Jeff's Lead Generation, Search CRM Blog

BestHomePro MarketPlace Goes Live

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:03:24 -0600

The BestHomePro MarketPlace is now live and our first seller referral has entered. We are beginning to build consumer traffic to our site, which offers an advanced, preference-based home search too, a pledge that we will never share consumer contact information until they request service and a system that allows consumers and agents to match-up with profiles and offers. To learn more, go to BestHomePro MarketPlace.

We are excited that our first seller lead entered The MarketPlace yesterday and agents are making offers.

Our goal is to create an entirely new paradigm in real estate lead generation and assistance in building positive, transparent and profitable exchanges for agents and consumers.

Agents can get a FREE BestHomePro account by going to: BestHomePro Agent

Use it as your own personal IDX solution or just use it to review the leads we refer and make offers to consumers.

Currently serving The Triangle area of North Carolina, but soon to be expanding to Charlotte, The Triad, Asheville and other locations.

Sense of Urgency Drives a Lot of Things

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:55:04 -0600

I recently posted a blog on my company website called House On Fire. It speaks about how sellers must make trade-offs between price, the condition of their home and how quickly they need to sell. Everyone wants top dollar, but can't afford to wait.

Even if you choose to lower your price there is not guarantee that it will sell quickly.

Are sellers better-off trying For Sale by Owner or choosing a Realtor to help them price their home, stage their home and market their home.

The economy is tough and the winter is a slower time for home sales anyway.

When dealing with sellers, be a consultant and help them make those trade-offs.

First Time Home Buyer Credit - Perspectives

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:59:32 -0500

It seems that Realtors and consumers and The Feds are so eager to boost the economy that they believe a variety of stimulus packages will make everything right.

I am not so sure. The Wall Street Journal had an article a few days ago discussing the benefits and drawbacks. As I read it I was wondering if The First Time Home-Buyer Tax Credit program is actually beneficial. Is it just sticking a finger in one part of the dike, only to have water squirting elsewhere.

The Cash for Clunkers Program was a big hit for a while, but it sucked-up demand in the short-run and now very few cars are selling because all the "pregnant" buyers took advantage of the cash-back and there aren't any more.

Wouldn't the free market actually take care of demand?

Read my blog post Buyers on Fire in our new BestHomePro.com blog which discusses contemporary issues in real estate. We would love to have you read and voice your opinions.

Let's say that the first time home buyer's tax credit gets 1,000 homes in Durham and Chapel Hill sell before the end of November. Hurray! But let's then say that because of this, only 50 homes sell to first time buyers per month over the next six months or a year, and that is 50 below the monthly average. Are we really any better off?

At some point in time there has to be real demand, not contrived demand. I am not saying that stimulus is not necessary, but someone has to pay for stimulus or we allow the natural order of supply and demand to rule.

Your thoughts are more than welcome.

Durham continues to be misrepresented in the press

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:02:19 -0500

The News & Obersers' free Saturday newspaper rag called, The Durham News had as its major headline: Home Break-Ins Spike Across City. Wow! I thought. Our city continues to fall into the great abyss of crime and degradation!

If you listen to the news and read the papers you would think that Durham is like living in Bagdad. It is NOT. There is crime in Durham, but I contend no more than Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill or other local areas. I remember seeing an ABC special a few years ago with the title: "Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?" It was great. It talked about how crime statistics often mispresent the facts. Stakeholders who want more money (local police, FBI, Homeland Security) have an incentive to report things in the worst light. Let's add media companies to that.

Who would read an article entitled: "Crime remains about the same in Durham," or "Crime is actually down in Durham." You have to sell papers, so why not print a headline that has nothing to do with the facts.

The numbers in their article actually show that crime was down in 2008 compared to 2007and, according to my calculations will only slightly higher in 2009 than in 2008. This is hardly a huge "spike across the city."

Durham continues to have two great universities. Great employment. A wonderufully diverse population. Incredible one-of-a-kind restaurants and safety. Bad economies result in more petty crime in every city -- there are more desparate people. But I have seen and felt that reporting crime in Durham is an over-reaction and an easy story for people to write.

Back-off Durham News. If you want people reading your paper in Durham, please be balanced and resonable.

Foreclosure Workshop can help

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:58:26 -0500

I wanted to commend The Herald-Sun Newspaper for hosting a free Foreclosure Prevention Workshop on Thursday of this week.

Read the fine print...

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:12:14 -0500

I am all about truthfulness. I am not perfectly honest -- no one is, but when I see businesses processes that are not in good faith, it really ticks me off.

Recently (and against my better judgement) I responded to a banner ad for a teeth whitening product. After much hesitation I clicked on the "Special Offer" icon and put in my credit card for a $4.95 shipping charge for a tooth whitening product. 14 days later I was charged $89 and one week later $93.92. (Read my wwww.JeffPref.com blog to hear the whole story.) I think I will get my money back, but it has taken a lot of time. Even my credit card company indicated they have lots of complaints against Pure Essentials.

Today I read a posting about an IDX vendor with "fine print." Wolfnet is a national company which offers IDX and other web services. For the most part I have heard good things about them, but this is crazy.

Writes Eric Bramlet in his post: "I signed up with wolfnet/mlsfinder in 2005, and upgraded to maptracks in 2006. I was a pretty heavily trafficked user so was spending ~$250-$300/month b/c of their "overage" fees. A few months ago, I finally made the switch to another system, and notified wolfnet that I was terminating service - sent them an email & a fax. I get a call from one of their sales agents asking why I left, "you have so many users, why would you go somewhere else?" I tell him that I liked their product, but found something better. He then tells me: Quote: You're in an automatically renewing annual contract. We're going to continue billing you through March 2010, which is when this agreement expires."

