Seth’s Advice for Real Estate Agents
From his Seth Godin:
Quit being an agent. Get a job doing something else.
He’s serious too. But not for everyone.
His advice to those that stick around? Get Hyperlocal. And to that effect he had the guys at Squidoo (which he founded) build SquidZipper, a place where Realtors can become “Mayor of Zipcode”.
Now I have a lot of respect for Seth and his advice, while valid (definitely read the full post), won’t really come as news to anyone who reads this blog or any number of others out there that have been promoting this approach for while now.
I think he (and Squidoo) may just be a little late to the party on this one.
I’m just not sure Agents really need yet another place to blog hyperlocally. And Squidoo, for all its promise as a destination for user generated content, has never really taken off.
That said, Seth’s reputation carries a lot of weight and will probably prompt more than a few to try. I’d be interested to hear anybody’s experience with site and whether they get any results.
(h/t VARbuzz)
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17 Comment(s)
6 Trackback(s)
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Eric of New Orleans | Feb 21, 2008 | Reply
You are right on. I have been thinking about this for some time. My focus is on the New Orleans Condo market and certain areas of that to be a specailist in has begun to pay off really by chance. I enjoy it and afford to spend several hours per nite on the blog and site.
Ben Martin, Va Assn of REALTORS | Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
I agree that Squidoo is not exactly burning up the charts, but in nine steps, why not stake your claim? It would be interesting to know, among agents who are using social web stuff like Squidzippers, Facebook, Twitter and etc., what percentage of their leads or business are coming from each?
Cyndee Haydon | Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
Joel - how ironic, I recently created a squidoo lens and the next day it got 6 hits from Google and showed up on page 1 or 2 of some terms which surprised me. So I think the power is there - I also had gotten the “zipper” and I guess it’s purpose is to have a strong GEOtag found it a little “cheesy” myself but now that I know this is Seth Godin’s baby - I better check my first impression at the door and take a fresh look because I would never be one to bet against Seth. (P.S. I’m not a KW agent - though I know he recently shared this info at their Family Reunion)
Rob Aubrey | Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
I was at the presentation. He sooo right, about the order taking days are over.
According to the database on Utah.gov 2/3rds of the agents in UT got their license in the last 5 years. 1/2 in the last 3 years.
Which means more than half have no idea what happened when the market shifted.
PS If you are leaving the industry do you have any RISC Lock Boxes for sale, preferably hardly used.
Rob Aubrey | Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
Our office also won a prestigious award at KW Family Reunion.
Here is a video of our team leader presenting it to the office wearing a tu tu and army boots.
http://www.3poundsofrealestate.com/2008/02/20/keller-williams-midvale-team-leader-presents-award/
Missy Caulk | Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
Joel, Seth shared this at the KW convention and I immediately went and signed up, finished by profile last night and I’ll let you know what happens. It’ a little cumbersome to me. Any thoughts on Joe’s Sellisus blog today about Post Toaster?
Real Estate Marketing Blog - Vinny | Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
Totally agree on this one. Seth is one of the most knowledgeable in the industry and always has some great insight on the topics that surround us every day. However, I do not see this taking off. I see the online realtors who are already on facebook, trulia, welcommemat, zillow, etc just using this as another tool to cement their placement through the hard work they have already done to this point.
I don’t see many new realtors jumping on this as they are already behind with everything else.
I am also interested to see if it works, but I just don’t see it happening.
Joseph Bridges | Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
Seth’s advice and books are great however I think that he is missing the boat on this one and definitely a bit late. Realtors of course have to be hyper local as is said but realtors can do this with their own blogs and generate traffic to their websites via traditional means as well as online methods. Realtors need to use tools that they have more control over and not depend on big services to do the work for them.
Laura Monroe | Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
It’s going to be interesting to see of this takes off, but frankly I would rather see agents using applications that are combining social technology with actual consumer real estate tools.
Point 2 NLS is joined together with Facebook now….makes much more sense to me. Like Missy said, agents do not have the time to keep up anymore, they must choose wisely.
jdquicksand | Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
Is Seth knowledgable because he’s rich or because he’s written some good books. I tend not to get too excited about anything unless the person talking is really filthy rich. That’s really the only way to determing if they what they are talking about in business. I think Seth’s idea is totally stupid. Nobody’s going to use it. All of this reminds me of the dot-com days when everybody kept saying the rules have changed, the business cycle has ended, this or that way is dead….blah, blah, blah. A business plan cannot be predicated on becoming a phenomenon and catching fire. That’s what this is. DOA.
Karl Burger | Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
I respect Seth a lot. I’m not sure about this, but I would say it is worth trying if you have the time. Time is the problem. Where best to put the little time that I have. Not sure if Squidoo is the place, but it doesn’t take long to set up.
David Hill | Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
I haven’t recieved anything but SPAM after signing up with Squidoo.
Marian Bennett | Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
I agree with the hyperlocal emphasis in this market, in addition to knowing the power of your own “long tail”. Time is too precious and who has enough of it to keep up with all the new lead generating products out there, it’s too overwhelming. Here’s the bulk of my time: clients, family/friends, website, create and share ideas (including offline marketing)for the website, and industry events for networking. All these activities bring me leads who become clients and then friends. A great cycle. I also keep a Seth Godin book in my reading stack.
Phil Hoover | Feb 23, 2008 | Reply
Seth doesn’t understand that Realtor should have a capital “R” and the trademark symbol after it.
Plus, there’s no way to edit what you inputted and make corrections.
And, the demographics for my area are totally out of date (15k populations vs. the actual 22k).
Nice concept if it worked.
Brett Wilson | Feb 23, 2008 | Reply
Is Seth right? OF COURSE HE IS!
It’s nothing novel that most who are willing to take a serious look at the industry don’t already know.
Hopefully due to the popularity of his blog and his traffic and stature in the marketing world, agents will wake uu instead of hitting the snooze button.
retrove | Feb 23, 2008 | Reply
Seth is smart and very keen observer. I think he targeted the agent market because blogging is hot with the re.net and he understands many are new to the online space and looking for ways to get their name and online presence out and would possibly benefit the most… in the long run like most interactions on the internet it’s symbiotic.
Michael Pierce : Kansas City Real Estate | Mar 9, 2008 | Reply
I agree with you. While a nice idea, there are so many other sites out there that are already very popular with agents and area real estate only sites, geared to agents who want to blog about their area and business. I dont know how this one wont be another site to get lost in the mix, but you never know.