Luxury Real Estate Personal Branding: Maintain Your Visibility- Part 3

Wolfgang Puck

The Ultimate Goal of Personal Branding: Global Brand Ubiquity

When you think of Coke or Google you think of a brand that is ubiquitous which means ever-present and seen everywhere. Oprah is an example of a celebrity whose personal brand has become globally ubiquitous.  Wolfgang Puck is perhaps the best known celebrity chef in the world and he is also a ubiquitous brand. 

We first met Wolfgang Puck in the early 1970s in Los Angeles where he was both a rising star as a chef and part owner of Ma Maison restaurant. Since then he has opened countless high end restaurants, casual dining bistros and airport eateries.  In the early 80’s he catered and personally served his famous smoked salmon pizza at a special event that we attended at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. He now has catering facilities in twelve major US cities. His high profile catering gig, the Governor’s Ball at the Academy Awards, is now world renown.

With cookbooks, cookware, a frozen food line, TV shows, radio shows, internet programming, plus much more, Wolfgang Puck’s empire exemplifies what a personal brand can become.  What is truly remarkable is that he has sustained top of mind status and quality in everything he touches over such a long period of time.

Almost 30 years after our first Puck encounter, we were guest speakers at the Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate event last fall in Vail, Colorado that was held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel (Bachelor Gulch).  His restaurant was featured there and so was his organic coffee, which is absolutely one of the best we have ever tasted.  When we found his coffee in our local market, here in Santa Barbara, it seemed heaven sent.

Without the Puck brand, the same coffee, could have sat on the shelf and gone unnoticed.  After all, coffee is the 2^nd most ubiquitous commodity on the planet, next to oil. But, the trust factor of the Wolfgang Puck brand, his promise of value and quality that has been sustained over a major part of our lifetime has made us loyal customers.

You may not be interested in global brand ubiquity for your personal brand. But, if market leadership is your quest as a luxury real estate marketing professional, becoming a household name and maintaining your visibility over time in your local marketplace, should definitely become your aim.

Maintain Your Visibility Part-1      Maintain Your Visibility-Part 2

Personal Branding: Maintain Your Visibility-Part 2

The 3 Keys to Parlay Your Reputation into Celebrity Status

If you are interested in achieving market leadership in your local marketplace think of yourself more like a celebrity and think of your luxury real estate marketing business more like a media.  It may seem like a big stretch, but those who make this shift in thinking will be the big winners for years to come.

Create a plan to parlay your reputation  and personal brand into celebrity status. Here are the three keys to the plan:

1. Develop a celebrity/media mindset
2. Build your audience, consistently
3. Gain and maintain visibility

Your Mindset: You need to think of your business not only as luxury real estate marketing practice, but also as a media with your brand as the star. This is not about pretentiousness; it is about becoming a savvy marketing expert.  How can you expect to win trophy listings if you cannot demonstrate to the sellers, through your personal marketing, that you are the superior choice over your competition?

Instead of being what we call a “transaction engineer”, you must become a marketing company who also processes transactions professionally. This is the metamorphosis that most agents are unwilling to do, which is why it represents such an outstanding opportunity for you, if you do it right.  High net worth clients expect you to have integrity, local market knowledge and excellent negotiating skills, just like your closest competitors. But, how will you stand out from the pack?  How will you gain top of mind/celebrity status?  Those are the questions!

Your Audience: The best way we have found to quickly increase your sphere of influence and leverage your personal brand is through a buzz-worthy blog. Blogging is a vehicle for self-publishing. As your own media, you do not need to answer to an editor. It puts you in control and enables you to capitalize on the primary promise of social media: rapidly amassing a sizable audience of raving fans. 

Your Visibility:  Managing your reputation, maintaining your star power, and staying visible in your marketplace are essentials. When you achieve high visibility you put yourself in position to parlay your celebrity status into additional revenue streams. 

In Part 3 of this series, Maintain Your Visibility, we will showcase a professional who has achieved celebrity status and has extended his personal brand to build to become an international conglomerate.  Hint: Food for Thought!

