First impressions count, and online you have about 8 seconds to make a good first impression. Successful real estate agents understand that crafting and curating a personal brand online is critical to their success. Buyers and sellers will choose or eliminate an agent based on their bio, or lack of bio.

More than ever consumers aren't just shopping for their "perfect home" online, they are also shopping for their "perfect agent" to work with. Your bio is both your personal brand statement as well as your resume. It is your opportunity to make a connection with potential customers and to give them a reason to choose you as their agent.

Think about this - if you saw a home listed online with no photo and no description, just an address, would you call on that listing or would you immediately move on to the next listing with professionally staged photos and a strong description of the home that espoused not only the features but the benefits of the home? Here's what today's consumers are doing: one glance at the no photo / no description listing and they are outta there!

Now - consider this:

• • YOU are the listing

  • YOUR HEADSHOT = listing photos

  • YOUR BIO = the property description

Just as real estate listings are entered in the MLS and syndicated across the Internet, your agent bio shows up in a number of channels online:

• • your agent website

  • social media including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram

  • A well-crafted bio can amplify your personal brand across all the different channels, increasing your opportunities to connect with potential customers, and a poor or non-existent bio will give your competition the advantage every time.

  • real estate portals such as realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, and others

1. Take a moment to pull up your bio on your Bean Group agent website (you can find it in the About Me section) and ask yourself these questions:

• Is your bio current?

• Do you have experience that you can add to your bio?

• Does it accurately reflect how you want your personal brand to be represented?

• Does it accurately reflect the "Bean Group" brand?

• Is your contact information up to date?

• Are your social media profiles displayed (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram)?

• Would you hire you?

2. Review Bean Group's Agent Biography Guidelines (see below)

3. Revise & publish your agent bio

Take some time to present yourself in your best light. Feel free to use Bean Group’s Agent Biography Guidelines below as a template for your bio. Once your bio is complete (don’t forget to use a spelling/typo/grammar checker!), save it to your Bean Group agent website.

If you need help or additional guidance, feel free to reach out to BG's Marketing Department at marketing@beangroup.com and we’ll help you make your bio shine online.