Real Estate Branding

I recently came across a request for more information on how to better brand a website. Here is my answer paraphrased.

To build a brand first, before you have the ability to capture an abundance of leads and the strategies to follow up on those leads...
....is IMHO putting the cart before the horse.

Branding is a function of eyeballs loyal to you. Not your site.

You are not selling books. And even if you were selling real estate books as an example, look at how long it took for Amazon to become a Brand name. How much Red Ink went into their branding? You are selling houses, and a home is not sold thru a shopping cart online.

In California where I am, there is 1 licensee for every 75 people in the state. Do you think there is 1 online bookstore or offline for that matter for every 75 people?

Branding is not what a website is for...at least initially. It is to capture leads.

Once you capture your leads, then the real "conversation" and "courtship" begins.

I have written a great foundation on followup drip marketing here:

It is in your follow up that you have the opportunity to create a brand and loyalty.
If you spend too much time in your website on you, then you take away from your lead capture mechanisms. Brand and Call to Action compete as elements on a page. One has to lose, one has to win.

If you want to have a brand or brochure website, then have it seperate from your lead generation website. So both can do what they are designed to do.

Comments

[Risa and David Weiss]

Hot damn, my man!

Either you and I were made from the same mold, or you have been reading my mind on a consistent basis.

The philosophy we have developed at http://Chicago.YourInternetAgents.com and deployed and used with great effectiveness is just what you prescribe.

A little story to demonstrate my point...

My wife and I did a deal with a local agent, and we got to know him a little through the course of the transaction. The subject of one of our conversations came around to internet marketing, as it always seems to when we talk shop.

We asked him about his web site - what information was on it, and what he "did" with his web site. The answer?

"Well, my web site is about me," he said, giving us a strange look, as though to say "Duh! What else would it be about?"

Risa and I just looked at each other and sort of chuckled. "Yeah, what else would a Realtor web site be about, if not the Realtor himself?" Can you sense the sarcasm?

Go browse around and look at some Realtor web sites. I think if I see one more HUGE picture of Realtor surrounded by a bunch of cheap, tacky clipart images and buttons promoting "free CMAs", and "free school reports", I think I'll puke.

Lately, I've come across yet another, totally different type of Realtor, other than the "it's all about me" type. It's the "blog snob" Realtor who has a site that doesn't have a single home on it. You see, being a "blogger" and selling a product are mutually exclusive. If you want to be a "real" blogger, you can't actually SELL anything on your site.

I want to see that Realtor explain THAT to their listing clients.

"I'm too hip and too into being a 'blogger' to promote your home, and no one will read my blog if I write about silly, nonsensical things like SELLING YOUR HOME."

So, I guess you have two extremes, and neither has anything to do with actually selling real estate or becoming a successful Realtor.

That's my view, and I'm sticking to it.