Friday, June 29, 2012

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: "Real Books" In Luxury Home Design

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, it is important to keep up with the trends of luxury home design. Although kitchens, man/woman caves, master suites are still considered as leaders in exceptional home designs, the home library is emerging as a “must have room” in luxury homes and apartments. Architectural Design magazines have dedicated a large portion of their recent issues to library designs, featuring many luxury homes with exceptional libraries.

The idea of having a home library can be traced to Roman times. A sign of a well respected Roman was demonstrated by his library regardless of whether he could read or not. It was a symbol of status and intelligence. Today’s home owners are designing llibraries as an expression of their personality, a retreat from all the usual home noises, a way to display their book collections, and a comfortable place to curl up to read a book.

With the advent of digital readers, and the closing of many of the larger book chain stores (Borders and Barnes & Noble), it seemed that “real” books were doomed to extinction. However, used book stores are reporting a large uptick in sales to a new customer base: 30 plus years old. These young homeowners are walking in to buy books by the foot, or specific collections to display in their newly designed libraries. They want their children to experience “real” books. Rare book dealer Donald Heald a 40 year old New York company has noticed that his clientele now also includes a growing number of individuals in their 30’s.

"If you want to own a great atlas of London from the 18th century, that when you hold it in your hands you're transported, there is no app for that," Mr. Heald says.

The trend for a library in the home is also appearing in median home prices. Many home owners are building shelves for books. DIY shows and magazines are giving detailed instructions on how to build shelving and library nooks. From a book lovers’ perspective, it is reassuring that all things digital do not always rule the home roost.

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Keep Your Message Brief

As a luxury real estate marketing professional it is important to communicate who you are and what you do with words and imagery. Your collateral materials and web site should articulate the essence of your brand in a nanosecond.

We often attribute the quote of “A picture is worth a 1000 words” to Confucius. However, research shows that this attribution to Confucius was given by an advertiser named Fred Barnard who said he called it a Chinese proverb, so that people would take it seriously”. As time went on, Confucius was credited with this adage. Mr. Barnard promoted the use of images on the sides of streetcars as part of an advertisement. His sentence was “One Look is Worth a Thousand Words (1921 trade journal, Printer’s Ink.) In another ad in 1927, Mr. Barnard used the phrase, “One Picture is Worth Ten Thousand Words”

More research reveals that in the novel Fathers and Sons written in 1862, the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev wrote, “A picture shows me at a glance what it takes dozens of pages of a book to expound.”

Here is an example of a picture is worth a thousand words. The entrance to the small 6 acre Dog and Oyster Vineyard in Virginia is flanked by two corkscrew sculptures each measuring 40 feet. There are no signs needed to express what is happening here.

So keep your message brief, your pictures bright and expressive so you don’t need 1000 or 10,000 words to say it.

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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: What Is Your “VA” (Value Added)?

As you approach the realm of market leadership the difference between good and great service in the field of marketing luxury real estate cannot be measured by the degree of competency and integrity. The fundamentals of successfully engineering real estate transactions are the same; you cannot get away with incompetence and lack of integrity for very long. So how do you differentiate yourself from your closest competitors if market leadership is your quest?

The answer is the value that you add. Added value is the extra service that you offer that your competitors do not include in their winning formula. Here is an example.

There are many aviation brokers who provide the service of buying, selling or leasing private jets. We recently met an aviation broker who put his company in a class unto itself by offering his clients an extra service that they cannot find anywhere else. His firm targets Fortune 500 companies exclusively and offers them a consulting service to help them analyze the most cost efficient way to allocate their resources for private aviation

As expert number crunchers in this very narrow niche they position themselves as trusted advisors rather than mere brokers and immediately set themselves far apart from their competition who just broker planes. They basically break even in terms of being compensated as consultants. But, they are awarded the business as brokers because they thoroughly understand the specific needs of their corporate clients. As a result, they can represent their clients’ interest far better than their competitors. At the Fortune 500 level the rewards are obviously worth it. This formula simply would not work for the private aviation needs of small to mid-sized firms.

This aviation brokerage firm identified an uncontested market niche that they could satisfy better than anyone else in the world of private aviation for Fortune 500 companies. As a result they create added value as consultants by saving these large companies a significant amount of time and money. Their analysis provides an objective criteria for making private aviation decisions to buy, sell or lease planes.

They do not need a clever “sales pitch” to ace out their competition. They do not need to lower their brokerage commission rate to win business. Nor, do they need to know the right people who can get them “in the door”. Their consulting service is the answer to the prayers of their clients. They are the perfect match to the real needs of their clients.

