Viewing your city through the eyes of a tourist can make the mundane magical

I am one day away from leaving home for Elite Retreat ‘24 on Hayman Island, and I have about three days’ worth of work left to do.

Hayman is an absolutely stunning place in the Whitsundays in Queensland.

Its pristine white sandy beaches, crystal-clear turquoise waters, and lush tropical palm trees make it a paradise for nature lovers and beach enthusiasts alike.

I like to know a bit about where I’m going (history, etc.), so I used ChatGPT to find out more about the location.

I am planning a trip to Hayman Island and want a well-structured factbook with diverse and interesting facts about the city. Compile information into categories such as historical events, iconic landmarks, cultural practices, popular foods, influential people who have visited the island, and lesser-known spots. Each category should contain several detailed facts with explanations and context to give a comprehensive overview of what makes Hayman Island unique. Please source all information and present it in a table format for easy reference.

The response taught me a fair bit about Hayman (note this was with ChatGPT-4o)

As I read this, it reminded me of the classic real estate content strategy: “Act like a tourist in your own area.”

I’m not sure who came up with it first but it’s a great way for you to look at the awesome places in your neighbourhood with fresh eyes.

And it’s something that not too many agents do, or do well.

I’ve often wondered if it's because it’s stuff you all know so well, so therefore it’s boring to you, and then, if it’s boring to you, how can it be interesting to someone else?

But to people moving into the area, that stuff you consider not very interesting is super interesting!

Drawing on my own experiences once again, I remember moving to Queensland after living in Sydney for 30 years and not really knowing any of the simple things:

• Where to get fresh fish

• Where the best dog parks are

• Where the best Thai is

• … the list goes on

So, I still think part of an agent’s content strategy should revolve around “The best…. x,y,z “ the neighbourhood has to offer, or “The reason x is y in z…” or something similar.

If you now scan down ChatGPT’s answer on Hayman with that lens on, you basically have a topic list for social posts, blog posts, videos… or your content idea of choice.

So replace [Hayman Island] in this prompt with your suburb and see what happens. You could also follow it up by saying something like, "Pretend you are interviewing me on these facts. Give me a list of questions you would ask me.”

I just tried it with my hometown of Gosford, NSW and found out a few things that I didn’t know; and the interview question follow up prompt gave me 21 solid ideas for creating content.

Try it with your area - and let me know how you go.

Side effects may be that you learn something cool about your patch that you didn’t know before. And your followers start finding you super-interesting.

Happy Hunting 🚀