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Just another fruit smoothie

By Marc Davison, Thursday, August 20, 2009.

While viewing video footage of a customer appreciation event thrown by one of our broker clients, I was alarmed by the soundtrack the videographer chose: "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones.

This song, replete with sexually charged lyrics and anti-commercial messaging, played over two minutes of families and friends sharing in the day's events.

I e-mailed my concerns to the videographer. more...

Repositioning for the future

By Marc Davison, Wednesday, July 1, 2009.

A brokerage model of the future is coming.

Some might suggest they're already here.

One might be stealing your client right now.

In the blink of an eye Hawaii Life Real Estate Services launched and became the No. 1 real estate site in Kauai. Soon after, they went from a pretty for-sale-by-owner site and search portal to a full-fledged real estate brokerage. more...

New brokerage model: from bust to boom

By Marc Davison, Tuesday, June 30, 2009.

The corridors of real estate echo with the anxious cacophony of futuristic business model chatter.

Environmental branding, virtual space, marketing, social media and stemming the ooze of profitability caused by the open gash of lopsided splits are now on the gurney as the present model heads for open-heart surgery.

Stat. more...

The elixir of brand longevity

By Marc Davison, Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

A rite of passage is held each year by our local Montessori school. The graduation ceremony for sixth-graders culminates with each child walking through a makeshift doorway that ceremoniously delivers them through to the next phase of their life.

Trust me, this event is a tearjerker.

One by one each child is called forth and takes a seat in front of friends and family. more...

The social media epiphany

By Marc Davison, Wednesday, June 10, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/3455477649/" target=blank>Ed Yourdon</a>.

Since I don't live in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I hear that posting Yelp.com reviews in eateries is now prevalent, I snapped a photo of a Yelp reviews sign in the window prior to entering Damon and Pythias in Calabasas, Calif., on my way home from a week's worth of meetings with brokers throughout the state.

It got me thinking. more...

A tale of two cities

By Marc Davison, Tuesday, June 2, 2009.

Spring 1972. We all waited with great anticipation for Dad to come home. On this day, it would not be by cab or subway.

When pop turned the corner, he didn't just come home. He arrived. And gracefully moored his shiny new El Dorado in the parking spot before us.

Personally, I favored Mustangs. But I was taken aback by the Cadillac's subtle wing curvature, roofline and sheer size. Dad called it one of the most graceful American cars to ever come out of Detroit. more...

Real estate's white rabbit

By Marc Davison, Wednesday, May 13, 2009.

Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sammiedanger/2828758481/in/photostream/" target=blank>s.carlson</a>.

What do Betty Crocker, Kraft Foods, Monopoly and Target not have in common with many real estate brands?

They have created iPhone apps.

These longstanding brands have plunged down the rabbit hole and into a wonderland where they have found a newer, cheaper, smarter way to connect and serve a generation of "king" and "queen" consumers -- your consumers -- while you are not. more...

Barber pole branding

By Marc Davison, Thursday, January 22, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/shawnzlea/2005934/" target=blank>szlea</a>.

What comes to mind when you see a barber pole?

An old geezer running a blade across a leather strap.
A hot towel, thick foam and a close shave.
Clubman.
Checkerboard floors.
A great place to whack a Mafia Don.

The local barbershop was Americana, right up there with the greasy spoon coffee shop and the Rexall drug store more...

Building tomorrow's brokerage

By Marc Davison, Thursday, November 20, 2008.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/xero79/2049382692/" target=blank>xero79</a>.

The media center for local real estate.
The repository of real estate facts and truths.
The provider of valued benefits to the community.
The trusted source.
The one-stop provider for everything real estate.
Virtual.
Profitable. more...

The greatest story ever told

By Marc Davison, Thursday, October 9, 2008.

"Abraham and Isaac sitting on a fence, you'd get right to work if you had any sense. You know the one thing we need is a left-hand monkey wrench."
--Robert Hunter, 1971.

Friday night past, a friend e-mailed me dozens of links to live recordings of Grateful Dead shows. The interesting thing about these live recordings wasn't their sound quality (amazing) or their effect on my evening. No. What's cool about these recordings is the story behind them. more...

Sucking on a Real Estate 'Binky'

By Marc Davison, Tuesday, September 30, 2008.

Flight 168 touched down at 2 a.m., many hours past the time printed on my boarding pass. There's no do-over. No "fly the next time on us" hookup. The airlines dish out bad times and we accept it.

I sat in the middle seat, wedged like a cold cut between two oversized slices of human bread. Each time I leaned forward I had to dislodge myself between two doughy arms on either side that encroached upon my space over the armrests. more...

Rethink real estate search

By Marc Davison, Wednesday, August 20, 2008.

Real estate search's final hour … has not arrived.

Not by a long shot.

Here's why:

Think about who actually engineered search for real estate. Programmers -- guys and gals with 180 IQs -- guided by folks who get their kicks from Excel. more...

Life during wartime

By Marc Davison, Thursday, August 7, 2008.

A hubbub of technological euphoria swirls in real estate. It's been here since the early days of agent domain squatters and will likely last well past Real Estate Connect 2008, where talking heads, brokers, innovators, technologists and bloggers sipped from the Pixie Sticks of cool and trendy.

Web 2.0. It's now a bona fide addiction. Connect proved that. The merry band of bloggers and Twitterers mingled, typed and grooved to the orange and green. more...

The road to killer

By Marc Davison, Tuesday, July 15, 2008.

We've all read the O'Reilly manifesto. It's deep, comprehensive and defines how millions of people interact online. Most have no sense of what folksonomy, long tail, open source, and Ajax on Rails are or mean. Nevertheless, these things have changed the way they interact with each other forever.

Perhaps it is simple curiosity that propels most people into social engagement on the Web. Or the challenge of figuring out something new. Or maybe it's a desire to be part of a phenomenon. more...

Patching up a house divided

By Marc Davison, Tuesday, July 1, 2008.

Curtain call and lights grow dim
Tragedy, love all lie within
Each player takes his chance to play
And lives to fight another day
- The Damned.

Our industry had its heyday. Business boomed. Organization memberships ascended. Buyers flocked. Sellers scored. The economy rocked. Good times rolled.

But that's over. And the haze of 10 years of real estate's sex, drugs and rock and roll lifted. more...

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