Last month I had the pleasure of attending Agent2021 for the second time, hosted by Vayner Media. This conference is geared toward real estate, mortgage, auto and insurance professionals. (I wrote more about that in my post called the 5 Questions That Changed My Career). Even though this conference was geared toward these specific industries, there was so much information to take away that could easily apply to anyone building their personal brand.
Why Build a Personal Brand?
If you own your own business, (like a store, firm, franchise or an agency) then you know how important is is to have branding. But what about personal branding? “But Maggie, if I belong to a company or agency, shouldn’t I just rely on that company’s brand?” The answer is no. That’s simply not enough.
Personal branding is what sets me (and you!) apart from competition. It’s name recognition. Personal branding is having the attention of your audience. It doesn’t happen overnight, but over time with consistent marketing, your personal brand should by synonymous with your business. By no means am I an expert! I’m still figuring this all out myself.
I’ll use my own real estate business as the example since that is what I am most experienced with. By now, I have almost four years experience in the business. Four years is young compared to peers of mine who have been selling houses for 20+ years. The advantage that those professionals have over me is time and experience. However, where a majority of Realtors are lacking is in their personal brand. My philosophy is this: If I plan to continue to grow and succeed in this career, then personal branding needs to be one of my top priorities. It’s right up there next to lead generation and customer service.
But, How?
“OK Maggie, I get that I should build a personal brand. How do I do it?”
I’ve been following Gary Vaynerchuk for years now and this is his answer: Content. In order to build your personal brand, you need content, content and more content. I am just now finally executing on his advice by publishing more consistent blog posts, Instagram photos and YouTube videos. Very soon, you will have access to a brand new content in the form of a Podcast that I am launching. (Ahh!!!)
Don’t get me wrong, producing content is much easier said than done. Remember, much like you, I have a full time job and publishing a post often times gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. Often I feel weighed down by everything I’m not doing, instead of focusing on what I am accomplishing. How do you it? I had the most incredible opportunity to ask Gary a question about this balance and here is what he said to me:
I hope this post inspires you to start your personal brand. Personally, it took years of me desiring to start but failing to execute. I was very insecure. I worried way too much about what people would think. Don’t let the fear of people’s opinions hold you back from what you want to do with your business. One of my favorite quotes, which I will leave you with today is this:
“A year ago, you will wish you had started today.” -Karen Lamb.
Special thanks to Dean Miller for capturing the video!
