Notorious R.O.B. on NAR, Marketing, and the “M” Word
Great piece by Rob. Rob’s a marketer (VP of Marketing for OnBoard), a helluva writer and not one to withhold opinion. That is a great combination.
NAR needs to get with the program. Recognize what’s important in todays so-called “Web 2.0″ world, and focus on those. Might I recommend that NAR begin with (a) understanding the Realtor brand, where it is, and how to improve it; (b) understanding the consumer’s mindset in a far stronger, clearer way, to provide guidance to its members; and (c) working on removing barriers to open and honest conversation between agents and consumers — for example, some of the overreaching provisions of the Fair Housing Act.
Amen Rob.
h/t to Dustin. But only because “4″ comes before “N” in my reader…
.
Creating Connections from Cultural Change
Jack Torza is a candidate for 2010 NAR Treasurer.
In a recent post to his “campaign blog”, Jack has a lot to say.
A lot of good stuff.
I believe that organized real estate, from local associations right on up to national, is now confronting a period of remarkable culture change, one that requires that we reevaluate our traditional methods of engaging, serving and interacting with our members. A new generation of REALTOR® is emerging; it’s a generation defined not by age but by its embrace of technology and social media as essential real estate business tools. (my emphasis)
And increasingly, I fear that many of that generation see organized real estate as tradition-bound and immovable, bound to our old ways of networking, more comfortable shouting our perspective from the rooftops rather than engaging in the kind of conversations and relationships that have emerged in multiple online (and even cell-phone-based!) venues. While that perception may seem to be quite a stretch for those of us who participate in our REALTOR® associations, it’s a reality for many recent recruits to our REALTOR® ranks.
This is the kind of leadership we need in the NAR.
.
NAR Promoting “Walkable Cities”?!
First I read an honest report from [gasp!] the NAR’s Chief Economist. “Refreshing”, I say to myself, “The NAR may be getting a clue!”
Then I see in my reader something titled, “Top Ten: Information on Realtor® Sites”
I’m a fan of lists. They are short, often thought provoking and more often provide ideas and info that may be good to share with clients, and prospective clients. I’m thinking that maybe the NAR is here to provide me with a cool list I can put on my site.
The first list is, “Top Ten Home Town Destinations”. Helpful if you live in Asheville, N.C. , Traverse City, Mich. or any of the other eight cities mentioned.
The next list is, “Top Ten: Walkable Cities”.
ALERT ALERT! DANGER! was the immediate response I had to that list.
Why?
The “D word”. Yep, discrimination. Fair Housing. What ever term you care to use.
You see, the simple fact is there are a lot of folks out there that can’t walk. While we as a society may have taken political correctness to an extreme, the bottom line is agents must constantly keep these kinds of things in the forefront of their brains.
We are generally forbidden to use terms in listings and advertising like “Within walking distance to schools”. Heck, some even frown on using “walk-in closet”.
Why then would the NAR publish a list of “walkable cities” and even reprint an AP article on “walkability” in Realtor Magazine online?
I betcha dollars to donuts that some agent out there sees this list and writes up a nifty little post on a web site or blog — “Denver Ranked Fourth Most Walkable City!”.
Personally, I wouldn’t go down that rocky road. Your mileage may vary.
That the NAR is providing ammunition for a Realtor to potentially shoot their self in the foot is a little disconcerting. At a minimum, how about a little disclaimer/reminder that writing about something like walkability may be offensive to a significant portion of the population?
.
Lawrence Yun: “Necessary Corrections”
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun had this to say in a recent article:
Based on the latest available information, my outlook is for new single-family home construction to decline for another year-and-a-half through the second quarter of 2009.
Dr. Yun’s predecessor was routinely blasted across the internet for his overly optimistic (and often inaccurate) forecasts.
That Dr. Yun is offering a not-so-bright (yet realistic, IMHO) opinion is refreshing.
Athol Kay points out a similar instance in a different Yun article.
If you don’t already, I recommend subscribing to Yun’s commentary feed. You just may find it honest and real, and not a bunch of roses and sunshine fluff.
.
When you have a family, it’s always a good time to buy
No, it’s not. Absolutes like “always” and “never” are rarely correct.
Charles Woodall at DothanHomeSearch.com has a great post that dissects one of the NAR’s latest “Public Awareness” campaigns.
He takes a look at one of the ads line-by-line.
I’d take a look at his post.
.
