Tony Ray:
So, 25 years ago next month, next month’s my anniversary in real estate. I actually started with Long Realty. I hung my license with them. And if everybody knows Rosey Koberlein and Steve Quinlan, I was … Who knows those guys? Everybody? Yeah, great people.
Tony Ray:
So, I worked with Rosey and Steve, and it was really cool, because I started in the business. And I was broke, like very few realtors, and thought I was going to be this multimillionaire.
They did not have a multimillionaire listing yet, so I wasn’t watching that stuff. I just thought I was going to be like instant success and I was going to make a lot of money.
Tony Ray:
And interestingly enough, within about a year, I had not made a sale. Yeah, right? Who said, “Ew”? Who went, “Ew”? Yeah, that’s how I felt. Ew. And by the way, so did Rosey Koberlein. She was so sweet.
She called me in her office and she said, “I don’t think you’re going to work out. It’s been a year. You’re not willing to do what we need you to do.”
Tony Ray:
And I remember I was really overwhelmed, but I had spent that first year going to school. So I started back then, I started my GRI, and I was taking every class. And we had to roam around to get those classes, so I was doing a lot of time traveling to Flagstaff, or Phoenix, or wherever, because they weren’t really here at the time.
And GRI classes were two to three days. And so, I was trying to get my education, because my hang up was I didn’t deserve the client. I didn’t deserve working with them. I felt that I didn’t deserve it.
Tony Ray:
And I didn’t know that at the time, but what I was trying to do was overcompensate by taking tons and tons of education. So I just kept going to more classes. So I took GRI, and then I immediately started after my CRS.
And Rosey calls me in the office and says, “You’re not really willing to door knock. We’ve dropped you off in a couple of neighborhoods in a van and you didn’t knock on any doors. We’ve given you the calls directory everyday and it’s reported that you’re making the calls, and I just don’t think you’re going to make it in real estate.”
Tony Ray:
And I said, “Rosey, give me one more year.” And that’s what I said to her. She said, “What’s going to be different?” And I said, “I want to work like a lawyer, or a doctor, or somebody who has a practice.
And people come in and they make an appointment to be with me on my schedule.” And that was like the look of Rosey. And I said, “I don’t want to work nights, don’t want to work weekends, want to have a life, want to vacation. I want people to call me and ask me if I’ll work with them.”
Tony Ray:
And she sat there and she just pondered, and I was really waiting for her to just say bye, or today’s words, “Bye, Felicia.” That’s what I was expecting, right? But she didn’t. She did not say that. She said, “Tony Ray, one more year.”
And she said, “But you promise me to go meet this guy.” It was kind of scary. I thought it was a guy in a alley that was going to like, really weird stuff.
Tony Ray:
But she hands me Joe Stumpf, By Referral Only. Who knows Joe Stumpf or heard of him? She hands me his card. Now, he had just starting coaching around that time, and Joe Stumpf’s whole premise was to build a business only by referral.
And how we take care of our clients, and the accountability, and the things that we do to make sure that people will want to refer us. There will be raving fans. They will become our sales team.
Tony Ray:
How many people have a sales team of referring clients right now? Raise your hands. Raise your hands high, because that is something to be super proud of, right? You’ve done a great job. You’ve done right by the client. They’re referring you business.
Today, I would hope that everyone of you writes down on a piece of paper that your goal is to be by referral, that you will do such a great job, and that clients will rave about you, and they’ll drag their friends to you and say, “No one can help you like this person.” Right? Can we all say yes, that’s a great goal, right? Yeah, okay.
Tony Ray:
So, I met Joe Stumpf. I started working with Joe Stumpf on … I really had a mental breakdown the first day I met him. We were in his class. It was a three day seminar. It went from seven in the morning till midnight. Seven till midnight.
We were sleep deprived by the second day. We had five hours of sleep and we were all just like zombies, but he didn’t want to stop talking. He had so much information to share, and he was so new, and he was so amazing that he just wouldn’t stop talking. He just kept coming at us with more info.
Tony Ray:
And we were writing like crazy, and I remember pads of paper. I was burning through them like you couldn’t believe. And he gave us a binder this big with a billion ideas, and by day two, people started crying.
Like, in the seminar, people started breaking down and crying, because they were overwhelmed with the information. But what I got from Joe was absolutely, you can do this on your terms. You can have a great life. You can take vacations.
What Joe said to me was, “Let’s plan your life. And then, we’re going to fit your business into it.”
Tony Ray:
So I want you to think about that. We’re going to plan your life. We’re going to fit your business into it. And all this stuff I’m going to show you today is about planning your life, and allowing systems, and allowing all these free and very inexpensive tools to help you be more efficient, more productive, and have a life.
Who wants a great life? Right? Who doesn’t? Does anybody? Okay. Awesome. So that’s what I promise you today. We’re going to talk about, at the end of the class, we’re going to evaluate to see where we are in that.
