31 October 2010
Nero fiddled as Rome burned…
Posted by Jerry Kidd under: Rants; Social Media .
On Friday, November 5th, the National Association of REALTORS® will kick off it’s annual love fest. This year it is in New Orleans. Billed as NARdiGras 2010, the event will feature 4 days of speeches, lectures, classes and exhibits all designed to educate REALTORS®, fete REALTORS® and separate REALTORS® from their money in the Exhibit Halls.
I am not a fan of events like these, but I can see that they provide some value for many who attend them. The website http://www.realtor.org/convention.nsf/ has links to the educational offerings as well as links to the trade show exhibitors. If you are going, you may want to take a peek at the site and pre-plan your activities.
As I look at the schedule, I can’t help but think “that Nero fiddled as Rome burned”. I say that because if this year is like previous years, most attendees will be wandering the exhibit halls loading up on tchotchkes when they should be in the classrooms loading up on some much needed knowledge.
Here’s my reasoning:
The 2010 NAR Member survey had this to say about REALTOR® technology usage:
- Only 52% of REALTORS® are using social media in any form
- The October 2010 NAR Technology Survey claims that 84% are using social media.
That’s a huge disparity. Who knows which one of these recent surveys is correct so from my own observations, I would say that only a few percentage points are actually using social media in any business sense. Just having a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account doesn’t count.
This year’s celebration will have over 25 workshops and classes on social media and other business technology topics. This is an unprecedented opportunity for attendees to get up to speed quickly…if they would only attend them.
All of that is well and good, and maybe some will come away with a resolve to start using the tools, but I fear that it is already too late. Here are some numbers from the NAR 2010 Survey of Home Buyers and Sellers which will be released on November 5th:
- The very first step taken by 36% of all buyers (who responded to the survey) is to look online for information on the home buying process.
- Only 19% contacted a REALTOR® for that information. Last year that number was 36%…
With so much information about listings available on the Internet, it’s only natural that consumers go there first. But what hasn’t been universally available is information on what it is like to ACTUALLY live in the neighborhoods that a consumer may want to live in. That was information that was really only available from people who lived in the neighborhood, or from someone who specialized in the neighborhood. Like the REALTOR®.
Typically a REALTOR® would disseminate that sort of information during showings as they drove the consumer from house to house on a home hunting tour.
Some forward thinking agents do try to duplicate this experience through photos and videos of the neighborhood on their blogs, but most REALTORS® have been content with just posting information on their websites relating to properties or their own achievements.
It was only a matter of time until an entrepreneur saw the inefficiencies here and decided to do something about it. That day has come. Enter NabeWise. Although they are only in San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Chicago and New York at the moment, they have plans to expand. Here is what they have to say about their service:
NabeWise allows you to understand any neighborhood as if you’ve already lived there, so you can explore the world on a local level, discover new places, and find the neighborhoods that are right for you.
People moving in particular want to find a place that fits their identity, lifestyle, and values. The average American moves every five years, and while choosing a neighborhood is as important as choosing a home, there has been no resource that helps people easily understand neighborhoods.There are over 80,000 neighborhoods in the US alone, and they are all distinct in their people, setting, and culture. Many people want to know what different neighborhoods are like including, people moving, people traveling, and even curious locals.
In other words, they propose to do some of what REALTORS® do.
All is not lost though if you are a REALTOR®. They go on to say that they recognize that you need better tools to help you educate buyers, so they have made a widget available for you to put on your website. How nice.
But, couldn’t you have done the same thing? Couldn’t you have been shooting neighborhood videos, videos interviewing local merchants and video interviewing residents and placing those videos along with pictures on your blog or website?
Or is it more important to go to NARdiGras and load up on tchotchkes?
12 Comments so far...
Tweets that mention Nero fiddled as Rome burned… | RealtyTechBytes.com -- Topsy.com Says:
31 October 2010 at 7:37 pm.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jerry Kidd, Jerry Kidd. Jerry Kidd said: Nero fiddled as Rome burned… http://ff.im/-sXIef [...]
Ira Serkes Says:
1 November 2010 at 6:18 pm.
Do you mean things like these?
http://www.berkeleyhomes.com/neighborhoods/berkeley/thousand_oaks.html
http://www.facebook.com/365Berkeley
http://www.flickr.com/photos/serkes/sets/72157621846700032/
http://www.youtube.com/berkeleyhomes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkuPpg6HGc4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3PKZ3zajsM
So many digital images and video, so little time.
