#405 – Mail-Right Show:Personal Branding Tips For Realtors For 2023
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Personal Branding Tips For Realtors For 2023
In this video, we share essential personal branding tips specifically tailored for realtors looking to stand out in a crowded market. Learn how to create an authentic brand that resonates with your target audience and sets you apart from competitors.
Discover effective strategies for building your online presence, leveraging social media platforms, and establishing yourself as your area’s go-to real estate expert. Watch now and take your real estate business to new heights.
#1 – Introduction
How is a personal brand different from your brokerage’s brand?
#2 – Find your individual value proposition
#3 – The richest are in the Niche
#4 – Write out a basic brand strategy
#5 – Be consistent
#6 – Conclusions
Episode Full Show Notes
[00:00:10.340] – Robert Newman
Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to episode number 405. Today, we’re going to talk about branding. We’re going to give you some branding tips for realtors in 2023. We’re going to try to hit some notes on this subject that we have not hit in past or recent shows. Before we dive, dive, dive, dive deep into that subject, we are going to let John have a moment in the sun. He’s going to tell you all about the various ways to get in touch with him, which by the way, if you’re looking at this on YouTube, you can see one of the most interesting ways because he has always left the W. P. Tonic on the actual score.
[00:00:48.840] – Jonathan Denwood
I have. I’m going to change that.
[00:00:50.760] – Robert Newman
I’m going to change that, man. If you’re wondering what.
[00:00:54.150] – Jonathan Denwood
That is- I am Huber.
[00:00:56.230] – Robert Newman
So I’m going to change that.
[00:00:57.700] – Jonathan Denwood
There we go.
[00:00:58.970] – Robert Newman
That is another one of his podcast efforts. It’s actually a much bigger show than this show as well. We’re growing, we’re catching up. I’m not going to say much, but it’s a bigger show because it’s one of the best-known, most established shows on the subject of WordPress, which is what John and I both build our real estate marketing websites on. It is related.
[00:01:23.630] – Jonathan Denwood
We should do a show on that, shouldn’t we?
[00:01:26.310] – Robert Newman
We really should. I know you just don’t think of it because you’re tired, you’re sick of talking about it when you’re like, But we should. We really should.
[00:01:34.260] – Jonathan Denwood
Yeah, we should maybe do it next week. I need to get some guests. I’ve been a bit lacking in that for the last couple of weeks. I can’t believe the time just flies, actually, Robert. The last couple of weeks are all a blur, actually.
[00:01:50.040] – Robert Newman
Yeah. I completely…
[00:01:53.990] – Jonathan Denwood
Yeah, I need to introduce myself. I’m the joint founder of mail-right. Com. We make great websites and WordPress. Plus, we offer a CRM and a digital marketing platform. We focus on getting leads utilizing Facebook, which my co-host is a specialist in, back over to you, Robert.
[00:02:17.860] – Robert Newman
Okay, well, ladies and gentlemen, before we get going into the subject for today, I’m announcing live, and John didn’t know this either, that I may or may not be able to attend all of our shows in December because I’m going on a once-in-a-lifetime trip with my best friend who has three kids and has not been able to travel with me in many, many, many years and managed to get a very small window for us to do a winter trip in Wales where we’re going to track some Arthurian legends that we’ve been talking about doing for quite literally our entire lives.
[00:02:54.230] – Jonathan Denwood
Well, funny enough, I was thinking of having a break in December anyway, but you are going… You’re a brave man. You’re going to Wales in December.
[00:03:05.870] – Robert Newman
That’s right.
[00:03:07.150] – Jonathan Denwood
I’m sure the weather is going to be delightful, Robert. I’m sure it’s going to.
[00:03:11.480] – Robert Newman
Be delightful. It’s one of those things, John, where we really… It’s more like this is the moment that circumstances is allowed for and we’re going to take it. But when I say it’s once in a lifetime, I mean it. When we were younger, he joined military service. There’s always been one thing after another, marriage and kids, emergencies, you name it. We saw this window, we’re taking it. That’s it. We’re going to do it. I’m excited to hear that May matches up with the plans that you had, John. That’s really great news for me personally because I was sweating out a little bit. Let’s jump into today’s subject, which is going to be we’re going to talk about personal branding. Why don’t you kick us off, John, and start off with you, as usual, have done an incredible job at creating a list for us. Why don’t you go ahead and talk about personal branding tips and maybe start us off with number one?