Tony Ray:
Today, we have some great sponsors, and I want to go over those guys with you real quick. We have Fidelity National Title in the house. Stand up and say hi. Whoo, I just grabbed them as they were all getting … Yay.
Fidelity has been sponsoring all of our stuff. Anybody been on our trolley? Who’s been on the trolley tour with Tom and Fidelity? Yup, nice. So, we do a trolley every other month, and are we doing one next month, or is it the too hot month?
Speaker 2:
[inaudible 00:06:35]
Tony Ray:
Great. So we’re doing … thank you. I don’t even know my schedule, isn’t that funny? So, we have the trolley tour next month, so if you haven’t signed up, you’re going to want to get signed up. We only have what, 35 to 40 seats? 35 to 40 seats.
We fill out that bus every single time, usually before we get … usually within a day, it’s filled up.
Tony Ray:
So, if you want to get on that, we actually do a whole tour for you. We take you through all the development, what’s going on in downtown Menlo Park, Armory Park, Presidio. We talk all about stuff along that light rail, things you’ll want to know for your clients and for yourself, and it’s a really amazing tour. Right? Right? Good.
Tony Ray:
Trolley tour is sponsored by Fidelity, as well as all these classes. I worked with Tina Banks for a very long time. We won’t talk about how long, because it makes me feel old. Right? Older. But they do an amazing job, and I really appreciate you, and thank you guys so much for sponsoring us.
Tony Ray:
One of the awesome tools that you guys just updated, if you don’t know about it, talk to one of them in the back, but they have fidelityagent.com?
Speaker 3:
FidelityAgent ONE.
Tony Ray:
ONE. Sorry, FidelityAgentONE.com, right?
Speaker 3:
It’s an app.
Tony Ray:
Okay. It’s on your desktop.
Speaker 3:
[inaudible 00:07:54] FidelityAgent ONE.
Tony Ray:
Okay. So you can download it on an iOS or, what’s the other one? Android, thank you. Device, and you can go on your desktop. I have to tell you guys, I’m going to give you kudos, because I have recently, I’ve been using this product for awhile, and recently, I’ve started getting little messages from clients.
When I send out their cost sheet, I get little kudos on the cost sheet that you’ve created, because it has graphics, and it’s really simple, and it actually shows the consumer exactly where money is going. It’s a really cool cost sheet.
Tony Ray:
And I’ve actually had messages, which is really neat, people saying, “This was so easy to read. Thank you for being so transparent.” So, kudos to whoever’s doing the new app. It’s really awesome. All right, round of applause for Fidelity. Thank you, guys.
Tony Ray:
Wouldn’t be here either without Mr. Tom Heath from NOVA Home Loans. You want to say something for us, Mr. Tom? No? You always have something to say. What do you do besides NOVA and the trolley?
Tom Heath:
Well, I do have radio show, Life Along The Streetcar. We’re talking about the [inaudible 00:09:04] area, downtown, economic, social, cultural things that are happening, so you can check that out.
Pretty much [inaudible 00:09:10] best place, Life Along The Streetcar. We’re on the radio at seven in the mornings, and then podcast on SoundCloud. It’ll be about 85 episodes when it’s done, so there’s quite a bit of information in that timeframe.
Tom Heath:
And I do want to point of something, because Tony Ray will not tell you today. In the last month, I’ve seen him on three different national presentations, where he’d been invited in by national speakers, and sharing this information across the country.
So, if you saw him from day one to today, he’s become a celebrity. Don’t let it get to your head. [inaudible 00:09:44] nationally, and I really appreciate the fact that you are here, spending the time with us today.
Tony Ray:
Thanks, Tom. Thanks for everybody. So, NOVA Home Loans has sponsored all of this for you, and they’re part of our team, and we really appreciate everything you do for us. And Hailey is here somewhere?
Hailey:
Here!
Tony Ray:
Woohoo. She’s so little. Thanks, Hailey. Hailey, and Luisana’s here, yes. Thank you. So, I was looking for you over there too, but you’re taller, which is good. Yes.
Tony Ray:
Also, Rick Johnson’s not here. Rick Johnson is our home inspector. We’ve worked with Rick for a long time. Rick comes. So, we actually met Rick in one of these events, and I had just lost my home inspector after probably 10 years.
And I met Rick, and I was super impressed with Rick’s thoroughness and his attention to detail. And then, on top of it, that he goes the extra mile to make sure he’s insured with all the different types of insurance that most of your home inspectors don’t have.
Tony Ray:
Has anybody had an inspector that showed up, that you felt like they had no clue what they were doing? Isn’t it scary? It might be good if you’re the listing agent, but it may not be good if you’re the buyer’s agent.
