8 Reasons Why You Must Personal Brand
8 Reasons Why You Must Personal Brand
Are you putting yourself at a disadvantage by not having a powerful and visible personal brand? A disadvantage in almost every aspect of your professional, business and personal life. Personal branding has become a requirement for anyone looking to grow their business, get better connections, get noticed by the clients and customers and take their careers to a new level.
What exactly is personal branding? Well we can say that personal branding is the practice of marketing yourself and your career as a brand -- the ongoing process of establishing a prescribed image or impression in the mind of others about an individual. Everyone has a unique personal brand, whether they know it or not. But what we should all be striving for is a powerful, attractive and visible personal brand.
In real estate we are only as good as our last sale, our last listing, our reputation is everything. Who we are brings us our business, people follow people, not company names, not those with the biggest budgets but they are looking to find that individual agent whom they connect with, an agent who they can relate and one they feel they can trust with the sale of their home.
Here are the eight reasons why I tell agents they must have a top-notch personal brand if you want to be successful in real estate today:
1. Opportunity finds you.
When your personal brand is attractive, customers, clients, vendors, press and even companies looking to hire, will find you and reach out to you. I am the CEO of a new brand real estate agency, and I had them contact me for the job. I didn’t even know the position was available. Opporunities find you in the broader sense of the industry can include media appearances, writing opportunities and speaking engagements because you get noticed and people reach out to you.
2. Online networking power.
When you have a compelling personal brand, people find you interesting and desirable, so they are willing to connect with you. You get dozens of new social media connections every day. People look at your profiles, follow you and want to know more about you and your business. This is exactly what every agent should be striving to acheive.
3. In-person networking power.
When you're at a networking event, engage others. Offer different aspects of your brand to share. It makes you more interesting than the guy who walks up to you and says, “Hi, My name is Joe, and I sell real estate.” Aim to have many facets to your brand, both professional and personal. That makes people want to connect with you and do business with you. Even better if you can demonstrate proficiency and have the online assets to back them up on many topics of interest, for example photography, entrepreneurship, mental health projects or community programs. There is no limit to what you can add to your brand.
4. Build your business.
When I had to reinvent and rebuild my estate agency business in 2015, it was my powerful personal brand that drove much of our success. Customers, clients and vendors are more likely to do businesses with a company when the leader has a killer personal brand. Good examples are Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Mark Cuban, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Fred Smith, Warren Buffet and even Donald Trump -- whose personal brand may be bigger than his business. Where would their companies be without their personal brands shining on their company brands?
5. Get hired.
According to a recent survey, 84 percent of real estate buyers use social media to find a home. Many of these buyers are sellers looking for the right agent to sell their home. But the most revealing statistic is that 66 percent of new listings are done using Facebook to engage the agent. They are doing that because they are trying to find out more about you than just what’s on your resume. They want to know you as a person and understand whether you are going to fit into their corporate culture.
6. Make new friends.
A powerful personal brand doesn’t only benefit you professionally. When you are interesting and people can find and notice you, they will connect with you on a personal level. You will have had people read an article you have written or see one of your social posts or your podcast and reach out to you.
7. Serendipitous success.
When you are out there with your powerful and attractive personal brand good things happen -- sometimes just by luck. There have been too-many-times-to-remember when simply being noticed for one part of my brand caused something else to happen. The person who noticed my popular Facebook account and reached out to me -- she became my buyers agent. The doctor who received one of my real estate books -- we ended up doing an online triathlon blog together and have become good friends.
8. Confidence.
Developing your personal brand requires you to find your authentic voice. The process of creating one develops who you are -- the unique you -- the Me. When you find your voice, and your audiences start to react positively, that builds self-confidence and self-esteem and allows you to find yourself in a meaningful way.
Whether you are trying to build your personal real estate business, find more listing or close on exisitng properties, impress vendors, attract influential contacts or simply make new successful friends, a powerful, attractive and visible brand is the key. And it’s also key to building your reputation, credibility and most importantly, being successful in your professional and personal life.
And finally, never forget the golden rule of building a successful personal brand -- authenticity rules.
Easy Agent are the personal branding leaders!
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About the author
Monty Van Dyk is founder and CEO of Easy Agent and Lead Funnels Australia, headquartered on the Gold Coast, Queensland with agents in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Under Monty’s guidance and leadership, the team has sold thousands of homes in the past 18 years, performing exceptionally regardless of changing market conditions.
Before moving into real estate in 2002, Monty was a mechanical engineer for ten years. He credits the success of Easy Agent to the culture of learning and growth. His commitment to innovation has placed him in the top agent mastermind of real estate in Australia.
When he is not coaching or speaking, Monty is enjoying time with his family, playing music or training for his next IRONMAN triathlon. He is originally from Cairns, Queensland.
