Padua Stables – Ocala Florida from Carol Clark on Vimeo.

This world famous training and breeding stable offered by Carol Clark is 763 acres of functionlity and gracious living. Padua Stables is everything the serious horse breeder could ask for.  With room for guests, staff and a spacious main residence, Padua Stables is the ultimate equestrian experience.

Words don’t do this property justice. It’s something you have to see to believe!

Get out the skis and send out invitations to friends and family! A prime piece of luxury real estate is waiting for winter sports enthusiasts in magnificent Deer Valley, Utah, one of the nation’s most exclusive alpine ski resorts. This spacious mountain retreat with 63 acres and a 12 bedroom/16 bath 22,000 square foot estate lodge is presented by Paul Benson and Shane Herbert, and is a Featured Property in the duPont Registry of Fine Homes.

Known as The Huntsman Estate, this amazing property is one of the last large Deer Valley parcels to become available, and is a rare opportunity to own an expansive estate in the area.

“Owning property in Deer Valley is very desirable for those looking for exceptional skiing and an exclusive community,” says Paul Benson, of Summit Sotheby’s International Realty in Park City, Utah. “It also offers the buyer the opportunity to parcel off up to 20 one-acre lots, which at the current market prices would allow one to quite literally pay for the entire estate.”

Beauty, privacy and gated security combine to make this the ultimate ski trip destination, providing a comfortable, rustic place to entertain and relax with friends and family. With spacious living areas indoors and out and plenty of parking, this well appointed luxury lodge is ready for the Holiday Season and beyond.

For those in search of downtown luxury real estate in beautiful Seattle, Washington, look no further than Four Seasons Private Residences in the heart of the Pacific Northwest’s premier metropolitan hub. A Featured Listing in the duPont Registry of Fine Homes, and presented by Scott Wasner of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty, the Four Seasons sets the standard for elegance and customer service for its hotel patrons as well as its residents.

“Our residents appreciate unparalleled service, luxurious amenities, quality and enduring value.” says Ben Trodd, General Manager of the Four Seasons Hotel Seattle. “Of our 36 residences, we only have a few remaining, which ranks as one of the most successful new developments within the region.”

With one to three bedroom floor plans of 1,300-8,000 square feet available, each residence combines intuitive design with high quality, hand crafted features and finishes such as rift cut oak flooring and cabinetry, high end appliances, natural stone countertops and bathroom flooring, gas fireplaces, steam showers, motorized shades and on-demand hot water. Incredible views of the downtown Seattle skyline, Elliott Bay and glorious mountain vistas add to the distinction of this location.

Residents can take advantage of all of the hotel’s sophisticated amenities, which include a fitness center, a relaxing spa, an infinity-edge pool, and an outdoor fireplace and whirlpool which overlook Elliott Bay. Plan a visit to Seattle’s latest waterfront hideaway, the Four Seasons Art Restaurant & Lounge.

Four Seasons residents also enjoy a full range of services provided by the Four Seasons staff as a part of the Homeowners’ Association dues. Extra services are available to private residence owners at additional cost. All services are administrated by the hotel’s General Manager and an on-siteteam.

“Whether intended as a primary residence or as an urban pied-a-terre, Four Seasons Private Residences Seattle provides a world-class living experience.” says Scott Wasner, Broker and Director of Four Seasons Private Residences Seattle.

Enjoy the cosmopolitan lifestyle you’ve always wanted, with all the food, fun and culture that made Seattle famous!

The ultimate in luxury real estate listings can be found in the gracefully affluent community of Saddle River, New Jersey. Presented by Kevo Development and Featured Property on theduPont Registry of Fine Homes, this incomparable country estate is a one-of-a-kind property for the discriminating buyer.

“This uniquely crafted French chateau masterpiece is a dream home come true,” says George Kevo, the owner of Kevo Development.

With over 19,000 square feet of living space, this 28 room residence includes seven bedroom suites with walk-in closets, nine full baths and three half baths. All the elegance of Old World France combined with the latest intechnologymake this an exquisite find indeed. Only 20 minutes from New York City, this quiet country haven will become a favorite getaway, any time of year.

Enter this gated property by way of the courtyard drive and prepare to be dazzled. The chateau façade, constructed with imported, hand crafted marble from Jerusalem, is refined and welcoming.

Inside, other attractive amenities include coffered ceilings, a bridal marble staircase, hand forged wrought iron railing, polished stone floors with elaborate borders and medallions. A majestic gallery ball room, custom cherry library, seven custom fireplaces and built-ins add to the home’s grandeur. The lovely dining room adjoins the gourmet kitchen, which features high end appliances, designer cabinetry, and a breakfast nook. The large family room with full bar, a card room,golfsimulator room, media room, wine cellar, maid’s room, study room and gym make this home complete.

Outside, a grand resort style pool, complimented by a water slide, four waterfalls and lighted grotto with swim out await your pleasure, along with a full cabana, changing room and full size bath. A full outdoor kitchen with spacious dining area make casual entertaining a breeze.

Experience the intimate serenity of the premier property in the most distinguished island community in Miami: 3 Indian Creek Island Drive. With only 32 waterfront properties on this 300 acre island, this 30,000 square foot Resort Home Oasis has plenty to offer. 3 Indian Creek Island Drive is presented by Jill Eber and Jill Hertzberg, The Jills® of Coldwell Banker in Miami, and is a Featured Property in theduPont Registry of Luxury Real Estate.

“This house is a contemporary work of art, you can open up the whole home to the outdoors.” says Jill Eber. “You truly feel as if you are in a luxury resort that belongs just to you…on two magnificent acres with about 200 feet of water frontage. There’s room to dock a 75 foot yacht and nearby marinas for larger vessels.”

With an easy elegance and natural grace that pays homage to every inch of island beauty that surrounds it, the exotic pavilion style floor plan is connected by waterways and stone. Shore line views and flowing natural light blend to create an idyllic atmosphere for relaxing in complete privacy and security, maintained by Indian Creek Village’s own police force and the latest inSmartHometechnology.

“No one is admitted to the island unless they have a resident’s permission.” says Eber.

This luxury showpiece offers such amenities as 10 bedroom suites, 10 full and four half baths, five kitchens (including a full catering kitchen),wine cellar, staff room, six wet-bars, an impressive library, panic room and an elevator.

Outdoors, enjoy the convenience of a rooftop sky bar and Jacuzzi, 100 foot resort pool, cabana, full spa pavilion, and a glass waterfront gym with steam and massage rooms. The garage accommodates seven or more large vehicles and additional outdoor parking is available.

THEduPONTRegistry of Fine Homes is featuring the perfect luxury real estate property for those looking to own a beautiful retreat in charming Chatham-Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a mere 90 minute drive from Boston.

This historic area has long been a respite for those seeking to escape the hurly burly of the everyday. With its old time charm and slow paced atmosphere, Chatham is the ideal place for a quiet meal and a stroll while enjoying picturesque harbor views.

“Chatham, located on the elbow of Cape Cod, has its own unique charm and as a result has fared well through the real estate downturn,” says Chris Rhinesmith, broker/owner of Pine Acres Realty, Inc. “People come from all over Cape Cod to stroll the quaint village with its charming boutiques and popular restaurants.”

Located on the shores of Chatham Harbor near the lavish Chatham Bars Inn, this early 1900s classic Cape Cod home is the epitome of the area’s iconic architectural style.

The lovely 7 bedroom/8 bath, 3,421-square-foot masterpiece has every comfort and amenity for the discerning buyer, including oversized windows with magnificent harbor views and interior details such as coffered ceilings, wood paneled walls, a large living room, open-floor dining area with two fireplaces, stunning antique tile work and a charming eat-in kitchen.

There’s plenty of room for guests and family with an above garage suite and private guest quarters including 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a comfortable studio. Mature landscaping, scenic walking paths and a dramatic circular drive crown the expansive 1.5 acre plot.

Here’s yet another fine featured listing from the duPont Registry of Luxury Real Estate.

Take in this gorgeous, one-of-a-kind contemporary estate set in the hills above the prestigious community of Los Gatos, California, on secluded Aztec Ridge Road. Situated on nearly 50 acres just five minutes from Downtown Los Gatos, this gated paradise is ideal for those who enjoy entertaining while maintaining their privacy.

This exceptional property is an area listing seldom seen so close to town.

“Normally, to get this much acreage, you’d have to drive up into the back hills for at least half an hour.” says Pierre Buljan of Coldwell Banker Real Estate. “Here you have total privacy and convenience, which means you can escape to your own world, entertain lavishly and no one will know you’re here. At the same time, you can be in Los Gatos in five minutes…It’s truly a rare gem.”

With dazzling panoramic views of Silicon Valley and beyond, there’s plenty here to enchant and captivate, from the sleek modern design of the 10,000 square foot main house, 2,200 square foot guest house , pool, waterfalls, tennis court/sports court, four car garage, 50+ car parking, and designated helicopter landing area. The property may also be subdivided.

Why not consider this exquisite opportunity for yourself?

Asheville, North Carolina is a top city for its varied amenities, including business and family friendly areas that make it favorite place for second home buyers and retirees. With a love of the arts and fine dining with a localvore vibe, Asheville combines all that is best of Southern hospitality with a modern community outlook.