[00:04:14.570] – Jonathan Denwood
Yeah, it was tricked off, Robert, because I saw a video, I can’t remember. I’ll make sure the video, the person who did it gets credit. But a well-known real estate personality did a great interview recently, and I gave you the link to it, Robert. It was about somebody who specializes in a particular niche, and that was Hose Ranches. She has built up a really great… She’s based in Corrado and she has built up a really great niche in helping people build. Well, partly because that’s also one of the extra services that she provides, is helping them build out properties. But in real estate, as a real estate agent, she’s built a great niche in providing people that want to buy horse ranches in Colorado. It was a fascinating interview, and I might ask her to come on our show in the coming months. I think that personal branding, this is how I would do it, and I’d be fascinating to see what your response is, is I think it takes time to find a niche. But what I would do is, through my brokerage, I would take on normal clientele, but I would have my own website andmy own website, I would concentrate on my niche, on the clients in the niche that I want to foster.
[00:06:10.530] – Jonathan Denwood
I would do that through my own website aimed at niche. Through the brokerage and the resources that the brokerage provides, I would still do general transactions that come my way. But I would aim the focus on my own personal branded website property on my niche. I think that’s a great way of building up your niche through your website, through your content, through your social media to some degree. I think that the first step in this is to find your valued proposition. I think that’s a lot easier if you do find a niche. Is this making sense, Robert?
[00:07:00.300] – Robert Newman
I do. I’m going to play your foil. You’re going to do the list and I’m going to give some people some advice I’ve been giving over the phone for a long period of time. I’ve got to say that one of the most constructive things that anybody can do, no matter what real estate marketing, like how you generate your leads, you knock on a door, you call somebody, you have a digital video like this, like John and I always talk about, you email. There’s one thing that you can work on that would work well in every single one of those mediums, and that is going to be the unique value proposition that you bring to a relationship with a prospect. A lot of people have said a lot of things about this, like being able to communicate that value proposition a short amount of time is oftentimes referred to as an elevator pitch. You have 30 seconds to capture somebody’s attention. What do you say? Well, it’s not like if you really want to do well in real estate, you’re going to… First of all, when it comes to value propositions, here’s a recommendation from a guy that’s been doing this a long time.
[00:08:06.010] – Robert Newman
Don’t talk about money. There’s a lot of you out there that are discount realtors, or work for Redfin, and so on and so forth. I’ve got to tell you, you’re trying to convince people that you’re going to give them the same value for half the price or whatever the number is. And that doesn’t logic out. It doesn’t logic out. You have to sell into that proposition fairly heavily because people are going to ask the question, Why are you giving me half of your revenue? Are you not worth it? That’s the first objection you have to overcome that you created yourself by offering a discount. If anybody wants to talk to you about a discount, let them bring it to you, which is what most of the best luxury agents do. They let the client start to negotiate. And oftentimes their starting point is, I don’t negotiate. And then if they have somebody super persistent and you say, I don’t negotiate. Look at this massive value proposition I give you. I come out with a film crew and we spend three days on the property, recording every angle. I’m here personally. I’ve sold $5 billion worth of real estate over the last 20 years of my career.
[00:09:18.760] – Robert Newman
I’m here on your property for three whole days of my personal time. Are you trying to devalue my time? That’s what you say subtly. Obviously, you don’t say that directly.
[00:09:27.540] – Jonathan Denwood
Yeah, I would have thought you would put it there. But I think anybody that’s sensible has got the right to ask for a discount, but I think you’ve got the right to say no, but you say it in a respectful and you point out, which you’ve just pointed out yourself, what you’re bringing to the table, why you don’t feel that you need to give them a discount, but you do it in a respectful, logical way. I just think everybody just needs to be a bit grown up in the discussion, basically, which unfortunately, as you grow older, Robert, you find a lot of people can’t have a grown-up sensible discussion, can they?
