black background gold illuminated text over top

There is one word that opens more doors than any other in commercial real estate. Do you know what it is? It is an adjective and it might very well describe you. You might have made a significant investment of time and money to feel comfortable using this word to describe yourself. You might know this word already, and know the fastest and easiest ways to get others to ascribe this word to you and thereby open their doors to you? Behind those doors are high-lifetime value accounts for you and your company. The one word that opens more doors than any other in commercial real estate is Expert, with a capital E. If you want to know the fastest and easiest way for you or your company to become known as THE EXPERTS, then read on…

A while back, I was attending a commercial real estate networking event, where another company owner and broker approached me. He told me his company had just spent a considerable amount of money on a consultant. He wanted to find out how to best influence his target market to perceive his company as the market experts. His company was told they needed to write and publish a book on commercial property leasing and/or commercial property investments to become instantly recognized as the market experts.

The expensive consultant was right. Writing, sharing your knowledge, and getting published (aka thought leadership) are a few of the fastest ways to be perceived as an expert on any subject. The other is to teach. Teaching, however, is far less visible to the general public than authoring content.

How do I know that he was right? Because, for many years, I used writing to convey the message that I am the market expert. First, as a regular columnist for the Commercial Property News (San Francisco) and later for the Bay Area’s largest independently owned newspaper. This was in addition to writing for my own company’s newsletter/publication. Getting those columns published netted me some very large commissions, both directly and indirectly.

Today it’s easier than ever to share your knowledge with your peers and ideal clients. Here are a few channels to consider leveraging:

  • Record videos and post on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and the list goes on
  • Write blogs that offer supportive content for your ideal audience
  • Analyze industry reports and share across your social media channels
  • Create cheat sheets or other tools that support their business

These are a few of the ways to amplify & share your expertise. And the latest social media research shows building a social community is one of the best ways to engage with your ideal clients and open a channel of communication. To learn more about creating content via these channels, look to the native platform for help. LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube all have resources to help you develop the content and deploy it on the channel. Plus, there are other sources like the Social Media Examiner, HubSpot, Hootsuite, Sproutsocial, to name a few. I’ve said this before, your job is to list & sell properties, so consider delegating or outsourcing this task.

Marketing has always been at the heart of my success and can be at the heart of yours, too. If you use thought leadership as a tactic to market yourself, it will help you stand out from the competition and save you time scouring the market looking for qualified prospects. This could mean becoming a regular columnist for a CRE news source or publishing your own book, podcast, or video series. Whatever you choose, using thought leadership is the fastest and easiest way to become THE EXPERT.

More from Top Dogs: