iHOUSE Website Customer Close-Up
Twelve years ago Kevin Nash and his family moved to Germantown, WI. During the home buying process, Nash decided that real estate seemed like an interesting industry he too could succeed in. Before joining Coldwell Banker in 1998, Kevin Nash was a stay-at-home dad, and self proclaimed “soccer mom” with two small children. Once he made the move of going into real estate, his children were with him on listing appointments, showings, or in the office on a daily basis for the first 5 years. With this work and family balance as well as a flexible schedule, Nash was able to achieve Top Performer status every year for his entire real estate career while remaining dedicated to his family.
Kevin Nash and his family felt so welcome when they moved into Germantown, a mostly rural community in the Milwaukee area, it is no wonder that the community has helped foster Nash’s growth over the years. Throughout the town he is known as K Nash or Knash.com, a simple moniker that doesn’t fail to stick in the minds of the locals.
As Nash and his family got settled, he became more and more active in the community, raising his profile along the way, consistently known as K Nash, which he used as his iHOUSE [website] domain name. “The more people you meet, the more people know your name, then more people think of you when they want a REALTOR®.” In fact, Nash says almost all his business is from referrals, due to being well known in the community, his is the first name that pops into a buyer or seller’s head when they need a REALTOR®.
Kevin knows the power of self-promotion, “If you aren’t going to let people know who you are and what you do, who will?” A special moment for Kevin was when the President of Germantown had recalled that K Nash had put a business card in his hand every time the two met. That is just one anecdote that perfectly shows how K Nash succeeded as a newcomer in a small community.
Nash’s in person advertising is much like a successful viral campaign. When done right it just takes off and spreads like wildfire. K Nash is who he is. Nash does not have to remember to mention KNash.com, it always happens. In Germantown, he is as synonymous with real estate, as Kleenex is with facial tissue. While the connection with his business is organic, other successful decisions are calculated and well planned. For instance, when advertising a listing, Nash only mentions KNash.com as a source for more information on the listing. He says of the decision to leave business contact information off listings on sites like REALTOR.com®, “It is my job to sell the listing, and when buyers come to KNash.com they can see hundreds of pictures, a larger description, you could write a novel on every listing with iHOUSE, and learn about the community. It’s not right to promote my business on a client’s dime.”
Kevin loves the fact that he can hand someone a business card, which is the portal to all the information on KNash.com. He relies on his iHOUSE website to remain easy to use and effective. “I change and update my site so much! I have a different template for each season and holiday.” Above all, Nash depends on specific iHOUSE features to enhance his efforts. In particular, he loves the ability to add a listing with the MLS number, a huge time saver, as well as the automatic listing submission service. These features allow K Nash to focus on marketing the listing, and lets his iHOUSE site do the extra, time consuming details.
Germantown is not a community of cookie cutter homes, there is a one house per five-acre mandate in the Northern half of town, making each home and property an individual marketing effort. One of Kevin’s favorite pages on his Knash.com iHOUSE site is the SOLD page, where he showcases all his past sold homes, each of which has its own story and personality. Another local characteristic is the communal relationship between all of the real estate agents and brokers. Nash uses his iHOUSE website to send email campaigns to his database of local colleagues provided by iHOUSE and his own contacts announcing new listings and he says “They appreciate it [being informed of new listings].”
K Nash entered the real estate industry as the Internet was taking off as a source of information for house hunters and sellers and he has depended on it for his success. His determination and strategic placement has helped to make him the 2007 top agent in Menomonee Falls as well as a nationally recognized performer at Coldwell Banker (top 7%). He has become so accustomed to creating an image of quality that he is the go-to guy for colleagues and friends. When a new part-time REALTOR® joined his office, he helped her create and design Stylinhomes.com, a marriage between his colleague’s hair styling business (located next the Coldwell Banker office) and her career as a real estate agent.
Undeterred by the national real estate market, Nash is confident in his small town business and his online presence continuing to support his offline efforts. Kevin Nash is excited about what is to come. “Things are good, and you just keep moving forward to what lies ahead” he says, and Knash.com is a great example of evolving and changing within an industry and growing community no matter how large or small.
