Today’s successful mega-producers are generating plenty of business, but unlike the customers of yesterday, today’s real estate customer is beginning online. According to the latest figures, in excess of 90% (94%) are beginning their search online. In my last installment, I explained how successful agents today are going way “upstream” to capture their business — before the customer has had the opportunity to be attracted by old-school marketing techniques. If you haven’t read it yet, you owe it to yourself to start there. Continue Reading…
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 3:08 pm. Add a comment
In my last post I discussed the difference between yesterday’s pull marketing and today’s push marketing. I explained how pull marketing is reactive — “If you build it they will come.” Push marketing, on the other hand, is pro-active — “If you build it they won’t come so you have to go get them.” (Click to view previous blog post.) Many agents today have experienced that very phenomenon: doing lots of advertising and getting little if no results. Today’s successful agents are going upstream and capturing the lead early — generally during Phase One of the buying cycle. Continue Reading…
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 9:47 am. 2 comments
Before we launch into this segment, let’s recap the last installment. In it I was discussing how in the 1960s and 70s, our industry was in a Broker-centric Era. The brokers had all the power. Customers had very little access to listing inventory except through them. Agents had no business except through them. Modern real estate brokerage was in its infancy. By controlling the inventory, broker-owners were able to build real estate dynasties. It was common place to see multiple office operations with teams of agents, and it was during this climate that companies like Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA, and other similar broker-centric companies became huge empires. Continue Reading…
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 5:06 pm. Add a comment
When CNN’s Pulse on America program featured us two years ago, they were investigating an interesting phenomenon in our industry. It seems that today there are two real estate worlds coexisting simultaneously. Like in the movie The Matrix, there was the “perceived” world and then thee was the “real” world. In our industry there is much the same today. Those agents who are practicing real restate this new way, are doing quite well — many better than ever. But those who are hanging onto the old-school real estate model are finding themselves working harder and harder and making less and less money. In order to understand this “new way” of doing real estate, we must first look at the history of real estate practice and see how it has evolved. Continue Reading…
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 1:51 pm. Add a comment