As a luxury real estate marketing professional can your “VA”,or added value,be?

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Monday, June 25, 2012

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: We Cannot Wait to Spoil You

In our travels to Connecticut to work with one of our clients we stayed at a charming Bed & Breakfast Inn. Before we arrived we received a welcome letter that said, “We cannot wait to spoil you”. And, indeed we were spoiled in so many ways! Let this be your mantra for providing extraordinary service with exceptional care as a luxury real estate marketing professional.

One of the many ways in which we were spoiled was a plateful of little “mid-night snacks” that awaited us when we returned to our room at night, with a personal note. The first night it was some nibbles of rhubarb crumble. The next night it was tiny morsels of brownies. The husband and wife proprietors were extremely gracious and made us feel very much at home.

The last night we were there we went to a great seafood restaurant that was located within a seaside hotel (not ours). Before our entree was served, a fire alarm sounded and the entire restaurant had to be evacuated.

The “fire drill” was not a bad experience; nothing serious actually happend. Instead we had the opportunity to meet some of the other patrons of the restaurant who were delightful. For our inconvenience, however, we were comped coffee and dessert.

Think of running your luxury real estate marketing practice like a B&B or a great hotel How can you provide this level of extraordinary service, in your practice? Think hospitality vs. real estate. Then let your clients know that you cannot wait to spoil them.

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Marketing Luxury Real Estate: The Luxury of Putting Life Back into the World

What would you do if you won the lottery and the money took care of all your needs? What would you do with the excess funds? Would you leave a legacy for others to enjoy?

“The relation with the world that I want is to be putting life back into the world, rather than taking life out of it.”—W.S. Merwin

U.S. Poet Laureate and two time Pulitzer winner, W.S. Merwin decided to grow a forest of palm trees on 19 acres of officially designated wasteland on the north shore Maui, Hawaii. He has gathered palm seeds from various botanical gardens worldwide.

The forest has been grown sustainably with recycled water, and solar energy. Within this windswept region of microclimates various specimens of palm are thriving including a rare treasured palm from Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Mr. Merwin remarks “I know nothing about Reunion Island, but where a tree grows you have a place.” Botanists have actually catalogued over 2500 species of palms trees globally.

His love of trees began at a young age, Mr. Merwin remarks, ‘My father was very repressive. As a child I didn’t trust the feelings of pretty well anyone except my mother. But I trusted the tree in the backyard. We were friends. If I could talk to it, it would talk to me. But I did not know how”.

“Later in life I was talking to the biologist, E.O. Wilson about that, and he said talking to trees was not silly at all. “The trees gene code is much older than yours,” he said, It’s not withholding anything. If you know how to talk, it will tell you everything you want.”

The Mervin Conservancy is his legacy. Check out the web site and the video as Mr. Merwin takes you on an enchanting tour of the forest.

“In between twenty-five or thirty years I have planted about 850 species of palms, and at least four or five times that many actual trees. I have had no map….We both hope that the whole of this land can eventually become a palm sanctuary. Just being here, with the garden, the `palm forest,’ all around us, day after day, I think has taught me a great deal.” —W.S. Merwin

What will your legacy be?

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Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Meet the Henrys!

As a luxury real estate marketing professional you need to understand the Henrys. HENRY is the acronym for “High Earner, Not Rich Yet”. This level of affluent has an income of $100,000-249,999. What is of note is that the Henrys’ have increased their spending in the luxury sector, and they are probably the ones that have contributed to the uptick in home purchasing.

According to the Luxury Market Report by Unity Marketing, Henrys make up 80% of the affluent marketplace, which is equivalent to 21.3 million households in the United States, a significant number in the luxury market. Their resurgence as buyers of luxury goods is a positive sign for the economy. They are the spenders in the category referred to as “accessible luxury”. Brands in the accessible luxury pantheon include Coach, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany, Kate Spade, Vera Wang, Michael Kors, Tommy Bahama, Restoration Hardware, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, and Williams Sonoma.

The mood of the Henrys is positive about the economy and optimistic about the future. They will spend on experiences such as travel, the highest luxury spending category, because they identify themselves with what they have done more than what they own. When they buy a home they want to hear the “story” of the home and the experience they will have living there. In selling a home to the Henrys, stay away from the sales pitch and emphasize the emotional experience they will derive from their new lifestyle.

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Thursday, June 7, 2012

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Do You Speak Vastu?

