Temecula Neighborhood Expert

Ben Kinney is a top realtor in Bellingham,Washington, an author and teacher with Activerain. introducing himself at the Rain Camp he said he would make us laugh, offend a few and perhaps make someone cry. With this he jumped into a whirlwind presentation that was full of excellent content - and real tools to take away and use today.

This was my first Rain Camp but I have been blogging on Wordpress for about six months and have been using Activerain for a month. Two people siting behind me and one to my left attended the Raincamp with no prior experience with Activerain. They came with open minds but had pre-conceived ideas abut the value they could gain by actually using the tools that Activerain gives it users.

Do Ben Kinney and Brad Andersohn provide compelling content? Two of the three doubting agents signed up as Rainmakers at the end of the session. Why, because this is a better way of doing our job, a more effective way of prospecting and converting leads to clients. Ben Kinney, our mentor in Rain Camp, says a look blog site should Influence by providing good Content that will spread your message Virally and, most importantly, create Interaction. And he proceeded to teach some of the important concepts to achieve these three objectives.

Why is this important for us to know? Read the following quote and you will have a better understanding.

Eighty-four percent of recent homebuyers used the Internet in their search but even among the best of Brokerage Websites information is often poorly displayed, market data is often outdated, and, in most cases, there is a complete absence of local information. The general lack of excellence among agent websites presents a big opportunity for agents that wish to distinguish themselves. Agents that offer consumers a compelling Web experience will be richly rewarded.

SOURCE: 1000Watt Consulting, Top Ten Brokerage Websites

Ben also speaks about targeting a defined local market, Since you can't compete with Google and other search engines for major real estate phrases like "Seattle Real Estate", he captures and owns local neighborhoods with his targeted marketing. By doing so he brings his posts to the top of  Google's first page and gets recognition. 

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How effective is marketing at a neighborhood level? Cundee Haydon, a Realtor in Florida claims that if she post information on her website about a regional area (e.g. a County or Metropolitan Area) it generates prospects in 12 to 24 month. When she discusses at a city level she sees more prospects in under 12-months. But when she presents information at a neighborhood level she sees prospects 1 to 6 months out. She sees great value focusing on the neighborhood level, as it is here she develops a real relationship with the buyer. When you move from being a commodity to developing a relationship with your audience and peers you create a foundation of gaining their trust.  She says trust is gained by commitment, passion, knowledge, consistency, dedication, experience, understanding and wisdom.

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I have found if I can start a dialogue that includes lifestyle and hobbies - I am on an "emotional level" and can help sell the dream versus being seen on a commodity level.”

Some 243 people spent their Saturday at Rain Camp. We were a diverse group but real estate agents were the vast majority. As you may know, Ben Kinney is with Keller Williams and his teachings have had an important impact of the company. Evident of Bill's influence on the company is the fact 88 of the people in attendance (36 percent), were Keller Williams agents. The next largest group of people from a single agency comprised only seven percent of the audience. If you haven't been to a Rain Camp, seriously consider it. There is no question, the technology that is being taught, is the wave of the future. 

Robert Deane is an agent with Keller Williams, Temecula Market Center.