So, Rick is someone I super trust. We’ve been working with Rick for 10 years. Rick did sponsor … Did Rick sponsor the food over here today? Rick always sponsors-
Speaker 2:
[inaudible 00:11:15]
Tony Ray:
Yup, and he’s been a sponsor of our trolley. So, if you want more information about Rick, talk to me after. And then, we also want to give a big shout out to Kristi Frank from American Family Insurance, who’s also our sponsor.
So, you hear all these sponsors. It’s super expensive if you’re not gathering to do all this. Right? These classes take a lot of money, and so do those trolley tours, and we wouldn’t have all that for you if we didn’t have those sponsors.
Tony Ray:
Kristi Frank at American Family, I’ve worked with her for years. I send every client to her, and all I ask is that they check her rates. 90% of my clients have all gone to Kristi Frank. She’s doing something right.
So you owe it to your clients to, if you’ve got somebody like Kristi Frank, you’ve got to get them over to her and have her compare. She does amazing stuff, and she’s serviced right there in Tucson, which is awesome. So, round of applause for all our sponsors. We appreciate you. Thank you.
Tony Ray:
One more thing, then we’re going to have some more announcements too. I already told you my once upon a time, the story of me, which goes right along with the expo that’s coming up, which is called Once Upon A Time, and I did not plan that, okay?
The Real Estate Expo, there are fliers, I’ll put them over there for you guys, or you can pick them up at the thing, but don’t forget that your 2019 expo is coming up. It looks like it’s in September, and I always forget about it till the last minute, so I’m telling you now early. Once Upon A Time is our fun one today. Ready? Okay.
Tony Ray:
Let’s talk about, so, okay, so, Tom was just talking about interviews. That brings up a idea for me. Somebody just asked me on an interview the other day, I was on a video interview with a guy from, I think it was Chicago.
And he said, “Just if there’s one thing you can tell everybody that changed your business practice,” he said, “What is it that you would tell them?” And if you watched the interview, you’ll hear me say this.
Tony Ray:
But I really keep thinking about it, and the word that popped out of my mouth was mindfulness. It just popped out. And it’s interesting, because what I realize is, when I started paying attention and being in the moment, I started bringing in more business.
Because I wasn’t so overwhelmed with the day to day stuff, when I started making systems to make that stuff take care of itself, I actually started paying attention. And people in front of me, I was actually able to listen to them and give them the authentic me.
Tony Ray:
And when I became authentic, the more I attracted better business. And the people we attract are just like us because we’re more authentic. And the really cool thing about that is, I love all the people we work with.
So we have really great transactions, very fun transactions. That’s part of that life that you want to create. That’s part of why we’re here. And I’m going to show you a video today. Who just got shaky? Who got shaky over the word video? Anybody? Everybody’s totally confident with it? No.
Tony Ray:
I’m going to tell you that authentic is going to make a total difference for you in video. Is the change for video. Tom does video really well. He does a podcast, and there’s authenticity that you’ll pick up immediately from everything he does, and that’s why he does it so well.
So we’re going to talk about that. So, I just want you to remember that mindfulness is so important, and that means if two of you are talking, that it’s eye contact, right? We want to talk to you, and we want to make sure that if somebody else is moving round the room, we’re not doing …
Tony Ray:
So, I’m ADD, totally, trust me. It takes practice to not watch the squirrel. Because I’m watching them all the time. Right? If you put me in front of a computer, it’s a disaster, because there’s 50,000 toys I want to learn and play with one that computer.
So, I’ve practiced being in the moment with people, and I’m trying very hard to be better at it at all times. So when I am standing with somebody, I am trying very hard to just be with them.
Tony Ray:
And I would ask that you think about that today and everyday. Start taking in a deep breath and start practicing being mindful. Practice being with the person. Doors open. You’ll be blown away by the doors that start opening.
You’ll start hearing things you didn’t hear before. Opportunities start availing themselves. And one of those for me, just recently, Pet Partners. Anybody heard of Pet Partners?
Tony Ray:
So, Pet Partners is a 40 year old company. They’ve been around the United States for 40 years, bringing animals to humans. The results are amazing. If you read what they’ve discovered scientifically and medically about bringing animals to people in distress, it’s amazing what they’ve done.
Pet Partners just recently chose five cities. They’ve come to Tucson, Arizona. There was different criteria for why we were chosen. I’m sure because we’re fabulous is one of them.
Tony Ray:
But one of the cool things about Pet Partners is they have selected Tucson, and they have set up their first board of directors. So they’re going hyper local in Tucson, Arizona. Pet Partners does a literacy program for children, where children get to read to the animals.
Think about how non-judgmental and cool that is for a child. Right? Because one of the things, when children are reading, it’s a judgment issue where they might make a mistake or do something wrong in front of an adult. But reading to the pig, or the puppy, or the house, or the cat, that’s different. There’s even a bird, right?