This lovely 6,100-square-foot, four bedroom, six bath Asheville home in Biltmore Park reflects all the best qualities of its Blue Ridge Mountain surroundings.

Ann Skoglund, the listing broker associate with Beverly-Hanks & Associates describes the property as “… the perfect setting for this stone and timbered home with the finest of finishes and amenities…” with “…the feeling of living in a remote mountain setting yet within a child-friendly community.”

Priced at $4.95 million, this modern mountain retreat rests on two acres of woodland splendor, including a 125-foot waterfall, separate guest quarters, a wine cellar, granite, marble and limestone surfaces, and a prestigious reclaimed wood floor from the barn of Kentucky Derby winner, Alysheba. Other modern conveniences include two elevators, car lifts, and computer-controlled systems.

Enjoy beautiful sunsets from this gem in the midst of the Blue Ridge Mountains!

The uber-luxurious 2500 White Stallion Road is featured again on the cover of the international luxury homes publication, duPont REGISTRY, A Buyers Gallery of Fine Homes, which hit the newsstands last week. The estate

Hidden Valley | Jordan Cohen | duPont REGISTRY

was last featured on the cover of the February 2011 issue of the duPont REGISTRY. It is in this months, October 2011 issue of the highly regarded luxury homes magazine.

Hidden Valley, California

The estate is conveniently located near some of the most affluent regions in the of world such as: Calabasas, home to hundreds of Hollywood’s stars, Malibu – one of the world’s most beautiful and affluent beaches and the famed Sherwood Country Club, home to some of the world’s most beautiful real estate of the finest golf courses in the world and host to Tiger Woods’ yearly Chevron World Challenge.

The luxurious gated estate is represented by Spelling mansion official sold: 22-year-old heiress pays cool $85 million”

“Generally speaking, you are not going to have matching comps because every estate is different when you get to that price range,”  said Jordan Cohen, estates director for Re/Max Olson & Associates, Westlake Village.

Cohen, who closed a $19.2-million sale last month and has opened new escrows in excess of $45 million, has represented professional athletes and celebrities including Kobe Bryant, tennis star Pete Sampras and Sylvester Stallone.

“Usability of the lot, its size, finishes and other factors all play a role”  Cohen said.

A high-priced estate is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay, he said.

White Stallion Estate certainly fits that bill.

All Things Salt Spring | Podcast

All the buzz, right? But hasn’t it always been that way?

Seems like everyday I’m introduced to another “search engine” or some type of snake oil that isn’t one. It always—always—strikes me the same way: why would you try to compete with Google? It makes no sense—there is one. I guess it makes sense if you are exceptionally good at algorithms or have developed a more ingenious advertising model, though I think you’d be hard pressed (not to say it’s not possible).

But what is it that makes “search” possible in the first place? It’s not that Google exists. It’s that content exists in hyperspace. If that’s true, why wouldn’t you develop content? It seems to me that that is the way to connect and create value on all fronts. Here’s what happens when you actually sit down and create content:

• You market yourself
• It’s free
• It’s difficult, but it forces you to think through things, which is far better than asking someone to just run an ad
• You end up getting people to your site that you never would have been able to reach otherwise.

When I started writing on the internet about real estate I realized the clarity it brought me. Then I realized that there was a frequency that could be dialed in that allows the writer (of a blog) to reach an audience. Then I realized that it could “affect” potential business partners—for the better—at least in my case.

Every person that commented on this blog or believed in “social media” (how I almost loathe the words) know what I speak of. But there are a fragmented few that still think that the internet is about “gross” and “net” and “hits” … it’s just not… not at all… the internet is not about anything, except maybe (and this is a big maybe) the transfer of documents. Everything else just came after that.

Figuring out how to market real estate online is easy. But it’s not easy as in cheap. It’s easy if you are willing to put in the work and effort. If, on the other hand, you want to follow the herd… be my guest… postpone the inevitable at your own peril. Technology certainly is not going backwards. It’s going faster. Faster than the people who are actually developing it.

Social media marketing and “luxury real estate” are, at first blush, not mutually exclusive; however, if you really take a look at the origins of “social marketing” and what the “internet” actually is, you can see why they are so often mismatched.

In spite of the uncertainty of the real estate market, economic conditions (for most) have been less than stellar in the past 7 years. This is where the “social” comes in.

• It’s not “social” because we can add a facebook image on our business site.
• It’s not “social” because we can post it to our 4,999 friends (knowing full well that over 4,500 of these so-called “friends” are not really that at all)—that’s wall spam—at best.
• It’s not “social” because we can use our personal and business twitter streams to advertise.

But mostly,

• it’s not “social” because we know about it.

It’s social because of the freedom.

These freedoms, however, are not guaranteed. They are learned, as well as earned, through their understanding. Below is what gnu.org has on their site (gnu is one of the pillars that enables social media):

Free software is a matter of the users’ freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
• The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
• The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

Before “diving” to social marketing it makes sense to know this because it’s not the cure all for broken marketing tactics. In fact, in a lot of ways, it’s more complex. Because it requires some of this understanding.

When I lived in NYC 9 years ago—at exactly this time of year to the day (9-9-01)—the world was different. Not different because of pre 9/11. It’s different because I remember developing an “online marketing” website on GeoCities.com…

Marketing real estate through these new “streams” makes. However, if you are going to just use the respective shareware logos and not understand them, business as usual might still be the most effective marketing strategy.

It’s obvious that the internet and the marketing of real estate (including luxury real estate) have merged. You might be slightly out of touch to believe otherwise. It’s also okay if you do. If what you’re doing is working, why change? If the money you’re spending on advertising is not working the same as it did four or five years ago, there is probably a good reason for it.

As for why it’s not working, I’m not sure I have all the answers. In fact, I’ll bet spending 50 grand a year on gorgeous printed magazines will pay off. Of course, it may be more if you consider all the other marketing expenses (i.e., fee to your respective brand, fees for banner ads.)

As far as banner ads are concerned, you need not even click on this link about banner advertising efficacy:

Being a familiar name takes you miles closer to closing a sale. People like to buy from companies they’ve heard of.

It turns out that this is an overlooked benefit of banner ads.
Banner ads are fairly worthless in terms of generating clickthroughs… you have to trick too much and manipulate too much to get clicks worth much of anything. But, if you build ads with no intent of clicks, no hope for clicks… then you can focus on ads that drill your name or picture or phrase into my head. 100 impressions and you’re almost famous.

A household name. Not for everyone, but for people who matter.

That was a year ago, also. If this is true, and you’re not getting an ROI, doesn’t it make sense to stop spending over 50 thousand dollars a year hoping that it will start working?

One thing I’m absolutely certain of is that marketing your brand online is cost effective. And writing online for your brand is not as simple as a facebook status update. If you are writing online (or blogging, which I write with extreme caution because it has the tendency to be equated to the LOLcats or to a personal journal), and you do it everyday with the same idea that the 50 thousand dollars a year in ads you’re spending, you’ll probably save about half, if not more.

P.S. The reason I haven’t been maintaining this blog is because I’ve been building semantic sites for agents. Li Read, someone I admire as well as someone who frequently made brilliant insights contributing to this blog (in the past) is about to prove my point. It starts tomorrow. Watch.

Of course, this is a luxury real estate blog (for the most part). Other times it’s a marketing “in the internet age” blog.

After looking at real estate websites for almost 4 years, it just seems that it’s always too much information. Most likely if I’m going to real estate website, I’m going to be looking for … real estate. Yes, believe it or not. Also, however, I’d like to know that you would like to do more than just sell me a property. I’d like to know a bit about you. I’d like to know that you care enough about your business to update it. I’d also like “ease of access” to your listings.

It’s still a “tough market” for agents. It might be for a while, but it won’t be for people who invest in their website. And I don’t mean the “latest and greatest.” What I do mean is transparency and authenticity in what you are portraying your services as. It should be easy, right?

That’s why I’m an extreme advocate in “blogging.” Not because of network of ads, but it provides a level of competence, compassion for the consumer (that would be me) and your expertise doing what you’re actually doing. If you practice a little bit (just like anything – i.e., tying your shoes) you’ll get good at it. If you are trying rank your blog for search or keywords, that is not difficult either. It’s also not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a good thing. If you are the real estate agent who offers the best services in Las Vegas, NV, I should know about it.

A real estate website with an XML feed is not going to help you when the market recovers, however rich applications will. This much I’m sure of. Why? Because it is what the next generation of buyers demand.

The point was not to call attention to situation. Nor was it to shed any light on economic hardships or profits in a distinct medium. I am not an analyst. But, I am in an interesting (though sometimes difficult) situation of real estate marketing and its respective mediums.

Perhaps some might say…

print works… clients like it

That is true, of course. How could it not be? If your client wants to be (or wants their home) in a magazine or the newspaper, it is true.

Some might say…

Not all my clients use the internet…

Ok… this would have to be true, also difficult to imagine.

Others might say…

People believe what’s printed more than they believe what’s online.

For this, I will defer you to Clay Shirky’s link again. Specifically, pay close attention to happened because of print. I’ll even quote a piece of it for you here:

As Gutenberg’s press spread through Europe, the Bible was translated into local languages, enabling direct encounters with the text; this was accompanied by a flood of contemporary literature, most of it mediocre. Vulgar versions of the Bible and distracting secular writings fueled religious unrest and civic confusion, leading to claims that the printing press, if not controlled, would lead to chaos and the dismemberment of European intellectual life.

