Category — Marketing

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I love Tom Peters! Here’s a 4 minute video about 2 markets he claims are underserved - women & old people

Check it out:

(Click here if you can’t see the video)

If you like the video, here’s a few books I’d recommend by Tom:

Re-imagine!

The Professional Service Firm50 (Reinventing Work): Fifty Ways to Transform Your “Department” into a Professional Service Firm Whose Trademarks are Passion and Innovation! (Reinventing Work)

Talent (Tom Peters Essentials)

The Microsoft iPod (2min 54sec)

If you want to make your ads stand out often simpler is better. We see so many Real Estate ads that are cramped, hard to read, and miss the mark in conveying a message. Next time you’re creating an ad, keep this video in mind. In today’s txt-message world, less is more.

Apple makes some of the most sophisticated devices on the planet and yet their marketing approach is so simple, elegant and effective. That is until Microsoft gets in the mix

(Can’t see the video? Click here.)

Ever wanted to know how search engine values your site? Ever wanted to know how a search engine values your competition’s site? This cool tool will give you an answer.

Website Grader is a free tool that evaluates your website or any site you enter in the form and returns some really useful information. It doesn’t give you a super in-depth analysis but it does provide a nice overview with easy to understand explanations of what the issues mean and how to fix them.

Check it out at www.websitegrader.com

Steamboat Springs

Note: Email subscribers may have to visit the site to view the video.

Redfin on the TODAY Show

My take on this is to question conventional thinking (which I think you should be doing all the time anyway). Just because you’ve always done something a certain way doesn’t mean it’s still a valid method. It’s hard to argue with their data. Many times we have assumptions that need to be disgarded or at the very least seriously questioned when the data proves otherwise.

I applaud these guys for sharing their data and causing conversations about what their data means.

You can read more from Redfin’s Science of Real Estate report here.

We’re introducing a new feature today. Each week, we’ll post a video that brings insight to aspects such as relationships, marketing and business. Some might be short, some might be long but we’ll try to post videos that bring a new perspective to your business and how you see the world.

This week’s video features Malcom Gladwell, author of the Tipping Point and Blink. It’s about 17 minutes long.

In this presentation Malcom Gladwell follows the career of a food industry consultant who uncovered a key secret to what eaters like. Running huge focus groups to find customers’ truest tastes, Gladwell’s hero draws a radical conclusion, an epiphany that has defined food marketing ever since.

In thinking about this video in terms of real estate, it’s evident that much of the design and marketing in Steamboat Springs has become very homogenized. The horses, ropes, barns, cowboys, rusted roofs, etc. all have become “western” elements that we think people want. Developments, spec homes and retail shops get the “western” treatment and get put on the market. What this video tells us is that there may be other very successful options that aren’t being considered. Focus groups may not have the answer either and the field is open for new designs, new markets and new approaches.

Click on the image below.
(RSS readers may have to visit the blog to see this.)

Legacy -

leg·a·cy (lěg’ə-sē)
n. pl. leg·a·cies Money or property bequeathed to another by will.
Using death to sell real estate is an interesting approach from Alpine Mountain Ranch. Every time I see one of their “Legacy” ads I can’t help but think about death. Every I see them I’m reminded of my own mortality.

So we came up with a few tag lines they could use free of charge:

Alpine Mountain Ranch - Buy now the end is near!

Alpine Mountain Ranch - Because you can’t take it with you!

Alpine Mountain Ranch - A great place to spend your final days!

Alpine Mountain Ranch - A little closer to God

Alpine Mountain Ranch - Free estate planning with every purchase!

On the other side of town, their competitor, Marabou has created a ton of buzz, interest and community value. And guess what? There’re selling out. Alpine Mountain Ranch continues to languish because of this shallow marketing even though in a lot of respects it may be a better development. I just don’t think that reminding their target market of their mortality is an effective approach. It’s a turn off.

Whose team would you want to be on?

One of the greatest strengths of a marketer is being able to tell a good story. Not a lie or something misleading, but something that resonates with the audience. A good story helps the audience connect with the essence of the issue. Steve Jobs is a brilliant storyteller and his contemporary Bill Gates, not so much. A good story that matches the audience’s world view helps them relate their own experience with what you’re marketing. Your message is much more likely to cut through the clutter and stick in their mind.

In Steamboat Springs, Jeff Temple is a good storyteller. As a result just look at the success of Marabou compared to other competing developments. At the recent Real Estate Round Up he was able to encapsulate the essence of Marabou in a simple powerful sentence that sticks. He said

“Marabou is 1717 acres, 1300 of which will be open space forever.”

A month later that’s the only quote from the event I remember. And I can repeat it to you. Good storytelling should be key in every aspect of your marketing. Anyone can copy & paste listing descriptions. Telling a compelling story through copy can add true value and help potential buyers connect and remember your listing. Here’s copy from 2 listings, $10 milli0n & 23 milli0n properties respectively. Is there anything in this copy you’d remember a month from now?

