Another way to establish yourself as a real estate expert in your community…
Attend meetings of the Planning & Zoning Commission and the City Council.
Here’s why it will help:
First, being there and hearing what’s going on will give you an inside track on what’s happening or about to happen in your community. You really will be more of an expert.
Then, when you relate what you’ve learned, it will show your would-be clients that you keep yourself “in the know.”
How do you do that? Blog about it!
You know that people in your community want to know what’s going on. They just don’t want to attend the meetings themselves. And more often than not, the newspaper reports never tell the complete story.
Besides that, they’re dry. On your post you can actually say that Mr. Jones and Mrs. Smith got into a shouting match, or that the Mayor told one of your fellow real estate agents to sit down and shut up. (True story, I was there.)
You’ll get the most good from your attendance if you actually participate in the meeting – adding your own questions and comments. Be careful what you say. Remember, that local news reporter might just quote you!
In addition to your actually becoming an expert, the local politicians and those who regularly attend such events will begin to recognize you as someone who cares about the community – and stays in the know. And that can’t do your career anything but good.
If you’re shy about speaking up in public meetings…
When I first started attending those meetings as a real estate broker, speaking up was torture. My mouth would go dry and I knew I must be shaking hard enough for everyone to see.
I did it anyway, because there were things going on that I really cared about. I was terrified, but after a while it got easier and easier. Before long people expected me to be there, and to have an opinion – and I was no longer afraid to give it.
One reason I got over my terror was that I learned a trick: If I got there early and sat in the front row, I could focus on the few people sitting in the front of the room, conducting the meeting. I could trick myself into feeling that I was speaking just to them because I didn’t see all the other attendees who were looking at me. (Mom – he’s looking at me. Make him quit!)
The other good thing that I can tell you from experience – the more you go and the more you speak up, the easier it gets.
Image courtesy of franky242 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
