You got to be in it to win it!
Have you entered the Estate Agent Networking Social Media Awards 2016 yet?
Are you considering it but asking the perfectly sensible question – What’s in it for me and mine?
Well let me have a go at answering that mi amigo.
Now there are loads of ways to publicise your estate agency.
There are the traditional methods including flyers, magazine adverts, portals and billboards.
There’s social media, blogging and good old fashioned networking.
But one of the most powerful ways to highlight just how good your agency is, at what it does, is often one of the most overlooked and dismissed by companies.
It’s simple, if you think your business is good enough then begin entering awards, starting with the EAN’s.
Not just industry awards but local ones too.
Some smaller agencies that I speak with are often put off of entering awards which see them go up against the ‘big boys and girls’.
To quote the wise words of Mr Miyagi in the Karate Kid movie ‘Fear not Daniel San.’
And remember Daniel bashed up kids who were much bigger and scarier than him.
Here are some examples how awards can help you raise profile and possibly win more instructions.
A client of mine was shortlisted as one of the best new businesses in their county in a chamber of commerce competition. We sent out a news release bigging their achievement up.
As expected the release got covered by the local media and the double whammy was if the client had won we would’ve had a second bite of the PR cherry by sending the media a ‘New Local Business wins Award.’
They didn’t win the award but they did get column inches – for FREE. Also their team’s morale soared as they felt ‘recognised.’
Here’s another example of award awesomeness.
A client with some very environmentally friendly aspects to their business entered a sustainability awards contest and came third, gaining local and regional publicity in the process.
Again their profile was raised which led to a lot of local people becoming more interested in their services.
The EAN awards are offering you a similar opportunity to get out there and look good in the eyes of potential vendors.
It’s not just the press coverage that entering and doing well in awards can bring it’s also the marketing and PR plus points you gain.
Being externally recognised for being good is great for your business and also creates a positive vibe among your team.
Plus if you do win you become an ‘award winning agent.’ And having that in your PR and marketing mix sure ain’t gonna hurt when you are pitching for new instructions.
Here are three easy tips if you are entering awards.
- Once you’ve found an awards competition you want to go for find out when the deadline for entries is. Sounds obvious but too many people leave it to the last minute and rush their submissions.
- Don’t employ a scatter gun approach. If you enter as many categories as possible just for the sake of it you’ll often spread your time and resources too thinly. Pick out the categories you genuinely feel you excel in and focus on those.
- Just go for it. You might think your chances of winning are slim but one thing is guaranteed – if you don’t enter your hopes of picking up an award are zero.
So good luck.
The link to more information about the EAN awards, judges and sponsors is below:
Jerry