Friday, March 20, 2009

Luxury Real Estate Agent Personal Branding: Learning from American Idol, Part 6

Part 6: Pick the Right Brand Category: Pick the Right Song!

This is part six of our blog series entitled: Real Estate Agent Personal Branding: Learning form American Idol. It is a fun and easy way to learn the principles of personal branding. You do not have to be an Idol fan to enjoy!

American Idol judges seem to admire those contestants who know who they are in terms of their brand category (country, rock, rhythm and blues, etc) and those who stay within that genre. Real estate agent personal branding requires the same clarification of brand category. That is why selecting a niche and sticking with it is so important.

American Idol, Carrie Underwood’s brand category is country. David Cook’s category is pop rock. Fantasia’s category is rhythm and blues. Once you clarify your brand category you must find your own “voice” or your authentic “brand signal” within that category and you must choose the right songs to showcase your unique talent.

Song choice is extremely important. Many artists fall into a trap when it comes to choosing songs. They encounter what appears to be a paradox: the choice between artistic integrity and commercialism. The trap is that the two are considered to be in opposition. Commercialism is considered the excessive emphasis on profit making. If you opt for commercialism you are selling out. But, keep in mind that American Idol is about creating commercially successful stars!

The underlying false premise here is that there is a scarcity of songs from which to choose. The truth is that there are plenty of songs that may be chosen that are both commercially appealing and right on your brand signal.

In part 3 we referred to the two blue collar workers, Michael and Matt. Michael, the oil rigger, was voted through to the top 12. Matt, the welder chose one of his favorite songs but it was unanimously considered the wrong song choice by the judges. Matt insisted that he would still have picked the same song even if he was warned not to sing it prior to the live show. He fell into the “either-or” trap!

As we mentioned before, Matt already had the odds against him because his competitor, Michael, in “the blue collar” brand category went through; the likelihood of the audience selecting two in this category was already very slim.

Who knows? Perhaps the judges will reconsider Matt for the wild card round. Although, we doubt it!

Real estate agents beware! Pick the right brand category. Pick the Right Song!

Click Here to view the entire American Idol- real estate agent personal branding blog series

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