Can You Hear Me Now?

Twitter Me This

Mariana Wagner posted a video to Twitter the other day that caught my eye.  In it, a man receives a call on his cell phone, and suddenly, he’s surrounded by hundreds of people all ready, willing and able to meet his need at that exact moment.

Watch …

Brilliant Ad?  Or Cheesy Catchphrase?

Is this a brilliant use of a marketing campaign, or simply a catchphrase that’s past it’s time?  On the one hand, the idea seems tired … note the number of people in the background saying over and over, ad nauseum “can you hear me now?”.  YES PEOPLE, I HEAR YOU!  SHUT UP!  Verizon’s been running this Network idea for years, asking “Can you hear me now?” more times than I care to count.  The catchphrase has run it’s course, and Verizon’s just shoving it down our throats again.

But wait.

Now that I think about it, note the number of people in the background asking “can you hear me now?”!  Within seconds of seeing the Network moving toward them, people knew exactly what it was, and what the phrase was.  They got it, they said it, they repeated it … is this exactly the kind of reaction Verizon wanted people to have?  A viral reinforcement that the Network REALLY EXISTS?

So What?

The idea of a brand is nothing new, particularly when it comes to real estate.  Your brand might be a symbol, or a catchphrase, but it’s a visual and memory cue that sets you apart from everyone else.  The McDonald’s Arches.  Chick fil A’s “Eat More Chikin”.  State Farm’s “Like A Good Neighbor” program.  Simple stuff, of course, but we’ve all seen The Cows and thought of Chick-fil-A, or the arches and wanted a milkshake (I promise this post isn’t about fast food).  A brand is a description of you.

It’s also a promise.  It’s a promise that, like your good neighbor down the street, State Farm will be there for you.  That’s where I think Verizon gets the ad right - they’re making a promise that they’re going to throw the weight of their expertise behind each and every call, because the next call you make may be the most important one of all.  Think the people who saw this in person aren’t going to think of Verizon the next time they get a cell phone, or upgrade their contract?  Think some of them didn’t go home and tell a family  member, or friend, about what they saw and experienced?

It just got me thinking about what people would say about my brand, and about our industry.  What do we need to do to get people talking, in a good way, about the value we’re adding to their real estate transactions?  How can we set ourselves apart, one client at a time, and create Raving Fans?  Here are three suggestions to do just that:

1.  Highlight your strengths.  It’s impossible to be everything to everyone, to serve every real estate need.  When I show land, it’s obvious I don’t know what I’m doing.  I want clients to be confident in my abilities, and know that I’m a pro.  Do what you can be great at, and refer the rest.  If you’re awful at details, consider hiring an assistant, or using some kind of transaction management tool to make sure nothing is missed.

2.  Make sure your skills match the client’s needs.  I can be the best agent in the world at selling Blacksburg homes, but if my client wants to live in Christiansburg I’d better be confident I can adjust and serve well there, or know how to get them in touch with someone who can.  Think - square peg, round hole.

3.  Overdeliver. Each and every time, overdeliver.  An agent in Miami mentioned - on Twitter (seriously, why are you not on there?) - this afternoon that she had a client tell her today “you have changed my perception of REALTORS®”.  He had swore he’d never work with another real estate agent, and yet she showed him value he just couldn’t find elsewhere.  WHAT a compliment!  Think she overdelivered to get that kind of praise?  I’m sure she did!  Make them remember you.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Verizon’s ad works, in my opinion, because (a) it’s humorous, and (b) it reinforces our trust in the product.  We trust the phone’s going to work when we need it to, and Verizon wants us to believe they’re there for each and every call.  The Network is the representation of that product.  Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the ads get people talking about Verizon - which is EXACTLY what they want.

What are people saying about you and me?

Convention registrations: It turns out we CAN give them away

Just ask Gary Lou Allen, Sr. of Century 21 Virginia Beach, lucky number 88 and our first winner in VAR’s Convention & Expo 2008 giveaway. Gary’s attending this year’s convention on a FREE registration and all he had to do was register.

With registrations today standing at nearly 400 total attendees, why did we wait so long to announce our first winner? Well, Gary delayed his coming forward. You see, he wanted to confer with his attorney and accountant about his substantial winnings. Plus, today is 08/08/08 and we had to seize this perfect opportunity.

Sign up online today for your chance to receive a FREE REGISTRATION and save up to $355 on your trip to Perfect Opportunities: VAR’s Convention & Expo 2008. Register now!

Click here for a reminder on how this promotion works.

