Back when Todd Carpenter was applying for the position of Social Media Manager at the National Association of REALTORS, I endorsed him with reservations. Those reservations had nothing to do with Todd, as he was (and is) perhaps the most qualified person to head up social media strategy for NAR. When he got the position, … 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
Normally, I greet the news of yet another real estate search website launching with a giant yawn of utter disinterest. Seriously, this space is starting to get pretty crowded. Just among the major players, you’ve got Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow, HomeGain, RealEstate.com. Throw in Roost, Estately, Redfin, BlueRoof, and then the major brand sites like Coldwell … 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
A really fun discussion on Twitter with Robin Greenbaum (@cobrokenation) led me to just do a very quick, very back-of-napkin, and likely very inaccurate comparison between two rental units. As Robin pointed out, since comparisons are very difficult, depends on many factors, and the like, no matter what I come up with, this is likely … 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