Is Personal Branding for Realtors on Its deathbed?

I recently read an article on personal branding by Realtors. Over the past few years, with thousands of new agents entering the market place, Realtors tried to create personal brands to set themselves apart from the competition.

We've seen them all - headshot after headshot, slogan after slogan, and so have consumers. The typical branding used by many Realtors is a good first step. It creates awareness of the Realtor, but does it really create motivation for the consumer to use that Realtor?

Today's question for the branded Realtor should be does my brand matter to the consumer? Think about it. We serve consumers by helping them solve specific problems - selling a home quickly, helping a first time buyer purchase their home for the right price, marketing that high-end property successfully.

To truly create a successful agent brand, agents should move past the headshot and logo and begin to communicate a specific solution to the problems that buyers and sellers face. To help the Realtor communicate this new brand, they should ask themselves the following questions to refine their approach:

1. What problems do I solve for my customers
2. What solution have I offered for those problems
3. What makes me different from the hundreds of other Realtors in my marketplace

By answering these questions, Realtors can begin to focus on the three most important ways to build their brand:

1. What one thing do they stand for
2. How can they reach their target market
3. How can I craft an offer that will generate leads from consumers

This process will help Realtors truly differentiate themselves from their competitors and hopefully lead to more closed transactions!