Just Say “NO”

OK, ready? Repeat after me… “NO”

Try it again…”NO”

That’s what you should be saying firmly when the bank/lender says or “demands” that you lower your commission on your short-sale listing.

That’s also what you should be saying firmly when the listing agent says that the bank “demands” that the commission be lowered and that you, as the buyer’s agent, have to “split the difference”.

Too many agents are letting banks get the best of them. I’ve said “no” several times and have never had a problem. There are plenty of other agents that have also said “no” and have not had a problem either.

Can you actually say “no”?

Yes, you can! And you should. If you haven’t already, check out Lem Marshall’s presentation on short-sales which covers what’s required and what’s not and what’s legal and ethical.

Will the bank kill the deal if you say “no”?

I’ve yet to hear of a bank not approving a short-sale over 1 percent worth of commission. If someone has, please let me know and I will stand corrected.

So next time the bank tells you that you have to cut your commission to almost nothing, just say “no” and move on to the next subject. You’d be surprised at how well that works…

Stop and look at the %$#^&* numbers!

When I was working for the Roanoke Times, a bear got loose from (I believe) the zoo. It was caught without incident. But one of the photographers who had been listening to the whole thing on the police scanner quipped, "I was hoping it would head over to the Salem Fair."

Bad news sells papers and gets people to tune in to the evening report.

A solid housing market doesn’t make news, but the "waily, waily, waily" of a down market can. ("Woman commits suicide over foreclosure" — remember that from last week?)

It’s a bit wearing.

Enter the Real Estate Bloggers with a post, "26 Things The Media ISN’T Telling You About The Real Estate Market."

It’s time for the media to quit all the doom and gloom reporting, even if it gets more ratings than fluff stories; for the lazy agent to quit whining that there’s no work to go after; and for everyone to realize that what we’re REALLY seeing across most of the country is simply the leveling out of a major housing boom.

What follows is a list of facts gleaned from various sources. A few are worth pointing out.

4.  Only 15 out of 50 states have shown any actual price decline in the past year. The rest still show modest appreciation in home values.

Virginia had an overall increase of home values of six percent from the second quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2008.

8.  A “boom” in economic terms means a period of unsustainable growth - with the term unsustainable being the keyword. In the real estate world, a boom market is considered one in which prices have risen over 30% in 3 years, while a bust market is one in which home prices have dropped by at least 15% over a 5-year span. By that definition, very few markets are experiencing a bust. It is more likely that prices are simply bottoming out from the big boom. (According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.)

Definitions can be tricky things. We’ve all see how terms like "bull market," "recession," even "torture" can be redefined to suit your point of view. But "housing bust" is a lot stronger than "post-boom housing readjustment."

21.  Most of the decline is seen around 2 main types of markets: weak, industrial economies that are under pressure from the struggles of the Big Three automakers; and the areas that were previously part of the biggest boom markets.

Virginia, in case you hadn’t noticed, is neither.

No one’s saying the housing market is running on all cylinders, or that there hasn’t been a pretty major decline. That’s obvious. But a little perspective can go a long way, and a little hard data can help. Kudos to the Real Estate Bloggers for giving some of each.

PS:

25.  Many real estate agents are helping to fuel the supposed ‘market bust’ by giving in to fear and worry. They believe what the media and politicians are saying and are simply giving up, using the excuse that ‘the market’s no good.’ If agents’ were out there working hard, cultivating prospects and persuading people to buy or sell, the market would show definite improvement.

Finding Blogging Mojo in San Francisco

I’m still recovering from four days attending Inman Connect in San Francisco, including RE BarCamp the day before. Not only did I have the opportunity to listen to talented speakers and engaging panel discussions, I also got to meet so many people in person that prior to this week I knew from their writing or from interacting with them in various social networking places.

The online real estate community is an interesting bunch; I spend an awful lot of time listening and have thus picked up so many great ideas that I have implemented in my writing and my business. Being able to shake these folks’ hands (or hug them, most likely) and engage in face to face discussions on how they write, how they work their businesses… wow.

