Do you ever feel that making your mark on the world of real estate is an insurmountable challenge? You follow all of the best practices, dress for success, and have a business card that screams “real estate”. And yet, despite all your following the rules, do you ever feel like you’re still not gaining traction like you could be?

Sometimes, the solution is to break some rules.

All too often, real estate professionals – especially newer agents – try to address a target audience that encompasses essentially everyone in their local market. The problem with this strategy is that it leads to bland, inoffensive marketing materials that could speak to anyone – which means that they appeal to no one. Generic marketing tends to get tuned out.

Sometimes, injecting a little personality into your marketing is just the thing to help you stand out from the crowd.

Buying or selling a house is an intensely personal process. Even in commercial real estate, where deals are much less likely to be driven by emotion, people still want to be able to connect with their real estate agent. After all, people do business with those they know, like, and trust. And it’s hard to trust someone you don’t know anything about.

There are many ways to add a little flair to your marketing. The key is to be authentic, and to spend some time thinking about your true target market. The clients you absolutely love working with – the deals that leave you feeling like you absolutely love your job. What do those clients value? What messages resonate the most with them?

Then, start small with changes to your marketing message. Choose a square real estate business card instead of the traditional rectangle. Revamp your elevator speech or networking introduction to include a bit of humor. Go bold with an oversized 12 x 12 real estate postcard.

Think about whatever it is that you love about the real estate business, and make sure that it shines through in your real estate marketing. When your personality shows through all of your marketing messages, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can start to draw the kinds of clients you can’t wait to work with.