These claims were, of course, correct. Print fueled the Protestant Reformation, which did indeed destroy the Church’s pan-European hold on intellectual life. What the 16th-century foes of print didn’t imagine—couldn’t imagine—was what followed: We built new norms around newly abundant and contemporary literature. Novels, newspapers, scientific journals, the separation of fiction and non-fiction, all of these innovations were created during the collapse of the scribal system, and all had the effect of increasing, rather than decreasing, the intellectual range and output of society.

For me, what this says is that the opportunity for your clients—and us, the people being challenged by this shift—is huge. Even traditional media outlets like NCI have the biggest opportunity since the Dark Ages. We all have that.

It doesn’t mean that sending a beautiful magazine to someone doesn’t have a distinct advertising impression. That’s not at all the case. The point is that beautiful magazines got that way for a reason… and they, alone have the power to be part of what is digitally output. So do individuals…

It’s an interesting blend of dynamic content from the “social” media realm. [How I loathe the use of social media as a trend or marketing trick.]

It’s also cool because I’m working on helping Karl develop it. What’s interesting (on a personal note) is that we are incorporating all of the things that this ‘blog’ spoke of way back when… actually using the “Power of Pull” as opposed to “push.”

Hope you’ll check it out.

If you clicked the above link, it is interesting to note—mostly because it was unintentional. It’s interesting because this blog is about (more often than not) how you can utilize social media in your marketing of luxury goods.

It never occurs to me to get this blog listed for anything. Further, it is a personal choice that I not use superlatives because of my inchoate grammar and style of writing. For the most part anyway. (pardon the pun… )

On that note, here is Nicki and Karen‘s 12th most viewed photo on flickr:

Have the most luxurious lovely day! And, by the way, thank you to you (and google) for this accolade. Celebrate we will … that this blog as at least one of the best social media luxury blogs out there. If not for you, it would not even exist… also… flickr is a cool blog.

They have a few annual conferences a year that literally span the globe. To name a few places where their loyal members have been before:  France, Austria, Vegas, Vail… you get the idea … I don’t want this to come off as one of those P.R. junkets you see too often on splogs. (Piecing this luxury blog together has been a difficult task as it is.)

I’m privileged to know and have met most of the LRE.com “braintrust.” They are all just as exceptional, astute and classy as their website and the events they hold.

I don’t think I’m going to be at the next one, but I would if I could. And, if your business is in luxury real estate, you’d be hard pressed to find a group that gets together and shares marketing and training tactics like the event that is going to be in Miami at the Ritz-Carlton next week.

I’ll be there in spirit … Here are the details to the 8th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat:

2010 8th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat

• When: Tuesday, May 4, 2010 to Friday, May 7, 2010
• Where: South Beach, FL

A real estate agent’s job description is defined by the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics.):

One of the most complex and significant financial events in peoples’ lives is the purchase or sale of a home or investment property. Because of the complexity and importance of this transaction, people typically seek the help of real estate brokers and sales agents when buying or selling real estate.

Real estate brokers and sales agents have a thorough knowledge of the real estate market in their communities. They know which neighborhoods will best fit clients’ needs and budgets. They are familiar with local zoning and tax laws and know where to obtain financing for the purchase of property.

Brokers and agents do the same type of work, but brokers are licensed to manage their own real estate businesses. Agents must work with a broker. They usually provide their services to a licensed real estate broker on a contract basis. In return, the broker pays the agent a portion of the commission earned from the agent’s sale of the property. Brokers, as independent businesspeople, often sell real estate owned by others; they also may rent or manage properties for a fee.

You can find the remainder of the Nature of the Work of a Real Estate Agent here.

At first blush, this doesn’t appear to be a position that can be replaced by a “rating system” or a “customer satisfaction bonus.” Movies are given star reviews. So are kindergartners. Oh, don’t forget that Amazon and Apps for the iPhone also use a community based rating system which works quite well for the community and the product. Real estate agents are not a product. Furthermore, an agent is not “supposed to help you” they are your agent!

If the function of a business is to remove the human element, there must be an excellent reason for the automaton. Why would you want a robot helping you with an investment such as a house? I don’t even own a vacuum that functions on its own, though I do think it is a good idea. But an automated vacuum is quite different from a person assisting you in a major transaction.

Buying a home is not an impulse buy. A book or a 1.99 App for your iPhone is; hence, the five star rating system. Rating agents like this is dubious, at best.

One more problem I have with the model:

Its underlying premise is: real estate agents are not going to give you the best deal because they work for a commission. This is entirely untrue. In so many ways. It implies that all agents were to blame for the housing crisis—which is not true—at all.

Buying a home, as the BLS so keenly points out, is a one of the most complex and serious events in peoples’ lives. That is why you need an agent’s help. Even if they do make a commission.

Some things are worth a little bit more money.

Glad you asked.

Sometimes you really do “get what you pay for.” But, not always.

Cheap advertising is usually just that: Cheap. It is cheap because it has very little value. Of course, this is economics 101, right? If, in order to obtain something, there is no barrier to entry, then it certainly can’t be valuable (unless, of course it’s a gift—that’s an entirely different discussion.) But, value is ultimately what the consumer and the advertiser’s (agent or broker in this case) worldview is.

I’ve been building and developing sites for luxury agents as of late. Why I decided to do this is 2 fold:

• 1 When I worked as a print advertising rep, I got to know various mediums (i.e., print publications, print publication’s websites, broker and agent online aggregation services and major brokerage’s support for their agents). What I found was, in the luxury market, there were very few mediums that supported real estate agents in their luxury marketing. Hence, Artisan Branding & Consulting, LLC.
• 2 I also enjoy it and think it will help agents and brokers. This is true. I believe 110% in what it is I’m doing is a) good for an agent and his/her client and b) good for the market.

What I’m doing is actually customizing designs and functionality into these sites for agents. This is the solution I am offering to clients. Not in a flashy way. Not in a “templated” way either. It takes time to do this. And why shouldn’t it? If you are selling property that takes time to sell, why should you expect (or your clients for that matter) a canned, run of the mill, impersonal website? And yes it’s not cheap. If you want cheap, you can be online for free. Actually you can be online (and here’s the irony) as an ADDED VALUE when you invest in ANY, yes ANY printed publication. They all do this.

Just to back up a minute, I wrote that “sometimes you really get what you pay for.” Logically, this would mean that the internet has no value. And, of course, to a medium (i.e. newspaper ads, etc.,) that is adding value with their internet service, you are likely getting nothing. No added value at all. Of course, anybody who actually believes that may need some help, but that is just me.

If you’re a real estate agent and you believe that the internet is simply “added-value,” or worse you believe that you should just “be on the internet,” then read what NAR has to say about how buyers buy homes. And it’s a year and a half old, which is a LONG time on the internet.

Primarily, sellers want agents to price their home competitively, market the property, find a buyer and sell within a specific timeframe.

Home buyers are consistent in their expectations of real estate agents. Buyers thought the most important agent services are helping find the right house, and negotiating sales terms and price. Because agents often are chosen based on a referral, or were used in a previous transaction, two-thirds of buyers contacted only one real estate agent in the search process.

Buyers used a variety of resources in searching for a home: 87 percent used the Internet, 85 percent used a real estate agent, 62 percent yard signs, 48 percent attended open houses and 47 percent looked at print or newspaper ads. Fewer buyers rely on a home book or magazine, home builders, television, billboards and relocation companies. Buyers most commonly start their search process online and then contact a real estate agent.

When asked where they first learned about the home purchased, 34 percent of buyers said a real estate agent; 32 percent the Internet; 15 percent from yard signs; 7 percent from a friend, neighbor or relative; 7 percent home builders; 3 percent a print or newspaper ad; 2 percent directly from the seller; and 1 percent a home book or magazine.

Eighty-seven percent of home buyers who used the Internet to search for a home purchased through a real estate agent, in contrast with 72 percent of non-Internet users who were more likely to purchase directly from a builder or from an owner they already knew in a private transaction.

I’m not decrying print media. I love magazines. But, if it’s cheap, it’s probably cheap for a reason. Furthermore, if you hear that someone is going to “throw in the internet” for free, proceed with caution. The internet is not a fad, a trend or even worse: added value. It’s also not “cheap.” What’s cheap is that person that just opened up a facebook account that I’ve been talking to about business that suddenly wants me to be friends on facebook and be part of their facebook fan page.

On a side note: Seth Godin has an interesting post today titled: How to buy a house

The more everyone sits around discussing how media has become social, the stronger the real estate agent’s who are actually using these tools become. I urge you to watch this below:

Luxury is not a bad thing.

These things remain true in the luxury market:

• The affluent marketer and luxury consumer has been changed by the economic climate.
• The word luxury is a not derogatory word.
• There is still a market for high priced and high end goods – whether they are homes, cars or boats.
• Change is afoot in the luxury marketplace. This change comes in the form of new technology and (perhaps) a slightly different business model.

The beneficiaries of wealth creation and the redistribution of wealth in the future will be the very people who are at the heart of the current shifts.

The creation of this blog comes from this altered path direction.

