Dear Mr. Internet: I've had a Web site for several years now but I'm frustrated in trying to make it stand out from allthe thousands of other real estate sites out there --what do you suggest I do? Michael Bray, ABR, CSP Prudential BKB REALTORS El Paso, TX

Dear Michael:

Differentiation is the key to successful marketing in any endeavor. This is especially true on the Internet where it is easy to get lost in this vast, digital ocean! One of the most powerful ways to achieve differentiation is to create your own personal online "brand" —a unique identification by which your target market will recognize and associate the value of your services.

Applying a well thought-out branding strategy is not only a sure-fire way to set your site apart from the growing herd of agent sites, but also potentially create a profitable "exit strategy" when you retire! (more on that later...). Now let's take a look at how three highly successful online real estate professionals use branding to set themselves apart from the rest of the pack...

Ducks, Dogs, and Cacti - Oh My!

Rick Miner and his wife, Joyce, are the branding geniuses behind their tremendously successful Duckin.com site. From the webbed feet that form the “WWW” to his site’s trademark “duck-yellow” look, visitors know instantly this site is a duck of a different feather!

The beauty of this branding approach is that it complements his site’s target market niche of Seattle waterfront properties. And, his branding efforts don’t stop just at his Web feet (I mean, site). Rick and his team hand out little rubber duckies emblazoned with his site URL on its tail, yellow duck-embroidered duck-billed baseball caps, and drive around in duck-yellow VWs all touting the Duckin.com brand.

Even his e-mail messages to clients and prospects are peppered with a kind of “quack-talk” that is very endearing. Now, you might be wondering if this branding stuff is all that it’s quacked up to be in terms of generating business. Rick shared with me that so far this year, Duckin.com is responsible for 90% of all his business. As a top producer for Coldwell Banker, that ain’t duck feed!

"Chester", the dog is very much a central part of Judy McCutchin's highly successful DallasHomes.com Web site —one that generated over $13,000,000 in closed online business for her in 1999 alone!

In addition to being a very endearing branding theme, Judy uses Chester as a way of enhancing the context of her site content. For example, Chester appears as a school boy (complete with knickers and schoolbooks) when visitors view the Dallas area private school information on her site, or as a "Maitre 'd" when searching for fine dining.

In a very clever and unique twist, visitors can chat live with "Chester" for more information or to set appointments through a service called Live Assistance. Judy had the service customized to show Chester in the chat window and instructed the chat operators to "think and act" just like Chester - including throwing in a "bow-wow" here and there in the course of helping visitors with their questions. Thanks to Chester, you might say that the DallasHomes.com is somewhat of a "dog" - but a gold plated one at that!

Top producer Alice Held (who is anything but a "prickly" person...) uses anthropomorphized cacti to give her Come2az.com site a uniquely branded sense of charm and personality. Like Judy McCutchin above, she uses her branding element in a contextual way. That is, the "look" of the cacti figures change for each section of her site, depending upon the kind of information being conveyed. Also, like Rick Miner's site, her approach to branding powerfully complements her target market of people relocating or retiring to the Scottsdale, Arizona area. The fact that Alice has closed well over a hundred transactions generated from her online efforts gives another reason why her friendly cacti are so green!

Five Qualities Of Successful Online Branding

The examples above share four qualities of highly successful Web site branding, in that each of their brands are:

1.Idiosyncratic - they reflect some aspect of their creator's personality (i.e. Rick's and Judy's sense of playfulness and Alice's warmth)

2.Memorably Unique - they are presented in a way that is not easily forgotten or copied by others

3.Attractive - they are pleasing, warm, friendly, reassuring, cute, fun, or convey any number of other positive qualities

4.Congruent With Their Target Market - the "look and feel" of the branding elements speak to the intended target market rather than clash with it

A fifth quality of the branding process that is missing from all of our examples however, is the use of an identifiable "logo". A logo is a graphical element (including stylistic use of type —called a "logotype") that becomes the primary identification element of the site and instant association of its value for the target market. A well designed logo is unique, memorable, consistent with all other branding elements, and creates a positive visceral (i.e. gut level) response when seen/read/heard by your target market. Ideally, the logo will incorporate the site's domain name as well. With a little bit of effort, each of our online pros above could unify and solidify their branding efforts with a compelling logo —something I suspect each is very close to completing.

How To Find The Brand Within You

Creating an effective brand is not an easy process. The most successful brands tend to reflect the personalities of their creators. In fact, one way to approach the issue of branding is to ask the question: "What makes me unique from all others on the Net?" The answer is the same as what makes you different from all people on the planet —it's you, your personality, your passions, your sense of purpose —all that makes you uniquely "you".

Here is a simple, yet powerful three-step process to help you get started with your online branding efforts:

1. Do a quick 3-minute personal "brainstorm" (i.e. no editing allowed and give yourself the freedom to be outrageous!) to list all of your personal passions, regardless of whether they relate to real estate or not.

2. Do another 3-minute "brainstorm" where you list all the unique ways your site can "speak" to your target market (e.g. Rick Miner's yellow ducky)

3. Now evaluate which of your ideas (from either brainstorm) may be a possibility for a full-blown branding effort. Make sure that your choice is one about which you can be passionate —you will need that kind of energy to see it through to fruition!

You may be wondering at this point if this is all worth the effort. Well, in addition to significantly boosting your current online business, a well executed branding effort can pay off big when you retire as well...

Branding Your Way To A Profitable Retirement

At some point in your life you probably expect to retire from the real estate business. For most agents this simply means no longer collecting commissions for their efforts. Even if they would like to "sell" the goodwill they generated over the years, there is typically nothing to sell, because they made the business all about them.

When you turn your business into a recognizable "brand" however, that is a whole different story. There will always be investors looking to enter into a business that provides instant market share through brand awareness. For example, if Rick and Joyce Miner continue to refine their branding efforts, I would not be surprised if they received something around seven-figures for Duckin.com when they are ready to sail into the sunset of their years. Now that's an "exit strategy"!

There are no "magic bullets" to generating consistent business online. There are however, sound strategies —and creating an effective online brand is one of the most powerful I can think of!

Published: November 16, 2000

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Michael J. Russer (a.k.a. Mr. Internet®) is an internationally acclaimed speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry and small business. He is also the exclusive Internet columnist for REALTOR® Magazine, the architect of the revolutionary e-ProductivityTM system and leading voice for the use of Virtual Assistants in small business. You can subscribe to his free monthly leading-edge newsletter ePOWER NEWS by going to ePowerNews.com.