Luxury Real Estate Personal Branding:: Maintain Your Visibility-Part 1

It has only been a few months since the 2010 Winter Olympics.  An American won the gold medal for figure skating. Can you remember his name? Can you picture his face? Achieving top of mind status is quite an accomplishment. Staying top of mind is a whole other matter in our attention-deficient world.  Studying how celebrities maintain visibility can reveal personal branding secrets that can give you a competitive edge as a luxury real estate marketing professional.

You might remember Evan Lysacek’s stellar skating performance in Vancouver, BC.  But, just in case you forgot his face or name you can find Evan appearing on TV in Dancing with the Stars. Is it a coincidence that he is a featured dancer on the show just after his Olympic triumph?  Chances are he has hired a talent agent to keep his name and face in front of your face.

Why is visibility so important and what is at stake? Product endorsements and skating show gigs are some of the ways that Evan can cash in on his celebrity.  For luxury real estate agents, being visible and achieving top of mind status in your marketplace means more referrals. The higher your recognition and appeal factors are, the more likely you are to secure the lion’s share of the market.

In media, marketing, advertising and public relations the measurement of your familiarity and appeal is known as your Q Score.  The Q stands for quotient, as in recognition quotient (amount, share or percentage) within your target market.

An example of a luxury real estate professional who has achieved a very high Q score is Barbara Corcoran in New York. She certainly stands out as a celebrity real estate expert whose opinion is continuously sought out by the media.

With the advent of social media and self publishing through multiple media channels, the opportunity to build a personal brand and achieve celebrity status in your marketplace has never been better.  If market leadership is your quest, seize the opportunity to gain and sustain visibility. 

Authoring a follow- worthy blog that is buzz-worthy is one way to get you there.  See part two of this series for more details.

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Real Estate Agent Personal Branding: Gleaning Wisdom From Your Site Traffic Stats

Once you have amassed a body of blog posts, it is very important to check your site traffic through tools such as Google Analytics, to determine which posts draw the most traffic. There is much wisdom to be gleaned by doing this. After authoring over 300 blog posts on luxury real estate marketing and branding we are excited to share with you the all time winner for most popular post on LOL so far. 

This feedback confirms our intention in writing the LOL blog, which is to uplift, inform, empower, and, also to entertain. We hope you enjoy it!

 HUMOROUS SLOGANS

As a luxury real estate marketing professional do you have an engaging slogan? We have mentioned in a previous post, using slogans as a personal branding marketing strategy for real estate agents is an excellent way to differentiate you from the competition. The entire purpose of using a slogan is to engage your target market and get them talking about you. A humorous slogan is one way to accomplish this.

Here is a good definition of what a slogan is: In his book, Creative Advertising, Charles L. Whittier says a slogan:

“A slogan .should be a statement of such merit about a product or service that it is worthy of continuous repetition in advertising, is worthwhile for the public to remember, and is phrased in such a way that the public is likely to remember it."

For some agents a humorous slogan can be an excellent personal branding strategy. It is not for everyone. But, if you have a good sense of humor you can engage your target market in this manner and really stand out from the pack.

A very successful lender in Santa Rosa, California built a strong personal brand by placing a fresh ad in a popular local magazine each month, usually wearing a funny costume that evoked a movie star role or other pop culture icon. A humorous tagline that tied in the lending theme always was included. It seems like everyone you talked to in her marketplace knew her and looked forward to seeing the next installment.

One brand that exemplifies this approach is Altoids who has successfully sustained visibility over time by repeatedly coming up with new slogans and taglines. Their original slogan was "The Original Celebrated Curiously Strong Mints". To differentiate itself from its competitors in the breath mint category, Altoids has relied extensively on very funny puns. Here is an example:

The latest TV commercial from Altoids introduces their small mints. A nervous woman in an elevator talks about an upcoming “big day, a big opportunity.” To calm herself she stretches, takes deep breaths and consumes an Altoid. The slogan appears, “Are You in Mint Condition?"

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Become The Game Changer!

Courtesy of Apple

Do people need an iPad? No. Is iPad a must have? Yes! Therefore, iPad is a luxury.  What makes iPad a luxury is the user experience. It’s tactically interactive. It is eye candy. It is, above all, simple and fun, with endless possibilities of entertainment via the Apps Store. Apple has raised the bar of EXPECTATION in user experience and has thus changed the game.

