If you’ve ever felt confused or overwhelmed with the word brand and you’re not sure what a brand is or how to develop your own I want you to know that you are not alone. Branding is something that gets way overcomplicated by designers and marketers all the time. And this girl is all about simplifying the process for you. I truly believe defining your brand doesn’t have to be a complicated rip-my-hair-out-before-I even-get-started experience. I believe the best answer to “what is your brand?” was perfectly summed up by Jeff Bezos when he said,  “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Then as a realtor, you’ve been developing your brand for as long as you’ve been working in real estate. Every single one of your clients and your relationships with them has helped mould your brand into what it is today. It can be hard to imagine what other people think of you or say about you when you’re not around am I right? So, In order to get to the heart of what your personal brand truly is, I’ve created 3 questions that will help clarify and define your brand. 

ONE |  WHO DO YOU FEEL MOST CONNECTED TO SERVING?

This question is all about finding your ideal audience. You need to start asking yourself questions that will get you crystal clear on one person or one group of people you’d like to connect with more often. By doing this you’re messaging will get clearer, your confidence will shine and you’ll attract more of the people that you love working with and start to repel those nightmare clients that all realtors have had at least once.  Ask yourself who your favourite client was, or if you haven’t had one yet, ask yourself who you would love to work with. Then list their character traits or reasons why you loved (or would love) to work with them. The more details you can jot down the better it is for you because the clearer you’ll be on who it is exactly that you want to communicate with and target with ads, copy, posts, video etc. Knowing who you want to serve is the first step in knowing your brand. A word of caution – Realtors often think that everyone can be their client, I urge you to dive deeper because if every realtor thinks they can serve everyone, then how will future clients differentiate you from the rest? Creating a group of people that you would love to serve (think first-time home buyers, investors, career-focused businesswomen in their 30s etc.) will allow you to create messaging that really hones in on that specific group of people and if you can capture them with targeted marketing then you have already won against all of the other realtors who are sticking with generic messaging. 

TWO | FIND OUT WHAT OTHERS THINK OF YOU 

Have a bunch of testimonials from past clients? Read them over and try to find commonalities that point to key elements of your work ethic, personality or business acumen. Here’s a fun fact: a big part of my custom work was Seller Guides which included a couple of pages of testimonials. I had to sift through hundreds of client testimonials and one thing I noticed was that they were always very similar in tone and kudos’. If your clients are always saying things like “very professional” or “ hard-working” you will want to lead with that in your marketing strategy. On the other hand, they might be saying things like “She became part of the family” or “It was really like working with my BFF!” if this is how your client’s see you,  you’ll want to approach your marketing from a more friendly and family-oriented point of view. Another great way to get insight into who you are and what you offer is to ask friends and family what they think your greatest strengths are. Try not to give them context or they might tell you what they think you want to hear. Here’s a script you can swipe,  “Hey, I was wondering if you could help me out. I’m working on this project and I need to identify my top strengths or talents….If you had to say what my top strength or talent was what would it be?” send this question to your nearest and dearest and then look for commonalities in their answers. When I did this exercise I was blown away by the feedback I got. Everyone unanimously said my creativity was at the top of the list, and a close second was my ability to create systems and structure within my life and business…It was completely shocking and unexpected but gave me such insight and suddenly I was crystal clear on what I could offer and how I could serve my audience. Try it, you might be equally surprised by what you find out. 

THREE | WHAT DON’T YOU LIKE

You might be thinking how on earth is this going to help me figure out what my personal brand is. Here’s how, everyone has areas of their marketing they’d like to change, tweak or move away from. Knowing what you don’t like is the first step to discovering what you do like which moves you closer to your true authentic personal brand. If you could change something about the way your brand is currently presented what would you want to change the most? For example, if you don’t like your marketing messages or feel too generic you know your personal brand needs to get more focused with copy.  If you’re good with your messaging but feel your look needs a little tweaking then it might be time to hire a designer to help you tweak your look.  Do a deep dive into everything you’d like to change about your brand as it currently stands in one column and then in the second column note how you’d like to see it changed -this could be anything from colours to imagery or even copy.  You might also want to send this question to friends family and even past clients (only the ones you would want to work with again)  to get their opinion on what they love and don’t love about your brand. 

Need a little hand-holding? Get on the waitlist for my 1-on-1 Brand Clarity + Instagram Strategy Coaching.