Looking Fresh And Easily Recognizable - A Realtor's Survival

When I first became a Realtor a few years back and entered my local market, I was excited at the possibility of working alongside many friendly faces that I felt I already knew, having almost gone through the home buying process myself a year before. Whilst not actually purchasing a home at that point, my wife and I did tirelessly look at many that were on the market and during that time we viewed and became acquainted with many of the Realtors in our area, not actually meeting them in person, but through their various sign riders, newspaper advertisements and Internet listings.

It was to my surprise that when being introduced to agent after agent, I was aghast at the fact I did not easily recognize many of them at first. I remember thinking, "Oh, you're ???"

Whether it was the nostalgic 1980's black and white photographs that were sometimes used by them or the not so recent color photographs that featured a dramatically different hairstyle, the issue remained that these people I thought I knew so well suddenly could not be picked out in a line up, or worse, the local Walmart check-out line.

As a rookie I knew one fact, this could not be helping their business. Why, aren’t these Realtors not spending incredible amounts of money in advertising so that prospective clients WOULD recognize them?

It has always been a top priority of mine that I always have a current photograph of myself in all of my Real Estate advertising and listings. I am often recognized when I am out and know that this simple, yet conscious decision has paid volumes in commission checks. In today's social media society that we live and work in, I know that these agents are quick to update their Facebook profile photos, so why not their Realtors ones? Smile...