[00:10:10.610] – Robert Newman
Yeah, and figuring out polite, respectful, but extremely clear ways to say no is a skill for every salesperson that has ever been created. We all think that we should say yes to everything that a customer is asking us. That’s what we’ve been trained on. I’m here to tell you that is not the case. You don’t want to say no often, but when you find a boundary that the customer is pushing, I have many, many times simply told the client, Hey, listen, I respect the fact that you’re asking for a discount, but I don’t discount. I have discovered that the short answer is always the best, the one that adheres to the value the most. Let them assume why that is. Explaining yourself requires makes it sound defensive. If you’re really solid on the fact that you’re not going to discount, don’t discount. But that doesn’t play into USP. Here’s an exercise for everybody. John, we’ve already done this exercise once a long time ago. I don’t know if you remember, but I started to ask you about the who, what, when, why, where of who you were. I discovered to my surprise you had been in the military, you’d been a boxer.
[00:11:13.840] – Robert Newman
We found out a lot of different things.
[00:11:15.920] – Jonathan Denwood
About you. I was only boxing to 16, Rob.
[00:11:19.770] – Robert Newman
What?
[00:11:20.240] – Jonathan Denwood
I was only boxing to where I was 16.
[00:11:25.610] – Robert Newman
John, you madden me with these qualifications.
[00:11:29.320] – Jonathan Denwood
I know I do, but it’s just we’ve got some similarities, but we’re very different as well. You’ve got to understand that comes from my Englishness.
[00:11:38.150] – Robert Newman
Okay, well, listen, I fished. I haven’t done it in a long time, but I still consider myself a fisherman. Why? I have all the knowledge I collected. I earned the knowledge. I went out and did the activity. I am still a fisherman. I’m just not one of.
[00:11:52.790] – Jonathan Denwood
The travelers in Wales. I’d like to point out, Robert, you are going to Wales and, of course, the Welsh are a bit different. They’ve got their own language, but they are similar. You’re going to be exposed to a bit more of this Englishness, this Welshness that badens you.
[00:12:11.040] – Robert Newman
Oh, I know. I think I’m ready for it. We will find out. Ladies and gentlemen, the who at Wynwyware of your own personal story, where did you go to school? What activities did you pursue? What hobbies have you had in your life? You should create a list, an actual paper list, and start to write all this down. What books are your favorite books? Start there. Amongst all of this, find some things in there that you really love. John obviously either doesn’t love boxing anymore or doesn’t like to talk about it, so maybe he doesn’t play into boxing. Maybe that’s not… Though he did have a long conversation with Tim McManus when he came on the show, who is an MMA fighter who is now making millions of dollars as a real estate agent. So who knows? You, the people out there, if John was a real estate agent, I would call him a fool if he didn’t go for the vets in the US. Why? Because he has military service. He understands the service mentality. It is a conversation that he can get into as somebody that is fair and equal because it’s part of his life experience.
[00:13:21.240] – Robert Newman
Maybe it’s not something he’s passionate about. Maybe he wouldn’t do it again if he could. But you have the stuff that you’ve done. I advertise heavily that I am an alcoholic in recovery. I am a high school drop out. I am a seven-time entrepreneur. Why am I so clear about all of that? It’s that there are lots of other people that are high school dropouts who have addiction issues who are also entrepreneurs. Why? Because you’ve burned all the goddamn bridges behind you. John, last, because we’ve had this conversation. Figure out what your USP is and mix it into your brand. An example of that would be to say with certainty, Listen, I’m the punk rock guy of the real estate world. I like to give my middle finger to all the established marketing companies and services because I don’t think they’re actually serving their customers very well, and they’re certainly not looking out after your needs first. That’s part of my elevator pitch.
