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CEO’s Introduction

This month’s newsletter comes with free translation services.

Malcolm Fidgeon spent his days as a mild mannered headmaster (translation: principal) at a comprehensive school (translation: high school) in a town called Harlow, in the county of Essex, just northeast of London. Mr. Fidgeon was a low-key figure, not known for raising his voice, and not known for inspiring students—in fact, he wasn’t remembered for anything of note by most of the people coming into contact with him. However, Mr. Fidgeon had a secret: in his spare time he worked as a scout for Manchester United—arguably the worlds most recognized brand in football (translation: soccer) today.

Mr. Fidgeon was also my headmaster, and if I had known what he did in his spare time, I might have tried a little harder on those rainy Wednesday afternoons when my class had sports. His spare time activities would have remained a secret, but for one thing: Mr. Fidgeon discovered David Beckham.

If you ever have the need to read something on the light side, then the David Beckham autobiography, Both Feet on the Ground is worth an hour or two. Chapter two, “The Man in the Brown Sierra”, is all about Mr. Fidgeon. Unfortunately, Mr. Fidgeon died a few years ago, so I never got the chance to ask him why I’m not the one playing for Manchester United. I also can’t ask him for his thoughts on Beckham’s latest move to the US, where he plays for the LA Galaxy earning a million dollars a week.

During the past couple of months, I have been asked one recurring question. It’s not “How can Realtors best market themselves online?” and not “How do you see technology effecting the future of real estate?” It’s “So what do you think about David Beckham?”

David Beckham was never the best player in the world. At the lofty age of 32, he is now approaching the end of his footballing career, and, with his current injuries, may end up spending more time on the bench than on the field. He will still get paid $1,000,000 a week. For the next five years. I sit here and sigh out loud. Mr. Fidgeon, when you watched me play football, what was I missing?

Beckham isn’t being paid such a ridiculous amount of money because he can kick a ball better than anyone else. It’s because he is married to a Spice Girl, has the looks of a movie star, and was captain at a national level for the most popular sport in the world. Combined, this makes him marketable, and marketability means revenue. His ultimate genius is his ability to generate hundreds of millions of dollars, not only for Team Beckham but also for any organization associated with him, through the sum of these things: celebrity.

But how do you get “celebrity”? Is it something Realtors can achieve? There are certainly people in the industry that seem to get more attention than others, but how can you, in your own market, achieve celebrity status? Commonsense dictates that earning a million dollars a week isn’t achievable. Marrying a Spice Girl (or the male equivalent) might be a tad easier, but who in their right mind would want to do that? More importantly what are the benefits of achieving celebrity status?

Many Realtors make the mistake of focusing on activity instead of productivity. It’s not about being busy everyday—we’re all busy. It’s about working on something that yields growth within your business. Becoming the local real estate celebrity is a very effective way to make that happen.

In this role, the increased interest in you and your business will generate its own activity and revenue. And despite what you might think, establishing yourself as the ‘go to’ person for all matters property related isn’t that difficult. You just need to focus on some key areas.

Kim Ades, president of Opening Doors (www.OpeningDoors.tv) is a much quoted source of information about the many ways to market yourself and improve public awareness in the product that is ‘you’. Earlier this year, during a free teleclass presented jointly by Opening Doors and AgencyLogic, Kim and I spoke about the secrets of getting free publicity. They included writing articles for your local newspaper, issuing a press release for any newsworthy item and creating a blog. One important note though: make sure the information you provide isn’t a load of old bollocks (translation: of no use). Of course, there are many other places and events that will help you identify methods for extending your fifteen minutes of fame, and most don’t involve nudity!

I have just returned from the Inman Real Estate Connect event in San Francisco where I saw many of today’s real estate ‘celebrities’. Attendees paid a decent chunk of their hard earned income to hear the opinions of those ‘in the know’ –and there was a lot of useful information to be had. Given the depth of the subject matter covered, it is obviously impossible for me to even think about covering the event in detail, so hopefully the following few nuggets will be of interest.

With billions spent every year on television advertising, most businesses ignore this obviously powerful medium because of the perceived cost. But is that valid? The slap in the face nugget for me came in a session moderated by Bernice Ross (author of “Who’s the Best Person to Sell My House” and “Waging War on Real Estate’s Discounters”). Bernice mentioned certain TV channels offering $2 slots. $2 for a TV ad! That really is the dog’s bollocks (translation: very good!).

More than one session at the conference focused on video, and I saw several companies offering agent, property, or community based products. Phil Schultz of TurnHere.com told me that an agent video is about $600, and a community video comes at a cost of about $1,000. I saw a sample of their agent video and the quality was amazing, certainly good enough for a TV ad. If running TV ads is something you are even remotely considering, I strongly suggest you also look at SpotRunner.com, who offer “a complete solution for television advertising in a single turn-key, self-service system at a fraction of the cost”.

Other avenues exist to help promote the celebrity in you. Canadian based TuneInRealEstate.com provides a service that lets agents create podcasts exclusively for their area. If you can use a telephone, then you can create a podcast—and the cost is minimal. With the proliferation of iPod’s and the very cool new iPhone, the podcast is already ubiquitous. TuneInRealEstate.com suggests focusing the podcast content on general market conditions rather than on specific properties available for sale. If there’s one thing agents know better than anyone, it’s the state of the property market in their area—and that is exactly the information sellers and buyers want to hear.

I’m a huge advocate of continued education, so feel strongly that attending an event like Real Estate Connect, or a RIS Media equivalent, once a year is a must. An even better option is continuing education through an online training source. AgencyLogic has a relationship with Real Estate Webographer, an amazing organization (www.webographers.com) where real estate technology classes can be had for as low as $30.

And finally, if you are looking for a non-technical way to get your name out there, why not look to the most significant source of revenue generated by the Beckham Marketing Machine – football kits (translation: uniforms). Hundreds of thousands of shirts (translation: replica jerseys) are sold with “Beckham” imprinted on the back. It’s highly unlikely that you will ever have thousands of clamoring fans wanting to wear your name on their back, but for less than a thousand dollars you can sponsor a local youth sports team and have your company logo emblazoned all over their kit (translation: uniform). And, of course, you’ll mention this new sponsorship deal on your Website, on your blog, in your podcast, in your newspaper article, in the press release…

Ta ta for now (translation: As always feel free to contact me personally, at any time, for any reason.)

Stephen Fells,
CEO

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