Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Red Trumpets Blaring - 04/30/11 01:17 PM

These beautiful red trumpets are adorning the top of a store on the Paseo Mall in Santa Barbara.  Given that so many places have them growing in hedges or archways, we think that they must be unofficially the official vine of Santa Barbara County.
Happy Saturday, Ron & Alexandra
 
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Key to Blogging is Curiosity - 04/28/11 01:31 AM
 

Our Curious Cat Zoe
This post is dedicated to those of you who have embraced the art of journalism and have become bloggers on top of everything else required of your career in luxury real estate marketing. Consistently producing original content can be challenging at times.  But, here is our secret to success:  Perpetual curiosity must become your passion.  To blog consistently you must become a perennial student and you must be passionate about learning new things.  That is where the joy of blogging comes from- a curious mind.
Here are some quotes we found about the subject of … (24 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Personal Branding: Are You a Non-Conformist? - 04/27/11 10:27 AM
 

“When you're just like everybody else, you've got nothing to offer other than your conformity”
 ~ Wayne Dyer
 “Stand out or bow out!”
 ~ Ron & Alexandra Seigel, LOL Authors & Community Founders
Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to what individuals perceive is normal of their society or social group.  Many people feel the pressure to conform and have trouble taking the risk of standing out.  This is good news if you want to become a market leader, as a luxury real estate marketing professional. That means fewer bone fide competitors. For market leaders, … (7 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Branding: Be the Opposite Choice! - 04/26/11 12:11 PM
 

Blue Frog by Michael Galber
As a luxury real estate marketing professional, if you are interested is leapfrogging over your competitors here is one of the all time best strategies:  Be the opposite choice to the No. 1 market leader! You can jump over the pack and become the No. 2 in your marketplace by positioning yourself or your company as embodying the very opposite key attribute that the current market leader in your area stands for in the minds of consumers. 
The first step is to analyze the market leader and look for the weakest aspect of their … (14 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Branding: Why do MBA Students Want to Know About Branding? - 04/25/11 08:35 PM
 
Photo by UCLA 90024
As a luxury real estate marketing professional it is crucial to understand what is at stake by seizing the market leadership role and being the first to come to mind when potential clients (or referral sources) think of the best agent for the job. The difference between the “top of mind” agent and the next few is significant.
You want to be the Google of your marketplace. Google comes to mind first as the search brand of choice three times more often than its closest competitor, Yahoo. That’s how much business is at stake for the … (14 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Double Rainbow Effect/Speechless Sunday - 04/24/11 11:48 AM

This past Friday evening, we noticed the sun shining as it was pouring rain, and then we looked up and saw this magical sky with double rainbows.  We thought you would enjoy this as much as we did.  It is one of the manifestations of Nature's art.
Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Sunday! Cheers Ron & Alexandra
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Luxury of Simple Luxurious Curb Appeal - 04/23/11 03:57 PM

On our wonderful sojourn to Palm Springs, we met a friend at a coffee place known as Koffi's.   The building had modern and minimalist achitecture.  The entrance to the store had this beautiful cactus.  The shadows and the framing of it made it feel like a painting from different perspectives.  Without actually seeing the whole palm tree, its presence is felt in the shadows.  To our eyes, it was a perfect simple luxurious curb appeal!
Happy Saturday, Happy Easter, Happy Passover, or be Happy for No Reason At All.  Cheers, Ron & Alexandra!
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Luxury of a Palo Verde Tree - 04/22/11 11:16 AM

When we were in Palm Springs, we kept noticiing these beautiful trees, known as the Palo Verde tree.  Aptly name for its green trunk and branches (Palo Verde translates as green stick in Spanish), it shows off its yellow blossoms in Spring.  Everywhere we looked they were in bloom.  What a perfect combination of colors!
Happy Friday!  Ron & Alexandra Seigel
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Are Your Clients in Your "In" Crowd? - 04/21/11 01:28 AM

