Marketing Can Make You a Celebrity

Effective advertising not only brings in sales, but it also adds to your face to face effectiveness.  When meeting a perspective client the meetings tend to go a lot smoother if they recognize you form your advertising campaign.  There is an assumption by many potential clients that you must be one of the more effective agents in your community if you have a strong ad presence.  Perception is everything in sales and marketing.

Along with my other advertising I leased signs in the two largest shopping centers in our town.  Since putting up the signs my face and name recognition has improved tremendously.  My slogan has been a big winner for me.  I meet people daily who will reference my slogan.  "Not Just Another Pretty Face"

One afternoon I got a phone call from a teenager who was with a group standing in front of the theaters.  He called to verify I was Daniel's dad.  While looking at my sign they told my son, that is not your dad.  That guy is a rich dude.  So to settle the argument they called the number on the sign and asked if Daniel was my son.

Mall SignsI get stopped regularly by students at my youngest son's school who want to meet me.  They see my signs and picture in the papers and believe I must be a celebrity.

In February I wrote a blog post: I Was Asked for My Autograph Today

The point here is that when we are marketing we are looking for two things:

  • Name and face recognition (an introduction)
  • Leads and sales (the phone ringing)

To achieve those goals we must find ways to stand out in the crowd and we must be consistent.

New agents starting out leave marketing out of their business plan.  That is a giant mistake.  Marketing is critical in every business, especially when you are trying to build a client base.

There are some inexpensive things you can do:

  • Signs/ magnets on your vehicles. (I said vehicles; my wife has them on her car also)
  • Real estate shirts or name tags (I wear mine 7 days a week)
  • Sale and open house signs with your pictures on them
  • Fridge magnets (the business card that doesn't get tossed out)
  • Business cards (color with your picture)
  • Give your cards and magnets to friends and family and ask them to give them out to friends, relatives and co-workers.

Feel free to add marketing ideas to this list.

 
This post has been included in Hawaii Information

63 Comments on Marketing Can Make You a Celebrity

I'm too cheap and poor...haha!  I think your giant signs at the shopping centers are nicer now with the colors brighter. 

06/06/2007 12:43 AM by Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman (RA), HAWAII Real Estate & HAWAII Relocation (Century 21 Liberty Homes -Mililani, Hawaii)


Randy: I love the idea of having the signs leased out at the shopping malls. Such marketing DEFINITELY provides name branding and recognition. I want to agree in that adding my picture to my business card should help but I like my business card just the way it is, and it doesn't have my picture on it. I am however putting together some flyers and adding my picture to those. What do you think?

You asked about adding some additional marketing tips, well, here they are: http://activerain.com/blogsview/116714/Marketing-are-you-doing 

www.ricardobueno.com

06/06/2007 12:50 AM by Ricardo Bueno - Mortgage Planner (World Wide Credit Corporation)


Your right I have a huge 6x9 sighn on one of my listings with a huge picture of me.  People recongnize it I have even set appoints on other listings other than my own, and they know who I am

06/06/2007 12:55 AM by Eric Badgley Bellingham Realtor | RE/MAX Bellingham (RE/MAX Whatcom County)


I'm so glad I saw this post tonight... It reassures me that I made a wise decision today. I signed a 6 month contract to have my ads on the front of shopping carts in 3 grocery stores. 

Anything you recommend with that angle? I'm going to target all the neighborhoods in a 3-5 mile radius of each store... Maybe I should give them my "kitchen equivalents magnet" for their refrigerator!

Thanks for the tips!

Galel Fajardo 

06/06/2007 12:59 AM by Galel Fajardo, CMPS™ (Coast Mortgage Group)


Randy - your ideas are good and if agents learn to use a few different programs they can create ads themselves to save them a lot of $$$$ - you can start this without spending a fortune - branding yourself is just as important as your company's branding.  I have been toying with a few slogans not ready to post them but for some opinions as I am ready

06/06/2007 01:08 AM by Central Oregon Real Estate | Thesa Chambers, Broker (RE/MAX Sunset Realty La Pine)


Right on!  Aggressive marketing with name and face recognition can be big in the marketplace and add to your "celebrity" status in the field.  It can also lead to subtle jealousy, but hey.  I ran a TV commercial for quite a number of months, and now own the commercial which airs on my website when someone logs in.  It's been a great novelty and driven a fair amount of name and face recognition.  By the way, my father-in-law lived in Mililani for about four years in the 90s, the same time my husband was a 7-time regular contestant in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim.  Aloha!

