Start a real estate podcast and get personal with your prospective clients

Marketing your real estate agency is all about building trust with your audience, and the Internet gives you tons of tools and opportunities to do so. We have already discussed how your real estate blog is one way to give property hunters the chance to get to know you even before they step into your office. Here’s another idea: start a property podcast.

What’s a podcast, and why bother?

Behind the geeky name lies a simple concept - ‘podcast’ comes from ‘iPod’ and ‘broadcast’ and quite simply means a audio recording (much like a mini radio broadcast) that people can download and listen to on any MP3 player (not just iPods). In other words, you can think of your real estate podcast as a kind of ‘blog post’ that you record instead of type out. This gives you an excellent opportunity connect with your audience in a more direct way, thus building a stronger relationship.

If you have any doubts about the importance of the Internet as a medium, or think that making podcasts would be a waste of time, take a look at the latest addition to the real estate podcast scene: Phil Spencer On the House. If the same Phil Spencer who presents the popular real estate programs Location, Location, Location and Relocation, Relocation on Channel 4 and More 4 thinks it’s a good idea to  start his own property podcasts, that’s a sure sign that you should be doing so too!

Creating a real estate podcast is easy

All you need is a microphone connected to your PC and some recording software and you’re set to go. Google ‘how to make a podcast‘ and you’ll find a ton of technical guides on making and publishing your podcast so we won’t go into that, except to say that you can contact us at Sorted Sites if you need any help setting things up. One site we have found good for publishing podcasts is www.freeiq.com.

Still, there are a number of things to keep in mind about when creating your real estate podcast:

• Give out insider real estate knowledge. Give your podcasts real value by offering honest insights into the property market you operate in. This will also foster your image as an expert in your field.
• Choose a topic for each podcast and stick to it. Avoid the temptation to let your thoughts wander all over the place. Choose a topic related to your particular property market and discuss that. For example, you can talk about  something that’s in the news, or talk about your own experiences as an estate agent.
• Rope in a colleague, or maybe even a client. Inject variety into your podcasts by having someone else record the podcast with you so you can discuss the topic and offer another opinion on the matters at hand.
• Make your podcasts about your listeners. Your property podcast are not advertising so avoid the temptation to keep promoting your services too often - no one is going to subscribe to anything like that. Having said that, do offer ‘scoop’ information on the best property developments and investments, but always do it with the listeners’ interests in mind.
• Respect your clients’ privacy when giving examples in your property podcasts. In other words, make and examples or anecdotes general to avoid revealing confidential information.
• Find the right length for your real estate podcasts. It’s difficult to specify an optimum length for your podcasts, but anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes should be adequate. In any case, don’t make your podcasts any longer than you need to and avoid going off on a rant.
• Listen to your property podcasts a couple of days later to hear them with a fresh pair of ears so you can better judge how they sound.

Publish your property podcast on YouTube

While podcasts are strictly speaking audio only, there is nothing to stop you adding a still image and converting your property podcast into a video file. This will allow you to upload it to your own YouTube channel as well as offering it as an MP3 download. Better still, you can record the podcast with a video camera or webcam and put a face to your estate agency.

Why YouTube? Simply because it is extremely popular as a medium and is thus a very easy way to find an audience. What’s more, YouTube videos to get indexed very well on Google and other search engines, so be sure to include a good description of each podcast when you upload it.

So, plug in those mics, and get chatting to your prospective customers before you even meet!