I’m going to talk about the one thing I really didn’t want to discuss, but I think it’s become such a big part of all our lives and our businesses. It’s this recession – or coming recession if you want to get technical.
I’m going to give you an unpopular opinion. I actually like recessions. WHAT?
I started my business (unofficially – before I had the LLC) in the beginning of 2008. This was when I was a freelancer. In the beginning I was a little worried about the shear number of competitors I had going after commercial real estate agents and brokers. I was one person trying to keep my head up in a sea of competition. It didn’t take long – about a year or two later, I was the only one left in the commercial real estate marketing space.
A stormy recession brought me a nice few years of complete and total market dominance. The same thing can happen to you.
If you start to experience downtime, although tempting, it’s not the time to sit on the couch and wait for it to pass. This is when you can do all the things you wished you had to time for.
#1 Get visible. Being in front of the right people at the right time is what turns acquaintances into clients. This can look like many different things – starting a YouTube channel, getting on social media regularly, starting a newsletter, or doing a podcast are all great ways to reach your audiences.
#2 Get consistent. People tend to shy away from doing visibility consistently because they assume people will get tired of them or they’re bothering people. The great thing about emails, channels and social media is that people that get tired of you can unsubscribe. And who cares if they do!? They’re not going to buy anyway. You’re creating the content for people who are interested and want to hear from you. Remember – it takes 3-seconds to read a subject line and decide whether or not to delete it. That’s all you’re taking up of a person’s time. If they open it, they’ll maybe spend 30-seconds to 2-minutes reading it. 2-minutes a week is NOT a bother, it’s a relationship builder.
#3 Clarify your message. Recessions can change your business, even if it’s just temporarily. If deals have dried up in one service area or property type, start branding yourself for whatever is bringing in money today. During the last recession my clients were having issues with investor rep because the banks stopped lending. We re-branded for a new focus on landlord and tenant rep. This only lasted about a year or so, but it kept the cashflow going. When the banks started opening their wallets again, we swapped back to investor rep. If you’re seeing new trends, don’t be afraid to pivot. Even if it’s not preferred, it’ll likely be temporary.
#4 Get modern. If your marketing looks like it hasn’t been updated since 1999, it’s time to get some new stuff. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on marketing. I have Ultimate CRE Kits available to help you grow your business without draining all your time, energy, and money.
The kits include easy tools including workbooks and PDFs to follow along to make your journey simple. Along with video walkthroughs that go over each concept step-by-step. Put what you learn into action fast for immediate results with user-friendly templates and copy-paste content.
Providing you with the kits you need to grow your commercial real estate business is just another way, I’m taking the “broke” out of commercial real estate brokerage.
