Today, in the interest of education, I'm going to address a few of the most common branding related things we see REALTORS® mis-term or misunderstand. Most of them have to do with things that the REALTOR® thinks is a logo. To those ends, I will explain what a logo is (and what it isn't), and then define and demonstrate what the things they misunderstand "actually" are.

1) Logo

This is an interesting one. Agents almost universally refer to anything as a logo. For instance, we've seen REALTORS® refer to "their logo" as the phone number and email that are listed under their name, their photograph, or even their slogan (which will be described later). Technically none of these things are logo.

Your name can be part of your logo. This totally makes sense, because you are your own brand. If you are going to use your name as your logo, though, it can't "just" be your name. It needs to be designed and styled so it looks different than the rest of your marketing pieces. For example:

As you can see, there is a special type face, a background element, as well as a monogram in a circle above Dina's name. A logo like this could be the spring board for the rest of the branding an agent would have (e.g. the theme of the logo works its way into the agent's postcards, magazine ads, website, etc.).

Now, as I mentioned above, while a logo is NEVER a slogan or a photo (by itself), a logo can have a slogan associated with it, or even a photo associated with it. For example:

The logo above has a logo type (the house with David's initials in it), his name with a simple, but distinct font styling, and his slogan at the bottom of the logo. While you could use the logo type by itself, and it could be considered part of a logo, you could NEVER use the slogan, by itself, and consider it a logo.

With photographs, it is a little old fashioned, but you certainly could include your photo in your logo, and therefore your photo would be PART of your logo. We don't design logos like this anymore for clients, however I was able to Google one to show you what that might look like:

Again, you can see that the font has been styled, there is a graphical element to it (the gold swoosh), and the team's photo has been cropped and the background dropped out, so it fits into the swoosh in the logo.

2) Logo Type

In one of the examples above, I used the term "logo type." Strictly defined, a logo type is "a single piece of type that prints a logo or emblem."

Sticking with the same example above, this would be considered a logo type:

3) Slogan

A slogan by itself if simply that. It's a slogan. It could also be called a tag line. What it CANNOT be called, though, is a logo. If we can agree on that, slogans are pretty self explanatory and don't need demonstration, or explanation. So instead of showing what a slogan is, I'd like to explain what goes into a good real estate slogan.

First off, never, ever use a slogan that runs along the lines of any of the following:

• Call Jane Smith and start packing
• Everything Joe Smith touches turns to "sold"
• Betty Smith gets you moving
• Spouses Selling Houses

The intended outcome of someone hiring you is their home being sold. In the minds or the seller, their home is GOING to sell, and they are GOING to move. Telling a prospective seller something they consider "obvious" in your slogan does you no good.

Instead, your slogan should reflect qualities of how you work, what you do and how you represent your clients. This could be something directly related to your mission statement or core values. It could even be something related to your marketplace. Some examples could be:

• Winning Edge, Extraordinary Results
• Local Connections, Global Exposure
• Results You Deserve, Service You Trust
• Your Edge In Real Estate

Aside from the above three most misunderstood things about branding in real estate, I'd also like to take a quick second to explain what exactly is in a brand. More and more, prospective clients come to us with some logo they've purchased off the internet. In some cases, the logos actually aren't bad. They come to us to execute a marketing campaign, thinking they are all ready to go. When we explain to them that what they have is simply a logo and not a brand identity, they are often disappointed and sometimes confused. That is where our education kicks in.

When we do branding packages for REALTORS®, it's much more than just a logo. We work with our clients closely. We get to know them, pinpoint their differentiating factors, learn about their tastes (what they find attractive and what they don't like), and then and only then do we start working on a branding project. The project is multifaceted. We start out with a logo, and possibly a slogan. From there we work to make sure everything ties in (e.g. postcards, business cards, property flyers, newspaper and magazine ads, personal brochures, web banners, website, sometimes signs, etc.).

The whole point is that you need your brand to be cohesive. Every piece of what you use to represent yourself HAS TO tie into your brand identity. If there is a form of marketing you want to do that will not allow for you to use your brand identity (e.g. virtual home tour, IDX plugin for your website, etc.), do not use it.

You only have three seconds to hold a prospect's attention. You are advertising in many different places. So you want that same brand identity burned into the head of your prospect, no matter where they see your brand, throughout the day.

The net result will be you coming up top of mind anytime that prospect thinks of buying or selling real estate.

To view the original article, visit the Leading Agent blog.