Want to See a State Assocation that “Gets It”?
The Virginia Association of Realtors gets it.
And I don’t mean just because they have a blog — VARBuzz.
I mean they get it because they have an actively engaged leadership team, staff and members.
Clearly these folks are leading the way.
If you know of another association, be it state or local, that is as engaged as the VAR, I’d love to hear about it!
.
NAR Chief Economist Answers Back
Ok, I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t always been exactly gentle with NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
But I really think Yun’s biggest problem is the mess he inherited from his predecessor David Lereah. Lereah was widely panned pretty much across the known universe. For Yun to have to step into that quagmire can not have been simple.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Yun as had his own moments of way too sunshiny pontifications, but he does at least look at times like he has a clue.
He’s recently begun posting a series of articles on a new page at Realtor.org called “Economist’s Commentary“.
If you subscribe to the NAR Research RSS feed, you can get Economist Commentary plopped right into your reader.
Jim Duncan over at RealCentralVA thinks this latest offering, “is exactly what the NAR needs to do“.
And I’m inclined to agree with him.
(NOTE: I am NOT saying this is ALL they need to do…)
Why not put these commentaries in a blog and let people leave comments?
Others Opine: Scott Brunner (VAR CEO) discusses this earlier today. (that’s what I get for being 987 posts behind in my feed reader.)
.
Curious Use of “MLS” in Meta Tags at Realtor.com
The Realtor Code of Ethics Standard of Practice 12-10 states:
REALTORS®’ obligation to present a true picture in their advertising and representations to the public includes the URLs and domain names they use, and prohibits REALTORS® from:
1) engaging in deceptive or unauthorized framing of real estate brokerage websites;
2) manipulating (e.g., presenting content developed by others) listing content in any way that produces a deceptive or misleading result; or
3) deceptively using metatags, keywords or other devices/ methods to direct, drive, or divert Internet traffic, or to otherwise mislead consumers. (Adopted 1/07)(Bold is my emphasis.)
At the NAR Board of Directors meeting at the 2007 NAR Realtors Conference & Expo, they:
Added optional MLS provision allowing prohibition of MLS participants, subscribers, licensees from claiming to be or suggesting that they are an MLS, including in domain name and email address;
Why then does Realtor.com, the “Official Site of the NAR”, have “MLS” in their meta keywords?
Just….seems…..wrong….
.
NAR CEO Dale Stinton Stops By NARWisdom.com
The CEO of the National Association of Realtors, Dale Stinton, dropped by our little corner of the blogiverse and left a lovely comment on the “Why the NAR Needs a Social Media Director” post.
No job offer yet 
But hey, at least I still have a NAR membership card! (Hopefully they aren’t in the process of exiling me…)
I’d like to personally thank Mr. Stinton for coming over and putting his thoughts to “print”. Took some guts, and in my opinion was a big step forward for the NAR leadership team.
Here is what he had to say:
I have been reading a lot of blogger comments about social media lately that suggest NAR is late to the blogosphere party. I guess the way I see it, we’ve actually been going to a lot of consumer and communication parties lately – but the bottom line is: most of these folks’ observations about our participation in blogs (no matter how kind or unflattering) are right!
We need to engage in the real estate conversation everywhere, not so much to convince, but to show we give a hoot. While blogging as a genre is hardly mainstream yet, especially to us more traditional communicators, we need to encourage and participate in all media. The old axiom - “the medium is the message” couldn’t be more apropos.
The advantage to us is we probably have more information on almost any aspect of the real estate business or marketplace than any other single entity – it seems pretty darn short-sided not to be making it available to those that care enough to enter the blogging fray. The worst possible reason not to actively participate is that we might get our feelings hurt. I’ll gladly take that chance if we learn something from it.
So this is an early valentine to all of those out there who ‘lead by blogging’ – congrats to you for your passion - whether there’s one or one hundred or one thousand other voices out there in the wilderness, at least you are engaged. My pledge to you is simply that we will do better, make more of an effort to be good ‘blogging’ citizens, and engage our members and the consuming public we so zealously claim to serve, in a more hearty debate and sharing of ideas.
My apologies if my grammar may not be the best, but I own it – in the words of the immortal Dr. Frasier Crane - I’m listening!
My emphasis in bold. In my comment reply, I said we’d hold him to that…
.
Take NAR’s Social Networking Poll
Posted on the YPN Lounge blog.
They are asking what social networking websites you frequently use.
Let them know.