06/06/2007 01:17 AM by Terry Rasner-Yacenda, ABR, GRI (Dickson Realty)


Sally - The brighter colors definitely get them noticed more.  I hope it will be effective.

Richard - I can not say this any stronger.  A business card without a picture is next to worthless.  Many people you give your card to will not remember who you are the next day, let alone in a couple of months.  The picture will remind them which agent you were.

Eric- I do get calls regularly because they saw a house with a Century 21 sign and they call me.  I have sold a couple of houses because of calls like that.

06/06/2007 01:19 AM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Galel - My other sign is in front of the Foodland in the same shopping center as my office.  I will keep it for life.  For hand outs try to make them unique and something that will be useful.  I am currently looking for just the right item.

Thesa - Not many agents have slogans by me.  I am one of the few.

Terry - You have a local connection.  Very cool!

I have been waiting to build my team before I do any TV or radio.  I could not handle the leads or the geography it would generate.  I am hoping to be there by next year.

06/06/2007 01:26 AM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Just heard a Hobbs & Herder CD tonight.  This is the way to go, but it can be expensive. 

What do you suggest to start with when there is really little in the budget for this?  What should be a priority?  Business cards or something else?  (I have cards, no picture) 

Thanks.

Yours looks great. 

06/06/2007 03:42 AM by Phoenix Arizona Real Estate ~ Doreen McPherson (Keller Williams Arizona Realty ~ Scottsdale ~ Tempe)


Randy, your post was pivotal in making a decision just now.  I just switched brokerages and I have to order new signs and business cards of course.  Even though I've always had picture cards, I wrote my order out for new cards without my picture.  I hope I can cancel that and get them with the picture instead.  What a dummy!!  I haven't yet ordered my property riders, but I have the option of ordering customized signs.  Thanks to you, I will be spending the extra money for the picture ones.  You are 120% right.  Building that face recognition is crucial.  I will get a lot more back from it than the extra it will cost me for the signs.  Very timely post for me.  Thank you!!

06/06/2007 04:06 AM by Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (EWM Realtors)


Great suggestions Randy.  I remember your mentioning the signs in the shopping centers some time back...I think that is a great one!

06/06/2007 04:16 AM by Kaushik Sirkar (Call Realty, Inc.)


Randy,

Love your slogan! I agree with getting in front of their face, in my small town I get recognized everywhere I go from my a small photo in the local real estate books! Best of luck to you! :)

06/06/2007 05:29 AM by Suzanne Sands-Somerset, MA Real Estate (Century 21 Associates Realty)


Randy, Nice Ad! Very tropical! Great marketing ideas too, the magnets really work gang! Our agents send out calenders with magnets and their business cards attached around Nov. and I've fielded calls for the 08 ones already.

06/06/2007 06:00 AM by Lysa Napolitano, Call Coordinator ~ Century 21 Sundance (Century 21 Sundance)


Great post and slogan... not just another pretty face! That is what it is all about name recognition. Did you hire a specific PR company to do the signs etc?

06/06/2007 06:37 AM by Gary Waters - Real Estate Agent Viera Suntree (Century 21 Baytree Realty www.moving2brevard.com)


Love your tag line---It works, doesn't it.  Perception is everything in our business.

06/06/2007 06:42 AM by Diane Bell, Hilton Head Real Estate, Bluffton (Charter 1 Real Estate, Hilton Head, Bluffton, SC)


Randy, sounds like you're a creative marketer.  I like the story about your son's friends!

06/06/2007 07:50 AM by Brian Schulman - Your Lancaster County, PA Real Estate Professional (Mastros Real Estate, Inc.)


Great sign Randy. And I couldn't agree more, get your face out there. Your marketing like mine all ties together. It's not the one thing we do it's everything we do working together to get our face and names out there. Very good post Randy. 

06/06/2007 08:23 AM by Bryant Tutas-Tutas Towne Realty, Inc


Randy... I agree, marketing is crucial.... leaving those marketing dollars on the table could hurt you. I agree. But also....  do your homework and not just pay marketing dollars because something might be cheap. Do some research. Sure, trial by error is one way to find out. Some good info.

                                                                                                            jeff belonger

06/06/2007 08:24 AM by Jeff Belonger -- The FHA Expert.com -- FHA Loans -- FHA mortgages -- Mortgages (Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)


Randy,

Really like your slogan. Thanks for the information too.