One of a kind ski in/ski out building site at the base area. This site is likely to be the most convenient ski in/ski out location for a home on the mountain with easy ski access from See Me, Voodo, and Lower Valley View. Just above the base and poised to benefit from the new luxury projects just below it. If you want a truely (sic) unique location, this is it! $10,000,000

This ranch acreage sits in the upper Yampa River Valley and on Thorpe Mountain. Home on the property is 1700 sq. feet and there are several barns and outbuildings. Irrigated river bed transitions to timbered high country laced with pine and aspen trees. Superior environment for elk and deer. Two seperate (sic) conservation easements border the property protecting the pristine environment. Water and mineral rights included in the sale. Opportunity for development or ultimate personal retreat. Contingencies may or may not apply. $23,000,000

Spelling mistakes and snoozer copy in a $10 million & 23 million listing. Ugh. Would you want this broker working for you?

In 1996 two guys had an internet search company called “Backrub.” They soon renamed it to Google.

In 1893, a young pharmacist created a drink that bore his name: “Brad’s Drink” In 1898, Brad’s Drink was renamed “Pepsi-Cola”, and what would become the world’s most recognized “number 2″ brand was born.

Naming your company, organization, development, etc, is the single most important marketing decision you can make. It sets a first impression that can’t be erased.

The best part of naming your company is that it’s FREE (and probably be the only free bit of marketing you’ll ever do).

700 is a big number. When I first heard about “Steamboat 700″ I thought “big.” Something didn’t fit - “Steamboat Big.” The only thing we really want to be “big” in Steamboat Springs is snow.

So the mistake, in my opinion, that Steamboat 700 made was using a big number in their name. Every newspaper article, filing, discussion, presentation, interview, conversation & blog post now includes that big number. I’m not at all questioning the merit of the proposed development. Danny seems nice enough and they’re intentions might add much needed resources to our community. But that number focuses our attention on the size instead of the merit.

A bit more thought up front about the name would have served them well. They have a critical time ahead and need to have the community on their side. For better or worse, community perception can make or break a deal. Just calling it what it is may have been simply the easy thing to do; 700 acres in Steamboat = Steamboat 700. But marketers need to realize that

my perception is my reality.

So the best thing you can do is set the right perception from the beginning. A good, free company name can do just that.

Anyone looking to get a little nip & tuck or a full blown extreme makeover of their website has a lot of options and a lot elements to consider. Here are 5.5 questions to ask before you get started. The questions are designed to give you insight into a web designer’s thinking. The way we see it, there’s plenty of nuts & bolts type questions to ask but the better thinker they are, the better site & experience you’ll get. That’s where these questions come in. Hopefully these questions will help you find someone who will create a unique presence and give you the tools to help your site succeed.

1. How much does a website cost?

If you get an immediate answer or a ball park answer this may not be the shop for you. The problem with this is there’s no way to know how much a site will cost without an understanding of what your needs are and what you want to accomplish with a site. If you get an answer right off the bat, you’ll probably get a templated site that looks like everyone else and does little to differentiate you to visitors. Ideally they’ll want to know a lot about your business and your clients. So look for and expect deep, probing question.

2. What’s your process?

Many small shops don’t have a process & they wing it. Process is important because it means you’re project is more likely to avoid problems and meet your expectations. If they do have a process, look for elements of “communication” as a key area of their process. Things like “review meetings” are a good sign because you’ll be in the loop upstream in time to make corrections if necessary.

3. How will I be able to update my site?

This is a big one in my mind. Most small businesses should be able to easily update their own site with timely information relevant documents and elements that keep the site fresh. All too often however business owners are at the mercy of a web shop’s schedule. The updates don’t happen fast enough, they often have mistakes and the whole process becomes a big hassle. It becomes easier to ignore the site which then quickly becomes stale.

Instead, make sure that you have a clear method of updating and adding to your site. Insist on tools and/or functionality that’s easy to use, and learn how to use them.

4. How long will it take to finish?

The correct answer here is a site is never finished. An acceptable answer might be something like “Phase 1 will be done in 6 weeks.” There’s always room for improvements, tweaks, value-add-ons and other work to consistently make your site a better experience for your visitors. If they’re a blow-n-go shop you may find you’re abandoned 6 months down the road when you’re ready to revise/add to your site.

5. Are most of your solutions CSS or straight HTML based?

This gets a little technical but a CSS based site will give you much more flexibility than an HTML based site. CSS stands for cascading style sheets. With a CSS based site, the formatting elements for the entire site are controlled within a single file. Why should you care? It makes managing and tweaking a site much easier. Say for example you decide 3 weeks after the site launches you don’t like the font color. You can make a single edit to the CSS style sheet and the whole site changes. With an HTML based site the same change requires manually editing each and every page to make the same change. This blog is CSS based and I can change the ENTIRE look by clicking a button. That’s only possible with CSS.

Tech stuff aside, a shop that’s using CSS indicates they’re committed to the best of breed solutions.

5.5 How many other real estate sites have you done?

Conventional wisdom would say “go with a pro” someone who’s done a ton of real estate sites. But I’d challenge that notion. What you want is fresh thinking not been-there-done-that-so-here’s-your-site thinking. A shop that really understands usability, design and experiences but is light on real estate development could be just the ticket for a stunning fresh site. Remember, at the end of the day it’s not about what you think is great, it’s about what your visitors think is great. Sometimes we’re so in the bottle and can’t read the label that we need this outside perspective.

Happy hunting!