The successful publisher Dan McCarthy outlines our responsibility for this path on his ViralHousingFix.com. Here is an excerpt from his recent post Capital, Media & The Future: An Outline:

The first is market focus: Businesses that are able to create an incentive for talented people to focus on a specific market opportunity, with close contact with the market, with the goal of increasing share of the market through execution and innovation will have more likelihood of success than businesses that either discount the value of their talent or spread their talent too thinly.

The second is creating a justification for scale: Scale for the sake of scale will have minimal value to capital over the next decade. Scale can generate two opportunities: A lower cost of commoditized goods and services or a higher impact on revenue by virtue of superior market engagement and penetration. These two characteristics can’t be linked, and both will have a diminishing value over time.

The third is expanding innovation: Over the next several years, new ways of organizing media companies will develop, driven by the availability of distribution platforms and the desire of talented content creators to generate more economic value from their work. At key points in this process, growth capital will be required in order to accelerate the creation of these new models. The capital shouldn’t get deployed until a clearly profitable business model has been proven. The capital shouldn’t chase disproportionate scale. But the capital will likely generate a meaningful return.

Well said. I wish I had thought of it. Brilliant.

The value in the iPad for luxury agents is this: its beauty and simplicity. (and it’s a luxury)

Every trade magazine addresses the idea of mobility and our connectivity and how it completely changes the business of real estate. It’s only going to evolve and get more mobile as time goes on. Yesterday, I referenced the the late adopters to facebook and how silly they seem. (In truth, they aren’t really silly, they’re just late to the party, that’s all.) But then again, it’s not really a party, is it? The shift has already happened. For example, I just read a recent issue of a California trade magazine that reviewed the Apps for iPhones and how an app could be used in the real estate business. It was fantastic, except it was in a magazine. So, the reviews didn’t have anything to do with the iPad. Clearly the article was written before the iPad’s release. It didn’t at all address the way the iPad will do the same.

There is an interesting argument amongst some of the most brilliant bloggers about how the iPad is amazing and how the iPad isn’t so amazing . This may or may not pertain to you. Particularly, it won’t, if you are not into content creation—which these people clearly are. It’s worth understanding if you are a real estate agent because it broaches on very relevant issues that an agent might face today. (i.e. Zillow.com, trulia.com, realtor.com)

What is important to understand to (especially if you’re tired of spending your budget on print) is that a blog—one that is curated and crafted by you, the agent—is as valuable or more than any printed venue.

Why? Because what happens when everyone has an iPad or an iPhone and you don’t have a network or a media channel?

The facebook memo?

*Inspiration comes from an agent who actually sent me this—this morning. Clearly she didn’t get the facebook memo.

Really? You want me to upload photos so I can “share” with you, so you can use facebook as a marketing tool? Really? Ok, I’ll oblige. As long as you pay the hosting fees on this blog. What do you say? It’s a fair trade, right?

I get to give you my attention for your advertising that you’re going to post in my news feed. Let’s call it what it is.

I can’t even believe that that is what the invite says. Also, I can’t believe that someone would actually “assume” that someone didn’t have a facebook account. I know people that aren’t alive anymore that have twitter and facebook accounts. Seriously.

I’m glad that people are still talking about the importance of social media and its impact on culture and our economics, but I don’t think it’s worthy of much discussion unless you are actually trying to learn about it.

When the radio waves entered the American household did everyone sit around and record radio shows about how the radio was changing the world? How about the T.V.? Did people gather around the television and watch people talking about how the television changed their lives?

But I digress… back to the late invite by an agent trying to get in front of me…

Did she really think I want to clutter up my facebook stream with ads? Why would I want to do that? That’s why I have a facebook account—to get away from the ads!!! I get to choose which ads I see. Sorry, but those are the facts. That’s why I basically only accept “friends” now that are in various networks that I belong to. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not the most connected person, but I have been using them for a good while now.

Facebook has always been about its connectivity. Why would I want to be connected to the very people that have been trying to disconnect me? Welcome to facebook and twitter. Did you set up a MySpace account yet? Maybe take a look at Bebo.com while you’re at it.

So maybe the printed word and the printed picture does have a chance… That is a chance to be published on an iPad anyway. If this is the Apple’s first incantation of the new computing, I’m blown away by its beauty alone.

What’s most impressive is it’s ease of use and its power to do (almost) all of the things that my MacBook Pro can do. Yes, I’ve heard the “iPad envy” jokes, but this is a the real deal, and I don’t even have 3G yet, but I will. And yes, the user interface works just like the iPhone does. (we all know what a failure that was, right?)

Much more than that, however, is the input/output effect it has on me. Professionally and personally as a blogger, content marketer and new marketing fanatic.

It’s been said that the typewriter changed the way authors wrote because of its mechanics. (i.e., people no longer used the quill because of the ease of the machine.) The same has been said of the word processor. The idea is that it’s possible Hamlet or Huckleberry Finn would never have been written had Shakespeare and Twain had the mechanical tools of our time. Obvioulsly, this is true, right?

Forget social media and the news the iPad made. It’s not about the device, it’s about the way we use the device.

It’s hard to think of a time where there was no such thing as an iPad. Really. And reading books and magazines is a ton of fun. And it just got started. I’m glad that I learned how to put content on the internet.

Happy Sunday!

What is dead: junk or Spam. Spam is dead. If you have spam in your office or spam-related activity in your office, it’s killing your business. There, I said it. One piece of junk after another. It doesn’t matter if you think it is spam. It’s what I think is spam, because I’m the one receiving it and being interrupted by it. If I electronically receive something I didn’t ask for, or if I receive something that annoys me into submission, it’s spam.

I noticed something about the mind of a spammer. They actually believe what they are doing is work. They believe that the email junk they are sending is commensurate with “hard work.”

There’s something to be said for the table scraps of revenue or the people receiving the junk that are actually converted to business. But, to this I ask, do you really want or need them as clients? Personally, I’d rather work a few extra hours a week and forge meaningful, thoughtful and lasting relationships than scrape up extra revenue for the short-term—but that is me.

Here’s the truth:

If you interrupt someone, it may convert to a sale, a phone call or even a date. But it’s not going to make you relevant in the apparent and obvious shift in attention for eyeballs and market share in the digital age.

I just started using MailChimp for a client and this comes from them. It is well worth thinking about. (Especially if you have the smallest notion that you might be a spammer.)

For one thing, people have different preferences about how they consume information. Some people want to come to your site and browse your latest posts;
some are interested in what others are saying in the comments; and some just want to skim your content via RSS and never visit your site at all. There’s another group of
people that prefer reading your blog in their email clients. It’s true! They may not have many sites they care enough about to warrant managing a feed reader, or they just
like getting email instead of visiting your blog. Whatever the reason, it’s a nice opt to offer your readers so they can engage with you in the way that suits them best.

Again, just because you have the ability to hit send or send text messages (heaven forbid… ugh)… doesn’t mean you should.

All platforms change. They change rapidly. Especially in the world of New Media or Social Media.

Seth Godin points out needing new friends yesterday. It’s extremely relevant in the world of Social Media and marketing where everyone with an internet connection wants to start a blog or has something to say.

The conversation on this blog has been largely about New Marketing for realtors. Particularly luxury realtors. It’s a marketing blog. It is not a blog about copy writing. Copy editing and writing advertising copy is a worthy discussion but this is not what is going on here. If you would like to read about it, click here: this blog. It is the best. Hands down.

But I digress. The last post was about junk. Junk mail and junk feeds. Neither are truly a big deal. But some people—especially people that don’t live on the internet—might find this blog helpful. Or not.

All I am doing is merely pointing them out. That’s what I do here. And it comes from my experience in marketing for and with real estate agents—coupled with blogging.

My point is that yes the topic shifts here. Marketing is shifting so fast that it has to. If your not correcting as you go, maybe you ought to think about it.

Feeds, however, have made a mess out of online real estate listings. The site I worked on (before I started my own web development projects) had the same problem with feeds. The problem? The problem is that when feeds are syndicated from many different sources to the same place with the same information, it gets “replicated.”

Perhaps it’s not a big problem. But from a a marketing or even a consumer standpoint, it’s a bit confusing. Last night I was on a website that had one listing duplicated 5 times. No joke. 5 times in a row. For some reason, I just can’t see why that’s helpful.

This is where technology gets us in trouble. It’s nobody’s fault. It is just where we are leaning on technology a bit too much. Then we find out that it is not perfect and it (the technology) can’t make visceral business decisions.

Cleaning up these feeds is a harrowing task and I wish it upon nobody. There aren’t enough hours in the day to track them all down and correct them. At least not for the sites I’m talking about.

I guess it might be something to consider looking at if you’re a real estate agent with several listings that are being fed into all these websites. The replication causes confusion. It’s worth pointing out Smashing Magazines 10 Principles of Effective Web Design.

1. Don’t make users think
2. Don’t squander users’ patience
3. Manage to focus users’ attention
4. Strive for feature exposure
5. Make use of effective writing
6. Strive for simplicity
7. Don’t be afraid of the white space
8. Communicate effectively with a “visible language”
9. Conventions are our “friends”
10. Test early, test often

It’s just like email:

Just because you can send your entire client list an email, doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can syndicate, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good idea.

My suggestion would be here: Inman News. This company has the most interesting and the most commanding content. It’s classy and it doesn’t wreak of “gotcha” headlines. There are so many of those out there.

