This is magazine spam, but it came from an RIS magazine called — wait for it — Real Estate that is nothing but spam. Every ad turns into two ads, the ad itself plus the puff-piece editorial copy of the just-exactly-how-dumb-are-you products being pimped in the ads. This kind of thing might be offensive to real estate professionals if we had not been putting up for it for years from Realtor magazine and the Inman “News”.
Anyway, this dumb product, called Showing Beacon, is a strong contender for Dumb Product of the Year:
I can’t figure out how much this stupid thing costs, but it doesn’t matter: Nothing would be too much. But don’t get the idea that you’ve milked this joke of all its yucks until you stop in at the Showing Beacon web site. Scroll down the page and click on the celebrity photos. What should you do when you come to fear that your product might be too cheesy? Add more cheese…
Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing
The Harriman Team says:
Pretty cheesy, alright. You know it’s bad when the “default” voice sounds 100 times better than any of the faux celebrity voices. I cringed listening to all of them. Oh, and the price? A steal at $34.95 for the unit itself, plus a choice of 2 “service” plans: $20 per listing with your first listing free, or $50 per year with the year starting with the second listing. And if you can scam the rest of your office (or association!) into using this thing, you get a whole 10% discount. Buying 50 units brings the per unit price to an amazingly low $31.95 each. Man, what a deal! I can’t decide which is better: buy this chintzy piece of useless flotsam, or tell my sellers that they should give the showing 30 minutes or so before returning home, and if they’re still there, wait until they leave. Hmmmm…oh hell, where’s my credit card?!?!
June 23, 2008 — 4:23 pm
Greg Swann says:
> Hmmmm…oh hell, where’s my credit card?!?!
Oh, priceless! Pitch-perfect comedy.
June 23, 2008 — 4:28 pm
Chris Johnson says:
Dude. Tax on stupidity. The pure audacity of this product is a gem. Holy-shit.
June 23, 2008 — 4:50 pm
Jonathan Blackwell says:
The Showing Beacon, for people too stupid to use a phone.
June 23, 2008 — 5:59 pm
The Harriman Team says:
You know, I was just reading the graphic that Greg included above and an epiphany hit me. Reading the ad copy, it appears that Greg may have inadvertently discovered a revolutionary new way to attract new listings. If you just sort of disregard the “How It Works” section and focus on the “Why It Works” and the Big Red Button, here is the innovative way to garner fresh listings:
1) Reach Sellers With the Press of a Button! (no further need to prospect, market, cold call, knock on doors, send letters or postcards, blog, spend money on useless print ads in newspapers and real estate publications! Simply press the Big Red Button and sellers will call you or flock to your door, ready to offer you 6-8% commissions and unlimited listing time!)
2) Why It Works:
a) Enhances Your Listing Presentation (making it suddenly not quite so incomprehensible as it used to be, and actually half-way convincing too!)
b) Offers the only listing tool designed for sellers (yes, forget about all the other tools, like listing syndication, open houses, flyers, virtual tours, etc. The Showing Beacon is all you need. Just press the Big Red Button!)
c) Shows sellers you value their time (because everything else you do for them totally wastes their time, your time, and potential buyers’ time. Just push the damn Big Red Button and everything will be Taken Care Of. We Promise.)
So come on, push it. You know you want to. Push the g** d*** Big Red Button!
June 23, 2008 — 6:50 pm
Russell Shaw says:
LOL!! Fantastic.
June 24, 2008 — 12:08 am
Dan Sullivan says:
I’ll grant you all that this is a pretty cheesy ad. And I am pretty shocked at the cost.
But at the risk of a huge backlash, I need to ask…..why is this a horrible tool? I have shown quite a few homes that are using this. My clients usually get a little laugh about “sending out a beacon”, but I have always thought it was a nice convenience for the sellers.
Greg, I ask you:
1. If the cost was realistic and
2. The technology was to your standards
Wouldn’t this be a nice tool to offer your sellers? On a typical two hour showing window, knowing that the agent and clients have already come and gone would be nice, especially when you are killing time at the pool in 114 degrees.
June 24, 2008 — 8:59 pm
Greg Swann says:
> I have shown quite a few homes that are using this.
Amazing. I have never seen it. Could it be a big broker in Denver bought them for everyone?
> Wouldn’t this be a nice tool to offer your sellers?
I think it’s a goofy gimmick, a piece of the generic Realtor strategy I denominate as the instead-of-a-plan strategy. Another one, very similar, is the Talking House. We got sucked into that one when I was young and foolish.
It works out like this: I need to do something to set myself apart with sellers, so I’ll get the Showing Beacon or the Talking House or the LapTopTour. This may or may not make houses sell, but I’ll have something to hang my hat on at the listing presentation.
That’s bad marketing, in my opinion. My discussion of our Coffee Table Books is an example of what I see as being good marketing: It is a goofy gimmick that is laser-focused on getting the buyer to commit to our home instead of another. With the other three gimmicks — and dozens more — I’m trying to sell me. With the things we talk about, I’m trying to sell the house.
But: While I might be pig-headed and opinionated, I am also libertarian to a fault. Each man to his own Saints, keep your own counsel and never apologize for hewing to your own standard of excellence. I don’t think the price of the Showing Beacon is outrageous, I just think it’s likely to suffer the fate of the pasta maker and the fondu set: A seemingly good idea that will quickly fall into disuse.
June 24, 2008 — 11:53 pm