Here's How To Get Involved At Inman. Raise Your Hand, Please!

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Together we can create opportunities for ourselves and one another, showcase our work to the world and ensure the narrative includes our voices. This is a paraphrased version of my “together we” statement from the WomanUP! stage.

As frustrating as it can be to put energy toward why women’s perspectives matter, especially in industries where they are thoroughly underrepresented, we still need to have those discussions. We still need to invite people (you) to come forth and share their stories so that they don’t get left out altogether.

As the head of Inman’s contributor program, I’ve made it my mission to highlight as many women, minority and “othered” voices as possible by asking — onstage and at virtual events, on the pages of Inman, and I’m going to ask right now right now. But there’s still so much work to be done. About two-thirds of the contributor program is male. An even smaller number falls into the LGBTQ+ category. And even fewer in the “disabled” category.

The catalyst for this article was my short talk at WomanUP! 2023, but I want to use this opportunity to let every person in real estate know that they are welcome to share their perspective at Inman.

Today, we’ll look through the lens of women in real estate at why some pros are hesitant to contribute. In addition, we’ll look at some of the opportunities available, through the lens of what Inman has to offer because, as the head of Inman’s contributor’s program, that’s what I know.

This article is not meant to sell you on Inman. These same opportunities are available at associations, boards, MLSs, non-profit organizations, local news, national media, conferences and more.

Pro tip: Check out Inman’s events calendar for all the haps. Maybe there’s an opportunity waiting for you there.

It all starts with raising your hand and letting people know you have something to say.

Why it can be tough to get the much-needed female perspective

There’s a leadership gap that poorly represents the 62 percent of women in real estate. 2023 WomanUP! data showed that the number of women in executive positions has decreased from 21 percent in 2019, to 15 percent in 2023.

One way to help close the gap is to put a spotlight on it and all the amazing work that women do that deserves to be amplified.

We need more women to step into leadership, and that starts with sharing your perspective, raising your hand and giving your wisdom.

The “service team” at Inman is full of working moms. We fully understand the many roadblocks that women face when asked to do something extra or outside of their comfort zone.

Here are a few of the things that may be holding you back from contributing (or from creating content in general):

No story

Let’s start by dissuading you of the notion that you don’t have a story. You absolutely, 100 percent have a story. Maybe you haven’t figured out what it is yet, but it’s there.

Sometimes simply attending the events, reading the articles, journaling, scrolling around on social media, etc., can help you home in on what that story is and how you can best tell it. Sometimes just speaking on it with other professionals can help clarify and bring up new points and perspectives.

There are many people — like leadership over at WomanUP! or Inman’s Laura Monroe, Katie Gaudu and myself — who are happy to sit down and hear your story to help you figure out how to best share it.

Bandwidth

Lack of bandwidth, lack of time, lack of story, lack of confidence — these are all reasons that people shy away from contributing.

Saying yes leads to more opportunities, and ideally, you can leverage those opportunities for more opportunities, whether that be in the form of referrals, connections, a bigger stage, your next endeavor. But that only happens if you make the time in the first place.

The “I don’t have time” problem is very real.

The past few years have been rough on us all and the pandemic has been especially tough on women, according to studies on “the mental load.”

“Numerous studies show that women in heterosexual relationships still do the bulk of housework and childcare. Many couples aim to split their responsibilities 50:50, yet for various structural and socio-economic reasons, end up allocating tasks along typically gendered lines. Even in couples who think that they have achieved an equal division of labour, the more hidden forms of care generally end up falling to the woman.

“In fact, an increasing body of research indicates that, for household responsibilities, women perform far more cognitive and emotional labour than men. Understanding why could help explain why gender equality has not only stalled, but is going backwards, despite being more discussed than ever. And a broader understanding of this behind-the-scenes labour could help couples redistribute the work more equally – something that, while initially difficult, could play a significant role in helping mothers lighten their load.” — BBC.com

In real estate, many are running businesses — in what has been a rollercoaster of a market over the past three years — on top of the at-home stress. But keep in mind there are a multitude of opportunities mentioned below, some of which only require the time it takes to send an email or two.

And even with contributing, the cadence is up to you. We understand that timing is everything, and that markets fluctuate. If you have a particularly tough or busy season, take a hiatus, and we’ll welcome you back with open arms; all we ask is open communication.

Smart business

Also, there are a ton of professionals who integrate their passions and goals into their daily habits, which gives them the time, space and energy to take on new things. If you’re just getting started in content or real estate, here are a few smart business content moves from the playbooks of Inman contributors who are raking in opportunities from their willingness to give it all away.

