Bridge Communication; Do Not Jump Off the Bridge

              © Alchena/ Dreamstime.com-Python Bridge In Amsterdam-Night Scene Photo

In marketing luxury real estate have you ever had the experience of prospects that do not return your phone calls after you have established what you thought was an excellent rapport? Or, have you waited in vain for a promised call from prospects that never materialized?  What about missed appointments without as much as a quick note via email or text?

It is always a good practice to give people the benefit of the doubt because something urgent may have became a priority.  But, now with just about everyone using smartphones there is little excuse not to provide some form of Communication Bridge to resolve the mystery.

Why is it so difficult for people to say, “I have decided not to avail myself of your services” or, “my plans have changed”, or “something came up”? Doesn’t this seem like common courtesy? If they do not provide a bridge of communication do they expect that you will just take the hint and go away? Why does it seem like common courtesy is a luxury instead of the norm? 

If it appears that common courtesy is in short supply in your world you may want to take this an important clue. It is a clue more about YOU than THEM. 

It may appear like there is a scarcity of truly courteous people out there. But, in reality the courteous ones are just as plentiful. You just have been spending too much of your attention on the non-courteous ones and too much time complaining about them. The unfortunate result is that your expectations have diminished and your self-esteem has most likely suffered in the process.

The good news is that this can be remedied! Decide that you deserve common courtesy at all times. Practice it consistently yourself in regard to others. Be mindful of providing communication bridges if you are not interested in services that others offer you or if you cannot keep an appointment.

When you do encounter the lack of common courtesy, do not jump off the bridge! Give them the benefit of the doubt. Do not dwell on the disappointment. Just write it off as quickly as possible and move on others who are more a match to your standards of courtesy. Remember they are looking for you as much as you want to find them.

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.

Are Your Marketing Campaigns Originals or Copycats?

There are definite guidelines in marketing a luxury real estate home such as postcards, print ads (newspaper and magazines), on-line distribution, social media, events, public relations, and word of mouth.  Just because your competition is doing it one way, does not mean you should copy their way of marketing because of their success.

It is of paramount importance to do an in depth market research to understand your target audience of buyers.   Luxury homes and estates are usually unique and distinct properties, and each home deserves it own custom marketing. 

Not long ago, we interviewed an agent who told us, that he did minimal online marketing. Early one morning as he was jogging through his target neighborhood, he noticed the local newspaper on every doorstep.  At that point, he shifted a larger percentage of his marketing dollars to print ads, which yielded a significant return.
Sometimes to attract the right buyer to the property, a public relations campaign may be the right place to spend marketing dollars.  At the end of May, Michael Jackson’s, Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, (Santa Barbara’s wine country) came on the market for 100 million dollars. 

The property is co-listed with two different real estate firms one in Los Angeles and the other in Santa Barbara County to reach a wider audience of buyers.  Given Michael Jackson’s fame, this listing became national and international news both on line and in print.   Postcard marketing makes no sense in this instance.
Don’t fall into the trap of just copying, think it through for yourself and be an original.  Original marketing gets noticed copycat marketing gets dismissed.

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 Leading Edge: Outdoor Eco Smart Evening Dining in Santa Barbara

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, it is important to stay abreast of the new technology that is evolving in the Green Eco Smart Industry.  Here is something we discovered yesterday, when were having lunch at Honor Bar in Santa Barbara.

The picture above shows the pedestal of one of the outdoor tables.  Not only is it a pedestal, it is also a heating element.  The heat naturally generated by their refrigeration units is pumped through these and provides warmth in the evening through the vents.

In addition the umbrellas have a heating element that is solar as are the lights strung on the umbrella.  We were impressed, because this technology is cleaner, safer and saves space unlike the outdoor heaters that are propane powered. 

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.

Tune in to the Psychographics of Your Market or Go Out of Business!

When crafting your personal or company brand  and your marketing it is of paramount importance that you take time to understand the demographics (age and income) as well as the psychographics (Interests, activities, opinions and lifestyles) of your target market.  The psychographics are more important than the demographics. 

Luxury brands have for a long time focused on demographics rather than psychographics.  In September of 2012, we reported the closing of Louis Vuitton and Ruth Chris in one of Santa Barbara’s wealthiest neighborhoods, because they did not study the psychographics of the area.   At the end of this month, Saks Fifth Avenue is closing in Santa Barbara. 