The luxury goods market is conservatively estimated to be 359 billion dollars.  It is actually up 6% from last year, according to American Express. After a long period of not spending luxury buyers are obviously getting over their “frugal fatigue which bodes well for those engaged in marketing luxury real estate.
It seems that every study from Harris Interactive to the Wharton School of Business emphasizes the importance of building a lasting relationship with your clients and prospects. Prospective clients are looking for a positive, memorable experience. They may not be ready to buy now, but they still expect you … (8 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Luxury of the Desert, Wordless Wednesday - 04/20/11 12:12 PM

We took off to Palm Springs at the crack of dawn (5AM).  After driving several hours in drizzle and rain, it was lovely to see the sun as we headed onto Highway 111 into town.  Springtime in the desert shows us so many beautiful plants, such as this cactus, and we loved the contrast of the green and the hot pink.  Happy Wednesday!
… (17 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Branding: Does It Pay to Be Popular? - 04/19/11 12:11 AM
 

The advantage to being top of mind, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, in your marketplace is getting the lion’s share of the business.  There is also a secret advantage of being the popular choice. Although, Cherry Garcia ice cream, from Ben & Jerry's, has many raving fans vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream are by far the favorite choices with vanilla winning hands down as "most popular".
Ranking top of mind in luxury branding is even more important that ranking #1 on a Google search, because the overwhelming majority of affluent consumers rely on referrals from friends, … (111 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Taking A Break to Create Music - 04/17/11 11:53 PM

As a luxury real estate marketing professional, there are always trying times regardless of the economic conditions of the marketplace.  Here is a fun way to relieve the stress by creating your original musical composition.
Here is a fun way to recharge yourself and refresh your viewpoint. The San Francisco Symphony has created a web site, where kids (adult kids) in this iinstance can compose their own music using different instruments in the orchestra to create your own symphony.  (If you are clueless when it comes to different aspects of music such as tempo, rythm, etc, they have wonderful tutorials … (19 comments)

Are You a Road Runner? Take the Luxury of Time to Refresh!! - 04/17/11 07:18 PM
ROAD RUNNER--IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD? Have you have heard about stopping to smell the roses? How about stopping to watch the road runner?
!We were working from our home office when our cat called our attention to a roadrunner in our backyard. Now, this is Santa Barbara, California  not the desert!  We were in awe! Such an unusual creature, and a fast one at that! 
Taking a few minutes to appreciate nature and also to use our camera to capture a rare moment was a real treat! These moments are what what we call the ultimate luxury of time. That is … (20 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Luxury of a Sneak Peek of Summer/Speechless Sunday - 04/17/11 02:13 PM

We are delighted to have a sneak peek of summer with highs in the upper 70's.  Everyone has dusted of their summer gear, bathingsuits, shorts, beach umbrellas and boats.  It is a gorgeous day, and we are all seizing this moment, because tomorrow it will be back down to the mid 60's. 
Wishing you a very Happy Sunday, Cheers Ron and Alexandra.
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Luxury of Dogwood - 04/16/11 01:13 PM

Spring is in full bloom in Santa Barbara.  Yesterday, we took time to walk around our shopping area, The Paseo Nuevo. which looks like an old fashioned winding street, with stores flanking it.  Everywhere we looked there were blooms and several dogwood trees. 
Wishing you a happy Saturday!  Cheers, Ron and Alexandra
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Price of Rice - 04/15/11 11:32 AM

For those luxury real estate marketing professionals who like to play games on the Web, here is a site that is amazing. Go to www.freerice.com. It is a vocabulary game. For each word you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice. It is free, it is fun, and hunger is on its way out. You improve, and life improves for someone hungry. If vocabulary is not your thing, then you can test yourself/learn more about Art, Chemistry, Languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish), Geography, Math(Pre-Algebra).
Since it began in October 7, 2007, 90 073 662 94, grains of rice have … (21 comments)

Not A Word About Sonoma Real Estate - If You Love Your Aging Parents, Watch This! - 04/15/11 10:59 AM
 
Here is an extraordinary 3 minute video poster by Kirsten Lindquist.  It is inspirational and was a great beginning to my Friday!  I hope it is to you.  I have disabled the comments, go to Kirsten's post and comment away!
 
