Lynn Minnick

By Lynn Minnick

I’ve been marketing the crazy out of a high-end listing.  (Yes, I’m fairly sure I just made up that expression…but this is about getting creative, right?)  This is easily the hardest I’ve ever worked to sell a listing.  In this market, I went in knowing it would be a challenge, armed with an arsenal of creative ideas and a full social media marketing plan.  Taking a partner on this project was necessary because I knew I would be traveling abroad for an extended time during the listing period, but it has been great to have someone to bounce ideas around with. Because of this, we’ve done some interesting things that might give you a few ideas.

Monica Seles

We started off with hosting “An Evening With Monica Seles” in NYC through the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I., and by sponsoring the Campbell Tennis Tournament.  We did this because the property has a Har-Tru tennis court overlooking the Connecticut River.  (See, Monica is such a good sport – having her picture taken with our sign!)  Sure, we had broker tours as well as the requisite broker’s open house, but we made it memorable by creating a micro-cocktail named after the property (we called it “The Knowles”), sushi and seafood appetizers, a wine and dessert tasting by the river, and an amazing door prize giveaway (tickets to the U.S. Open!).

We’ve been in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and on every online venue we should be.  We’ve targeted the agents selling high-end waterfronts with glossy mailers and e-mails.

We spent a lot of money having two video tours done – the client didn’t like how the first one came out, so we had to hire a second videographer from New York for a reshoot.  The new video came out great and really captures the essence and value of the property being a waterfront.  The next step was to make sure people actually see the video. My partner created a killer website for the property.  Our listing has a Facebook fan page and Twitter account where I upload new photos and host online contests, etc.

It was time to explore the connections I’ve been busy building all this time.  What’s the use of networking if you don’t use it?  We approached brokers who are active online and asked them to share the link to our website.  We worked to get mentioned by bloggers (thanks www.HookedonHouses.net for blogging and tweeting about us!) and of course I wrote about the listing (and link to the video) on my own blog! Another connection that turned out well for us was a friend of a friend who is a “REALTOR® to the Stars” in California who agreed to post our listing and website link on her own website under an “Out of Area Listings” tab.  How great is that? All we had to do was ask.

What’s next? A webcam maybe, pointed toward the river so buyers can see how fantastic the view is, and maybe spy a boat or two cruising by so they can imagine themselves sitting by the river.  Imagine all the places we can link that to!  It’s all about being creative.

Lynn Minnick is a REALTOR® in Connecticut known for her love of all things international, organic, travel and design. Connect with her at thegreenctrealtor.blogspot.com or @LynnMinnick.