If you want to gain the competitive edge as a luxury real estate marketing professional, you must become the game changer. Your own website must create an extraordinary user experience and you must provide a superior promise of value as a professional that is newsworthy.

Two days after iPad launched, we had lunch in downtown Santa Barbara across the street from the Apple Store.  People were swarming in and we decided to see what the buzz was all about, up close. Dozens of potential customers were gathered around several large tables testing iPads.  One freed up and we swooped in to play with it.  The experience was joyous; it was easy and very intuitive to use.  For fun, we checked out how our website looked on the screen. It looked great. We turned the iPad sideways (landscape vs. portrait), we made the pictures bigger with gestures. We navigated through pages with a tap of the screen, enlarged images and giggled like kids.  It was an awesome experience for us iPhone hold outs.

On the cover of Newsweek magazine a question was posed:  What is so great about the iPad? The answer was: Everything! Whether or not you agree with its merits, the iPad is a game changer for the competition.  On the back cover was an ad for Amazon’s best selling product, their ebook reader, the Kindle.  Fueled by the hurricane of publicity that Apple commanded (which is a story unto itself) leading up to the iPad launch, 300,000 units sold in one weekend.  This has put Amazon, the market leader in the ebook product category, on notice. They very well may have to settle for the back seat in this market space. The Nook, Barnes and Noble’s “me-too” ebook reader may never recover from a distant 3^rd place.  Other ebook readers are no longer on the radar screen.

If gaining market leadership is your aim, the power and speed of publicity via social media can completely disrupt the competitive playing field and give you the competitive edge “overnight”.  That is, if you have identified an uncontested market niche that you can dominate like Apple, create a new category of service, and thus, create a truly newsworthy story. 

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: What Is Your Slant As a Blogger?

The primary purpose of blogging, as a luxury real estate marketing strategy, is to amass an audience of people with whom you can develop a relationship of trust and a reputation as an expert advisor in a particular niche.  The ultimate goal as a blogger is to provide extraordinary value to a sizable base of raving fans.   But, to accomplish this successfully you must have a distinct slant, an angle, a particular leaning.

Where most luxury real estate marketing professionals run into trouble as bloggers is that they start blogging before they have first discovered or identified their natural talent, their passion, their bent, their preferences, their inclinations, their distinct opinions , their original point of view,  i.e., their authentic unique voice.    Just reporting the facts about their local market conditions or the real estate statistics that are available to every other agent will not accomplish the primary purpose of blogging.

Facts are facts. How you interpret them is what makes you stand out.  Here is an example of some facts that may be of interest to you.

• According to NAR’s member profile, 60% of Realtors have a web site aged an average of 5 years. 
• 17% of Realtors regularly use blogs. 

These are accurate facts based on surveys conducted by a trusted source.  Reporting this to luxury real estate marketing professionals is part of our role as a professional journalist.   Getting these facts and conveying them to you accurately is very important. However, this is not original content.  

What do these facts mean to YOU in particular?  That is the question.   Here is our interpretation:

• If 60% of Realtors have web sites that are virtually obsolete, investing in building a distinctive new website can give you the opportunity to demonstrate your superior marketing savvy and thus, run circles around your competition!
• If only 17% of Realtors blog, the field is wide open for a luxury real estate marketing professional like you to discover an uncontested market niche and dominate it, right now!
• There is a fierce competition for attention to build an audience, today.  But, blogging with an  inimitable slant can be your ticket to success.  Whoever builds the most high trust relationships in a sharply focused niche, wins!

Getting accurate facts and interpreting them in a way that answers your target market’s most pressing questions, is what builds trust with your audience.  Insightful interpretation of facts, consistently expressed in your unique voice, can build a sizable audience of raving fans, if you are up to the challenge.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Begin the Cycle of Networking by Giving

If you are like most luxury real estate marketing professionals you are probably tired of hearing the hype about online social and professional networking and are looking for the ROI, already. However, if you are not adept at the fundamentals of networking in the first place, all of the new tools will not help your cause. You most likely will get frustrated and miss the true value of the tools.

Social and professional networking has been around as long as human beings have transacted business together.  Networking is at the heart of building a business based on referrals. The new tools of networking can simply speed up the process and exponentially open up new possibilities of connecting with potential referral sources even beyond your immediate marketplace.

