Do you know where the bones are buried?

If you want to be top of mind in your luxury real estate marketplace, you have to be the most knowledgeable agent in your area.   As we used to tell our clients, when asked why they should work with us and sign an exclusive representation, “we know where the bones are buried.” 

This meant that we knew how to find buildings that could be sold that had not been listed, because we had relationships within our marketplace.  These owners would happily sign a one party exclusive.
Not long ago, we met with a local agent who wanted us to see a magnificent estate that was on the market.  What impressed us most about the agent is her encyclopedic knowledge of her marketplace. 
We mentioned to her that prior to moving North from Los Angeles, we had put in an offer on a house on one of the streets nearby.  With our brief description from 10 years ago, she knew the house and gave us the history of it.  She knew the improvements that were done to it, and who owned it now.

This past week in Boston, we met an agent who specializes in one of the up and coming brownstone neighborhoods.  He was giving us a walking tour of the area.  What was impressive about him is that he knew the history of each building.  He knew what was being remodeled in the area. 

He knew every park and the improvements that were made.  He knew the people that lived there.  He could tell us the psychographics and demographics of the buyers.  He knew every retailer on the street.  He showed us the new dog park, and knew the people and their dogs. 

Later on, we went to lunch at one of his favorite restaurants, where everyone knew his name and were delighted to see him.  We even walked in to a competitor’s real estate office and everyone there was happy to see him!

Do you know where the bones are buried in your neighborhood?

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-
ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.

 

                                                                   Your Competition

Why on earth are you in the game of luxury real estate marketing if you are not in it to win it? Sure, there are plenty of agents who just want to eek out a living. But, they are missing out on all of the fun because they do not know the secret of winning the game!

The sweet spot in marketing luxury real estate is making the shift from being what we call a competent “transaction engineer” to being a true market leader. When market leadership is your quest, you become a strategist in a game where power, personal power is the biggest prize and the lion’s share of business follows naturally.  

As luxury real estate brand strategists we advise our clients to look at their competitors as if they were cartoon characters. Do not take them seriously. Factor them out of your mental equation completely and stay 100% focused on your strategy for winning the game, the inner game.

It really gets to be fun when you identify an uncontested or under served market niche that you can dominate, a niche that you can become passionate about.  Then, the competition really becomes irrelevant.  You are not out to “get them”.  You are out to achieve your personal best!

So, what is the secret to winning? Keep your eye the prize of the inner game of luxury real estate marketing-the game of self-actualization! Be in it to win it!

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-
ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.

Marketing Luxury Real Estate: The Drone Syndrome

When adapting new technology in luxury real estate to your website, it is a good idea to consider the end-user.  There is no doubt that drone photography is impressive and the effects that can be created are comparable to films made for I-Max. However, will your buyer or seller want to see the effects every time they visit your site?

In viewing a real estate site with a home page that had beautiful drone videos, one of our friends remarked that he would need a Dramamine to continue viewing the site.  He would not go back to that site.Will using drone photography in a listing video be the deciding feature that will win you the listing?   Who needs to be impressed, the buyer or the seller?

There is no doubt that the aerial view of a large estate, a ranch, or a waterfront property is impressive.  How often, does a buyer make a decision to buy a home based on aerial views?  How important is it to the seller to have his/her home photographed in this manner?  Do the sellers get bragging rights when talking to their friends, that their agent used a drone?

If you are going to use drone photography hire a professional, and make sure it is legal in your area.  However, do not get caught up in the drone syndrome just to appease sellers, and pass the Dramamine!

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-
ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.

The Magic of Mental De-Cluttering: The Benefit of Doubt!

In our previous post on this topic, The Magic of Mental “De-cluttering”, we advised that taking a few minutes several times a day to clear your mind enables you to see business opportunities and possibilities that you might otherwise miss. Here is a tip that can help you clear your mind so you can stay focused as a luxury real estate marketing professional.

The only thing that can stop you from succeeding in becoming a market leader (barring external circumstances that are truly beyond your control) is not taking consistent action toward your goal once you have identified your success formula. It may take some trial and error to develop your success formula, but that is all part of the game.

The number one enemy of consistent action is self-doubt.  It is self-doubts that start the process of cluttering your mind. It is you, second-guessing yourself that precipitates immobilization. 
The clutter accumulates when you allow yourself to get distracted by all kinds of people, circumstances or events.  Sure, there are some people who may try to immobilize you. But, it is only when you go into agreement with them that you use them as your excuse to slow yourself down or stop yourself from succeeding.

