Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: The Luxury of Consitency

CINQUE TERRE, Ligurian Sea-Italy

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Professionals should embrace consistency as one of the essential practices in their marketing. Consistency in any field is one of the standards of success. It is one of the most overlooked secrets of a successful business formula.

Many agents are quick to reject consistency. They deem it as an “uncreative and boring!” They would rather be creative and surprise everyone with their innovative ideas. However, mastering consistency actually leads to more creativity and innovation.

Here is an example of consistency. Many restaurants have their “house specialties”, for which they are famous. One of our favorite restaurants in Italy is located in a town too small to be on the map on the coast of the Ligurian Sea. The chef’s specialty is seafood. Every dawn, Angelo meets the local fisherman at the shore and buys the catch of the day and creates traditional Italian recipes using this fresh seafood. Angelo’s clientele drives to his humble 10 room inn from as far as Switzerland to experience his culinary delights.

On a driving trip in Italy, we deviated from our planned route, just to have a Chef Angelo experience. We knew exactly what to expect, and we were once again delighted that nothing had changed. Angelo’s wife, Giovanna, is the innkeeper. Her consistent graciousness and attentiveness is also what makes the entire experience remarkable.

Consistency is imperative for all good brands. It is required of a luxury brand because it creates trust, good will and word-of-mouth advertising.

How can you apply consistency to your luxury real estate practice?

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: The Value of Transparency

TRANSPARENT BUTTERFLY

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Professionals know the importance of disclosure when it comes to representing and selling a property. There are laws that ensure the protection of all parties and the adherence to these is the price of admission, when it comes to longevity in the real estate business. In luxury real estate marketing, it is important to maintain the spirit of transparency regardless of the circumstances that present themselves.

Yesterday, we were in Seattle for the day. Our return was delayed, first for an hour, then another half hour, and finally another 15 minutes. When the plane finally reached the gate, the pilot came up to the check in counter, and explained his day and what had happened that caused the delay. His explanation was believable. He told us of a colleague getting ill on the plane and personally escorting her to her hotel room at his first stop. Then, there was a mechanical glitch that had to be attended to, as well as finding a new co-pilot for the aircraft who arrived in the nick of time, and finally the Seattle tower had them circling the city prior to letting them land.

He did not blame anyone, gave us the facts and assured us that he and the crew would be doing their best to make up the lost time. His sincerity brought applause from the 200 plus waiting passengers, and one of the passengers behind us, said, “He needs a hug!”

In an instant he soothed the crowd with his sincerity. So when things do not go your way, it is so much easier to tell the truth than to make up a story. We all have days when circumstances escalate beyond our control. After all it is much easier to remember the truth, than a well fabricated story. It also speaks volumes about your integrity, and it will be remembered by your clients when they refer you. Incidentally, our flight was on Virgin America. We were impressed, wanted to promote Virgin America,, and delighted at the transparency that the company encourages.,

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: The Importance of Maintaining Visibility in Any Market

Sunflowers need to be seen by the sun to thrive. In Italian they are known as "girasole", which means turn to the sun!

To thrive as a luxury real estate marketing professionals you have to maintain visibility no matter what the marketplace is doing. Staying visible online is very cost effective especially if you can delegate the busywork to assistants. Combining online and print within the same media company can be very effective for maintaining visibility. Here’s why visibility is so important to you:

When we owned our commercial real estate firm in Beverly Hills we learned the importance of maintaining visibility very early in our career. Getting our signs on buildings that we represented exclusively was paramount. When we first got started and had only three listings, people would say “I see your signs everywhere! The listings were on highly trafficked streets so it amplified the extent of our visibility. Obviously, it is important to stay visible in the right places.

The principle behind this phenomenon is known as spaced repetition. That is why an advertising campaign across various media can be so effective. To stay within budget, one of our luxury real estate marketing clients selected a single print venue in which to maintain high visibility and diverted all other resources online. The key, again, was to maintain that visibility in print that she established over a considerable amount of time. By doing so she made the statement, “I am here for the long term, I am the expert that is staying in the game”.

With so many agents leaving the real estate arena, there is a tremendous opportunity for you to capture market share that others have abandoned. And, you can do this without having to out-spend your competition if your select the right place to be seen.

