Sales is a “relationship” business. Marketing? Not so much.

Source: Anonymous - Just found it on the internet

Could this be why many Realtors are resistant to technology? When I say “resistant” am I really saying “scared”? You decide.

I’m not sure how many people know that zillow.com (intended to be the ultimate real estate site) was founded by the same guy who came up with Expedia.com which essentially crippled the travel agent industry forcing many to scramble for a new line of work. So the question is: “Should Realtors be scared that technology could do the same to them?”

First of all, Zillow has not turned out to be the revolutionary product that Expedia has. That is not to say that a “better Zillow” could not be developed but if you ask the guy behind both products, Rich Barton, there is a huge difference between the two that should put the minds of Realtors at ease. Way back in 2006 Barton said:

“The flashing-in-neon-lights difference between travel and real estate is that lots of travel agents are/were just order takers. Human advice-giving is absolutely fundamental in real estate”

Phew! Thanks Rich! We’re all safe for a while!

Rich is 100% correct (people who come up with ideas like Expedia often are) and with all due respect to the Heidi Fleiss’ and the Sally Stanfords of history, sales is the world’s oldest profession and even the internet will not change that. Order takers beware but the sales people are safe.

What segments of the overall real estate industry should be concerned about the encroachment of technology? I’m not sure I would want to be in the business of selling flyers to realtors that end up shoved under doors. How about the bus stop bench marketing guy? Print media as a whole (not just in the real estate sector) may be in for some tough times. Perhaps not complete extinction but certainly changes in terms of what they can charge for the exposure they provide. To write this piece I called up a quote from 2006. Do you think that would have happened if I had to rifle through five years of back editions of various trade publications? Assuming I could even find where they were all stored?

So this is a post on my blog. As much as I hope to inform and entertain you I have to admit that if you are reading this then you might be in the target market for my services. This whole thing is really just an ad. I’m hoping you might come to the conclusion that I have some insight and that I can help you with your business. I’m hoping that you might click thorough the links at the top of this page, learn a bit more, and maybe I can expect to hear from you. This is an ad. Gotchya!

Source: http://technology-studies2010.blogspot.com/

If I got this “ad” in front of you, how do we get your “ad” in front of your target market, and what does it cost?

As far as costs go I have this cool web site which does have a few minor carrying costs but I built it myself so it really just cost me some time. The content of the blog is stuff I already know so except for that tidbit from 2006 (and the 2 minutes it took to find it) there was very little research. Once my infrastructure (site and blog) are in place there is little or no cost to my “ads”.

So that leaves distribution. I’m not going to pay some kid to tuck this under your windshield wiper or pay to have it slipped into the pizza menu in your Sunday paper. I got this to you through some branch of my network. Maybe you have actually subscribed to my blog (thank you) or maybe a friend or colleague does and they have shared it with you. There is a really good chance that it came to you, either directly or indirectly, through some form of social media. Yes I have dabbled with Google ad words, and have contributed to Zuckerberg’s fortune through buying the occasional Facebook ad, but my bread and butter marketing is free.

Thanks for reading my “ad”. I would love to help you to create your own “ad” for you to share with your customers but, if you take nothing else from reading this, please remember that you are not selling out your values of personalized customer service by using technology. At the end of the day those are the skills that will make you the dollars. Things like a great website, an interesting blog, and an effective social media strategy (highlighted by a killer FB landing page!)are simply tools to make sure you spend your time and energy using those skills as opposed to hunting for places to apply them.