[00:14:23.380] – Jonathan Denwood
Well, a lot of the services in the real estate sector, and it’s understandable, they are a bit too polished. They’re a bit too slick, can’t they? They’re a bit too… Hopefully this is making sense, Rob, where your positioning is you’re giving, This is what I am. This is what you get. I’m efficient. I know what I’m talking, but you’re not going to get all the other stuff.
[00:14:56.160] – Robert Newman
Yeah, true facts.
[00:15:02.390] – Jonathan Denwood
I think he’s typing that out, actually. I think that was quite good, actually.
[00:15:06.890] – Robert Newman
But there we go. It was really good. All right, so go ahead, John, if you would, because I can talk about personal, just this. Usp is honest to God. It’s not just a single conversation on a podcast. We should be able to write a book on it. If you wanted to say what is the most valuable thing for you to do is a service salesperson inside the real estate space, it is absolutely going to be figuring out what your unique selling proposition is, because from that stems every single other thing that you could theoretically do, every other marketing, every other how you’re going to message inside that marketing, what your tagline is. I can go on and on and on and on.
[00:15:44.230] – Jonathan Denwood
It is worth the effort, folks, honestly, because it just is. Because in a crowded market or getting a less crowded market, it will help you individualize yourself. Number two, number three, actually, the riches are in the niche. Well, it’s linked to the last thing we were talking about, but it’s counterint, and you can’t do it straight away because it’s linked to the first point, but it’s also linked to getting yourself established. But the sooner you can find a niche and the marketing is going to be a lot easier, a lot more effective. It’s what I’ve done in my other business. I was just a general developer when I first come to America and then about seven, eight years ago, I found a niche and I’ve been gradually taking a lot longer to build a business. Rob will tell you about that as well. But the quicker that you find a niche that resonates with your marketing position, which we just discussed, I think they… But there’s a lot of pushback because a lot of people say there isn’t the work, there isn’t enough out there for me to find it. I am very resistant to that.
[00:17:15.040] – Jonathan Denwood
I think in almost every area you can find a niche. What do you reckon, Robert?
[00:17:21.230] – Robert Newman
I think that’s true. I think that a lot of people are exercising and a lot of failure and imagination and specificity. There are a million niches that are inside an area. I don’t know why, but realtors only think of the big, broad ones. A niche could be teachers in Van Ies. That’s a niche. Maybe not a big one. Maybe there aren’t a lot of teachers in Van Ies. I don’t know. I’m making it up as I go along. Business owners in Van Ies that want to buy a second home, there’s a million niches. There honestly is. Because when you start to identify a type of customer that you like working with, there is a very large set of incredibly successful real estate salespeople that give up on every other prospect and say, How do I find more of this person? Luxury agents have done that. Their niche is super wealthy people. Oftentimes, luxury agents behind the scenes have a network of friends that are focused on music as an example. I know a luxury agent that mostly does music stars and Justin Timberlake and all those other people, and half of them are all the same agents.
[00:18:35.350] – Robert Newman
Half of them. Why? They spend all their time networking in those scenes. They have a dream job if you want to go see live music. If you’re into music because they go to every concert, they’re always present, they’re always there, they’re always supportive. When you think about it, if you love music, if you love that industry and you want to do business with those people, that’s a great niche for you to be in. It may take a while for you to break in, sure, but you will love it. Your life will be worth living if you do. I agree with you, John. There’s 100 niches no matter where you go.
[00:19:11.130] – Jonathan Denwood
And just before we go for a break, I think the other factor is you can utilize your digital presence to have a niche that’s a bit broader than your geo area if you wish to. You don’t have to, but you like, you could be based in Los Angeles and then utilize what we talked about last week about Google for your local clientele, but you could have a speciality for a particular niche that covers the whole of their LA area. That’s how I would be looking at it in a way. But there’s various ways of doing it, isn’t there, Robert?
