The natives are getting restless.
Much grumbling was heard this week about judging the Project Blogger competition. I don’t have too much to say about that. The contest rules and judging criteria were vague and rather useless from the beginning so no one should be shocked, shocked that things are vague and confusing now. I have my own goals for my little blog and I’m doing what I can to stay focused on those.
I do think however, that a good hard critical look at something is never a bad thing, so when Derek Burress stepped up to the plate and generously volunteered to give an honest critique, I thought it was a capitol idea. He graciously gave me his feedback and if you are an Active Rain member you can read his excellent critique here. When the week 4 judging was completed on Friday, I got more feedback. Looks like I got some splanin’ to do. Well that’s not entirely true. I rarely feel I have to explain anything I do, except to my loved ones and clients, but if it helps those playing along at home, I will.
The burning question is: What’s with theBrickRanch dog? The assumptive answer is that Coach uses a dog so Apprentice uses a dog. Not exactly. I don’t know the back-story of why Bloodhound is Bloodhound, but I can guess that part of the dog motif is this: What would you rather see, big soft puppy eyes gazing back at you or a cactus? What feels more like home to you: A warm, sweet puppy or a prickly desert plant? Which do you respond to on an emotional level: Bloodhound Realty or CactusPlant Realty? There might be more to the story of the bloodhound than that, but I understand the emotional trigger, the warm and fuzzy-ness of using a dog. It makes sense to me. I market to a very family oriented, dog friendly community and I have two big mutts myself so it fits my market, my blog, and me. Damn. We should get bonus points for that.
I took a local web marketing/ WordPress class on Tuesday and when theBrickRanch was pulled up on the screen, the response from the other female in the class was “Awww”. Someone on AR told me that when she pulled up TBR on her computer the response from her young son was “Doggiiee!!”. And that is exactly why I use a doggiiee. It evokes an immediate and strong emotional reaction from the people it is targeted to. Bonus points I tell you; that’s worth bonus points.
This is a hyper-local blog. It is not targeted to Dayton, it’s targeting one community in the Dayton area. And it is not targeted to everyone in that community, it’s targeting very specific segments of that community- young couples and young families. This is a blog that is focused to within an inch of its life toward a specific market within a specific market. Long tail and niche marketing? I hope. Can this approach be successful? Who knows- who has tried it before?
It is possible that we are boldly going where no RE blog has gone before (does paraphrasing Star Trek make me a geeky hillbilly chick?) and we are just getting started with much of this. Regardless of whether the Y-chromosomes who live outside Dayton understand theBrickRanch, I think in many respects we are kicking some serious blogging butt. That doggie in the window is worth something, so where the hell are our bonus points?
Cari McGee says:
Yay, Teri!
I don’t like dogs (so sue me). But I like the picture you have on your blog. I always tell people that real estate is all about emotions. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t need to stage houses.
You will go much further in creating an emotional connection to potential clients, and/or the Huber Heights neghborhood at large by including the dog picture than by including a brick wall or something like that. How do I know that? Because I felt all warm and fuzzy and I don’t even like dogs!
May 12, 2007 — 1:31 pm
Greg Swann says:
I can shed light on two topics raised here:
1. Why is Bloodhound Bloodhound? We lost two dogs, four years ago. Cathy can’t go to the pound without weeping, so I was going there every other day to see if our dogs had been picked up. They never were, alas, but one day I found Odysseus there, behind bars. Maricopa County puts a four-day hold on lost dogs, so the owners have time to pick them up. On the fifth day, cute small dogs get put up for adoption. Big eaters get euthanized.
I loved Odysseus from the moment I saw him, so I put in to adopt him. We already had Desdemona at that time, an English Coon Hound, so the pound was willing to entrust us with a Blood. He’s purebred, too, with a subcutaneous-pet store ID chip. We got a $1,500 puppy for $65.
Why didn’t the owners come to get him? We’ll never know. They hadn’t transferred the chip into their name, so we were never able to find them. My guess is that they thought Odysseus was just so cute at 40 lbs, and much too much to handle at 90 lbs, which was where he was when we got him. He quite a bit bigger than that by now.
Anyway, at that same time, we were working on a revised business plan, and we realized that the idea of a Bloodhound was both iconic — unpacking to hundreds of other ideas in an instant — and very appropriate to our business. Plus, we just admired Odysseus’ particular virtues without limit. He was the perfect TV Spokesmodel, so we built our business around him. When we take him out in the world, people can’t get enough him.
2. Teri’s weblog is her own, but these were my thoughts, on March 26th, on what makes a good theme for a hyper-local real estate weblog:
I love that kid and that dog. I can’t think of any better way to communicate the idea of home — not just the structure or the domicile, but the redoubt against the cruel world you blanket your family in — so that your children can smile with that perfect, unclouded serenity. That’s what we’re selling, and Teri’s weblog does that job better than anybody’s, in my opinion.
In any case, her dog has nothing to do with our dog.
May 12, 2007 — 2:03 pm
Teri Lussier says:
Cari- I’m glad you get it, and I promise not to hold your feelings about dogs against you.
Greg- Of course I should have linked back to your post- My apologies. And thanks for the Odysseus odyssey. He is a perfect spokesmodel.
“I love that kid and that dog.” Yeah. Me too.
May 12, 2007 — 2:57 pm
Jonathan Dalton says:
Ain’t nothing wrong with the pup. I’ve got Tobey, with Morgan warming up in the bullpen.
I’ve attracted business just off the dog … with all the sites to choose from, someone who loves dogs seems to stop at the site with the dog at the top.
Long story on how it happened, but two weeks into this business it was apparent I needed something to set myself apart a little bit. Being the boy and his dog, as I’ve been called, works.
Whatever works …
May 12, 2007 — 3:56 pm
Tom Johnson says:
Okay, Okay! You guys I have a problem. Which dog?
Sophie is a drop dead gorgeous Siberian Huskie. If she wasn’t 65 lbs., you would want to cuddle her all day. We take her to visit the Seniors at the retirement home, and she is a huge hit with all the residents. As cuddly as she is, she is steel tough. She has been snake bit by a cottonmouth, shredded by a mama raccoon and survived a gunshot wound.
Duke is a cute 6 pound toy poodle who wears his hair in a Marine style Chiuahua cut. He runs the house with an iron hand, keeps Sophie in line when he is not sounding off about some intruder. Duke has seen most of the model homes in Houston and has accompanied me to Hot On! shoots.
If I could figure out how to photograph them together, we could go for the all sizes, all families type thing. Suggestions?
June 11, 2007 — 8:25 pm
Teri Lussier says:
>If I could figure out how to photograph them together, we could go for the all sizes, all families type thing. Suggestions?
You must use both. With a happy kid thrown in there to boot. Content kid leaning against the cuddly but tough Sophie, with the 6# drill sargent snuggled in the kid’s lap. Outside, on a sunny day.
June 11, 2007 — 8:43 pm