11 Examples of Perfect Real Estate Branding

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Successful real estate branding can’t be accomplished with just a fancy logo or a catchy motto. The real secret behind strong real estate brands is a combination of creative elements and on-point messaging into a coherent identity. And if you want to become a real estate branding champion, it takes valuable content, a strong media presence, and regular interaction with your audience to convey that identity.

Each of the agents and brokers listed below (in no particular order) has mastered the art of branding in some aspect, so check out what makes their brands unique and memorable, and learn how you can emulate their methods to bolster your own real estate agent branding.

Raj Qsar, The Boutique Real Estate Group

Qsar’s brokerage has been a leader in the video marketing sphere for some time now — so much so he could be designated the King of Real Estate Video (should such a designation exist). From hiring excellent video marketing vendors to help him capture some amazing listings, likeHale Ali’i, to shooting his own recordings featuring his agents and the properties they represent, Qsar has shown a knack for crafting wonderfully attractive and charming videos that make you want to watch over and over again … even if you don’t happen to be in the market for homes for sale in SoCal. The videos have now become a trademark of his agency, and it’s thanks to some nifty real estate branding savvy from Qsar.

Lisa Archer and Laurie Weston Davis, “The Geeky Girls”

It’s hip to be square. The Geeky Girls Archer and Davis have taken this mantra to heart with their real estate branding approach — one that’s made them well-known in the world of real estate. The social proof is in the pudding: Just take a look at the duo’s Placester website homepage and you’ll see a multitude of industry members sporting Geeky Girls gear. A bold color scheme to accompany their creative logo and a sense of pride in their unique business persona have earned the pair quite a following. Want to emulate success? Don’t feel obligated to label yourself as “The [Insert Adjective Here] Agents.” Instead, focus on what separates you from other agents in your market and blend that information seamlessly into your real estate marketing. For instance, if you mostly sell great beachside properties, use language in your marketing messaging to denote your status as one of the premier beachfront property sellers in the region. A catchy moniker, like The Geeky Girls, is simply gravy.

Matt Beall, Hawaii Life

Matt Beall is a prime example of real estate branding done right for several reasons. He built his agency, Hawaii Life, rapidly — more than 200 agents and brokers have joined the firm’s 11 offices in just four years. He’s hosted a brokerage-sponsored real estate conference called Worthshop that has featured numerous big industry names. He positions his firm online as the preeminent brokerage in the state. And, on top of all that, he’s even managed to get his agency some airtime on HGTV, thanks to the aptly named series “Hawaii Life.” In other words, Beall has put in the work needed to build a powerhouse real estate firm and is now focusing on maximizing its potential by getting its name out through various channels.

Michael Thorne and David Fauquier, “Mobile Agent TV”

Not all real estate marketing strategies need to focus entirely on getting in front of consumers. Directing your marketing tactics at your peers can position you as a thought leader in the agent community. Take Thorne and Fauquier, for example: Their RE/MAX-sponsored “Mobile Agent TV” webisode series entails them interviewing the best and brightest in the real estate sector. These shows (like the episode above featuring Placester’s Seth Price) inform agents and brokers all over on how to better their bottom lines with the latest and greatest sales and marketing efforts, emerging technologies, and general business tips. Additionally, though, the series has transformed them into knowledgeable agents in the eyes of their local market. Each and every episode of “Mobile Agent TV” enhances Thorne and Fauquier’s status as a go-to resource.

Jill Hertzberg & Jill Eber, “The Jills”

It pays to work in one of the hottest (literally and figuratively) housing markets in the nation, but even that is no guarantee for success. Miami-area agents Jill Hertzberg and Jill Eber, who have capitalized on their first-name branding opportunity, understand that it takes some special marketing to stand out from the crowded field of real estate professionals operating in sunny Miami-Dade County. Thus, the dynamic duo has worked hard over the last several years to cement themselves as the premier agents not only in South Florida, but across the U.S. and world. Nearly every usage of their simple-yet-elegant logo is accompanied by copy denoting their status as “the #1 agent team worldwide.” When you’ve got the numbers to back up your claims, it’s an easy decision to take advantage of such a title. The Jills don’t rest on this logo and tagline, however — they also make sure to optimize their joint real estate website, produce detailed real estate videos, and take advantage of speaking engagements and other promotional endeavors.

