Language of Luxury: Iconoclast Series - Lessons from Glee - 11/30/10 10:37 AM

An iconoclast is a person who challenges conventional wisdom and traditional beliefs, and often shatters the very foundations upon which traditional, institutions rest.
When was the last time you tried a different marketing formula?  Experimentation is vital to sustaining market leadership as a luxury real estate marketing professional. Studying market leaders outside of the realm of marketing luxury real estate can offer excellent clues for success.  It can embolden you try new things that make you stand out from the crowd and think like an iconoclast.
Take Glee, the hit TV show that has “pushed the edge of the … (13 comments)

Marketing Luxury Real Estate: 2011 is the Time to Break All the Rules Series - 11/29/10 11:33 AM

To be a true standout in your marketplace, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, think like a trail blazing iconoclast. The dictionary defines an iconoclast as somebody who challenges or overturns traditional beliefs, customs and values. To get into the iconoclastic mindset, check out the TV series, Iconoclasts on the Sundance Channel. Robert Redford, executive producer of the series, explains: “Iconoclasts explores the intersection where two great talents meet, and where creativity comes alive.” (The series is no longer produced, it can be found on the Sundance Channel in reruns.)
Each segment pairs two iconoclastic individuals who are great … (8 comments)

Speechless Sunday: Another Wonderful Sunrise - 11/29/10 01:12 AM

Here is a shot of a wonderful sunrise that greets another day to enjoy.  We have had a long restful weekend and we have enjoyed the joyous respite.  We are looking forward to a great Monday and the week and we wish you all a HAPPY MONDAY! 
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Speechless Sunday: The Joy of Togetherness--Sharing the Chair - 11/28/10 10:56 AM

Two of our cats were the best of friends.  When we brought Luigi home (the grey one known as blue in Abbyssinian world) Kobe (the red Abby) adopted him, and become his mom/dad.  The two often cleaned each other, chased each other, and shared the chair.  We called them the chair-men of the house. 
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Luxury of Nature - 11/27/10 04:27 PM

View of the island cave, and on the left sea lions and seals lollygagging as we looked on.
Close to the coast of Santa Barbara, we have the Channel Islands, (Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Santa Barbara)  This group of islands is designated as a US National Park.  These islands represent an ocean environment that is unique because visitors can be privvy to the Southern California coast as it once was.  It is home to unique animals, plant life, and is considered as an architectural resource.
According to the Park' website, "the Channel Islands are often called … (14 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: A Mental Nutrition Gift - 11/26/10 12:22 PM

Antebellum Mansion Detail
Hope you all had a fabulous day of merriment good food ( physical nutrition) and good times with friends and family yesterday!  Here is an idea for some mental nutrition!
Ron and I finished reading a wonderful book by one of our favority authors, Pat Conroy.  You may remember his earlier novels, The Great Santini and The Prince of Tides, both of which were made into movies.  After a 14 year hiatus, his new novel is  South on Broad.
Set in Charleston, South Carolina, it is a must read for any luxury real estate marketing professional looking … (10 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Maintaining Your Brand's Identity - 11/24/10 05:48 PM

Photo taken in Nordstrom's window, Santa Barbara
If you know how you differ from the pack, then it is time to build your brand. A brand is multifaceted, it has a personality, it has core values, and it stands out by not being afraid to stand for something that it considers important. One of the ways to build a brand is to declare what you stand for. What do you care about? What are the values your clients can align to, identify with?
Here is an example. As we went to Nordstrom’s  today, we saw this sign that made it … (14 comments)

Happy Thanksgiving 2010! - 11/24/10 01:52 AM
 

WE WISH YOU A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING  ENJOY THE HOLIDAY!  
~ RON & ALEXANDRA SEIGEL,  LOL COMMUNITY FOUNDERS
A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ALL THE ACTIVE RAIN MEMBERS
Ron & Alexandra Seigel
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… (18 comments)

Marketing Luxury Real Estate: 2011 is the Time to Break All the Rules - 11/23/10 12:18 AM
 

This is the first of a series on Iconoclasts and Iconoclastic Thinking.  2011 is the time to break all the rules!
To become a market leader as a luxury real estate marketing professional, you do not have to be an iconoclast. But, to sustain market leadership in 2011 and beyond,  it is a must. An iconoclast is a person who challenges conventional wisdom and traditional beliefs, and often shatters the very foundations upon which traditional, institutions rest.
In his book, Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently, Gregory Berns profiles such independent thinkers as investor Warren Buffet, … (10 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: Kitchen Designed by Porsche - 11/22/10 02:06 PM

Luxury real estate marketing professionals understand the importance of an outstanding kitchen in marketing luxury homes. You would be the first to advise your sellers to remodel or upgrade a kitchen in order to get maximum value for a home. Here is the latest in kitchen innovation design, which you can suggest to a prospective buyer/seller/developer for an ultra luxurious bachelor pad. It is created for those who are in love with the minimal geometric style.
Porsche designers teamed up with Poggenpohl, the avant garde German luxury kitchen designer, to create a kitchen for men, the P7340. In this $75,000 … (6 comments)

