Peter was about to make the biggest mistake of his professional real estate career.
I could tell he was hesitant about sharing what was going on over the phone.
Peter (not his real name to protect his identity)…
Is a local realtor who in 2019 reached out to me for advise on how to do better marketing for his real estate business.
We’d known each other for a while, so I made time to meet with him over coffee (which I rarely do).
We spent a few minutes catching up on personal stuff, and then got right down to business.
He needed a marketing strategy that would generate listings, and combine it with a buyer’s lead generation campaign that would turn into closings.
I drew on a napkin what his entire strategy should look like…
And in 26 minutes we were out of there.
He loved the idea … and left super stoked and looking forward to getting started!
Forty five days went by…
Then he called and asked if we could meet again…
I said sure, but this time we met in my office.
Peter looked impatient and somewhat annoyed.
Which is good, because it meant he still had some fight left in him.
His exact words were:
“Claudio this content marketing sh**t is kicking my ass, and I’m starting to doubt if it’s even worth it!
I mean why… why do I have to create content if at the end of the day all I need is for buyers and sellers to know who I am and what I can do for them?
And I can do that all day long by hanging around FB, Instagram, LinkedIn, and on my phone if I wanted to…
Not to mention working with my past clients to get referrals from them.”
It was as if our first meeting never took place…
He had zero recollection of the strategy we had discussed and agreed on 45 days ago!
But I knew what he was going through.
He was knee deep into the tactical muck of transitioning from a “look at me” marketing style to a “direct response” marketing strategy…
And had fallen into the all-too familiar CONTENT TRAP.
The content trap IS REAL!
Thousands of business owners fall prey to it daily.
And it costs millions of dollars of missed sales and brand equity build up opportunities to small businesses everywhere.
Peter was no exception.
And without knowing how to avoid it, or how to get out of it…
He would never get back on track to the original plan!
And he’d ruin his chances of building a lifestyle driven real estate business.
Which can only be done if you have a consistent and predictable way of getting listings, finding buyers, and closing deals.
But…
What is the content trap?
Let me explain…
The typical pitch for content marketing and blogging for that matter goes something like this:
“Peter,
We live in two worlds, a digital world and a physical world, and they’re no longer colliding but rapidly overlapping each other. Your future clients live on their phone and the internet… that’s where their attention is at.
If you don’t have a presence in the form of relevant content there, you’ll be missing out on huge business opportunities because they won’t be able find you.
Instead they’ll find your competitors, because they’re putting out content online all day long.
In other words, if you don’t have a strong web presence and resonant social footprint, you’re basically irrelevant to the marketplace… ”
And this is all technically true.
And it makes perfect sense.
But it’s not entirely accurate.
So I started my conversation with Pete recapping what we discussed on our first meeting.
And I began where I always begin…
Your decision to create a meaningful content driven business is not to get more leads and ultimately sales.
That’s the by-product of a consistent and sustainable content and copy strategy.
The main reason is to SERVE ONLY the people who can benefit (whether they know it or not) from the product or service you provide.
By dispensing not just information, but insight into how they can solve a problem or gain an advantage in their lives or business.
And if you’re going to do this right, you need to have a long term mindset about the…
WHY, WHO, WHAT and the HOW you’re going to accomplish this.
Peter knew his NUMBER ONE JOB wasn’t to sell real estate.
That’s a result.
His #1 job is to figure out who’s thinking about buying or selling a home in the next 12 months in a particular area of town.
And all his efforts must be focused in getting those invisible prospects to raise their hand and reveal themselves.
Most people put out content to bring attention to themselves and their traveling circus.
But so does everyone else.
Which means everyone’s getting sprayed with the same cat pee every day.
This content is usually self serving, superficial, and offers little to no practical value to people.
How on earth are you going to stand out in a sea of sameness?
YOU’RE NOT!
There is no chance to differentiate yourself when you sound and act like everyone else.
That’s why Peter was upset…
Because despite his well intentioned content marketing efforts, he was getting nowhere FAST!
It’s not enough to want to do something… You have to be able to actually deliver it!
At this point I took a deeper dive with Peter on how to avoid the content trap…
But first I had to slap him with a real harsh reality check!
“This sh**t is simple, but it ain’t easy bud, if it was, everyone would be doing it!”
But it does get easier the more you do it.
Let me give you an example…
This article you’re reading is 2,105 words long.
It took me about an hour to write it.
Another 30 minutes to properly produced, and about 15 minutes to distribute it.
That’s an hour and forty minutes.
I did it in three sitting sessions.
But it would’ve taken me twice as long if I didn’t have a process I created for myself called:
The CPD-Content Delivery Model (Create-Produce-Distribute)
Back when I started…
I also ran into the same problem Pete was having.
So I had to figure out a way to deliver content faster and better…
Or I was going to end up in a psych ward somewhere.
That’s when I created the CPD-Content Delivery Model.
Here’s the deal…
The process of delivering content is sequential.
