In the evolutionary chain of technology, I am somewhere between the Greg Swanns and Dustin Luthers of this world and, well, the Flintstones. Let’s just call me the missing link.
My generation wasn’t born into a world where computers, much less websites and blogs and mash-ups and code, existed. With each new technological advancement, we boomers learned to adapt or face extinction. The majority of us have learned just enough to be dangerous; given enough interest and perceived benefit, we have watched those around us and learned to apply the tools as they were introduced into our society. As for our parents and grandparents, meet the Flintstones. For many (most) of this segment, information technology was introduced too late in their era. My grandmother loves her computer to play Solitaire, but you will never find her converting a PDF to a JPEG or hanging out in a chat room. For all practical purposes, she is a dinosaur. Then there are our children. They have never know a world without personal computers, digital cameras, scanning and faxing. They will not remember a time without YouTube or MySpace except when these things are replaced with more advanced applications.
So, here comes the Redfin segue. Steve and I have been having some lengthy discussions lately about the Redfin model and its potential for broad success. Sure, we are a little short in the recreational-life category, but it has been a topic of discussion because I was recently invited to meet with Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman to “chat”. This being the eve of that meeting, it seemed apropos to reflect on the topic.
From my vantage point, this is the $64 question: How will Redfin succeed where so many others have failed? Or, rather, who is their audience? HelpUSell, Zip Realty and other discount business models have had a limited audience at best; they are not, nor do I believe they will ever be, setting the world on fire and achieving significant market share. Of course, Redfin is approaching the issue from a standing-on-their-head perspective. While they pay lip service to the listing side of the equation, their Read more
And this is the third of our podcasts with mega-producing Realtor and BloodhoundBlog contributor Russell Shaw. This segment is a freeform colloquy between Russell, my wife and business partner, Cathleen Collins, and myself. We hit a vast array of topics, including Russell regaling us with a story about how he once confounded 18,000 “stoned hippies.”
Norma Newgent is a Realtor who lives and works in Tampa Bay, FL — and has never lived anywhere else. She has a degree in Public Relations, but prefers helping people buy and sell homes.
Here is the second of our three podcasts with Phoenix-based mega-producing Realtor Russell Shaw. In this segment, Russell discusses the effect the StarPower training program had on him. He relates this to the outrageously high failure rate afflicting real estate licensees and offers ideas about how Realtors can better commit to their own success.