Dennis O'Neil - Speaker & Author on Internet Sales, Marketing, and Social Media » General Brokerage Real Estate

Yes. A Camp for Us.

dennisoneil — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:30:42 +0000

BarCamp, RE BarCamp, PodCamp, WordCamp… any of these ring a bell? What about Ignite events, or TED talks? The last few years have brought on sweeping changes in how people gather to support a topic, idea, or purpose. Instead of days of grueling lectures and courses defined by the ‘hours’ for which they qualify, “Camps” are something completely different. Something much, much better.

While the rules vary a little for each event, a few consistent things remain:

Interaction and conversation is key. This is not an event where attendees go to spoken to, but rather to be spoken with.
Presentations are brief, but impactful. Sometimes as long as 45 minutes, but many as short as 10. Good news for the A.D.D. crowd.
Presentations are designed for inspiration. While a 6 hour course may also be inspiring, these short presentations dive right into the heart of a topic and are designed to ignite new ideas in attendees.
The attendees come voluntarily because of their passion for the foundation of the event. They are there to connect with like minded people.
They’re generally awesome.

I am fourtunate enough to be a part of the Sales & Marketing Council (SMC) of the Home Builders Association of Maryland. The council has organized a spectacular event in the spirit of the new conference trend, and has aptly chosen the name of SMC SalesCamp. I am also privileged to be speaking at this first SMC SalesCamp, and while yes, I may be a bit biased, I must say that the event is truly one worth attending. The speakers lined up by the board include the current President of the Maryland Association of Realtors, the head of home builder relationships for Trulia.com, two power-brokers, and many more. If you’re anywhere near the Baltimore area, you really need to be there. Its March 9th at the Sheraton BWI, 8:30a – Noon.

Did I mention its free?

Yep, thanks to awesome sponsors like MetLife Home Loans, Cindy Plackmeyer Marketing, and Forty West Builders (with more coming), the event costs absolutely zero to attend. However, space is limited (no joking here), so registration is required. Head over to SMC SalesCamp for more details.

Hopefully I get to see you there.

Location, Location, Foursquare. How the Game will Jolt Mobile Real Estate Marketing into Prime-time

dennisoneil — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:54:04 +0000

I am convinced that the mobile web offers some of real estate’s most exciting opportunities in the next 5-10 years.

Some of the ideas I’m about to share are certainly not the “show me some case studies” type, but most great opportunities are best identified early, no? And as is the case with all impactful technologies, those companies that identify and take advantage of that potential sooner than their competitors, have an advantage. They gain critical “trial-and-error” wisdom that will take their competitors years to learn.

Check out my posts from September and November of 2008 for a primer on my thoughts about Mobile Marketing for New Homes and Home Builder Mobile Marketing with Google. Below I’d like to hash out what I see as the next step (not that, as an industry, we’ve taken the first one yet.)

What we’re just beginning to see is the power of the Internet, combined with location specific relevance, combined with mobility, combined with personal recommendations. Yes, all of this has taken off with a game by the name of Foursquare.

For those of you not familiar with Foursquare, I encourage you to check out their website and even sign-up to play – I was excited when the game was finally made available in my hometown of Baltimore. The short explanation – Foursquare is a game where users who register (for free) use their mobile phones to “check-in” at any location/business to which they travel – gas station, coffee shop, deli, school, etc. Players are rewarded for check-ins based on volume, frequency, and consistency. After regular check-ins at a particular location, a user may be awarded the status of “Mayor.” For example, a Foursquare player may carry the title of “Mayor of Starbucks – East & Main” or “Mayor of BP Gasoline – Downtown.” Players are also connected to their friends, getting to see where their friends have traveled, and even receive notes and recommendations left by their friends.

Why should any business care about Foursquare?

First, Foursquare is building a very reliable local directory. I’m sure more than a handful of people have been frustrated with local business directories online. Foursquare is using its players to build an accurate database of local business and is using the GPS data from their phones to help.

Second, Foursquare players are “early adopters,” meaning they tend to be early users of new technology, and have a lot to do with a product’s evolution into the mainstream. This also means that they have a high likelihood to be influencers within their social circle; i.e. other people go to them for advice.

Third, Businesses can identify loyal customers. Most businesses would like to think they know all their regulars, but for many, it’s not realistic. Businesses can identify those regular patrons and reward them. Many businesses in popular Foursquare cities, like New York, already offer discounts and specials to whomever has been crowned “Mayor” of their establishment – Click here for a sample. What better way to reward customer loyalty, and encourage others to visit more?

Fourth, Research. Where do people go after they leave your business? What competitors are growing/shrinking their popularity? What else do people do around or near your business?

And if those aren’t good enough…

It seamlessly integrates with Twitter and Facebook making it easy for people to tell all their friends where they are, too.

