How to become a million dollar agent, digitally

This morning I received a great question in my email inbox from Steve Carroll, REA Group’s director of industry relations. Steve wanted to know what I’d do if I decided to become an agent, and how I’d use digital and social media to achieve success.

As I’m always saying, “turn questions into content”, that’s exactly what I’ve done. Read on for some hard-hitting truths.

“Mel, If you decided to become a real estate agent in Sydney with a vision of being a million dollar writer in 18 months, what are the five things you would do online? Steve”

Morning Steve,

Great question. You’d need to be ready to invest (truly back yourself) if you wanted to reach that income level in such a short amount of time.

I, personally, achieved $1 million in 2.5 years as a digital marketer. That’s revenue, not profit. But most importantly that’s 100% online, without a single cold-call.

Number 1 – Grow your contact database

Build a contact database as fast as you can. Aim for 1,000+. Remember that approx 5% of people sell a property each year, so there are 50 potential sales in that list alone. Obviously, in some markets, you only need 20 listings to make a million, and in others, you need 100, so it’s important to know your numbers.

Number 2 – Build a real estate website

You need your own real estate website that you control, specifically for creating lead magnets and ad retargeting.

Number 3 – Content, content, and more content

You need content, GREAT content — written, video and you can borrow other peoples properties until you have your own (preferably people in your own office/brand). I have a great story about Ben Stevens, a Kiwi agent, who grew his real estate business this way in Wellington, New Zealand.

Number 4 – Create a lead magnet or an amazing offer

You need a lead magnet, either high-value content or an amazing offer that is only accessible by providing an email and phone number — something over and above what other agents offer.

Number 5 – Invest in online advertising

You need to invest in ads on Facebook (which includes Instagram), LinkedIn (most expensive) and Google. And retarget your contact database. You need to spend at least $10 if not $20 a day on each platform. Do not, and I repeat, do not post organic messages on your Facebook page as it drags your ad reach backwards. Feel free to post organically on your profile page; in fact; you’re better off sharing content from your page as sharing tells the algorithm that your content is popular. So get as many people in your team to reshare your content!

Where do your clients spend their time?

To help you understand the importance of digital media over traditional media I’ve gathered the Roy Morgan stats.

Interestingly, society now spends more time online than any other medium.

According to Roy Morgan, Australian’s spend 12% of their time on the internet (screen time), with just under a third of that time on social media. We spend 10% of our time at work, 10% watching TV, 8% listening to the radio, and a mere 1.2% reading newspapers and magazines.

The writing is clearly on the wall for printed media, and don’t be misled into thinking that the above stats don’t apply to older generations. Baby Boomers spend more time on Facebook than any other generation!

The real secret

And the ultimate secret is that you need to be ALL IN.

You need to bring confidence, commitment and consistency. If you only dip your toe in the water, it won’t work. If you only ever post organically and don’t build your connections, it won’t work.

You need to stick at it for one year, two years, three years …. then you gain momentum and visibility, and your ad audiences, email database and volume of leads will grow. You’ll be everywhere, and your competitors will be left for dust. It’s no different to what you do in the real world, the best part is you can reach more people online, and then people will contact you, rather than the other way around.

Like everything in life, there’s no short cuts or magic pill. But if you’re ALL IN, it will pay off.

Right now a lot of agents and agencies are cutting back on marketing as a cost-saving exercise because the market has turned. This leaves the door open wide for those that have the valour (guts) to keep spending because a down market is an opportune time to gain market share.

So, go ALL IN, and you’ll succeed.

And if you want a team that can make the above happen for you (because it’s not that easy) then contact me and my team!

We’ve been building brands and generating leads digitally for years, first for big corporations and now for individuals and small businesses in the real estate industry through my own agency Hoole.co.

Everything I teach or do for my clients is the same things I do to keep my brand visible online. But the best part is that we have a bird’s eye view across all client accounts. So as a client of ours, you gain the benefit of peer to peer success. What works for one works for all.

So, what are you waiting for?

Written by Melanie Hoole

My team and I specialise in helping real estate and property professionals perfect their personal brand, build a first-class digital profile and implement inbound marketing activities to attract leads. If you are unsure which direction to take with your digital marketing contact me for help.