Fe Fi Fo Fum: American Search Giants
WAV Group uses benchmarking tools like Hitwise® and ComScore® to study how brands in real estate accomplish the goal of reaching consumers online.
Bang Out Your Budget
We've made it halfway through the year, and the nation’s MLSs now begin to set their sights on defining their...
Catalysts Creating WAVes of Fast Change in a Slow-Moving Industry
There are many pillars of change happening in the industry today, some more significant than others, driven by very different catalysts. Teamwork drives higher productivity and greater income.
I Rented a U-Haul — Word of Mouth
How much of your business development strategy is focused on human contact with your friends and past customers? What are you doing to raise your human interaction?
Cultivating Transformation is a Key to Successful Boards and CEOs
The most successful business leaders in real estate understand that perpetual change is an intrinsic part of organizational culture. So, how do you reach that place?
GDPR Compliance for Email Marketing
Sotheby's International Realty is a company owned brokerage of Realogy's NRT holding company. The firm uses Rezora for digital marketing and they have done an exquisite job of adopting GDPR - Europe's General Data Protection Regulation. As you can plainly recognize from the name of the company which contains "international," Sotheby's International Realty is a brand that markets properties to people who live in the GDPR nations. Sotheby's even translates currency into Euros and properties into multiple languages. These activities are the criteria that distinguish which businesses need to be GDPR compliant. Moreover, I am certain that the company [...]
Words Matter
Welcome to the New Year! Have you performed a PR audit? What does your brand say? The inspiration for this article came from the new Realtor.com ads. The language that Realtor.com is using is “The Home for Home Search.” My first reaction was way didn’t they use “Your Home for Home Search?” When a brand like Realtor.com comes up with a slogan for a multi-million dollar ad campaign, there is purpose behind word selection. I bet that they evaluated dozens of slogans, consumer tested dozens of slogans, and did legal review on dozens of slogans.
Best PR Quotes of All Time
My top favorite pastime is being a professional mentor of high school robotics team where I live, just a short ferry ride from downtown Seattle on Bainbridge Island. It’s a FIRST Robotics Team (4915 Spartronics) that I helped found six years ago. I’m the lead marketing mentor.
A Researcher’s Perspective on Strategy
When you meet someone for the first time, it is not uncommon for the question to arise “What do you do?” The answer that I should use is, "that we run a research company that informs business strategy in real estate for the capital markets, brokers, MLSs, REALTOR® Associations, and the technology companies that serve them."
Less Is More When It Comes To Your Corporate Boilerplate
Companies spend a lot of time and money focusing on their Elevator Pitch. As a PR professional, I can appreciate that and endorse the value of a key, succinct messaging to describe your company. My guess is so much focus has been placed on a strong Elevator Pitch because it's highly valued when a firm is out raising capital. I just wished more folks paid attention to their boilerplates.
What is Public Relations?
I am still stunned by the number of people I meet in the real estate industry, including prospective clients, who really don’t understand what Public Relations is. More importantly, many people often have misconceptions about what PR can do. Most often, PR is confused with activities and outcomes that are entirely in the realm of Advertising.
The Secret to Having the Best PR Program
When I meet the “father of Public Relations,” Edward Bernays, he was in his 90s. I was a USC grad student in the School of Journalism working on my Masters in Public Relations (MPR). A small group of us had gathered at a Public Relations Student Society of America reception at a national conference to meet the living legend. His body may have been feeble, but his brain was still wickedly razor sharp.
