SpencerBarron.com

The linear thinkers in Real Estate 2.0 seem to believe that by appointing themselves ’mayor’ of their suburb they will rule the roost in their real estate market.  It’s an interesting concept.  A new spin on the old school real estate newsletter that could put an agent on the map.

This is how it would work.  You would pick some area that seems ripe with a financially viable, tech savvy group of people in need of information and hopefully a new home.  What type of information would you feed them?….oh…everything of course.  You see, you would figure out everything your ‘peeps’ are interested in and pipe it to them fresh by blog and RSS feed.  High School player bios, the latest track results, and who’s cat had kittens….people love that stuff right?   All the good stuff.  They wouldn’t be able to get enough, so they would come back without having to be prompted by other means.  Of course you would go neighborhood viral worse than like little Johnny fresh out of kindergarten.

 People would stumble across the site on Google and many others would find it on flyers/mailing that would eventually be phased out once the web presence took over.  Then,  your constant craving for the information I have would keep you coming back like some sort crack head.  You wouldn’t be able to get enough.   Of course all the while I would be subliminally establishing myself as an expert in your area.  The perfect person to sell  your home and the best resource for a buyer.

While all of this sounds great, my gut feeling on this is that it’s not quite possible/likely yet.  I personally am not pursuing this approach to blogging locally.  I am working on some approaches to this but an online newsletter it shan’t be.  I can imagine a client being a little put off by the fact that you just decided that your going to insert yourself into their lives.  I’m on record as saying I don’t think you jack black bencasino gratuites frcasino island blackjackblack jack daveycasino bonus de bienvenueregle jeu roulettewww traiteur casinobonus gratuitsjeu roulette casinojouer video pokerbonus gratuites de casinojack black spider mancomment gagner à la roulette en ligneregle de la rouletteslot machine gametelecharger jeu poker texasjouer seven card stud gratuitesle poker en ligne en françaispoker en ligne bruelentrainement poker gratuitesjouer au poker sans telechargerle poker apprendre à jouerpoker le jeujeux de poker sur internetpoker gratuites sans telechargementworld poker gratuitesjeu de pokerjeu poker freewaretelecharger poker holdpoker en ligne argent virtuelpoker holdem gratuitesjeu de carte pokerjeux poker tour en lignepoker online argentjeux 7 card stud gratuitespoker en ligne francaistour de pokerjouer au poker onlinejeu javalogiciel poker texas holdemjeux pokerjouer poker en ligne gratuitementtournoi texas holdemtelecharger jeu poker gratuitesstrip poker gratuitementpoker sans internetle jeu du pokersalle poker onlinepoker source onlinepoker texas gratuites can be a successful hyper-local blogger unless you live there, have kids, grew up there or have some other attachment that people can use to relate to you on a personal level.  Maybe you should open your office there.

I have some concerns about the hyper-local approach because it seems to be a house of cards built on a card table. 

The card table is the premise that you are filling a need.   The idea that people will continue to choose area experts since everyone charges the same.  The idea that an agent that sells in one subdivision is not qualified to sell in another.    Can you imagine the tedium involved in putting this together?  Tedious as it is, it is possible it could pay off.  Especially if you’re making the comparison to established agents who are using the old fashioned methods successfully but will that transfer well to the Internet? 

Here’s a few more random thoughts, questions and observations that should be considered before starting down this path.  I wouldn’t say you shouldn’t attempt this approach, but rather, I would attempt to resolve these conflicts or plan ways to address the potential issues early in your development process.

1. Brokers need the people,  but people don’t need you.  Is what you got fresh enough to be news to them?  Would they even care to read your stuff?
2. There’s a small matter of trust and privacy. “I don’t want you taking pictures of my kids or anything.”
3. Who Voted you Mayor?  Would they feel you need their permission?
4. This sounds like an incredible amount of work.   Is it sustainable?
5. Will this create a steep barrier to entry?
6. Who is better positioned to do this same job?  Will they take you out at the knees next year?
7. Will the shrinking real estate margins crimp your projected profit?
8. Will this work if you’re competing against an established farm agent?
9. Where do people currently get the information you will offer?
10. How much will it cost to market the blog or will you rely on Google to deliver people to you from the subdivision you’re targeting?