Tony Ray:
All these animals, they’re therapy animals. We are looking for more therapy animals. We are looking for volunteers to go out with the therapy animals. We’re looking for cash to pay for leashes and vests, and all the little things that go with the animals.
But I’m here today to tell you that this is an amazing group and I’m super proud to be on the board of directors. And I would ask that if you have anything that you can do to help this company, please contact me, because they’re amazing.
Tony Ray:
So, that all being said, I have brought today a really special guest for you, and I’m super excited. And her business is branding, right? Anybody feel like branding is an elusive thing? I do. Branding has been elusive for me my whole life. Branding is tough.
It’s okay to raise your hand. Branding is elusive, right? It’s like, what do I do? How do I … How can all of you be different than each other? You’re all real estate agents. Right? Isn’t that tough?
Tony Ray:
So, Julie Bonner is here today, and she’s going to show you how to … She does marketing and advertising, that’s what her company does, and she’s a specialist in taking, branding your specialness, and bringing it to life. So let’s all welcome Julie Bonner.
Julie Bonner:
Okay, can you guys hear me?
Speaker 7:
Yeah.
Julie Bonner:
Okay. Thanks for having me. Thanks for the great introduction. This is going to be about building your brand, and there’s some worksheets on the table. And we have only 30 minutes, so this is not necessarily a workshop, but those are things that you can use later, and I’m going to go over some of those questions.
But I hope that you leave today feeling inspired, that something inspires you about your own brand. And here we go.
Julie Bonner:
There we go. I’ll be talking about brand clarity, some marketing tools, and also how to create new opportunities. So, what is a brand? Sometimes people don’t really know what that is. We generally think of a logo. My background is in graphic design.
These are actually all logos that I’ve designed. I talked with someone earlier about one that’s veterans helping veterans. One is a mom blog, educational mom blog. Did the rebrand of Jewish Family and Children’s Services. They’re all different organizations.
Julie Bonner:
And believe me, I love designing logos and logos are important, but that’s not just what a brand is. And so, sometimes that’s a misconception. A brand is really who you are, especially being in realty. So, who you are and what your customers think of you.
It’s how you act, how you treat people, and a good little thing is to remember that a customer’s perception is reality. So even what you’re putting out, it’s really what they think of you, is the brand perception about that.
Julie Bonner:
I’m going to talk a little bit about my brand evolution. I’m happy that Tony Ray talked about his story. When I first started my first graphic design business, I wanted to sound very corporate.
At the time, I was an art director for Mister Car Wash back in, it was from 2003 to 2006. And I finished my MBA and decided to start my own graphic design business. So that top logo was the one I had come up with. I wanted to seem bigger than I was. I wanted to work with medium sized businesses.
Julie Bonner:
And although it was okay for awhile, I learnt something about that, is that people didn’t really care about this entity and seeming bigger than I was. People really just wanted to work with me.
They liked that I have a background in graphic design, I have a master’s in business. They like the personal things that I help them with, going above and beyond, just taking someone saying, “Do this”, and I just do it. I try to help them with their marketing and overall thing.
Julie Bonner:
So over time, I realized, that’s not really the best brand for me. So, I thought about, in 99, actually, in college, I designed this logo. And so, the Julie is actually an ambigram, and that means you can flip it. And I thought that if it’s my personality, really it’s about me.
And when I was little, when I did custom greeting cards for friends, I would always sign the back, “Julie Originals”. So that’s actually where the name came from. Since I was little, I always signed, “Julie Originals.”
Julie Bonner:
So now, this new LLC encompasses my graphic design background, but also, I’m a fine artist. And so, I put some stuff over there so you can see some of the work I’ve done. So that’s kind of how I transitioned to this new brand, Julie Originals.
Julie Bonner:
One thing also is that working for other companies, I was doing a lot of graphic design, but I hadn’t done fine art in years. And so, it was really once I had my son that I had a second. So during his nap times, I started painting again.
And when he was one, I was doing the ABCs with him, and some of the books were really boring. It was like, A is for apple, and B is for bus, or something like that. So I came over the idea of creating a set of flashcards for kids, but using desert animals.
Julie Bonner:
And so, you can see right there, I’m painting a scorpion, and my cat is like on my chair. And then, I was doing Anna’s hummingbird. And so, I came up with this idea to teach kids about desert animals, but combining my passion.
So, graphic design, and fine art, and education, and of course, kids. So that was kind of start of this evolution of people knowing something about me more than just the graphic design, that I could do fine art.
Julie Bonner:
This is how the flashcards turned out. So, I did a blog post where I wanted to do them in like, a month, and that was a joke. I didn’t realize that it was really hard to do with a one year old. But I eventually finished all the paintings, designed everything.
And so, each one has the painting I did with facts on the back. And besides just each flashcard, I got to make the box and do this whole process. And it was an unknown thing. I had never made my own product and sold my own product, but I went to people that have.
