Branding: A wise investment for any real estate professional

The word branding gets bounced around alot these days, much like a dodgeball in a schoolyard. It's familiar yet hard to grasp at the same time. More often than not, it hits us without us truly understanding what it means in terms of our businesses. I often describe developing your brand as an investment. Most companies never really invest the time and resources to it, and typically if they have a brand of any value, it likely happened by accident. For me branding has always gone way beyond the visual. A brand is really a much larger entity, one that encompasses every aspect of a business and all the touchpoints that clients or prospects will interact with. However, the visual is the obvious, and it's extremely important in that it's typically the first interaction people have with a brand. It's inexcusable in this era of technology not to present well in print and online. A poorly printed business card on flimsy paper, or a website that's been "under construction" for the last five years with the graphic of the little man wearing a yellow hard hat will send your prospects running for the hills. My perception may be skewed because I'm in the branding business, but I think that people expect the companies they do business with to care about how they look. With the visual branding being at the surface, what's below it? That's where feel comes into play. It could be the tone of the writing on your website or marketing messages, or the style of how you do business or sell to your customers. Building trust that you can do the job you say you do, goes beyond your pitch. Your "brand promise" is delivering on what sold your clients or partners on working with you in the first place. Create a real mission statement and make sure that everyone in your organization, not only understands it, but believes it so much that every action they take is moving the company toward achieving it. Employees who are empowered, can be some of the best brand advocates you'll ever have. Clients that respect you and your work are even better. Ultimately, your brand is your reputation. It takes a long time to develop, but it can easily be tarnished. Work hard to maintain it, and that initial investment will pay dividends for many years to come. Tommy Spero is the principal and creative director of Soul NYC, Centerport, N.Y.