Pam Blair

Here’s a stellar example: Broker-owner Pam Blair, AKA Yoga Bug Real Estate. In 2020, Blair decided it was time to start her own brokerage. She went out and bought a Shasta Airflyte Trailer and opened up their “lil bug,” which blends her two favorites: real estate and (you guessed it!) yoga.

Her love of yoga has led to a business model based around her passion, in which she connects with like-minded clients who want to work with her because they’re aligned. To solve the “time problem,” a lot of her passions bleed into her day-to-day business. For example, Blair hikes sprawling mountain trails in Oregon (on the weekly) and shares them on Instagram.

Here’s why it’s genius.

She’s:

Doing what she loves.
Ticking off the social media to-dos while building a brand.
Staying part of the conversation.
Standing out from the other boring market reports. I don’t even live in Oregon, but I’ll watch her hikes because, as a wheelchair user, she’s showing me areas I probably won’t ever see IRL.
Gently letting people know she’s the expert in her area (both the physical area and the real estate market) organically, by doing something she loves anyway.
Sewing in this accountability where her health helps her get business, and getting business depends on her being active. It all feeds into the big picture of who she wants to be holistically, which is fulfilling in itself. By structuring her business model this way, it gives her leverage to take the critical self-care conversation to much larger audiences.
Giving back to the industry at large. Attend a real estate conference with Blair, and odds are, you’ll have a chance to do yoga with her. She believes in her message and walks the walk.
Staying the course no matter how the weather looks.

When your business model is so authentically you, it becomes easier to avoid outside factors, Blair said.

Brandon Doyle

Another brilliant example from our contributors is Brandon Doyle, who set out to interview 100 real estate professionals this year. We have just begun to publish the series on Inman, and it will range from CEOs to tech leaders to perhaps even Inman staff.

That’s a wide breadth of knowledge that Doyle is gathering and dispersing at no cost to himself or others, and that’s the kind of giving, both on Doyle and his subjects’ parts, that makes the industry better.

But also, think about all the connections he’s making along the way and all of the people who didn’t know him before but who certainly will in the future.

Now think about applying this strategy to local business owners or interesting residents or professionals in any space you’re trying to get a foothold in. I’m not suggesting everyone run out and start doing 100 interviews with real estate pros. All this is simply to say that there are many smart ways to create content that both feeds the beast (your social media, blog, lead gen, building credibility, online prosepecting, etc.) and can further your business at the same time.

In fact, if you’re already making content that’s client-facing, you already have what you need. Some of the best stories on Inman are about how agents are handling [insert any given crisis, market turn or situation] with their clients. Consider how to repurpose what you already have.

Pro tip: Take what you learn, and apply it to other aspects of your career.

If you could build trust with potential prospects, carve out a space in which you stand out, connect with referral-bearing colleagues, and remind your sphere that you’re the trusted expert who will help guide them through a challenging market, would you?

If so, read on for how to get involved.

Ready to raise your hand? Here are a few pointers to keep in mind

Here are a few general reminders for anyone who’s stepping up:

Do your research

Before you reach out to or meet with anyone, make sure you fully understand the opportunity, the audience and the person on the other side of the conversation. There’s no shame in Googling.

If you’re unsure of exactly what opportunities are available, there’s no harm in asking someone to point you in the right direction. Usually, this is done best via email to get the ball rolling.

But once you’re ready, pitch-in-hand, to take on the opportunity, that’s usually a good time to schedule a call in whatever form that looks like to the person you’re trying to work with.

Or if there’s an application process, while you wait for word back, start preparing to take that call by researching the org, the leaders and your contact. Take a good hard look at the agenda, if you’re looking to speak. Make sure you RTFP, the editor’s way of saying, “read the effing paper.” Search the archives, understand the conversation in the zeitgeist.

Know what they’re looking for and how your expertise will add something to the conversation.

If you don’t have a fully fleshed-out idea, make that clear before you have a call.

Formulate a pitch

Here’s a brief rundown of what we (and probably most news organizations) are looking for editorially.

Service

On the contributor side of Inman, we focus on “service journalism.” Fondly referred to as “refrigerator journalism,” service is simply those vital tips that one might want to clip out from the newspapers of yesteryear to stick on the fridge for later use. Think recipes and handy tips. Those vital notes that’ll come in handy.