Also, the founder of Inman is also the founder of Vook which is a brilliant idea, also. You can read about that here.

Here’s Brad Inman’s blog. He backs up his business with an authentic voice.

From the outside of the real estate business looking in, this is where I’d put all my chips…

Of course, getting the deal and negotiating a contract is always a win. It’s what pays the bills and puts food on the table. But this idea of “crushing” the competition is part of the old model. The model that is losing their footing right now. All because this of this.

When I first starting building marketing programs for luxury real estate agents, one of my realtor mentors told me this (word for word—and she was NOT kidding):

Competition is good. It’s good for the market. It’s good for the buyer. It’s good for the seller.

This isn’t to say that you should enable your competition. That is ridiculous. But how often do you read marketing programs that have these words. I like to call them War Words. Because they are used when fighting a war.

• strategic

• tactics
• instinctive
• leadership
• target
• engage
• campaign
• blitz
• dominate
• impact
• capture
• alliance
• battlefields

The market (again) is a conversation. Not a war. These words have to be removed from our collective marketing vocabulary. Not because we all need to get along and sing and dance at Woodstock, but because the market demands it. More important, the luxury real estate market demands that we have it. The seller. The buyer. They demand that we have a conversation. This greases the squeaky wheel. Not launching ‘media blitzes’ or ‘strategic engagement.’ This is something I am personally committed to seeing through. Or at least as long as I am part of luxury real estate marketing.

Doc Searls and David Weinberger famously point this out in the Cluetrain Manifesto.

What’s more, networked markets get smart fast. Metcalfe’s Law*, a famous axiom of the computer industry, states that the value of a network increases as the square of the number of users connected to it — connections multiply value exponentially. This is also true for conversations on networked markets. In fact, as the network gets larger it also gets smarter. The Cluetrain Corollary: the level of knowledge on a network increases as the square of the number of users times the volume of conversation. So, in market conversations, it is far easier to learn the truth about the products being pumped, about the promises being made, and about the people making those promises. Networked markets are not only smart markets, but they’re also equipped to get much smarter, much faster, than business-as-usual.

There is a lively discussion about the power of the internet going on here on this blog. The internet has changed the face of marketing forever. What makes the internet so powerful is the amount of reach it has and how quickly you can access a message and / or information. This is where Artisan Branding comes from.

The internet has created new industries, as well—this is happening daily. My best analogy is this:

In 1964 you wouldn’t likely walk into a college classroom and learn anything about The Beatles. Times change. Today, you would certainly find an entire curriculum devoted to the world of the world wide web. But not in the 90′s.

The internet, again, is responsible for all of this. All of this knowledge is all online. The problem I have with all of the marketing and media companies is that most of them are so completely beholden to the “turn-and-burn” mindset that is nature of what was at one time “new marketing.” Not anymore.

People are getting so used to canned ingredients on the web that they are easy to discern for the average browser. The same thing happened to music. Too much packaging and not enough care to the actual ingredient. The ingredients of the 4 Liverpudlians actually made the band what it is. Certainly, they were packaged well. That’s another discussion or another course in college. But for the most part, it was about 4 brilliant musicians who made brilliant music.

Artisan Branding is an internet company that is about reality. No gimmicks. Just a hand crafted and hand delivered presentation. This is what the company will do in various forms.

It’s new and I am confident it is going to be something very special.

Oh – and here is the facebook fan page:

If the concept domain knowledge or domain expert is used we emphasize a specific domain which is an object of the discourse/interest/problem.

The wiki goes on to explain (or a wikipedian, rather writes) that:

Communicating between end-users and software developers is often difficult. They must find a common language to communicate in. Developing enough shared vocabulary to communicate can often take a while.

Expert’s domain knowledge (frequently informal and ill structured) is transformed in computer programs and active data, for example in a set of rules in knowledge bases, by knowledge engineers.

Personally, my domain knowledge is in content creation. (Alltop says so, too, but it is my other blog.) Also, I have a certain expertise in the marketing of real estate—particularly that of the high end. Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), my expertise is in developing marketing plans and structures online. For many this is not something that matters. For me, and many luxury real estate agents, it is an imperative.

There are many spirited debates about the value of printed magazines in relation to the luxury real estate world. This one offers tremendous insight. However, if you read through it and follow the thread in the comments to here you’ll see what I’m referring to in regards to domain knowledge.

What’s going in here is exactly what I’m referring to. Luxury real estate agents (some of them anyway) have utilized their domain knowledge of the internet to use it as leverage as part of their marketing. Of course, a savvy marketer is going to do a lot of what they can themselves just as a magazine that prints a beautiful magazine is going to charge premium pricing and as often as possible. It makes sense. Especially if that is your livelihood.

The thing is, real estate agents were hit hard by the recession. It’s hard to think of an industry that hasn’t been touched by the current state of the economy. Realtors were a group that felt it first. Maybe not first first but the agents that are still in business felt it immediately. Because we as humans are quite malleable and able to withstand all sorts of extremes, the smart agents adopted New Marketing. Why? Not because they don’t like the magazine. Not because they don’t read magazines. Not because magazines don’t work. They changed directions because they had to—just to survive.

So, should we (marketers of the internet kind) empathize for printed publications that have to adjust? Maybe empathy is good, but it won’t help the endgame. In contrast, understanding the way the internet can help you to market a magazine and the way the consumer uses might be. Maybe repurposing your printed magazine online is a good strategy. But it needs to add value to the static page. I like to click.

The iPad is going to be here on April 3rd. The Kindle, Amazon and the iPod have literally changed the future of publishing. I’m glad to know real estate agents have embraced new marketing—and they have done it out of necessity, not anger and frustration.

I’ve said it before here, the agents that are out in front of this curve are the ones that are going have it all. Feel free to embrace the beauty of print, I do too, but suggesting that there is going to be a resurgence is an unnerving debate.

If every luxury real estate agent now ‘actually’ is aware of @GuyKawasaki because of last week’s RELO event, what more could I ask for?

If you don’t know who he is, follow this link to his site. Here is his other site .

I guess  can stop talking about the fact that “Social Media” is something every luxury real estate agent ought to immerse themselves in.

To put it another way, I’ll point this out:

Not more than a few months ago, I knew of corporations that were literally banning the use of facebook. Also, they were patronizing and wrapping the knuckles of anyone who dared express interest in what is now a revolution in full-swing–-without you. (and don’t tell me about your alexa ranking, this has nothing to do with the dialogue.)

If the point of social media is to completely blur the previous solid wall between our corporate presence and our personal selves, then it is not the immediacy of sales that is involved.

The long tail approach is exactly that:

a lengthy displaying of a long term approach, perhaps years in the making, not just months.

The internet has erased time and geography.  We are locked into a binary world rhythm (on/off, act/react, yes/no) in the post computer revolution moment.

In the 90s—and seemingly into the “oughts”—of this century, it appeared to be business as usual, with people trying to stuff the old model into the new, and to simply carry on as usual.  This is normal, of course. We all want things to continue the way they were. We like what we’re used to.

The hybrid moment is over.

Some things to consider:  a website is like a library. One can pop in, take out some information, use it or not, catch up on background—it’s sort of like an individual’s wikipedia, and is focused on what that individual “does.”

Conversation adds value to the platform

A social media platform is about introducing ourself to the global village. Yes, it’s ok to say what it is we do, but it needs to be about so much more. It’s a conversation that takes place regardless of time zones, and has an immediacy about it.  We get to share what we do, to describe where we live, to offer information about our neighbourhoods, our community, our concerns—to introduce it to those unfamiliar with it. It’s not a place to trot out all our listings, to comment only on statistical evidence for market trends—that belongs back in the library of the website.

A blog is one social media envelope, “mailed” to the readership.  In it, we are allowing our real selves to come forward.

We often hear about the need for differentiation, that unique aspect of ourselves that we need to bring forward.  I think if we are simply “ourselves” in our blogging that we will have done that. Just as snowflakes are unique, so are we. There is only one of us. We are already  “differentiated.”

Important: be authentic in our blogging, and to let our real selves “show.”

Time has also been erased by the internet’s immediacy. The point of Twitter is that it’s a microblog—a place to quickly note something, like one of those post-it notes we used to attach to our paper world.  If we’re in time famine, then a Twitter post is a great way to get a message out there.

Facebook is creating two parts: a personal connecting with our specific world and a “fan page” aspect for our business lives. They overlap, though. Not a wall between them, as used to be the case.

Video is the thing we all need to get creative with. People like to see each other. The voice, the body language, the laugh, the shyness or not. It’s all what makes us “tick”, and is who we are.  We respond to the visual world, so why not those we encounter?

Time erased…I back up a little. This is true, and yet there’s that long tail approach, again, which implies some space of time going by, before any impact will be felt. The business model now in play means that we have to spread out our real self, our “soft” message, and let it take root. Find a willing listener, who might actually ask a question, and then the dialogue of a sales process can begin. The consumer is in charge of the timing of that initial encounter, and it can be years, not months.

When will it change?

It happens when the consumer is ready for it to happen.

Wow! That means patience is required.

Now there’s the biggest difference of all from the “oughts.” We are used to our real estate lives being more in our control and with a more immediate outcome. Not so, anymore.

I can see that there will be a lot of unhappiness in a sales career if one is still looking for an immediate response to a message about a listing. It’s not about the listing. This is a people business, right?

