Real Estate Website Design: Luxury Website Aesthetics

Adams, "The Tetons and the Snake River" by Ansel Adams

In a previous post, we discussed incorporating your brand’s strategy in the design, making it user friendly and having great content.  What about the look and feel of your website?

When we work with a luxury real estate professional, we create a color palette based on their personality, their niche, and target market.  These three aspects of personality, niche, and target market have to blend in a cohesive palette.  The blend is important.  The object is to have the web visitors identify with the web site and enjoy using it.   This color palette is used for the brand colors, the navigation bar, and other details on the site. 

Great photographs are worth a million words on your website.  They tell the story of your marketplace better than words can.  Study the photography on resort brochures, or those on Architectural Digest or Veranda magazines.  Look at how they show a home, and study the shots of the various rooms in the featured homes.  Some of you may have great photographic skills, but if you don’t have it, hire a top-notch professional, for your listings.  All your clients deserve the best. 

Give your marketplace its due with great lifestyle photography also.  Study the outdoor photographs of Ansel Adams. Note the above photo is of the Tetons and the Snake River. Our latest website for one of our clients in Santa Barbara has included photos of surfing, and the polo games.  Be like the chamber of commerce for your marketplace, romance it, and show off the best of your community so that your target market falls in love with it.

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. 

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Luxury Real Estate Website Design: Four Tips to Keep In Mind

As we research the latest and greatest in website design, we keep in mind two factors in our design of websites: brand strategy integration, and user experience.  Here are 4 tips:

In terms of brand strategy integration, the site’s aesthetics should represent the brand in all its aspects.  For instance, if you are going to be focused on historical homes in a particular area, keep it focused there.  Resist the lure of enhancing it with modern homes.

Keep your home page clutter free, simply configured, so it is easy to use.   Think of staging your site like you do a home.  Keep it accessible to users.  Big musical overtures or flashy video introductions with rapidly moving graphics are a turn off resulting in a click off.  They also take time to load. 

In terms of content on your website, resist peppering it with a bunch of keywords which are mind numbing and makes the reader wonder what you are talking about.  Besides, for Google, keywords are no longer the priority.  This gives them a reason to click off your site.

If you are going to write a blog as part of your strategy, write user friendly, informative and most importantly interesting content.  Keep the content, simple, short and interesting to read and share with friends.

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. 

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Luxury Real Estate Branding: The Power of Color in .03 Seconds!

When you are refining your luxury real estate branding and marketing package, it is important to focus on the power of color.  The response to color is often subliminal. The eyes see color in .03 seconds equivalent to the blinking of an eyelash.  In that brief moment, colors have to convey the message of the brand which helps create interest and eventually the sale.  This makes it worth the time for a second look.

Yesterday, we were cruising the aisles of luxury stores and looking at different products, and their packaging for inspiration.  We apply the .03 seconds principle as we move through the store.  Will it catch our eyes? Does it appeal to our psyche?  If it does are we compelled to take time to look at it further?  Would we buy it?

Some people may protest at this instant judgment of a product or service without delving in the particulars.  So many times as we speak at conferences, we are often asked the following. “Do people really judge a book by its cover in a branding context?”

Agent “A” got the listing for an equestrian property.  This person does not know the nose from the tail of a horse.” I am an experienced equestrian, a horse judge, and horse owner and they picked agent “A”.  The answer, shallow as it may seem to some is packaging and perception of the brand.

Test the .03 seconds principle. Next time you are in a supermarket, see what attracts you color wise.  Is it worth a second look?  Did you buy it? 

Will your intended target market be drawn to you?

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. 

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Luxury Real Estate Branding: Communicating with Colors #4

Making the right color choice is one of the most important aspects of communicating your brand’s message.  Typically a combination of three colors, (occasionally 4) reflects the brand identity and communicates its emotion, symbolism and mood.  These 3 colors have to be carefully selected both in term of hues and contrast.  The focus should be on giving the right signal for the individual or the company and the marketplace.

In home markets, where the living is easy and relaxed, black (although associated with power, luxury and elegance) sends a wrong signal.  Black is formal, think black tie events!  If you are in a bustling city market, black can be one of the colors. 