Julie Bonner:
And so, one of my mentors was Diana Madaras, and I worked with her for about a year. She’s well known for being a great artist, but also a businesswoman. And she understands how to take your image but market that as art gifts.
And so, in return, I was helping her with some graphic design and some PR and event promotion. And so, it was cool. I actually helped critiqued some of my paintings. I actually finished, printed these. And so, I actually have some over there.
Julie Bonner:
Tom, he has given them as closing gifts before, which is really cool. And then, an exciting thing about this is past year, my son’s class used them as part of his curriculum. So, this is fun. This was him when … Those were all my flashcards.
So I had made 500, sold out, then made 4,000, and that’s when the big shipment of the flashcards came in, and we inspected the flashcards. So, he’s very proud.
Julie Bonner:
One thing we’re talking about with branding is also, so, you create your brand, but then you’re putting yourself out there. So these are some images of some of the things that I’ve done. Art markets. That picture is of me at a Local First Arizona event with my artwork.
I’m wearing my T-shirt, I have my branded table runner, my product, so people can see. I was on the Morning Blend years ago. This was in the newspaper about what I was doing. And so, part of … You create a brand, but then you want to promote what you’re doing.
Julie Bonner:
And this was from Tucson Lifestyle awhile back, with the flashcards, and what was really cool about the timing of this was it was, it came out right in December, and for gifts, December is like a perfect time of the year to have this kind of promotion.
I actually was at a art market at Tucson Museum of Art right when this came out. So people connected the dots, and they’re like, “Oh, I’ve seen this before.” And that’s branding, right? Recognizable, consistency, people had just read the article and they saw the packaging, and they’re like, “Oh yeah, I remember that.” So, that’s a goal.
Julie Bonner:
And then, partners. So, Tony Ray talked a lot about collaborations. He collaborates with Tom, and Fidelity, and all these other people. And so, for me too with the product, connecting with the right retailers that are a good fit for my flashcards.
So, Mildred and Dildred is a local toy store, and they have really great products, and they carry a lot of local stuff too. And then, you know the Tohono Chul Gift Shop is fantastic, beautiful work. I’m with a lot of other amazing artists.
Julie Bonner:
So, that’s one to think about with your own brand. Who are some other people you can partner with that represent you well? Am I talking really fast? I’ll be like … On the sheet, there are some questions, but some of the things that I think about when I’m meeting with someone and they’re thinking about their brand are, what are three words your customers say about you, or what do they want to think about you?
Is it that you’re really friendly, or you’re an expert, you’re knowledgeable? Those are some things you think of.
Julie Bonner:
And then also, when I’m designing a logo, working with someone, also it’s the other way. What don’t you want people to think of? They don’t want to think, she’s, I don’t know, something bad, I don’t know. And then, who is your audience?
And so, I talked to quite a few of you today, and what’s really fun about this crowd is there’s someone here that’s been here 40 years in realty. There’s another person with three months.
Julie Bonner:
And so, and you guys cover different geographic areas. And so, it seems like a lot focused on different geographic areas. But also, maybe within that geography, who is an ideal customer?
Who do you want to reach first and foremost, and then maybe some tiers beyond that? So these are some of the things I ask in the beginning when I’m meeting with someone to help them narrow their focus or design their brand.
Julie Bonner:
You might have heard of buyer persona. I won’t go too deep into this, but this is like, if your ideal customer, and I’m just going to use, for example like, the flashcards or something like that, the people that seem to really buy the flashcards are teachers, moms, grandmas, and … So there’s all these things that kind of go with that.
But understanding kind of who that is, and so, when I’m creating messaging on my website or newsletters, making it relevant to those people that care the most.
Julie Bonner:
This one, we can skip that. This is thinking about how are you different. So, there is a few of you with Tierra Antigua. How are you yourself unique within Tierra Antigua? Maybe it’s connecting to a cause that you really believe in, giving back in a certain way.
Maybe that’s part of your brand, maybe that’s what you want to feature on your website. I know Tony Ray is going to talk about websites later. And this is it, how are you different?
Julie Bonner:
And then, where does your audience spend time? And I saw on the sheet, there’s things about the different social media places and all that. So, for example, the flashcards, Facebook and Instagram, but for a tech company I work with, I’m on Twitter a lot, and also LinkedIn.
So, B2B. So it really depends on who are you trying to reach.
Julie Bonner:
All right, here’s some tools. Business cards. These are my business cards, with images of the paintings on the back. And it’s fun. So, you might have heard of Moo. You can do different backgrounds on your cards, so it’s really fun.
So just one card with the same back. I don’t know how many you can do up to, but I have 26 different animals, so I have 26 different backs on those business cards. So that’s an idea.
