The foundation of business is relationships.

When you build and maintain solid relationships with your clients, you’ll bring in a steady stream of referrals and repeat transactions.

The key to establishing and strengthening relationships is community engagement.

People want to know, like, and trust you

The reason why so many prospecting efforts miss the mark is because no one wants to work with someone who is totally unknown to them.

People want to be sure they’re working with someone trustworthy who will deliver on what they promise—and that’s especially true for high stakes transactions like real estate.

One of the best possible ways to earn the trust of your potential clients is by engaging with your community. Attend local events. Volunteer with charities. Do things that benefit not just you, but the people you are looking to work with.

When you give back by helping a local food bank or sponsoring a Little League baseball team, you affect the lives of the people in your community.

This creates real, measurable impact in your community. It also leaves your neighbors with good feelings about you and your business.

Help others get what they want

People want to do business with people they feel connected to. Beyond that, they want to reward others who add value to their lives.

When you’re a real estate agent, you want to be known as the “mayor” of your community (as Gary Vee says).

You should strive to be that indispensable resource—the person who can connect people with the things that they really want.

• Should I buy in this neighborhood?
• Is it a great place to raise kids?
• What are the schools like?
• What are the local businesses I should know about?

Try to be the Google for your community. Make people aware that you’re the local expert who they can come to with their most important questions.

Get out into the real world

Top producers are often the biggest, most vocal advocates for the places where they live.

And it makes sense. In order for you to really become synonymous with the area you serve, you need to get out into the community and network. This is also powerful because it introduces you to a larger group of contacts.

Attend block parties and parades. Join social clubs. Get your face out there and become known as someone who understands the community.

64% of deals happen from referrals and repeat business. A lot of agents spend a fortune on online advertising, when the truth is that a majority of buyers and sellers aren’t choosing their agent online.

Simply put: when you have more connections, you’re more likely to win more business.

Implement systems that foster community engagement

Of course, all that networking can take up a ton of your time. That’s why you need to find ways to connect not only face to face but also with automated systems.

The good news is that it’s possible to earn the trust of your neighbors in many ways. For example, you can use social media to share content that your clients really care about.

You can also connect effectively by email. By updating your recipients about what’s going on in the community, you can brand yourself as local expert.

And sure, you can spend hours combing through event listings and putting together those emails. But we’ve created something that will give you all the benefits of being the local expert without all the headaches.

It’s called Local Content Email Marketing.

Local Content is an automated, biweekly email that’s branded to you, with your photo and contact information. It’s packed with handpicked, relevant events from your community.

We have regional curators in over 100 markets throughout the country who are personally selecting these events, which means they’re sure to resonate with your recipients—from farmer’s markets and community theater to concerts, food festivals, and wine 101 classes

Click here to see if Local Content is available in your area.

At the end of the day, there’s no one single way to become the go-to agent in your community. But when you focus on providing value and connecting with your clients, you’re far more likely to find success.