Two great places to learn more about how businesses are using foursqaure:

foursquare.com – Great samples, and the company has made a commitment to provide data to businesses in the future – Like web analytics for real life… Truly, this could develop into the online-to-offline traffic connection we’ve been wishing for since the dawn of the Internet.
Robert Scoble – In a recent blog post he shared quite a few examples of how businesses are using Foursquare. Its more tech and less business, but a great read.

So what does all of this mean for home builders and real estate?

Lets look at the key features of the game/service:
We’ve given consumers a fun tool that encourages them to log the places they’ve visited.
We’ve got a tool that employs geo-location to suggest new places to its users.
We’ve got a tool that encourages its users to leave “tips” (aka reviews at times) for their friends.

Below are just a handful of ideas:

1. A “Parade of Homes” where users would check-in at each model using Foursquare. Reward participants for checking in at all the models on the tour, and encourage them to leave “tips” for future visitors. A little while ago I projected that within 18 months, somebody will do this. I’d love to see it happen sooner.
2. What about organizing a Realtor tour? Encourage agents to visit your models on a tour, or simply encourage them to “check-in” at your models more often (with clients preferably).
3. Reward your regulars. Identify the agents who visit more than one of your communities.
4. Partner with a local business and offering their “check-ins” some type of bonus to stop over for a model tour.

But wait… there’s more

Foursquare recently announced it released an API (Application Programming Interface) – a way for other companies to build on top of its service. This means that almost any company who can think of a creative or useful way to use Foursquare’s service, can now integrate the data into another system. When announcing the release of its API, Foursquare shared that an integration is already under way with the Layar browser for Android powered mobile phones and iPhones. Not familiar with how cool Layar is? You can see an example video here. Mashable.com also has a nice write up on why this API is big news.

Waste of time?

Foursquare has been called a waste of time by some. How many remember when the Internet was called a waste of time? I still hear that from some people today.

Some of the thoughts I shared above use Foursqaure as the basis for the idea, but it may not actually be Foursquare that is eventually used to accomplish them. Like many tech startups, they can be bought in an instant, or their technology duplicated by someone with a better twist. With the release of its API, Foursquare has empowered a new world of possibilities. The eventual tool the home builder and real estate world embraces may not even look like Foursquare.

Who knows, maybe there’ll be a white label Foursquare solution available to Home Builders Associations, Property Management Companies, and Multiple Listing Services?

Most of this is a bit far out (not the concept, but the timeline). I don’t expect to see something like this for a while (maybe 3-6 months in an urban market), but I see amazing possibilities here.

What model home couldn’t use more traffic? What model home doesn’t want more visits from influencers in the community? What home builder isn’t trying to attract and identify active Realtors?

So, what are your thoughts? Waste of time, or real potential? I’d love to hear from you below.

Who are You Changing For? You, or Your Customer?

dennisoneil — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:33:06 +0000

If we agree that happy customers are a necessity for long-term business success, shouldn’t long term planning be based around that directive?

I recently attended REBarCamp in Philadelphia. Okay, so it wasn’t really that recent, but I’ve had some thoughts stirring since I’ve left. I attended a session there titled “The Future Brokerage.” The topic centered on old vs. new vs. newer real estate brokerage models. The discussion was well facilitated by moderators Joseph Ferrara of the Sellsius Real Estate Blog, and another gentleman I, unfortunately, cannot recall.

The audience was mostly real estate agents, all with different opinions about what was the better model… the traditional in-house agent with commission splits or the no-office-monthly-fee-100%-commission version. The moderators and the audience discussed each of these arrangements in detail and hybrids of the programs.

Never having worked in a general brokerage environment, the conversation dynamic was interesting, but one noticeable component stood out to me. All of the conversation centered around what the agents and brokers preferred. I listened to agents describe why they were uncomfortable with desk fees. I listened to brokers complain about how none of the agents took advantage of their office support. ALL of the conversation about the better model revolved around how it affected agents and brokers.

I was a complete spectator for the session – just sitting back and taking in the conversation. Afterwards, as I was reflecting on the topic, I wondered why no one discussed which model produced a better experience for buyers and sellers. It seems the largest complaint from the real estate community today has been that fact that they’re just not enough buyers and sellers. Wouldn’t an agency model that produced a better buying or selling experience attract a larger market share of buyers and sellers? Wouldn’t an agency that attracted more buyers and sellers attract more/better agents?

The session offered some valuable insights into the relationship between agents and brokers, and employee atmosphere is certainly a big component of a successful business. However, I think the primary focus of the group was misplaced. I don’t think you can make any business decision without considering that decision’s impact on the customer. I certainly don’t think you can design a new business model without it either. What say you?