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We just released the latest version of our eBook Alterations entitled “Selling Steamboat - 10 ways to think differently about selling real estate in Steamboat.”

It’s free so download it, read it, copy it and give it to a friend in need!

Alterations - Selling Steamboat

Just had breakfast with yet another broker complaining about yet another split adjustment by yet another managing broker who refuses to see the light. Desk fees, time in grade, tiered splits, volume splits – the circus goes on & on.
Here is what I see over & over again. I see brokers using their cell phone numbers on their ads along with personal email addresses. I meet with brokers on a consistent basis who are trying to either get a website or redo the one they have. I see brokers who spend 95% of their time out of the office. I see brokers who invest heavily in self-promotion. And yet the number one complaint I get is related to splits.

Why?

In 1988 it made sense for a managing broker to take a heavy split of your commission. It was extremely expensive to operate a business. Printing costs were enormous, early computers cost a fortune and of course the Internet didn’t exist. National TV campaigns drove serious business to the big franchises and the phones rang because of it. As consumers we had two choices to get in touch with you, dial a phone or turn a doorknob. “Floor Duty” was a lucrative use of your time because of that. So a managing broker taking 50%+ of your commissions made sense. The bulk of your business came from your association with that company.

Today, the complete opposite is true for most brokers I meet. The majority of their business comes from leads and clients they personally generate. Most brokers I meet view “floor” as time to get office work done. They view their association with a brokerage as “doing time” as required. And yet commission splits have remained almost unchanged.

So, I think you deserve more money.

You deserve to keep more of what you earn for the very reason that you’re doing more to earn it and your managing broker is doing less. You have more choice than ever before. Don’t spend yet another year hoping things will get better. If they haven’t by now chances are good they won’t. With companies like Colorado Group, there are alternatives to the commission split game. And it is a game, which most managing brokers should know is coming to an end.

Every evening a managing broker watches his entire company drive away. He can only hope that his company comes back in the morning. It’s my hope that the sooner managing brokers realize this the sooner they’ll approach their job differently. They are no longer the gatekeeper they once were. Their value has shifted to other areas. Maybe attend a conference or establish a new media initiative instead of adding yet another page to the split spreadsheet.

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!

Steamboat recently was home to a regional Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament. Who knew there was such a thing? The nature of the game got me thinking about real estate companies. In Rock, Paper, Scissors is there really any strategy in picking one “device” over another? Not really. Often we end up picking a device for our throw that makes us feel good not because it has any greater chance of beating the other player. I tend to pick a rock because it “feels” like it has a better chance of winning but in reality, it doesn’t.

Is the same thing true for real estate companies?

If one takes a close look at Re/Max, Century 21 and Prudential are there really any concrete easily identifiable differences that a typical home buyer or seller will notice and more importantly value?

If one takes a close look at Re/Max, Century 21 and Prudential are there really any concrete easily identifiable differences that a typical home buyer or seller will notice and more importantly value? I don’t see them. They each have a slightly different message and slightly different position but I’m not sure consumers can really tell the difference. I could see how in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors where Re/Max, Century 21, and Prudential are substituted we’d be faced with the same dilemma. Which to pick because each has about the same value? Which company has the resources and people to sell my home within my time frame and for the highest price? I know the differences between Schwab and Merrill or Mercedes and Kia or even Lowes Hotels and Hilton and I’ll make my decision based on my understanding of those differences.

Does the Re/Max balloon, a marketing idea hatched in 1978, really convey anything to the consumer today?

I see huge opportunities for small real estate companies not saddled by national marketing and branding to create new value by engineering their business in providing superior differences and value compared to the big guys. Does the gold jacket really matter to the consumer today? Does the Re/Max balloon, a marketing idea hatched in 1978, really convey anything to the consumer today? No & No. So I say to the small real estate company - GET BUSY! You have a huge opportunity while the big lumbering real estate companies stumble around.

Audio Interview - Oveview of Paid Search vs Organic Search

Les Reaves is the founder of one of the leading search engine marketing companies in the country, Market Square Media. In this first part of this 3-part interview, geared toward brokers, Les discusses the differences between paid search marketing and organic search marketing and why you need both for a successful search campaign.

If you’re just starting to use search engines in your marketing or you’ve been at it for years, you’ll find a lot of help in this interview.

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