[00:19:59.870] – Robert Newman
Absolutely. When we come back, ladies and gentlemen, from our break, we’re going to talk about writing out a basic brand strategy, talk about consistency. We can talk about some of our conclusions as it relates to building out a personal brand. We can talk about this in many different ways. I will say this, we’re also going to hear from me over and over and over again that in this millennium, most brands are based on information, that it’s less on the visual, it’s less on the font, it’s less on the car that you drive and the less on the background that you have in your websites and a lot more on the information that you’re providing to the people that you serve and doing it digitally. All right, that’s it, ladies and gentlemen. We’re going to be right back. Thank you so much for tuning in to The MailRight show. Here we go. We’ll be right back. All right. Do you want quality leads from homeowners and buyers right in your own neighborhood? Then you need MailRight. It is a powerful but easy to use online marketing system that uses Facebook to generate real estate leads at a fraction of the cost you’d pay from our competition.
[00:21:03.170] – Robert Newman
We stand behind our work with a no-question-asked 30-day money-back guarantee. So don’t delay. Just start today. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. We hope that you had a great cup of coffee or whatever it is that you’re doing. You grabbed your little cheeseburger on the break. When you’re driving through the drive-through. Whatever it is you’re doing, we hope that you did it and did it well in this ensuing 30 seconds that we took a break. John and I are back and we’re talking about building a personal brand in for realtors in 2023. We’re going to talk about writing out a basic brand strategy. Why don’t you go ahead and jump us into the subject?
[00:21:39.690] – Jonathan Denwood
I think just writing down some of the things that we discussed in the first. I’m the worst of this, but I’ve learnt the hard way. I think crucial things, it’s best to write, but it doesn’t have to be warm, Peter. You’re not going to get that with me. It’s going to be bullet points and short paragraphs. But I think that adds the benefit anyway, because I think a lot of the time you can overwrite something like this. It doesn’t have to be a really very long document. But I think having what the key things that individualize yourself in the market, what is your niche, what are the basic? I think also the one thing I would disagree with you only partially though, is that you’re saying that it’s not all about, but to a high degree about content. In some ways I do agree with you there. But I think when I was doing my Masters in the UK in graphic design and communication, I think the one thing that people forget is the reason why images are important is how the human brain can absorb a message from an image much more quicker than they can absorb a message from the written text.
[00:23:06.180] – Jonathan Denwood
They can absorb subconscious messages or conscious messages from visualization much more quicker. He’s griddy a little bit. He’s lurking a little bit. Rob, I don’t know if he totally disagrees with you. But that was one of the things that was hammered in when I was doing my MA many, many years ago. Too long ago, Rob?
[00:23:31.010] – Robert Newman
I think that there is now and always will be something to be said for visual style. Apple has become the biggest, most successful brand on the face of the planet for exactly that reason. I am not one to poop-do historic or traditional design. I am going to say that for the average realtor in a crowded marketplace, yeah, night branding is nice. What would really set you apart, though, that you’re more in control of and is less expensive by far is going to be the information that you put out into the marketplace.
[00:24:05.960] – Jonathan Denwood
Yeah, I would agree with you.
[00:24:07.680] – Robert Newman
That’s just it. But there’s no arguing with, like Joni, Ivy, or whatever his name is, the lead designer that… Steve Jobs found that guy when he was still young and never, ever, ever until the day he retired allowed anybody else to be head of design at Apple. Just totally fell in love with the guy’s design style. Had a couple of wiffles during his career, but for the most part, he’s the most iconic designer in history. And so there is that people don’t know necessarily, because they don’t realize that all of their products that they love so much have been designed by the same guy. So design matters, man. That’s all it comes down to. But how many people have the genius for that design? Because I’m only talking about one guy.
[00:25:01.680] – Jonathan Denwood
Yeah, but I think it was driven into me by my main lecturer is who was a working professional at the time. I was lucky with IMA that most of the lecturers were working in the field, so they actually were making money at the same time. That’s the nitty gritty, getting a message over through a visualization. It’s not about all the arty-farty side of it to some degree. But I do totally agree with you. The content, the value, the information is more important. Well, it’s a balance, basically. What do you think should be in a basic brand strategy?
[00:26:00.980] – Robert Newman
When we’re writing out a basic brand strategy, okay, here’s how you do it from a technical perspective. Anybody who fucking is going to talk to you about brand strategy is going to sit here and start off with, Who is your targeted client? And there’s words, fancier words for that.