In the eight years we have lived here, we have watched constant changes in their merchandise to more and more expensive brands.  We kept scratching our heads trying to understand their strategy.  Their shoe department was selling Chanel logo sneakers for $1,350.   What were they thinking?  The mindset of those living here is casual and relaxed.     

Make sure that you are constantly on top of the psychographics or your marketplace because it may change.  Last week, we revisited some of the places we frequented in our Los Angeles neighborhood.  We were surprised how the psychographics had changed and brand name stores had replaced the local merchants. 

Tune in to the psychographics of your marketplace, or go out of business!

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.

Ultimate Travel Bucket List and Luxury Real Estate Markets

There is a strong correlation between the top luxury vacation destination and popular second home market places for high net worth homebuyer. Quite often, what is on someone's ultimate travel bucket list is also a second home luxury real estate market place.
While perusing the WSJ, we found "The Ultimate Bucket List Travel Guide".  Different destinations were discussed and the standout for us was Karen Maezen Miller's (A Zen Buddhist Priest and author of Paradise in Plain Sight: Lessons from a Zen Garden.

She wants to visit the temples and gardens of Kyoto (also on our Bucket List). Her destination is Ryonaji Temple, which has a water basin for ceremonial hand washing.  Inscribed ion the basin are these words: "I am content with what I lack".  She remarks,  "so if I never make it to Kyoto or Ryonaji, I can still be satisfied."   These photos were taken at the Ryonaji temple.

Our research revealed many luxury real  estate companies that specializing in Kyoto, both local and international.

What is on your Ultimate Travel Bucket List?

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 Elephant In the Room: Your Attitude About High Net Worth Clients?

As a luxury real estate marketing professional be sure to get comfortable in the company of high net worth consumers. If they intimidate you, get over it or consider getting out of this end of the business.  Otherwise, your attitude becomes the elephant in the room that cannot be missed.

High net worth individuals often get a bad rap by those who are intimidated, jealous or think that it is unjust for them to be so rich. If you have any of these concerns and you still want to be in the luxury real estate business, here are some thoughts to help you get more comfortable.

Disregard the media biased myths about the lifestyles of the rich and famous, the very small minority that flaunt their wealth.  Instead, think about Steve Jobs, who started Apple in his parent’s garage. Like over 65% of billionaires in the US who are self-made, Steve certainly did not start out being ultra rich. In the 90’s Apple fired Steve then brought him back to the company that was on the brink of bankruptcy. Steve then lead Apple back not only to solvency but also to being the highest valued company in the world worth over $700 billion (potentially the first $1 trillion dollar company).

Think about the incredible value you have personally received from Apple, thanks to Steve, even if you own other brands of smartphones or tablets. Your money was not extorted from you to pay for these devices.  You voluntarily traded your dollars for this value, dollars you earned in exchange for value you offered to others.  There is no crime or evil at the root of these exchanges of value among consenting parties.

Apple pays more corporate taxes ($6 billion per year based on a 35% tax rate!) than any other US firm. That is over $14 million a day! They sell 70% of their products overseas, in over 100 countries, where they pay taxes (at a rate lower than 35%) on profits to the governments of those countries. But, they also pay US tax on interest income from overseas after-tax profits that are invested. Additionally, Apple has a sterling reputation in terms of its contribution to education and the environment.

Yet, Apple was recently under scrutiny by a US Senate sub-committee that was investigating an apparent unfair advantage (over other US companies who do not operate overseas as extensively as Apple). These companies pay higher taxes proportionately because they operate mostly in the US. But, no one has stopped these other companies from generating more revenue overseas.

Watch out for feelings of intimidation, jealousy or injustice about the rich. Your attitude could handicap you in your luxury real estate marketing practice. Get over it; get comfortable!

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.

Will Artificial Intelligence replace Real Estate Agents?

Recently there has been a lot of attention on the subject of Artificial Intelligence with all kinds of scary scenarios where artificial intelligence takes over and runs the human race.  In the near future will a real estate robot show homes, negotiate deals and close transactions?  Or will humans still reign over machines?

Social media sites are realizing that humans rather that algorithms may be the answer to curate users’ news feeds for accuracy and relevance. Content that is accurate brings in advertising dollars.

Facebook has had its share of mishaps, where their algorithms highlighted a sad event in a user’s life.  This has been dubbed Algorithmic cruelty.  Recently Twitter’s Discover made a blunder with its computer generated trending hash tag topics, which insulted feminism. 

Google’s experiments with a computer program of artificial intelligence created a database of movie scripts to teach computers to mimic how you a human brain works. This is known as cognitive computing. 

