Taking Your Personal Fantasy To Personal Branding

The world of real estate offers the opportunity for real estate agents to 'recreate' themselves.  We can live out our fantasies, create an image of how we want the public to view us, market the crap out of it, call it personal branding and before you know it, you ARE it!

Goodwill 'Dorothy' Shoes

Want to work your life away in shorts and a T-shirt?  Sell ONE house on the lake.  Then identify yourself as the 'lake' man (or woman-though I think I would come up with something else if I went that route) put on some shorts, take a couple photos of your fine self smiling on a boat (a couple of nice fish on line)  - send out some post cards sporting a creative tag line.  Then USE IT, USE IT, USE IT.  Before you know it - THEY will be using it. Mr. & Mrs. John Q. Public will only know you as 'The Lake Guy'.  No one will raise an eyebrow when you show up at a closing smiling in shorts.  I promise.  Seen it all over Chapin, SC when I worked relocation in that market.   Just make certain there are enough properties ON the lake (or your chosen market) that are sell able so you can actually make a living doing that.  (and know HOW to fish)

I started about 7 years ago sending out monthly newsletters to my neighborhood.  Called myself 'Your Neighborhood REALTOR'.  But guess what?  I actually lived in the neighborhood.  Walked by their houses EVERY day, attended their yard sales, they saw me mowing my own lawn.  I don't market myself as the neighborhood REALTOR to the whole town for crying out loud.  That's just ridiculous, people know better. They know B.S. when they hear it, they don't have to smell it or taste it to know what it is.

When I emailed those newsletters I included a watermark so my 'work' couldn't be stolen easily. (by fellow agents)  I am flattered if they like it enough to copy certainly, but at least retype it or something.  Don't make a photo copy and keep as yours.  My watermark prevented such blatant theft.

My Yard Sale Pin

I found a cute pin at a yard sale, took a photo of it, and made it my trademark so to speak.  My website is www.JustCallTina.com and using those red shoes has been a cake walk to creative marketing!  Also allows me an excuse to purchase the much needed red shoes for myself as well.  Sparkly ones!

Friends are very thoughtful about finding 'Dorothy' items for me to use.  Some are helpful, some just make you roll your eyes but they ARE thinking of me and that is everything.

Creative marketing really isn't about the home.  It's about the agent.  Driving the business to YOU. Buyers

Dorothy In My Office

and sellers, so you can in turn make the deal.  Kind of like a matchmaker for real estate.  The days of one side against the other is soooo passe'. With financing and

FALL FESTIVAL Booth
Before NEW 'Dorothy' shoes

conditional issues as they are you will be dead in the water before you get started with that confrontational 'steal a house' attitude.

Personal branding keeps you geared up to a higher level when things are starting to stink, clients are a pain, lenders aren't getting it done and appraisers are begging for a beating.  You can regroup and focus on something positive, yourself.  Find your happy place and stay there for a few hours and before you know it, you no longer want to slam their face into the desk.  Trust me, it works.

A friend offered me the opportunity to set up a booth last Halloween and hand out candy at her daughters school.  That's me, in my Dorothy costume - purchased from Goodwill!   (I have since made some more fitting shoes) but it got the job done.  I gained a listing off that stint.  If you look closely you will see I am wearing the actual pin from my 'logo'.

As luck (?) would have it, our REALTOR Association performed a skit at our April Membership Luncheon for Fair Housing Month. Filmed and produced by our members and posted to YouTube.  Can you guess the theme?
See what has happened here?  I AM Dorothy.  A tad older to be sure, can't sing for squat...but DOROTHY nonetheless!

I think next year I would like to be Mrs. Nicholas Cage...

My Kitty Thinks You Stink

SERIOUSLY?  Time for Spring!

I couldn't think of anything to share today.  Just sitting in my office warming my piggies and writing an Ad for our Real Estate magazine coming out in a couple weeks.  Then I realized, don't think about it - just let it come.  There is ALWAYS something going on.  So, I  pulled up MLS to take a look at the new listings and there it was...EL STINKO!

Last year the property manager from our rental department emailed me the name of one of her clients who had three properties he was thinking about selling.   He built when the market was at it's peak.  Having dealt in real estate in one form or another for most of his life he knew the odds were not good at realizing any profit on them. They didn't sell when the market was slamming so he put renters in them.  Doing what I do, I agreed to put together a CMA and marketing plans/options for him.

Now, all three were RENTED - this means 'occupied', must make appointments - pick up keys yadda yadda.  My pleasure.   HAPPY to help!  Of course, it is never convenient for all three on the same day - gotta work with the renters rights and all that.

After taking a look at the properties - evaluating the conditional issues, (we are talking chipped counter tops in some - carpeting replacement and painting), I came up with a suggested list price.  The seller was not surprised.  Said he would think about his options - whether to sell them or let them go into foreclosure.  Perhaps keep renting for a time.  I said I understood, and I DID.  We are all facing challenges nowadays.  Seemed like a very nice man.  He said he worked with a group out of town when he handled prior short-sales and would call if he decided to go that way and they would help me get them sold in this market.  Sounded like a plan.  No $$$ today but work can be forthcoming down the road.

The seller emailed me a few months later - still trying to decide but was contacting the City to see about the assessment amount.  He wanted something from me to present to them as to the 'current' value (the work I had done on those CMA's).  Sure, my pleasure, HAPPY to help.

BUSTER - doing a stinky!

You know what's coming don't you?  

Right there on the HOT $HEET were the three properties listed as short sales - at precisely the suggested list price I had given him last fall.  With another company.  Never mind using another agent - he listed with our COMPETITION! Our rental department is handling the rentals for him but when it is time to realize a commi$$ion he goes across town?

Truthfully, no one loves working on a short sale - I won't die without it.  But if my work was good enough when he was in distress - and is good enough for my COMPETITION to use - why is TINA not good enough for the seller to allow to market his property?

Not quite sure what to make about this relationship.

I asked my cat BUSTER what he thought about the whole thing...he said 'Stinky is as Stinky does....'