Must Market

Amazing Viral "Challenge"
WOW, any disbelief about how social / mobile turns marketing into movements should be answered by the now ubiquitous Ice Bucket Challenge. Here is what we love about the challenge:

* Videos are amazing.
* Celebrities laying down a TIME based, money and activity challenge (dumping ice water on your head).
* Plays great on SOCIAL.

That last bullet is where the real win is. Just as ToughMudder's CEO said they are as much a SOCIAL phenomenon as race this "challenge" spreads because its EASY, FUN and by accepting a "challenge" we join the tribe of previous challengers.

Now the question is how do we dump the equivalent of cold water on curing cancer?

Helpful guidelines here. Interesting to see longer Tweets win.

At our Startup Factory funded startup Cuagami we agree. In fact we believe all tactical online marketing is dead or dying. What's next? Community, Friends-of-Friends Marketing & Content Curation.

The Revolution Won't Be Televised YOU Will Create & Publish It
Real Estate is about to CHANGE. The space is being "rolled up" by outside forces - forces who know more about Internet marketing than real estate such as Redfin, Zillow and Trulia.

Bloomberg shared the GOOD NEWS (http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-07/why-redfin-zillow-and-trulia-havent-killed-off-real-estate-brokers ) about the "resilience" of "the old model". It seems buying a home is something people want help with and are willing to pay for that help.

If the attack of the roll up artists have been at least momentarily slowed there is another problem - how should realtors market themselves. I just scooped a post about niche marketing (http://sco.lt/7V8dLV ).

Finding an ownable "content niche" may be the most important mission any realtor faces and few understand or discuss. An attempt to be all things to all buyers/sellers online is a prescription for disaster.

Online your ability to own a niche such as relocation specialist or passionate about Arts and Crafts bungalows CREATES AN ABILITY TO SELL MORE BROADLY.

This is the CATCH-22 of marketing online where you must effectively narrowcast to have the authority needed to broadcast. Tools mastery reflects this online marketing irony for realtors. YES you can get business from StumbleUpon, but that business may be costly since learning StumbleUpon took away from your mastery of Facebook and GooglePlus.

I don't agree with the elimination of Twitter for realtors. Twitter is the "radio of the web" when you blog something Twitter is a great place to announce its presence. Twitter helps build community and its time to use to mastery is low enough it shouldn't take away from a more concentrated focus in learning how to use Facebook and G+ at high levels.

I do agree with Facebook and G+ along with a blog / website (see my Curatti post on the difference between blogs and websites http://curatti.com/websites-vs-blogs/ ) as the core of any realtors online marketing tool set and arsenal and the linked post does a great job explaining why.

The most important, and counter intuitive, idea is to NARROW to an ownable niche in a real estate agents online marketing since doing so creates the permission and authority needed to benefit from broadcast.

In other words, if you are the Arts and Crafts bungalow expert in Durham, NC you will get more condo and Victorian sales too because your online presence has authority. Trying to become an online authority in more than one niche is HARD to IMPOSSIBLE.

And that online marketing lesson applies to lawyers, doctors, accountants and car dealers too. Find the ownable niche, become an authority even if it is only "local authority" and use Facebook to create community and GooglePlus to create conversation and you will continue to beat back the Zillows of the world.