Important to put ourselves in the shoes of a consumer, and go looking ourselves, somewhere outside of our own well understood area. What is it we notice?  Who is it that is talking from their heart as well as from their head? Who is it that makes us smile with their enthusiasm for their area?  What is it they do, that we could be paying attention to?

Whether it’s entry level or extraordinary luxury oriented property opportunities, the consumer is seeking the same thing.  A compatriot who knows their stuff, and who will listen to their desires. How to choose that person, in this global village environment, where we don’t choose off an initial personal contact?

Authentic presentation, maintained consistently, on a social media platform—it’s the language of now, never mind the future.

It’s safe to say that “advertising luxury” is not the same as “luxury advertising.” Especially today.

“Luxury advertising” in the Spring of 2010 (as opposed to the Spring of 2008) demands risk. It has to be true. If every local luxury printed publication is literally subsidized by 1 or sometimes 2 of the top luxury agents, then why not go to Lulu.com and have a book printed there? I’m only asking. Maybe it’s more expensive. More time consuming?

Whomever closes the digital gap—not just blogs and social media, but using these tools—in their respective market assume complete market share in their respective market.

You can try to outdo your competition with spending, but you can also do it by harnessing the internet’s crowdsourcing for ‘traditional’ advertising budget spending.

It isn’t about “print vs web.” The tired notion that these two at odds is contrived and conceived by publishers who are (and they should be) concerned by the internet’s power. The iPad holds a few of the keys, IMO. Really, can you blame them. But it still doesn’t mean they should ignore these new mediums and dismiss them as last year’s big thing.

If, in fact, the housing market is (at the very least) in its early recovery stages, then surely it’s not going to be business as usual again for advertising and media companies when it has ‘recovered.’

My best guess is it’s going to have something to do with online communities. Companies like Etsy.com, Squidoo.com and Ning groups. Consumers—affluent consumers—also use these groups, by the way.

It’s understandable why one might think elsewise. They seem trivial at first blush.

Communities—that’s where social media has taken us. Now, what do we do as marketers of luxury to best serve our community? Or, better yet? Do you even have one?

If not, I’ll bet your competition either a) has one or b) has a solid foundation to build one upon

Of course, the craft of blogging has been bludgeoned to death by the ‘old guard’ to the point that the answer actually lies in the question. If you have to ask the question, you probably know the answer to it, right?

I just got an email or a text message from a group (which I didn’t ask for btw, therefore it’s spammy) informing me that they were ‘signing up Guest Bloggers.’ There are so many things wrong with this. I can’t even begin to go into it, but if you’re reading this, you probably get it, as do all of the Guest Bloggers on this site.

The point: Blogging is not something you sign up for. You sign up for a membership at the gym.

Just like you don’t just sign up for a 5000 dollar display ad. You make a calculated decision based upon all of the relevant facts and market conditions—not to mention your personal agenda for advertising.

If you are using a blog to help you sell real estate, I would highly recommend you shy away from anyone that isn’t personally asking you to blog on their platform. Luxury blogging is a craft. Far be it from me to ask anyone to ‘sign up’ to be a guest blogger. At the very least, it’s presumptuous. Don’t diminish the craft or its power to affect your brand.

A blog (or a luxury real estate blog) is an extremely powerful tool. If you need to ‘sign up’ through an unanticipated, non-relevant message chances are, you don’t need it.

All of the guest bloggers on this luxury blog are my friends, business associates and/or colleagues.

Luxury marketing and minimalism. I guess minimalism, in the sense of the least amount. Not the artistic version.

There’s something to be said for less. Less is always more. Miles Davis said:

“Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.”

Same is true in advertising for luxury real estate. You don’t have to live in luxury homes or sell luxury homes to understand this. “Spaces,” or the way “spaces’ are arranged are quite literally what is being bought and sold. (aside from the actual ‘space the area is located’ … but that’s still a space right?)

I don’t know how many emails, blog posts, or conversations will be had before people realize that just because the internet offers you endless amounts of ‘space,’ it doesn’t mean you have to use it.

You know what I mean, right? That person’s facebook page that is always changing. The person who obsesses over the getting the right font, color or heading on their site. Or, worse still… the analysis paralysis of the ‘first impression’ of a webpage.

The cover of your magazine matters—A LOT. Yes. Simplicity of your website matters even more. I didn’t invent this. The consumer did.

Just think you ‘browsed‘ to this site. I didn’t ask you to come here (though I’m glad you did, and I hope you come back), but you don’t have to stay. In fact, you need a compelling reason to stay… let alone come back. Just think if I were trying to sell you something. Would you click further at this point?

I didn’t think so. You would have already clicked above.

Yes, it’s important to exercise, to eat right, to get enough sleep, to keep in touch with our client base, to do the things that bring business our way while fulfilling our days…it’s also essential to add an hour a day to our “must do” list.

There’s  no point in having a Facebook page, or a Twitter account, or a Linkedin profile, or a Plaxo address, or…you get the drift!…if you’re not going to use them.

These are just methods of communication. Nothing fancy, nothing scary, just the medium of the moment. There will be others. Just wait and see.

Those questions are not going to be answered by a template or by hiring someone else to do this daily routine.

What did people think when the telephone first appeared?

Everyone didn’t have one. When they did get one, there was a party line to contend with. It wasn’t until the 50s, in some areas, when private lines became possible. Now, we can do our entire lives off a “smart phone.” I’m waiting for the wrist watch version.

Marshall McLuhan foretold today, back in the late 60s/70s. He reminded us that the medium was now the message. He also pointed out that we had become a global village. He was a foreteller, and it is only in the past year that the world has caught up with his vision.

So, CNN, which is a mainstream option, invites Ireporters, weights what they send in with items that the seasoned reporters input, the presenters turn to their laptops and read tweets and facebook responses, and it’s all mixed with the scrolling updates at the bottom of the screen. We are changed, as a people, by our technology. The medium really “is” the message.

Like Alice in Through the Looking Glass, we have to run very fast just to stand still. We have to multi-task and have to be “present” in the “now,” in our binary on/off world.

I think the next killer app will be an editing function, to make sense of all this evenly presented raw data…it isn’t information until we make sense of it.

Meantime, back to social media-the artificial line that used to divide our personal from our corporate lives is gone. It’s a holistic model of business/life, now.  “All” of us is required to be at the table. With both time and geography having been erased by the Internet, we are now communicating in real time with people from all over.  Just as in “real life,” our virtual worlds attract those we are comfortable with, and who are comfortable with us. It’s the social aspect of communication.

Nothing really different, then, except for the methods of this communication.

Just as the Buddhists remind us:  everywhere you go, there you are. It’s still us, it’s still good business practices, it’s still the willingness to be fully present in our service oriented real estate world.

We are still the link between a seller and a buyer.

The difference in the consumer-centric world of social media marketing, though, is that we must not push forward towards the consumer. We must take the long tail approach, give a lot of information away for free, without a sense that we expect anything at all in return, and in our consistency at this, we will attract a response towards us.

So important then, to have spent that hour in daily presentation on Twitter, on Facebook, on Linkedin, on Plaxo…and on any other social media venue that has struck a spark with you.

A canned presentation is no longer the way to reach a client. They want to know who we are…whether they can trust us…whether we are their kind of person, someone they want to choose to deal with.

It’s very exciting, really. Since it’s about “us,” we already know who we are…we don’t have to learn a new language. We just have to readdress our response time, remember to be consistent, and to have a little fun with it.

It is called social.

It is called marketing, which means our presence is business oriented, appropriately.

It is a medium (that just means the “way” we do it).

Like anything, if we do it for two weeks, we’ve got a new habit. So, walk a mile, eat a good breakfast, hygiene moments, social media marketing updates, daily work processes per usual, family/friend times, dog walking….you get it!

An expanded life!

RSS is the future of publishing. Yes, blogs are also. But blogs are nothing without having RSS feeds burned into them. I’m sorry for the brevity.

This is the only reason you are getting this in your email box. I (personally) don’t send it. The RSS does. I went looking for a bunch of feeds today for a project… and low and behold… I could only find 3… (and that’s 3 out of many.)

Advertising and marketing are part and parcel of all businesses. You might be hard pressed to find an industry that is as reliant on word-of-mouth marketing more than a realtor. Correct me if I’m wrong? Why wouldn’t you have a feed?

Here is wikipedia on RSS.
Here is Squidoo on RSS.

That’s all you need to know—for now.

Am I wrong? Guess it wouldn’t be the first time, if so.

Would your life be disrupted that much? Would you have any difficulty finding information?

I wonder these things aloud and online because I really want to know. Would it be so bad for the consumer?

All the statistics about where people start to ‘search.’ Does it make any difference what the numbers or percentages are? Don’t we all ‘search‘ digitally anyway? Isn’t it a moot point?

If google is a verb, it’s safe to say we are all different. After all, we don’t go to the computer to ‘dogpile‘ something, right? And, just 4 months ago someboday pointed out to me that ‘dogpile’ used to be a major search engine, so I shouldn’t be so quick to sing Google’s praises.

It’s these people that are frightening to me. The users that think that the only way to retrieve an email is with that guy saying: “You’ve got mail” That guy is scary… (unless he’s saying: “Goodbye.”) He represents something: the end of an era.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with the yellow walking man, but is that how you start your luxury real estate search? Is that how you search for anything? And do you really think that Bing is on Google’s heels?

