A Guide to Personal Branding in Real Estate

In real estate, you are in business for yourself. Sure, you might have a team, agency and family behind you. But YOU are your brand. Is it true that what defines you and the image you portray have a direct effect on your business? Of course it is! In real estate, branding on a personal level is just as important as on a business level. People want to close deals and pay commissions with people of character and confidence, not with companies and faceless organizations. What makes your business relationships valuable and referable is your brand. After all, when the deal is done, the next best step is obtaining a great referral from a client as sold on their new property as they are on you.

With an effective branding team and a little crafting, you can begin to define or redefine your personal brand so your future clients can see you as you would like to be seen. Because in today’s real estate environment, you simply cannot be another face in the crowd. You have to differentiate yourself from your competition by being more appealing and capable to your target clients. You can be successful in achieving this by crafting a recognizable personal brand. What defines a recognizable personal brand? Your brand is your image, your personality and your story. It is how you carry yourself and what you convey to the world that makes you different from the rest. It’s not just your image, but also your attitude, actions, values and skills. Your personal brand is the answer to: what makes you you?

At this point you may ask yourself, ‘should I build a personal brand?’ If you are invested in your success and are intent on making it in the real estate business, or any type of business for that matter, the answer is unequivocally YES! You’ve developed skills in marketing a property to make it stand out. Now it’s time to apply those skills to yourself so you can stand out. If you’re looking to win over new clients and to assure them that working with you is in their best interest, it is critical that you build your unique personal brand.

RealtyIT suggests following their 4 step bulletproof branding plan.

Step 1 – Define your brand by asking these questions

  • What image do you want to convey to potential clients?
  • What are your core values?
  • What are your skills and strengths in real estate?
  • Who are your mentors or who do you model yourself after and why?
  • Who is your target client? Are they first-time home buyers, condo-loving singles, empty nesters or multiple property owners?

Step 2 – Complete your definition
You complete your definition by asking others to describe you, your skills, and your values. Ask friends, former clients, previous employers, teachers and family members to fill out a simple survey of your making. This will help you gain a more complete image of how you are already seen and how your brand currently appears.

Step 3 – Develop your message
The most important factor to keep in mind about your message is to just be you. Trying to project an image of someone you are not, will be obvious to others and counter productive for you. Bruce Lee said it best, “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” Be you and be consistent.

Step 4 – Consistency, consistency, consistency
Consistency is vital in today’s social media and data driven world. After reading your well-crafted bio on your website, clients inevitably will look to confirm or deny the information you have provided about yourself. Make sure your image and messages on your social sites are consistent with your brand definition. If not, clean up EVERYTHING that contradicts the image you intend others to perceive. Look at every post on your social media account as might one of your clients. Will they see a hardworking, honorable, client focused person in you? Again, think about the clients you’re trying to attract and how you will appear to them.

Being consistent also requires you to use your brand logos, colors and imagery on every new marketing piece you create. This includes websites, social media outlets and business cards. If you haven’t already, set up social media profiles for your business on at least the top four social sites: Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter. Post only relevant content and use

RealtyIT’s formula for social media success:
50% business, 5% personal, 25% problem-solving and advice, 20% community or agency info, and 10% support of others
Remember that every status update you post, tweet you send, every picture you share and connection you make contributes to your personal brand. Being strategic about what you post will develop the best brand. Do people associate you with your personal brand when people hear your name? They should be able to do so immediately. If they can, then you’ve achieved branding success! If you have a little ways to go or still aren’t sure how to start, our team is here for you around the clock. We will register and host yourname.com for you and start crafting the very best brand for you today. Need a little more help developing your image, creating an online persona, or engaging in social media? We have the solutions to take your brand to the next level. View RealtyIT’s Authentic Social Media solutions and get started today.

Your well-crafted, honest, personal brand that people will recognize is a major factor in your success in real estate. Once this work is complete, we can get you through the next step: Creating a bulletproof strategy for marketing your personal brand.

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