This is the second in an ongoing series of posts sharing some of the gold I found at the Unchained Orlando Conference on Social Media Marketing for Real Estate. In the first post: An Outsider’s View from Inside the Hound Pound, I talked a little about the theme that emerged through all the speakers. In this, the second post, the theme reveals its philosophy.
Imagine someone handing you a list with ten actions you could use right now to improve your marketing. Now imagine not only being given the list, but an understanding of the “why” behind the actions on the list. You would go from an agent that is hungry, to an agent eating a fish, to an agent who knows how to fish in rapid order. That is what Greg Swann, our first speaker, accomplished when he shared his Unchained Epiphany.
Greg pointed out that most civilizations will do just what is needed to survive and no more. When faced with a new problem they will do just enough to overcome it but again, no more. He did not come right out and say it, but I couldn’t help myself thinking of us as a civilization. All of us involved in the real estate business. We have our own language, our own goals, our own methods for determining hierarchy and possibly most important, we have our own culture. We also suffer from the same problems Greg was describing: often doing just what is needed to get by; just enough to solve a problem, pay the bills and move on to the next thing. Not all cultures operate this way.
The Greeks, as Mr. Swann pointed out, were the first culture to come along and reach for more than just surviving; to become, as Greg said: “a doer for the sake of having done, a thinker for the sake of having thought, a poet for poetry’s own sake.” We, each and every one of us, has that opportunity. We are free to succeed and we are free to fail. We are free to control our business and we are free to believe others control it. The point Greg was driving home was this: we are not free from making the choice. Either you choose to recognize and more importantly acknowledge that you alone are responsible for your thoughts, actions and results or by definition you cede control of them to someone else. The only true wealth in the world, Greg shared, is intellectual capital.
The fluid nature of this “intellectual capital” did not really hit me until a week later. I attended an economic summit a few days ago hosted by the local Princeton Alumni chapter. There was a lot of terrific information on the stock market and what investments might make sense, but the most interesting thing I heard came from this fellow sitting next to me. Isn’t that always the way? He had worked for one of the largest Real Estate Agent training companies in the world (based right here in San Diego) until earlier this year when his position was eliminated. He said “They are no longer the powerhouse they once were. They have suffered in this downturn just like everyone else.” But I recognized that for the BS it was. The philosophy of the Greeks – the Unchained Epiphany – is the real reason this company is going down. The corollary to the philosophy of the Greeks so forcefully revealed by Greg is one of flexibility and agility. To “do for the sake of having done” and “think for the sake of having thought” requires an open mind that can accept and adapt to continuous change. The big firms remind me of aircraft carriers: they are powerful in their immediacy, but ultimately limited by their inability to easily change course.
Our intellectual capital is our wealth and we increase it every time we decide to embrace the power shift that is happening all around us. The customer controls the flow of information now. Social Media Marketing acknowledges this new freedom we have all attained and like the Greeks, implores us to take action beyond our immediate needs.
I have written more about Greg’s Unchained Epiphany – along with the List of Ten Actions you can take right now – at Real Estate Marketing is Greek to Me. In the nest installment of Unchained Notes, I’ll take on Brian Brady’s Marketing Ninjas!
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