People who buy in these markets are interested in a casual, relaxed, life style.  We used different hues of blues for one of our clients in the Santa Barbara Riviera.  Royal blue associated with luxury is dominant on his page.  Lighter blue in the same family as the royal blue and white are used to create a contrast.  The blue reflects the Pacific Ocean, which can be seen from the Riviera homes he specializes in, and it happens to be his favorite color.

Another client in Santa Barbara who works in a different marketplace has bougainvillea pink, spring green and white as her colors.  Bougainvillea is growing everywhere in Santa Barbara.  It also reflects her personality. Bougainvillea pink communicates youth, energy, and movement.  Both colors are used sparingly on a white contrasting background. This site is going through final adjustments, and we will share it at a later date.

Take the time to dial into your color preferences when crafting your brand.  However, keep in mind who you are communicating to.

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. 

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Luxury Real Estate Branding: Communicating with Colors #3

Our post yesterday sparked many interesting questions that have inspired a series.  Color selection in branding and marketing is a process.  It involves analysis both of the individual/team or company as well as their target market.  The brand should reflect a combination of both the client and the market.

Choosing colors for a brand necessitates understanding the use of color in terms of its impact:  emotional, symbolic, and mood projected.  Moods can be serene, earthy, playful, powerful, mellow, traditional, unique, elegant, and luxurious to name a few.    Moods are communicated with color combinations.

Children are naturally drawn to bright colors. Bright colors are happy, cheerful, energetic, and project a playful mood. Toy and playground manufacturers produce toys in bright color combination, for this very reason.

When you work for a company, and develop your personal brand, their brand becomes an endorser brand, which in most cases have to printed on your cards, marketing materials, and website.  Sometimes, brand colors clash, and there are solutions for elegant integration.

One of our first projects involved creating a luxury real estate brand for an agent working with a company whose brand colors are red, white and blue.  The color combination is not perceived as a luxury.  It is symbolic of Middle America, Mom, apple pie, all things quintessentially American.  Some well-known brands with that combination are Budweiser, Chevron, Pepsi, NFL, Chicago Cubs, and American Airlines.    

Based on her color preferences and the marketplace, she was working in; we created a brand in burgundy, accented it with a metallic gold, and a cream color for the body of the marketing pieces and website.  At first, this clashed with the initial company brand, and they later came out with a single color logo that was complimentary.  As her business boomed, she opened her own firm, and eventually sold the brand and website for a significant sum.

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. 

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Luxury Real Estate Branding: Communicating with Colors #2

Last week, we wrote a post on the psychology of colors focusing on red and green as part of a brand’s color scheme. Alitalia incorporates these colors in their brand identity, as they are the colors of he Italian flag.  Saturday, while in Beverly Hills, we spotted Gucci’s “camouflage” (barricade), a temporary façade erected during the remodeling of their Italian luxury fashion and leather goods store. 

The barricade looks like a portal into the store. They are actually open for business during the transformation.

Gucci’s brand identity is comprised of red and green stripes on a beige background watermarked with interlocking “G’s”. They also use metallic gold for the name itself at times.  Red and green are highly contrasting hot and cool colors.  By themselves, these colors may not connote a luxury brand.  But, by adding beige and gold as the third and fourth brand colors, instead of white, it can elevate the red and green combination to luxury status.

Paying attention to colors and how they represent your brand of doing business is quite important.  Using the right colors can actually attract more business or differentiate you from your competition in the realm of luxury real estate. The wrong colors can do just the opposite.

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. 

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Three Ways to Sharpen Your Strategic Thinking Part 1

If you are going to respond pro-actively to the ever-changing world we live in, it is important that you sharpen your strategic thinking.   This will help you to outthink your competition.

Take time to reexamine your opinions.  Challenge your own premises, and be open enough to admit you may be wrong.  For instance, many real estate marketing professionals are quick to tell you that print advertising is a colossal waste of money.

In our research and experience we have found that in some luxury markets, print ads are a strong source of leads for many brokers and agents.  The same is true in some communities with 55+ homeowners.  

Some luxury marketers are now beginning their campaigns in print first and online second.  This practice is a more effective way to reach their target market.  Research on the subject also shows that the younger generations are responding to print ads favorably.