Here are three suggestions for gaining high visibility and reducing costs:

1. We highly recommend Unique Homes magazine because they also offer an outstanding online venue that can help you gain multimedia visibility.

2. If you are a member of The Institute for Luxury Homes Marketing, you can get special advertising opportunities in Unique Homes and also the Wall Street Journal.

3. Join Proxio, the international MLS and global referral network where you can gain international visibility, overnight, for yourself and your listing, to referring agents in 65 countries. Your listings are translated in 11 languages on Proxio. You can get a free Proxio membership (a $79/year value) if you are an advertiser in Unique Homes or if you are a member of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Good News For Sonoma Wine Country Real Estate

A Residential Masterpiece in Sonoma Valley Wine Country

Sells for Highest Price in 2009

Congratulations to our client, Maurice Tegelaar, of Pacific Union, Sonoma for marketing and selling the most expensive listing to close in 2009 so far in Sonoma County, California! The 3600-square-foot custom home, plus guest house of 720 square feet is located on a knoll in Kenwood with majestic views of the Mayacamas mountains and vineyards.

Among the many features of the home is the masterful blending of old-world style and materials with attention to modern “green” construction, rastra block, and photovoltaic cells providing electricity for the home as well as solar panels for domestic hot water use. At $3,8M, this was the highest recorded sale in Sonoma County, year to date.

This magnificent home features the masterful blending of old-world style and materials with attention to modern “green” construction, which included:

• rastra block, a form of Styrofoam
• photovoltaic cells that provide electricity
• solar panels for domestic hot water use

Maurice explains “Montevigna is truly one of those exceptional properties that come around every so often. The beauty is in the details that wows visitors. The property site was originally a stone quarry that produced the stone used to build the streets of San Francisco. From the spectacular Sonoma Valley views, to the numerous antique architectural elements from France, Africa, Mexico, Canada and the United States, this home represents a classic amalgamation of historical and high tech elements."

Maurice has been successfully marketing wine country homes since 2004. He can be reached at www.LivingInWineCountry.com

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8 Tips for Thriving in Any Market

Here are eight marketing tips to thrive in all market conditions for luxury real estate marketing professionals and all others who are intent on thriving:

1. ADAPT: GO FISHING WHERE THE FISH ARE BITING

Change your perspective by ignoring the bad news. The fact is that there is a MARKET. Find the good news, what is selling and where it is selling. All this information is available from your title company. In other words, go where the fish are biting instead of lamenting that the old fishing hole is yielding next to nothing. Those who succeed in every market understand adaptability. It is adapting that makes a race survive.

2. DIVE INTO SOCIAL MEDIA

It is ridiculous that agents are crying for leads and business when social media is so easy. Only 33% of you try it. Of that 33% very few actually connect with their new found contacts. You have the whole world to connect to! Someone is looking for the very house you are marketing.

3. CREATE CO-MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES

Get to know more local business owners. Talk to everyone about your services. Find out how you can be of assistance to them.

4. LEARN MORE

Read other people’s blogs. Learn something new. Take the Yoga class you have been putting off. Take some art classes. Find new interests. There is a whole world out there to explore. The people you meet usually buy and sell homes or know someone who is ready to do so.

5. BECOME A RESOURCE

Instead of a having a “what’s in it for ME mentality, try a “what’s in it for YOU” and how you can help. You will be amazed that people will actually go out of their way to help you, too.

6. STAY POSITIVE

Nothing is more important that maintaining your optimism. Get to know your marketplace like the back of your hand. This will give you inner confidence. Look for what is perfect about your marketplace right now.

7. DELEGATE

Delegate what you don’t absolutely love to do. Spend your time in the field meeting more people, and talking to people. Find out what is on their mind and shape your marketing and your prospecting in accordance.

8. REPEAT, KEEP PRACTICING THESE STEPS IN EVERY MARKET!

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: Make More Contacts

Last week we received this comment/question on our blog: Could you please give more tips to deal with this current Market? Here is a very important tip: If you are not using Linked In sign up for an account and start answering questions that can demonstrate your abilities. This is a great way to make connections. The more connections you have, the greater your sphere of influence, the more opportunities you get to help others and also to get referral business. In challenging markets MAKE MORE CONTACTS! In any market, make more contacts!