Travis Greene, CountryWide Properties, Inc.

Branding for real estate businesses is primarily accomplished online these days, thanks to a bevy of inbound marketing tactics agents and brokers can implement. But offline marketing methods can also make an impact. For instance, Realtor and Placester customer Travis Greene has added his real estate agent branding to his truck, meaning he can promote his business simply by getting behind the wheel. Offline marketing techniques like this can go wrong (very wrong, in some cases), but Greene manages to incorporate his online branding into the real world effortlessly and attractively. Having a strong internet presence is vital to real estate marketing success, but spending some ad money on things like this can still offer reputational benefits.

Sue Adler, “Hear It Direct”

As we’ve discussed on the Academy before, agents have a wide array ofreal estate conferences available to them. Some of these conferences cover broad topics, like technology’s role in real estate and how to better organize your team. Others take a different approach — like Hear It Direct, a series of consumer-meets-agent events started in part by Sue Adler. What better way to market yourself than to speak with buyers and sellers in your area and answer their questions? As with the RE BarCamps that have become popular among agents nationwide, Adler’s Hear It Direct conferences have helped close the divide between agents and consumers, and make it simpler for both sides to understand one another. Adler can take a lot of credit for how successful Hear It Direct has become and deserves recognition for her selfless real estate branding. It’s a novel approach to a fundamental idea: Speaking and networking directly with those you want to work with.

John Hesse, Accelerated Realty Group

You have to go to great lengths sometimes to develop effective real estate agent branding — literally and figuratively. Sacramento-based Realtor Jon Hesse, for instance, flew a great distance to meet up with a branding firm he hired to get his photos taken for promotional images. The results? Well, just look at the “about me” infographic above, which features one of the images taken by the agency. It’s simple, yet shows Hesse is serious about his business because he’s willing to take the time to get professional shots taken. The same branding is used atop his real estate website and on all of his major social media accounts, meaning he’s taking full advantage of the branding services he secured. It can cost a pretty penny to get photos taken by seasoned pros, but if the fruits of that labor end up making you look reputable in the eyes of your audience, it’s more than worth the expense.

Marguerite Giguere, “The Skydiving Agent”

When you think “skydiving,” you may think “risky,” but perhaps that’s exactly what Giguere wants you to think: that she’s willing to take risks to help her clients close deals and provide excellent customer service. Look closer at her real estate branding, though, and you realize she’s much more than a gimmick. Giguere has charm and personality to spare, and clearly shows she cares about her clients. Email is a core element of her real estate marketing plans, as shown in this Academy post, while she also spends a great deal of time on her blog to inform the local community about interesting events, venues, restaurants, and other goings-on. Simply put, Giguere goes all out to make herself as personable and relatable as possible — and she passes that test with flying colors.

Julian Pilarski, Royal LePage Real Estate Services

To become a local, trusted brand name, real estate agents must implement some creative real estate marketing. A high-quality, appealing logo can be a great starting point for establishing your brand, but the real secret to broadening awareness and generating interest in your business is to use your brand marks in as many places as humanly possible. That means doing what Realtor Julian Pilarski has done, creating a beautiful real estate logo (like his below) to use on every page of your site, in your email marketing, atop your social media accounts, on flyers, in ebooks, and any other marketing collateral you create.

Pilarski specifically does an excellent job of using his logo in his real estate videos, as evidenced above. The branding is prominent at the beginning and end of his videos, and is even used in the corner of the screen mid-video. Seemingly small touches like these used hundreds of times over will add up over time and resonate more and more with local real estate customers.

