MINDSET- A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO BRANDING YOURSELF IN REAL ESTATE

 IT’S ALL ABOUT BRANDING

In this part of the tutorial, I would like to focus again on the most crucial skill salespeople need to develop to remain on the radar of their clients, customers, coworkers, and peers who work in other professions. In any sales endeavor, communication is critical; without clear communication, you will never have a definitive brand.  

I spoke about this earlier–the large brokerage house where I wound up held free weekly seminars that covered every imaginable aspect of the business, including branding. The resources were there; all any agent or I had to do was attend and learn from them. So, I listened and spoke to everyone who was approachable, and I participated in those seminars like I was going to church or synagogue. Eventually, things became focused, and I gained insight into what I needed to do to brand myself for success. I took that insight and began reading and writing just about every day. Before the end of my first year, I must have plowed through more than fifty books on real estate. I’m still an avid reader and writer on real estate and other businesses. But with all that study, I was still far from becoming a Top Agent. I hoped that time and effort would eventually get me there.                                                                            

When the time came to write my bio and build a website, it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, even with the gracious help of my lovely daughter, who has a fantastic talent for setting up and manipulating graphics. With her help, I plowed through and completed it. 

Finishing the website gave me a proper forum to market properties and blogs. I added a bio to lend insight into my personal and business goals; although the bio mainly was warm and fuzzy good stuff, I wrote it true to form to reach out to an audience that might consider doing business with me. It was a cathartic experience intended to help me and others better understand who I was and where I was heading in the real estate business.  It clarified my vision and put me on a path to becoming a realtor who knows how to communicate effectively.  Now, it was time to use the website as a marketing strategy. 

The trick with a realtor's website is looking for all possible ways to start a conversation. The more conversations, the better, and almost any exchange will do. It could be questions and answers on your chat line, an Internet forum on your website, discussions on another person’s or company's website, or a blog page. You can write a blog, share a blog, or comment on someone else’s blog. When using a website in real estate or any business providing a product or service, you must juggle several conversations throughout the day. You must continually add fresh content to satisfy readers and broaden your Internet presence.  

You want to remain relevant to those considering doing business with you and establish a community of followers. The most potent tool for doing that is your question-and-answer section. You are doing something wrong if you’re not fielding questions throughout the day. 

Your blog will also help you gain followers, so blog as much as you can about what you know about all aspects of real estate. Make it exciting and fun. Share your articles on all the major social media platforms. Post your articles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media platforms that will help build your brand. 

If you continue to hammer at social media with meaningful content, you will be successful at building a community. It’s all a matter of consistency and disseminating the right content. Share your blogs and essays on other people’s sites and have them share theirs on yours. Sharing is a cheap and efficient way to develop backlinks. ( Backlinks are precious for SEO because they represent a "vote of confidence" from one site to another.) In essence, backlinks to your website signal to search engines that others vouch for you and your content. As more sites link to your website, the search engines will push you up the food chain. 

Accumulating backlinks will positively affect a site's ranking position and search visibility.

BECOME PART OF YOUR COMMUNITY 

In this writing, I have discussed getting involved in community activities. But lest we forget, I’ll repeat it—get involved.

Are you interested in sports? If so, coach a little league or sign up to coach a volleyball or basketball league. Do some volunteer work. Hook up with an organization like Habitat for Humanity or your local Humane Society. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to join the church choir or become a mentor at a local Big Brothers or the Girl Scouts.  Performing good deeds is good for business and the soul. Spreading your good name through the community is a win-win situation.  If the options I’m suggesting seem undesirable, then by all means, figure out the ones that work for you. Deep down, there has to be some community work you’ve been pining for. Maybe it is a latent desire to become part of a church choir or polish up your old guitar to accompany you in a singing song for a fundraiser? There’s no limit to what you can do if you’re willing to offer your time. Only good things will come. If all fails, play the tambourine or a triangle for a roaming Salvation Army ensemble.