Atlanta Homes - SOLD!

Sometimes technology comes along and it disrupts how you do things.  When Zillow and Trulia came on the scene it was interesting to see the "shock and awe" of real estate agents as they scrambled to figure out if the sky is falling or not.  

 Nextdoor came on the scene as a site that seemed to be a replacement for home owner association websites and now has grown into full fledged platform.  Which is why we think Every Real Estate Agent Needs To Be On Nextdoor . Hopefully, we've seen enough of in the past few years that 2 things are true for real estate agents. 

1. The way we do business MUST change
2. Job security is in taking care of friends and family (Referred to as "mets" in the Millionaire Real Estate Agent). 

That's why today we're talking about Nextdoor.  It's one of my 3 Free Online Marketing Tools That Real Estate Agents Need To Get On.  What's awesome about Nextdoor is that although it might grow into a zillow-esqu beast it's still in it's "Trulia" stage of being super helpful for agents and really allowing the agent to be the "expert" in the community. 

Set Up 2 Accounts

Personal "The Mayor" Account

The Nextdoor Login experience sets you up immediately for something different.  What do you mean I have to verify my address?  As a Realtor you might want to be a "lead" agent in all your favorite subdivisions, but that's not possible... (in the beginning - more on this later) .

Once you set up your profile notice what you can do.  My recommendation is to make this profile as "human" as you can and less "agenty" but not totally without mentioning that you are an agent.  Think of yourself as running for Mayor.  You want publicity  but not too pshy. 

The first thing you'll notice is the feed.  Look at your feed as an opportunity to be an amabassador for your neighborhood (without the hassle of joing your HOA). 

Recommend Yourself on Nextdoor*

The second thing you should look at is "RECOMMENDED."  Go ahead and start to look for your company.  If you set up a Google My business page to go after Local SEO then you'll likely be there.   Go ahead and recommend yourself, it'll be the first one you likely receive.  I know some may frown on this advice but make it clear that you're "liking yourself". 

Being recommended is a lot like a referral or a link from another website.  Nextdoor does a good job of trying to keep you where you belong and not allow you into the noise of all the other neighborhoods.  To understand what I'm talking about, take a look at any of they "city name" yardsale groups on facebook.  Inevitably, you'll get people posting on there that have no business being there.    This is great if you're a person who loves their neighborhood, but not so good for your business.

So by getting recommended by as many people as possible you open your business up to these networks. 

Business Account - Claim Your Business

Next You'll want to look for the "claim your business" button and claim your business.  It will look through the businesses that are listed and you want to look for the one that you recommended.  (This is the reason you recommended yourself).

This is important because now you'll likely get access to a neighborhood near your office and the one in your neighborhood.   You'll also have the option of displaying your listings to those markets.  

Real Estate Section

Before me move farther let's talk about the real estate section! Prices are based on zip codes and could range as low as $20 to as much as $300+ a month.  There's not that many brokerages on it right now so it's a big opportunity.   Not only that but you're highlighted in a way that other sites simply don't do. 

Notice, not only do you get a logo and a blurb but your recommendations are shown on the top right and below a nice review, with "ask a question."  This seems inviting to me.  I'd love to hear agent's response to this.  

However,  real opportunity is getting the recommendations from your clients in other areas which opens up your business to new opportunities. 

With only 2 recommendations I cover 92 neighboorhoods.   I've said before that for Realtors, reviews matter on Zillow, Google and now I'd say this has the potential a solid 3rd (whereas before I said your 3rd choice was wherever you use social media, like Facebook). 

So your strategy shoulb be to get recommended in the neighborhoods where you want listings. 

Originally posted from jrjarvis.com's Nextdoor Guide For Businesses

For even  more about Nextdoor, check out the 4rd Marketing Podcast - Episode 4