Just last night Alexandra accidentally held down a couple of keys on the computer and the screen display rotated so that the top was on the left side. We both were clueless about how to fix it and could not readily find the answer on Window’s Help. We needed to write and publish our Tuesday blog post (this one).

So we decided to put Twitter and Linked In to the test by posting an SOS on both sites. Literally, within a few minutes, we had three email responses from Linked In. As of this writing, no one responded on Twitter.

The first Linked In response was from Kim a Dutch citizen who moved to Sydney Australia. Kim’s answer was right on and we were able to rotate the screen immediately with precise advice. The second answer was from Canada, the third from the US. Needless to say we were delighted with this outpouring of help from our global community. We made three new friends and were eager to offer our help as needed in return.

It so happens, Kim is interested in conflict resolution which is an area of expertise of our partner John. We recommended that they connect as well and we sent Kim to John’s website that features his latest book, Who Wins Conflict?--The Creative Alternative to Fight or Flight?

P.S. Kim is now following us on Twitter and vice versa!

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: Good News!

CUSTOM HOME IN SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS (LAS VEGAS)

SELLS FOR RECORD PRICE

Congratulations to our client, Tanya Murray, of Realty Executives of Nevada, for marketing and selling the most expensive listing to close in 2009 so far in Las Vegas! The 12,207-square-foot custom home is located at 2 Wood Creek Ct. in the exclusive Estates at Southern Highlands and closed escrow for $9.5 million.

Marketing efforts included creating a custom website (www.2woodcreek.com) and dozens of high quality print and electronic marketing campaigns showcasing the home’s magnificent grounds, views and interior finishes as well as custom furnishings.

The home is situated directly on the Southern Highlands Golf Course and features both expansive city and golf course views. A two-story theater. state of the art equipment, a popcorn machine, infinity pool, Baccarat crystal accessories, and Versace china added to the livable opulence this home provides.

Tanya Murray has been successfully practicing real estate in Nevada for nearly 8 years and was named by In Business Magazine as one of the “Top 40 Under 40” in Las Vegas. She can be reached online at www.TanyaMurray.com.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: Peace of Mind & Kindness

The value of your personal brand as a luxury real estate marketing professional is the extraordinary promise of value that you offer your clients and referral sources. Contrary to what most people think, it is not just great service that makes you stand out. Great service is simply the price of admission among top tier agents. Then, what is the added value that can make you stand out?

Think of diamonds. You can purchase a flawless diamond at Macy’s or at Tiffany & Company and get wonderful customer service at both stores. What if identical diamonds (size, weight, cut etc.) were purchased from the same source and sold under different labels. They both would have the same intrinsic value. But, prestigious brands can command a premium price because of the perception of added value and the emotional satisfaction that the brand can bring.

Today’s luxury consumers are beginning to revolt against needless markups on products just as they are questioning the commissions that agents are asking. And, rightly so! Many luxury brands now are finding that they have to justify their expensive price tags or cave-in to discounting. Why is it that certain brands, such as Tiffany & Company, can stand firm with the genuine confidence that they are worth it?

As a luxury real estate marketing professional you must discover your full value in order to command higher commissions; and that value must be defined in other ways beyond excellent service. The added emotional value that must be associated with your brand is the peace of mind and kindness that you offer your clients.

There can be no price tag placed on peace of mind and kindness, as both are in short supply. The key is to attract those clients who can appreciate this level of added value. Then, build your personal brand around it. To quote the Dali Lama, “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible”.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: Kissing Goldfish

How A Chinese Luxury Brand is Born

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, it is important to understand how a luxury brand is born and how it is developed. Here is an example of the challenges in developing the first Chinese Luxury Jewelry brand, Qeelin.

The founder Dennis Chan knew that he could not launch Qeelin in China. The Chinese marketplace would perceive it as a local brand regardless of the quality of the product. He knew that the Chinese marketplace would accept the brand if it was successful in other countries.

The brand was launched at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. Maggie Cheung, who won the Best ActressMaggie Cheung award, wore the jewelry. Because she was the first Asian actress to be given this honor, she received worldwide coverage. And, so did the jewelry!

