The Buzzword For 2009 Is.......

I had an awesome trip to NYC last week to participate in Real Estate Barcamp NY and another stellar Inman Connect conference . After reflecting on the general messages it's a pretty safe bet to predict that "lifestyle" will be the real estate buzzword for 2009. I've been a huge advocate of building business models and marketing messages based on the fact that people do not buy homes. People buy a dot on a map surrounded by a whole host of tangible and intangible things that make up a great deal of what we commonly refer to as the pursuit of happiness.

The New Reign of King Content
Somewhere around '98 or '99 a company called Homescout unveiled what was perhaps the first "radius" search built around listings. The site offered options pick from several basic items such as schools, churches etc. all within X mileage radius and it would show up along side the homes for sale in search results. New search technology is taking this to a whole new level. In a Web 3.0 world It will happen semantically without the need to tick a bunch check boxes and spend a great deal of time telling the servers what you want. Based on your profile, servers are going to do some pretty deep relational data mining to pull together content and deliver it in a nice neat little package that is so targeted it will seem almost frightening that a machine could know you so well. So how do you make sure that somehow your branded content stands out amongst the items in the package? Content. Great content. It should be specific to you, developed by and owned as intellectual property by your brand alone. The quality and relevancy of this content is infinitely more important than any search engine carnival barker strategy. Optimizing is taking on a whole new meaning when it comes to the web and eventually the only strategy that will matter is to understand your prospect and deliver better and more relevant content than the next gal or guy. Sounds like a real challenge huh? Perhaps, but not beyond the grasp of anyone with the desire to earn and continually sharpen the skill set necessary to accomplish it.

Branding
Gary Vaynerchuck of WineLibrary.TV was selected as this year's keynote speaker for Inman Connect and it was very entertaining. What Gary had to say about his path to success and brand building can be applied to just about any vertical. I think perhaps due to his message being compacted into a short keynote that it didn't have enough set-up to resonate with absolutely everyone in attendance. As I listened I realized what Gary was conveying aligns with a lot of the things that myself and others have been saying for some time about branding and content.

The path to building a brand as a real estate practice or practitioner is changing drastically. It is going to become necessary to start crafting a business foundation based on production and publishing as if you were your own media company. The barriers to entry in accomplishing these goals are all but gone. Building networks and books of business are forever being changed by the ability to attract and keep the attention of people through social networks and top notch content that delivers information way beyond square footage, beds and baths.

Now that consumers are empowered with data, what actions do you take to establish your value? What can you deliver to your prospects that truly keeps you at the center of the transaction? Transparency (buzzword of the year for 2008) is a given. Transactional efficiency is obviously critical and will come from experience and the decisions of whom you hire and align yourself with. Continuing education will take on new meaning and look entirely different.

Wearing New Hats
I think in the end the biggest winners will be those that combine transparency and transactional efficiency with creative business models designed around lifestyle. Defining niches, blogging, developing audio and video content, etc. and doing so in a way that keeps the intellectual property uniquely yours will be critical to garnering and keeping market share in the coming years. I know it sounds complicated, but if you break it down into it's components and start spending a dedicated amount of time every day to the effort, anyone with a reasonable level of overall business acumen can build a brand and a business model designed to be nimble enough shift with the changes in the way consumers are selecting the consultative services of real estate professionals, in fact as I write this an invitation came in to participate in a round table discussion open to anyone. The topic is centered around the very heart of this post. It demonstrates that the resources are there and the timing is perfect to invest in new ways of thinking. Explode some old myths in 2009 and grab market share. Sure the pie is smaller right now, but every crumb you grab now will take on new meaning when things turn around.

To sum it up, I think creating a culture of perpetual learning and top notch content creation will be the keys to crafting your future in the business. If you're willing to wear some new hats and think outside the box, it could be very rewarding in many different ways.