Photo by Samrat 35/Lotus Temple in New Dehli, India

As a luxury real estate marketing professional it is important to stay focused on the luxury market and its trends. One of the emerging countries in the world is India and its appetite for luxury goods and services has been insatiable. Our nation’s Asian Indian population has exploded over the past decade, far outpacing the growth of other Asian groups, according to 2010 Census figures. So if you are working with an Asian Indian individual or family, you need to know about Vastu.

In Sanskrit the word “Vastu” means dweller/dwelling. It is India’s form of FengShui. “In Indian architecture, the dwelling is itself a shrine. A home is called manushyalaya, literally, "human temple". It is not merely a shelter for human beings in which to rest and eat. The concept behind house design is the same as for temple design, so sacred and spiritual are the two spaces.” From Wikipedia

Add Vastu to your vocabulary as we say in The Language of Luxury. Get Fluent, Get Affluent.™

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Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Staying Unforgettable with Quality Cues

Quality cues are indications of quality in packaging, displays, product features, collateral materials, website design, messaging, etc. The more quality cues you can offer in your luxury real estate marketing practice the more your personal or company brand will become distinctive and unforgettable.

Here is an example of a quality cue we noticed when we visited the newly opened REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.) store in Santa Barbara. We immediately noticed the door handles picture above. They are actual mountaineering pick axes with resin encased heads and points for safe usage. This quality cue reinforces their motto, “Get outside, yourself”. It also communicates that they are known for a wide variety of quality outdoor gear and equipment, and great service.

Here is another example from one of the luxury real estate marketing professionals we have met. This individual always hands their client the keys to their new home on a Tiffany key ring in the iconic blue box. This gesture is a WOW moment for the new owners, and one that will be remembered and talked about.

For luxury real estate marketing professionals, small things can make a big difference in terms of standing out from your competition. These small things add up to make you unforgettable. What are some small things you do to make you unforgettable?

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Monday, June 4, 2012

Luxury Real Estate Website Design: Are You Unforgettable?

More often than not the first impression you make with new prospects, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, occurs the first time they encounter your website. Are you making a lasting first impression or are you forgettable?

It is human nature to rely more on sight than any other mode of sensory perception. That is why excellent graphic design is so important in capturing and holding the attention of your website visitors. Great design is your sure-fire method of making a lasting first impression. It is an integral part of capturing significantly more leads especially when it sparks a positive emotional response and resonates with the values of your website visitors.

In the course of marketing luxury real estate, how can you expect to capture an online lead if you cannot first capture the attention of your prospect? People do “judge a book by its cover” or wine by its label or products by its packaging This is true particularly when a recommendation from a trusted source is not a factor in the buying decision or when choosing a service professional.

We recently found two wineries that exemplified this principle by incorporating metal in their labels, something we have never seen before. These bottles definitely stand out which is exactly what you need to do if you expect to capture and hold the attention of your web visitors.

Keep in mind that your competitors’ sites are just a click away. That is why it is imperative to grab your visitors’ attention with compelling graphic design. But, even more important than a great look, your graphics must communicate the essence of your brand values. Ideally, your graphics should tell the entire story of who you are in a nano-second! That is the true test of great branding!

If you want to be the standout in your marketplace your website must make a strong, positive first impression. Otherwise, you and your website become forgettable.

Are you unforgettable?

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Friday, June 1, 2012

Marketing Luxury Real Estate: Luxury Camouflage in Beverly Hills 2

This photo is what Van Cleef Arpels deemed appropriate for their remodel on the corner Rodeo Drvie and Dayton Drive in Beverly Hills. Unlike Bulgari, Van Cleef Arpels' jewelry is classic in it luxury appeal. It is an old world French jewelry compnay, founded in 1906 on the venerable Place Vendome in Paris. it is brand known for its signature mystery settings where the prongs are concealed. Van Cleef & Arpels' customoers have included the Duchess of Windsor, Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor. Their remodel facade is subtle and understated like their mystery settings.

Last month we wrote a post illustrating how remodeling is creatively camouflaged in Beverly Hills. We featured the Bulgari jewelry store who in keeping with their brand identity had designed a bright golden opulent camouflage while remodeling their store. True to their idetity, the store board was colorful and attention getting. We feel it is on its signal or perfect for who they are.

Every company has its point of attraction for their target market. It is clear how two brands selling jewelry have a different approach because they understand their ideal client. We happen to like and appreciate both becaue of their clarity in communicating who they are. What do you think?

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