Judith Weiniger, The Weiniger Group

Some agents forget to have a print real estate branding strategy in addition to online tactics. Look to Judith Weiniger’s marketing, for inspiration: She has mastered the art of the real estate mailer. Weiniger sends out print collateral like market reports and a home seller’s guide that are perfectly branded. They feature her agency’s logo, have a unified color scheme, and, most importantly, feature lots of valuable content that educates her audience.
Who do you think will be atop the list when recipients decide to buy or sell? Once again, consistency is key. Weiniger noted in a Placester Academy post that sending out mailers a dozen times annually is ideal. Doing so has helped get her and her company top-of-mind with qualified leads in her market.

Need some real estate branding ideas? Check out our Academy post 75 Ways Real Estate Agents Can Promote Themselves Online. What are some real estate brand examples you’ve seen that you loved? Share some notable instances in the comments section below!

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5 Insanely Creative Ways People Have Used to Sell Houses

via Mashable

The Boutique Real Estate Group has been Highlight by Mashable in the article 5 Insanely Creative Ways People Have Used to Sell Houses.

In the future, selling houses might be less about realtors and more about video creators. While traditional open houses and “for sale” signs aren’t going away anytime soon, in years to come it could be a viral video that gets a buyer to sign on the dotted line.

Straightforward video tours have been around for some years, but we’ve gone beyond that and taken a look at five fabulously creative ways people have used video to sell property around the world, from music videos to high-tech drones via 3D fly-throughs.

 

Plain video house tours are all well and good, but what if instead of a dry, room-by-room tour around a property, you used the video to tell a story and sell a lifestyle?

The Boutique Real Estate Group is very good at this, producing a series of glossy ads for houses that engage you with a simple plot device, making them much more interesting than the average tour.

In this example, seeing the kids run through the beautiful rooms as they find a suitable cubbyhole for a game of hide-and-seek is just a genius way to show the home’s family-friendly, attractive living spaces.

From The Trenches: Raj Qsar of The Boutique Real Estate Group

Every month FreeAgent by AdWerx brings you advice from top-performing agents and real estate technology experts in “From the Trenches.” Here atAdWerx, we believe that to be the best, you have to learn from the best. While doing your own research can be helpful, getting tips straight-from-the source can offer new perspectives and give you a taste of each real estate maven’s personality.

This month in From the Trenches, we’ll hear from Raj Qsar, Principal and Owner ofThe Boutique Real Estate Group, in California. His company serves as one of the most dominant real estate teams in the Orange County real estate market, serving north, central, south and coastal Orange County. It’s easy to see why they come out on top. While agents with The Boutique Real Estate Group excel with their personal branding, the marketing of each listing the firm represents is impeccable. According to theboutiquere.com, “Every real estate listing is assigned a best-in-class sales & marketing campaign, and receives the support of industry leading marketing, advertising, social media, video, staging & interior design, graphics & design, all of whom work together to develop a strategic and tactical marketing plan customized to each client and each property.”

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Raj is no stranger to the value of technology and social media. Aside from employing modern marketing in every aspect of his business, he has also spoken professionally on using these strategies in real estate. Raj was recently named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders for 2013 by Inman News. This annual list recognizes those who embody leadership, ingenuity, strength, conviction, power, persistence, perseverance and progress. Raj is also a contributor at Inman News covering the topics of creative video for real estate, social media and networking. The Boutique Real Estate Group was just selected in 2013 as a Next Generation Brokerage by Better Homes & Garden Real Estate and 1000 Watt Consulting.  These NextGen brokerage projects represent a new breed of real estate brokerages growing across the country. These firms empower agents and clients by providing the most up-to-date and flexible technology. They build meaningful brands, and attract and engage new customers.