[00:26:18.550] – Jonathan Denwood
The.
[00:26:19.600] – Robert Newman
Persona. Yeah, they’re going to use fancy words, which I dislike strongly. It’s who is your target client?
[00:26:28.280] – Jonathan Denwood
Well, I bet you start using a lot during these podcasts then better.
[00:26:33.120] – Robert Newman
You do whatever you want. But you could ask some questions about that person once you think you’ve dialed them in. I want to do business with car mechanics in Norwalk. All right, so who is that person then? That’s persona. What do they do? What do they care about? What are they into? Because all of these questions is going to help you design your personal brand. It’s first, who do you want to do business with? And if you don’t know the answer to that question, a useful hack is to say, Okay, I don’t know who I want to do business with. All right, fine. Where do you want to do business? Every single realtor in the country should be able to answer that question. Pick at least one spot and then ask yourself the question of, is there a predominant persona, John, in that spot? Are like Florida, you got it easy, man, because so many of your communities are going to be retirees and snowbirds. It’s going to be a big percentage no matter where you go. Occasionally, you’re going to have additional persona elements such as Jews, Cubanos. The list goes on. Just depends on what part of Florida that you’re in.
[00:27:48.360] – Robert Newman
Bocca Raton, the Jewish community and Cuban community, both. It just depends on which part of the city that you’re in. Do any of these things impact your brain? Do you care about any of those things? Do any of them resonate with you? Because if the answer is you’re a highly Judeic realtor who cares very much, sends all your kids to a Jewish, whatever school… My family is Jewish, so they’re going to shoot me if they ever see this podcast. And go through the Batmitsvah and Barmitsvah and all those different things, and you’re going to do all of that. Why in the world wouldn’t you maybe associate that, tie that into your brand because you’ve got a built-in marketplace for prospects when you go out to Temple. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t include it as part of your brand. The same thing is true for those of you who are single-family. I have one of my favorite couples in my entire catalog of clients right now is a young married couple with six kids, and they’re super fit, and super beautiful, and super religious, which is very unusual for me to connect with people who are deeply spiritual according to a particular genre of religion.
[00:29:08.650] – Robert Newman
I’m more spiritual in general. The thing is, though, is that they own it. They really deeply own it. They moved to Nashville. They own the lifestyle. They’re super out there about their philosophies and having kids and serving both God and their children. It is part of their brand and they wear it really, really well. I normally don’t like it. But honestly, if I’m going to separate out any personal feelings and I look at them, if I’m Christian, they’re my realtors, man. I mean, they’re beautiful. They’re driven. They walk the talk. They’ve got all the things in line. And they have amazing reviews from everywhere. They do the thing. They do. They live the Christian life. And so it’s part of their brand. I know, John, I don’t usually talk about this, and I apologize to everybody who’s listening to the show. It’s not a thing I usually talk about. But if you’re going to do a brand, you should have-.
[00:30:08.520] – Jonathan Denwood
Yeah, I know what you’re saying. Yeah, I totally understand.
[00:30:15.180] – Robert Newman
It should just match. When somebody calls you, you should not have to be somebody other than who you are in order to do the work that you.
[00:30:24.380] – Jonathan Denwood
Want to do. Well, if I had my business career would have been a lot more successful, but I just can’t do it. You just get this non-she, bolshe English. So your.
[00:30:38.800] – Robert Newman
Branding, if you were ever to ask me, should be to lean deeply into that. Hey, I’m a cranky English guy, but I happen to know WordPress and all this other stuff pretty well, and you should talk to me if you have those questions because I’ll tell you one thing you’ll get with me. You’ll probably get an opinion that’s almost too honest for your comfort. That’s your brand. You could even use that as your tagline, an opinion that’s too honest, even for your own comfort.