To recap what I learned, I have to write in soundbites, as there were a number of things that struck a chord with me:

• Dustin Luther’s suggestion to interview industry folks that we use and recommend on our blogs…lenders, title folks, inspectors, stagers, etc. They can be the ‘featured interview’ and you can send them a link to the post when you publish so they can send it to their sphere.
• Daniel Rothamel taking that suggestion further; interview/feature your past clients on your blog, highlight their unique story
• Quoting Frank Llosa, who was responding to someone who suggested that listing agents work way harder than buyer’s agents: “If you think a buyer agent is only a taxicab with a keycard, then you had a sucky buyer’s agent”
• Dustin on using social networking sites: you wouldn’t walk into the middle of a PTA meeting and yell “Hi, I’m a Realtor! Here’s my phone number and my website!”, so don’t do that on those sites either.
• Nicole Nicolay’s suggestion to become more involved with local schools to help them get the things they need
• Dustin: already established online communities are “low hanging fruit” of opportunity
• Jeff Turner and YEO…You Engaging Others, reinforcing face to face contact going hand in hand with internet marketing
• Dustin: “The internet doesn’t replace contact, it enhances it”

Overall, I think the most prevalent theme from the Bloggers Connect portion of the conference was that we need to remember to blend our online marketing efforts with our more traditional, face to face skills.  I heard it said in many different ways that we need to use those efforts to grow and enhance relationships that are already there, as well as give us the platform to make new connections.

When agents in my office asked why I was going, I told them I wanted to come back with ideas on how I could improve my blog and my business. I definitely came away with tons of ideas (my head is still spinning). Just as important, though, I had a chance to strengthen the relationships with the amazing friends that I continue to learn from. Worth every penny I spent to be there.

Cheers,

Heather

VAR Policy Board makes quick work of meeting

What is traditionally a two day meeting was slashed to one day as the VAR policy board moved expeditiously through their agenda last week and adjourned early (I assure you there were no tee-times involved). Here are some notable outcomes from the meeting:

• Cindy Stackhouse of Dumfries was elected President-Elect for 2009.
  • In 2007, John Powell of Colonial Heights was elected President-Elect, and will automatically ascend to President in 2009 in accordance with VAR’s bylaws.
• John Daly of Newport News was elected VAR Treasurer 2009-2010 (VAR Treasurer serves a two year term).
• John Dickinson of Union Church was elected 2009 Vice President.
• The Policy Board voted to recommend the strategic planning work group’s finalized strategic plan to the Delegate Body, who holds the ultimate authority to approve VAR’s strategic plan.
• Because the Delegate Body will not have the opportunity to approve the strategic plan until their next meeting in September, the Policy Board approved a preliminary 2009 budget. If the Delegate Body approves the strategic plan, VAR staff will prepare a budget that more accurately reflects the initiatives in the proposed strategic plan.

As a reminder, all VAR members are welcome at Policy Board meetings and their meeting schedule is published on the association calendar at VARealtor.com.

Slate mag on the other mortgage giant

There’s an interesting article in Slate for people, like me, who aren’t immersed in the world of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and thus have a lot to learn. Titled "Freddie and Fannie’s Healthy Cousin," it’s covers the FHLB.

For the past 12 months, an obscure agency created by President Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression has come to the rescue of the banking industry. It is called the Federal Home Loan Banks.

Like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the FHLB is a government-sponsored enterprise. But it differs from the wounded giants in some significant ways. Instead of being owned by public shareholders, as Fannie and Freddie are, the 12 independent regional FHLBs are owned by their 8,100 members.

(If you want just an overview of the FHLB, Slate links to one.)

NYT: Ditch the Gas Guzzler? Well, Maybe Not Yet

For you REALTOR-types who own the requisite gas-guzzling land yacht (suitable for schlepping customers hither and thither), here’s some advice from today’s YOUR MONEY column in the NYT:

Your neighbors may turn up their noses, but keeping your gas-guzzling sport utility vehicle, or buying one coming off a lease, may be a smart move….

….Given the plummeting demand for big vehicles and the rise in gas prices that is responsible for the market turmoil, it is probably tempting to ditch your own large vehicle and trade down to something smaller.

But many experts suggest sitting tight, for a variety of reasons.

Here are some questions to consider if you are tempted to get rid of your gas guzzler, and some tips for figuring out whether it may be more financially sensible to hang onto it for a little longer….

Complete story here.

Three guidelines for blogging gleaned from the first Center for Real Estate & Social Technologies survey

Over the past two weeks I’ve had a little bit of time to think about and discuss the findings of the first CREST real estate blogging survey with REALTORS® and social media experts in the industry. After spending nearly twenty hours poring over the data, writing the executive summary, preparing for a session at RE BarCamp, and answering questions about the report, I’m ready to start talking about the implications. Let’s get practical, shall we?

I’ve distilled the findings of the first CREST survey into three actionable things you can do to maximize your real estate blogging effectiveness. For reference, check out an abbreviated version of the results, or whip out your credit card and drop $9 to buy the full version. Of course, if you completed our first survey and provided us with your e-mail address, you’ve already received the full version.

