Real estate is a relationship business. It’s way more about “who you know” than “what you know.” But probably in a close second would be “who knows you.”
I speak all the time to my students and audiences about earning “top of mind awareness” from you customers, clients, and communities. It’s how the best in the business truly make a name for themselves and succeed in real estate.
Today is actor Kevin Bacon’s 64th birthday. Bacon was first cast as the militant Chip Diller in 1978’s Animal House and has been in more than 50 movies. Perhaps best known for his breakout role as Ren McCormack in 1984’s Footloose, Bacon has also appeared in blockbusters such as She’s Having a Baby, A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, and Wild Things. He most recently appears in the new Beverly Hills Cop sequel Axel F and MaXXXine.
Most people younger than the Silent Generation have probably referred to Kevin Bacon in conversations over cocktails while enjoying the unoffical parlor game known as Six Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon. As Wikipedia describes it…
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon or Bacon’s Law is where players challenge each other to arbitrarily choose an actor and then connect them to another actor via a film that both actors have appeared in together, repeating this process to try to find the shortest path that ultimately leads to prolific American actor Kevin Bacon. It rests on the assumption that anyone involved in the Hollywood film industry can be linked through their film roles to Bacon within six steps. The game’s name is a reference to “six degrees of separation”, a concept that posits that any two people on Earth are six or fewer acquaintance links apart.
Here’s an example…George Clooney was in Ocean’s Eleven with Matt Damon, Matt Damon was in The Departed with Jack Nicholson, and Jack Nicholson was in A Few Good Men with… Kevin Bacon.
Same Idea, Different Game
We used to play a modified version of this game in college where we just had to link one thing to the next using a common word or connection. Usually it was a fellow fraternity brother or someone we knew. Movie actors or roles were involved but it was the same concept. For example…
Kevin Bacon –> Bacon & Eggs –> Eggs Benedict –> Benedict Arnold –> Gene Arnold.
Are You Connected?
So how will your name come up this week? Who are you connected to? What’s your “six degrees of separation” from someone in your database, sphere of influence, or community?
You don’t need to know everyone, you just need to know someone. And if that someone knows someone who might know someone who has a real estate need, you might be in business.
Get out there and start building relationships, solving problems, and having fun. With that as your basis, you might only need three more connections to find your next opportunity.