Comments on: What You See is What You Get

By: Marc

Marc — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:20:13 +0000

The answer is simple – exploit it for it’s worth.

By: Ines

Ines — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:01:45 +0000

and what happens when the cocktail party banter IS your brand….as with mojitos and Miamism?

By: Marc

Marc — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:46:50 +0000

@Danilo

As an alternative, you could have as many clients as you want and never fear offending them by simply not twittering from a bar describing the 8th Kamikaze shot you’re about to take or from the bubble bath with your favorite duck.

You said it best, moderation is key – exactly.

By: George McCumiskey

George McCumiskey — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:49:14 +0000

It’s a fine line between being seen having a glass of wine with the hub and falling down drunk at a celebratory bar party with gf’s. One point that’s important is don’t post pictures of others online unless you ask them first. That would totally piss me off.

By: fletchthemaven

fletchthemaven — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:01:36 +0000

From @hthrflynn: Is brand image and personal authenticity mutually exclusive? http://agentgenius.com/?p=8044

By: Danilo Bogdanovic

Danilo Bogdanovic — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:00:32 +0000

You don’t want only pictures of you in a bar posted all over the web. And you don’t want just pictures of you in a suit and tie everywhere with a “buy from me” look on your face all the time. Neither of these shows your complete self.

There’s where moderation comes in. Don’t be afraid to show your “whole” self online so that people see you for you are, on and off the clock. This makes you a “person” not just a “sales person”.

Some people may disagree with this mentality, but that’s ok. They will attract different clients than I will and vice versa.

Personally, I’d rather have fewer clients that I really click with than tons of clients that I’m constantly on my toes around for fear of offending them because I like to go out to bars, clubs or make wisea$$ remarks.

Great post Heather!

By: Matthew Rathbun

Matthew Rathbun — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:11:43 +0000

Sorry, I’m still clearing my head from “T” posting nude pictures….

Ok – now that I’ve gathered myself from giggling like a 12 year old…

I struggle with this and have been slowing down my Twittering because my followers are varied. I have friends, church folks and co-workers who follow and often times comments that many of you would think are funny maybe taken as serious.

I’ve played with creating two twitter accounts, but I refuse to be anyone other than who I am. Therefore, I just have to be more careful about showing that when I am goofing off….I am JUST goofing off.

To me the power of soc-med is that you can be yourself. If I am following someone who just blogs, FB or Twitters a sermon I yawn, but if I know that person is down to earth and fun, I’m more likely to understand the writings or preachy way that some of deliver our message.

Great transparent post!

By: Peter Fletcher

Peter Fletcher — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:57:05 +0000

Although Dean’s faux pax is often connected to his defeat one can’t assert with confidence that it served as the sole reason for his failed bid to become the president. There were many other contributing factors. There equally exist many factors which contribute to a person’s career success. To suggest that inappropriate content can, on its own, destroy a person’s career is to elide a number of factors that over-mesh one another to produce financial success. Rather than kowtowing to the whims and fancies of a fickle client base, agents active on social media have an opportunity to creatively produce who they are in a way that contributes to their own happiness. Only after taking care of their self hood can they truly be in a position to help another.

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:35:19 +0000

Amen Teresa. And what you just wrote is exactly why i thought of you when I referred to the few shinning stars that do it right in my article. From your blog to your Twittering to your comments, you seem to just nail it.

As a result, you come across as real because you have, whether intentional or not, weaved this perfect brand quilt of consistency between the personal you and the professional you.

What you have accomplished is powerful and the results show up in your career and beyond. That’s the model for sure.

Remember Howard Dean in Iowa? There was an authentic moment that served to destroy his bid for President. Sometimes being too real, can be too much.

By: Heather Elias

Heather Elias — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:05:12 +0000

For the record, I wasn’t making a distinction between ‘real’ and ‘phony’. My point was how private we are with our lives. Some people are more comfortable with revealing more about themselves and their lives, and others are not. That doesn’t make anyone phony or less authentic, it makes them more private!

I subscribe to Brian’s theory of your brand/persona/marketing attracting the type of clients that you are probably going to work best with.

Rob, I have to think about brand vs. authentic person. I still disagree, but possibly because I’m looking at it from an individual agent standpoint and not as a corporate brand. Maybe we can discuss a bit at Inman!

Again..the beauty of this business is that each person has the opportunity to market themselves and create their own success in the way that best works for them…