Hello- Please read this all the way thru...... Unemployment in L.A. was at all time highs. Foreclosures were causing lending institutions to create entire new work out departments for pre-foreclosures and short sales. The only good being reported about the real estate market was cute stories of St. Joseph statues. I remember how sick I was of all the bad news. Walking into my real estate office was like walking amongst the living dead. Eyes of disbelief and fear reminded me of the reality of the recession that infected my city. I remember my partner reporting the math on his "farm" area he worked in Westchester. 30% drop in year over year value . The news came from television, magazines and newspapers back then. Sound familiar? Pundits say we are getting ever so closer history repeating itself. Whether we are or not, no one really knows. But I do know one thing. Our state and our emotions drive our decisions. The old sales 101 saying, " We buy with emotion and justify with logic" still holds. I believe that markets are heavily influenced by this "group think" that occurs in part from a daily deluge of crap or good news. We as an industry have benefited handsomely from the Real Estate run up. Our clients have looked towards us for advise and many have spent a small fortune with us. I don't need to tell you that like my real estate office above, most of our clients are looking for leadership. Today we have the Net and we are the media to a large degree. For the first time in history we have the power to create a collective voice. Especially thru our content we produce and disseminate thru our sites, blogs, and email. Sure you have created killer aps and technology. But the benefits have not really reached that utopia talked about years ago in the Godin books or Cluetrain Manifesto. Thought Leadership and Group think can spread virally thru the web. Both Political parties do it to get their ideas across. But our clients have not yet spoken with any sort of unified message. I am sure there are plenty of reasons why, however I think this is a perfect opportunity to change that. I am calling on all my vendor friends and those I do not know yet, to participate in what I am tentatively calling Positivity on Real Estate. This is a tremendous chance to use the web as a true marketing and publicity vehicle as we have always said it should be. We can lead by example. We can help frame the debate, and help our clients to create a positive image for their product. Hey, it may or may not help change anything. But it will give focus to agents and brokers that sorely need direction. First, I wish to circle the vendors as we have the resources. Then hand pick and then recruit Realtor bloggers and Website owners to create a new vibe and a new spirit. We can offer them our leadership and resources to get their message out. The first step is to get Vendors to raise their hand and then we will pick a day to conference. We will then establish a game plan to carry out this task. This is a tremendous opportunity to give back and if executed properly will place us all in very high esteem in the industry. I already have many vendors & Realtors on board with their commitment of time and resources. I look forward to hearing back from you with your thoughts, ideas, and criticism. Feel free to pass this onto anyone whom you think needs to see it. Cheers, Tim O'Keefe Spider Juice Technologies www.houseblogger.com P.S. FYI: I have been writing as "anti Bubbler" for years now: http://www.houseblogger.com/houseblogger/real_estate_bubble/index.html I thought this fitting: Here's Bill Hicks reinforcing the value of love... "It's just a ride and we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money, a choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one." ~Bill Hicks (1961 - 1994) Stand-up comic From Gary Halbert, author of The Coat-of-Arms Letter, the most mailed direct response letter in the history of direct response advertising... Gary Halbert... "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? "You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. "And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. "As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." ~ Gary Halbert (1952 - 2007) The Gary Halbert Letters |