On this episode of the Realtor Fight Club podcast, hosts Jenn Murtland and Monica Weakley are fired up about today’s topic. Is geographic farming dead? Today’s topic is a controversial one!
Episode Highlights:
- In shocking fashion, Monica believes that geo-farming is dead while Jenn sees the use.
- Most people don’t know how to do it in the first place, so they end up doing it wrong.
- Mail, door-knocking, and events are all different ways that are still important to connect with a community.
- Don’t make the mistake of picking some random neighborhood out of a hat and sticking to just mail.
- A realistic expectation of success when geo-farming a neighborhood is at least 2 years.
- There are a variety of factors that go into how long it will take geo-farming to work.
- Monica thinks it can work, but just doesn’t believe that most agents will do the necessary work.
- Most agents don’t understand how to convert people from one step to another in the correct way.
- One way that Jenn advises to help with door-knocking efforts is to carry a gift bag with you.
- Monica thinks that instead of using money to geo-farm, it can be used to create a smaller amount of strong relationships.
- To figure out the attrition rate, look over the past 5 years and take the number of sales divided by the number of houses.
- Jenn likes the aspect of intentionally focusing her marketing efforts on a certain neighborhood.
- Monica thinks that agents could create some sort of shared resource for the neighborhood that could help them get to know people quickly.
- Even if you do move to a new area, you can still get referrals from your sphere.
- Maryann Ries is a high-profile agent in Cincinnati that focuses on geo-farming.
- When it comes to advertising, it all comes down to reach and frequency.
- In order to be successful in geo-farming, agents need to update their thinking on geographic marketing.
- Maryann has gone from door knocking to targeted Facebook ad campaigns as an adjustment to COVID.
- There are a plethora of benefits that come with focusing on a certain geographic area.
- Ideally, agents that are geo-farming should be marketing to their area on a daily basis.
- Agents could use the buyers’ current location as a way to expand the geographic reach.
- Maryann knows that you have to commit to a campaign to make direct mail worthwhile.
- The more signs that Maryann has up in a certain area, the more calls she receives.
- Project yourself as always working with how you dress whenever you are out of your house.
- Stay updated on your market activity and preview every house that comes on the market in your farm.
3 Key Points:
- It’s important to pick a neighborhood with which you have some sort of connection.
- In order to successfully geo-farm, agents must be willing to allocate the necessary money and time, at least 2 years, or it’s a waste of time.
- While both Monica and Jenn agree that geo-farming can work, Monica believes that most agents won’t stick it out for the necessary time.
Resources Mentioned:
