Last week, I wrote about why podcasting should be embraced by real estate agents. I think I made a pretty compelling case that podcasting can be a great tool for agents to grow their brands and, ultimately, sell more homes.
The article was referring to not just doing your own podcast, but also advertising on other podcasts.
The article covered quite a bit, but what wasn’t really covered was what agents should do a podcast about. Kind of important, yes? Just a smidge!
By “kind of,” I mean absolutely critical. If you choose a boring topic or talk about stale crap that nobody cares about, or talk about fresh non-crap in a way that’s boring or doesn’t quite connect with the listener, the podcast will not be successful. Getting the topic and the format of the show correct from the start is absolutely critical.
As I wrote about here, something weird happens when agents first get their license. It seems that when an agent gets their real estate license, something happens to our DNA.
We’re transformed into this awkward, snoozefests-spewing spambot that is hardwired to do nothing but talk about real estate 100% of the time, to all people, in all situations.
Trust me, I get it. It took me three or four years before I could kick that habit. I’ve done all those cringeworthy “If you’re looking to buy or sell real estate, I’d love to help you out!” type of posts too.
Oh boy, I’ve done my fair share of that garbage. But I learned I needed to kick the habit because no one was paying attention. No one was really responding to that stuff, except those who hit the unfollow or mute button.
It wasn’t until I started doing content about what people actually cared about, and not about real estate at all, that I started to grow an audience. It wasn’t until I stopped talking about real estate all the damn time that my business, my brand, and my success really took off.
So then what should you be talking about in your podcast? What should your show be about? Well, anything but real estate. Make it about the community!
The easiest place for agents to start is to talk about what’s happening in the community. What new stuff is going on? Are there new businesses coming to town? Is there a new shopping complex opening soon, or a new splash pad being built? The high school football team just made the playoffs, or there’s an arts festival downtown this weekend?
Locally, there are still very few podcasts.
Even fewer that keep people coming back every single episode. You have a chance to do one of just a few local podcasts, and if you focus on being the resource for your local community, talking about everything but real estate, you have a chance to grow a huge audience. You can literally have a show that a huge chunk of that community listens to.
They will keep coming back for more, every single episode, if you give them a reason to.
You need to give them a reason to tune in; not give them a reason to tune out. Cover your community the same way your local newspaper would when they’re trying to highlight cool and interesting parts of it.
I hate to burst your bubble, Realtors, but nobody gives a crap about your new listing of an average home in an average neighborhood. Nobody cares about your “weekly market update.” Nobody wants to hear that you got a house under contract in 48 hours. Literally no one cares. Hell, the sellers only care because they want their share of the proceeds ASAP.
I say all this because the moment you default back to talking about real estate in your podcast, you’ll dramatically limit the growth of your audience. Fight the urge to do what 99% of our fellow agents do, and talk about real estate every single chance they get.
Instead, be different. Different is very good.
Be the local podcast with a personality that everyone listens to, shares with their friends and family, and talks about among their friends and family. The only way you can do that is if the show is all about the community, and not about boring crap that only a few people at any given time actually care about.
For those who get this right, podcasting is as awesome an opportunity as being one of the first video creators on YouTube. But if you still decide to go ahead and make a real estate podcast, don’t blame me when only seven people listen each week. That’s on you.
Get the topic right, make it fun, give it your personality, learn to promote your show to get it in front of new people, and you’ll be amazed how much fun you’ll have, and how much your business will grow.
See what other Realtors and Loan Officers are podcasting about on the Industry Syndicate real estate podcast network.
