How Giving Back To Your Community Increases Your Value

I seriously loved being a real estate agent. In my opinion, it has to be one of the best jobs around. You have the flexibility and freedom to dictate how you would like your operation to run, you don’t have a boss to report to, and your earning potential is limitless. Life is pretty good when you’re in real estate. However, personal gain is not as enjoyable if you can’t spread the wealth around.

I’ve always considered myself an individual that likes give back. During my days as an agent, I was fortunate enough to build a successful brand and business. When opportunities presented themselves to contribute to the community, I never hesitated to jump on board. When I started gaining traction in the industry, I decided that I wanted to help local causes. I treated these organizations in the same matter as if they were any other vendor in my network…by building rapport.

Once I did my research and built rapport, I wrote a brief synopsis for each one on a sheet of paper. Initially, I limited myself to three organizations. During listing appointments, I informed clients that a portion of my commission would go to a charity of their choosing. This is when I would present the information sheets to the clients (you can download your own here) and let them pick the one that resonated with them most. The twist in all of this was that any donations made from my commission were in the clients’ names, not mine. I didn’t want the act of giving back to be about ME; I wanted my clients to feel special as well.

Eventually, as this concept caught on, my list of charities began to grow. In some cases, clients had their own organizations that they wanted to support and would write them in on the form. I took it upon myself to reach out to these newly listed organizations and built rapport with them as well. I wanted to build my brand’s association with as many community organizations as possible. Obviously, this made my company look great but it did so without being egotistical or being all about Tyler.

Even though I believe all of my Ty’s 35 are action items that you should be doing, this is one that you HAVE to do; especially in a time where the perception of real estate agents suck. With that said, here are tips to get started:

• Do some research of causes and organizations in your community and build rapport with them. Start with 3 and go from there.
• Create a form that gives an overview of each charity to present to your client. Don’t forget that you can also use mine.
• Decide how much of your commission should go to the charity. It doesn’t have to break your bank (keep in mind that many organizations appreciate anything you give them).
• Set it up with the title company to withdraw the donation from your commission check automatically and have it be in your clients’ name.

See? Super easy and done, so go out and execute. No exceptions, no excuses. MAKE IT HAPPEN.

I grew my business strictly by referrals. I had a system in place called Ty’s 35, designed to wow every single client I had. I’m going to share my system with you, week by week, so you too can start working by referral. No more door knocking, no more cold calling, no billboards, and no advertising.

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