Few months ago, I asked “What Makes an Agent Good?” and triggered a bit of a conversation. I was after an objective standard of quality by which a particular real estate agent can be measured, but ended up in a discussion (which is still ongoing one way or another) about professionalism, understanding technology, perspectives, and … Read more
In part 1, I argued that we are living through a “post-middle” era as far as marketing is concerned, where consumers can be divided into either Thrift-minded, or Aspirational. Then in part 2, I examined some ideas for how realtors might think about marketing homes for sale given that consumers are either driven by price … Read more
Brian Boero of 1000watt recounts a dinner conversation and throws down some challenging questions and assertions: This particular debate centered on the following question: “Have we reached the end of the real estate story now that FSBOs and discounting have lost their menace?” As Brian puts it, there were two camps, comprised of him in … Read more
In part 1, I started to talk about marketing in a consumer environment when the middle is disappearing. My basic hyopthesis is that the American consumer today operates in one of two modes: Thrift and Aspiration. Thrift mode means a focus on price above all; Aspiration means a focus on luxury, lifestyle, or something more … Read more
Thanks to Brandie Young‘s wonderful post, I found David Amano’s thought-provoking post on “Marketing in a Post-Consumer Era”. It’s worth reading in full. Actually, they’re both worth reading in full. I couldn’t help immediately reacting, however, with skepticism. Perhaps it’s because the last time we were in a recession, we heard the same thing: conspicuous … Read more
Last night’s Lucky Strike Social Media Club (LSSMC) dinner featured a presentation by Phil Thomas DiGiulio (@holaphil) of Wellcomemat on “Video and Social Media”. I thought it was an interesting topic in and of itself, and am grateful to Phil for coming by to have the conversation with us. During the dinner — as is … Read more
I had a roommate in college who was an architecture major as an undergrad. He was such an insufferable snob — for example, in the entire year we lived together, he never watched any movie that wasn’t by Fellini — that my view of architecture and architects may have been unfairly colored. Thankfully, I recently … Read more
Just caught Coldwell Banker’s new campaign on TV while watching some animated movie with the kids. Here it is: Wow, what an improvement over the misguided Talking Heads campaign: I do think CB should have stressed the 103-years of experience thing just a bit more. Talked about how they’ve seen ups and downs, and helped … Read more
The second post ever on Notorious R.O.B. was entitled, “More Silliness from Real Estate Connect” and contained this passage: The Real Estate industry has gone tech-crazy. Here’s a wakeup call: all that technology does is make your existing processes more efficient. If what you do is crap, it makes crap more efficient. If what you … Read more