| BUSINESS TIPS THE 8 KEYS TO POWERFUL PERSONAL BRANDING |
| As a real estate agent, the primary product you’re selling is yourself. That makes your personal brand your most valuable asset—it’s what sets you apart from other agents and makes you stand out in your market. Building your personal brand takes effort and doesn’t happen overnight. Here are the eight things to focus on to create a powerful personal brand. Be true to yourself. Prospects and clients want to know they can trust you, so be yourself—let your brand be a reflection of your unique personality. Don’t try to imitate someone else’s branding. This will seem inauthentic and hurt your credibility. Highlight what makes you unique. Come up with your USP—unique selling proposition. This is a statement of what makes you different from others, with the benefit to the client either expressed or implied. For example, your USP might be that you’re a specialist for a specific property type or certain neighborhoods. Or it might say you offer a higher level of personalized service. Think about adding a tagline, which can help people remember you, such as “Your dream home headquarters.” Be a source of valuable information. Your personal brand should represent someone who delivers value to the people who could use your services. Share helpful tips and insightful advice on social media. Offer free resources on your website, in emails, and e-newsletters. Providing these things will establish you as a trusted expert people can rely on. Maintain a professional image. Dress appropriately for prospect and client meetings and networking and community events. Always be on time, respectful, and courteous. Above all, follow through on all promises and commitments. Make yourself visible. Your personal brand is you, so make sure you’re out there as much as possible, in person and online. Post consistently on social media, and regularly attend business networking and community events. Maintain a professional-looking website that highlights your special expertise and services and keep it updated with new listings and news. Take a proactive approach. Instead of waiting for opportunities to promote your brand, go out and pursue them yourself. Offer to speak at business and community events. Write articles for local and industry media. Network with other professionals who could be referral partners—real estate attorneys, loan officers, financial advisors, home inspectors, etc. Keep looking for ways to expand the reach of your personal brand. Keep it consistent. Use the same logo, colors, and messages in all your marketing efforts—website, social media accounts, blogs, mailers, business cards, leave behinds—everything. This makes your branding cohesive, so people will readily recognize you. Create a plan. Develop a strategic plan for how you’ll market your personal brand. Research your target audience, create your USP, and lay out the marketing activities you’ll pursue, both online and in person. This will keep you focused on taking the right steps to build your brand. |
| TECHNOLOGY HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR BLOG POSTS FOR SEO |
| Blogging delivers big marketing benefits many businesses are not taking advantage of: Blog posts can drive traffic to your website, producing more leads Blog posts are very effective—better than emails, white papers, and e-books You can include links in your blog posts to improve search engine rankings You can repurpose blog posts on social media and in your Google Business Profile Here are some simple SEO (search engine optimization) tips that will get your blog posts seen. Determine the right keywords. Keywords are key to SEO performance. They’re the words and phrases your audience uses when searching for what you provide. Do some research to find them. Use tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Keyword Tool, and Semrush. Some are free, some not. Also, look for long-tail keywords—highly targeted phrases that can help you rank higher on SERPs (search engine results pages). Use those keywords in blog post tags and content. Meta tag— the HTML element that provides search engines with information about a web page. This copy appears with your SERP listing, so write a meta title that grabs people’s attention and a meta description that makes people want to click on your link. A CTA (call-to-action) can also boost click-throughs. Include keywords to boost your SERP ranking. Header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.)— HTML elements that improve your SERP ranking by helping search engines understand the relevance and hierarchy of your content. The H1 tag for your blog post title should accurately describe the topic and include relevant keywords. H2, H3, etc., tags are for subheads that organize the content into readable units. Each one should accurately describe the section’s content and include relevant keywords. Blog post title. Create a title that entices readers to engage with your article, and contains keywords that align with your target’s search queries. Strive for a natural tone. First sentence. This tells readers and search engines the focus of your content. Include keywords that reflect your central theme to capture attention and improve search results. Anchor text— the clickable words in the post that you’ve hyperlinked to other site pages. Anchor text should include keywords to boost SEO. Also use anchor text to hyperlink to other sites to enhance your credibility, provide more value to readers, and improve SEO. Final paragraph. Your closing thoughts should incorporate keywords tied to your post’s main theme to enhance SEO. A well-crafted ending paragraph can heighten your online presence as an authority, and drive more organic traffic to the post. Note— Avoid keyword stuffing. This turns off readers—plus, Google penalizes you for using so many keywords that your post becomes hard to read. Optimize images. Use descriptive file names containing relevant keywords. Add alt tags that describe the image’s content. Use image compression tools for faster loading. Make sure your site is mobile friendly and fast-loading. 58% of mobile searches are on mobile devices. Google penalizes you if your site isn’t optimized for mobile. Also make sure all pages are fast-loading. |
| MARKET TIP HOW TO DEBUNK 3 BIG HOUSING MARKET MYTHS |
| Negative coverage of the real estate market in the media and consumer misinformation has created myths that may be hampering buyers. Here are three big ones and how to bust them. There are so few listings we won’t find anything to buy. All this year, the supply of homes for sale has been growing. Yes, there are still fewer listings than before the pandemic, but in the past year, inventories of pre-owned homes have risen 23% and are close to the 5-month supply of a normal market. Plus, the supply of new homes is now up over 200% from the 2022 bottom. So, buyers clearly have more options. We’ll get a way better deal after home prices crash. Some people think the price increases of the last few years are like the price bubble that burst and sent prices down from 2007 to 2011. The fact is, prices fell then because there was a dramatic oversupply of homes and fewer people able to buy them. Today, there’s been an undersupply of listings and healthy buyer demand. When supply is low and demand is high, prices go up. Inventory is improving, so prices are rising at a slower pace—and experts believe they’ll continue to do so through 2025. Buyers should also know that if you take out 2007 to 2011, home prices since 1942 saw an annual decline in only one year—1990—and that was just a 1% drop. We need to wait until we save up for a 20% down payment. The truth is, the typical down payment for first-time homebuyers could be much less than that. Repeat buyers typically put down closer to 20%, but that’s because they can use the equity they’ve built up in their homes for a larger down payment. We’re happy to talk to your clients about their down payment options. |
The Jim Passi Team at Citywide Home Loans proudly serves Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Georgia and Flordia. If you are looking to buy a home or refinance, we have you covered. Apply Now to get started.
