By Dan Wood
I was in a discussion with a broker manager who was dead set on only hiring “seasoned agents”. As we walked the halls of his office, I asked how many are being occupied by “newer” agents. He thought about it and was shocked by the truth. The newer agents took up more than 60 per cent of the office space. That’s a big chunk of monthly expense being covered by something you don’t want. Something to think about.
It’s a funny debate with the “only seasoned vets” vs. “mixed offices” recruiting strategy. I’d say a healthy office has a mix of both. You need the next generation in your ranks because they will be your future leaders and by that time they are so invested with your office it’s hard to leave. So think of it as future positioning.
No matter what camp you are in I’m sure you would like to connect with more agents to recruit. So how do we do that?
Many of you have tried Google pay-per-click but it gets tricky in large cities like Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary. The problem is it’s too big a geographical area to target. Why target the east side of your city when your brokerage is in the west? Most agents are going to pick a firm that’s either in the area they want to work, or one that is relatively easy to get to from home.
You can create an extremely targeted campaign on a small budget. Say $50-$100 (or less) a month. “But Danny, I tried Google Adwords and it didn’t work.”
Did you know you can use Google to target a radius just around your office(s)? You don’t need to target by city. This is done by using postal codes. For smaller cities like Oakville and Mississauga, you just need to tighten up the keywords.
For example: In Google, when setting up the campaign and doing the targeting part, you simply click “advanced search” and type in your postal code instead of the city name. When you click it you’ll see on the map what part of town you are targeting. During that part you can add other nearby postal codes or simply do a one- to two-km radius around your location. Now you’re spending your money wisely.
Say a person is searching “real estate job” down the street from your office. I’d think you would like the opportunity to drive them to a squeeze page on your brokerage site about getting into the business, or to an office open house invitation. Or to do a tour of the office and come out to the next sales meeting.
You can do exactly that. This is an example of targeting new agents because that’s the type of thing they search. They also search terms like “real estate school”, “getting into real estate” and “phase 3 OREA” (in Ontario)… these are all terms being searched by people you should connect with. The question is, are you one of the Google results when they do?
If not head on over to Eventbrite.ca and make a free landing page. Make a “getting into real estate phase 3 grads info seminar” and use this as a squeeze page. It’s free and easy. Plus it looks more like an event and not some poorly designed page on your brokerage site.
Use that as your landing page and match it up with the proper search terms and postal code targeting. Simple.
Dan Wood speaks at industry events and office seminars. His focus is on marketing and technology, providing broker/owners in-house training for agents and recruiting incentives to grow your office. 905-903-5442; www.DanWood.ca; facebook.com/DanWoodCoaching.
