The training of the shrewd

by Teri Lussier

Rust Belt Realtor

Author website

Wearing an outrageous Cosby sweater and sitting at a space age desk. Hand gestures that would appear to be practiced from the Floyd Wickman How-to series. I cringed when I saw the video. Andy Kaufman blogged about it, looking for the RE.net responses, my first thought was “Are you kiddin’ me?” Is the information dated? Is it relevant? Does it have a place in real estate today?

I think the truth is not what I want it to be.

Like it or not, I think Saul’s basic message is still relevant for many in the real estate world. A basic, gentle message about basic marketing, given by someone in a sweater similar to one of TV’s most beloved dads, well, that’s a comfort to many. I think Saul may understand his market better than I first gave him credit for.

A top producing agent in my office has listings because of the little boxes of mints with her picture and contact info printed on the box. Really. A top producing agent in a neighboring county wears a Carhartt jacket, a John Deere cap, jeans, and steel toed work boots on listing appointments. He lists and sells farms.

Where are you spending your time and money? Is it reaching the people you want to reach? Spending time online without really understanding why you are there is as effective as showing up to list a pig farm in your Jimmy Choos. Honey, those shoes are real purty, now how you gonna slog through the pig slop?

I learned a lot by watching Saul’s video. I learned that there is still a place for it. I learned that whatever you do, you have be smart about it, think about it, consider who you are marketing to and what is the most effective way to reach them. Maybe Saul is doing just that. So who are you marketing to? Anyone who reads the message? Do you carefully select your market and tailor the message to them, or do they select you, and once you’ve been selected, do you adjust the message to whoever keeps showing up in your Google analytics? Are you looking to dominate one market, or to get a piece of any market that happens along.

I’m building an online presence, big deal. I’m being serious here. Brian Brady just posted about this, and it’s been on my mind quite a bit lately, mostly because everyday another new RE blogger finds my blog. When everyone has an online presence, what will make my presence stand out? Cool kids of the world, unite! I’m no longer satisfied with simply being online, I want a long tail presence that will target the people with whom I want to work. I don’t want to work with everyone. I want to pick and choose, and most importantly I want to have the ability to pick and choose.

Back to Saul. I watched that video and thought about relevance. Saul’s message is not relevant to us, is it? We’re too cool for Sunday school. But you and I both know that his message is relevant to someone. He is making Web 1.0 a very friendly and safe place for those who need it.

I believe an online presence gives us the unique opportunity of becoming very highly specialized, and in a way that might have been difficult and expensive if not impossible through marketing techniques in the past. Having a continuous presence that is always increasing in volume lends itself to whittling away at a specific message, to a specific market. This is where my mind is headed, but I can’t quite get my brain wrapped around the details of how to really make this happen.

To answer Andy’s question about Saul’s video: It’s a good example of target marketing as well as a great reminder of how fast things change. Which leads me to an answer for Brian’s question: Yes, I’m blogging for speed, but since I can’t be the biggest, I’m also blogging for a very very sweet spot.