Speechless Sunday: The Belle of the Fiesta - 11/21/10 10:54 AM

This is the belle of the Fiesta at the Dog Parade in Santa Barbara, when Cesar Millan was grand marshall.  Have a Very Happy Sunday.
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… (26 comments)

The Spirit of Thanksgiving Week: It is a Wonderful World - 11/20/10 11:01 AM

In the spirit of Thanksgiving Week, we are focusing on the best life has to offer, and there is plenty of that if you are willing to shift your focus from all that is wrong to everything that is right. In fact we believe that everyday should be Thanksgiving Day.
In 1968 Bob Thiele and George David Weiss co wrote a What a Wonderful World specifically for Louis Armstrong. This song was intended as an optimistic message to soothe the charged racial climate in the U.S. Louis Armstrong was selected to record the song because of his broad based audience … (8 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: Your Personal Brand or What Sets You Apart? - 11/19/10 11:08 AM
 

Photo by Dennis Makarenko
When developing your personal brand, one of the first things to identify is what sets you apart from everyone else in the same business. Everyone has an opportunity to stand out or blend in. Anyone who is a success in any endeavor is stands out.
The music business has many talented people working in it in every genre: pop, classical, rock and roll, etc.. Studio musicians, although given credit on albums, are not necessarily household names to listeners, even though they may be as talented as or more talented than the star of the album. … (4 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Importance of Shifting Paradigms - 11/18/10 09:49 AM
 
 
As a luxury real estate marketing professional who works with foreign buyers, it is important to appreciate cultural differences. Have you ever been in a situation when you thought you were “on the same page” with your client, only to discover that you were actually a world apart?  You were looking at and talking about the exact same set of facts, but you both were aligned to a different model of thinking or paradigm that yielded alternative meanings. To bridge the gap in understanding the only answer is a paradigm shift.
It can be an astonishing revelation … (16 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Strategy versus Tactics - 11/17/10 01:57 AM
 

 

If market leadership is your quest, as a luxury real estate marketing professional it is extremely important to understand the difference between strategy and tactics. Strategy is the overarching plan to out-think the top producing competitors in your marketplace or niche.  Tactics are the specific methods you use to execute your strategy or to generate more business in general.
The primary purpose of a strategy is to win top-of-mind status in a category of business or a niche within the category.  Studies show that consumers can only hold three companies, service professionals or products in their minds … (12 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Luxury of Magnificence - 11/16/10 09:46 AM
 

Shamanka Rock, Lake BaiKal, Siberia
As a luxury real estate marketing professional it is important to understand the subtle nuances in the meaning of luxury itself.  Luxury can mean lavishness, creature comforts, sumptuousness, opulence and extravagance.  Yet, it can also be the appreciation of the simplest things in life like a beautiful sunset that requires only the time to observe and enjoy it.  This is the luxury of magnificence.
Some of the most magnificent luxuries on our planet include mountains, oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, forests and deserts. One lake contains more than 20% of the world's fresh water supply. … (6 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: What Color is Your Lobster? - 11/15/10 01:48 PM

Legend has it that the prison fare on the Eastern seaboard in the 1800’s was lobster, because it was plentiful and cheap. Prisoners begged the warden for a change of menu. Today, lobster is a luxury and is considered a delicacy. The perception has changed and it is usually one of the most expensive items on a menu. Here is some social currency on the subject of lobsters that you can share, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, when you take a client out to lunch or dinner.
Lobster shells are usually a blend of three colors, red yellow … (10 comments)

Speechless Sunday: Crab on Sunday - 11/14/10 11:33 AM

The above movement and color in the crashing wave caught our eye.  We watched for a moment and look, it's a crab!

The ocean has revealed another one of its treasures.  We continue to be awed by the beauty of nature in all its glorious aspects.
Happy Sunday.
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Successful Web Site Design/Redesign Fundamentals - 11/13/10 01:21 PM

For any luxury real estate marketing professional, a web site is a tool for attracting leads, and subsequently converting them into sales.  Here are 4 tips that can help when updating your site.
A lead is a visitor who finds your site or is directed to it. A lead conversion is a visitor who voluntarily gives you their contact information. Your luxury website must be just that. It must feel luxurious to visit your site. But, use restraint with special effects.
1. Limit Flash Movies or Animation. Better yet, forget it.
Good Flash sequences can be eye-popping and make a … (12 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Landscape Ocean Style - 11/12/10 07:55 PM

It is low tide season here again, and we thought we would share the landscape that the ocean reveals.  For us these walks on the beach refresh and renew us!  Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: How to Stay on the Leading Edge Without Falling OFF! - 11/12/10 11:12 AM

Professionalism in marketing for luxury real estate agents now includes being web-savvy and tech-savvy. It is one of those brutal facts that you must face if you are to be successful in the Web driven era. Get with it! Or, get someone on your team who is with it, someone who has the passion to stay on the leading edge. But, do not get carried away by technology. Find the right balance for you and your target market.
 "They say a year in the Internet business is like a dog year. It is equivalent to seven years in a regular … (6 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Salts of the Earth - 11/11/10 10:12 AM
 

