If doing business in the 21st Century has taught us anything, it’s that the Internet has become crucial to the way we do business. Since the 1960’s, technology has steadily changed the world of real estate. Yet, no matter how sophisticated the Internet and our computer systems get, our ultimate goals stay the same – build a solid customer base, service the customers, grow the business, and retire rich.

Whether you are in the prime of your career or flirting with retirement, it only makes sense that your business strategy and your exit strategy go hand in hand.

“Branding” is critical these days when we talk about sellable assets. In one way, your brand is the information-age equivalent of “good will” – the value of a reputable real estate practice that buyers in the past have been willing to pay for - over and above tangible assets. Today online marketing makes branding even more powerful and more valuable.

Your brand is the sum total of every aspect of your successful business – your service, your marketing, your computer systems, customer database, experience and reputation. In short, your brand is all of those things you have spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to build. If the ultimate buyer of your practice can assume your brand without missing a deal, your exit strategy will have succeeded in building a transferable, valuable brand.

Here are five simple steps to establish and grow your brand:

1. Establish a “brand” name. Your brand is your corporate identity – but not your own name, because your name is of little value to the real estate professional who buys your practice. The most valuable brands are consumer-centric, not ego-centric. Choose a brand name that reflects the customer experience your practice delivers – from services, systems and customer relationships to databases, websites, e-mail addresses, and track record. Your brand name should be:
   • Short
   • To the point
   • Easily read
   • Easily spoken
   • Focused on your customers’ needs
   • One that the buyer of your business can step into without missing a sale.

2. Select a website domain. In our dot-com environment, it’s important to select a brand name that translates easily into a recognizable destination website domain. For example, www.GreatHomes4U.com. A destination website address is one that lives up to its name and meets prospects’ needs so well that consumers don’t have a reason to search the Net further. Check NetworkSolutions.com, Register.com, Afternic.com, Internic.net and other similar domain registries for brand name availability.

3. Provide brand value. Back up your brand with a destination website that lives up to its claim. Keep visitors at your site with accurate, up-to-the minute property information and rich content that answers all their questions. Then, use your site’s interactive features to capture leads and send prospect info right to your database. Brand name value is a highly desirable asset that is easily transferred (in exchange for some serious money) to anyone who wants to buy your practice when you’re ready to retire.

4. Multibrand. Once you have a branded destination website, set up other domains that feed into it. Secondary domains might focus on the locale or subdivisions or specific home types or service specialties. The sky’s the limit; some eRainmakers have registered scores of domains that link to their primary sites. Every additional domain increases the value of your brand, especially when the address links to a site or special pages.

5. Turn your brand into a marketing tool. Plan to make money with every dollar you spend on technology. Remember, you’re forwarding your retirement goals as well as your business goals. Once you have a destination website domain, let the world know. Here are a few ideas:
   • Develop a brand logo that reproduces well both in color and in black-and-white and is legible when either reduced or enlarged. Use liberally in your printed marketing materials.
   • Make sure all other business and personal domains point to your main branded website.
   • Consider a seven-letter URL that leads to your branded website:

     a. Display that URL on license plates. Following our example above: HOMES4U,

     b. Match your phone number to your URL: 466-3748.

Remember your corporate identity is separate from your personal identity. Your corporate identity is designed to attract customers (marketing). Your personal identity convinces prospects to use you (sales). Prospective future buyers of your practice will have their own personal sales style. What your ultimate buyer will pay for is the corporate identity, brand experience and your customer database. Domains that relate to the consumer -- not the personality of the real estate professional -- are the most effective because they attract the consumer.

For the best possible retirement, from this day forward, plan your business strategy with an eye toward your exit strategy.

Published: May 4, 2004

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