Gary 

06/06/2007 08:28 AM by Gary Bolen (CRS) Lake Tahoe Real Estate Information (Dickson Realty - South Lake Tahoe)


Wow Randy... may I have your autograph too!  :)  You are so right about your marketing making you into a form of a celebrity.  I think I would initially look at someone the same way if I've seen their face all over the place and then actually ran into them.  Great ideas!

06/06/2007 09:51 AM by Venice Harris - Conyers, GA Real Estate Agent (Solid Source Realty Atlanta)


Great tips - Real estate is all about marketing. It's sales - you've got to get your name out in the public eye more and more. People buy from who they know like and trust. When you get your name and face out there people believe they know like and trust you! Thanks for the post.

06/06/2007 10:07 AM by Abraham Chaffin - Cambria Real Estate (Sand Shell Realty)


Randy,

Nice card ...for some reason back in the 90's in NY selling RE I never liked seeing my face on my cards...guess I was not comfortable with it and it really did not hurt my business. Now I have my face plastered around quite a bit but I guess I must be too ugly because I was never asked for my autograph. The only time that happened was when I was in a hotel the NY Yankees were staying in and someone thought I was one of the ballplayers and asked. I signed it Neal Bloom.:)

06/06/2007 10:31 AM by Neal Bloom-Realtor ® Assoc.-CRS-Weston FL (RE/MAX Premier Associates)


Randy,

Marketing is the key. Especially for a newcomer. The signs at the shopping malls has worked for you, that's great. I've chosen to do 3 or 4 different marketing programs at any given time, but no more. Otherwise you spread yourself too wide. Give a program some time to mature and measure its results and if they come in okay, stay with it. And improve it.

06/06/2007 11:37 AM by Esko Kiuru - Las Vegas NV Mortgage Consultant (Sinifox Financial)


This is a GREAT ad, and an very helpful post.  Good job!  When I came out of retirement, I decided to contract for an ad in a new local monthly magazine.  Now strangers tell me they see my ads everywhere!  That is the power of one ad.  Imagine if someone followed all your suggestsions...

06/06/2007 11:48 AM by


Randy: You're surely turning into "just a pretty face"  haha!  I have to say that your new pictures are really nice. (okay, girlie stuff...that's okay...I'll just hang around with your wife and we can give each other tips..hahahaha) Anyway, you didn't tell everyone how big those signs are.....and encased in glass/wood frames on a huge stand bolted to the cement....Get a picture of that.

06/06/2007 11:56 AM by Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman (RA), HAWAII Real Estate & HAWAII Relocation (Century 21 Liberty Homes -Mililani, Hawaii)


Jeff, great advice.  There are a lot of Realtors and Loan Officers out there so you need to figure out a way to make yourself standout, and seperate yourself form the rest.

06/06/2007 12:21 PM by George Souto (McCue Mortgage Co.)


Great post. I go back & forth with the whole marketing of myself & my picture. I do not have my photo on my car signs or regular signs. I do have my picture on my business card. I have a team logo I try to market but again, if they don't know the faces behind the logo perhaps it's not as effective. All these decisions. Thanks for sharing your techniques.

06/06/2007 12:27 PM by Cape Coral Real Estate Broker | Susan Milner | Florida-Future-Realty.com (Florida Future Realty, Inc.)


Since you talk so much about name and face recognition, how about a video introduction on your website?  this way people can actually expierence your personality instead of just a picture!!!

06/06/2007 01:22 PM by eric manthey (Vid2r)


Doreen - Business cards need a great picture.  Pay a photographer for a top quality picture.  Signs on you car so everyone knows you are a Realtor.  I sold my first home off the signs on my car.  Get a set of sign riders with your color picture on them.  Hold open houses for other agents and place you riders on the signs every chance you get.  Last make up a good looking flyer and deliver them door to door.  It is personal and much less expensive than mail.  Do them as you can afford them, but definitely get the signs on your car and a name badge immediately.

Maggie - Thank you, I am sure you will see dividends.

Kaushik - It is the best thing I have done so far.  It has been a real winner for me.

06/06/2007 01:45 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Suzanne - As they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Lysa- If you have a picture business card, you can buy the magnets at the office supply store or your local Walmart cheap.  I find most people grab them at my open houses instead of the standard cards.

Gary - The Mall signs I paid the designer at the local print shop I use top create it.  I made the original mock up and had her clean it up and ad some creative license to improve it.  For car magnets and rider signs I order them online.  I also went to a local sign shop and had them make me vinyl lettering for the back window of our cars with the slogan and website.