To clearly differentiate the importance of networking skills from the new tools, we strongly recommend that you read some books on the art of networking that were written BEFORE online social networking existed. Brush up on your fundamentals then take a fresh look at the online tools. Once you fully understand the fundamentals, the tools will seem almost magical.  Serendipitous moments will start to become the norm, but no less astonishing.

Begin the Cycle of Networking by Giving

Here is an example of the kind of coincidence that can happen when a key networking principle is applied very well. That principle is to begin the cycle of networking by giving.  We were trying to find out the name of a specific group on Linked In that we were unable to find. We posted our question on the “Answers” section of the site.  Several people answered, but no one had the right one. Two weeks after the question was automatically closed, we were approached by someone who happened to see the question and indeed had the right answer.  This gentleman owns a professional video editing school in Hollywood. I called him and, after a bit of brainstorming, we discovered that we can also do some video business together.

Reciprocity is a natural phenomenon that results when someone begins the networking cycle by giving.  It is a good practice to explore ways that you can reciprocate when you are given to first.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: LOL Special Video Edition - No.3

LOL Special Video Edition - No.3

Video & LOL Radio Interview: Gail Green, NY Interior Designer

Luxury Website Design (Video): "Buzz-Worthy" Luxury Website Design

Luxetera, Etc. : 

• India's Exquisite Maharaja's Express Train Service
• China To Become Top Luxury Market in 5-7 Years
• Steve McQueen's 'Little Ferrari' On the Market

 Gail Green, Top NY Interior Designer Reveals Her

Secret to Success

LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE LOL RADIO SHOW INTERVIEW

 

How can you expect to capture the website leads of high net worth clients without first capturing their attention? High net worth clients expect remarkable, distinctive packaging when purchasing luxury products and services. 

You can instantly differentiate yourself from your competition with a stunning, eye-catching website that makes your competition’s site pale in comparison.  Isn’t it time to demonstrate your superior marketing savvy?  Discover how to attract more high net worth clients with a buzz-worthy luxury website. WATCH THE VIDEO!

India's Exquisite Maharaja's Express Train Service

China will become the top luxury market in just five to seven years.

Syndicate Your Original Content, Like You Syndicate Your Listings Part 3

Blogger’s Misconception #3“If You Build It, They Will Come”

(From the novel Shoeless Joe and the movie Field of Dreams, in reference to a baseball field that would automatically  attract fans, once built)

You understand the concept of syndicating your listings.  On major brand touts that they syndicate their listings on over 250 websites in addition to displaying them on their own company website.  The idea is to get your listings maximum exposure by displaying them in the countless places where buyers begin their property searches. With links back to the company website (or to your own website) plus your phone number, hopefully, the buyer will find you and contact you.

Here goes misconception #3!  You cannot expect a large audience to find you just by blogging on your own website. You can build it there and nowhere else, but relatively few will come! If vastly expanding your sphere of influence is your goal in blogging, you need to syndicate YOU!

A very important blogging principle is to become a syndicated columnist and a guest blogger on other websites. Your column should appear in as many places as possible to reach the largest audience.  You need to syndicate your blog like you syndicate your listings.

There are blog directories where you can register your blog and be found.  But, the best way to amass a large audience is to set up “outposts”, where you can post the same articles that appear on your primary website or blog site, with links back to your site. You need to be seen where your target audience is most likely to show up.  And, you need to make it easy for them to find you there.

We hope this clears up some of the misconceptions and white noise about blogging.  Create original content; passion is the key. Syndicate your content like you syndicate your listings and you will expand your sphere of influence exponentially.

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It Takes Passion to Be a Consistent Blogger: Part 2

Passion Flower

MISCONCEPTION #2: I CAN COMPETE WITH PASSIONLESS AND SELF PROMOTING POSTS

As luxury real estate marketing professional who blogs, it is your passion about your subject that engages and uplifts your audience.   When you are truly passionate about your subject YOU are an original because no one else possesses your particular viewpoint on your subject.  That is why finding your own “voice” is the first step in becoming a blogger. You must first identify what you are most passionate about and eager to write about.

Do not blog until you discover your passion!  Otherwise, you are just adding to the white noise that is comprised of boring blogs.

