People underestimate the value of the community.
Most business owners get hung up on the whole idea because they think it's two separate things. They wonder, "Am I going to have to run the community on top of running my business?" But that's not how it works. In reality, the best leverage you can have is when your business serves the community. It's common for businesses to compete only in the particular area they specialize in.
For example, if you're in real estate, you focus on buying and selling houses. And the marketing is all about personal branding. It's all about YourName.com and "call ME and start packing…" But when you think about your business as a service to your community, when you think about all the people who already live in, say, Winter Haven.
You realize that all those people, most of the time, are not in the market of selling or buying a home. It can be six, eight, or even ten years or more before someone decides to make a move.
This means that most of the time, people in your community are in the market of "living in a home." However, every communication Realtors have with those people are all about the real estate market.
Which is not very useful information.
So, when you shift your focus away from that particular thing, you do, in this case, away from buying and selling houses, and you decide to become an advocate for making people's lives better around their homes. A whole new world of opportunities suddenly becomes available to you. And you start playing a game where there's virtually no competition.
Because here's the thing.
There are numerous other things that people need beyond "buying a house" once they move into a new home. All the home improvements, the decorating, the furniture, significant repairs, the roof, and so on. And if you make it your job to serve the community of people who already live in your area, and you partner up and build relationships with other businesses which are also on the planet of what you do to help and improve their lives.
Then, whenever a new real estate need pops up, there's no way they'll seek somebody else. Because by now, you've become a known commodity.
People already know, like, and trust you.
And no amount of marketing can compete with that.