Ed. Note: Seth Godin is a marketing guru and well-known author who writes the most popular marketing blog in the world. I read his blog nearly every day and nearly always find myself saying “What Seth just said.” Still, from time to time, I might have an added thought or comment to add. So, I am doing it here. BTW, Seth does not allow comments on his blog, so feel free to make a comment about his original post or even on my follow up. And I acknowledge that coming up with the original idea is much harder than just commenting on it.
Time to start a newspaper
What should not-so-busy real estate brokers do?
Why not start a local newspaper?
Here’s how I would do it. Assume you’ve got six people in your office. Each person is responsible to do two things each day:
- Interview a local business, a local student or a local political activist. You can do it by phone, it can be very short and it might take you ten minutes.
- Get 20 households to ‘subscribe’ by giving you their email address and asking for a free subscription. You can use direct contact or flyers or speeches to get your list.
Twice a week, send out the ‘newspaper’ by email. After one week, it will have more than 500 subscribers and contain more than 20 interesting short articles or quotes about people in the neighborhood. Within a month, (if it’s any good) every single person in town who matters will be reading it and forwarding it along to others.
It will cost you nothing. It will become your gift to the community. And it will be a long lasting asset that belongs to you, not to the competition. (And yes, you can do this if you’re a plumber or a chiropractor. And yes, you can do this if ‘local’ isn’t geographic for you, but vertical).
Own your Zip code. The next frontier is local, and this is a great way to start.
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What GL Just Said About What Seth Just Said
Good idea but Seth assumes that just because he can write so easily, fast and well, that others can too. But his idea, from the 40,000-foot level, is brilliant because all of us just love reading stories about others in our local areas.
The content I would like to see in this “newspaper” are simply stories from customers or prospects that the real estate agent has helped. If you think “stories” instead of interviews, it might make the writing job easier for you. Just tell the story about how you helped and focus on the ‘pain’ the customer had before you arrived.
Say you are a plumber. After you have finished the job, when you ask if the work has been done satisfactorily, ask if the customer would allow you to write the story for others to see. Reading about it might help others. Some people won’t, being too private, whatever. But a few will and your newsletter would be topical and helpful in that others might do some preventive maintenance. Goodwill will flow to you.
Plus it is easier to write up a story on the job you did, and you can showcase your expertise.
Seth’s larger point is, I think, that often we hesitate in letting others know our “insider secrets,” thinking if customers just knew how to do it themselves, we will lose the business. So we better keep it all mysterious. It is counter-intuitive, but true:
The more you give, the more you get back.
Further note: if writing still intimidates you, find a kid who loves to write, let him or her do it.
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I actually like Seth’s idea, and since I’ve been in the news business before, it makes some sense to me to consider a local paper (though you’re right, it’s not for everyone.) A couple of years ago, I considered this, and even considered limiting it to my own ZIP Code! So his “own your own ZIP Code is right on target.
I’m sure you noticed that he didn’t talk about making this thing profitable. Advertising in the e-newspaper is definitely possible, however, especially once it gets a couple thousand subscribers.
His advice does seem a bit counterintuitive, since newspapers all over the place are failing. But if done right – and without hundreds of gallons of ink and acres of paper required – it might just work.
I’m a huge proponent of electronically-delivered news, and think that’s the way almost all papers will go in the next decade.
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Stephen
http://twitter.com/nhprman
I don’t think it’s really about the writing quality. Our local newspaper has writers from the most marginal journalism and writing backgrounds imaginable. That’s not the point of what Seth is saying.
It’s the doing, and figuring out who is the least marginal among your group at writing, and taking the idea further. Grab interns from local college English or journalism programs if you are concerned about the writing. But the idea makes sense regardless.
Exactly Jack. My only smaller point was that lack of writing skill should not stop anyone from trying. There is always a way. And you described a winning approach.