Realize that opposing views are not negative views, they are just views. Negative views begin, continue and end with insults. Opposing views is simply a view that does not agree with yours. Read articles or have discussions with people with opposing views.  In practicing this you may glean something you are missing in your thinking, and it may actually strengthen your position.  

Take time to recharge your mind and learn something new.   Do something different outside of your routine; adapt it as part of your daily job.  This morning on our early beach walk, we walked to the left rather than our usual choice to the right.  It was a treat as there were tide pools to explore, and also seals and sea lions sunbathing on the rocks. 

We also saw a sign announcing that once again the grunions are running this evening. “Grunion are known for their unusual mating ritual wherein at very high tides, the females come up on to sandy beaches where they dig their tails into the sand to lay their eggs. The male then wraps himself around the female to deposit his sperm and for the next 10 days the grunion eggs remain hidden in the sand. At the next set of high tides, the eggs hatch and the young grunion are washed out to sea.” Wikipedia. This event occurs for several evenings, and we are going to catch the show.

Stay tuned for Part 2.  We will continue to discuss more ways to expand your strategic thinking, and outthink your competition.

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. 

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Real Estate Brand Strategy: 3 Ways to Deal with Zillow/Trulia Merger!

Here are three ways to deal with what appears to be the inevitable merger of Zillow and Trulia.

Outspend Your Competition

Steve Murray, President of Real Trends mentioned in an article on CNN that some agent teams are spending up to $20,000 a month to appear on the Zillow/Trulia listing pages. With the merger both entities can charge more for their combined Internet exposure of a 130 million visitors a month.  By spending more you can outdistance your competition.

For example, Douglas Elliman recently paid Zillow an undisclosed amount to make sure that all leads generated by their listings go directly to the agent who has listed the property and no other competing agent’s profile is allowed on their pages.  They created an exclusive relationship which boosts the traffic to their website.  Their main offices are in the city of New York and New York does not have an MLS, which in turn benefits Zillow as it lacked a New York presence.  If your pockets are deep enough, this is a viable option.

Outthink Your Competition

Find a brand strategy that will help you secure top-of-mind status in your marketplace. Real estate is local and the more you stand out in your local community as a caring business person, the more likely you will be sought after for listing or buying a property. 

One of our local companies here in Santa Barbara County supports the teachers in the communities they have offices in.  They have a fund to help teachers’ special projects. This strategy can influence the teaching community and the parents to think of them first when it comes to real estate.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Some of the best agents build a strong referral base and are not dependent on any third party lead generation.

What will you do, OUTSPEND, OUTTHINK, OR BE HAPPY AND NOT WORRY?

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. 

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Luxury Real Estate Branding: Communicating with Colors

There is an entire psychology of color that goes into crafting luxury brands.  This applies to personal and company brands. Certain colors and color combination evoke strong emotions and are also associated with certain things in the minds of your target market.  It is important to become aware of what you are communicating with your brand colors.

When you think of the color combination, Green and Red, what is the first thing that comes to mind?  If you are like most people Christmas immediately is associated with this color duo.  As a result, you rarely will see this combination used when crafting a brand.  But, there is much more to this brand story when you think outside of the holiday gift box.

By using variations of reds and greens tones you can create some spectacular themes.  If additional colors are added to the theme you can evoke excitement and vibrancy, festive emotions.  Setting the right tone and the right mood is an integral part of communicating your brand’s primary message.

The proportions of the two colors can change the brand message all together, making it more or less sophisticated.  For example, Alitalia uses red very sparingly, but still represents the colors of the Italian flag that has equal portions of green read and white.

The more you tune into colors and how they are used in branding the more you can learn about the art of communicating with colors.  What colors are you using in your personal brand?  Do they accurately represent you and your personal brand’s message?

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. 

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Marketing Is a Two-Way Conversation

There is distinct difference between marketing and selling.  Marketing is a two-way conversation about satisfying needs. Selling is attempting to convince someone to buy something they may not need or be ready for.

Just yesterday we received an email from one of our clients whose website we are completing.  She asked if in her sold portfolio of homes, she should have the sales price or the listing price as part of the description.  The same question comes up for “Just Sold Postcards,” and newspaper advertising.  Our advice is to publish the listing price!

