What's In A(n) Appraisal Business's) Name? Or Logo? Or Business Card?

[ICT RE]

Unless I strike out on the national exam, I should be knighted by the end of the year, as I finalize the winding and longer than expected journey towards my CR (under the prior experience and education regime, plus some). Good grief... what a baptism by fire its been to ultimately find at the tunnel that the federal qualifying requirements have been drastically dumbed-down, and a huge influx of market participants will enter the pool at just the exact point in time when you thought some ROI might be coming your way. That is another conversation that I'm sure is already a dead horse in other areas of the forum.

Anyways, I am starting in on the due diligence process of hanging my own shingle - mostly obvious stuff like MLS and Realtor memberships, E&O insurance, software provider, and so forth. It's somewhat shocking the dollar outlay of all of this combined in the next couple of months, but a business start-up isn't free I suppose. One other start-up step that sure seems to be ignored by many, for whatever reason, but that I plan to undertake is in the realm of real consideration given to business name and associated logo/business card/whatnot. I just have a couple of simple questions to you vets (or not) in that regard:

• Is your business name related to your own personal name, or something unrelated to your name (like most businesses)? Do you find value in one approach over the other? Having the business name linked to your person is great for identification in the market, but doesn't really separate from the pack, at least from my perspective.

• Did you either on your own, or via a hired-out pro subcontractor, develop a professional-level logo/script/business card?

My questions are simply because I am in the midst of these considerations, and wanted the pulse of some of you who have been around the block a time or two.

On the business name I can see either approach as valid and with merit. I've always leaned towards a name not associate with my person (have always had a few ideas in my back pocket) but I've spoke with some that really believe with a one man show business operation that you need to have a direct link between your personal name and your business name.

On the logo side I can't see a downside to having something put together logo/script/business card wise by a creative professional. I'm lucky in that I have a nationally-prominent firm that operates in this realm in my town, and one of their employees is in my social circle. He's going to put something together for me for a few hundred dollars, which seems like money well spent. I know such things won't help with the dreaded AMC work I will probably have to deal with at some proportion, but while trying to secure long-term good clients like direct local banks/CU's, lawyers, CPA's, and such the presentation of a fully professional front in personal appearance, communication, and business image seems to make this investment a no-brainer. A nice business card, some embroidered clothing, and a resume or curriculum vitae with a related letterhead, all cohesively combined puts forth a pretty slick look. At least from my perspective, but I've never started a business before.

Any thoughts, other than "silly trainee, get off my lawn!" LOL!

 

[KHS445]

From the standpoint of a name, what kind of image are you trying to project and who is your target audience? If you are in a large metropolitan area and are looking to attract a national clientele and appear to be a larger company than you are, then some sort of service area or regional identifier sort of name is probably best. If you are in a smaller market where you are going to concentrate on local clients and an occasional national firm than something reflecting your name is what I would go with.

In my case I work with a group of appraisers and our name identifies our community. It reflects that we are local and also indicates a portion of our service area. Because we are all independent contractors the majority of our customers make direct contact with the particular appraiser they want to use. A very small percentage of our work comes to the businesses general inbox. But then again because of years of working together our local clients know us and what we are capable of.

A logo would be your call. Will it be a service area identifier or will it be used primarily for marketing? I like having a personal name on the marketing swag and found the best place to distribute it is at your popular local restaurants. Put you name on pens and hand them out by the handful to the waitresses. Waitresses are always looking for working pens and many of their customers use charge cards so each pen gets seen by multiple people a day. Granted many people eating in a restaurant are local, but you also get a number of visitors and people moving to the area. Everyone needs an appraiser whether it be for estate purposes, listing, selling, buying, property tax, etc. You never know when someone will use your pen and say I need to give this person a call. One word of advice DO NOT BUY THE CHEAPEST PENS YOU CAN FIND. Spend the extra money and get a decent pen (better than your basic Bic), something people will notice. Also use an odd color like hot pink, purple, neon, etc.

Good Luck.