So whether it’s, you really like desert flowers, or you want to just show Tucson images on the back of your cards, or you work downtown and you want to show cool city, urban images, that’s something you can think of, you can have a mini portfolio right in your business card, right in your pocket.
Julie Bonner:
Obviously, email. I’m sure you probably have email signatures. That’s always a great way for branding. Remembering to have your photo down there, and connecting to all your social media links. And your website, you guys will talk more about that.
And that’s my Aunt Knuckle’s dog, Jessie, that I painted. She’s really cute. But notice, I’m keeping things consistent. So, my logo’s on everything. Same color palette, it’s kind of whimsical. And keeping that consistent throughout everything.
Julie Bonner:
Rack cards. I think I see even the Pet Partners, I see their rack cards over there. Yeah. So, rack cards are a really good tool. They’re basically four by nine. They fit in a number 10 envelope, and they easily fit in a brochure stand.
They’re great tools. They’re affordable to print. For example, the ones I’m showing here, this is like graphic design speak. Now, my background’s in design. There’s no bleeds, so these are really cheap.
The color is not going off to the end, and they’re front and back. These are a really affordable way to put a little more information for your clients or potential customers, instead of just a business card.
So instead of trying to … You can’t put that much on a business cards. So those are rack cards. They’re a really helpful tool.
Tony Ray:
Julie, can I stop you right there for a second?
Julie Bonner:
Yeah.
Tony Ray:
So, rack cards, I never could figure out how to use rack cards for our business, but I’ve changed my mind recently, because one of the things I keep noticing that in systems, Darren, my partner, goes out and shows property all the time, and the more I disconnect from being around buyers and sellers, the more information that gets lost. Does that make sense?
Tony Ray:
Because I’m used to selling them the same thing over and over, because I did it for 20 years before Darren started with me. Now, all of a sudden, I’m trying to separate some of the things we do.
So he’s showing property, and now I’m missing things. So I just started thinking how important these rack cards are, to be in a presentation or something we give out to every single client, that says the things I want them to know every single time.
Tony Ray:
So if you haven’t considered rack cards, you might bring that back into your repertoire, because we’re probably going to start using those, and video, two different things, so we’ll have both.
But to show people, hey, these are the things you might want to know about us. These are our reviews. This is our mission statement. This is whatever you want to do. But those rack cards I think are coming back. Would you say?
Julie Bonner:
Yes, I think so. And for example, these, I give them to the retailers that are selling my products. So, say they’re in a gift shop in Phoenix, I’m not in Phoenix, so they’re near them, and I try to do the front actually about the flashcards, and then the back is about the artist.
Because a lot of the shops I’m in are really proud to feature local artists. And so, that’s why there’s a bout on the back.
Julie Bonner:
But, yeah, think about the main things. Even think about what do you get asked most often, or what are you unique, what makes you unique as far as being a realtor. Yeah, I think they’re a really good tool, and they’re super affordable as far as printing.
Julie Bonner:
This is a catalog. I don’t think it really applies that much, but it’s just another tool for me. I show all my products in there, and the retailers want to see that and see my prices. But it looks the same as everything else.
Julie Bonner:
And then, newsletter. I think you had already had the class about newsletters. And this just shows that, I think this is from Tucson Festival of Books, and there’s a team of some of my friends helping. And same thing, just kind of showing how everything looks consistent.
Julie Bonner:
Advertisements. You guys know that many places want your money to advertise with, so it’s really being strategic and lining up with causes you believe in. I know, for example, another friend of mine is a realtor, and she helps out at the Tucson CSA.
And so, she spent time and a little money doing a tote bag, where it’s like the CSA’s branded on one side, and then her realty business is on the other side. So thinking of clever ways to advertise besides just maybe an ad in a magazine, which is okay, but I don’t know, thinking out of the box sometimes on that stuff.
Julie Bonner:
This sounds old school, but it was one of my greeting cards, and I don’t know about you, but I love when I actually get a real card from someone, or like a real note, and that sort of thing.
So like, personal customer service, besides just like a quick email, a nice note like that to follow up with people, or even saying, “I hope you’re enjoying your new home. Think of me if any of your friends need a place.”
And then, it’s also showing you’re supporting local artists at the same time.
Julie Bonner:
Gifts. This was Tom’s. I need some newer pictures, but another collaboration. So, Tom had reached out to me on this one, and it’s a little desktop calendar. And his contact information is under there, and then my information’s on there too. So you can collaborate to kind of promote whoever you’re partnering with.
Julie Bonner:
And then, this section’s a little bit about if you ever need help, this is kind of a process of working with a designer, someone that can help you with anything. And I’m sure, I know some of you get templates or support with whoever you’re with, but if you want to do anything more personal, or you have a specific project, these are some recommendations.
One thing, when you’re meeting with the person, it’s kind of like, it’s hard sometimes, you get asked, like, how much is a brochure? It’s almost like, hey, you need a new space. Is it 154 square feet, or is it 12,000 square feet?