Publishing what the home was offered at initially is more likely to get someone qualified to pick up the phone, or send you an email.  Several of our clients report that when someone calls to find out the sale price, they are often interested in selling their home.  This becomes an opportunity to connect, and stay in touch.

The savvy real estate professional will make a connection with that potential seller, rather than launch into a sales pitch.  They may not be ready to sell the day they contact you, but if you stay in touch with them by sharing good information with them, they eventually turn into your clients. 

Have a two-way conversation, connect, and stay in touch.  You will be surprised at the results and the referrals that follow.

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. 

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing :Hope Marketing or Face-to-Face Marketing?

Luxury brands with significant budgets are constantly keeping track of their various marketing campaigns and assessing which ones bring the best ROI, (Return on Investment of time and money.) As a luxury real estate marketing professional, there are lessons to learn from these savvy brand managers. 

In the past few years, many of the top brands have engaged award winning videographers, writers and directors to produce videos about their latest offering, and also their heritage in order to engage their target market. Their goal is to increase brand recognition, brand loyalty and brand retention.   These videos were distributed on many social media with high hopes. These efforts and many more fall into the category of what we call “hope marketing”. 

What has become clear to the luxury industry is that face-to-face experience including live events is what drives the ROI in the right direction. For instance, artisans of high-end jewelry brands attended some of these events to demonstrate the intricacies of how to choose the right gem and how to set it. This type of experiences is educational and interesting.  It creates a connection with the brand and the people behind it.  It engenders loyalty and word of mouth referrals,

According to a survey by Wealth X, over 84% of the top 1000 luxury brands hosted events that focused on making a connection with their market.  62% of those who kept statistics found significant increase in the ROI.

How can you increase your face-to-face marketing and decrease your hope marketing?

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. 

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Real Estate Branding: Premium Is The Added Value That Defines Luxury

Borderfree is another nomination for the LOL Luxury Brand of the Year because it helps us to define the essence of a luxury in a unique way.  Borderfree helps USA retailers potentially reach 2 billion foreign consumers by managing retail logistics including customs, shipping and returns hassle-free for retailers and consumers. According to Borderfree, “50% of consumers say they will pay more for a better customer experience”.  And, that PREMIUM (Added Value) is what makes it a luxury brand.

When a foreign consumer shops on the websites of participating retailers, the site is translated into 60 languages and currencies.  Duty, taxes and shipping costs are automatically calculated based on the shipping destination, and paid for upon checkout by the consumer. Some of Borderfree’s clients include Barney’s New York, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bloomingdales.   

They also offer foreign consumers a USA shipping address where Borderfree repackages USA goods purchased from any number of USA online stores, like Amazon, and then ships the combined merchandise efficiently to reduce shipping costs to the consumer.

Now, from a branding perspective, how do you distill and convey this extraordinary promise of value in a brand name and a logo and the messaging on their website?  These are the cornerstones of our job as brand strategists for the luxury real estate industry.

Take a close look at the logo. The “B” has no borders.  The four corners are triangles pointing in all directions.  The brand name says it all.  Once you hear it once you will easily remember it because it names the entire value proposition with just a few letters.  The very character spacing of B O R D E R F R E E communicates the freeing up of previously closed markets, an untapped reservoir of consumers for retailers and also the hassle-free user experience for which consumers are willing to pay a PREMIUM.

Check out Borderfree.com.  Notice the economy of words and images they use to explain their extraordinary promise of value. It is all distilled again in their three-word slogan: “Going Global. Simplified”.

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. 

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Luxury Real Estate Trends: The Warm & Fuzzy Side of Luxury!

As we continue to review the trends discussed in the luxury arena, we are noticing that the same theme is repeated over and over again: take the best care of your customers! This is definitely what defines success today.  It is the warm and fuzzy side of luxury that applies to all industries that involve human interaction.

In an address at the Welcome Conference for the hospitality industry, the Canils brothers (Seattle Restaurant owners) explained their views on what hospitality means, “It isn’t about transactions, it’s about relationships!”  Gabriel Stulman owns six restaurants in Manhattan, “where the wait staff including bartenders and host are encouraged to offer a drink or dish on the house every day, and to lavish guests with such warmth, they may want to pay it back with a hug.”

