One of the biggest challenges to an independent real estate company is creating a unique company image that reflects your service area and the type of business in which you specialize. Ideally, that image shoud be part of your entire marketing strategy, including print and Web marketing and even in the way your office is decorated
We started a company on Madeline Island, in La Pointe, Wisconsin (just off the south shore of Lake Superior) in 2001. Madeline Island is a recreational/second home community that is popular with summer residents and tourists from all over the country, especially the Midwest. The Island is also home to over two hundred year-round residents who live and work there.
[Note red arrow: Location of Madeline Island Realty waterfront office in La Pointe, Wisconsin]
Our first goal was to create an image that speaks to the public about recreation. We wanted to build our marketing image around nautical themes.
Our business card was the first place we chose to build a recreational real estate image. We use a stylized line art sailboat logo that is part of our business card and letterhead.
Our logo and company contact information is reversed out of a seafoam blue background.
Our Website was the next logical place to expand on the themes of recreation and waterfront living.
Our homepage banner uses a waterfront image that bleeds off the page to a deep blue background. We use banners on each page in an attempt to communicate leisure and recreation through appropriate recreational images.
Notice that employing water recreation and beachfront enjoyment as a common theme, as well as use of the color blue, ties together each banner and page.
We try to utilize the same themes in the way our Lake Superior waterfront office is decorated.
This antique ship's telegraph in our foyer was built by J.W. Ray Company of Liverpool, England. The Company outfitted the steamship Titanic. Note the brass ship's porthole on the shelf above the ship's telegraph.
We utilize the nautical decor throughout our waterfront office in La Pointe, Wisconsin.
In our La Pointe, Wisconsin real estate office, we also display in our foyer a kinetic fish sculpture by artist Guy Baldwin. The fanciful "fish" utilizes a small motor that causes fins to wave. Note the "fish eye" crafted from a motorcycle rear-view mirror!
Similar techniques could be applied to an independent brokerage in any sailing/yachting community. Likewise, in an equstrian community, themes related to horsemanship and riding could be employed. And a golf community feel could also be subtly incorporated into company branding and marketing in a similar manner.
Ducks enjoying the sunshine on the Beach Club dock in La Pointe, Wisconsin
A second home is an affordable luxury.
Discover why a vacation retreat on Lake Superior is the ultimate indulgence!
Contact Broker Eric Kodner today at 612.670.2539.
Eric Kodner is a luxury property specialist and real estate educator with a unique perspective on the Madeline Island real estate market. Madeline Island Realty is a member of the LuxuryRealEstate.com luxury properties network.
© Copyright 2007-2008 Eric Kodner & Madeline Island Realty
Contact Madeline Island Realty about Madeline Island and Twin Cities Real Estate
Call us for Information on Homes & Real Estate For Sale in Bayfield Wisconsin
Eric Kodner, CRS
Real Estate Broker in Wisconsin & Minnesota
Madeline Island Realty (La Pointe. Wisconsin)
Wayzata Lakes Realty (Minneapolis & Saint Paul, MN)
Our Listings Appear on NorthstarMLS in Wisconsin & Minnesota
Phone or Text 612.670.2539
Great concept. . .marketing a niche is all about targeting your message
Good luck
Fernando,
Thanks! Our area is a major second-home community for people from all over the United States. Our typical buyer is either a "hard core" sailor or yachtsperson, or someone who wants the uniqueness of owning an island property. So it seemed logical that we take our branding and marketing in that direction.
Eric That's some fish! I bet it's a joy to go in to the office every day when you have a view like that!
Anthony,
The artist who created the kinetic fish sculpture, Guy Baldwin, happens to be the uncle of U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin (from Madison, Wisconsin). We were privileged to have Representative Baldwin visit our office a couple of summers ago.
Guy is an old sailing buddy of mine. We love the fish sculpture!
What a spot Eric...no wonder you don't mind the drive! Any of those boats yours?
Joan, I used to keep my boat (a 26-foot Wellcraft cruiser) at the dock in the photo with the red arrow. But after I got the office up and running, it seems I never had time to use it, so it got sold!
You did a good job and the photos you posted make me want a second home on Madiline Island!
Jennifer, Glad you liked the photos! Actually, my intent was to write a post on marketing in a specialty niche (in this case, waterfront/island property) and to outline the steps we took to build a brand that would consistently reinforce that niche. But I'll settle for a compliment any day! I see you're from Arkansas..my mentor and the fellow who got me started selling real estate on Madeline Island was R.E. Waide. After he retired and sold his Madeline Island business, he moved to Hot Springs Village, where he and his wife Susan got into real estate. R.E, died recently, but I believe Susan is still selling there. So there IS a Madeline Island connection to your state!
Eric:
Of course we LOVE the Bayfield area; it's akin to ours as a rec area in the North! I just wanted to drop by to help you make your 1st 100K points, and also congratulate you in your pursuit of optimism. It is the driving force of what will keep the market humming for us, our clients, and our lucky buyers. Go forward!
-Pete
Pete, It's great to see you here!
I have added you as an Associate and also subscribed to your blog (I'd love it if you'd reciprocate). Thanks for the assistance in my quest for 100,000 points. Maybe I can redeem them for one free passage on the Madeline Island Ferry (LOL).
Stay in touch and have fun in the Rain!
Eric our whole marketing concept is lifestyle based. It really is a great way to market to second home buyers. After all they is why they are buying.
Jason & Deanna -- We've tried to build our business around recreation and the waterfront lifestyle from the beginning. It helps that our office is on the beach, too!
Hi Eric: What a great post. And finally the red arrow points to your beach-front location. I remember one beach photo that didn't quite stretch to where your office could be seen. Also, I don't remember focussing on your sailboat logo before. I like it a lot. Way cool ! Love the reverse image on the seafoam blue card.
And... I remember your Guy Baldwin kinetic fish sculpture from quite a while back. Such great pictures. Thanks so much for sharing. You are such a talented guy.
Karen Anne,
I passed the 100,000 point mark this evening! In two states!!
I owe much of that to you. You have been a mentor and a role model to me. Your praise and comments mean more to me than the points.
Glad you enjoyed this post!
Well, I suppose if you have to go to the office, that would be the one to go to. Love the nautical theme, Eric. Congratulations on passing 100,000, btw. That's no small accomplishment.
Jesse, thank you!
It's not exactly torture to spend time in our office. The beach is less than twenty yards away from our patio door. There's a restaurant next door that will deliver food and beverages (including cocktails) to our location. And we have use of a twenty-eight foot cruiser parked at our dock behind the office.
Sounds like the life of Riley to me. Drinks, good food, an office with a view and use of the boat...I don't think you could ask for more. If I wasn't planning my exit strategy I might have to think about moving your way.
How's your market doing? Our recreational market has all but sunk.
Your photos and logo certainly help sell your community and lifestyle.
Jesse -- It's a great place to spend the summer.
The recreational market in our area is slow, but buyers are out there. Early in the season, we encounter a lot of "lurkers" who look around on their own for awhile before they come into the office. As we get into midsummer, the phone usually starts to ring and our showing volume picks up.
Sam, thanks! Our intent was to tie together a variety of elements that would reinforce the idea of recreation and the second home/summer home lifestyle on Lake Superior.