Behind the Scenes of a Real Estate Content Hurricane
At the beginning of January 2020, I joined Tacoma Real Estate Agent Marguerite Martin down in Portland for a 2-day Content Hurricane. Marguerite has a website called MovetoTacoma.com, and I’ve worked with her on content for the website to varying degrees since its launch in 2015.
During 2019, Marguerite experimented with a “Content Tsunami,” and after discussing our business goals for 2020, the more robust (and mildly insane) “Content Hurricane” was born.
But first, a little background info!
What is MovetoTacoma.com?
MovetoTacoma.com is the *ultimate* community marketing website. MovetoTacoma.com is ALL about Tacoma, and you’ll find a blog packed with local recommendations, the Move to Tacoma podcast (Marguerite has interviewed artists, business owners, local politicians, etc.), an interactive neighborhood map, TryTacoma.tv, and more. Marguerite has also been instrumental in launching Adults Civic Happy Hour and the Tacoma AF Music Series. The website is the hub of it all, and the site is all about showcasing what makes the City of Destiny so special. Move to Tacoma has also become a catalyst for discussing the many important issues that affect Tacomans.
Through Move to Tacoma, Marguerite is able to generate real estate leads (which she much prefers to call “clients”), and she makes the bulk of her income from referring out those leads to other agents instead of transacting real estate in the traditional way. Marguerite calls this process “matchmaking”—after she’s contacted by someone who wants to buy or sell a home in Tacoma, Marguerite matches that person to the real estate agent who she feels is best for the job based on neighborhood expertise, personality fit, experience, home type, etc.
How is Marguerite Funding Her Sabbatical in Portland?
Most agents who have a community-focused website to attract leads are also transacting. But when Marguerite moved to Portland at the end of 2018 for a sabbatical with no particular end in sight, she needed a sustainable way to keep the referrals coming in. For all of the juicy behind-the-scenes secrets on Marguerite’s sabbatical and how she funds her time in Portland, we have an ENTIRE podcast episode where I interview Marguerite about it all here on our Community Marketing Course website.
The Content Hurricane is Born
During Marguerite’s transition of moving to Portland for her sabbatical, she took a break from creating content, but all of the work she had already put into Move to Tacoma was paying off. Big time. The inquiries kept coming in through the website, and Marguerite kept referring out clients to other real estate agents.
In 2019, Marguerite knew it was time to invest in the site again, and this is when the Content Tsunami was born. The idea here was to create 30 pieces of content (blog posts + new neighborhood pages) in 30 days. Recognizing her tendency for cyclical creativity and productivity, instead of committing to churn out one blog post a week for a year or something similar, she decided that she would hunker down for short, set period of time, and create a deluge of blog posts and social media posts for Move to Tacoma.
The Content Tsunami created a revived interest in the website again, and the inquiries started to come in even more frequently. Now, the catch here is that those referral commission checks don’t start coming in as soon as you refer someone out. In fact, Marguerite has a 4-month average closing time (the time between when she first refers someone to a real estate agent and when she finally gets paid). Thankfully, the Content Tsunami was a wise investment—as a result of the Content Tsunami, Marguerite closed 50% of her 2019 referrals during the last 8 weeks of 2019.
Having these kind of results requires some serious planning ahead. Back in December 2019 when Marguerite and I were sharing our plans and goals for 2020, she told me about some of her referral and financial goals. In 2020, Marguerite wanted to double the number of closed referrals from 2019, returning to her pre-sabbatical 2017 referral volume. (It just so happens that during 2017, Marguerite and I were working regularly together on Move to Tacoma and I was doing Marguerite’s content distribution. There has certainly been a correlation between investment = income. Who would have guessed! ;P) Based on the stats she had from her Content Tsunami, we quickly realized she needed to frontload new, juicy content for Move to Tacoma during the first part of 2020 in order to make the kind of money she wanted to in 2020. We decided (ok—I strongly advised/(forced?)) that she needed to publish a whopping 24 blog posts in 90 days (basically publish blogs 8x month for 3 months). Aaaand the Content Hurricane was born!
Day 1 of Content Hurricane
To get it all done, Marguerite hired me to come down to Portland (I live in Seattle) for 2 entire days of nonstop content creation. She paid me my day rate ($1,000/day) plus my train ticket and stay (and absolutely spoiled me with some fab Portland cuisine…!). The week before Content Hurricane, we had a meeting via Zoom to talk about content ideas and firm up how we’d use our epic 2 days together. Making sure we had a plan in place was crucial to making the most of our 2 days.
I took the train down on a Sunday night, and on Monday morning, we headed to CENTRL Office (a coworking space with a few locations in Portland). During our Uber ride there, we mapped out the morning, and I set the goal of us finishing 6 blog posts EACH before lunch. (Yes, finishing 12 blog posts total before lunch might have been a bit unrealistic, but I love a challenge and a goal to stay motivated!). CENTRL was the perfect space to came out at—on the first day we went to the Pearl District location, and I loved the big tables, the fast wifi, and the always hot and available coffee. By the time we headed out for lunch at noon, Marguerite had finished 3 blog posts and I had completed 4. Not too shabby!