The one requirement of a contributed story is that it has tangible takeaways that real estate professionals can apply to their businesses today, which is why you’ll see a lot of how-tos, listicles and charticles coming from our “service team,” who handle all of the contributed pieces. (More on how to become a contributor below.)

If you’re writing an opinion piece, or an op-ed, it should be tied to a time peg: What’s the reason we’re telling this story now? It should also have a strong stance and a call to action: What do you want to see happen? How can readers help?

News

Inman also has a news arm, run by Jotham Sederstrom and staffed by award-winning journalists.

We invite you to send us pitches for timely news stories to Press@Inman.com. Please be clear in the email subject line that it’s a pitch. Also, immediately answer the following questions (because everyone’s time-crunched and looking for the TL;DR):

Who, what, why, where, when, how?
Why should we (and our readers care)?
Why is this important right now?

For a rundown of how to pitch yourself, Lisa Fettner, Christie’s International Real Estate’s self-professed “stage mom,” wrote this excellent how-to-get-started piece with tips from the experts who call the shots. Contributor Jeremy Knauff also wrote an excellent article on creating a DIY PR plan.

Say YES!

Shonda Rhimes wrote a whole book about the power of saying yes. I can attest to exactly how scary it can be to step outside of your comfort zone, but also how rewarding. About a year ago, I spoke at my first in-person real estate event, and I’ll make my sixth stage appearance later this summer. My point here is that opportunities can avalanche quickly.

This is just my story, and there are countless others simply from regular contributors to our industry. Like Christy Murdock, an Inman regular who gives her knowledge regularly to Realtors Associations and the Residential Real Estate Council, and Dr. Lee Davenport, who has spoken at several industry events on DEI, which she writes about on Inman as well.

Similarly, you’ll often see Inman contributors and ambassadors onstage, whether that be virtually through Inman Access or at an in-person Connect, and vice versa — speakers will become contributors and ambassadors.

Connect

If you say yes to a new opportunity, be sure to make those connections. Connect on social media with other conference attendees, then take the conversation offline. Get to know the other “contributors” in your respective field. Seek out those connections, even when they’re not offered outright.

Remember Pam Blair and Brandon Doyle from earlier? They are excellent examples of letting your colleagues, clients and prospects know what you’re doing and where your passions lie without being overly salesy.

Be that one agent everyone knows is from [insert your town here] or who everyone knows as the [insert your niche here] expert.

There’s one caveat there: Provide more value than you take. That should probably be what we’re always striving for in any partnership, but especially one in which you hope to leverage future opportunities, make sure you’re providing value. The best of the best always close with, “And what more can I do for you?”

Show your work

Make sure everyone knows you’re out there in the real estate world talking about your expertise and maybe even teaching other real estate professionals. When you’re onsite at events, think blog posts repurposed into social media content, site-generated social media content like woman-on-the-street interviews, etc.

When you write a post that publishes on a new source, for example, you want to blast it out to your network. It’s a very common journalistic practice because it’s great for the news org, which typically supports the author back, and it’s great for the author, too. Plus, your entire sphere sees your work published in a credible news source, and who doesn’t want to work with the agent the media turns to as a trusted resource?

Support others who are raising their hands

If you’ve already spoken, written, given every kind of insight you’ve got, please pull others up. Encourage them to contribute in any way shape or form. Give them the likes and comments their work deserves. Social proof is very powerful today. A simple like or comment can start a wave of interaction. It also keeps you in the conversation.

Here’s how to get involved at Inman

Many want the flashy, yet short-lived joy that comes with being onstage. However, the long game is in the content that lives on long past an event. Also, contributing in other ways is often how the best speakers are found. Not everyone is ready for the stage right away. (I still have to convince myself that I’m ready.)

That’s partially because it takes time to master the craft, work on stage presence and delivery, and find what resonates while waiting for that next stage opportunity.

If your goal is to get on stage at an event, it’s smart to have clips within the organization to point to, whether they’re videos and articles you’ve submitted as contributions or times when you’ve been a resource for a reporter.

It’s also smart to make video so that The Powers That Be can see what you’re like onstage or on camera well before you even meet. That’s kind of the idea of making video in general, right? It furthers those know, like, trust relationships before meeting.

Pro tip: Video also helps decision-makers find your strengths content-wise and get to know you and how you speak to your passions better.

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Keep in mind that Inman is an ecosystem that encompasses the pages of our editorial, our onstage events and our ambassador team, and there are always new opportunities emerging.