Sometimes Ya Gotta See It To Believe It

InfoGraphic

For most people, real estate transactions are extremely complex. The number of variables in a transaction are staggering and one of the values a real estate professional can provide is in simplifying the important data. Visual literacy, the notion of educating through images, can increase the confidence and decision-making ability of a client resulting in faster sales at higher prices.

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Your Brain at Work – Video

Your Brain At Work

After reading 17 books so far this year “Your Brain at Work” by Dr. David Rock has been the most impactful. I discovered the book thru this video of the author giving a talk/presentation at Google.  This is a terrific presentation that’s helpful in understanding why people act the way they do at work and the underlying motivations to those actions. After watching the video I immediately bought the book.
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Real Estate Photography Class (Free)

Free Photo Class

In December I hosted a real estate photography class/presentation for Colorado Group. I received great feedback and there was strong interest in an on-site class so brokers could learn the photography techniques in a hands-on environment. Well, now that we finally have great weather I’m announcing a FREE real estate photography class.

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SteamboatPics.com – a New Site

www.Steamboatpics.com

For the longest time I’ve wanted to create a space for my photos that I own & control. Online services like Flickr are great for some things like reaching other photographers but they don’t offer the level of presentation & extensibility of a full website site.

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5 Tools for the 21st Century Real Estate Pro

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Over just the past few years, the growth in productivity, management & communication tools has been amazing. Sometimes (often) it seems a bit too much. Here’s a short collection of tools I use extensively that will help you do your job better & make your life easier while adding value to your clients. All the tools are either free or very, very low-cost for what they do.

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Video of the Week – Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk

I had a blast putting on the Future of Real Estate Marketing conference here in Steamboat. More importantly I was really lucky to meet and interact with a lot of fun, forward thinking people during the day.
I also had a great experience working with Gary & his crew in getting this video together for the conference.

Give this video a spin. Gary calls it like he sees it and gives some no-nonsense advice to those in real estate.

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The Future of Real Estate Marketing Conference

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I’m hosting a free 1/2 day conference on March 12. We have some great speakers coming to Steamboat to present and the announcement goes out to the public Monday morning.

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New Twitter Resource in the Labs

I’m always interested in how people use Twitter and it seems there’s a lot of experimentation going on. Twitter was smart to open an API early as this allowed developers the chance to create all sorts of ways to deliver Twitter content.

One of the most interesting aspects of Twitter is live search. Through the use of live search we can, for the first time, “listen in” on public conversations. It’s that ability to listen to what’s being discussed on just about any topic that makes Twitter such a powerful medium.  We can search for just about any keyword and get instant results of what’s being said right now.

So I set up a page that gives you real-time, auto-refreshing search results of Twitter real estate terms. The default results are from the phrase “real estate” and with a click of a link  you can narrow the results to Colorado & Steamboat real estate. Plus I added a search box to view the results for any term you like.

Click to check it out.

What do you think? Is Twitter being used in an effective way to engage people? If you were in the market would this be a helpful medium?


“In this economy?”

Speed is Power

“In this economy?” It’s a phrase I’m hearing over & over again. People and organizations are using this phrase as a blanket statement to say “no,” “stop,” “we can’t.” This phrase has become the catchall to stop the very thing that just might get them out of “this economy.”

I don’t buy it. It’s as if they’re suggesting this economy has a finish line and once we cross that line we’ll be in “that better economy” then we’ll move forward. Meanwhile their competitors are moving ahead. Their competitors are leaning into the problem, creating new value, new connections, making mistakes but learning from them.

We have entered an era where speed is power. Those who can move fast, innovate and answer the needs of the market faster, win. Those stuck in antiquated methods, compromise at every turn, and use the phrase “in this economy?” loose.

Two guys, Steve and Jon, invented the iPod. It took over 265 people to create the Zune.
Which do you want?

Tweet a TV tech question to @Twelpforce and get an answer in seconds from the helpful BestBuy employees.
Where might you buy your next TV?

Need it today? Amazon is offering same day delivery in select cities and Saturday delivery is standard on Prime accounts.
Where will you shop online?

HelloHealth allows you to interact with your doctor Facebook style and get medical answers quickly.
Better than “We’ll see you in a week.”


Speed is power. More so than ever in “this economy.”


Real estate isn’t immune. Buyers want help and information when they want it, where they want it. Companies, possibly your competitors, are rushing in to fill the huge hole left open by lumbering real estate giants stuck in yesterday’s thinking. You can too. You have all the tools, opportunity and leverage to make great things happen in “this economy.”

The internet, new communication channels, social media, print-on-demand, low-cost back office solutions and unlimited outsource opportunities have leveled the playing field for everyone. There’s very little uphill on the internet and 90%+ of your business is there, searching, learning and looking for a real connection to help them through the process.

So the next time you hear the resistance chant of “in this economy?” say “Yes, in this economy. We don’t have a choice.”
(Thanks to Brian Mann for the inspiration.)



Video of the Week – Ira Glass on “Good Taste”

There’s no doubt that over the past several years marketing has become a much more crucial skill for the successful real estate professional. Consumers armed with more education, more choice and less time demand better experiences and better information. You can’t fake it because we’re too smart and your competition is a click away.

But the “do-it-yourself” culture of the web encourages brokers to develop their own marketing assets. The trouble is that much of the DIY tools use a cookie-cutter template approach which often results in marketing materials that often don’t resonate with the target audience.

In this 5min video, longtime NPR journalist Ira Glass talks about looking for the gap between your good taste and what you actually produce.
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Being self-critical is key to getting better.