[00:31:04.110] – Jonathan Denwood
All right. I use that for my girlfriends. Be consistent. I forgot what that term where you’re… What’s that term, Rob, where you’re on multiple channels at the same time? I forgot the term. I can’t. But consistent, you’re on social media, you’re on… You’ve been on your email list, all the stuff. If you’ve been listening to this podcast regularly, folks, all the stuff that we’ve discussed, having a consistent message, having all your social media, your online materials aimed at your niche target. Can you see, folks, that if you’ve done the things that we’ve discussed earlier in this episode, if you’ve done that work, it just becomes a lot more easier to make sure the content you’re producing matches up to your niche and your proposition. I think I’m on the right track there, Rob. He looks really to agree with, folks.
[00:32:15.410] – Robert Newman
I do, because listen, I just think it doesn’t really matter. I also could have done a lot more business. I could be doing a lot more business right now. I could be doing five times the amount of business. I could be doing tens of millions of dollars worth of business if I was a different human. I’m not. I’m done apologizing to anybody, especially myself, though. I love who I am. I’m a really weird little guy that does a very specific thing and does it very well. I don’t apologize for that any more than you should be apologizing for whatever English bloke that you are. We are each what we want to be. What I love is when people call me and they know full well who I am because I’ve put it out there honestly and transparently, and they’re looking for exactly that. They’re looking for a little rebel without a cause inside the real estate industry. They’re looking for a guy whose ethics are everything and it’s not going to sell out for money, even if it defies logic about why I wouldn’t just because I won’t. That’s it. So be consistent in your messaging, I think, is what we’re about ready to say.
[00:33:22.570] – Robert Newman
Whatever you decide, it is well worth your time to spend two, three, four more times than you think is necessary to identify thoroughly who you are. Because I promise you this, if you do get a brand and you do get a following and people do start to pay attention to you, you’ll get addicted to the business or the success. If you change your brand mid-stroke, you’re really going to change up a lot on a lot of people. Try to be as certain as you know how to be before you get started, before you do all the video and everything that John and I talk, before you drop 10,000 letters into the mail to everybody, you should understand thoroughly who you are. My favorite part about all my successful realtors that most of them, 90 % of the hyper-successful realtors, dear God, John, do they know who they are? They really know who they are. You are going to get a very distinct flavor when you reach out to them. And service and professionalism at the highest levels is a given, and it should be. It’s just given. It does come down to the branding flourishes on top of that.
[00:34:35.580] – Robert Newman
Are you a pet lover? Because everybody at the highest level of their profession is going to do a good job. The question is, do you like doing business with them? Are you really going to have a good time? That’s where personal branding, I think, plays. How about you?
[00:34:51.120] – Jonathan Denwood
Yeah, I think if you do the things that we’ve gone through in this podcast and think about it and approach Rob or if you want to chat with me if you do the things, and I wish I had done all this early in my business career when I came to the… Because I was in retail in the UK, and there were some of this, but especially when I came to America, and I was starting out my own business, I think, and especially the niche in my other business, then Mailwright, is definitely in a niche. I wish I had done it earlier because the business would have been done well earlier. I really think people should listen to this podcast and really follow what Robert suggested because I think it really will make a big difference.
[00:35:56.460] – Robert Newman
Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve had a lot of fun talking to you about personal branding. I think that it depends on where you are in your career. If you’re a luxury agent with many, many years of experience and you’re thinking about changing your USP, I am certain that I am more qualified than most other people to have that conversation with you. If you’re at the beginning of your career, maybe even the beginning or middle, and you’re trying to figure out a basic brand, I think that either John or I could probably serve you, but John is probably more available than me, so I’d try him first. Establishing a brand is very similar to the idea of establishing a business because oftentimes you think of a business you want to pursue, and then you think about the brand like, Well, how am I going to pursue that business? Where John developed his brand, I think, a lot through these podcasts. We designed and developed a… Well, he designed and developed an idea of surrounding mail-right, who he was going to serve, and who that persona was. And it happened over time. And now I think he really knows, and he has really got to dial them about who he is.
