The Birth of the Bowtie Realtor
How Stephen Burchard, the Bowtie Realtor, became a Desert Real Estate Expert.
Well, hopefully you know how I got into this business, but now you wonder “where’d the bowtie realtor start and why a bowtie”
Well, let me tell you another story about the birth of the bowtie realtor brand.
Back in 2016, after getting back into active real estate in the Greater Palm Springs region, I was starting the creative work on Branding myself.
I needed a strong Brand ID and I wanted it to be more then STEPHEN BURCHARD Real Estate. I wanted something that would click, be catchy and encapsulate my vision and values.
That is no small feat as you can imagine.
I loved dressing up a tad for my work with clients and in the industry. Professionals out here tend to dress REAL business casual. I’ve always love dressing nice and being stylish. How could I do that without being too stuffy or burn up in the desert heat?
Conundrum #2
At this time I was usually wearing a nice pair of slacks and a dressy polo. It was just okay. It wasn’t me, but I was committed to finding my style.
A buddy of mine showed up at a meeting wearing a bowtie that looked stunning against his very nerdy features and mannerisms.
Hmmmmmmmm, I think I like that!
I thought, with my nerdy glasses, mannerisms and IT background, the nerd look would be epic. I loved the idea and immediately set about looking for bowties on a budget.
Luckily, Burlington, Ross and TJ Max had a few self-tie bowties, so I felt I had hit pay dirt. Yay! Several years later I discovered a crap ton of bowties on Amazon – go figure!
Now, learning how to tie a bowtie is no small feat. At first it wan’t NOT easy at all. It took many tries, iterations, and watching YouTube vids to finally have it click for me. It’s the same knot as tying my shoes, just on my neck.
I was so proud of myself I created my own “how to tie a bowtie” vid. Don’t believe me still? Well, let me show you.
Wearing this outfit most of the year was a breeze. Dress shirt, slacks, jacket and my bowtie. I started to make a statement in my circles since I was dressing up so nice. It’s dressy, but not too much thanks to the bowtie. Also, people usually smile and comment when they see a bowtie. It’s awesome!
Now that covers about 8 months in the desert. There are still about 4 months when slacks and a jacket are way too much clothing due to the heat. I found dressy shorts and short sleeves so I could wear this dressy combo year round. Double awesomeness.
So, now I had the look, but how can I create a tagline that was part of my brand. I had come up with my logo that included the bowtie, but I wasn’t referencing the bowtie in my marketing messages.
How can they be tied together to make it a complete package?
Well, at that time, I worked for HomeSmart. I was borrowing HomeSmart’s catchy tagline, “making real estate fun & easy.”
I liked it but it still wasn’t mine and, more importantly, it didn’t tie in the bowtie, (pardon the pun).
"The best investment on earth is earth"
About the same time I was adopting the bowtie into my work attire, I attended a course on Commercial Real Estate. I was there with about 20 other Real Estate professionals.
The instructor had a tagline-ish slogan as part of his listing presentation, “I’ll sell your property for the most amount of money possible, in the least amount of time with the least amount of hassle.” Something like that anyway.
I was speaking with one of my classmate and inquiring with him about how to marry HomeSmart’s tagline with my bowtie. He looked at me with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes while he simply state, “dude, that’s easy, you take the knots out of real estate”. Ta daaaaaa!
The heavens parted and white angelic light streamed down upon us as I smiled with him.
Well, no, it didn’t really happen that way, but it sure felt like it.
My tagline was finally born, I’m STEPHEN BURCHARD, The Desert Bowtie Realtor, Taking the (k)nots out of Real Estate.
I loved it and better yet, it caught on like wildfire. People remember both the bowtie and the tagline, when they think of me. Branding mission accomplished. It was all tied together…
Ha ha, I did it again.
I learned that branding is an iterative journey and an evolution. It isn’t a destination that is fixed. It’s a process that is hopefully evolving over time. It took me the better part of 6-12 months from adopting the bowtie into my attire, to the birth of my tagline.
This process caused me to fully embrace that some of the best ideas are born from a collaboration. From my buddy wearing the bowtie that morning and my colleague pointing out that I take the knots out of real estate, it was all prompted in collaboration with others, whether on purpose or not, it was a collaboration.
Bottom line? I need others in order to succeed and to exceed expectations. And the bowtie? Well, it’s become ubiquitous with Stephen Burchard Real Estate, my brand and my mission and values.
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