Many real estate agents fall into the trap of doing what everyone is doing when it comes to branding, from advertising themselves as jack of all trades to using cliches in their tagline. But what message do you send to your prospects when you put “honesty”, “integrity,” and “trust” in your business description? Does it say something useful about what you do? Should you advertise yourself as a jack of all trades or go niche? In this episode, Tonya Eberhart, Michael Carr, and Gene Volpe talk about the power of narrowing your focus and avoiding cliches.
People don’t do business with a logo. They do it with a person. -Tonya Eberhart
Three Things We Learned
Marketing is all about standing out in the crowd
We sometimes end up doing the same thing as everyone else. When you start building your own brand, don’t just look at your skills and knowledge, but also at your personal traits and interests. What can you do to humanize your image?
Go niche
All of your marketing efforts should speak to your ideal customer. This not will only set you apart but it will also help you build a reputation in your segment. Many agents fear going niche. But by doing so, you aren’t excluding everyone else; you’re just narrowing your focus.
Avoid describing your business using cliches
Values such as high-quality service, trust, integrity, and honesty are plastered everywhere, yet they say nothing because everyone is using them. Worse, nobody believes agents that describes themselves like this. When you describe your business, you need to use something specific about your service that nobody else can offer in your area.
Many real estate agents believe that they should be experts in all areas of real estate, and this is what you were probably told after you got your license. But the truth is that you can’t do it all and maintain the same quality in all areas. Going niche is one of the shortest paths to getting recognized as an expert, especially if you focus on your buyer persona instead of hunting everything that moves. If someone needs help with finding a luxury home near a river, and you advertise yourself as the expert in that area, you will probably win the listing over someone who says he or she is a jack of all trades, simply because being an expert in all areas is less believable.
Guest Bios
Tonya Eberhart is a speaker, author of three books, and the founder of Brand Face. She helps real estate professionals, business owners, and improvement professionals build their brand and land more clients. One of the books she wrote, BrandFace for Real Estate Professionals, is written in collaboration with Michael Carr, a top selling real estate auctioneer.
Michael Carr is a top real estate auctioneer. He started his journey as an auctioneer in 1991, and in 1994 he got licensed as a real estate agent and made a shift towards selling homes. During his 24 years of experience, he has been involved in over 68,000 home sales across the country. Currently, he is the CEO of Michael Carr & Associates.
Gene Volpe is the founder of GVI Media and has over 10 years of experience in real estate marketing. With over 200 transactions under his belt, Gene is known as an authority in his field and is often invited to speak at events. You can find more about Gene at http://www.genevolpe.com/about-gene/#.