[00:37:02.170] – Robert Newman
And my thing the same way. I’ve done this for 15 years. I know exactly who I’m looking to talk to, but it didn’t happen overnight. I’d say it took me five years to figure out exactly the client that I really like doing business with inside the real estate world and trying to find that guy and gal. I love certain types of personalities, and I’ll talk to them for hours, and it’s not a day at work for me. I just enjoy the conversation. So I seek those people out.
[00:37:27.950] – Jonathan Denwood
John, where- Just to finish off, I think the reason you can invest that time is a lot your clientele, I get this impression, is a lot of your clientele, when they’re with you, they’re with you for a very long time. Correct. Multiple years.
[00:37:47.310] – Robert Newman
Oh, yeah. We have churned just like any other marketing company, but many, many, many of my clients stay at like my longest client is 12 years. They stay with me in particular a long time.
[00:38:04.740] – Jonathan Denwood
I think that’s linked to this conversation, isn’t it?
[00:38:10.380] – Robert Newman
Absolutely. I enjoy them; they enjoy me. Oftentimes, the marketing that we do has an ebb and flow. At times, I’ve been cracking home runs, and at other times, we haven’t been doing as well. And what holds the glue of the relationship together is I enjoy them, and there’s reliability, and they enjoy me, and they enjoy the brand I build too, which is another interesting thing because I find people that match my personality, and it takes me a long-ass time to do it, John. It’s not easy. That’s why I went to the Philippines. I had to interview lots and lots of people to find one. Actually, two. One that I recruited new, somebody from Internally, and probably I pick people that nobody’s going to expect. One of the two people I picked is tatted all the way up through the neck. I really do.
[00:39:02.830] – Jonathan Denwood
Do you think that would suit me, Rob?
[00:39:05.440] – Robert Newman
Fucking fantastic, actually. Deadly serious. You should get a lot of tribal tattoos, especially on your head.
[00:39:11.680] – Jonathan Denwood
Yeah? Yeah. I look into that, Rob.
[00:39:16.090] – Robert Newman
I promise you all when I see this show.
[00:39:18.790] – Jonathan Denwood
This.
[00:39:19.280] – Robert Newman
It is hard to edit.
[00:39:19.800] – Jonathan Denwood
It out. Should I have Merlin or my forehead?
[00:39:22.920] – Robert Newman
Did you do what on your forehead?
[00:39:25.550] – Jonathan Denwood
Merlin.
[00:39:26.660] – Robert Newman
Yeah, or Stonehenge. Like a picture of Stonehedge.
[00:39:32.070] – Jonathan Denwood
All right. Thanks for that, Rob. Thanks for that. No problem.
[00:39:36.400] – Robert Newman
Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to wrap up the show-up. John, if people would like to reach out to you, how would you like to go?
[00:39:42.640] – Jonathan Denwood
About doing it? I’ll just go to the mail-right. Com website. I tried to get the Mail-Right, one word. Com, but the Giza that’s got it, it’s direct mail, physical mail. He’s out of it. He won’t sell it to me. It’s got to have a hyphen. I suppose I could get mail and write something else, but I thought that was a hyphen and then kept the com. It’s mail-write. Com. You can book a demo with me personally or just have a chat. I’d love to hear from you folks. Back over to you, Rob.
[00:40:19.100] – Robert Newman
Ladies and gentlemen, if you’d like to learn anything more about me or find out about SEO or marketing or a thousand other subjects, inboundareem.com is actually a great place to do all of that. I have two places with a deep message about me that will lead by example and show you what I mean by personal branding. It’s on my services page and my About page. I have two long-form videos that talk in-depth about who I am as a person and basically see me leading you by example. An Inbound rem has generated millions of dollars without advertising in service revenue based on the strength of a single guy with a single personal brand. I have guided my clients to far more revenue than I’ve earned myself. My success is actually a reflection of everybody else’s success. Without any further ado, thank you so much for tuning in. John and I deeply appreciate it. We’d love it if you shared the show with your realtor friends. We would love it if you called us. We would love it if you emailed us. You can email me at Robert@inbound. Com if you have. Com if you’d like.
[00:41:26.740] – Robert Newman
Take a stop.