Back in April, I took part in a really fun panel discussion about social media in real estate hosted by GreenPearl, and moderated by Allie Herzog of Quinn & Co. She put up a post describing the panel, and put video footage of the panel. Here’s the first part of the video (from GreenPearl’s YouTube … Read more
In my past writings, I’ve written about the seismic shift going on in the real estate brokerage industry from the perspective of Big Brokers and Big Brands. You can find those writings here (and the parts linked there), here, here, and here. At the same time, I’ve always wanted to write the other side of … Read more
Benn Rosales (@agentgenius) is one of the smartest guys working in real estate and social media today, and as the proprietor (?? – maybe czar? emperor?) of AgentGenius, one of the best real-estate industry sites out there, he brings a great deal of credibility to everything he says. A few months ago, he and I … Read more
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
(Part 1, 2, and 3 of the Lessons from Counterinsurgency Series) Final Thoughts from Gen. Petraeus Finally, we always must strive to learn and adapt. The situation in Afghanistan has changed significantly in the past several years and it continues to evolve. This makes it incumbent on us to assess the situation continually and to … 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