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Many kids are heading back to school this week (some have already started!) and if you have school age children it could be an excellent time to make some new contacts and get involved with their education while at the same time meeting new people who could potentially be clients within a few months or years. Even if you do not have school age children, it is still possible to get involved with the local school districts in your area and make some great contacts to further your real estate career.
Here are some ways you can pick up a few more clients by reaching out to schools in your area:
- 1. Make friends with the administrative assistants and secretaries: These people are typically the first to know any upcoming gossip and of course are aware of anyone interested in moving into the area or moving out. If they frequently get calls for people interested in moving into the area, why not offer to provide an information kit they could give potential new residents?
2. Get to Know Teachers and Coaches: Many teachers may live out of the school district and be looking for a shorter commute to the school. Be sure you get to know them, show up for parent-teacher conferences, and be supportive and involved with the other activities.
3. Be Involved With Parent Organizations: From the PTO to Band Boosters, there are plenty of organizations and activities to be involved with. Examples include volunteer to provide the school directory (with a small advertising blurb for you of course!) or to help find advertisers for the football program. You could also offer to create a free email newsletter for the parents.
4. Enlist Your Kids: Kids talk to each other a lot, and will know who may be moving in or out of the area. Supply older kids with business cards and make sure they have their eyes and ears open for business possibilities.
5. Organize a Career Day: High schools will have students who need to prepare to make career choices (real estate brokers, there’s a very big untapped resource for new prospects!) and younger grades will often learn about different jobs also. It gets you in front of kids who might remember to tell their parents about you, and you’ll also be able to meet other parents in businesses that might be good to network with.
Do you have any other ideas for networking and drumming up more business in the back to school season? Feel free to leave your comments below.
5 Comments
you pretty much covered most of it, i think.
perhaps you could use your contacts within the school to reach out to other decision makers in other schools, as well as persons the school deals with in government, as well as business (such as their suppliers of food, office supplies).
Yeah you are right kouji and I totally agree with you. When school starts meaning a lot of business will start especially those who have business in school supplies and etc.
Many times, my daughter goes on a field trip and there are other parents involved as well, which is a great opportunity to chat with them and let them know that I’m in real estate business.
Website Bucks County Real Estate
You are sooooooooooo right. I know an agent who has spent time on the local education board giving to the community and she has gotten numerous contacts and referrals. I know another with twins on the high school football team – same thing.
I totally agree.
There is no substitute for “natural networking” – this is what I call networking which happens completely naturally, because you are involved with something you genuinely care about “your kids” and let people in your community know you. Sometimes you may not even know where your next referral will come from. It may come from very indirect ways, but it will have something to do with you being active and known by local business people (and everyone either is a business person or is married to one or knows several of them very well.)
You will be catching two birds with one stone.