Most people think is just about sitting down and writing or taking video…
Yes that’s where it all starts…
But if you want to do this right…
There are 3 steps you need to know for producing kick ass content consistently for the right people:
1. Create – The idea behind it. Research. Communicating value via writing, video, or images.
2. Produce – The production. Format, structure, editing, plug and play type things.
3. Distribute – Where are you publishing it. If no one sees it, it doesn’t matter how good it is.
And they’re performed separately form each other.
You’ll be as fast and effective as you can do these steps:
Pete was struggling on all three fronts because he wasn’t treating each section separately.
But he was sweating it with mainly two things…
- Coming up with good content ideas for his posts and articles…
- And putting it all together for distribution.
His silent complaint really was…
“I don’t have time for this shit!”
But the real trigger were Steps #2 and #3
That’s why I had to first realign him back to WHY he was doing this in the first place.
Peter’s a good guy and he loves to help people. So he deserved my help.
After we went through the whole plan again, and he understood WHY all of it is worth it in the end…
Then we got down to brass tacks once more.
Regarding Step #1 in the CPD model – Create.
Pete’s a realtor…
He understands the psychology of buyers and sellers.
If you don’t understand or are aware of the movie playing in your prospects heads…
Stop right now and start there!
This is vital…
You have to know your prospects fears and desires like you know your own.
For buyers and sellers this psychology is totally different.
Sellers want speed. Buyers want location.
Since price applies to both, wanting also applies to both.
What the seller wants is to sell their home fast and for top dollar.
What they buyer wants is to buy in a chosen location at a price they want.
Nothing else really matters to these guys!
So that’s where you focus your IDEA (step#1) on the CPD model – Create.
So a good place to start if you want to get in front of more listing-prospects would be to put together a content campaign made up of say 4-6 articles on all things related to…
For example… “How to sell a home for top dollar fast regardless of how the market is doing”,
In addition to a report or guide titled…
-The Doral Florida Single Family Homes 2020 Price Guide-
A report on how to sell your home for top dollar fast!
This guide is a pillar content piece for you…
And it’s the leading tool you will use from now on to get people to educate themselves about something they WANT…
While getting to know you better!
You can offer this report in exchange for their name, email, address, and phone number.
Then publish the articles on Facebook and boost them for very little money, and targeted to Doral Florida only.
Then put together a postcard driven campaign to specific neighborhoods in that area.
And once again offer ONLY the guide as a relationship starter.
So for sellers…
All the content you deliver is now boxed and ready to get shipped instantly.
But to get it boxed and shipped you have to produce it first.
Which is the second problem Pete was having.
So you wrote it… Now what!?
I get it…
After you write them, now you’re ready for Step #2 in the CPD model.
Produce – The production. Format, structure, editing, plug and play type things.
If you don’t want to do this, sub it out. It’s not expensive.
I use sites like Fiverr.com and upwork.com to find people to do this type of work for me.
But If you want to do it yourself…
Follow a format you like, and just plug and play.
There are thousands of good articles online on how to produce blogs posts on a WordPress site.
Here are few links that will help you get started.
Link 1- A quick tutorial
Link 2- A more in depth tutorial for beginners
Your articles don’t have to be perfectly written. Just entertaining, informative, and applicable.
Then Step#3 in the CPD model is to distribute it.
Pete wasn’t struggling with this part, but he was doing it wrong.
Yes, he was posting his articles on LinkedIn and FB page…
But without a proper headline or lead (hook) in order to get people interested and clicking through it.
Basically…
You first words have to hook people in order to keep them reading, and ultimately get the click.
If they don’t click on the article they can’t get to your website and read what you wrote for them.
The other thing he wasn’t doing, was to spend $30-$40 bucks on boosting the article to a unique audience created on FB.
In his case… for the Doral area.
He wasn’t focusing on a single target market at a time.
Meaning, one area or subdivision of the city.
This is a cheap and very powerful thing MOST people, especially realtors, don’t do!
Advertising is the key to getting people to raise their hand.
Facebook’s still relatively cheap. Use it!
For buyers is almost the same approach.
The difference being on the content theme, and where you have to reach them for them to see it.
I helped Peter set the CPD – Content Delivery Model for both sellers and buyers.
So everything you write for your audience, regardless of what business you’re in, should provoke this question:
How do I get me one of those?
So Pete was now realigned with the WHO, WHAT, and HOW of his decision to undertake a direct response marketing approach to his business…
And fully briefed on the CPD-Model for his content delivery.
He looked rejuvenated and ready for a second assault to dominate the quality, frequency, and reach of his message…
Three months later he texted me this:
“I just closed on my biggest listing yet…
Which I found the buyer for (FULL COMMISSION!)…
Plus both, buyer and seller, gave me ready-to-play referrals…
When you do it right… this content sh*t really works man!”
Nuff said!
If you want to build a brand online and make more sales by attracting the right people to your content, and you want to do it in a way that doesn’t take hours and hours of work on your part, and for a relatively low investment…
… let’s jump on a call and find out how to set up your very own personalized CPD-Model.
Claudio “Avoid the Content Trap” Alegre
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