 

[DTB]

If you are targeting the CPAs, Lawyers etc, a simple design similar to theirs is a good place to start. (w/o the scales of course)

Ditch the embroidered polo (you aren't trying to be their pool service) and wear business casual. You are the right track to keep a cohesive presence. Repetition, repetition, repetition.

Good luck

 

[TRESinc]

Good grief... what a baptism by fire its been to ultimately find at the tunnel that the federal qualifying requirements have been drastically dumbed-down, and a huge influx of market participants will enter the pool at just the exact point in time when you thought some ROI might be coming your way.

i don't think you have anything to worry about. even if someone decided to start on the path of being an appriaser the day the requirements were reduced they still won;t be eligible for the test for another 6 months, and once passed most still need to acquire 3-5 years of experience not only to be able to apply to panels but to get a grasp pn what one is doing. now factor in the cost of startup, which you are becoming familiar with, and the general state of residential lending work declining and you should be ok not many will choose this path.

using your name or not is a personal decision. i chose not to include my name in my company but many do. i don;t think there is any real benefit to either side, it;s just a personal preference thing.

i do think there is value in a well designed logo and quality business cards. the $10 special from places like vistaprint will get you by but we have all seen quality, and not so quality, business cards. which one did you like better?

 

[Michigan CG]

My company name has my location in it. If you google my county and "appraiser" my company pops up. I get a lot of private work because people perceive me as being local to the community.

I don't have a logo. My company name is typed in what I think is a good font along with my license level, designation and the types of properties I appraise. My business cards and letterhead have basically the same stuff on them and the local printer prints me about 500 cards every few years.

When you go out on your own you will have a license that is very new. Is there a reason to leave the people who trained you? Getting private work can be very challenging. One thing to consider is that you most likely have been trained by one person, one way and it might be beneficial to see what other people do. If you feel you need to make more $$ once certified have you ever thought of asking your mentor for more $$ after getting the CR? Have you thought about going to another experienced appraiser and offering them your services? It is going to be very hard to get work on your own without at least three years of having that CR license.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

The obvious was in my name. As an ag appraiser I don't wear business casual and had some shirts embroidered. Perhaps mere vanity, it does help ID you to those you meet.

 

[Overimprovement]

The obvious was in my name. As an ag appraiser I don't wear business casual and had some shirts embroidered. Perhaps mere vanity, it does help ID you to those you meet.

View attachment 37605

They got some funny looking cows there in Arkansas...

 

[bnmappraisal]

• Is your business name related to your own personal name

Yes, my initials

I haven't found it to be of any disadvantage nor ever had complaints, so I guess it's working

Personally I don't know if a "clever" name is that helpful in this field. After all, we're "just appraisers" and there's less than 100,000 (many say less than 80,000) of us in the whole country.

 

[bnmappraisal]

If you are targeting the CPAs, Lawyers etc, a simple design similar to theirs is a good place to start. (w/o the scales of course)

Ditch the embroidered polo (you aren't trying to be their pool service) and wear business casual. You are the right track to keep a cohesive presence. Repetition, repetition, repetition.

Good luck

A very highly respected appraiser friend of mine mentioned something similar to this to me recently. We were talking about business cards. I mentioned how I have my pic on mine. He asked Why? You're a professional. Do doctors, lawyers, CPA's have their pics on their cards? ... just food for thought

Personally, I plan on keeping my face on there until I don't look that way anymore. But probably/most likely will leave it off when I market more toward lawyers.
So far my private/non lending has been with homeowners and agents. I think they like to see my smiling face

 

[DTB]

A very highly respected appraiser friend of mine mentioned something similar to this to me recently. We were talking about business cards. I mentioned how I have my pic on mine. He asked Why? You're a professional. Do doctors, lawyers, CPA's have their pics on their cards? ... just food for thought

Personally, I plan on keeping my face on there until I don't look that way anymore. But probably/most likely will leave it off when I market more toward lawyers.
So far my private/non lending has been with homeowners and agents. I think they like to see my smiling face

I used to think that too, until my wife told me the truth.


GO BEARS!!!!