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Differentiation is the key to successful
marketing in any endeavor. This is especially true on the Internet where
it is easy to get lost in this vast, digital ocean! One of the most
powerful ways to achieve differentiation is to create your own personal online
"brand" —a unique identification by which your target market will
recognize and associate the value of your services. Applying a well thought-out branding
strategy is not only a sure-fire way to set your site apart from the growing
herd of agent sites, but also potentially create a profitable "exit
strategy" when you retire! (more on that later...). Now let's take a
look at how three highly successful online real estate professionals use
branding to set themselves apart from the rest of the pack... Ducks, Dogs, and Cacti —Oh My! Rick Miner and his wife, Joyce, are the
branding geniuses behind their tremendously successful Duckin.com site. From the webbed feet
that form the “WWW” to his site’s trademark “duck-yellow” look,
visitors know instantly this site is a duck of a different feather! The beauty of this branding approach is that
it complements his site’s target market niche of Seattle waterfront
properties. And, his branding efforts don’t stop just at his Web feet (I
mean, site). Rick and his team hand out little rubber duckies emblazoned
with his site URL on its tail, yellow duck-embroidered duck-billed baseball
caps, and drive around in duck-yellow VWs all touting the Duckin.com brand. Even his e-mail messages to clients and
prospects are peppered with a kind of “quack-talk” that is very endearing.
Now, you might be wondering if this branding stuff is all that it’s quacked up
to be in terms of generating business. Rick shared with me that so far
this year, Duckin.com
is responsible for 90% of all his business. As a top producer for Coldwell
Banker, that ain’t duck feed! "Chester", the dog is very much a
central part of Judy McCutchin's highly successful DallasHomes.com
Web site —one that generated over $13,000,000 in closed online business for
her in 1999 alone! In addition to being a very endearing
branding theme, Judy uses Chester as a way of enhancing the context of her site
content. For example, Chester appears as a school boy (complete with
knickers and schoolbooks) when visitors view the Dallas area private school
information on her site, or as a "Maitre 'd" when searching for fine
dining. In a very clever and unique twist, visitors
can chat live with "Chester" for more information or to set
appointments through a service called Live Assistance. Judy had the service customized to show
Chester in the chat window and instructed the chat operators to "think and
act" just like Chester —including throwing in a "bow-wow" here
and there in the course of helping visitors with their questions. Thanks
to Chester, you might say that the DallasHomes.com is somewhat of a
"dog" —but a gold plated one at that! Top producer Alice Held (who is anything but
a "prickly" person...) uses anthropomorphized cacti to give her Come2az.com
site a uniquely branded sense of charm and personality. Like Judy
McCutchin above, she uses her branding element in a contextual way. That
is, the "look" of the cacti figures change for each section of her
site, depending upon the kind of information being conveyed. Also, like
Rick Miner's site, her approach to branding powerfully complements her target
market of people relocating or retiring to the Scottsdale, Arizona area.
The fact that Alice has closed well over a hundred transactions generated from
her online efforts gives another reason why her friendly cacti are so green! Five Qualities Of Successful Online Branding The examples above share four qualities of
highly successful Web site branding, in that each of their brands are: Idiosyncratic -
they reflect some aspect of their creator's personality (i.e. Rick's and Judy's
sense of playfulness and Alice's warmth) Memorably Unique
- they are presented in a way that is not easily forgotten or copied by others Attractive -
they are pleasing, warm, friendly, reassuring, cute, fun, or convey any number
of other positive qualities Congruent With Their Target Market - the "look and feel" of the branding elements speak to the intended target market rather than clash with it A fifth quality of the branding process that
is missing from all of our examples however, is the use of an
identifiable "logo". A logo is a graphical element
(including stylistic use of type —called a "logotype") that becomes
the primary identification element of the site and instant association of its
value for the target market. A well-designed logo is unique, memorable,
consistent with all other branding elements, and creates a positive visceral
(i.e. gut level) response when seen/read/heard by your target market.
Ideally, the logo will incorporate the site's domain name as well. With a
little bit of effort, each of our online pros above could unify and solidify
their branding efforts with a compelling logo —something I suspect each is
very close to completing. How To Find The Brand Within You Creating an effective brand is not an
easy process. The most successful brands tend to reflect the personalities
of their creators. In fact, one way to approach the issue of branding is
to ask the question: "What makes me unique from all others on the
Net?" The answer is the same as what makes you different from all
people on the planet —it's you, your personality, your passions, your sense of
purpose —all that makes you uniquely "you". Here is a simple, yet powerful three-step process to help you get started with your online branding efforts:
You may be wondering at this point if this
is all worth the effort. Well, in addition to significantly boosting your
current online business, a well executed branding effort can pay off big when
you retire as well... Branding Your Way To A Profitable Retirement At some point in your life you probably
expect to retire from the real estate business. For most agents this
simply means no longer collecting commissions for their efforts. Even if
they would like to "sell" the goodwill they generated over the years,
there is typically nothing to sell, because they made the business all about
them. When you turn your business into a
recognizable "brand" however, that is a whole different story.
There will always be investors looking to enter into a business that provides
instant market share through brand awareness. For example, if Rick and
Joyce Miner continue to refine their branding efforts, I would not be surprised
if they received something around seven-figures for Duckin.com when they are ready to sail
into the sunset of their years. Now that's an "exit strategy"! There are no "magic bullets" to generating consistent business online. There are however, sound strategies —and creating an effective online brand is one of the most powerful I can think of! |