It takes passion to consistently tap your resources for new material.  It takes passion to be persistent in producing posts on a regular basis.  If your content is uninspired or purely self-promoting your results will not inspire you, let alone your audience.  And, like many luxury real estate marketing professionals, you will soon abandon your blog.

It is the “subscribe” button and the “share” button on blogs that makes the blog such an amazing marketing tool. These features make it easy for your audience to follow you, to participate in your journalistic journey and also tell their friends about you, which can lead to increased business.  

Subscriptions build your audience. Think of subscribing to a magazine. Your subscribers are telling you that they like your brand of content. That is why it is so important for you to have a consistent authentic voice.

Building an audience is what makes your blog a media. There is fierce competition for attention out there. Your audience expects a certain brand, your brand of content, each and every time you publish a post.  By staying consistent on your brand signal when you blog,  and delivering on your unique promise of value, each and every time, your blog  can help you achieve top of mind within your marketplace, especially if it is focused on a particular niche. 

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Blah Post or Blog Post? The Difference is Original Content, Part 1

BLOGGERS MISCONCEPTION #1:CONTENT IS KING

Recently, we have heard the term “white noise” used to describe the bombardment of information coming from countless advisors who tout the benefits of blogging. Someone we know used the expression, “blah, blah, blah, blah blog” to describe their overdose of information on the subject. Yet, if the blog was really understood for the stupendous marketing tool that it is more luxury real estate marketing professionals would bite the bullet and blog.  There is definitely a “disconnect” here that needs to be bridged.

We have identified one of the biggest misconceptions about blogging.  That is the notion that “Content is King”.  Content is comprised of articles, photos, videos and pod casts (audio clips). The misconception is that creating content in your blog will automatically attract followers and possibly advertisers.

Content is not king.  ORIGINAL content is king!  People everywhere are starving for original content to solve their problems, to entertain them, to get informed, to participate in discussions and to uplift their spirits.

When you blog you become a columnist, a journalist. But, what is a columnist without an audience?  If the content of your blog is unoriginal, it is just a “blah post”, not a blog post. If your content is unoriginal no one will take the time to make a comment. Nor, will anyone bother to engage in a discussion with you or others who leave their comments.

When your original content is remarkable, follow-worthy, comment-worthy, buzz-worthy, people naturally want to subscribe to your steady stream of articles, engage in discussion and also share your content with others.  If your content is original blogging can be like word-of-mouth advertising on steroids. Sharing becomes contagious. That is what is meant by “going viral”.

The blogging tools themselves make it so easy for people to spread the word about you and re-distribute your content. But, it is original content that people want to pass along. It is the expectation of original content that gets them to subscribe to your blog and keeps them coming back for more. Can you understand why those with unoriginal, regurgitated, “canned” content are scratching their heads, trying to figure out why no one is reading their blog posts, let alone passing it along to their friends? 

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Attract More High Net Worth Clients with a "Buzz-Worthy" Luxury Real Estate Website

How can you expect to capture the website leads of high net worth clients without first capturing their attention? High net worth clients expect remarkable, distinctive packaging when purchasing luxury products and services. 

You can instantly differentiate yourself from your competition with a stunning, eye-catching website that makes your competition’s site pale in comparison.  Isn’t it time to demonstrate your superior marketing savvy?  Discover how to attract more high net worth clients with a buzz-worthy luxury website. WATCH THE VIDEO!

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Discover Your Client's Most Pressing Needs

In a previous post we referred to the importance of acquiring a deep understanding of your current and potential clients’ mindset.  We call this the study of psychographics, which is comprised of the personality, values, attitudes, interests, activities and lifestyles of your target market.  However, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, to provide remarkable service you also need to discover your client’s most pressing needs, right now.  

The late, Peter Drucker, author and management consultant, once said, “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself”.  Apple is now taking pre-orders for the iPad.  There is just one commercial running for this new product and all it shows is the iPad features. No persuasive sales are needed. 

The buzz about the iPad has been nothing short of astonishing.  Apple has introduced an entirely new product category based on a deep understanding of the needs of their primary target market.  Why buy an inferior net book computer and/or an e-book reader when you can essentially have both, plus much, much more for less money?

