I come from the old school of marketing...where branding and consistency is extremely important...familiarity is the point of the consistency...I wonder does that include avatars?
A few days ago...someone said to me...that maybe I should change my avatar..its been a year and I admit..I look very different...all it took was the hair to grow and for me to get a deep tan.
When I think of marketing...
I believe in consistency...I believe in familiarity...and so does the consumer...
Plain and simple its called branding..like McDonalds or even CENTURY 21.
Just wondering
How frequently do you change your avatar and do you view your avatar as marketing and branding?
Oh boy, now to get the computer scientist to help me...almost like a professional photo shoot! :)
About The Author: Midori Miller is a Real Estate Trainer and writes and trains Real Estate Training and assists sellers in short sale situations. Midori is a Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker , License # BK645709 and a member of the Daytona Area Association of REALTORS. Contact midorimiller@yahoo.com or (386)453-3236.
My 2 cents would be to change annually... regarding branding, it's interesting that people naturally think of me as a horse and Cowboy person. Which came first?? ;-) It goes to show, again, that following your passion is where it's at. ;-)
It's funny to me to meet a fellow agent who looks NOTHING like their picture!
I think once a year would be suffiencent maybe longer.
Patricia
Midori - as you may have noticed (or not) I change mine quite a bit! Not saying it is the right thing to do but I always have radical changes where people just wouldn't recognize me! I think what did it for me was years ago I met some out of town buyers in their hotel lobby to look at homes. They really got on me and said that my pic looked like I sat at home on Friday nights and knitted - so far from me! Ever since then I change it to keep up.....
I think about once a year but don't hold on over two for sure.
Midori - I agree but find that some things are hard to change! I'm gonna set a goal of doing this very soon!
Susie-when I see you I think cowboy...I think movie star...country music and beautiful pictures! :)
Bob-yes it happens everyday doesn't it!
Patricia-I have changed my avatar more...than any marketing that I have ever done!
Lisa-I love your avatars and they are consistent...and I can tell its you...one day I went out of the house without makeup and gave someone my business card...and they asked is that you? Your hair is longer and you look younger in person! I fell in love... LOL
James-I remember when I did print marketing...I rarely changed my photo on my marketing...online marketing has changed that! :)
Lisa-I can relate I have to get pumped for this...the computer scientist thinks I am a super model or something! :)
Midori, if your look changes considerably, it should be changed. I use my photo and people who meet me for the first time are usually surprised that I "look just like my picture"!
I am in the process of revamping my radio show them from Star Trek to a more patriotic theme. It has been a year.
I agree with Silvia, if your looks change dramatically, you should change your avatar, Midori. If that's once a year or longer, that's up to you. So many people use photos that look nothing like them when you see them in person.
You have to stay fresh! Leesa's is kind of edgy and those are the things I like. I hope your not disappointed if I say your pic looks old. Too edgy and you look like a punk freak, nice realtor that knows social media & is an expert to boot kind of pic.
Silvia-I change my hair color a lot so I may look a little different..a month from now! :)
Harry-LOL
Heather-I resemble myself always but look different...does that make sense? When I look at my photo I can't believe I actually cut my hair that short.
Lyn-LOL...LOL...LOL... I am not disappointed at all..I compare my real life personality vs. my avatar and it seems they do not match...so I am not disappointed at all...more along the lines..I'm agreeing with you!
I think I should put my pony tail look up :) I do wear my hair up a lot but then again...I look the same anyway.
We men are very boring as we hardly ever change anything....hair (unless we lose it), clothes, weight ??, etc. So mine stays for awhile until I get grayer.....good question.
I changed mine about a year ago and Richard W. said he almost passed me by for a comment because he didn't know me. I'm thinking that I am going to stick with what I have for now.
Midori --- OK -- you have introduced me to something new -- at least a new word --- avatar -- I went back to several posts that you recommended and read them -- I have read the comments here -- Then, I went to the dictionary and I gather from all of this is that Avatar means a photo of your personality --- did I get this correct? Thank you, Midori for teaching me something new today.
Midori -- I assume that you are a breast cancer survivor -- seems like you told me this before -- excuse me, I'm getting old and don't remember like I used to (ha,ha).
Please tak a look at a recent post that I wrote: Motivational Monday -- I'm just trying to get out a message. Thanks.
Hi Midori, I think you should change it definitely if your look changes drastically...you want to be recognizable from your picture. But I also think consistency is important as well--for instance I use the same profile picture on all my websites, social media and blogs (well except for facebook to keep things interesting there). Maybe once a year is a good change.
Have a great day,
Anne Rains
I change mine when the mood stricks. I think you should try and look like yourself so if you've change a lot then I say go ahead and change it.
Midori - I have never changed mine. As you can see by my picture, I had glamour shots work all day on it, and this is as good as it gets. Just kidding. I haven't changed mine in a couple of years, but i still look the same.
I changed mine right after NAR... before that I think I had about three in the last year or so...
I change mine whenever I get bored with it. And I've placed several different ones in my tri-fold brochure. That way there are no surprises, and I show some variety. I think that actually works to my advantage. Besides, since I ordered so many business cards with my last haircut (which has been different for over a year) and I'm not going to order more until these are all used, I think the brochure and my avatars are good ways to show some variety... AND, since everyone who meets me says I look better in person, (you included =P) I'm hoping this helps. =)
25 more pounds and MORE change...after losing 100 I shoulda coulda but face is changing...fewer chins, less cheeks...I love it....till then.....same old same old...or maybe fruit....not so much in the north country have to do snowballs !
I alsothink pics should be changed. I see lots of agents that look NOTHING like there photos. They use there best photo from 5 years ago and was 20 LBS lighter.
Midori-
I change mine up every so often just to keep folks interested, but always use a recent photo.
Nothing better than having someone recognize me in pubic or a new client say "you look just like you do on the internet!)