http://www.matthewferrara.com Building Real Estate, The Next Generation Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:38:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en After spending five days in Orlando, Florida with the National Association of REALTORS Annual Conference, I thought it might be helpful to provide the 99.95% of the Association who didn't go to the event with a few take-aways from what we saw. With trainers, consultants and trade show booth staff ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/realtors/nar2008 Sometimes, you just have to learn the hard way. That seems to be the real estate industry's preferred method of implementing technology tools - at least for the last twenty years or so. A herald comes over the hill, the masses become excited, everyone just starts doing it: And that's ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/marketing/idxbad What separates the great agents from the rest of the pack? Is it fancy training, an incredible manager or the latest tech tools? Why does the top 25% of the business earn an average of $200,000 in commissions, while the next 25% segment only earn $46,000 each year? Never mind ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/marketing/sixwords Let's pretend for a moment that reality doesn't exist. That effect doesn't follow cause. That reason is simply an "alternative" approach to how the world works. That everything means nothing. And that history is useless. If any of this sounds like the way people think today about money, the government ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/strategic-thinking/marketcrash Graduates of our Integrity Selling course learn a very important principle in the world of sales: You always get paid what you think you are worth. It's how the great sales people in real estate always earn the top dollars - because they believe they are worth them and won't ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/blog/management/successyoudeserve Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. - Mark Twain, a Biography If at first you don't succeed, try to destroy the economy again. That seems to be Congress' motto these days, as ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/strategic-thinking/bailoutscam Amy Chorew, Senior National Instructor at Matthew Ferrara & Company, is featured in an article just published in Florida Realtor Magazine titled "Take Your Blog from Blah to Brilliant". You can read the entire article here courtesy of floridarealtors.org. Amy Chorew, Senior National Instructor at Matthew Ferrara & Company, has ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/news/welcome-2 Here's an idea that should appeal to all REALTOR entrepreneurs: Rather than waiting for a pile of money to fall from the sky, why not grow your way out of these tough times? It's decision time now - and I don't mean the election: Are you going to just sit ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/marketing/hispanicgrowth Only in the United States Congress can a plan to destroy the housing industry and credit markets be called a "rescue" plan. It's almost as farcical as calling  "card check" bill that effectively kills secret voting for unions a "secret ballot bill." Far more troubling, however, is the fact that ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/strategic-thinking/fearthebailout America has become so obsessed with its financial crisis that people are forgetting the basic lessons of economics. You remember economics, don't you? It's the science of how markets work. Yet everyone is acting like it's a "strange reason" why companies are losing money, people are losing their jobs, customers ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/featured/companiesfail (Podcast Version) Ask any broker today what his "number one" problem with the market conditions, and he'll tell you either there's too much inventory or it's all overpriced. Granted, if sellers want to put their homes on the market, nothing can stop them, with so many "for sale by owner" ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/next-generation/hiresellers If you think it's hard to sell real estate in America today, take a lesson from the Continent. After spending four days with the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World in Rome, it's become pretty clear that most American real estate agents have it "too easy." Just try running ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/featured/globalrealestate Over the weekend, the United States government tried to correct one mistake with another: Under intense pressure from foreign governments - especially the Chinese government who are the single largest investor in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - Uncle Sam took out its checkbook. With a flourish of the pen, ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/next-generation/yourbailout For some months, REALTORS have been fretting that buyers are "sitting on the sidelines" waiting for the market to "hit the bottom." We constantly hear news reports with interviews of "savvy" sellers who are trying to "time the market just right" to get the most for their home's sale while ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/next-generation/housenotstock Recently a friend in the business send me an email suggesting I try out Xobni, a 'must have' plug-in for Microsoft Outlook. I always get a little skeptical about Outlook plug-ins, usually because they always end up causing my Outlook to "go funny." Maybe there some code Microsoft puts in ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/real-estate-technology/outlooktool2 Here's a question that's certain to be avoided by the real estate industry: What are you planning to do on the day that "taking a listing" becomes totally irrelevant? It's coming, of course, and it's not just because of a "housing recession" or any such calamity. Real estate based upon ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/marketing/irrelevantlistings It's official. Internet marketing as you know it died today. One of the internet's largest social network sites finally killed one of the internet's largest search engines as the "eyeball attractor" for display ad views. Although it got little news, this mighty accomplishment may be the herald of a major ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/marketing/bang Just how close is the real estate industry to duplicating the disaster achieved by the airline industry? Contrary to popular belief, neither industry has been challenged by serious technology developments that have created "alternatives" to their essential model. People still fly on planes. Most consumers work with agents. Yet anyone ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/blog/management/avoidingdisaster Why do some agents make more sales than others? What makes some agents capable of creating sales when others struggle for a single lead? Contrary to popular belief, it's not a cool web tool or a more expensive marketing plan. Almost always it comes down to a single, consistent factor, ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/blog/management/sixideas When I read this headline this morning, I immediately thought of that Britney Spears song, "Oops! I did it again!" Once again, another real estate company is reporting some "numbers" designed to get people - consumers, agents, Martians - to gasp. Seems like their website has generated some few millions ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/blog/management/more-meaningless-marketing Amongst the growing list of reasons some REALTOR firms are losing market share today, there's no lack of 'blaming the consumer' causes. Brokers and agents who repeatedly target the "market" or the "economy" as the culprits are just substituting politically-correct keywords for "the consumer" as the problem. Buyers won't come ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/blog/management/fiverealtorreasons Here's an idea to make any agent's day: If you're finally fed up with the poor results and high costs of postcard mailings, newspaper ads and cold calls, and you've come to the conclusion that blind mass-email marketing makes you more annoying than maybe it's time to get LinkedIn. Or MySpaced. ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/marketing/futureprospecting When an industry suffers from a problem for decades and still hasn't figured it out, it's likely focusing on the wrong issue.  Real estate's "recruiting and retention" problem has consumed millions, perhaps billions of dollars in wasted time, energy and effort. It's apparent that all of the "symptom" solutions and ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/blog/management/modernrecruiting Real Estate, the Next Generation Real Estate, the Next Generation isn't about fixing old brokerage. It's about creating a whole new industry that's consumer-centric, tech-savvy and quality-centric. It starts by examining the modern buyer and sellers and asking, What do they want and how do they want it? Once brokers identify ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/news/front-page-products Today I was talking to a broker who uttered, yet again, the tired old cliche that sets my teeth on edge. The one phrase that makes me wish I'd taken the blue pill. That same old phrase that - regardless of the test of time, history, facts - it seems ... http://www.matthewferrara.com/blog/management/brokebrokers