The Power of Niche Marketing

Image provided through Flickr.com – Creative Commons License – Samuel M Livingston

I believe in the power of niche marketing.  In fact, I’ve built my business through niche marketing.  Anybody that has followed my real estate career over at BBQCapital knows that I have been a real estate investor’s specialist since about 2002.  REI is an area that interests me, it’s an area that agents and investors need help in understanding and it’s an area where I am/was able to provide a nice lifestyle for my family.

What is niche marketing for real estate agents?
It’s simply picking an area of focus and drilling down in to that focus area to maximize the monetary value as well as the value added to all the branding you do.

Wouldn’t specializing in one area preclude prospects from calling you about other areas of real estate?
Yes.  But not nearly as much as you might fear. It has been my experience over the years that buyers and sellers like and understand a realtor that specializes in a specific area even if that area isn’t necessarily what they need from you.  They know you know your stuff.  And besides, if you build your business to the point where you are so busy taking care of those that need your area of expertise within your niche you can refer out what you don’t want to work with. Me?  I always referred land, commercial and sometimes even luxury homes.

What is an example of an area of focus in niche marketing?
Glad you asked.  Before I really started concentrating on investors to the exclusion of just about everything else I also had a geographical farm of homes.  A farm is a form of niche marketing.  I was THE EXPERT in my local farm.  By the time I left Tulsa I was involved in 60% of the transactions that happened in my geographical farm.

Here are some niche markets that may or many not be underutilized in your market area:

• Helping senior citizens.  Maybe get your SRES.
• Farm your local neighborhood.
• Women in Transition.  (Anything from fresh out of college to divorce to widowed.)
• Spanish Speaking. (Market to English as a Second Language residents.)
• Waterfront properties.
• Bike Path properties.

Will my niche account for 100% of my property sales?
NO!  At least I hope not.  If you are properly working your sphere of influence, database and niche you will find yourself with all types of business coming your way.  Nearly half my business was always non-investors.  Why? Because people found me when I marketed their properties for sale.  These investors had friends who needed to buy or sell their homes and they recommended me because they trusted me.  These investors have sons and daughters who also need to buy and sell real estate.  A niche is an area of concentration.  Not an area of exclusion.

Think about who you are, what you are good at and where you’d like to be 5 years from now. Then take the next 4-6 months to start building your niche’s market awareness.  We’ll talk more about this under the Agent Training Category.