When somebody hears the word “real estate” in your market, what do you think comes to mind?

For most Americans, it's instantly Zillow. They've taken over this position in consumers' minds, being the first place they go for searches and home values.

So, how do we compete against a billion-dollar company?

A lot of you have given up and said, I'm just going to start buying my leads from Zillow. Keep in mind that's a negative 32% ROI, meaning for every $10 spent, you lose $3.20.

So, how do you win against Zillow and take over “Mindshare” in your local community?

You can't do it entirely, but it'll come from getting close to your consumers and your community.

Why?

Zillow can't create relationships with specific people in specific communities. But you can… by developing relationships with your own audiences, showing expertise, and connecting with local businesses and charities. Highlight why you love your community through videos and social media.

When...

Hey folks, I came across a fascinating study—it revealed that a whopping 74% of consumers base their business decisions solely on the brand!

Now, let's shift the focus to your personal brand:

Imagine stacking it against the top 10 agents in your community—just you, not who you're working for. How do you measure up? Does your brand stand out, exuding a modern and sharp vibe, or does it seem dated, like a relic from the '90s or early 2000s?

To make a mark, focus on clean, sharp lines. Forget flashy taglines and funky logos. Your brand revolves around a clean picture and a stylized version of your name.

Remember, you're a personal brand in the real estate space, akin to the likes of Michael Jordan or LeBron James. With countless agents in the field, the key is to separate yourself by having a consistent and clean brand integrated throughout your marketing plan.

Everywhere people look—your website, digital footprint, social...

I have a challenge for you today:

I want you to imagine that you're a buyer who just landed in your area and has no knowledge about any REALTORS in the marketplace. So, go ahead and search for homes for sale in your market and see what happens. You'll likely be directed to realtor.com or Zillow. Now, pretend you're a buyer and go through the process of searching for a home on these websites.

As you go through the process, you'll notice that the algorithms push you through a funnel. The first thing they'll ask you is what price point you're looking for. They'll give you a list of price points to choose from, and very rarely will buyers type in a specific price. Instead, they'll be guided to choose a range from a dropdown menu.

Then, the algorithms will ask about bedrooms, bathrooms, and square footage before pushing the buyer further into the system. It's important for us as REALTORS to understand how the algorithms...

I've got a question for you:

How do you win against Zillow and Realtor.com in your local market?

And the reason I ask this question is because it's kind of crazy when you think about it:

Realtor.com and Zillow come to town, their algorithm takes our listings and uses our listings to get buyers to their websites. Then they take these buyers, they capture the information, then they resell the lead back to us.

It is absolutely bananas and nuts that we allowed this in the industry, but here we are. So how do we win against these behemoths, against these massive algorithms that are running 24/7/365 in our marketplaces?

I'm gonna give you the roadmap right now:

The way you win against an algorithm is you have to win mindshare.

Mindshare, not market share, but mindshare.

What that means is, in your community, when people hear the words real estate, what's the first thing they think about?

Is it Realtor.com? Is it Zillow? Or is it your name...

I have a question for you:

Who is your #1 competitor in your marketplace?

When I ask that to a live audience, I'll hear all kinds of the typical brand answers. You'll hear the brands in their marketplace: Remax, Coldwell Banker, eXp, John L. Scott, Sotheby's, etc.

And I always tell them, you're all wrong. Your #1 competitor in your market is Zillow. Zillow is coming to eat your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And in a large degree, they already are. Now, yes, Zillow has stumbled with their flipping operation. But does that mean they're going away? No. If anything, we should be more terrified now than ever, because they're going to turn and focus their entire attention back to where they actually started out, which is selling leads to REALTORS. They are not going away.

What does this mean? When lose something to Remax or eXp, you need to ask yourself:

Did I really lose that listing to those companies? Or did somebody go on Zillow, fill...

Zillow announced recently that they've stopped buying homes!

In their press release, they said they had supply chain issues and labor shortages, which is interesting because when you look at what they actually did in Q2 and Q3, where we've had kind of the same issues going on, they actually doubled the amount of homes that they purchased during that time compared to last year.

So why would they go from twice the amount they were buying last year to stopping on October 18th?

Some people are saying that one reason might be they're seeing market changes, just like we've been talking about. They're seeing a lot more listings coming to market which creates pricing pressure and competition. So they may not be able to come in and pay these high prices and then resell it at an even higher price. Because Zillow runs a flipping operation, right?

So we're actually seeing that. I've got a lot of students and a lot of parts of the country that...

If you want a quick way to generate conversation through text with your Sphere of Influence, here's a great message that's resonating with a lot of my coaching students.

Look at your Sphere of Influence. Pull 5 or 10 people you're going to text today. And here's what you're going to say:

"Hey, have you ever looked at what your home is worth on Zillow? I'm curious as an agent, do you think it's sort of close, wrong, or right on the money?"

Watch what happens when you put this out to your Sphere of Influence.

Now, you can do it through a text or you could post it on social media. It's a great social media post and I guarantee you're going to get into a lot of conversations with people.

The end result of these conversations should be that Zillow is wrong 95% of the time.

In other words, 95% of the time, they don't get within 5% of their eventual sales price of the property. That Zillow's own data.

By the way, if you haven't looked at it,...

When's the last time you updated your bio and refreshed your overall brand?

Remember the brand that you are selling is YOU. And you need to refresh your brand at least once a year. You might hate getting your picture taken, but you need a new one every year. And I'm not just talking about a new headshot. You also need to hire a professional photographer to do an entire photo spread for you.

On top of that, you need to update your bio. The best bios that will drive sales your way include the following four things:

1. They're timely
2. They're relevant
3. They include the latest and greatest things happening in your life that help you connect with people in a real way
4. And they include any awards you've received or accomplishments you've achieved

Your #1 goal with your bio is to create an emotional connection with people. So that when they read about you, they can easily decide that they want to work with you.

Once you've updated your bio, you have to make sure...

Have you added a walk-thru video to all of your Zillow listings?

If not watch this quick tutorial for a lesson in how to add video using the Zillow Premier App for your phone. (You don't have to be a paid zillow premier partner to use the app or enhance your listings)

To download the app click this quick link: https://premieragent.zillow.com/products/app/

By adding video to your listings on Zillow you can instantly upgrade your listings, increase the number of showings, and potentially receive more offers.

Considering a Real Estate Coach? Schedule a Discovery Call 

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