A recent conversation between human and machine at Google was reported in the Wall Street Journal, as “testy”, where finally the machine seemingly exasperated by the human’s insistence on defining morality/ethics/integrity lashes out the human, by refusing to talk further.

Will Real Estate Agent Robot get testy with the client or commit Algorithmic cruelty? What do you think will happen?

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 Do You Respond to Competition, Whine or Win?

What will be your response when competition shows up in your luxury real estate marketplace?  Do you take it as an opportunity to sharpen your focus and confirm your competitive edge, which would be a win for you? Or, do you complain and embark on a whining campaign.

If you follow business news, you probably heard about Uber (valued at $50 billion) threatening to dominate the taxi industry because of their great service and reliability.  Who would have thought that taxi customers were an under served market niche? 

In the hotel business, a similar scenario is happening with Airbnb, Inc (home-rental service). Their value, $25.5 million, is now on par with Hilton Hotels valued at $27.6 million.  Who would have dreamed that there was a need for travelers beyond the traditional hotel model?

The traditional taxi business has begun the whining cycle by looking to the government to help them out, instead of taking the opportunity to better or best the new entries in their market.  Likewise, Airbnb is facing opposition from local governments whose revenues are enriched with a hotel city tax.  Hotel chains are also looking to the government for regulations to stop this upstart.

We have long emphasized that by finding an underserved or uncontested market niche (like taxis and home-rental service) you can become a dominant player in a new market category.  This is exactly what Uber and Airbnb have done.

What will you do when new competition comes to town, whine or win?

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.

Long Nose Or Long Tail?

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, when writing your blog posts, it is important to understand the value of long tail keywords that can attract your psychographic niche. These keywords can bring potential buyers who are interested in your topic. From a traffic standpoint, they are valuable when writing descriptions of homes. However, don’t stretch the truth; use long tail keywords accurately.  If you don’t, your credibility will be undermined.

In selling real estate, the words “Tuscan, Tuscany” referring to the architecture style of a home is almost a guarantee to bring readers to a Tuscan Style home.  Most often, these so-called Tuscan homes do not have minimal resemblance to the Tuscan farmhouses, nor do they have a Tuscany setting.  Originally, Tuscan farmhouses were two or three stories tall. The family lived upstairs and the ground floor was used as the stable for the animals, and not as a grandiose space.  Savvy buyers or sellers instead of being interested will be turned off.

Yesterday, I was reading about a vineyard for sale in France on a luxury site that sells everything from cars to real estate.  It described the vineyard being located in the Tuscany of France.  Having been to both Tuscany and France several times, I feel that France has its own unique beauty and does not resemble Tuscany.

French wines are considered to be superior to Italian wines by wine experts.  Using the word “Tuscany” is solely for the purpose of attracting people to this estate, because all things Tuscan have keyword value.  In fact, this belittles both Tuscany and France.  They each have their place in the world of wine and do not need to be compared to each other.

Truth and accuracy will build your credibility and your readership; the truth does not need stretched into a long nose for a butterfly to perch on. 

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.

Would You Read Your Own Blog Posts or Newsletter?

Photo by Americanspirit

Writing a blog or a newsletter as a means of becoming well known and well thought of is a viable means of marketing yourself as luxury real estate professional.   However, if you are going to adopt this as a means of being visible on the Internet, you need to make sure that what you write about is of value to your audience, and they would be eager to read your posts on a regular basis.

The most important rule in marketing is to understand the psychographics of your audience.  Who are these people you want to reach?   What are they interested in? Are you focused on sellers?  Are you focused on buyers?  Are you focused on existing clients? What would make someone want to follow your blog?  Does it have to be real estate related, or does it have to be focused on localism posts?

Then ask yourself, what do you like to read about? What are you interested in?  What can you write about from your point of view and from your heart?  For instance, when writing a localism post do you just give the facts of an event, or do you add your perspective of it?  The most popular blogs are those with a point of view, which is what makes them interesting, readable and compelling.

If we were to write a post about the Hollywood Bowl schedule, we would include more than just a list of scheduled performances.  We would write about the foodies who create special meals to share with their friends in their box seats: the china, crystal, silver and candlesticks that are included in their picnic baskets.  We would write about the magical feeling of a live performance under the stars.  This is an example of perspective and a personal view.

Would You Read Your Own Blog Posts or Newsletter?

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.

Is Your Niche Too Narrow or Popped to Perfection?