Julie Bonner:
So I’m referencing back to, it’s really good to meet with the person, and sit down, and the right person will ask a lot of questions in the beginning. So talking about, are you talking about like a tri-fold brochure, do you already have the content written or do you need help with that? Do you need help with photography? So, asking all those questions in the beginning so that your expert can help you create your thing.
Julie Bonner:
Also thinking about deadlines. So, if there’s a event coming up, you need something with, talking to that marketing or design person ahead of time, and trying to build back so they can get it done on time for you.
And remembering that takes time to print, if you had something printed.
Julie Bonner:
This is just the process with design. So, design tends to be even more steps than you realize. So, you’re doing research, then you have strategy, then you do the design, and then you figure out how to roll that out, and then how to keep things consistent over time.
After I meet with a client, if it’s a huge project, you write a creative brief, and it’s basically a summary back of what we talked about and where we’re going to go.
Julie Bonner:
And then, this is just fun. This is from years ago, but I like to draw, so I tend to draw things first ahead of time, and then refine from there, and then get into color, and narrow it down.
And then finally, through revisions and through working with the people, getting the thing exactly how they want it. And then, approved. So that’s the win-win. And I think communication in these processes is just super important.
So just communicating along the way will help make it efficient and get exactly what you want when it’s all over with.
Julie Bonner:
All right, here’s the fun part. I’m super visual. Here’s some before and afters of different brands that I’ve worked with these people. And so, the first one is Jim Henley. He’s a really nice man. He’s a financial adviser.
This was his logo before. He wanted to play off his Irish heritage. And then, this is some of his stuff after. So you’ll see, here’s his business card, and this is this booklet. The inside is pretty boring, it’s all the financial jargon that I think you have to give your customers. But then, here’s his stationery too.
Julie Bonner:
And so, I still kept it with the Irish background, but I used the J in his name to repeat, to make that shamrock looking thing. There’s still the green colors, but it’s a little more sophisticated palette.
And then, what’s great is now he has these tools as he reaches out to customers, and he can follow up and send the note on his letter head. So that’s one example.
Julie Bonner:
Custom Quarters does paint. They did painting for exterior and interior homes. This was the logo before. This is the logo after. And so, the first one, there was a fleur-de-lis, but it didn’t really speak about what they were doing.
The second one really played off that they paint homes in and out, and this was really fun to do.
Julie Bonner:
And then, this looks crazy. So, I was given this, and the person that needed help, he was developing a PowerPoint presentation, and this was what he gave me. And I said, “Hey, do you mind if I call? I need some explanation to figure out where you’re going with this.”
And so, we talked on the phone, and I realized he’s trying to show how these things that he offers connects, and this is what I ended up helping him with. So, taking those little pills and making obvious of the things that he offers. And so, now he has just a clear picture to tell his customers.
Julie Bonner:
And there’s one other one too. This was what he was offering. And just through some design, and some planning and layout, this is the new option. And I think that’s … Oh, and I have one other one. This was one of my favorite projects, and this came out.
You know, I told you about the branding of people realizing I did graphic design, but maybe didn’t realize I did the fine art. Because I was at Festival of Books selling the flashcards, a woman that makes this granola walked by. Her name’s Linda.
She hand bakes this amazing granola. She loved my illustrations, and so then asked me to help her with her project.
Julie Bonner:
And so, it was a re-brand and package design for this granola. So, still, you’ll see that logo is pretty close, doing some tweaking, and I took the nest, I made it a little more simplified. But definitely, the packaging is different.
So, I painted this prickly pear as a separate image, and it’s actually, the real image is about this big, and then painted the background. And then, that’s the revised logo, then designed this.
And so, she has three sizes of this bag, and also, now she’s got about six flavors that I’ve done for her, and she’s selling her stuff at Whole Foods and farmer’s market, and this was super fun, because I got to do something under my Julie Originals brand, with the painting and the design.
Julie Bonner:
And, let’s see here. Here’s some final tips for your brands, as you’re thinking about yourself. And Tony Ray brought it up, is being authentic. So, he mentioned mindfulness and attracting. When you’re authentic, you’re attracting other authentic people, and I think that’s so true.
So, connecting with, like I was saying, the causes that you believe in, the things that make you who you are, that’s really what’s going to connect with your potential customers or clients.
Julie Bonner:
And remembering, here’s something else, that clients and customers are always thinking about what’s in it for me. So, you have to flip it and think, well, what do they really care about? As a realtor, like, that I communicate well, that I follow up, that I’m trustworthy, that I’m confident, that I’m an expert in this market? And so, remembering that.
Julie Bonner:
And I put attracting new customers. So, networking, like, you can just come to this. Hopefully, some of you talked to each other and got to know some other people. Or, this is just different things that I’ve gone to in the past, Local First Arizona, Startup Tucson.
