RISMEDIA, Feb. 14, 2008-Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs (Wiley; February 8; Hardcover; $24.95) is available in bookstores across the U.S. and Canada and will be released in the U.K. and Singapore next month. The new book by Real Living President Kaira Sturdivant Rouda illustrates how Real Living’s brand broke through the clutter to emerge as the first real estate franchisor to identify women as the primary home purchasers and push the limit with transparency through online technology. Today, Real Living is one of the fastest-growing real estate franchisors in the U.S.
“Real You Incorporated is a nod to the power of women, especially in real estate, and the entrepreneurial spirit of our broker/owners,” said Rouda, whose company was listed as the only real estate firm on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Led Companies list (2007).
Every 60 seconds a woman starts a business. Real estate was one of the first true careers for women where they could earn as much as or more than men. Today, in real estate, women represent 59% of all Realtors® and half of all brokers are women, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The number of women owners is increasing, too. But women are not only real-estate business owners, they also make or influence 91% of all home purchase decisions. According to Real Living, they noticed this trend early on. Created in 2001, the brand was built with its target market-female consumers-in mind.
“Real Living has always been about the consumer and her needs, and we’re really changing the face of real estate,” said Rouda. “This book shows you how to run a business the right way, and uses examples of how Real Living has done this successfully. Real You Incorporated hits home with real estate agents, showing them how to integrate their personal brand with their brokerage’s brand. It’s a model for anyone who wants to be an entrepreneur.”
In Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs, Rouda, and the women she profiles in the book, reveal the secret to building a successful brand, and thus a successful business. It’s in being YOU. The real you. Also included in the book is the Real You Incorporated visualization chart. This break-through, trademarked process is at the heart of keeping the Real You in your business.
According to the company, Real You offers a bold and refreshing message: to truly get ahead, and to really resonate with your customers, your brand has to be genuine. It means being true to yourself in every part of your business-from how you promote your talents to how you interact with the people in your office and everything else in between.
Rouda’s book provides readers with a trademarked visualization Real You Incorporated chart, capturing the most essential elements of your business: you and your passions, brand, positioning, culture, customers and gifts. After your brand has been defined, by you, the author’s advice on how to use it as a competitive advantage will prove invaluable, long after you create your own.
Each chapter includes profiles of successful entrepreneurs and provides inspiration and cautionary tales for every business woman. Full of new ways to look at age-old problems-including such things as a Snark Scale- Real You Incorporated empowers you to join other women who are changing the face of business by developing an authentic and unique personal brand simply by being real.
Whether you’re just graduating, about to launch your own entrepreneurial venture, need a dose of inspiration to keep it real in the corporate world, or launching the next phase of your own business, Real You Incorporated is a must-read.
Kaira Sturdivant Rouda is a nationally recognized branding professional with more than 20 years of experience in marketing, brand building and entrepreneurship. She is currently president and co-owner of Real Living, one of the nation’s fastest-growing real estate firms, where she created and continues to manage the company’s brand and culture. She is also a newspaper columnist, a fiction writer and a frequent speaker on the topics of marketing and the power of women in business. She resides in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Harley, and their four children.
For more information, visit www.RealYouIncorporated.com or www.RealLiving.com.
