New Year, New You

Whether you're brand new or a seasoned professional, your digital persona is extremely important to your business success. The NAR 2022 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report indicated that 97% of all homebuyers used the internet as a primary method of home searching. That probably comes as no surprise - everyone is online! 

Now is the perfect time to make sure that customers are seeing YOU and able to reach you across every channel possible. Put your best foot forward and make a great first impression!

5 Tips to Enhance the Digital You

#1: Schedule a photo shoot with a professional photographer to capture an up-to-date, posed headshot on a neutral background.

Marketing yourself starts with presenting a professionally taken headshot. It can communicate a lot about you in a brief impression. No selfies, group shots, or images more than 5 years old will do! A professionally taken headshot shows someone who doesn't know you that you are invested in your business, are trustworthy, and driven to succeed. If your picture is too casual, outdated, out of focus, or distracting, you are not communicating the right message.

First impressions matter.

Get recommendations from your colleagues whose headshots you like and use the professional photographer they used.

#2: Post that new headshot! 

Use the same professional headshot everywhere to elevate your branding. You want to communicate a single message with a single professional image. This goes for any printed materials, online representations, and social profiles. You want consumers to recognize you and to feel like they know you. Building familiarity builds trust.

Your next step is to immediately visit the OneKey® MLS Find a Realtor® Directory,  and see what your profile looks like. Your headshot is posted with your office and contact information.

If you don't have a headshot on file, you'll see the gray, blank figure (see below). When customers visit our Find a Realtor® Directory, are they seeing you or are they seeing a blank placeholder?  

Update your profile through your Realtor® dashboard to change the photo the MLS has on file.

404 Error: Realtor® not found.

#3: Keep your contact info up-to-date everywhere.

For obvious reasons, you need to be easy to contact. Make sure that your phone number and email address are correct everywhere - in our directory, on your website, on your printed marketing material, and on your social profiles. 

#4: Rebrand your social channels for your business.

Social media platforms are some of the best, free marketing tools for Realtors®. If your display name doesn't match your real name, or your posted images are not making a great first impression for customers, you are doing your business a disservice. Evaluate your profiles for unprofessional content and rebrand them for your business. The platforms you use are up to you.  

#5: Post across social channels daily and be branded the expert.

Check your own social profiles for your most recent posts. Are your posts recent (within the week) and consistent? Are you posting content for your customers, both present and potential? Are you making the most of a free feed to a network you have already built? To brand yourself the expert, you need to be actively posting as the real estate professional they can trust.

Need content? Share ours! We post daily across the major social media channels, and you are free to share this content on your own sites. Want articles about how to sell a home? We're posting them. Want infographics on homeownership goals or market conditions? We've got them too. It can be difficult to create and post content regularly - so rely on the one source for content that you can trust - your MLS.