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Tag Archives: business of real estate

A better client?

I read a bunch of different blogs each day. One of those is by a marketing genius named Seth Godin. Today he had a post about the dumbing down of America. So many marketers, advertisers and service providers assume their clients/customers/consumers are just not that bright.

We see it in the news. I mean really IN the news. Newspapers are written for people with an eighth grade education. TV newscasts aren’t much better. I think they assume that viewers have the attention span of guppies. If they cover a story on the six o’clock news on Tuesday, if there is an update on Wednesday they have to repeat the entire story (even if it is a story that one would have to hide under a rock not to be aware of). And, in some cases it is worse…

A few years ago, during a multi-day event that had traffic tied up for a few days, one reporter flying in a traffic copter over a crowded Interstate actually said, “the red lights are the cars going away from us, and the white lights are the cars coming towards us.” Wow… the insight is amazing, no?

Office guySeth’s point, and one that I totally agree with, is that if we look for dumb consumers we will find dumb consumers. After all, what should one expect if they put out a message trolling for an eighth grade education?

So, here we are…

I don’t want clients with an eighth grade education. I want clients that are a cut above. I may write a post to explain how something works, but that isn’t because I think I need to dumb it down. A good example, from the other side, is that I am building my website and blog. I don’t consider myself to be below intelligence, but I don’t spend all of my time designing websites. I need to learn a lot of the basics that people that build websites every day take for granted. I deal with real estate every day. I don’t assume that my clients do… but I assume that they can understand what I throw at them.

So, here’s to the better than average client. You know who you are. And I am so glad i don’t have to write content for eighth graders…

New Year’s Resolutions

One thing I have learned in my life is that when I publish something, and publicize it, I have to follow through… let’s try it with the least likely to follow through of all events…

New Year’s Resolutions

I just have a couple… in order to make it likely that I will succeed. I can add a few extras for padding if I have to…

  1. I will walk several times per week. A few years ago, Gail and I trained for and participated in a marathon (at Walt Disney World, on the American Stroke Association team). We were walking 3-5 times a week, and worked up to 5 miles for most of the walks, and as much as 20 miles on the weekend. While I don’t know that I want to walk 20 miles on a Saturday, I would like to get to 5 miles, three times a week. I would also like for the time to be about one hour for the 5 miles. (Anyone that wants to join me on the walks, feel free to let me know)
  2. I will explore technology to make my business more efficient. One of the things I spend too much time doing is typing blogs… I’m not fast, and likely won’t be. If I am going to spend several hours a week walking, I will need to multi-task that time in order to not take it away from my family. I will need to explore options like Jott, as well as getting phone calls done and some strategic planning.
  3. I will lose weight. That is the biggie… it’s on everyone’s list. I need to lose 30 pounds… and then re-evaluate and decide to lose 10 more… I hate diets… So, I will be working on burning off the garbage I eat. I’ll leave the garbage eating to another year.
  4. I will increase my business. This is a no-brainer. My production last year sucked. If I can’t beat the hooey out of last year, I have no business in this business…
  5. I will produce more content to separate my blogs and my website. I want to have more varied content on my blogs (here and “outside”) as well as my website. Most of the content is shared right now. I want each to have their own content streams, so there is less sharing.

I also have a few Goals for 2008 that I will have to strive for… since I’m telling you.

  • 20 pounds. At my weight, I will burn about 135 calories in a mile. It takes about 3500 calories to equal a pound of fat. That means that a marathon is about what I need to lose a pound of fat. It would take 518 miles to lose my goal in fat. So, I need to walk ten miles a week… burning only fat… in order to reach my goal. I will also be ramping up some other exercise.
  • Convert my website to a magazine format and produce a new “issue” each month… starting by March. I make a lot of content, and I want to make it more compelling to read. I also want to boost my reach by making the content and delivery more viral. I switched to the Joomla platform for that site specifically for this purpose.
  • Sharpen the focus of both my website and my blogs to rank better with Google. Shocker.

Here are my padding Resolutions…

  • I won’t start to smoke. If I’m smoking, I better be on fire.
  • I will be the best father I can be for my sons. Almost broke that one right there… We have a new boy on the way… due March 5th, but I’m betting February 29th… and I originally wrote son. We will continue to do “Guy Lunch” and “Just Guys Day” as well as new traditions.
  • I will be a good friend.
  • I will work hard to make Mud 4 Blood bigger than last year. If you are anywhere near Atlanta around May 10th, join a few hundred off-road enthusiasts at our blood drive. This year we are trying to get national exposure from the enthusiast media. (just a note, as I write this there is only a placeholder for the M4B website… it’ll be up soon).

There is my list. I will keep everyone updated on how I’m doing… especially when people start bugging me about it while I’m try to change the subject (hint, hint).

The better way to look at everything

Part of my daily reading ritual includes Seth Godin’s blog.  He is often described as a marketing genius.  I think that well might be true.  But, his blog isn’t just about marketing, but also often touches on greater issues.  This one certainly did.  Although, he actually wrote it four years ago… still rings true.  Did you go read it?  I’ll wait…    …   … … .. .

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Say it until it is true!!!… NOT.

While researching yesterday’s blog entry, I ran across this little tidbit.  Frankly, it p***es me off.  I am proud to be a member of the NAR.  I think that there is a place for a strong voice both for real estate professionals, and to champion the issues for increasing home ownership for consumers.

But this is downright stupid.  Whistling past the graveyard.  Spinning… without anything to spin.

Just as

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Housing apocolypse revisited

I ran across a post on Active Rain that pointed me to an outside article that talks about the need for at least a 20% reduction in home prices in order for families to be able to afford to buy. Well, I love it when there are specific claims and statistics. I can usually verify and refute or support specifics. When someone tosses out some general and off the cuff stats, they can’t be verified.

So, I ran into one problem,

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