I’m glad I’m in the minority. It won’t be the first and it won’t be the last. But the yellow walking dude is like the yellow pages… when it comes to ‘search’ anyway.

Back in March of 2009, I was fortunate to attend Luxury Portfolio Fine Property Collection’s annual Spring Workshop. (Luxury Portfolio is a remarkable organization, with remarkable people.)

One of the workshops featured the WSJ author, David Crook. To put it mildly, he wasn’t well received. He spoke of how buying a home was not a good investment. In fact, that is and was the premise of the book he wrote. Of course, trying to hock your book to the world’s most successful luxury real estate brokers probably wasn’t a good strategy—or was it?

This is what the newspapers do. They incite. The old saying, if it bleeds it reads is as true today than ever. In fact, you must hit an artery for it to read. This isn’t because of the quality of content. It’s because of blogs and what the new iteration of this blog has become.

Every time I read an article in the newspaper about real estate, it makes me shutter. Only because it likely isn’t written by a real estate agent with scruples. It is usually written by a flagging journalist who has yet to come to terms with what I like to call the New Press Model. No pun intended, for what it’s worth.

Yesterday, I actually had that moment of clarity when I read this article about a pop song that sticks to your psyche like gorilla glue sticks to your fingers. Then I read this article about percentages, price adjustments and the real estate market.

But, because of the limited nature of the news—even online news—the point didn’t go anywhere. The conversation stopped. There was no dialogue. No room for discourse. This, of course, is part of the larger problem in the real estate market. The message is often configured to sell papers and advertising dollars. (fyi, i have no problem with this—however, I do have a problem with tabloids—only bc it doesn’t seem to help the world. Let alone the market)

Here is Roger Ewing’s email sent to Mr. Lazo.

In case you don’t want to click on the links, here is a quotation from Roger Ewing’s post.

Thanks for reading my email.  I hope to see articles in future that draw attention to the two tiered market and the importance of addressing issues related to each market segment.  After all, those who purchase conforming loan properties tend to be tradespeople and small business owners/workers.

When a real estate transaction is successfully completed, more than 25 individual vendors receive work.  This tends to be an even higher number of vendors when a high end property finally closes escrow.  At the end of the day, full employment is the key to overall financial stability.

The point is this: What has more credibility? Who is more credible? The newspaper that has very little support from the real estate market anymore, or person who has dedicated almost their entire life to the market?

The bottom line, again, is blogs are far more powerful selling tools and marketing tools. They also invite discourse, discussion and conversation. If you disagree with one: you can.

Ignore it, however, at your own peril.

I guess if I’ve made difference to one person, I can consider what this blog is or was a success.

Here’s what some of my past colleagues thought about a luxury blog:

• One respected mentor called what I was doing: selling the sizzle. It wasn’t intended to be derogatory towards what I was doing. Or at least I don’t think it was. Here’s where I disagree—though respectfully.

The days of ‘selling the sizzle’ are gone. Far gone. That’s why this blog became institutionalized. Six years ago when the housing market was at its peak—the internet and broadband became widespread. This gave me, you, and everyone else enormous power. Power to transfer information, power to influence (even if it’s a free blog), and power to be someone to someone else thousands of miles away. This was not possible 6 years ago. The National Do Not Call Registry also gained traction in 2004. These things combined gave way to Web 2.0. They also were a factor in the collapse of the housing market.

There’s no more sizzle. I get the metaphor… now anyway. It was always a difficult metaphor for me to grasp in the past 3 and 1/2 years of sales. The reason why is because it just didn’t make any sense to my left handed brain. If I order a steak, I don’t need the sizzle to be sold.

• Another of my mentors (who made a huge difference in my life) finally believed in the power of this—social media, blogs, etc.,—but it was too late, because I was already on my way out.

My advice would be to use it. Dive in. If you can succeed in a business that is as difficult as putting together a beautiful luxury catalog of homes every month, you can certainly succeed in assembling relevant content that is useful in any industry.

• And almost all of my mentors (not sure that is the correct word) couldn’t or wouldn’t understand how a blog or social media followed into bank accounts. Understandably so. Social media is a process. It doesn’t magically appear. It takes constant reinforcement of a specific message.

My answer to this is that social media is SO powerful (in marketing and advertising) that you can’t afford to do anything less than remarkable, extraordinary and groundbreaking. Because someone else will.

My question is: Now that this site / blog is up and running again, is there still value in it?

Just writing out loud here… forgive me…

I presume this site has value in its syndication through Alltop and the readers and the writers. That would be you.

What would you suggest? While this is surely a platform, if not a springboard for ideas and market insight, it is difficult for me to imagine its continuation…

My original vision remains the same with this blog. In fact, originally it was called ‘The New Press Model.’ The first 4 posts were actually under this domain.

I spent the past 2 days realigning the database to this domain, but I’m unsure whether this is time well served on my part. I mentioned when this site was going to be down that I would assemble some sort of e-book or a pdf of sorts. This could be worthwhile, right?

Also, it could be worthwhile as a platform for luxury bloggers, I guess. If administered correctly—this blog was read all over the world.

Of course—and this is my opinion—blogs aren’t always written for a reason, or for some directly measured result. In fact, I think anyone who knows how to communicate with a blog writes one first and foremost because they enjoy doing it.

Just like anything else, as soon as you seem to be putting people on, they leave.

Maybe it would be better as a form of information. Like a data sheet. A bulletin board?

Personally, I can’t be someone I’m not. But that’s just me. Any of your input, suggestions or advice would be appreciated. If you don’t wish to leave a comment, please email me here.

Several years ago I stumbled upon an article in Esquire magazine about a gentleman that had a retail storefront property for rent. He assembled all kinds of information about the property, typed it up neatly and taped it inside the window of the store hoping to attract the attention of passersby.

Nothing happened until several weeks later he started getting phone calls looking for information.  He immediately wondered why after all this time people were now calling. When he finally asked one of the callers why they had called at this particular point, he found out that the typed sheet had come loose from the window and dropped to the floor. The calls were from people that who had some interest and had written down his number without getting the information and were now worried that they had missed an opportunity to check out the place.

The author’s conclusion was that sometimes too much information is not helpful.  If you take this lesson and apply it to marketing luxury homes or any homes for that matter, there’s a good case to be made for not overdoing it.

With all the tools we have at our disposal now there is a temptation to throw in everything.  With digital cameras, single property websites and desktop publishing applications it is easy to go overboard and provide the potential client everything they need to make a decision. But you don’t want them to make a decision at this point; you want them curious.

If you ever shopped for a car online at ebay you notice that the high volume sellers often will post dozens of pictures of all their cars for sale. Lots of pictures and a CARFAX report will sell cars online but nobody buys a home they intend to live in without seeing it first.

Here’s why less can be more in home marketing.

The immediate goal of the promotional effort is to get showings from qualified buyers and their agents.  Giving potential buyers too much information lets them eliminate choices without ever seeing them in person.  The expression “buyers are liars”  comes from clients that will outline all their criteria for a home in great detail and drop half of them when they fall in love on the doorstep of a home that the agent considered a longshot.

Sally Rand was a burlesque dancer in the ’30′s who made herself immortal by being a tease with her fan dance.  The fans we can use are techniques for creating curiosity and a desire to experience the home in person.  Consider these:

1. Concentrate the pictures on luxury details like elaborate crown moulding or a special window.

2. Show one room in great detail but only describe the others matter-of-factly in your written copy.

3. Focus on the landscape or gardens or a pool if any of them are special.

4. Use the copy to focus  on the community and the social atmosphere.  Remember many of your potential buyers may be from out of the area and know nothing about the community.

5. Write for the emotions. Don’t waste space or your readers attention describing features of the home that are expected in this price range.

Imagine the callers in the Esquire story peering through the plate glass window trying to read the details from the fallen flyer on the floor inside, hungry for more information

What you are trying to do is set up the potential buyer for a pleasant surprise when they view the home. You want to give them just enough information to suggest that “this might be the one” without hyping it.  Then let the the work done by the architect, builder, decorator and stager do the rest in the home marketer’s version of under-promising and over-delivering.

By ‘share,’ I don’t mean hitting a button that says ‘share,’ and I don’t mean illegal transferring files (though it can mean that). It means:

1 part: crowdsourcing
and
2 part: network effect. The wikipedia phenomenon.

People committed to the spreading of an idea—a good one.

Concomitancy is the only thing that matters in a luxury brokerage marketing strategy. Try to wangle the reader or your target market once—it’s over. A lot like trust. It takes time to build, but can be obliterated in an instant. I’m not sure why the internet works like this. But it does. Time is also completely different. 24 hours is not the same in re: internet time.

If you want to see a luxury brokerage that is committed to leading the way in digital marketing, take a quick look at Ewing & Associates. They have it down. And they put all their boots on the ground to contribute the spreading of a marketing message. You can’t pay for this type of marketing—anywhere. This comes from the top down, across and diagonally—from what I can tell anyway. And, they also adjust as they go.

The thing about their site is, it communicates everything about them. What they do, how they do it and the people involved—everything you would if you were a consumer of their luxury services. (i.e. representing you or your luxury property) And, what’s more? You don’t have to keep clicking and clicking to find these things.