Here are my conclusions:

1. THE TENURE EFFECT: The longer you blog the better it gets.

From visitors, to comments, to RSS subscribers, there is a positive correlation between your tenure as a blogger and these metrics. The CREST data suggests that there is a strategic inflection point after three years of blogging. Blogs started in 2005 received more than double the median comments, nearly triple the median unique visitors, and nearly six times the number of subscribers. I don’t think this is as simple as being a long-time blogger, though. Just because you’ve been blogging since 2005 (or earlier) doesn’t mean you’ll just automatically get better traffic and engagement, like some kind of entitlement. My suspicion is that the tenure effect is less about tenure and more about commitment. In other words, there are some real estate pros who started blogging many years ago and just decided it wasn’t right for them. They aren’t around to answer the survey. The best of those early bloggers — the ones who have stuck to it, continually trying to perfect their craft — ARE still around. And, I might add, they are more inclined to answer a survey like this one, because they want to compare their results to their peers and learn how to get even better. Is there a tenure effect? Yes. Is it based only on number of years blogging? Not likely. Bottom line: Keep blogging! The positive effects multiply as time goes on, but you’ll have to work hard, too.

2. FOR MORE ENGAGEMENT, POST LESS: The law of diminishing returns applies to blog posts.

The CREST data shows that the more you blog, the less engaged your readers are on a per-post basis. For example, on a per-post basis, respondents received the highest average number of comments when they posted between one and 10 times per month. If they posted between 21 and 30 times per month, the CREST data shows that they received the highest number of unique visitors per post. The CREST data shows that posting more than once per day triggers the law of diminishing returns. The lowest number of comments and unique visitors on a per-post basis was found among those bloggers who posted 31 times or more in a month. Bottom line: To maximize unique visitors per post, author between 20 and 30 posts per month on average.

3. PARTIAL TEXT RSS FEEDS DON’T PAY: Publish a full text RSS feed for more unique visitors.

At some point, virtually all bloggers are tempted to publish a partial text RSS feed. Many assume that by publishing only a snippet of their content by RSS, they’ll force subscribers to click through to their blog, and thereby earn more site visitors. The CREST data does not support this assumption. In fact, real estate bloggers who published a full text RSS feed received almost double the number of unique visitors per post than those who published a partial text RSS feed. I’ll leave it to the commenters to conjecture about why this is as it is. Bottom line: Publish a full text RSS feed.

Of course, YMMV, but the collective experience of 128 real estate bloggers is certainly more accurate than any one blogger’s isolated experience. I welcome your thoughts and conclusions about the first CREST survey results, leave a comment or link to us to join the conversation. And, before you click away from VARbuzz, please complete our second real estate blogging survey, which focuses on clients earned, a little bit of social networking, and frequently-used blog widgets.

Also, be sure to check out Mark Eckenrode’s analysis of our survey. He has some great insights, including a simple way for REALTORS® to reap potentially hundreds of potential prospects.

We’re number one — again

For the third straight year — since Forbes started giving the honor — the magazine has named Virginia the best state for doing business.

W00t!

Quoth:

Virginia remains an excellent location for new or existing businesses. It has the best regulatory environment by our count, thanks to the second-best incentive programs in the country–as well as the fifth best tort atmosphere. Other high points include energy costs 30% below the national average and an educated labor force fueled by its proximity to Washington, D.C., and top colleges like (sic; should be "such as") the University of Virginia and William and Mary.

The rankings "measure states on six main areas of importance: business costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects, and quality of life." ("Measure" is a strong word — most of those are subjective. But still.)

And now for a little schedenfreude:

Business costs are weighted the most, but low costs were not enough to keep Louisiana and  West Virginia from being the bottom two in our ranking.

Still, we can’t rest on our laurels. Our lead over #2 Utah is "razor thin." [Snarky rationale for Utah's high score deleted.] Plus, "Driven by higher labor costs, business costs in Virginia jumped, and are now approaching the national average."

And the big story, per Forbes, is Georgia, which has jumped from 15th to 5th place. Major lessons to be taken from those peach-eaters: Think international. Georgia has been doing it for a while, including opening an economic development office in Seoul 22 years ago. Result: Kia Motors is going to open a $1.2 billion car manufacturing facility in West Point, Ga. that will employ 2,500 people directly, "and another 5,000 or so workers will be needed for the numerous auto suppliers popping up around the Kia site."

Georgia has also opened offices in Beijing, Mexico City; Munich, São Paulo, and Tokyo.

In an amazing coincidence (really, it is), the next issue of Commonwealth magazine will focus on — wait for it — working with immigrants. Cool, huh?