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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Brand Keys: Part 4,Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your Unique Selling Proposition

This is Part #4 of our blog series on the Three Luxury Real Estate Marketing Keys for Personal Branding. Define. Align. Refine!

In Part 1 we covered self-definition as the starting point for creating a personal brand. In Part 2 we explained the importance of personal alignment. In Part 3 we demonstrated that the result of self-definition and personal alignment is feeling centered. Here we discuss the importance of articulating your unique selling proposition which is part of the refinement process that allows you to stand out from your competition.

In Beverly Hills, on the famed Rodeo Drive there resides several high profile competing jewelry stores including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany, Bulgari and Harry Winston. Rodeo Drive is only a couple of blocks long. They have much in conmon. Yet, they are all thriving.

1. Each has a beautiful, inviting store front well-positioned on the street for walking traffic. Each is located on the right street (in the high rent district) given their price points.

2. Each is famous for their jewels and their integrity

3. Each is a reputable global luxury brand.

The unique factor is that each appeals to a different clientele.

For instance, if you are looking for rare stones (pink or canary diamonds), Harry Winston is your store. This is the primary reason to shop there. In a couple of words they sharply differentiate themselves from the others: rare stones.

Cartier is known for their intricate design of their necklaces and pendants and for having been a favorite of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Van Cleef & Arpels is known for their "mysterious diamond setting," because the prongs holding the diamonds are invisible.

You are a luxury real estate agent, and your may be a well known luxury brand, or may have a luxury division. Now, what are YOU famous for? What is your appeal to sellers and buyers that is unique and distinct?

Once you have identified your unique selling proposition you must refine the way in which you communicate it so that your target market can understand it in a nano-second and can tell other how you are different from your competition.

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Monday, October 31, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Inner Game of Market Leadership - Part 3

Photo by Alexa Sklar, Dreamstime.com

What comes to your mind when you think about team spirit? High morale? Esprit de corps? If you have ever been on a winning team, whether it was in sports, in business or any co-created project you know how it feels to maintain your belief in a goal, in yourself and in others. Sustaining your morale, whether personally or as a member of a team is by far one of the most important skills in the inner game of market leadership. As a luxury real estate marketing professional, it is essential.

Even if you are a “solopreneur” vs. a team in your luxury real estate practice, you still may need to work with a transaction coordinator, an escrow officer and title reps. Your ability to engender esprit de corps project by project, not only helps make transactions go smoother, but also more fun.

We all love to watch sports because we get inspired by individual achievement. But, we also are moved by those teams who can pull together tenaciously and consistently in pursuit of a common goal.

Team spirit is definitely one of life’s true joys to experience first hand and also to observe in others. Whether or not you were a Cardinal or Ranger fan, game six of the World Series was one of the most amazing demonstrations of consistently maintaining morale in recent baseball history. You just had to admire each team for not giving up. This was especially true of the Cardinals who were one strike away from losing it all and came back to ultimately win the title.

To sustain high morale on your team you need to keep your own spirits up. This does take practice to be consistent. But, when you reach those critical moments when things do not appear to be going your way, that is when the practice truly pays off.

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Friday, October 28, 2011

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Lesson in Design and Branding from Tiffany's

We love visiting the Westside of Los Angeles, where we used to live. As part of our design study, we decided to visit the newly refurbished Santa Monica Mall. The mall was transformed from an indoor facility to an outdoor facility which was a successful architectural feet. The result is elegant, uncluttered and very pleasant to walk around in..

When we saw the Tiffany store, we were inspired by the uncluttered presentation featuring a jewelry vignette in one of the windows. The other side of the store had the identical look with a different jewelry vignette. The overall feeling is balanced, inviting and attracting the customer to come in and shop. The brand colors of Tiffany blue and silver are represented beautifully.

Like a store, a website has to attract the customer to stay and shop, If the store or web site is unappealing, you walk away or click on to the next store or web site.

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Thursday, October 27, 2011

The Three Luxury Real Estate Marketing Keys for Personal Branding, Part 3

CENTERING

This is Part #3 of a new blog series on The Three Luxury Real Estate Marketing Keys for Personal Branding. Define. Align. Refine!

Pottery, as an art form, clearly illustrates the principle of feeling centered which is the by-product of the process of self definition and personal alignment covered in previous posts. As students of pottery, we highly recommend that luxury real estate marketing professionals take a pottery class to gain a visceral, hands-on experience of centering. Like the personal alignment process pottery is also a meditative experience because you have to concentrate and focus to keep the clay centered on the wheel as you transform it into something both beautiful and useful.

