Daily Ideas

You’ve probably grafted like mad these past 12 months, so here are some ideas on things to do (or don’t) during your festive downtime. 

• Turn off the phone for a couple of days. 

• Delete Facebook and anti-social media from your apps. 

• Go for morning walks/runs. 

• Get up early. 

• Sleep in. 

• Stay up late. 

• Lounge around. 

• Eat whatever the fk you like. 

• Call that mate that you’ve been too busy to ring. 

We’re back with more ideas (automatically scheduled in advance) on the 27th of December. 

Wishing you all a merry Christmas from Jerry and the team. 

What does your out-of-office reply say about you? 

A wise and successful, now retired estate agent with more than 40 years of industry experience always told me, “Everything is marketing, son.” 

And that includes your agency’s out-of-office (OOO) reply over Christmas and the New Year. 

But are you using it to show more than your opening times and availability? 

You could use it as a chance to highlight: 

• The work you’ve done in your community.
• A link to what you think the property market trends in your area in 2025 will be.
• Seven tips to get your home ready for a springtime sale.
• Five potential resolutions landlords can make to improve their rental investment in 2024.
• Or anything else that adds a little value/fun/entertainment to the recipient of your OOO.

Here’s my out-of-office message from last year.  

Does Your Agency’s Marketing Go Missing Over Christmas? 

One of my best mates runs a very successful magazine company. 

He has 25 hyper-local magazines that get delivered to 300,000 homes every month. 

He’s been doing it for more than 16 years. 

And every year, he has a similar conversation with advertisers who want to put their adverts on hold over Christmas. 

He tells them the truth – the Christmas period, especially between the 25th and 31st of December, is a great time to get your business noticed (this applies to agencies too). 

Why? 

• Because people are at home.
• They’ve got more time on their hands than usual.
• They’re often getting bored.
• And whether they’re flicking through a magazine or scrolling on social media, it gives your business/agency a chance to seize their attention with the right content.

We advise all our members not to go missing over Christmas with their marketing.  

There are plenty of ways to schedule your content to go out automatically, and you can still have a restive, festive break. 

Just don’t go missing.  

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve received was from Brighton & Hove Albion FC’s award-winning Chief Executive Paul Barber. 

He shared this pearl of wisdom about leadership and culture with a group of estate agency leaders at an event we organised in February 2023. 

“My main role is to create an environment where people aren’t afraid to fail.  

Where they have the space to learn, develop and improve, that’s whether they are our first team manager or a match day steward.” 

Wise words. 

The King of Cards 

Everyone in the industry knows Stephen Brown. 

And everyone knows he’s a lovely fella. 

There’s one thing that Stephen is boringly consistent with. 

And that’s making people feel special. 

He won’t mind me sharing his secret ‘special’ sauce with you guys. 

He sends a Christmas card addressed to everyone in my family every year. 

He takes the time to write a personal note within it. 

He usually backs it up with a phone call. 

And I know he does this for many others in the estate agency industry. 

What impact would it have on your business if you followed Stephen’s lead and: 

• Wrote personalised Christmas cards to past sellers and buyers.
• Text your landlords on their birthday with a many happy returns message (Stephen does this, too).
• Called clients now and then to find out how they are (Yep, he does that too).

You see, the three main ingredients of Stephen’s Secret Sauce aren’t a secret at all – they’re kindness, personalisation and consistency. 

And that’s why he’s highly regarded by many in the industry. 

Show behind-the-scenes stuff. 

A great way to build trust and rapport with your community via video content is to give them access to areas other agents won’t / don’t. 

Ideas include: 

• Showing them how the office refurb is progressing

• Share what work is done to create a community Christmas campaign 

• What work goes into staging a home properly
• Recording a morning meeting highlighting what happens in them and explaining how / why certain decisions are made
• You could even include video snippets of your team’s training sessions

If it’s commercially sensitive, give it a swerve, but by doing this, you are showing an open, friendly, nothing-to-hide culture, giving people a sneak peek behind the curtain, as it were. 

A tried and tested idea for some useful turn-of-the-year content is reviewing your agency’s 2024. 

We do it in our business every year, and it’s not only good for getting online attention and engagement but also helps us reflect on what we’ve achieved. 

Here’s ours for 2024 and one from a couple of years back from a client. 

*(Members of the Estate Agent Content Club can get the Canva template to this on request.) 

I know it’s time to start thinking about the festive season when I see Knightsbridge Estate Agents and Valuers in Leicester roll out their fantastic Christmas-themed boards.

Not only that, but they run a brilliant Letters to Santa campaign, a magical Santa’s Grotto, and other festive-themed activities that bring the communities they serve closer.

Christmas is often when I see the best agents step in and stand out with creative approaches and plenty of community support.

What’s on your agency’s Christmas list?

This. Is. Marketing.

I’ve always loved Oliver James’s brilliant marketing piece to welcome potential buyers.

Remember, every time you market a property for sale or rent, it’s not just the property you’re marketing – you’re also promoting your agency’s attention to detail, enthusiasm and creativity.

Profile Photos with Personality

I commissioned a local photographer to take profile shots for our website, email signatures and social media shenanigans.

I chose her because she encourages out-of-the-office shots and creates photos that show the personality of the person she’s snapping.

I’ve seen several estate agents do this with their Meet the Team photos.

I went for shots of me out and about in Brighton (near where we live), wearing boxing gloves (one of my favourite sports) and reading classic 18th-century French literature (a total fiction).

These show a bit more personality than me stuck behind a desk with my head resting nonchalantly on my hand, or even worse, pretending to be on the phone (woohoo, look at me, I’m sooooo busy).

People buy people, so consider showing your personality in your profile photos.

“It’s all marketing.”

That quote came from a former client who, after four decades as an agent, cashed out for millions four years ago.

He applied this marketing mantra everywhere to each aspect of his business.

In my experience, the best agencies use this same approach.

Some examples include:

• The way their office windows look – marketing opportunity.
• How incoming calls are answered – marketing opportunity.
• Getting involved in community projects – marketing opportunity.
• Email signatures that encourage the recipient to discover more about the agency – marketing opportunity.

I saw an excellent example of making an email signature part of your broader marketing mix from the Scottish Property Centre.

They include info and links to expert E-guides housed on their website.

It’s all marketing folks – even these Daily Ideas.

This week’s theme is a mixed bag covering profile photos, social proof (Google it if unsure), wisdom from an estate agent with 40 years of experience, and more.

First up – Social Proof

I love this idea of highlighting your completions and past successes from North Wall Property in Liverpool.

It’s also simple to put together, some 2 x 2 pieces of wood, paint, wire, and according to the agency’s boss, Craig, everyone who sees it comments.

Many agents miss the great opportunity that handing over keys to a happy buyer/seller presents them.