So, what is the remedy that can keep your mind clear, uncluttered and on track? Give yourself the benefit of the doubt! Test this out for yourself and watch how fast your mind becomes uncluttered, and clear. This will erase your uncertainty and restore your confidence. It is magic!

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-
ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.

The Magic of Mental De-Cluttering!

I was reading Michael Jacobs post yesterday about his progressive journey of de-cluttering the physical stuff in his life, which led me to thinking about something both Ron and I practice arduously on a daily basis: mental de-cluttering!

Mental de-cluttering is taking a few moments several times in one's day to clear all those thoughts that jump in and out of your consciousness that cause you to get distracted!  For example, it is that unpleasant encounter with a client who arrived late that makes you want to rant and rave to anyone who will listen, write a post about it, post on FB, Twitter, etc.  

The clutter compounds when your well meaning friends and commenters tell you all about the misery they suffered that morning. Or better yet they recount a whole string of events similar to yours.  This adds momentum to your incident, as they are in agreement with you about this client and how people today are mean, irresponsible, blah, blah,  blah!  And your outrage gets even bigger, which takes up more space in your head.

In marketing real estate, we all know that a cluttered room limits buyers' vision and diminishes their ability to see possibilities. The same is true of the mind. Mental clutter means you have less concentration and less focus available in your day.  

When your mind is clear you see opportunities and possibilities.  You may be surprised, you will find yourself working less hours and enjoying your life more. That is the magic of mental de-cluttering.

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.

How Local Amenities Accelerate Home Buying Decisions -Part 2

In Part 1 of this article series we stated that buyers make mental maps of the location of amenities that are in proximity to the home they are considering. These lifestyle amenities such as spas, golf courses, restaurants, shopping, parks, theaters etc start adding up and can tip the scale that accelerates the buying decision. 

We have been practicing yoga for years. Recently, a new studio opened in a quaint neighborhood in Santa Barbara that is within five minutes of our home.

When we saw the ocean and island view (those are the Channel Islands in the distance in the photo) from the second floor studio we were in Heaven! 

It is non-obvious amenities like these that can clinch a sale, believe it or not. It made us appreciate where we live even more.

When you close your transactions ask the buyer what lifestyle amenities helped convince them to select one home over another. Pay close attention to the non-obvious ones.  Then, be sure to point out these amenities to all of the buyers you represent going forward and also those who visit your listings.

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-
ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.

How to Leverage Your Strengths to the Max

Courtesy of Apple

If market leadership is your goal as a luxury real estate marketing professional, you must leverage your strengths to the max in order to dominate your niche. With the right strategy you can render your competition irrelevant.

That is exactly what Apple has done once again, not only in the new product category of wearable tech (Apple Watch), but also by reinvigorating the smartphone (iPhone) and notebook (MacBook) categories. With a move akin to martial arts, where you use your opponent’s force against itself, redirecting the momentum of its attack, Apple has put its competition on the defensive.

They have launched a new app software framework called ResearchKit that turns the iPhone into a powerful tool for medical and health research (with user permission only-Apple does not see your data).  Gathering research in real time on a global scale is a TOTAL GAME CHANGER for the medical field!

This trivialized Samsung’s slogan, “The Next Big Thing is Here”.  And, in a pre-emptive move, it beats Google (Android) at its own game by providing an open source platform for this app that can be freely used, changed, and shared by anyone.

Helping doctors and scientists gather data more frequently and more accurately creates an added value to the iPhone within the medical niche. World-class research institutions have already developed apps with ResearchKit for studies of asthma, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and more.  Can you see how this strategy will boost sales in all Apple product categories for this target market, including the iPad and MacBook?

The new MacBook is another astonishing breakthrough in engineering and design. It is the lightest and most compact Mac notebook ever! It required reimagining every element to make it not only lighter (just 2 lbs!) but also thinner, including the keyboard, the trackpad and the batteries.

Apple has leveraged its strengths including exquisite design to the max to fortify its dominance across the board in all product categories. It is now adding value way beyond just the consumer market as it takes on the niches of science, medicine and business.

How can you apply Apple’s latest strategies to leverage your strengths to the max as a luxury real estate marketing professional?

Written by Ron & Alexandra Seigel-

ABOUT:  Napa Consultants, International is the leader in brand strategy for the luxury real estate industry.  They work exclusively with professionals who are passionate about gaining or sustaining market leadership. With an expertise in personal branding, company branding, luxury real estate website design and social media marketing they help their clients become the breakaway brand in their marketplace.