Thanks to your inspiration and training, I feel less like a stranger in a strange land.
Jerry Kidd Says:
1 November 2010 at 10:29 pm.
I was hoping that you would comment because I was thinking of your efforts to bring the Berkeley experience alive through your online offerings…and how successful you have been partly as a result.
You are an inspiration and I DARE any readers to click on the links you have provided! It’s entirely possible that if they do, they will see what I am talking about in this post.
Ira Serkes Says:
1 November 2010 at 11:45 pm.
In the past week I’ve posted on several real estate google groups that Halloween is a great time to take photos and video of your community … I don’t think one person commented on the post.
We sell homes too – in the past few weeks our listing in Thousand Oaks had an offer accepted, we put a North Berkeley home on the market, sold a Berkeley Hills home to a buyer who found us oniine, our buyers signed closing papers on an Albany home, and our buyers of a Kensington home (also found us online) closed escrow.
Oh – and Carol and I went to see “The Social Network” and I uploaded 4 videos to YouTube.
And had a great lunch with Jim Walberg.
Business isn’t our life, it just funds it.
Alex Cortez Says:
5 November 2010 at 5:59 pm.
I enjoyed the links Ira just posted. Nevertheless, NAR’s event(s) are too much of a love-fest for my taste, but hopefully some Realtors can benefit from the information imparted (provided they can make it through the sea of services/products).
Ira Serkes Says:
6 November 2010 at 10:13 am.
Being a child of the 60′s I enjoy NAR more because of the love-fests (though in this case love getting together with wonderful friends) than for the seminars.
We always have a CyberProfessional, Cyberstar, CRS mini-gathering to share ideas with the amazing friends I’ve made over the decades.
Looked to see if the NAR talks were available on CD or DVD and discovered that they have a lot of the talks online for free!
Ira
Jerry Kidd Says:
6 November 2010 at 10:31 am.
The gathering of people is always a good idea…if ideas get shared. Mindlessly wandering the exhibit halls looking for the elusive silver bullet that will magically “fix” your business is not. I was an exhibitor (and a speaker) at NAR 2000 and although my educational session was well attended, my overall experience (the room was SRO, but only represented a small fraction of total conference attendees) was that most agents weren’t willing to put in the time to actually learn how to improve their businesses. They preferred to buy a product and hope for the best. That’s a strategy that rarely works.
I don’t see much change 10 years later. #Justsaying
The ability to buy conference presentations online is good. CAR has had that offering for quite some time. In fact, the recent CAR Tech Expo recordings are quite good. http://www.allstartapes.com/conferences/conference_1427.shtml. And you can get some of the PDFs and PowerPoints here: http://www.car.org/newsstand/news/expo2010presentations/
You may have to be logged in to see them though.
But, will anyone actually do it? Will they listen to them after purchase? And the REALLY big question is Will they take cation on what they heard?
It’s so much easier to pick up tschotkes though…
Ira Serkes Says:
6 November 2010 at 10:48 am.
Timely post.
Luke Skywalker said “I am a Jedi, like my father before me”
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_VI:_Return_of_the_Jedi
Ira Sir-Keys says “I am a pack rat, like my mother before me”
And as it happens, just last night while listening to Fascinatin’ Rhythm (a favorite show) on KALW
I was going through folder after folder of stuff I collected over 20+ years of attending RE Conventions.
And I thought “Why did I bring this stuff back” as I tossed it into the recycle pile!
Continuing to follow the philosophy of the great 20th Century Masters
“Do, or do not. There is no ‘try.’”
So .. I’m doing an update of my marketing materials
May the marketing force be with you!
Jerry Kidd Says:
6 November 2010 at 11:01 am.
“Do or don’t do, there is no try” by Yoda. Truly words to live by
Ira Serkes Says:
6 November 2010 at 12:07 pm.
I live my life the great American Philosophers
Jeff Bezos – Regret Minimization Framework
Spike Lee – Do the Right Thing
Harry Callahan – A man has to know his limitations
Frank Sinatra – I did it my way
You?
Jerry Kidd Says:
6 November 2010 at 12:21 pm.
Just two for me. First and foremost, Semper Fidelis, and then the one by Yoda previously mentioned.
