What is Personal Branding?

There seems to be lots of confusion surrounding “personal branding” and “personal marketing” in the real estate industry. One of our prospects recently gave us a catalog that claimed “your personal brand designed and developed for only $945.” Reading a bit further, what that claim actually meant was that they would design a logo with your picture integrated into it.

Your Brand Is Not Your Logo

Let me clarify that your brand is not a logo. It is also not some gimmick that you can implement for $945 to “differentiate” you from everyone else. Give me a break. If the dotcoms have taught us anything, it’s that you can’t build a brand overnight, even if you have millions of dollars to throw at it.

Brand As A Unique Promise of Quality and Value

So then what is a brand? One prominent definition is that your brand is your unique promise of quality and value. Now, since that definition is loaded with buzzwords, let’s dig a bit deeper into what that actually means.

The term “brand” comes from the distinctive mark that cattle ranchers would burn onto their cattle so that they knew the animals belonged to them. However, given today’s crowded market place, just having a “distinctive mark” (your logo) is virtually useless because everyone has a logo. The distinctive mark isn’t so distinctive (unless you’ve spent millions of dollars to make sure everyone knows who you are - think Fortune 500) So the term “brand” has come to mean the name and collective set of services and attributes that set you apart from others in your industry. Or maybe I should say, your “brand” is how people perceive who you are and what you do.

Martha Stewart As A Personal Brand

Let’s take “Martha Stewart” for instance. Before Martha came along as the domestic perfectionist we all know, that name was just like every other name. “Martha Stewart” could have been “Susy Smith” for all we cared. But then the Martha Stewart came along and started making cookies and decorating houses and soon she had her own show, magazine, and line of products. With so much exposure and repetition of her clear and distinctive message, we came to associate “Martha Stewart” with this domestic goddess who could make divine souffle with her collection of intricate and highly specified kitchen tools. In Martha’s world, nothing ever burnt. In Martha’s world, everything tasted absolutely divine. In Martha’s world, there wasn’t a spec of dust. In Martha’s world, every accessory was perfectly positioned within the room. And she lived this image - this “brand” or how we all perceived her - every day. It surrounded her, was unique to her, and in essence was her because that’s the only side we saw of her.

This was working just fine for her until this insider trading scandal happened. Suddenly, something happened that went against everything we had ever thought of Martha. Her actions were completely inconsistent with our perceptions of her (her “brand” actually because how many of us know the woman personally?) and we lost faith that she was the perfect domestic goddess we knew for so many years. One event virtually killed the “Martha Stewart” brand because it went against everything the “brand” stood for.

Your Brand Must Stand For Something

What this means is that your name or logo is essentially meaningless to the general public unless it stands for something in their minds - and that something has to be unique enough to set you apart from everyone else. As you reinforce your message and its association with your name/logo throughout everything you do, people may start to make the connection, but it takes a long time. Every marketing piece you show them - from postcards to your website to email to ads - must convey that message. Every communication they have with you and your staff must reinforce that message.

“Branding” Defined

Now, when we talk about “branding” we are talking about the strategic decisions we make to affect how the public perceives us. We take one of our best attributes and highlight it in everything we do and say to the public. Basically, we have a concept of what we would like the public to think of us (our “brand concept”), so we take certain steps to emphasize those characteristics. Keep in mind, though, just because we want the public to think about us in a certain way doesn’t mean they will.

Successful brands are genuine. With personal branding, that means highlighting your best features (ask your friends, family, significant other what they like best about you, for instance) and communicating them to your prospects clearly and frequently. Personal brands must be consistent with your expertise, your personality, your hobbies, and career choice. They must also be consistent with how your co-workers, family and friends see you. Sure, there will be differences depending on how close you are with each, but the core characteristics will continue to stand out through each interaction. If what you tell people isn’t genuine, they will see through it and most likely will think negatively of you.