Via Kirsten Lindquist -Sonoma Real Estate (Pacific Union International - Christie's Great Estates):
Not A Word About Sonoma Real Estate - If You Love Your Aging Parents, Watch This!
This post has absolutely nothing to do with Sonoma real estate---nothing to do with real estate at all.  It is a video that has touched me so deeply that I'm going … (0 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The "You" Perspective - 04/14/11 10:45 AM
 

If you need a mental boost and a new perspective on your luxury real estate marketing practice, here is a tip for you. Get the idea that you are a man or woman living in China and you are granted the wish of stepping into YOUR life, taking over YOUR exact set of circumstances including your business. See YOUR life from their perspective with fresh, appreciative eyes. Wouldn’t you jump at the opportunity of getting to be YOU?
It is all too easy to complain about the economy or wallow in self-doubt or self-pity.  Get over yourself and begin … (4 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Trumpets are Blaring/Wordless Wednesday - 04/13/11 05:33 PM

My computer mouse pointed one last time before keeling over from overuse.  We hurried over to Staples for a new one.  I saw these magnificent yellow trumpets covering every inch of the dividing 50 foot wall. 
Happy Wednesday.  Ron & Alexandra
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Don’t Flip Out, Stick to Your Core Competence! - 04/13/11 01:58 AM

Keeping up with the speed of change in technology, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, can be a daunting task. But, to some extent, it has become an imperative to stay competitive. For example, new entrants in the luxury real estate field, such as tech savvy executives from corporate America, offer a new challenge to complacent incumbent market leaders who have not adapted rapidly enough to the new rules. Yet, if building strong relationships is your strength vs. deploying the latest technology you may be spinning your wheels trying to fend off this new breed of real estate agents … (22 comments)

Marketing Luxury Real Estate: What Is Your Added Value? - 04/12/11 01:32 AM
 

Differentiating yourself from others in your area who specialize in marketing luxury real estate comes down to adding value in your service that your competition does not. Here is an example of added value that differentiates the Ritz Carlton Dallas from all the other luxury hotels in that city. 
If you are a dedicated runner and want to run in Dallas, the Ritz provides their guests with a hotel running buddy, and will also add a customized fitness and sports massage. According to Noeha Coutry, director of sales and marketing, ““By providing a running buddy, we can provide them … (16 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Imperative of Rapid Response Communication - 04/11/11 07:22 PM

In today’s highly competitive real estate environment the essential new skill for luxury real estate marketing professionals is rapid response communication. The Internet has made real time market information readily available to consumers. Consumers now demand an immediate response to their direct inquires and know that the next professional is only a click away.
We define rapid response communication as personally responding to phone calls or Internet inquiries within two hours or less. Ideally, you should respond within minutes.
Seasoned professionals take heed! Rapid response communication needs to become business as usual. It is no longer an option. It is … (6 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Notes From Scottsdale/Best Practices in Cyber World - 04/11/11 12:30 PM

While attending and speaking at the AFIRE conference last Wednesday, I heard RonLaMee speak on the subject of "Cyberspace: Play Hard, but Play Safe"  Ron is the Senior Vice President of Information Services, Arizona Association of Realtors.
One of the important matters to consider while operating in Cyberspace is what to do in case of loss of a mobile device.
Many of us send and sign documents via Cyberspace, if these documents are accessed by an unauthorized individual, this becomes a breach of personal information. One of the participants in the audience mentioned that her sister kept all her family's … (4 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Luxury of Daffodils/Speechless Sunday - 04/10/11 11:39 AM

As spring time is here, our local Trader Joe's brings in batches of daffodils and sells them for $1.29 per bunch.  I always buy some to celebrate spring, and it reminds me of William Wordsworth's poem, "Daffodils" written in 1804. (April is National Poetry Month!)
 