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, make sure that when you research and identify a niche that it has the potential for growth as well as meeting your income goals.  Watch out for niches that are too narrow.

On our working visit to Naples, Florida we spotted a niche business, a store called, The Popcorn Cellar. Its slogan is “Too Good To Let It Age,” (a tongue in cheek reference to wine).  Popcorn Cellar offers 15 flavors of pre-popped popcorn, both sweet and savory. 

We tried a sample of Cinnamon Bun. It reminded us of Christmas gifts from corporate clients that came in big tin cans, that we promptly gave away to the garage attendants in our office building.  Although, we enjoy freshly popped popcorn once in a while, none of the pre-popped flavors appealed to us.   We wondered whether this establishment would last, because the niche is too narrow.

Our research into the popcorn industry revealed that the US per capita consumption is 52 quarts per person on an annual basis.  70% of consumption is in the home which indicated that most of the popcorn eaten was freshly popped, thanks to the microwave oven. Sales for popcorn (un-popped) are annually rising at 2-3%.

Gourmet popcorn falls into the “snack food” category.  Would you stop at a popcorn store like this, or would you prefer an ice cream store if you craved a snack?   Or would you do what we did, check it out, and then move on.  This may be a niche that is too narrow.  What do you think?

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.

Cupid Marketing Or Stupid Marketing?

Niche marketing in the field of luxury real estate is very much like online matchmaking and dating.  The idea is to find your ideal clients. They are the ones who are looking for you, too, because of your extraordinary promise of value.  It is time to start marketing like Cupid and find more matches!

In real estate, the challenge is to identify the uncontested or under served market niche that is right for you, a niche that you can dominate.  The art of finding the best target market for you is your first step of could be called “Cupid Marketing”.  Wasting your time and marketing dollars without having the right target could be called “Stupid Marketing”.

For some matchmaking and dating websites and apps like e-Harmony 2015 will be a very good year for revenue.  But, the general category is getting extremely crowded.  Singles have become fickle about which sites or apps they use because they have so many choices.  Yet, if you were to interview them candidly, they would tell you they are frustrated about not finding their perfect match.

Does this sound a bit like the competitive landscape in your real estate marketplace? Without being presented with a sharply defined and clearly communicated value proposition that is the answer to your target market’s prayers they are clueless about which agent to choose.

Niche players have the best chance of making it.  There are now matchmaking sites for people of the same religion, sexual preference, age group and even racial preference.  This obviously narrows down the choices, but increases the likelihood of finding the right match.

We often hear real estate agents complain that, “there is not enough inventory out there”. This also mirrors the scarcity mentality that many singles have about finding Mr. or Ms. Right when they say, “all the good ones are taken”. Yet, if you were to see the overall stats in those “tight” markets you would still see that quite a few homes have sold.

You just need to gain a larger share of those homes that are selling to meet your personal financial goals.  You need to be the dominant player in your niche! Become Cupid Marketer!

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 World's Happiest Country? The Coconut vs The Peach!

Understanding international buyers is an important subject to delve into, if you are marketing luxury real estate to those interested in your marketplace.  Knowing the difference between Coconuts and Peaches (as absurd as it may sound) is important.  It might make a difference in selling or listing a home owned by the Coconuts.

This morning, I read an article by Chantal Panozzo, an American working in Switzerland, explaining why she had to retrain herself not to smile in the World's Happiest Country.

The world's happiest country according to the 2015 Happiness Report states that Switzerland is the happiest country because the country has safe neighborhoods, low crime rates, high levels of employment, generous vacation and leave policies, excellent public transportation, and pension and health care benefits.  Unlike us (Americans and other English speaking countries) they value privacy.  They do not believe in publicly expressing it.

In a book by Margaret Davidson, Beyond Chocolate: Understanding Swiss Culture, Ms Davidson talks about the Coconut Culture (found in Switzerland, Germany, several European and Asian countries).  In those countries, individuals draw a distinct line between the people in their outer circles defined as neighbors, colleagues and acquaintances, and their inner circle: friends and family.  They share smiles and personal information with the inner circle only.

The Peach Culture individuals (Americans) do not necessarily make the distinction between their outer and inner circles. They are more likely to call each other by their first name and share personal information freely with everyone and refer to acquaintances as "friends".  

Apparently, our happiness is expressed on our outer layer, and smiling is not indicative of happiness according to psychologists. We tend to be dissatisfied with the government, crime rate, and employment.  We do not feel that the U.S. government "inspires trust and confidence!"