We say the art of marketing is communicating about your product or service in such a way that your target market instantly realizes that the value you offer is the answer to their prayers. When you answer people’s prayers, it is truly a remarkable experience. This naturally sparks word-of-mouth advertising which is the answer to your prayers.

Here is a personal example that millions of men around the world should be able to identify with (and women too).  Even with the advances in shaving technology most men continue to experience discomfort during and after shaving, especially when the blades tug, pull and often cut the skin. Ouch!  

I (Ron) have been on an eternal quest for the perfect shave.  The last shaving cream I tried was a disaster. I thought it might be my razors. Then, I tried a new product by MENSCIENCE using the same blade.  It may very well be the end of my quest; the shave was that smooth, close and painless.  Now, that is remarkable!

I did not need to be sold. I was simply told that this shaving cream would answer my prayers, guaranteed.  Amen!  Guys, you should try it!

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LOL Special Video Edition - No. 2

LOL Special Video Edition - No.2

Video & Radio Interviews:

Lou Novick, Architectural Photographer

Brad Taylor, CEO - Luxury Homes Magazine

We are excited to launch a new LOL Radio Show & Video Interview series.  Here we will feature outstanding architects, interior designers, landscape architects, and architectural photographers.  We will also interview members of the LOL Team of Experts & Discussion Leaders and our LOL media partners.

Each interview is comprised of a 2 minute video "Radio Trailer" - like a movie trailer for that radio episode (yes it's a first) plus, the 15 minute radio interview.  If you are interested in listening to the entire radio interview just click on the link provided.  You can even download the show and listen to it at your convenience on your iPod via iTunes. In the future we will also promote the live radio show.

Be sure to check out the three very exciting Luxetera blog posts, as well. See the links below.

Thanks for watching, reading & listening!

Ron & Alexandra Seigel, LOL Community Founders

 

Interview with Lou Novick

Architectural Photographer

Miami, Florida

Listent to the entire Lou Novick internview on Language Of Luxury Radio

Visit LouNovick.com

 

Interview:

Brad Taylor, CEO - Luxury Home Magazine

We are excited to introduce you to our newest LOL media partner, Luxury Homes Magazine. through our interview with Brad Taylor, CEO.

This is the first in a series of an interviews with the publishers of the finest print media in luxury real estate marketing.  It is our intention to shine a spotlight on the distinct marketing benefits that you can derive  from  each publication and also to discover the innovative ways in which our media partners have combined online marketing with the power of print. 

To hear the entire audio interview online or to download it via iTunes, please visit  this episode  of our  Language of Luxury Radio Show (Click Here).  Also, visit LuxuryHomeMagazine.com.

Yachts Fit for Kings at Half The Price: Interview with Roger Liang of Kingship Yachts

Edible Faberge Eggs in Chocolate For Easter

 

The Magnificent French Riviera: Old Word Charm and Splendor

Personal Branding Case Studies and Company Branding Case Studies

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The Power of Print in Luxury Real Estate Marketing

In the self-serve environment of real estate information online, it is essential for you to convey to your target market exactly what your unique promise of value is as a luxury real estate marketing professional. The internet has been a disruption not only to brokers and agents but also to luxury real estate print media.   However, some very innovative print marketing ideas have emerged that can give you the competitive edge.

We are excited to announce a new video blog series launching next week in which we feature our LOL media partners.  Each publication has a unique promise of value. Each has developed innovative ways to help agents market themselves and their luxury properties.  We thought you would like to know more about these new ideas so you can make intelligent choices when advertising in print by finding the publications that best match your particular marketing needs.

There has been much ado these days about the current health and the very future of print media in general, magazines in particular.   Many are asking, “is print dead”? 

Movies didn’t kill radio. TV didn’t kill movies. The internet will not kill magazines!   This is the basic premise  a consortium of consumer magazine publishers (non-real estate) who want to set the record straight about their industry. They say an established medium can continue to flourish so long as it continues to offer a unique experience.

