Writing about my particular area of expertise, online marketing and branding for premier real estate professionals in major cities throughout the globe, reminds me that there is a universal lesson about business success that any executive can adopt: Customize your message; explain, with clarity (visually and verbally) and conviction, the strengths you possess, the successes you enjoy and the resources you retain. In a word – communicate!
Indeed, if you are part of a specialized group of skilled experts – if you emphasize the value of customization, and highlight the importance of your customized approach to business – then you would be wise to avoid anything that bears the slightest trace of generic, ordinary, conformist style.
If you are a first-rate talent in the real world, with a second-rate (at best) presence in the virtual world, then there is a serious divide between your proven abilities and the falsely perceived (by the public) weaknesses about your business.
Again, I write these words from experience, as the Founder of StormRE, which enables real estate executives to brand their services with distinction and effectiveness. Take, for instance, my collaboration with The Hoffman Meier Team at Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
I cite this group as an example worth emulating, not as an opportunity to revel in self-congratulatory rhetoric, because the emphasis on customization – the overarching rule about The Hoffman Meier Team – demands follow-through.
Which is to say, their professionals abide by the maxim to show and tell; to enliven their work, to show the properties they exclusively represent, and to tell (by way of explanatory prose) what makes a specific residence so remarkable.
To accomplish that task is to communicate, powerfully and persuasively. My recommendation to readers, and the one thing all businesses have in common, is the need to express themselves – to existing and prospective clients, partners, manufacturers and distributors, investors, banks and private lenders – so they can achieve their individual ends.
And, in an era of instantaneous news and global connectivity, the popular way to fulfill that assignment is through personalized digital marketing. Translation: You, as an independent entrepreneur or as the head of an international corporation, must use the web to enhance and secure your influence online.
The process by which this transformation occurs begins by answering a basic question: Why is your business different, in comparison to the competition?
Revealing the Differences in a Company: Finding the Solutions for Business Success
The answer to the question about differences, performing the self-analysis to know what makes your business innovative or reputable, must, in the end, be a statement of purpose and an assertion of identity. That is, you must have a competitive advantage – there must be an unambiguous proclamation about why your services are essential – and that asset must be inseparable from the people at the forefront of a company's success.
Nowhere is that comment more relevant than among businesses that bear the name (or names) of their respective founders. Meaning: When your name is on the line, literally on the door, the stationery, the legal documents and the multitude of pages on the web, you must defend your reputation; you must do everything – proactively, to secure your legitimacy; and reactively, to inoculate your brand from baseless attacks – so you can maintain your credibility.
These decisions must be at the center of a company's agenda for long-term prosperity and acceptance by the public. Ensuring this balance between vigilance and action is the best way to have a lively position online, with enviable quality offline, too. Or: In the differences among companies rest the secrets to victory for any one company.
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Odd Einar is the President of StormRE, an award-winning real estate marketing firm.