We live in an age when being invisible takes some creativity.
Podcamp Boulder 3
The 3rd Boulder PodCamp unconference is happening this weekend. I’ve attended the previous two and I found both of them to be among the most valuable conventions I have attended of any sort or size.
Unorganizer Jeremy Tanner is smart and well-connected. He attracts the Denver-Boulder digerati, who make the sessions exceptionally participative and absorbing. In many circles, I am the one who people look to for online marking and brand-building. At this venue, I mostly keep my mouth shut and try to absorb what I can from the real talent. (Imagine!)
Unlike some, more industry-targeted unconferences I’ve attended, PodCamp has a good mix of designers, copywriters, marketers, and community-builders from various fields. Many share their latest knowledge and experiences — Good and bad. Consequently, no matter how much one knows going in, there are plenty of new perspectives and ideas to take when one leaves. Finally, unlike industry conferences, there is no sales gauntlet to navigate. Sponsors are recognized and appreciated, but low key. For instance, I got an appreciation for Flying Dog beer from the first one that I still indulge.
Thank you to Boulder Digital Arts for hosting and Imulus, Calisto.FM, and XINGtea for sponsoring this year’s event.
It’s all about the sharing and goodwill. :)
Update: Saturday’s schedule Dirty. Clean. Have it your way. Thanks to Kia for both. You better believe she’s already documenting the event better than I will, so I’ll just point you to Kia’s site for the details.
Personal Promotion vs Franchise Marketing
I very rarely see good online marketing advice offered to real estate agents. In fact, more often than not, I get pretty worked up when agents come to me after attending some sort of re-bar-seo-camp event convinced that if they only hire some Social-Marketing-SEO guru to get them on the first page in Google (for what search?) they will have to beat the leads away with a stick. “Did you know that 85% of all people start their home search on the internet?!” There is an entire industry targeting insecure agents with the message that traditional one-to-one relationship-based marketing is quaint and old-fashioned and inefficient. “Ya gotta be social! Ya need social media, squeeze pages, and SEO, Oh my!”
So, this morning when I saw the article: Why You Shouldn’t Look to Your Franchise for Successful Internet Marketing, I prepared myself for the worst before I even clicked the link. Here we go again…
I’m pleased — and surprised — to report that Mike Parker* has written an excellent article full of great advice and perspective. Here are a few nuggets:
- Successful Internet marketing is incompatible with mass marketing solutions
- A successful Internet marketing plan starts at the agent/broker level and operates independently of corporate mass marketing plans
- [Franchise marketing campaigns] will fail because they are implementing direction given by those trying to plan for a large company, not for an individual agent
I agree. YOU are the most important part of both your service and your marketing plan. As an experienced real estate professional, I recommend you find an office that supports and promotes you more than they promote themselves.
What do you think?
Have you had better experiences with your firm’s online lead generation than with your own? Are your broker’s online marketing efforts your primary source of new leads? What is your best online source of quality leads?
*I don’t know much about Mike Parker other than he is an executive with The Blackwater Consulting Group and he writes quite a bit for BrokerAgentSocial. A quick Google Search indicates Blackwater’s marquee product, Compass PROLeadS, is a rather expensive tool with mixed reviews. Aside from this article, I can’t speak to Mr. Parker or his company or their products. I have no relationship with them at all, but you can be sure I will be reading more of Mr. Parker’s articles.
The Long Tail of Your Local Real Estate Market
(Originally posted in 2/2009, I’m bringing this back home in an effort to consolidate my writings an thoughts. Lot’s of requests to repost this one…)
Borrowing heavily from of Chris Anderson’s seminal work, The Long Tail, I thought I’d take a shot at applying Long Tail concepts to local real estate markets from the perspective of a real estate agent looking to position herself in a competitive environment. This is what I came up with…
Click image for larger version — Click here for printable PDF
I’d say the bottom line is something that most of us already know: A long-term focused effort on a single niche market can provide much more stable business with exponentially higher ROI than a scattershot approach will. Every effort, every success, every activity increases an agent’s visiblility and market command. And since it takes 6-9 impressions before most people start to take notice, an agent hasn’t got time to spare.
Of course, every market is different, so you’ll need to be the judge of whether it’s more likely that you’ll need to get 5% of a $40M neighborhood or 10% of a $20M community. In any case, you’ll probably not want to go head-to-head with area’s mega-agent with a monster budget. Don’t worry, with a little research, you should be able to find an undermarketed neighborhood that has enough charm, value, and turnover where you can quickly establish yourself as the best source of information and the trusted real estate resource for the community.
What do you think? Does this model fit with what you’ve seen?
Disclosure: Affiliate book links.