We met up with Portland Real Estate Agent Lauren Goché at Oven and Shaker (maybe the best pizza in town according to Marguerite, and also probably the best kale salad ever) and got to hear all about this amazing lady’s own Portland community marketing website that she has in the works. I cannot WAIT to see Lauren’s site once it launches—I’m so impressed with her plans for it and that’s all I’m gonna say, ‘cause #secrets. (Follow Lauren here and here so you can be the first to know when her site launches.)
We went back to the coworking space and dove into our work until it was time to meet up with some of Marguerite’s past clients from Tacoma who were road tripping through Portland. When they found out what we were working on, they gave us more ideas for great posts!
At the end of day 1 of Content Hurricane, we had finished a total of 14 (of 24) blog posts! We were exhausted and our brains were kind of broken by the end of the day, but we felt proud about what we had created. It’s kind of crazy to think that a lot of this content will help people find MovetoTacoma.com (SEO FTW!) and maybe even help them decide to MOVE there for literally years to come.
Day 2 of Content Hurricane
On day 2, went went to CENTRL Office again, but this time we checked out the Downtown Portland location. We knew we needed to finish 10 blog posts to hit our 24 blog post goal, but I also wanted to have some extra time to update some of Move to Tacoma’s older blog posts. (Updating old content is important!)
We kept banging out those blog posts, took a break for donuts from Blue Star Donuts next door (I got a matcha donut, omg, so good!), and then had a quick call with the lovely Amy Curtis. Amy is a real estate agent from Lockport, IL and she is also almost done working her way through our Community Marketing Course (which you can work through at your own pace). She had a few ideas to mull over with us, and we’re legit so excited for Amy to start a new chapter of blogging. This lady is a heartfelt storyteller, and I know we’re in for a treat.
Marguerite and I got back to work again, grabbed a VERY healthy lunch at Kure Superfood Cafe, and kept working until we hit our 24 blog post goal right before 5pm. YESSS!
To be honest, I thought that 24 blog posts was a bit of a stretch goal for the 2 days. And we weren’t creating some flimsy, throwaway posts—most of the blog posts we wrote were well-researched, meaty, and offer real insight as to what it’s like to live in Tacoma.
But we weren’t done yet—we had a few more (shorter) blog posts we wanted to cross off of the list, and we had a list of blog posts to update as well, so we dove into that right up until it was time to grab my train at 7:20pm. All in all, we finished a total of 30 blog posts during the 2 days. That’s 30 fresh (and a couple of freshened up!) blog posts to share with the world during the next 90 days (aka the distribution phase!).
Once the blog posts were all written, we were really only about halfway there as far as sending them out into the world. I told Marguerite that I would edit, upload, format, AND find photos for the posts as part of the 2-day Content Hurricane, and I estimate that this will take me at least another day of work on my own. (Finding photos and formatting is time-consuming business.)
We also needed a distribution plan, so I put together a Google spreadsheet that lists the date each post will be published, as well as our distribution plan (where will we post everything, how much $ will we boost it for, etc.). Marguerite has also budgeted to hire me to distribute everything for her as well, and we plan to post each blog post on Facebook, Instagram (I’ll be designing a unique graphic to represent each post, as well as putting together an Instagram story for each blog post), Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google My Business. We’ll also be sending out a Move to Tacoma newsletter each month that shares all of the content again.
The Big Benefits of Our Content Hurricane
There was SO much value in sitting right across the table from Marguerite for 2 entire days. Being able to have Marguerite right there when I had a quick question was priceless, AND Marguerite could ask me questions right there on the spot, too. We were constantly running things by each other, and as a result, I know we created higher quality content in a MUCH more timely manner than we could have apart.
I love that I have everything I need to roll out 3 entire months *packed* with high-quality content for Marguerite without having to bother her. While I don’t recommend the “set it and forget it” method (you should be showing up on social media and engaging with your audience when they comment on your new posts!), 99% of Marguerite’s part is done. I know how it can be for real estate agents—you all are ALWAYS on the go (both physically AND mentally), and this can make it hard for me to get the information I need to create content for you. Even though I try to reduce the amount of back and forth as much as possible, there are often clarifying questions, edits to review, or facts I need to proceed with a blog post. I know that the back and forth can be really hard on an agent who is trying to focus on transacting, and I love that I won’t have to pester her for at least the next 3 months.
Marguerite blocked out our 2 days of Content Hurricane on her calendar, and she did not allow disruptions. I had her full focus, and she was IN THE ZONE. It can be hard to get this lady to sit still, but she knew she only had me there for 2 days and we needed to make the most of it. She even bought me a pass to her coworking space on both days, ensuring that we had a place where we’d feel productive, have impeccable wifi, and be able to successfully collaborate.
And there you have it! I can’t wait to hear how many referrals Marguerite gets in 2020—it’s gonna be a big year!
