If you landed on this post it’s probably because you understand that as a Realtor you ARE a personal brand but you might not be sure how to develop one that is not only true to you but that will get your content in front of the exact people you want to attract. The truth is without a strong personal brand you run the risk of looking and sounding like every other realtor out there which makes it difficult for potential clients to connect with you. If you’re currently struggling to get new clients or building an audience on Instagram, here are 5 steps you can use to create a personal brand as a realtor and that will take you (and your content)  from confused to confident.  

 

ONE | KNOW YOUR STORY 

I want to know why you became a realtor. I want to know what you did before real estate. I want to know where you started, where you’re coming from, who you are now and where you’re headed. I want to know all of these things and so does your audience. So the first step in creating a strong personal brand is knowing your brand stories. These stories will help paint a picture for your audience that allows them to connect with who you are, where you’ve been and where you are going. I like to call these stories your beginnings, your transition and your mission. Your beginnings story is one that describes where you’ve been… all those neat little details that took you from where you were right up to right before you became a realtor.  Your transformation story is the story that tells how you transitioned from where you were to becoming a realtor, and finally, we need your mission story – the one that tells who you are, what you do, who you serve and why you do you what you do.  Your audience wants to hear about you and in order to draw them in you need to share these stories, you need to create a space where they can get to know you so they can begin to like and trust your unique personality. Once you have those stories written down and firmly in place you are ready for step number two. 

 

TWO | WHO DO YOU SERVE OR WHO DO YOU WANT TO SERVE 

This is something that trips up a lot of realtors because they feel they want to serve anyone who wants to buy or sell their house. But the truth is, the more niched you become the stronger your messaging is. So if you want to work with laid-back people who invite you into their family so it always feels like you’re working with friends, then you’re going to have to create messaging that attracts those people. Likewise, if you want to attract luxury homeowners who are making upwards of 10 million a year, you’re going to need the right messaging. So, if you are a single mom who started off in real estate, and you bought your own home. You might want your messaging to lead with the struggles that you had throughout that process. In sharing that story, you’re going to attract single moms who feel confident that you know exactly what it’s like to be who they are. If you’re worried that this type of messaging will alienate parts of your audience, just remember that not every piece of content is for EVERYONE. You can have different pieces of content for different audiences. But getting laser focussed on who you want to serve, allows you to speak a language that is crystal clear, instead of ambiguous and generic.   

 

THREE | CREATE CONNECTION POINTS 

Connection points are topics that you will use to connect with your audience and potential clients. This can be anywhere from your email marketing, your videos, your social media or your print marketing. What I like to suggest when I’m coaching my clients is to think of the things that you talk about with your friends. Think of 5 topics that you could talk about for hours and ones that you feel comfortable sharing with strangers (aka followers).  This is probably one of the most important parts of building a personal brand. People need to get to know who you are. By keeping it consistent with five to nine different categories that you constantly talk about and bring up in your marketing you can start to create connections with potential clients and your audience on social platforms. To give you an example my list includes: my curly hair journey, my plant-based diet, how I started running during the pandemic, entrepreneurship, positive mindset, behind the scenes of design, products, and how I want to help realtors define their unique brilliance. 

 

FOUR | BRING THE AUTHENTICITY

If I see one more realtor photo of a guy decked out in Armani leaning against his Mercedes checking the time on his Cartier watch I might just puke. I’m not dissin’ it if that’s your authentic thing, but I’m guessing that not every realtor in those photos is really all about that. I often see realtors try to emulate the most successful looking people and while I understand why you might feel inclined to to do that, ask yourself how many of your clients resonate with that imagery. I don’t know about you, but for me, I want to know who my realtor is, like for real! I want to know about your Sunday brunch and that you had ketchup on your face for hours because #momlife. I want to be drawn into your imperfect story because that’s what makes you, you. Aiming for perfection or copying other realtors who don’t have ketchup on their face will just keep you chasing an unrealistic fantasy, so you need to ask yourself who it is that you REALLY are, and how you can use that wonderful story to authentically connect with your audience. 

 

FIVE | YOUR VISUAL BRAND 

Once you have done all the work, you know your story, you have your messaging down,  it’s time to put all of that into a nice visual package. Think colour palette, style and imagery. What do all of the things in your toolbox look like when it’s beautifully packaged and ready to present to the world. If you aren’t sure, I always like to ask my clients, “What does the magazine of your brand look like? If I got it in the mail tomorrow, what would the imagery, style fonts, pictures and colours look like?” If you’re stuck you can always head over to Pinterest or jump into this 2-minute quiz that will help define your brand style.  Then you can head over to the shop, and we have tons of templates that fit into all of these categories which is great if you just want to play around with different looks before committing to something more permanent.