Make Your Mark

by Kris Berg

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

We have talked a lot about the public’s negative perception of real estate agents and the industry as a whole. We have blamed our image crisis on too few barriers to entry, and more recently I placed some blame with the Brokers and their hiring practices.

It is time for some agents to accept some responsibility as well. As one of a large herd, what image are you projecting? Forgive the tired play on words, but with so many out standing in our field, why aren’t more agents aspiring to be outstanding?

Distinguish Yourself

We picked up another business card from a listing yesterday that is heading directly to our marketing Wall of Shame. The agent had no website address and her email address was listed as agentname8@hotmail.com. To add to the shame, the back side of her card carried only the following message: Business Cards are FREE at www.companyname.com! Now, as a consumer, doesn’t that give me just a bunch of confidence in this agent’s ability to provide me with professional service?

To all of the agents out there afraid to invest in themselves, let me give you some free advice. For fewer than ten bucks a year you can own your own domain! Add another ten bucks, and you can have a professional-sounding email address which will foward to any free hotmail or gmail or other email account of your choosing!

Most of you reading this will say, as my children often so eloquently put it, “Well, duh!”. But I see too many addresses such as sarasotasamsellshomes2u@aol.com to believe that the majority of agents are getting it. You could be the greatest thing to real estate since the introduction of the BMW 7 series, but beerme@sbcglobal.net is not the image that will convey as much.

But My Company Has a Website!

And if you use your company “website” (which, for your purposes, is really a web page), that is exactly where all of your leads will end up – With your company. Your site does not have to cost thousands of dollars to design and thousands more to maintain, but it should be unique to you. Do it yourself or use one of the many, many template sites available, but do it. My first site looked as if it was designed by a 13-year-old on crack, and appeared as if it had been repeatedly whacked with an “ugly stick”. In actuality, it was entirely my doing, the product of a day spent armed with a “Frontpage for Dummies” book and a lot of desire. The result? It became the go-to site locally for agents and consumers alike. Ugly, yes, but “it’s the content, stupid”.

Over-Herd

Steve was depositing a check at the bank this week when the teller said, “You’re the Castle guy”! We get that all of the time, at the grocery store, at the gas pump and at Back To School night.

Whether you know it or not, you are branding yourself from the moment you order that first set of business cards, and every subsequent marketing decision you make will serve to reinforce your image. So you haven’t made any money yet? Start slowly, but start smart. It is a lot easier to build on something great than undo your mistakes. A unique image need not cost tens of thousands of dollars, but it will cost you. And it is worth it. I can spot a Taco Bell two miles away, and it is not because I can read the words on their sign. I can see the imagery and make the association between the little pink bell and my quesadilla nirvana. Why do people think there is a Starbucks on every corner? Well, for one thing, there is. More importantly, though, we may unknowingly drive by a dozen Starbucks in a single day not realizing that their logo is creeping into our subconscious, leaving us with the impression that they are “everywhere” (which, unfortunately for my analogy, they are). I had a woman recently call me “because you sell most of the homes in our neighborhood”. I have sold one in the past three years, but far be it from me to correct her. Perception is reality; hers was that I was the neighborhood specialist.

Most people have purchased publicly traded stocks. Why is it, then, that we are willng to invest in the future of a company in which we have no control over the decisions, direction and future success yet we are unwilling to invest in ourselves? My money is on me, every day of the week.

Beef Stew

So, you are committed to a quality image but fear you have nothing to say? Before you go running to the automated junk mail service, consider this. You, too, are a consumer, so start thinking like one.

Have you ever wondered why your neighborhood dry cleaner isn’t sending you recipe cards? Just maybe it’s because it is a dumb idea; cooking and laundering are unrelated, except that one may necessitate the other. Why doesn’t Jiffy Lube send you the latest professional football schedule? Aside from the fact that it is February and the season is over, they may doubt that your heightened awareness of the next scheduled kick-off will inspire you to get that long-overdue oil change.

Some people like to cook, some are sports enthusiasts, but every homeowner cares about home prices. Your content need not be the envy of all Nobel Laureates in Economics. Developing content is not quantum physics, just common sense. Be consistent and be relevant.

Make Your Mark

Whether you are mailing self-promotional material to a neighborhood or producing marketing material for a listing, the goal should be the same. Each piece bearing your name reflects on you, and the message you send is your choice. Would you rather say, “I am cheap and lazy and indistinguishable in my mediocrity”, or would you rather convey an image of consistency and excellence? Your clients want quality, quality service and quality representation. If you do not respect yourself and your image, your clients will have a hard time respecting you. And that’s no bull.

“It’s Your Move!”?