Our inner layer hides the peach pit.  The US ranks 15th on the happiness scale. We are viewed as positive people with an unfriendly government.  It has been suggested, that it is time for our government to have more compassion and inspire trust, friendliness, and confidence to its citizens.

We could not agree more.  Are you a Coconut or a Peach?

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.

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.

What Makes The Millennial Generation Run?

Long-term planning is important to include in one’s business plan if you want to be the market leader in your luxury real estate practice/company.  It means understanding the new agents you hire, as well as those you will be selling homes to.  It also means knowing how important spare time is to the millennial generation.

Next year, 80% of the work force will be comprised of millennials. Ten to fifteen years from today, the biggest spending group in the world will be those individuals who were born between 1980 and 1995.   After researching and reading several studies, it is evident that what makes the millennial generation run is the insistence on having spare time to enjoy their personal life.

What is notable about this generation is that in the professional service section, (accountant, actuary, architect, dentist, doctor, engineer, lawyer, management consultant, and pharmacist, for example) a significant number of the millennial set have entered and left this type of career path after a short stint. They are unwilling to sacrifice their free time to work harder for the traditional lure to advance their career by becoming a partner, or making more money. 

What is this sector of our population looking for?

A work culture that promotes and emphasizes work/life balance

Geographical convenience (work closer to home without a lengthy commute)

Technology in the workplace, focused on promoting flexibility and efficiency, such as having access to the best tools for collaboration and execution.

Having a policy of transparency regarding compensation, rewards and career decisions.

A working environment that feels like a community and emphasizes teamwork, appreciation, and support.

Even though this characterizes a large segment of the millennial generation, no one size fits all.  There are those in this generation, who do not fit these values, and there are those of us who are not by virtue of birth date in this category who have the same values as today’s millennial group.  Spare time to enjoy one’s life is definitely a high priority for many of us.

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.

Market Yourself Like Fine Chocolate

Being at the top of your game as a luxury real estate marketing professional requires being consistently remarkable and this includes your presentations materials. In Boston, on our first day there, we went on a walk revisiting the area where one of my best friends (Alexandra) lived.

When we returned to the hotel, we took a different street and discovered L.A. Burdick Chocolates.  They are known for their Single Source Collection showcase from different countries where chocolate is produced. 

We selected the Venezuela region, because it is one of our favorites.  The cacao content is 80%.  Single source chocolate is akin to estate wines, where the wine is made from grapes grown on the estate.  This is a growing trend in chocolate production.

Like estate wines, it is priced higher, because it is not blended with other chocolate.  It retains the essence of its terroir, (the natural environment in which the chocolate is grown, and the taste resulting from the soil composition in which it is produced).

We were also impressed by the packaging, which differed from all other chocolate packaging we have seen.  This one was remarkable as was the taste! 

Are you marketing yourself like fine chocolate?

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 Avoid Becoming a “Go-for” for Your Clients

From time to time we hear about luxury real estate agents who think that offering “concierge” services will endear them to their clients and generate more referrals.  These “above and beyond the call of duty” services (for which the agents are not paid) include personally orchestrating service workers for such tasks as yard clean up, painters, plumbers, stocking the fridge, etc, etc.

We believe that kindness and good deeds go a long way. However, you may want to consider shifting your role from actively doing these things to becoming a resource, a communication hub, a switchboard to refer your clients to service professionals you can trust.  Do not fall into the trap of becoming a “go-for” or an interim “majordomo” (a person who makes arrangements or takes charge for another).

If you live in a major city you could even give your clients a list of the latest smart phone apps that can help them with their chores, shopping, cooking, cleaning, packing (and unpacking), shipping and more.  There is an entire “concierge economy” emerging. For example, there are services that will deliver liquor or flowers or meals in 10 minutes. Some offer pick-up and delivery from any shop in town.  

If you order goods via Amazon or other e-commerce sites there is even a service that provides a proxy shipping address, where they receive your goods so nothing is left at your doorstep. Then, they deliver the goods when you are home.

Think of placing a higher value on your own time and redirecting that good energy into drumming up more business for yourself.  Besides, you will gain more respect from your clients (and more referrals, too), by respecting your true worth 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.

Know Your Local Schools

In marketing luxury real estate to buyers it is important to tune into the concerns parents may have for living in proximity to the best schools for their children. The more you know about the schools in your marketplace the more able you are to help your clients make the right decision. The right school can sell your clients on a neighborhood.