Correct me if I’m wrong, I’ve seen lots of attempts at local blogging but haven’t seen anyone suggest that they’re ‘killing’ it with this method.  A deal or 2 here and there doesn’t deem the method an absolute success.  Even the most successful national bloggers don’t put up numbers that match top farm agent numbers.  While there might be 20 agents makeing the high 6 figures in a big city, the big time local bloggers aren’t among them.   It makes me think the hyper-local approach is over-hyped and merely a new topic for a real estate conferences to ponder and theorize about. 

I personally have researched many of the agents locally that blog as their primary rain maker and it really isn’t that impressive.  It’s a living.  It’s not a surprise really,  I feel they get a fair return on their invested time and money but I’m personally willing to trade money for time if it gets me to the same point or better.   

  The method doesn’t approach the numbers that standard farming brings in.   I’m left with the thought, that if you don’t have any ideas to generate business and you have a very limited budget, this can’t hurt.  I’m sure there are tons of agents out there that have the time to focus on this.   The 2 biggest problems with this is that the Internet hasn’t achieved a true hyper-local capability yet though I would expect that to change.  Second,  I’m not convinced that people would be any more likely to use you than the other guy that got some face time with the potential clients. 

As for the house of cards analogy, once you have it all built and up and running, people using you and all…how easy would it be to knock down.  Will you be able to keep up or will competition take over where you left off.

  Here’s a tip.  Your clients probably Googled you.  Blogging is key to your business because people use the Internet for research.  Especially so when it comes to real estate.  You have a chance to create your own spin, your own buzz.  Potential clients get to know you anonymously  and make decisions about your expertise and qualifications prior to making contact.  Even after meeting you they may want to learn more about you.   

 Just a few thoughts.  Here’s some further reading on the subject:

• Seth’s Blog - Advice for real estate agents (quit now!)
• Jeff Brown - House Agents — Wanna Start the New Year Kickin’ Ass? Here’s How  - My apologies to Jeff for not getting back to the subject sooner.  I had to ‘wrap my mind around it’ some more.
• Life that Pops - Everything new is old

 There is a lot said there and in the comments that might trigger some new thoughts on the subject for you. 

Have you tried to find an answer on the Internet? That is perhaps a dumb question. The real question is, is the information you find good information, reliable information?  How do you know what is credible and what isn’t?  Even the good intentioned aren’t always accurate sources.  Hopefully, you don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. (Except for what I write, of course…)

But with the rush to the Internet instead of to the library to do research these days, the issue needs to be considered. Young people especially tend to ignore the library and focus on googling the Internet, and I confess I have done the same when I could not get to the library. But, depending on the relative importance of information accuracy, this may not be the best thing to do.

An excellent article, “Evaluating Credibility of Information on the Internet”, by Ronald B. Standler, gives some good suggestions to those doing general research. I will not belabor the points he makes about trusting what you read.

An experience I had today, though, highlighted for me the importance of validating information that is of importance. I was researching the small town of Pratt, Kansas, about 70 or 80 miles west of Wichita, population a little over 6000, with regard to a possible move. I was using Neighboroo, a very interesting Web site that gathers information on life, people, housing, environment, and real estate development for American cities. For example, Read the rest of this entry »

Internet advertising is such a waste of money. Definitely overpriced compared to the returns I get from other types of advertising. Not so much my own websites- they have their use, it’s the Internet lead sources that will no longer be receiving checks from me. Lead sources like Justlisted.com, Realestate.com, HomeGain, and the myriad of other companies who are pawning off information that they collected at one of their many landing pages. According to the 2006 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers (pdf), three quarters of home buyers use the Internet in their home search. With this premise in mind, you would think an agent should place a large portion of his/her marketing budget into the Internet. That’s where the buyers are, right? Yes and no. They are there, but they really don’t want to be bothered.

People love the anonymity of the Internet. They don’t want to be sold. They just want something that you’ve got. They hate to leave their information, so they will not, if they can avoid it.

‘They’re not that into you’

Unfortunately for agents, real estate is rarely an impulse purchase. Read the rest of this entry »