When you prepare the clay for throwing a vase using a potter’s wheel all these steps need to come into alignment in order to achieve your end result:

You cut a piece of clay from a large block and wedge the clay. That is, you knead the clay until all the molecules are literally aligned and no air bubbles remain in it. This will add to the structural integrity of the finished bowl.
You shape this clay into a ball and place it on the middle of the wheel
You start the wheel, flatten the ball, and center the weight of the mass on the wheel.

If the clay is not kneaded or wedged properly air bubbles will remain. Air bubbles will create holes or cracks when you fire it in the kiln. The personal alignment process is similar to wedging clay. It is essential that you rid yourself of the air bubbles of doubt and self contradiction.

You center the clay mass on the wheel in order to open the very center of the vase and evenly pull the sides up. Suddenly, from a lump of clay you give it definition and a shape. Centering yourself through the process of self-definition and personal alignment quiets your mind, so that you can focus on shaping, crafting the vase of your unique selling proposition (which we cover in Part 4).

The last step prior to firing is called trimming. Once you have let the newly formed vase dry (partially) overnight, you bring it back on the wheel, center it again and trim away any excess clay. This trimming process is akin to what we call refining your marketing message which is covered in Part 5.

We find that so many luxury real estate marketing professional do not take the time to establish their personal alignment and get centered. They simply are unable to clearly articulate how they are distinct from their closest competition. And, their results are usually not consistent.

Personal alignment gives you a sense of balance, confidence and a sense of being centered.. Only then can you be authentic and create a genuine personal brand..

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tips for Personal Branding: Part 2

Personal Alignment

This is part #2 of our blog series on The Three Luxury Real Estate Marketing Keys for Personal Branding. Define. Align. Refine!

The second key of successful luxury real estate marketing after Self-Definition is personal alignment. Alignment as defined by Webster’s Dictionary is “the proper positioning or state of adjustment of parts in relation to each other.” What then, is personal alignment? It is the clarification and the formulation of your thoughts in such a way that you eliminate self-contradictions. It is also the convergence that occurs when these mental gears are in sync:

• Your values and beliefs (what matters to you the most and what you stand for)
• Your passions and personality (what you personally love doing the most)
• Your unique talents and abilities (What you can do better than anyone else in your marketplace)

The process of personal alignment is taking the time to formulate and reformulate your success formula by trying out different ideas in your imagination until all these gears click into place. Only then can you send a clear, non-contradicted signal to your target market. Anything less is like tuning in a radio and hearing static.

Without alignment your target market is getting mixed signals from you or cannot even hear your broadcast. And, you wonder why all of your hard work isn’t paying off as you had hoped it would. It’s not for lack of effort on your part. It is lack of alignment!

Most professionals are too eager to rush into action before achieving personal alignment. Then they wonder why they are getting mixed results. Do not underestimate the importance of this vital step in building your luxury real estate marketing practice. Any time you notice that you are not getting consistent results, take more time out for personal alignment or realignment.

The Three Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tips for Personal Branding: Define. Align. Refine! Part #1

Self-Definition

This is Part #1 of a new blog series on The Three Luxury Real Estate Marketing Keys for Personal Branding: Define. Align. Refine!

For luxury real estate marketing professionals the process of self-definition is the starting point for creating a personal brand. In subsequent posts in this series we will cover how self definition and personal alignment lead to being centered and focused which is the prerequisite for refining your competitive advantage. In order to begin creating a successful marketing strategy that effortlessly attracts your target audience, take some time to complete these self-defining exercises:

1. Define your core values and your beliefs. This is the time to be honest with you. These are not the values or beliefs you think you should have because somebody will like you better for it. You will no doubt come up with many of these; however, it is important to identify the most important ones to you. Some values and beliefs are more cherished than others. What do you stand for?

2. Define your authentic personality and your passions. This is not what others think your personality is. It is not what you think you should be or have to fix. What makes your heart sing? How can you use that passion to create an avenue to better relate to others?

3. Define your unique talents and abilities. Everyone one of us has a unique blend of talents. It is your DNA. What can you do better than anyone else in your marketplace?

This is not a process to rush through. Take your time, deliberate. Check out each answer by questioning it thoroughly. You will know the process is done when you can articulate your answers to all of the questions above in one clear paragraph that says it all.

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