It’s clear they are committed to a common goal: communicating trust and dedication to anyone who happens to land on their site. It’s all there for you—updated daily.

Why does this matter?

Look at the post below about staging by Karen Crystal. Look at the comments. Yes, it is extraordinarily well written and positively informative. Do you see the power of the network effect at work here? (no, they aren’t paying me to write this, btw. We just seem to have the some of the same marketing philosophies, that’s all.)

Of course it’s risky. Putting anything online with your name attached to it involves putting yourself and your brokerage out there. But what’s more of a risk? The potential to develop leads, clients and trust or not doing anything because of fear? I think the latter.

Thank you again for all the contributors for ‘taking a risk.’ Putting yourselves out there without an immediate guarantee of success.

This is internet marketing, social media, and the network effect. It’s not rocket science. But, I’m not sure I’d want a rocket scientist in charge of my marketing anyway. I’d rather have them work on rockets.

By Karen Crystal

Whether it’s a polite conversation, or a heated discussion, luxury real estate brokers are committed to the value of staging, and sometimes our view of this important marketing strategy may clash with that of our client.

The million dollar question: is staging worth the investment?

By staging your home, you are visually inviting buyers to become emotionally attached, thereby enabling them to imagine the lifestyle they’ll soon be enjoying.

Visually inviting

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million, right? So, why are visual images worth so much more than the spoken word? Because visual images are actually emotional triggers. In fact, studies have shown that at least 65% of us are visual learners, much of which comes from “our mind’s eye.” Our “Visual memory.”

For example, when luxury buyers describe what they desire in their dream homes and the lifestyle they want to achieve, they tend to use phrases like this:

Here’s how I’d like it to look… This is my vision… Let me show you how I am picturing it… I can see my family relaxing together…

Here is another important point to remember: not everyone possesses a vivid imagination.

Emotional attachment

Whether you want to admit it or not, we are all emotional beings. Many of our thoughts, and most of our important decisions are charged with emotion.

I observe as a luxury agent. This is part of my occupation. I spend thousands of hours with luxury home buyers. Their actions and buying impulses are far different when buying stocks and bonds—or even a company—than when purchasing a home.

Luxury buyers may not discuss how they feel regarding their business decisions, but they definitely talk about how they feel when it comes to their home buying decisions.

Those of you who are scientific thinkers, may not believe this is true… but it is.

To demonstrate my point, visit the staged model of a brand new luxury home development. I don’t know about you, but the minute I walk through the door, my visual senses awaken. Immediately, I begin to feel and imagine the lifestyle of the staged model home. Life seems a little better, and I imagine moving in—with only my toothbrush. It can be a vivid and emotional experience.

What about you? I’ve watched my own buyers “fall in love” with a home, feeling it in their emotional core. They imagine their children’s birthday party in the backyard, and they picture their family eating at the beautiful dining room table already set for holiday dinner.

Lifestyle

The luxury home buyer is looking for a home where everyday living and the luxury lifestyle are inseparable. The home overlooking the 6th hole of the golf course, with the outdoor living room equipped with a flat screen TV over the fireplace, and a bar for entertaining your family and friends. This is the life….the lifestyle we are selling… and the lifestyle they are buying.

So, when my sellers say (and this is an actual quote),

“If they can’t imagine their stuff in my house just because it is empty, then they are too stupid to afford this house anyway…”

I remind them that we are not selling their 13,000 sq ft house with 12 inch crown moldings, we are selling a home with a lifestyle. We need to market visually to buyer’s emotional needs, as well as their rational minds.

I recommend you ask your seller who is resisting staging a few questions.

1“Would you prefer getting a massage at the physical therapists office or the Four Seasons Resort Spa?” The answer is obvious. Then ask them..

2“Why they like the spa more than the therapist’s office?” They usually say they like the atmosphere in the spa better because it feels more relaxing.

3“Is it worth paying more for the massage in the beautiful spa then the cold therapist’s office?” I think most of us would agree the answer is an emphatic—YES!

The luxury home buyer will pay a premium for a staged home that creates a lifestyle image that resonates in their emotional core.

Who knows? They may just buy all the furniture with it!

These things, regardless of your beliefs, matter. That’s what the internet is about. Connectivity.

It’s safe to say that we are all aware of the way marketing and advertising seems to work or ‘not work.’ This being said, there is still a need. Li Read writes:

Real estate agents are consumers of marketing options

This is true, indeed. In fact, it is our responsibility to create, develop and integrate useful platforms for the luxury agent’s brand identity. This has been the challenge for everyone whose occupation involves marketing and / or the marketing of real estate.

It’s easy to blame. It’s also easy to point fingers.

Hand waving and blame are terrible strategies especially in times such as this. It’s in the toughest times that the individuals with the most to offer always shine. This is, of course, our time—to shine. These times demand our specialty. We are your agents of marketing options. While you broker, sell and represent property, it’s our opportunity to bring to you the best solution to reach the wealthy demographic. We have been doing that for twenty-five years and will continue to do this for you.

This blog points to the changes that have either already occurred or are occurring now. This is part of the opportunity for us. And now we can help you along as we roll out our new platforms.

The luxury real estate agents who participate in this luxury blog are spreading their ideas are investing their time in the equity that is the our future.

Your contribution in such an unchartered and unknown territory is to be admired. You are making a difference while creating the much needed change for tomorrow’s market which deserves your stewardship.

Seth calls the people who spread the idea ‘sneezers.’ We need more of both in luxury real estate. We also need more quality.

There are still remnants of the ‘bubble opportunists‘ all over the internet. It’s painful to see the burst shrapnel on any luxury agent’s sites. But it’s far more painful to find out that these bits and pieces laying around cyberspace are not completely discarded.

There’s a huge opportunity for any agent who wants to work hard to create value for their real estate market.

The reason? Because real estate is still slow, but it won’t always be that way. The owners of this company have been saying that since the beginning of the downturn. It certainly was difficult to believe that when this started. But it isn’t difficult to believe now. This is because I spent time during this downturn learning and wrapping my mind around these open source platforms—and, I’m not even close to comfortable with them.

The immense power in these open source platforms for agents is: they’re free.

Yes, free. They cost zero dollars (or close to zero) and you can do whatever you want with them (for the most part). But, just because they’re free doesn’t make them easy to use. In fact, the reverse is true. The open source platforms are developed, cultivated and nourished by groups of brilliant people—and no, they aren’t in the same room in an office in NYC. They’re all over the world.

It’s likely that you have facebook account and you probably signed have signed up for twitter. But harnessing the power of these tools is in itself part of the open source movement, as such. Their origins come from open source. Understanding this idea may be exactly what you need to sell that luxury property that has been on the market for the past 3 years.

My advice would be see what others are doing with them. You can use them however you wish—and they will help you. But, buyer beware, these tools make you vulnerable to criticism and subjected to extreme scrutiny.

Heck, I’m starting to feel sorry for the newspaper that I see on the ground in the early morning.

I‘m not trying to sell you an iPad. Steve Jobs nailed that in his keynote. I am trying to convey, (and have been for the past 4 months) that it is frightening to think anyone in marketing (and aren’t we all?) be the least bit dismissive of disruptive technology—especially game changers like the iPad. Unless, of course you plan on retiring. If so, I can also imagine spending time in Tahiti without being ‘connected.’

After a spirited conversation with a progressive minded entrepreneur today. We talked about publishing. The business of it, that is. The funny thing about the conversation is that it was one of the first where I didn’t have to defend myself or the status quo.

I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel. I’m trying to show you how the old wheel is broken.

The problem I am faced with is that a worldview that is in direct conflict with the old wheel of luxury real estate marketing paradigms. Most realtors (or people) have smartphones. A worldview that thinks the iPhone changed everything and the iPad is going to go rout this even further. Feel free to read how it’s just another gadget. Feel free to criticize my zeal and conviction for elegant technology. But, DO NOT confuse my passion for permission marketing and social media and their respective platforms with rabble rousing.

Watch Steve Jobs’ keynote last week. If you’re a real estate agent, how could you not see how this is going to dramatically change and improve your business? From a listing presentation, to your website, to your youtube channel, to your blog, to your twitter stream, to your contracts.

Yes, I like technology. And I like elegant technology—that means I like to work on a Mac. To be clear, I don’t work like this because I want to be hip with the latest ‘shiny new thing.’ *I also play guitar, and I have a Martin, a Gibson Les Paul, a Fender Stratocaster and more—all of them antiques by definition* I learn and utilize technology because it levels the field for me to play on, makes me more creative, faster and me more productive. (FYI, I am still using a 2007 MacBookPro, which is waaaay past what Moore’s law postulates.)

For real estate agents, below is an excerpt from another one of Seth’s Blog. You should read that, too. It’s much more informative than this one.

This post comes directly from Seth’s Blog: You don’t have the power

Smart businesspeople focus on the things they have the power to change, not whining about the things they don’t.

Existing publishers have the power to change the form of what they do, increase the value, increase the speed, segment the audience, create communities, lead tribes, generate breakthroughs that make us gasp. They don’t have the power to demand that we pay more for the same stuff that others will sell for much less.

And if you think this is a post about the publishing business, I hope you’ll re-read it and think about how digital will change your industry too.

Competition and the market are like water. They go where they want.