Sorry I've had to bow out for this event - I had an unexpected change to my corporate schedule and Fridays I'm going to be pretty pinned down in West Seattle.

I think that in any marketing areana there can be fear to commit to a particular identity. However, the marketplace is chock-a-block with people who market that they do it all.

Everyone already knows what a real estate agent generally can and can't do. But if you actually take the leap, and commit to a target audience, you wind up getting more business.

Great examples I've seen locally, are the realtors I actually remember from their marketing:

James Tibbetts - he's the top West Seattle listing agent. Now, whether he is or not by the numbers is another matter. But because he's been on the back page of the West Seattle Herald for at least over a decade, that's what I think. He shows you almost entirely sold houses, and 1 or 2 new listings.

Jace Sells Land - If you ever drive up to Port Angeles, you'll see his signs. Now, I don't know who the heck he is, but of the hundreds of agents in Port Angeles, he's the only one who has a real identity to me.

Ava & Ava - They're the king and queen of town homes I'd never buy in West Seattle. Simply because that's what they've been building all over the place.

My point being, when you do target an audience, you actually get a hundred times further than the Swiss-Army-Knife-I-Can-Do-Everything method. People will remember you AND you'll still get a lot of business that's the other kind you don't target as well.

Great article.