Stulman’s mantra is: “Treat celebrities like locals, and locals like celebrities, because everyone loves to be made to feel special”

Luxury real estate is all about relationships, if your intent is to succeed and be top of mind in your marketplace.  How can you incorporate the warm and fuzzy side of luxury in your real estate practice?

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. 

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The Triumph of Substance Over Hype - Part 3

In some luxury real estate markets two or three agents trade places as the top producers in sales volume, year after year.  Like in sports, there can only be one winner in this contest each year.  But, let us take a closer look at some of the nuances of this rarified realm of market leadership. 

This year the NBA Champions, the San Antonio Spurs, made basketball history by beating the Heat in 4 of the 5 games with a margin of 15 or more points. Essentially, The Spurs’ winning formula is unselfishly and continuously passing the ball until it reaches the player who can take the great vs. the good shot. This methodology requires ALL players to trust ALL teammates completely and also resist the temptation (especially for the marquee players) to take over the game and be THE HERO. 

In our opinion, this was a triumph of substance (Spurs) over hype (Heat) where the media has been glorifying the “Big Three” (LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh) as heroes.  It is a triumph for substance because the Spurs’ strategy truly represents a leap forward in the evolution of the game of basketball itself. 

This does not discount in any way the tremendous talents of LeBron James, et al. Nor, does it negate the fan’s need for sports heroes that the media can bolster in order to sell more advertisements, heroes to whom companies pay larger sums to get products endorsements.  It just represents two distinct ways to reach the top. In marketing luxury real estate we believe that substance is more sustainable over time. 

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. 

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Social Media Marketing Report: Is The Cat Out of the Bag?

Gallup Poll released its latest report, “The Myth of Social Media” stating that the majority of consumers are not influenced by Facebook, Twitter, etc.  “Social media are not the powerful and persuasive marketing force many companies hoped they would be.”

Here is a summary:

The influence of social media on purchasing decisions

62% No influence at all

30% some influence

5%  A great deal of influence

3% don’t know

The real reasons for social media use:

94% To connect with friends and family

29% To follow trends/To find product reviews and information

20% To connect on what’s hot or new/ To write reviews of products.

What do you think?  To read the entire report, here is the link.

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. 

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Wearable Technology Has Come to Stay

Our media partners, Luxe Corp in Paris, produced another outstanding Club e-Luxe International Summit event this month for the luxury goods and services industry.  One of the presenters was a representative from a Swiss-based company that manufactures, designs and develops products that enhance our increasingly mobile, connected and digital lifestyles.

Here are the main highlights of the presentation:

Wearable Technology has come to stay and there is no more going back. Their presence in luxury and digital media is similar to the arrival of the internet. The future digital landscape is dotted with wearable technology devices and luxury brands cannot escape this phenomenon.

Wearable technology are devices designed to expand or enhance a wearer's experience not only with other people but with the brand. Once luxury brands understand this, they will see all the opportunities that wearable tech can offer.

Wearable Technology mediates the interaction between users and their immediate environments. This means being hyper-connected digitally on a permanent basis. They amplify the lives of users and help them do things faster, quicker and easier.

The shift in wearable devices is from single function to cross function. The scope of application of the device has been enhanced

Wearables are causing a re-thinking of the boundaries of the body, material science and digital technology; and creating new forms of interpersonal as well as brand to consumers interactions.

Wearables started as far back as 1975 with the calculator wrist watches by HP, Pulsar & Casio. Today this technology is being pushed forward by the likes of Nike, Samsung and Google.

In the near future, 1 in 20 smartphones will be connected to a smart watch. The global annual wearable device unit shipments will surpass 100 million in 2014, and reach 300 million units in 5 years.

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. 

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Going the "Good to Great" Route?:Follow the Wisdom of the Hedgehog!

If you have the inner drive to go from “good to great” in your luxury real estate or real estate career, one of the concepts to take to heart in Jim Collins’ best selling book, Good to Great, is the hedgehog concept.  

The hedgehog strategy is a focused strategy.  Hedgehogs are by nature not predators.  They mind their own business, and they fend off predators (competitors) by simply rolling up into a ball exposing their sharp quills.  The predators are quick to move on without challenging.

