“The real estate agents in my area seem very hesitant to even work with me…I really struggle to get anyone to take me seriously.” (Sean Rand, Shalimar, FL)
(From a post on the Bigger Pockets forum)
Are you struggling to get cash buyers and motivated sellers to take you seriously because you don’t have a strong track record?
Don’t worry. You’re not alone! But there is an answer, building a strong personal brand can give you a competitive advantage and help you attract more leads and close more deals.
Are you ready to take your real estate investing game to the next level? Let’s talk about building your personal brand!
Even if you are new to real estate investing, paying attention to your personal brand will put you ahead of most other investors. It will:
- Give you a competitive advantage that will encourage others to take you seriously, because you know exactly what you do and who you do it for.
- Build trust and boost your credibility, because you attach your personal brand to a greater vision.
The success of your real estate marketing is built on your brand. Personal branding tells people who you are and what you do.
Are you ready to build trust and boost your credibility by building your personal brand? Let’s talk more about this vital aspect of marketing.
If you think of a successful, high-profile business person in any industry, most likely, they have a solid personal brand. But what about you? Do you need to give attention to your personal brand as a real estate investor? You do!
Why? Because the most powerful marketing asset you have is you. If you create a personal brand that is consistent, genuine and gets people’s attention, you will make a huge leap forward in your ability to attract and close deals.
From the second you start networking, you will put your personal brand on display and start building your reputation. You have to pay attention to your personal brand if you want to run a successful real estate investment business. If it sounds like a boatload of work, don’t worry, you can get the ball rolling with just two steps.
The first step to building your personal brand
Don’t forget that this is YOUR PERSONAL brand, which means you are the person who shapes it.
The first step to building your personal brand is to figure out who you are trying to reach and what you can offer them, in other words, what sets you apart from your competitors.
Ask yourself: Who do you want to connect with? What aspect of the business excites you most? Is there a niche you have more expertise in?
Once you have answered these questions, you can start to see why building your personal brand gives you a competitive advantage. Answering these questions will help you to narrow down who you want to reach and what it is you can offer them that makes you stand out from your competition.
The second step to building your personal brand
The second step is to decide on the core values you want to be identified with. Doing this will help you attach your business to something much bigger, a mission or vision that others can relate to and get behind.
Here’s an example of the core values that successful real estate investors Liz Faircloth and Andresa Guidella chose to embrace:
- We Embrace diversity as a strength
- We Speak our truth with kindness and compassion
- We Align our words with our actions
- We Collaborate on creating possibilities that work for everyone
- We Hold ourselves and others accountable
- We Create an environment of transparency, growth, and fun
You can start writing down your list of core values. What would you say if I asked what values are most important to you? What are you about? Think about your responses and write them down. This is the second step in shaping your personal brand.
To help you, here is a great list of potential brand values to choose from, from brand consultant Lisa Furze.
Golden rules of personal branding
Just as important as figuring out who you are and the values you line up with is to establish who you are not.
When you get to the point of closing a deal either with a seller or a buyer, the deal will only happen if they feel they can trust you.
People get nervous about getting a bad deal or of dealing with someone unethical. Don’t underestimate this hurdle. It can ruin a great deal for you at the last minute, but if you shape your personal brand the right way, you can jump right over that trust hurdle.
With that big word TRUST in mind, here are some of the golden rules of personal brand building:
Always be honest:
If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t bluff. It’s much better to say, “Let me research that and get back to you.”
Never misrepresent yourself:
How could that happen? Lots of ways. You might be tempted to exaggerate the number of deals you’ve already done to make your track record look more impressive than it is. Or you know a property has a few flaws, but you try to make them seem smaller than they really are.
Under-promise and over-deliver:
If you say you will do something, follow through. It’s much better to underestimate and over-deliver, than it is to overestimate what you can do and end up disappointing people. If you become known as a person of integrity, you will be well on your way to real estate success.
Be professional in every way: From the clothes you wear to the investor business cards you give out, ensure you always appear professional.
Why does your personal brand make such a difference?
Think of the last time you were in the supermarket looking at two similar products. One of the items was a brand name you know and trust, and the other one you’d never heard of; which one did you buy?
The key word here is TRUST. People will only do business with you if they like and TRUST you. Your personal brand is the key to building strong and lasting business relationships based on TRUST.
Have an online presence
Now that you have taken those two important steps in shaping your personal brand, you should be crystal clear about four things:
- What it is you do
- Who it is you do it for
- How it improves the lives of your customers
- What motivates you to deliver
In the digital age, an effective personal brand strategy must include having an online presence that will help you convey your personal brand to your audience.
To help you do that, you need a website with the right look and feel to make buyers, sellers, and others understand that you are credible and trustworthy. Although many companies create websites, you want to work with a website company that understands your needs as a real estate investor.
Done Deal Website has focused on providing high-quality websites tailored toward real-estate investors for almost 20 years. Remember, people will only do business with you if they trust you. Building a strong personal brand can help you earn that trust and take your real estate investing career to new heights.
So, what are you waiting for? Start building your personal brand today! To set yourself up with a professional real estate investor website that conveys your personal brand values, check the demo.