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
So it turns out that in addition to ruling the world from the Skull & Bones tomb, Yalies also get involved in real estate from time to time. There’s even a group called Yale Alumni Real Estate Association (YAREA, pronounced Y-Area) that just held its annual conference. I was invited, so… I went. Since the … Read more
Matt Dollinger, of @Properties in Chicago, raised a very interesting question at the Leading RE conference that just concluded. He then raised it again over Twitter (Matt is @mattdollinger) and the discussion threatened to overwhelm the 140-char limit. It’s time for bloggery. Matt’s question was this (in essence): In 2015, with companies like Trulia, Zillow, … Read more
At the recent RE Tech South conference, I had the opportunity to meet Eric Stegemann — a self-described 25-year old going on 40 — who is the founder and CEO of a company called Tribus as well as the “Head Honcho” of River City Real Estate, a brokerage in St. Louis. Eric is really one … Read more
Unless you have been living under a rock, you’ve heard of this “social media” thing. But if pressed to define it, you — like the rest of us — would stammer out a few words about Twitter, Facebook, and blogs and then… realize that the term is more or less undefined. Well, here’s the Wikipedia … Read more
In the comments section of my post on Alex Perriello’s confidence in denying a bankruptcy for Realogy, a commenter by name of “Still Don’t Agree” raises several very interesting points. And because SDA wasn’t a raving lunatic, but apparently a very smart, very logical, and a calm & measured commentator, I thought it worth using … Read more
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. – Sir Winston Churchill . One of the true pioneers of the new generation of real estate companies, Redfin, has launched a new partner program: Redfin released a sprawling, glorious update … Read more
In a time lost in memory, in a world far far away, I openly hypothesized that the future of real estate brokerage might look more like a law firm than brokers of today: Everyone else is an employee. They get a salary, they get benefits, and if business is good, and they’re good, then they … Read more