You should also stay abreast about the latest innovations in education.  Here is an exciting example of the most leading-edge schools in the country.(Be sure to watch the video too!).

If you work in San Francisco, or Palo Alto, CA or Brooklyn, NY you definitely need to know about AltSchool that just received a $100M in VC funding from the likes of Facebook’s Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, and also an organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs.  AltSchool brings together top experts in learning development, in technology and also in design that create best-in-class personalized learning experiences that prepare kids for their future in 2030.

AltSchool believes that all children have their own unique path to learning.  They truly honor their curiosity. Here are some highlights:

1. Rigorous academics
2. Personalized learning plans
3. Project-based learning
4. Digital learning tools
5. Low student-teacher ratio
6. Social & emotional skills
7. Foreign languages
8. Yoga, sports & physical education
9. Real world learning experiences
10. Engaging and inspiring teachers

In terms of “customer satisfaction”, here is a testimonial from a 10 year old AltSchool Student that says it all: “This is the best day of my entire school life”

Help your luxury real estate buyers with young children make the right decisions. Know your local schools!

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.

When Google Says, “Jump”!

When Google says, “Jump”, do you say how high?  Or, do you question their authority?

We are referring to the new edict Google has put forth that websites should be “mobile friendly” before April 21st, 2015, or else!  Or else, what?

If you are concerned that your luxury real estate website will no longer be accessible on mobile devices because you do not comply with Google’s newest algorithms, that is not true. Your site will still be accessible, but your page ranking may be lowered, eventually. 

Since more and more people are searching while on the go, Google is now using their famous carrot and stick methodologies to reward “mobile friendly” website and penalize those that are not. By mobile friendly, it is generally meant that your website design readily adapts to the screen size and functionality of the devise being used and is not just a desktop design shrunk down on a smaller screen.  This is often referred to as responsive design because the page display responds to the device being used.

Since over one-half of property searches are now conducted on mobile devices we can understand Google’s own motivation here.  Real estate search may be a good barometer indicating that mobile web use across the board has become dominant.  Google wants to be the best at serving mobile ads and help keep the mobile customer satisfaction high.

Does this mean you have to jump right here and now into a new website? If you are dependent on buyer leads from Google search, a quick response to deploying responsive design on your website would be advisable.

But, we have been saying for some time now that it is better to be the Google of your marketplace (in terms of top-of-mind status vs. your competition) than to rank #1 on a Google search page.  In our opinion, luxury real estate agents are wasting too much time competing in the shark-infested waters of Google page rankings these days. Instead, we advocate focusing on gaining LISTINGS within an under served or uncontested market niche, and let the buyers come to you!  It is time for you to become the dominant player in your marketplace using your own wits and wean yourself off of Google dependence.

Go ahead and upgrade your websites to be more mobile friendly with responsive design.  But, do so on your own terms! Enough already, being dominated by Google.

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 Recipe to Attract an Abundance of Ideal Clients

Even with advanced communication devices and the Internet to connect us all so rapidly, good communication, like common sense, seems to be not so common. 

One way to gain market share as a luxury real estate marketing professional is to become known as an outstanding communicator, because good communication is itself a luxury.  But, that is only half of the secret of attracting more clients. Here is a recipe to attract an abundance of ideal clients who appreciate good communication.

When we ask luxury real estate professionals to define the qualities their ideal clients must have, invariably good communication is at the top of their list.  Yet, most have fallen into the trap of putting up with poor communicators because of an underlying notion that there is a scarcity of ideal clients.

The first step to attract an abundance of ideal clients is to make a commitment to surround yourself primarily with other good communicators. This applies to your co-workers, your service providers and even your friends.

Go cold turkey and extricate yourself from poor communicators or gradually upgrade your relationships. Take it at your own pace. The bottom line is how fast you want to reclaim your self-esteem because that is the secret to becoming a magnet that attracts more ideal clients.  Good communicators uplift your spirits and continuously add to the quality of your life. 

The second step is to make a pact to stay focused upon, acknowledge and appreciate good communication in all of your relationships. Simply refuse to dwell on episodes where you encounter poor communication. 

Have fun catching yourself when you start complaining about poor communicators. It is so easy to get carried away. By staying focused on this life-giving elixir of good communication you will naturally attract more like-minded people who value it.

Good communication is truly a luxury because it is rare. But, when you amp up your insistence to have it in your important relationships it becomes abundant.

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.