06/06/2007 01:52 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Great flyer, I am working on one, like your message as well, You are obviously good at marketing yourself, I am learnign thenks

06/06/2007 02:26 PM by Michael Eisenberg, Bellingham Realtor (Fairhaven Realty)


Randy,  Marketing, marketing, marketing YES.  I love your aggressive, creative, approach.   I have a different opinion about women putting their pictures on signs, though.  There are too many weirdos in the world.  I don't think women should be plastering their pictures all over everything.  It's a safety issue.

06/06/2007 02:34 PM by Carol Williams Wenatchee Real Estate (TopPropertiesRealEstate.com)


Diane - It has been a winner for me.  You have to have a mug like mine to pull it off though.

Brian - I does get a little embarrassing sometimes, but my children seem to like the celebrity status.

Bryant - You are absolutely correct.  It is not one thing it is the combination and the consistency.

06/06/2007 02:37 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Jeff - I have spent some money ion areas that I did not get a good return on.  I just pull those dollars are redirect them to things that are working.

Gary - You are welcome.

Venice - When a stranger mentions that they feel like they know me already, I know the marketing is working.

06/06/2007 02:40 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Abraham - well said

Neal - What position did you play? Many years ago I got asked for an autograph when I was in Phoenix.  The guys in the bar told a group of ladies that I was a visiting Chicago Bulls player.

Esko - If they don't work you need to be able to move the money to what does.

06/06/2007 02:47 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Anonymous - I started with one ad in the community paper and signs on my car.  I got immediate response from both.  I still Mall Signhave them along with the stuff I added since.

Sally - Here is a picture of the sign out side the multiplex theaters.

George - I have always tried to be a beat off of everyone else.  It is more fun and effective.

06/06/2007 02:50 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Great post Randy!

Here's another perspective...not mine, because if you visit my activerain page or my blog at http://realestatefinancelaw.blogspot.com/ you'll see my mug shot.  But it's always good to know both sides of the issue.

Visit http://realestatetomato.typepad.com/the_real_estate_tomato/2007/02/lets_talk_about.html for some good insight into NOT using your face for marketing.

06/06/2007 02:55 PM by Jason Romrell (ActionCOACH Business Coaching)


Randy, I may have written the post sited above, in fact I did.  If it works for you keep at it.  I am well known in my own community because I have lived here forever, I do a lot of volunteer work and I sit on some non-profit boards. Putting my face to my real estate brand is not a good move for me.  I do hav a bias though against web sites where the first thing a person sees is a face instead of a house.  I can also say that I have gotten a lot of publicity and my face has not been involved.

06/06/2007 03:00 PM by Teresa Boardman (Keller Williams)


Whatever works for you.  The point is that you need a hook to get someone's attention and then you need to have it out there.  If your brand is your face, then get your face out there.  I'd prefer to develop a brand that can eventually be sold off to someone else.

06/06/2007 03:07 PM by Tim . (HomeAtlanta.com)


Randy, super post. This was a tutorial on how to increase your presence in your market. We had great success by sending out a fridge magnet with the school calender. it was easy. Just pulled it off the school website.

06/06/2007 04:00 PM by Andrew J. Lenza (ABR*GRI*MBA) Monmouth County NJ Real Estate Broker (Andrew J. Lenza Realty)


Susan - I firmly believe pictures are important.

Eric- That is something I may add in the near future.  Thank you for that suggestion.

Dianne - You are welcome.

06/06/2007 04:32 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Michael - My background was 20 years in printing and publishing and I used to manage political campaigns.  I guess I learned a couple of tricks over the years.

Carol - I can not comment on the security issue.  I am 6'4" tall and never really had to worry about it.

Jason - I have to disagree with the philosophy of not putting you picture on the cards and website.  When you give someone a business card, they will not remember you a few days later without something to jar their memory.  The picture is critical.  I can not tell you how many times I racked my brain to remember who's business card that was or where did I get it because it either didn't have a picture or one from 20 years ago that does not even look like the person.

06/06/2007 04:42 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Theresa - What blog post are you referring to?  How can I not have a picture with a slogan like "Not Just Another Pretty Face?  I too ma very well known for my community service and am on several non-profit boards, but do they all know I am a Realtor?  Also what about the 1000's of people who do not know me?

Tim - That will come much later for me.  I am just starting to build the team, so my marketing will eventually have to evolve to incorporate that.

Andrew - I like sending out the schools schedules.  I donate cards to the parents at our middle school.  It is on a multi-track schedule so no one ever seems to know when their children are off school.

I also build websites and donate them to a couple of the schools and community groups.  I have a small ad on the bottom of the pages, saying donated to the community by.......... with a small picture and logo.