Keynote 2.0 Extending The Conversation With @GaryVee
I was fortunate enough to meet Gary Vaynerchuck and spend some time with him while in NY. We have scheduled a podcast interview in a little less than 2 weeks from today. I'll have about 40 minutes with him to expand on his message and bring as much clarity to it's practical application as possible. Once you've grasped the concept of his message and who he is you'll find out why in such a short period of time he's become a highly paid speaker, author and cult of personality on the web. His passion is genuine. If you have a question you want me to ask Gary, leave it here in the comments and I'll do my best to get it in the interview.

Update: My buddy, Dale Chumbley from WA posted his bootleg version of @GaryVee's keynote that he shot from the front rows. Thanks Dale!

Podcast Interview: DiamondDwellings.Com

The folks in attendance at this years SF Inman Connect event seemed a little more engaged than usual. They also seemed a bit more genuine with regard to their desire to wrap their minds around the new rules and new tools of real estate. I had the opportunity to meet with a few people developing some fairly unique concepts. Among them is an affable guy named Matt Fagioli. We've connected briefly in the RE.net prior to the events. He showed up to REBarcamp and Inman with an energy and passion that was very contagious.

Matt is in the process of launching a new brokerage model called Diamond Dwellings. His concept is to provide area market leaders with a best-of-breed platform that takes full advantage of Web 2.0 while still implementing the best of what he affectionately refers to as "old school" marketing.

I had the opportunity to follow up with Matt and one of his agents, Lane Bailey today via audio podcast. Lane did a great job of extending his social networking chops into the events that took place in SF last week. Take a few minutes to listen to the interview and if you have questions contact Matt, he strikes me as a real straight shooter who will give it everything he has to ensure the success of the professionals that get on board with his program.

I promised Matt we would do a follow up interview next month to see where they stand with their program. Stay tuned!

Check out the interview here:

Click Here To Subscribe To Our Podcast Channel In iTunes

A Lesson In Disruption

There is an ongoing lesson in disruption that I think real estate industry leaders can glean a great deal from. The professor of this lesson is someone near and dear to the hearts of every red blooded American, Mickey Mouse.

Fast Company magazine's latest issue has a feature story entitled, "Brave New Mouse", The Apple-Ization of Disney. Of all industries that have the most to lose from the disruption of the web, traditional publishing and broadcasting is one of the biggest. It's no secret that most of them have struggled with the effort thus far. In many cases they suffer from the same hand wringing attitudes as the real estate industry. When Disney was faced with an opportunity to work with Apple on a new way to deliver their product last year, they didn't over think it.

By creating a digital division and then getting out of its way, Disney is positioning themselves to be an innovator in a new way of doing business. Everything that they know about advertising, programming, metrics, demographics and more has to be redeveloped for a new medium, a medium that clients will apply much more pressure for results. The options available to those clients will come with much more flexibility and opportunity than in the past. Advertising clients will no longer be forced to buy from the rate card.

"The Walt Disney Co. has more than 133,000 employees around the world and 84 years of tradition. It has rules. But with digital technology changing the way the once-untouchable media giants create, distribute, and profit from their content, Disney needs people to break some rules and blaze new paths into the future."

Here's my big picture vision. I think in many cases, the clients will participate in developing and designing their own creative direction using web based platforms that will allow them to "mash up" a combination of advertising products aggregated into a single interface. Just plug in your budget, choose from multimedia, interstitial , keyword, banner, broadcast, etc. and click submit. The media plan gets built and scheduled on the fly, all the necessary creative folks are notified, they build each component and drop it back into the system and the whole thing tracks and delivers the accounting, metrics and ROI.

Whatever the future holds, it's clear that hiring the right people and empowering them is the solution to disruption for Disney. Leaders in the real estate industry would do well to emulate it.

The New Disruptors

I'm a big fan of Business 2.0 magazine. I've just started read a blog entitled "The Next Net" by B 2.0's editor-at-large, Erik Schonfeld. One of the features recently introduced in the blog is entitled, "The New Disruptors" Their most recent video features outakes from a round table discussion. Listen closely to what Lulu (and Red Hat) founder Bob Young has to say. Now give some thought to that in the context of the real estate industry.