1. How did you get your start as a real estate agent?

It’s a funny story. When I initially began selling real estate, I just wanted to sell one to two homes a year and keep my real estate career relatively small. After having my license for just three days, I was absolutely hooked. I was in escrow with a client and it was just the beginning. The social media and technology aspects of my business came later, but I’ve been addicted to the real estate industry since day one.

2. You’re very active on Pinterest. What advice can you give to agents about using Pinterest for real estate?

Pinterest is great, but I advise people to not be a “real estate agent” on Pinterest. Showcase your community and lifestyle.

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Raj keeps a personal Pinterest page focused on his personal brand aside from the Pinterest page of The Boutique Real Estate Group. Both feature a variety of content with some overlap. Topics they post about include aspects of the Orange County lifestyle, including homes, pools, luxury items, famous residents, beaches, cars and style. The company page also features a board dedicated to their video tours.

 

3. In a hot real estate market like this, it’s tempting to spend too much time working in the business instead of on building the business. How much time should an agent spend on marketing themselves versus marketing listings?

The fact is, busy agents need help.  None of us can do this alone, and you shouldn’t try to do it all on your own.  At The Boutique Real Estate Group, we believe the team approach is best, because there are just too many hats to wear right now for an agent. You really have to dedicate time to both. Remember to “walk before you can run,” and don’t get too ahead of yourself. Build your team block by block. Building and nurturing a quality team takes time! And always hire the best.

If you are an agent, find a team that you respect and admire. Demonstrate your skills, and ask to join.  If you are lucky enough to become a part of the team, work hard and contribute. Soak it all up and enjoy the ride!

4. As an agent, you value social media and technology. What are some specific examples of ways they have helped you communicate with clients and increase productivity?

Social is just an amplifier. If you are a rockstar agent, social will just amplify all of the great things you are doing. You have to be doing well in your business for social media to add value to your brand. Also, my tagline is, “If you are not in my newsfeed, you do not exist!” It’s not enough to just have a social presence. You have to be engaged with users and clients if you want to get noticed.

Twitter really is a cocktail party. It is a great tool for agents, but remember, you are in and out in 140 characters.  Make every post short and simple, and talk to people!  If you talk to people they will talk back!

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5. What trends are you seeing in real estate right now in terms of technology and social media? 

We are a 99.9 percent paperless office.  All of our agents sign a contract that they will have an iPhone and iPad at the start of employment.  We also have a technology standard – we call it the #tbreg tech standard  – which all agents must master.  This is the new normal.

Many agents struggle to adopt the technology we have now, and I’m not sure why they put this on the back burner.  For our team, it’s all we talk about.  We ask ourselves, “How can we create a REAL estate experience that our clients will enjoy?”  We want the entire experience to be as easy and painless as possible. Today, utilizing technology is an integral part of that experience with clients.

If you are a great agent, you will get referrals.  It’s that easy.  Put your clients first in all you do and the technology and referrals will follow.

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One way The Boutique Real Estate Group goes the extra mile for their clients is by producing creative listing videos. Watch the story unfold in this video for 9741 Janice Circle, with gorgeous shots of the home in an entertaining and beautiful presentation. The Boutique Real Estate Group is at the forefront of video for real estate, and one of their videos was awarded a spot in the Top 20 Real Estate Videos in the USA in 2013. Watch the video here.

 

6. Is there anything else you’d like to share with FreeAgent readers?

I have truly made some wonderful friends over the years via social. It has been a wonderful ride and has been a true blessing. Turning online relationships into meaningful real life friendships has been one of the greatest joys for me. There are so many great people in this world and in our industry who are trying to raise the bar in all we do. If you take the time to talk to them, they will talk back.

Find Raj Qsar on FacebookTwitter and LinkedIn, and be on the lookout for the opening of The Boutique Real Estate Group’s second luxury office in Corona Del Mar, California in January 2014.

As an agent, do you ask yourself “How can I create a REAL estate experience that my clients will enjoy?” What do you think are the most important parts of this experience? Let us know in the comments below!