•  Magazines are very much alive! Here are the facts:
•  Annual number of paid subscriptions is nearly 300 M
•  Magazine ad recall has increased by 13% over the last four years
•  Adults 18-34 read more issues than adults 35 and older
•  The average reader spends 43 minutes reading each issue
•  Readership has actually grown over the last five years

In luxury real estate marketing there are those who tend to “throw away the baby with the bath water” by eliminating print media altogether. From our standpoint, the right print media campaign, when combined with online marketing strategies, can be an integral part of building your personal brand and advertising your luxury property listings.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Know the Psychographics of Your Target Market

Knowing the demographics of your marketplace can be very helpful.  However, understanding another very important marketing principle known as “psychographics” can give you a competitive edge when marketing luxury real estate. Psychographics are comprised of the personality, values, attitudes, interests, activities and lifestyles of your target market.

Most luxury real estate marketing professionals are familiar with the concept of demographics.  If you were to segment the population of your marketplace into gender, race, age, income, educational attainment, employment status you would get an objective overview of who lives there.

For example, if your marketplace is Park City, Utah one useful demographic factor to know would be the cities, states and countries in which the greatest numbers of second home buyers own their primary residence. Since many buyers come from Mexico it might be advantageous to market your ski-in, ski-out listing both in Spanish and in English.

A Baby Boomer is one of the 76 million Americans born during the post WWll baby boom.  This is a demographic profile not a psychographic profile. The Sandwich Generation is a generation of people who care for their aging parents while supporting their own children. While they may vary in age it is their psychographics that is crucial to understand because they are usually putting their own lives on hold while caring for others.  Their deepest psychological need is time off for themselves or time alone with their spouse.  Using soothing words and describing your listing as a retreat would resonate with the Sandwich Generation.

The entire purpose of the Language of Luxury professional networking and learning community is to help you attract and better serve more high net worth clients.  By better understanding the psychographics of these consumers (personality, values, attitudes, interests, activities and lifestyles) you will be able to speak their language and connect more deeply with them than your competitors do.

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Luxury Real Estate Website Design: Your Website Appearance Really Matters!

Like it or not aesthetics play a very big role in the realm of luxury real estate marketing and the marketing of most luxury goods and services in general. Millions of dollars are spent each year on package design because it is human nature to make “snap” judgments based on outward appearance.  In our time-starved world, people often do not take the time to look below the surface and make decisions, even unconscious decisions, based on aesthetics alone.   As a luxury real estate marketing professional, you are doing yourself a tremendous disservice if your website (which may be the first point of contact for potential clients) does not reflect both your inner beauty and your competence.

You may recall the story of The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen.   The cygnet’s egg rolled into the nest of a duck and the hatchling was mistaken for an ugly duck.  The “duckling”, who later transformed into a magnificent swan, was teased, criticized and ostracized. This classic story, among other wonderful lessons, points out the aesthetic cultural biases that most humans have been taught or have absorbed in the absence of unconditional love.  

For better or for worse, aesthetic cultural biases exist.  Why not turn this to your advantage?  The internet has created an unprecedented hyper-condition known as “competition for attention or eyeballs”.  Your competition’s website is just a click away. Never have consumers had such a plethora of choices.  A stunning website that makes your competition’s site pale in comparison can not only capture attention, but also has a higher probability of capturing the lead.

Few luxury real estate marketing professionals pay enough attention to their “personal packaging”. Nor, do they realize what is at stake.  We often hear the excuse “if my website is not broken, why fix it?”  Your website may work, but if it is not remarkable in appearance and eye catching, it may not be used by potential clients in the first place.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Are You a Fox or a Hedgehog?

The personal journey in the unabashed pursuit of market leadership can be among your most exciting lifetime experiences. If you, indeed, have a proclivity for luxury real estate marketing you can reignite your career by applying the most powerful principle from the bestselling business book, Good to Great, by Jim Collins. That principle is known as the “Hedgehog Concept”.

The hedgehog concept was derived from a fable about a fox and hedgehog and illustrates the strategic difference between the two.  Foxes are dispersed strategists.  They will try any strategy that they believe will give them the immediate competitive edge. But, these strategies will not yield sustainable results.  Hedgehogs are focused strategists.  They fend off predators (think competitors) by rolling up into a ball which fully exposes their sharp quills or spines.

In business, hedgehogs have identified their winning strategy and their authentic brand identity. And, they stick to it with unwavering consistency.