06/06/2007 04:51 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Face & Name - Face & Name - Face & Name!!!!

Carl Guild

Get it everywhere! Excellent Post! 

06/06/2007 09:01 PM by Carl Guild - Central Connecticut Real Estate (Prudential Connecticut Realty)


Carl - I love it.  I am thinking of ordering new magnets with my picture for the cars.

06/06/2007 09:06 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Great ideas. I love the sign. It's so tropical. Perfect! Your business card is awesome too. Great post. Thanks!

06/06/2007 10:08 PM by Christy Powers - Pooler, Savannah Real Estate Agent (Keller Williams Coastal Area Partners)


Nice post.  Advertising can be expensive or effective or both.  Your approach is effective.  I use cable tv and get calls all the time from older widows!  They always say I have such an honest face.  I really do not know how to take that......most are my grand mothers age!  They do list so say thank you.  keep up the good work and send sunshine to Michigan!

06/06/2007 10:27 PM by Gary White~ Grand Rapids Real Estate, FLexIt Realty, a call or click away! (Flexit Realty~Serving West Michigan)


P.S. Pictures are good when there's Adobe Photoshop to blur out the wrinkles ...haha!  (I think that's the only reason I have my picture anywhere...hahahaha)

06/07/2007 11:52 AM by Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman (RA), HAWAII Real Estate & HAWAII Relocation (Century 21 Liberty Homes -Mililani, Hawaii)


Great Post. I have pictures on everything. I put a teaser picture on Active Rain for about 10 days, since my new site launches and it sort of ties in. I will go back and put my picture back there very soon as it is essential that people see and know who they are talking to. I engaged Hobbs and Herder a lot of years ago. they were ahead of their time then but helped me understand that in advertising and marketing, logos and Branding are essential if you are to survive with all the competition. One new source that can engage the client in helping you market yourself is ListingCard.net . It is a small photo handout card about their house. They are to put a few hundred of them out there. It serves two purposes. 1. to expose the property and seller is doing that by getting the cards out there at restaurants ,shops and stores where they shop. Each time one is looked at oor piicked up, the agent is also marketed. And the Seller is doing the leg work. I like part the best.

06/07/2007 01:22 PM by San Diego Real Estate Voice authored by William Johnson GRI CRS e-PRO (RE/MAX Associates)


Christy - Thank you

Gary - I want to do cable TV but have to wait until I get a couple of agents to help chase down all of the leads.

Sally - Wrinkles and gray hair just make me look distinguished.   LOL

06/07/2007 04:11 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


William - Thank you for sharing about the listing cards. That sounds very effective.

Leo - Thank you for the words of support.

06/07/2007 04:18 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


Randy- Good information, but I also wanted to recommend besides a photo a logo is important.  Last week I was sponsoring a petting zoo at the local school carnival and I have banner I put up and it was really cute many of the older kids were coming up and going hey your famous!

 

06/07/2007 06:59 PM by Kelly's Real Estate Possibilities Blog (Century 21 Superstars)


Kelly -  That is great.  You know the image you are presenting is good when the children think you are famous.

06/07/2007 07:48 PM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


I'm a BIG believer that your picture should be on EVERY piece of advertising that you do.  The face recognition is invaluable.

Think of it this way...how many people do you THINK you know simply because you recognize their face?  It's the same with the buying public!

06/07/2007 07:51 PM by Steven Shewell, The Mortgage Maverick (Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc.)


Randy,  Great Post. 
I too believe that it is important to keep you name and picture out there for people to see.  The more they see you face, the personal bound happens.  You become familiar to them. real person.
So, as you put you face for all to see, better have a smile ready at all times.

06/07/2007 09:57 PM by Pat McCray, ABR (CENTURY 21 AAA North (Capac Office))


Steven - It is so important, I can not stress it enough.

Pat - Thank you, I have to keep working on the smile.  :)

06/08/2007 03:24 AM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


I fear putting my company information on my auto for safety reasons.  However, people have said they like my business card with my picture.  I love the fridge magnets and sometimes say....in my family it's a big deal to be put on the fridge, won't you add me please?    Next is the name tag, shirt, and hats!  :)

06/11/2007 02:31 AM by HOPE Lending LLC


I have friends and clients who have several of my magnets on their fridge.  They they give them out to friends and ask for more.

06/11/2007 02:40 AM by Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)


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Real Estate Agent: Randy L. Prothero  - Hawaii REALTOR® (Century 21 Liberty Homes)
Randy L. Prothero - Hawaii REALTOR®
Mililani, HI
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