 
 

If you are considering a house warming gift for the holidays, and you are invited by those who fancy themselves to be gourmets, here is a relatively inexpensive but thoughtful idea for you: Gourmet Salt!  Understanding the varieties of gourmet salts can also give you social currency, as a luxury real estate marketing professional,  among those in the know on this topic.
One of the latest gourmet treats is to finish a dish with a particular type of salt.  For instance, Fleur de Sel, a French salt is gathered with a special rake to harvest only … (10 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Sustainable Living - A New Standard of Luxury - 11/10/10 10:08 AM
 

 

Female Eider Duck and her Chicks
To become an expert luxury real estate marketing professional it is very important to know your luxury buyer’s mindset.  Not all luxury buyers are conspicuous consumers or jet setters. In the quest for the best, sustainable living and caring for the environment have increasingly becoming mainstream priority values.
Identifying your buyers’ priority values and amplifying them in your selection and presentation of properties allows you to connect with your clients on a very deep emotional level, the level where most buying decisions are made. Taking these factors into account can accelerate … (12 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Salute to Eco-Cool Luxury - 11/09/10 02:10 AM
 

 

Photo Courtesy of Aston Martin
If market leadership is your quest, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, it is essential that you look beyond your immediate marketplace and explore innovative ideas in the realm of luxury goods and services.  That is one of the key precepts behind the Language of Luxury. Learning about what is cool in the world of luxury is a must.  It can sharpen your own focus when crafting your personal brand and also help you to attract more high net worth clients. 
By far one of the world’s coolest brands is Aston … (14 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials: The Art of Advertising - 11/08/10 12:09 PM

Photo by Ralukatudor
Advertising is a form of communication. In the realm of luxury real estate marketing, it needs to be an art form as well. An ad, like a fine home with curb appeal, must offer a great first impression. The majority of luxury real estate magazine ads look the same. They basically say the same things as do the agent’s profiles. It is as if the luxury real estate industry adheres to a template and does not deviate from it. The color black is the dominant color in those magazines. In most cases, the only distinguishing factor from … (7 comments)

Speechless Sunday: On The Road to the Santa Barbara Wine Country - 11/07/10 11:29 AM

When heading to the wine country from Santa Barbara, you traverse along the San Marcos Pass.  This is a view of the Santa Ynez Mountains and Lake Cachuma.  The scenery is a delight.
Happy Sunday!
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: An 18 Carat Gold Marketing Idea - 11/04/10 01:29 AM
 

 

Hong Kong
While Google and Apple duke it out in the smart phone market space, one luxury smart phone brand, Ventu,  stands apart by adding an extraordinary promise of value for the discerning consumer.  Vertu provides an excellent example of how to differentiate you as a luxury real estate marketing professional.
Google’s Android smart phone platform is surging ahead and gobbling up market share from most major contenders except Apple.   One in five smart phones now run Android. But, with most of the Apple’s competitors using same Android platform how can one be remarkably distinct from the … (10 comments)

Luxetera, Etc.: TheTaste of Excellence! - 11/03/10 10:33 AM
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ANNOUNCING:  100% iPad & iPhone Compatible LOL Videos!
The international Caviar House & Prunier offers travelers a Taste of Excellent at Terminal 4 in JKF Airport, New York.  Click Here if this video is not displayed in your email subscription.
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Embracing Change Provides the Competitive Edge - 11/02/10 01:18 AM
 


When going after the market leadership position as a luxury real estate marketing professional, you will often find that the incumbent is complacent and slow to adapt to new technology.  Those of you who can recognize when major trends are afoot and are quick to respond can make great strides in out-thinking your competition.
Steve Jobs said no Flash for Apple mobile devices.  Did this pronouncement stop consumers from buying Apple’s mobile products? Apple sold 4.2 million iPads in the last quarter.  But, what about those luxury goods online stores that built their websites on Flash?   When Jobs … (17 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Your Unique Selling Proposition - 11/01/10 10:18 AM

In Beverly Hills, on the famed Rodeo Drive there are several high profile competing jewelry stores including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany, Bulgari and Harry Winston. Rodeo Drive is only a couple of blocks long.  They have much in conmon. Yet, they are all thriving.
1. Each has a beautiful, inviting store front well-positioned on the street for walking traffic. Each is located on the right street (in the high rent district) given their price points.
2. Each is famous for their jewels and their integrity
3. Each is a reputable global luxury brand.
The unique factor is that … (12 comments)

 
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Ron & Alexandra Seigel (Luxury Real Estate Marketing)

Carpinteria, CA

More about me…

ra@napaconsultants.com

Office Phone: (805) 684-8180

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GET FLUENT. GET AFFLUENT! (TM) Luxury real estate marketing is a high stakes game. We invite you to join our forum where we will discuss leading-edge luxury real estate marketing strategies that can give you a competitive edge and help you gain access to the wealth of the world.


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