Imagine this..."you, the only Realtor in town"

Imagine if you were the only Realtor in town. Do you think you would be at an advantage. Of course you would. There would be nobody else to turn to for professional Real Estate services. Well, the fact of the matter is that you will most likely never be the only Realtor in town or even the only Realtor in the office you work in now.

Somebody reading this is saying, why would I bring such a ludicrous image up in the first place. Well first of all I just wanted to get your attention and secondly I wanted you to investigate the possibility of branding yourself in such a way that people think of you before they think of anybody else.

I connect with a few Realtors from time to time who think that the Realtors who have money to market themselves are just so far ahead of them that it's a waste of time marketing to get known. So they just do minimal marketing in their respective farms.

I'm here to tell you that even if you don't have any money, you can become a name that will be in the minds of people in the area you serve. How so you ask. This is where I will tell you my story.

Most of you who read my blog know I'm not a Realtor. I market a Business Solutions Legal Plan for small business owners. The following is what I have done to make myself known in the area I serve is working offline and online. What I have found is that many of the people I connect with offline, have no clue about online marketing. So to get them thinking about me i offer them resources to get themselves noticed online. As far as my offline activity I frequent non-competing networking groups where I not only get an opportunity to give my 60 second commercial but I get to schedule one on one sit downs with the key members of the groups. My effort with each of these key members is to get them to introduce me to other members of their groups. It's like a viral effect offline. I use the phone just to call and say hello to my new contacts. I then send thank you emails which give my new contacts the opportunity to subscribe to my newsletter. By the time 48 hours have passed, most of the people I meet for the first time receive a phone call from me, an email, have the opportunity to subscribe to my newsletter, a free resource and sometimes I even introduce them to an associate who might just be looking for what they offer.

CedReynolds.com is how I brand myself. My business cards only have CedReynolds.com on them and nothing else.

When I'm out and about I'm always looking for business cards. When I pick up a business card I enter it into my data base and send a quick note indicating, "I just picked up your business card..." It's a double opt-in email program where only the curious opt-in. These new contacts start receiving an a weekly auto-responder message where I invite them to tell me more about them so I can be a referral source for them. When they respond I generally am able to assess how I might be able to help them and let them know that because they are part of my network, I may be able to introduce them to people who are looking for what they offer.

CedReynolds.com is not only known in our community it is know online as well. By the way CedReynolds.com is stylishly embossed on my vehicle. I get calls from time to time as people are behind me or on the side of me while I'm driving who are just curious about CedReynolds.com.

Getting back to the online presence. It's taken years of learning SEO, social networking and email marketing to develop a presence that sticks out from those in my field. The one thing I have noticed is that over the years I have built relationships with people who were not sure about me initially but after a couple of years some have even become my clients and some of my best referral sources.

I liken working online to working offline. People want to know real live people who can do what they say they can do. Just like offline if we blow it with a client, we rarely get a second chance, the same holds true online.

Let me tell you this before I close. There is no magic to branding yourself. It takes consistent continuous work. It takes belief. It takes learning the right things to do. It takes being flexible when things are not working. It takes being committed for the long haul. It takes being really passionate about what you offer. It takes a genuine care for the people you desire to serve. It takes being willing to help others before they help you. All in all it takes a lot brand yourself as the person to contact for your offering.

Just felt compelled to share this piece to encourage you that the person people are looking for is "YOU INC."

Stay in the game,

Ced Reynolds. CITRMS
CedReynolds.com