I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
                                                      A host, of golden daffodils: Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Happy Sunday, Cheers Ron and Alexandra Seigel
 
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Joy of Hydrangeas - 04/09/11 12:24 AM

We love Hydrangeas also known as Hortensias.  They have beautiful showy flowers and have been bred in so manhy lovely colors as in this picture we recently took at the Farmers' Market.  They originated in Asia, and now thrive well in our world.
Happy Saturday, Ron & Alexandra Seigel
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Thank Goodness It's Friday (for a couple of hours) - 04/08/11 04:44 PM
 
We just took a break for fish tacos by the beach at the Shoreline Beach Grill.  The fish in our tacos is halibut, whch is in season in our waters.  It is fresh, flaky, and fabulous and caught by the fisheman this morning.  We are soothed by the waves and the sound of the ocean nearby.  Alas, we have to leave and get back to finish our work. 
Happy Friday and we wish you a great weekend.
 
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Notes from Scottsdale/Success in the “New Normal” - 04/07/11 12:13 PM
 

Yesterday, I (Alexandra) had the privilege of attending and speaking at the 5th annual AFIRE conference held in Scottsdale Arizona.  This conference brings together a group of real estate’s leading women to create a three day networking experience. It covers “the latest in technology, hot issues that will influence us now and in the future, what’s happening on the international scene, strategies for working across generations, and most importantly, how to create and maintain a positive attitude. (2011 program notes).”  This event was created by Bernice Ross, Ph.D. and CEO, Author, Trainer, and Speaker. Bernice is also a nationally … (10 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Branding: Outpace Your Competition,Get Your Brand Message Right! - 04/06/11 12:03 AM
 

As a luxury real estate marketing professional getting your brand message right is of paramount importance.  First, you must be sure you are communicating to the right target market.  Second, you need to make sure you are communicating your extraordinary promise of value in their language, i.e., words that address your target market’s most pressing needs (not yours).  When you inaccurately assess both of these factors your chances of success are between slim and none. 
Porsche’s new marketing campaign “Engineered for Magic-Everyday” misses its target on both counts. As such, it serves as a great lesson in messaging.
There … (22 comments)

How to Make Your Primary Brand Differentiator Your Bread and Butter - 04/05/11 12:49 AM
 

Contrarian thinking is one of the factors that separate market leaders from the rest of the pack.  For luxury real estate marketing professionals who wish to dominate an underserved market niche, here is an example of a billion dollar company that has done just that by thinking differently.
Panera, known for its hearty soups, salads and $7 sandwiches, made with freshly backed artisan breads, served on real dishware in a very comfortable setting, exemplifies such a market leader. With 1420 stores, and a roughly $3 billion market capitalization it has taken a page from Starbucks, and is thriving by … (16 comments)

Luxury Marketing Essentials: The Days of Wine and Brand Differentiation - 04/04/11 03:55 PM
 
Photo by Monster 1000 As a luxury real estate marketing professional you must differentiate yourself from you competitors. We say, “Stand out or Bow out”! Here is an important way in which premium wines are differentiated in the marketplace.
In the abundant world of the wine production, the finest wines are distinguished from every other wine not just by price but by their origin. This principle of the differentiation is based on a French word, “terroir”. The basic components of terroir are climate, soil type and topography. Labels will often identify the estate on which that wine was grown, or … (16 comments)

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Luxury is a Vase Full of Tulips - 04/03/11 02:17 PM

This morning when we went to the market to pick up a few things for tonight's dinner, I spotted these tulips.  The look great in the vase Ron made when we were taking pottery classes in Sonoma with wine country master potter, Tom Collins.  They are a magnificent sign of spring.
Happy Sunday, Ron & Alexandra
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Light at the End of the Day/A New Way to View - 04/02/11 12:56 PM

We took this picture at the end of our walk, the colors change with the light and it becomes a whole new world.  It is a new way to view, and it reminds us, that it is important to keep looking at everything in a new light.  That is the essence of youth and progress. 
Happy Saturday, Ron & Alexandra
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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Luxury of Life-Happy Friday - 04/01/11 03:55 PM

The beach at low tide
This past weekend as well as this week we worked intensely on a large marketing project.  Last night at 8PM, PST, it was done, so that the printers who are on EST received it this morning.  Tomorrow we get a proof via Fed Ex to make sure that everything is perfect.
Today, as we look back on the week we are delighted with how modern technology and human teamwork made this possible.  The luxury of living in these times is amazing: typesetting is no longer done by hand, photos are taken digitally, layouts are happening … (28 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

Email Me

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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