If you are looking to build your business, two things are certain: you need to grow your database and give it the attention it deserves. While there are many strategies that can help you accomplish these goals, we’re going to focus on one strategy, in particular, today: farming.

In real estate, farming is when you determine a specific geographic area or demographic and focus on adding value to the people that you both know and don’t know in that farm. Ian Veling of Raleigh, North Carolina and Page Morgan of Atlanta, Georgia have mastered farming in their respective communities and we were lucky to sit down with both of them and learn from their experiences.

Both Ian and Page choose to farm because it was the most logical thing for them to do. When Ian embraced this technique, he had recently moved into a neighborhood with a higher price point than he was previously used to. To introduce himself to his own community, it made sense to start farming. Page had similar reasoning. As she was already very involved in the community and the schools, beginning to farm was a natural move.

If you’re looking to take a page from Ian and Page’s book, consider these tips before you get started:

• Determine the size of the potential farm
  Dig into the tax records for the area so that you can see how many units are in that particular subdivision. Page recommends targeting an area with at least 500 homes. If the subdivision or area you are looking at is smaller, consider looking at several consecutive subdivisions to make the commitment worthwhile.
• Know the turnover rate of the area
  Do your research and find out how many homes have sold in that particular area over the past five years to ensure there is enough sales activity. Page tells us that she looks for a 10 percent turnover every year. For instance, in a 500-unit farm, 50 transactions will take place in a given year.
• Consider the mail routes
  When looking to target a particular area, it’s important to do your due diligence on the mail routes you’d be accessing. To be cost-effective, Ian recommends making sure that all of the homes are on the same mail route.
• Look into the potential farm’s social media
  Find out if the area you’re hoping to farm has an established Facebook group that you’d have access to in order to market to the people in the farm directly. If it doesn’t – that’s a great opportunity to create something of value for the community! If it does, find out if you can join it, and become a moderator or an administrator for the group. For Ian, having a regular social media presence in his neighborhood is one of the most important pieces of his farming program.

Once you’ve done your research, pinpointed an area, and are prepared to farm, both Ian and Page suggest keeping the following advice in mind:

• Start with supporting your community
  When it comes to your farm area, ask yourself, “What can I do to help?” When you look to help the community in a natural and genuine way, it shows. Business will follow.
• Build enough credibility in your area that people trust you
  Actively engage in the community. You don’t have to play the role of hero. Rather, help your community members to be the heroes. You can be their guide in doing so.
• Host events in your farm
  There are multiple benefits to hosting events in your farm. Not only are you out and about with community members building relationships and providing fun interactions, but you’re also creating natural ways to keep in touch with the farm. For instance, touch members of your farm through event invitations, follow-ups, recaps, and photo opportunities.

• Wear branded clothing when you are out and about in the community
  When you covertly remind people who you are and what you do through the clothing you wear, you don’t have to talk about real estate for them to think of you when it comes to real estate. You can make a difference in your community and people are subtly reminded about your role as an agent.

When you are strategic about supporting your farm, great things can happen. How have you succeeded in taking your business to the next level by contributing to your community?