In real estate, hedgehogs identify a market niche that they can master better than anyone else in the marketplace.  The choice of niche fits them like a glove and shows off their authenticity.  They are passionate and love what they are doing.  Because of their expertise and dedication, they become the first to come to mind, when someone wants to list or buy a property in a given niche.   

Authenticity and focused strategy differentiates the “good from the great,” and attracts the ideal clients. Follow the wisdom of the hedgehog!

"The fox has many tricks.  The hedgehog has but one. But that is the best of all" Ralph Waldo Emerson

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. 

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Luxury Real Estate Personal & Company Branding: Three Principles of Teamwork

As we were talking our morning beach walk today, we were discussing a recent accomplishment. With an international team of five very talented people (like a basketball team), we have formed in addition to our luxury real estate consulting practice, a new company to consult luxury consumer brands.  The individual part each one of us plays is bound by three important principles, which delights us.

The first is appreciation: We have unbridled appreciation and joy in each other’s accomplishments.  We rave about each other’s skills and revel in each person’s unique brilliance.  Appreciation feeds the soul.

The second is flexibility and fluidity: Fluidity and Flexibility are like twins: They are similar to the ocean that finds a place to flow against what seems to be blocked.  It knows that there is always a path of least resistance. It may take a shift in paradigm to find the path.  Fluidity is the knowledge that resistance is futile and full of pitfalls, and a downstream ride is much more pleasant.

The third is trust in each other’s commitment and the willingness to do what it takes for the result to happen.   Sometimes, the horizon looks cloudy and unattainable.  Trust and having each other’s back opens up the possibilities at the darkest times.

“If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.

”Rabindranath Tagor, Bengal polymath, poet, Nobel Prize winner for Literature.

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. 

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The Triumph of Substance Over Hype: What Color is Your Bus? #2

Making the shift to the “good to great” mindset requires dedication and a mindset of constant improvement.    There are many good real estate agents in this industry, and very few great real estate companies, teams, or individuals.

In the book, Good to Great, Jim Collins emphasizes getting “the right people on the bus, and in the right seats.”  First of all you have to know who you are, and what you stand for.  You have know your brand, so that the right people with the same core values can relate to and join your brand. 

In the case of the San Antonio Spurs, their brand is trust, humility, and teamwork. This is the driving force of their bus.  These are the core values, which their ownership, general manager and coaches embody.  The players are carefully selected in accordance to these values.   Other teams have other approaches.  There is no “right” approach, or “wrong” approach.  What is important in the “good to great” journey is the discipline to maintain your core values and brand, and not deviate from them, when selecting your teammates.  The key is to know the color of your bus.

In your real estate practice, congruency of shared core values creates substance.  Substance does not need hype; it shines on its own, like a diamond. 

“It is hard to be a diamond, in a rhinestone world.” Dolly Parton

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. 

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: The Triumph of Substance Over Hype! Part 1.

In watching the NBA finals, and the widely unexpected results of the San Antonio Spurs beating the Heat, we were amused how the sportscasters are now embracing the concept that the coach of the Spurs, Greg Popovitch, had instilled in his team.  Keep passing the ball and look for the “great” shot instead of the “good” one.   The result of his “good to great” strategy has ushered a new era in the sport of basketball, “the triumph of substance over hype!”

The Heat had their big three superstars, all great players in their own right.  In our opinion, they expected their success, and progress stopped on their team causing their resounding defeat.  Once again, David had defeated Goliath!

Good to Great is the title of a management book written by Jim Collins, one of our favorite authors.  The first sentence of the book is: “Good is the enemy of great.”  He goes on to explain that it is easy to settle for good.

This is not a new concept.   Aristotle said:  “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.”  Thomas J Watson of IBM expressed it this way:  “Whenever, an individual or a business decides that success has been attained, progress stops.”

In part 2, we will be discussing the anatomy of a good to great mindset, and how it contributes to the triumph of substance over hype.  We will explore the conditions necessary to achieve these types of results, and our passionate stance on the subject.    In our luxury real estate branding strategy and marketing practice, we only work with those professionals who want to make the leap from good to great.  They are not satisfied doing things that are “good enough”. They are looking to practice excellence as a habit, and then keep improving on that.

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. 

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Buzz-Worthy Luxury Real Estate Websites 

Personal Branding Case Studies Company Branding Case Studies 

About Language of Luxury

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