The first sale was made in Paris. They chose Paris as the first point of sale because the world of jewelry in Paris demands the very best. That challenged the partners to strive for and to achieve their potential.

The Results:

“We are currently perceived as an international luxury brand originating from China, and we have a good portion of our clients who are mainland Chinese.”

Qeelin’s target market is women who love haute jewelry (highest quality) from luxury brands. They have a discerning eye and look for handmade pieces with special stones. They do not follow trends; they follow what they consider to be the best.

The style of the designs reflect Chan’s Chinese heritage. One of the standouts is the Qin Qin (kiss-kiss, in Mandarin) goldfish pendant with magnets embedded within the golden lips. Chan explains, “The design has the ability to surprise and give our customers a little bit of a thrill through the unexpected.”

As you launch and build your own personal brand as a luxury real estate marketing professional it is important to understand your target market, i.e., their demographics. It is also important to understand their psychological preferences-their psychographics. By offering the unexpected such as a remarkable closing gift, you too can surprise and thrill your clients and trigger word-of-mouth advertising.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Chain of Gain

According to 2009 National Association of Realtors’ Member Profile, over 1/3 of Realtors use social networking sites.

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, are you among this group? If so, how is it going? Are you making meaningful connections? Are you generating more business, yet? To be a successful networker all you need to do is follow the “chain of gain”.

Joanne Davis, a highly skilled real estate executive with over 24 years of experience in the industry in the Sacramento area, swears by Linked In. Since October, 2008, she has built a substantial network on Linked In (2750+ connections) that has really paid off. Joanne gets a minimum of 5-7 calls a week from new connections wanting to do business. You can connect with Joanne-see her profile.

Now, we were introduced to Joanne by our dear friend Donna Lee Laue, the CEO of Unique Global Estates (UGE), the world’s largest showcase of multimillion dollar estates. Joanne is the Luxury Ambassador for Sacramento on UGE. View Donna's profile.

Joanne, now a wonderful friend too, generously introduced us to two of her connections who helped her get started with Linked In. We highly recommend that you connect with these guys too!

Mike O’Neil, a Linked In “Rock Star” ( 22,000 + connections)

Mike is the CEO of Integrated Alliances, one of the best social media training firms He offers a free webinar every Monday to help you get started and excellent courses for advanced social networking practices. See Mike’s profile

Brad Hands, Social Media Evangelist (13,800+ connections)

Brad is the CEO of Brad Hanks Seminars and specializes in helping real estate professionals get connected. We attended one of Brad’s webinars and he really knows his subject. Check out Brad’s profile.

To complete the chain of gain, invite us to connect on Linked In as well. See our profile. And, be sure to join our LANGUAGE OF LUXURY group on Linked In.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: Blazing New Paths with Brand Originality

For luxury real estate marketing professionals understanding what makes you an original is one of the keys to a successful luxury real estate practice. If you want to be the standout in your marketplace originality, the quality of newness and the ability to depart from tradition or the norm, is a necessity.

When originality is accompanied by authenticity in your personal brand you have the ingredients to become an “overnight success” once you encounter the right opportunity. And, opportunities are plentiful if you believe in yourself.

Here is an example of the place where originality, authenticity and opportunity all came together and created a global personal brand overnight. The recent emergence of Susan Boyle, runner up contestant on the very popular British television show, Britain’s’ Got Talent, is a case in point. An ordinary Scottish housewife with a dream of singing Andrew Lloyd Weber songs like Elaine Page emerges as one of the crowd’s favorites and catches the attention of the world. On first impression, she does not resemble a Broadway star. However, she can sing like one. She is an original and she is authentic. These are the qualities that the populace at large can identify with and praise.

Often, as we are presenting the concept personal branding to real estate agents and show them our case studies, someone will make the quip, “ I will work with you if you can make me look like some of your clients who have movie star looks”. This is a telling remark, because people feel they have to be or look “a certain way”, in order to be a local celebrity.

We hope that the story of Susan Boyle ends that misconception. What a seller or buyer needs is a person that can do the job, someone they can identify with, someone original and authentic.

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