I think it's as clear as mud as to what the prevailing business model of the future will be in real estate. What do you think the next "Aha!' moment will be? Do you think it will be a current "disruptor" (Redfin, Zip Realty, etc.) or do you think there's room for more diner napkins to morph into start-ups?

Update, the link to "The Next Net" blog has been fixed. Thanks for the heads up Drew. ~MP

Real Estate 2.0 Observations From The Street

I've been doing something the past few weeks that I haven't done in quite a while. I've been hitting the streets. Tuesday morning meetings, broker technology committees, training classes, you name it. I've been getting face to face with as many folks in the business as I can. In doing so I've made a few observations I'll share with you.

Observation I.
There are some very forward thinking people out there. There was some enthusiasm and activity surrounding new business models and the new rules of real estate. Some brokers are making some changes in business models and marketing that are bold, but wise moves in my opinion.

Observation II.
It's time for a little tough love. For the most part (at least at the agent level) it was like replaying presentations I made 10 years ago. The same questions were being asked and the same fears were being uncovered. Many agents were unaware of Web 2.0 companies like Zillow and Trulia. Blog is a four letter word that many still do not know the definition of. Industry events like the recent fed report on competition were unknown to many . The impact of social commentary/networking, listing distribution etc. etc. are issues that are largely ignored. The same "I just don't have the time to learn all of this" statements were being made. As I said in the meetings, I can empathize. There really isn't much choice in the matter though.

Transparency is forcing the methods in which an agent interacts with a consumer. Things are different now. The days of having everything happen by osmosis because of things like a Title company handling all of an agent's listing marketing efforts are gone. Consumers are armed with a great deal of knowledge and information. If I were an agent I would more fearful of not having the proper amount of product and industry knowledge than where I was going to find the time to learn it.

Observation III.
Attention levels were at an all time high. Most agents recognized that if they want to thrive in the RE industry of the future it would be a good idea transcribe "the writing on the wall". I've never seen more copious note taking.

Observation IV.
Brokers are getting with the program and providing agents with education and tools necessary to compete in the world of Real Estate 2.0.

Observation V.
Broker, Agent or Vendor. . . I think it's a great time to be in this business.

Iggy Gets Jiggy With The MLS

Buyside Realty announces a new business model today that is sure to have the RE.Net buzzing for some time to come. It will be interesting to hear what everyone has to say about it. Buyside's business model is based upon a buyer rebate that gives 75% of the commission they receive from the seller.

Today Buyside has announced an ABA, (affliated business arrangement) whereby any homeowner can list a home in the MLS free of charge. It's called IggysHouse.Com. Interesting branding, I couldn't find anything on their site that explained the moniker. Could be they just got tired of searching for decent real estate domains, there aren't too many left out there.

After visiting their site, I decided to jump over to BuySide Realty and was presented with an exit screen that presented me with an ABA disclosure statement. A quick visit to the "Learn" tab on Iggy's House explains, in part, what their business model is.

How do you offer this service for free when others charge hundreds or thousands of dollars?

In April 2006, our sister company, BuySide Realty, was launched. BuySide shares 75% of the commission it receives from the seller, and keeps 25% for the expert assistance it provides buyers from offer to close. On average, BuySide clients have received over $11,000 each. We realize that most sellers are in the market to buy a home as well. By giving people free tools to sell their home, we believe many will turn to BuySide Realty when they are ready to buy.

Iggyshouse is tagged as a beta site. It could be they just wanted it to join the ranks of every other web 2.0 start up. Maybe it gives them just enough wiggle room to toy with the business model. It should be interesting to see how the whole thing shakes out. Just about every start-up there is in this space had to gut their original concept. Many haven't survived. Those that have look nothing like the executive summaries that graced those energetic business plans in the early days. In any case, it should prove interesting.

Other Stories On This Topic
ClickZ
Denver Post
Yahoo Finance (Buyside's Press Release)