Here is the competitive advantage that hedgehogs have over foxes:

1. Hedgehogs identify a market niche or an approach to marketing that they can master and be better at it than anyone else in their marketplace.  They feel like they simply have the natural talent to be the best at this.  To hedgehogs, it feels like this is what they were born to do.
2. Hedgehogs select something that they are passionate about.  They love what they do and feel lucky that they also get very well paid to do it.
3. Hedgehogs are not predators. They mind their own business. While your competition is constantly hatching new plans to out-fox you, your hedgehog strategy renders your competition irrelevant.

In our strategic branding and marketing consulting practice we help our clients to identify their hedgehog strategy.  We help them to bring their authentic personal brand identity into full focus. And, we coach them to stay in focus, by minding their own business when they execute their hedgehog strategy. Although, we call this journey the unabashed pursuit of market leadership, the real prize is the inner certainty that comes from knowing who they really are and from living a life of passion.

 It is this inner certainty and the focus of the hedgehog that consistently attracts an abundance of ideal clients. This is one of the most important marketing principals of all time.  It is what separates the good from the great!

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Luxury Real Estate Web Design: Turn Up Your Nose to the Template Website

Luxury real estate marketing professionals, it is time to turn up your nose to the template website and invest in a luxury website makeover!  If market leadership is your quest, owning a template website is tantamount to cutting off your nose to spite your face!

When we lived in Los Angeles, there was a plastic surgeon (pseudonym, Dr. Quirk) that became quite famous.  His specialty was nose reconstruction.  For quite some time he was extremely popular among the Beverly Hills beauty seekers.  However, all his “nose jobs” looked alike, as if he used a template.  He had a penchant for the upturned nose look regardless of the face it was on.

A template website is like a Dr. Quirk nose.  It defies your individuality. It shows a lack of marketing savvy and imagination!  Your website should be your silent salesperson. Do you want your silent salesperson dressed in the same uniform as your competition? This is the antithesis of luxury!

Recently, we researched the websites of one of our client’s closest competitors.  This is part of the competitive analysis that we do in our strategic branding and luxury website design services. We came across two identical web sites in the same city! The only difference was the background color; one had a blue background and the other was green.  What does this say to potential high net worth clients?

The French author, Philippe Mihailovich, defines luxury as “the very best that human beings can make, give or receive.” Does your website represent the best that you can be? Or, is it luxury website makeover time for you?

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Mesmerized by Social Networking? Just Pick Up the Phone!

Recently, we had the pleasure of being introduced to very successful mortgage planning specialist by a mutual friend.  We were introduced by email.  But, we immediately scheduled a phone call to get to know each other.  Too many luxury real estate marketing professionals have become mesmerized by the mechanics of online social networks and have all but forgotten the phone call as being a vitally important component of professional networking.  

Ironically, it seems that this crucial step, that builds strong rapport, has all but dropped out of our digital lives.  Phones have become “smarter” and smart people need to use them more often while networking professionally. 

This guy really understands the power of networking and is very well-connected.  While we were on the phone, he opened up his list of contacts on Linked In (remember the Rolodex?). Like a matchmaker, he specifically looked for people that he felt we should meet (and vice versa).  He offered to make introductions and we gladly accepted.  He did not expect us to do the same for him right then and there, because he understands the power of “giving first”, which is all part of the art of networking.

Needless to say, we were both impressed and appreciative. And, we are in the process of following up on all of his suggestions.   There is no question that we will reciprocate, if possible, and match his generosity.  At the very least we will “pay it forward”, meaning we will do the same for someone else.

This scenario has been going on in one form or another for as long as humans have transacted business together.  It is professional networking at its best. 

Linked In is simply a very efficient professional networking TOOL. It does not replace the phone!   It makes it easier for our new friend to search his contacts and recommend connections. All we need to do is request an introduction and he simply passes it along to his friends with a single click and a brief note.  The tool of Linked In makes this age-old process quicker and easier, smoother, actually effortless, once you get the hang of it.  

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, are you deliberately expanding your sphere of influence on a consistent basis, through professional networking?  The more contacts you make the more commissions you earn.  Whoever has the most high trust referral relationships wins!  

So, if you are hesitant to learn the mechanics of professional networking tools like Linked In, snap out of it! . And, remember to pick up the phone!

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