Take me home
Do you still buy magazines and books? Or are you hell bent on reading everything on the internet? Do you love statistics? Has Google Maps got you salivating for bigger and better satellites? Do you love good graphs better than sex? Is a bigger IDX better? Do you want to be completely plugged in, connected, always on line?
Well it turns out that I guess I’m more dog than human sometimes, especially when it comes to what makes a great web presence, and how best to graft a marketing strategy. I’ve spent some time today, you see, smelling other dogs beeeeehinds, and I think I’ve picked up the scent of something y’all might want to bury for a rainy day.
The scent I’ve picked up is either the Finding or the Discovering scent. I think it may be important to think about these two concepts as you put together your marketing, for your Web presence, and maybe more importantly, your belly to belly presence.
Turns out, you see, that people are still buying magazines. Though through the internet we can get all the information on who’s doing what to whom, how they’re doing it, why it shouldn’t be done, and where we can go to get more information on everything we just digested, people are still buying and reading magazines. Wonder why?
Turns out that people simply like to discover things, not just find them. Magazines, you see, lie around waiting for just the right moment to spring into our consciousness. Sure, you want the 4 bedroom, 2 bath home in Elevado Hills, with view, pool and lots of land, but sitting in front of an agent’s IDX (even the good ones) just isn’t the same as opening “San Diego Magazine” and seeing a home just like the one you imagine living in. Or you’ve been watching the statistics from a great blog site or newsletter from Brian or Scott or Mark or Tom on rates and terms and the market in general, and you’re educated and knowledgeable because of this. But then, at the hair salon, you reach down randomly, pick up a Slate Magazine, and read an article about the economy that makes you think the mattress might be a better investment than a home.
I’m curious as to whether you’ve thought about making your web presence more like the Discovery Channel, less like CNN Financial; more like going to the Comedy Store, less like watching a sitcom. I’m just thinking for today. I love it when my clients discover the home they want, much more than when I help them find the home they want.
Think about it. As many of you say here, if the shoe fits, wear it. Is there an SEO component to discovery versus finding? Can you skin more cats if you help your clients discover the truths behind the numbers? Has Ryan always known that this is the way into a buyer’s psyche? What about this concept in the context of Greg’s DISC theory?
I dunno. I do know that like Geno Petro I’m not afraid to be discovered, but maybe I’m afraid to be found out.
Teri Lussier says:
Thank you, Don, for saying so poetically what I’ve been thinking.
In college, like many broke clothes horses and apartment dwellers, I learned to shop thrift stores. There is something so satisfying to walk into a store, not knowing what to expect, and coming out with something you will treasure forever. Truly some of the clothes and furniture I look back on with the most fondness, were bought at thrift stores.
I know what to expect when I walk into a typical retail store. I saw an ad perhaps, I know exactly what the merchandise is like. Sometimes that is good, always predictable, but rarely exciting, often a chore. There’s no hunt involved, we are simply crossing known options off our list. With a thrift store, or antiquing, you never know what you’ll find, and that’s a thrilling experience. It’s completely about discovery and that makes for a joyous process, not an automated one.
The only people I know who bought a home at an Open House, (old colleagues, I wasn’t a Realtor then) were not looking for a home at all. They were out taking a Sunday drive, saw a sign and got curious. Fell in love with a house they weren’t looking for, and wrote the contract then and there. No regrets.
Sometimes less science, more art is the way to live.
January 27, 2010 — 2:53 am
Geno Petro says:
if you find me, please, let me know.
January 27, 2010 — 11:02 am