Thinking about how you can go to where your potential customers are. If you’re really being specific, for example, military. I don’t know, for my flashcards, my mom’s group. I was at a mom’s group, they all knew me. So, just going to where they’re going to be, that’s a really good idea.
Julie Bonner:
And then, here’s a last little quote, that your clients are your present, and your marketing is your future, by Ilise Benun. And then, here is my contact information. Feel free, and actually, it’s on that sheet also.
Feel free to reach out to me, email, call, and I’m online too, on Twitter. So, I would like to take any questions, and I’ll breathe now. Okay. Does anyone have any questions? Yeah.
Speaker 8:
Where did you get your business cards made?
Julie Bonner:
Oh, the ones I showed? It’s called moo.com, M-O-O.com.
Speaker 8:
That’s nice.
Julie Bonner:
Oh, yeah, it’s a great, great resource, and I’ve used them quite a few years. And then I also have a lot of local printers that I work with too for other projects, like the rack cards, or actually, my greeting cards are printed here locally at West Press, so-
Tony Ray:
So, Julie, one of the things that’s interesting is when we’re starting out brand new, it can be very expensive to do, this gets overwhelming to somebody new. But to the consumer, you can create an impression, a good one or a bad one very quickly, with the right or wrong materials. So, the simplicity of the right business card, the right thank you notes, and the right letterhead can change everything for you and the way people perceive you in business.
Tony Ray:
They could come to you and actually get the help with a design to start, which is what I would recommend if that’s an issue financially. Start with the idea, the look and the design, then have the creative talent of Julie to help you create. Because you could then go, and you only have to buy 50 business cards from moo.com, if you just want 50 business cards to get started, right?
Tony Ray:
Then, you could also buy a very small packet from moo.com of letterhead stationery, and you could use a company like TouchNote or SendOutCards, and have your logo and design there, and only buy one at a time when you need them, until you get to that point where you can now start affording to buy the materials in quantity.
But there’s no reason to stop you now. You should be getting this done. Does that work?
Julie Bonner:
Yup, I think that’s great. And those are the work up front, kind of narrowing down maybe how you want to be represented visually and online. That’s the part that takes a little talking with, and questions, and answers, and building that kind of that strategy, and then the initial design.
But once your new logo is designed, you’re going to be using it everywhere, and that’s the goal for me, is when I’m helping someone.
Julie Bonner:
I’ve been using this logo all along a long time, and that’s the goal, is you want to create something that’s long lasting, that’s consistent, that you’re proud to put on everything you every send out. Yeah, that’s a good point.
Tony Ray:
Yeah, it took 10, maybe, I think it was 10 years, maybe 12 years before I even figured out branding, and it started with an iguana.
Julie Bonner:
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Tony Ray:
Who was my muse, who popped in, and the universe, there was an open door that just popped in on opportunity, and it happened. And then, all of a sudden, it became a business model.
And I didn’t realize it, but it was amazing how it transformed me to be even more authentic than I thought I had already been. So it was pretty cool. But that became part of my branding.
Tony Ray:
You know, a lot of people don’t know my name. I know it’s hard to believe. They know me, there’s that guy with the iguana on his head. Yeah, that’s what’s interesting. So it became a talking trigger. In marketing, it’s called talking triggers, which we all would hope to have one. But that’s became my talking trigger. And that what’s started that brand for me.
Julie Bonner:
Yeah. And this is such a diverse crowd as far as how long everyone’s been a realtor, and I think number one, if you’ve had a brand, bless you, if you’ve had a brand for a long time, that’s okay, and if you love it, that’s good, and maybe some different marketing things popped in your head.
But if you feel like, my things looking a little outdated, that’s why I was showing you some of the re-brands and stuff too, that there was a solid concept there originally. It just needed some updating. And so, that’s okay too. So it’s kind of wherever you need help to do that. Well, thank you so much.
Tony Ray:
Thank you. Thanks, darling.
Julie Bonner:
[inaudible 00:45:58]
Tony Ray:
[inaudible 00:45:58] I’m going to get you un-miced, and I’ll take that from you.
Tony Ray:
So, we’re going to take a break, and the materials, if you didn’t get to see these, by the way, she kind of went fast over this, which she was very humble about it, but you can buy these. And I have to tell you, if you have clients with kids, these are amazing.
They will love, love them, yes? She can’t buy them. So, adults read them too.
Tony Ray:
I’m just thinking, one of the cool things, you were talking about co-branding, and I’m just thinking how cool it would be. Pet Partners does a literacy program where the kids get to read to the animals.
This could be a really fun component. Yeah, right? That just popped in my head, is that this could be a fun component for children with the animals, to learn ABCs, and the younger ones, that’d be really cool. So we need to chat about that later. Okay.
