Thread by @BarbaraCorcoran

In the early years of building The Corcoran Group, I was working 24/7 doing my best to stay in business through a terrible recession.

But I happened upon something that taught me I didn’t have to work alone to build my brand. I had a hidden partner just waiting to be called on, and that partner was called publicity.

Here’s how it happened: I was sitting at my desk one day when one of my top agents walked into my office and complained that we weren't advertising enough. Of course, I wasn’t advertising! I didn't have any money, and nobody was listening anyway!

“How are people ever going to find us if you're not even advertising?” She complained. And she wasn’t wrong, it was a good question. So in an attempt to please her and make another go of it, I wrote my first industry report.

I simply added up our 14 sales for the year and came up with an average apartment price. That's it. I stuck a name on top, The Corcoran Report, and promptly mailed the report out to every single reporter who wrote for The New York Times.

Nobody called. But to my surprise a few days later, I flipped to the front page of the real estate section in the New York Times and I saw the headline, “Study Shows Co-Op Prices Nearly Quintupled”

and the article said, “According to Barbara Corcoran, the President The Corcoran Group…: They quoted my report, and I couldn't believe my eyes! And right after that, our phones never stopped ringing. It immediately put us on the map.

I could hear my salespeople answer the phones and say, “Oh, you’ve heard of us?!” I was still the same small company I was the week before, but I now had the power of the press behind me, and everyone treated us differently.

After that, I started churning out reports on everything I could. When I read that Madonna was pregnant with her 1st baby, I put out a report on what Madonna would be looking for in an apartment and called it “The Madonna Report.” Was she looking for an apartment? I didn’t know!

Did Madonna call me up and give me her wishlist? Of course not! I simply made a list of all the things any wealthy expecting mother would want: a bigger apartment, more bedrooms, nice views, maybe an outdoor terrace. And the press loved it!

I was quoted on the news that night and in the papers as, “Celebrity broker Barbara Corcoran…” I never got Madonna as a client, but it did catch the attention of Richard Gere, and I sold him an apartment!

The Corcoran Report taught me one of the most important lessons in business: Perception creates reality. If you can create the image that you’re bigger, fancier, and greater than you are, the reality will follow. #perception #advertising #realestate #smallbusiness #PR