:
There are two types of community involvement that real estate agents typically gravitate toward. First, there are the agencies and individual agents that give money to a cause and consider it "community involvement." Their websites typically boast that they'll give "$100 from every home sale to the Breast Cancer Foundation!" or "Fifteen percent of my commission to the local humane society!"
That sort of giving is admirable, and a boon to the charity recipient, but although the agents like to call it "community involvement," it isn't. Cutting a check to a charity, again while laudable, takes five minutes of one's time and is more appropriately called "community giving."
The type of community involvement that other agents gravitate toward is hands-on volunteerism: the boots-on-the-ground, belly-to-belly, nitty-gritty of community involvement.
While neither of these types of giving back to the community is necessarily "better' in the main, the latter is hands down better for your real estate business. Quite frankly, the type of giving back that puts you face-to-face with groups of people who may turn into clients is good for business.
Gasp! Community giving in the real estate world isn't completely altruistic?
Well, not completely.
Sure, it may start out as a selfless desire to give to others, but side benefits of community involvement include the fact that it's an awesome way to generate leads, get your name linked to the community, and increase your brand and public persona.
But that side of the coin is a dirty little secret that agents don't typically talk about.
Agent Linda Lougee, of Realty of Maine, isn't ashamed to speak about what volunteerism has done for her business. She works with the local Chamber of Commerce and with the General Federation of Women's Clubs. She joined both out of a desire to give back to those who helped build her business and to the community at large. What she found was the perfect networking vehicle.
"I think you have to network," Lougee says, even when volunteering for a higher cause.
Lougee isn't referring to that habit of constantly selling themselves that many agents have. This type of networking involves subtle reminders that you're a real estate agent, and helps keep your name top-of-mind with other volunteers or civic club members.
Mike McCann, a broker from Nebraska, doesn't pull any punches when describing how his volunteerism has benefitted his real estate business. Although being a volunteer soccer coach is the activity that brought him the most leads, helping out at church has its benefits as well.
"One time I volunteered to help set up the tents at the church picnic, and the priest was impressed with how I was with my son and bought a house using me. [It] made the other 14 or so agents in the parish a little jealous. They should have volunteered," he relates in an ActiveRain blog post entitled "Volunteering ... Get Involved and Make Money."
If you're ready to get involved in your community, whether out of the goodness of your heart or to network for leads, finding an opportunity is easy.
Nonprofits
If you currently don't volunteer your time to any organization or are looking for additional opportunities, there are several websites with volunteer opportunity databases, sorted by zip code.
Civic Clubs
Tucson, Ariz. agent Kim Murray tells a story about her volunteer work for an annual golf event in her target community, Dove Mountain. "There were over 400 people at that party, and while I didn't meet all of them, I certainly did meet a lot," she relates in an ActiveRain blog post. "In one day's work, I mixed and mingled with my target community and demographic. This would have been difficult to do if I were going door to door as the Dove Mountain community is segmented between an active adult community and single family residences," Murray continues.
"In addition to all the above listed networking, I came away with a deeper attachment to the community as a result of the wonderful people I met on that day."
Just as some agents are focusing their real estate businesses to a precise niche, some are doing the same with their community involvement. The opportunities to volunteer at a hyper-local level are endless:
Whether an agent's motives are humanitarian or professional, getting involved in the local community at a volunteer level offers a variety of benefits, including the opportunity to network for new clients.