As we were winding down Real Estate Barcamp Ohio 2009, one of the topics was on building your online brand. And since the organizer (me) failed to have a moderator lead it, I ended up being the discussion moderator.

Amazingly, a great online brand marketing moment had just occurred a few minutes before ... and I missed the chance to share it with my people.

We had two classes running concurrently. One was an agent that had stressed to the planning committee - how do I get referral business out of this event? The other stressed to us that he understood the situation was a non-selling event and that he wasn't pitching anything.

Which one do you think created the unique marketing opportunity? Both.

The agent that wanted referrals put together what was described later as "The best presentation ... ever!" and I know that he got at least one agent asking for his business card because "I have family in ..."

The other agent's moderated session came across as a sales pitch and he received a lot of flack in the room and on the Internet. Was it intentional? No, I'm sure it wasn't. However, his online brand took a major hit because the perception of the hundreds that were in the room and watching live on Dakno.tv.com saw them violating a "cardinal" rule of Barcamp Ohio. Will they use this company in the future? Maybe, but they've now got a strike against them before they even step to the plate.

How does that translate to your everyday real estate agent? People want to know more about your personality, not you personally. They don't want to know that you've got a hang-nail, but they do want to know that you care about your community and being part of it.

They want to find a consistent message - even if they don't know they do - about your services. If you are talking about how condos are a bad investment in one post and then offering a post on how great they are in another, the become "confused" about who you are. And when everyone knows 2,000 REALTORS®, or so it often seems, we can't afford any reason for them to say "no" to us.

You do not have to be a "brand stickler" and focus on your brand to the "nth" degree, but you need to be conscience of it and use it to enhance who you are - not to give them another reason to say "no".