Read his entire post: http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/showthread.php?t=37609

Blogs, Tweets and other social media don't let companies get away with this anymore. If you are a consumer, you are likely much more savvy than you were a few years ago.

If you a business person (except for my failing to follow my gut in an attempt to try a cheap teeth whitening product) you likely ALMOST never fall for these things.

But you as Realtors and I as a businessman must always keep in mind that the communities we serve will eventually find out the real truth about our practices; and when they do the world will know.

Who Gets to Decide What People Want

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:54:51 -0500

One of my favorite gurus is Seth Godin. He is a bit quirky and off-beat, but in my opinion we all need to be that a little bit more.

He posted a question on his blog yesterday: "Who Gets to Decide What You Want" with some of the following comments: http://tinyurl.com/mdr59f

"In order to want something, you probably need to know it exists. One definition of happiness is wanting the things you're likely to get (or, conversely, not wanting the unattainable). One definition of marketing is persuading the world it wants what you have...

And so, once again it seems to come down to a personal decision. If you decide what you want (instead of letting someone else decide for you) perhaps you could choose the things that would actually bring you and your loved ones the satisfaction you can live with."

In real estate, it seems that we need to give our clients the benefit of our best advice and access to the best tools to help THEM find what THEY want in a home. My suggestion is to market your high quality service to them. Don't market that you will find them the perfect home, but that you will give them all the tools and all the advice they seek to find a home that fits them perfectly, whether it be in Durham, NC; Chapel Hill, Morrisville, Raleigh, Cary or Wilmington, NC.

Think like a teacher. Act like a thoughtful consultant. Offer the best tools.

Consumers may not know what they want to begin-with, but when they find it, they will know. We need to help them find it.

Congratulations Herald-Sun.net

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:03:24 -0500

Bull City Rising, a Durham mainstay blog, wrote about the new Herald-Sun website in a post entitled "Herald-Sun Launches New Website - Fear Not, You can Contribute." http://tinyurl.com/mooomn .

Like most newspapers, The Herald-Sun is working hard to remain a vibrant part of the communities it serves. Newspapers are struggling to find new avenues to provide compelling content and communication. www.Herald-Sun.net just launched today. It offers a wide range of ways for citizens to read about their communities and contribute content -- original content.

People can read AP stories almost anywhere, but uber-local content is hard to match. Perhaps the new Herald-Sun website will greatly boost the volume of community information, interaction and communication.

My firm, BestHomePro, is offering home search services on the real estate tab on Herald-Sun.net and .com. In a matter of days we will be offering The BestHomePro Marketplace. This represents an entirely new model for the way consumers search for homes and the way agents and consumers hook-up. It is what is called "Opt-In" on both sides. Consumers can search all they want with our pledge never to share their contact information until they indicate they wish to find an agent or see a home. Then, without identifying the contact by name, agents will be allowed to see what the consumer is searching for and make offers to the consumer. The consumer then chooses an agent from among those shown.

Congratulations to The Herald-Sun for moving forward WITH technology,rather than fighting the tidal wave.

Contribute meaningful content and enjoy reading the thoughts and stories of your neighbors.

News: BestHomePro Offers Best IDX Solution for Free

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:38:01 -0500

Our company has been offering the most advanced home search solution in real estate for the last two years. BestHomePro IDX offers a search solution for brokers and agents that creates a preference profile, then matches that profile to the MLS database of homes. The result is search results that are displayed in priority order.

How many of you have talked with new or prospective cllients who say, "I have printed 33 profiles of homes that my wife and I like. Could you help me sort them? Ugh!

BestHomePro sorts results for you, and keeps them in-touch with you and with the market with "Top-Ten Alerts," which are emails, texts or Tweets that are sent only when their top-ten best fit homes change.

This cements your relationship and keeps you in touch in a very meaningful way.

Subscriptions to BestHomePro were $29.95 per month. We are now offering BestHomePro to agents and brokers for FREE. Our contract is you have use full-featured BestHomePro for FREE until you get 10 active clients on your Dashboard. That represents the perfect free trial. Then it is $24.95 per month.

We would love to have you give it a try. Go to our website: www.BestHomePro.com or call us as 919-794-3350.

Is the recession over?

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:30:37 -0500

Steve Murray, Publisher of RealTrends writes, ""This is clearly the best month of results that we have seen since we first started publishing the REAL Trends Housing Market Report two years ago. While we know that there are substantial challenges ahead, with a predicted rise in foreclosures and continued downward pressure on prices as a result, it would appear that we are closer to the floor of this recession in housing than we have been at any time in the last four years."

Are we seeing the same turnaround in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and surrounding communities. Downward pressure on pricing remains a major concern, but volume of sales seem pretty good.

Are you seeing those upwardly mobile home-owners listing their $250,000 to $350,000 homes, selling them and purchasing homes at the next level. It seems that this is where the market is hurting.

Your thoughts? What about your specific communities?

Back from Alaska

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:03:37 -0500

Our grown children gave my wife and me a cruise to Alaska for our mutual birthdays. What a great present to parents. All children should be instructed to do something so nice!!!

Alaska is 4 time zones away and it felt like we were on another planet. Not much population density up there. Sarah Palin certainly has room to spread-out. Being so far away from North Carolina, Research Triangle and Durham was a breath of fresh air (literally). Wide-open spaces; glaciers that knocked our socks off; enormous expanses of open territory; waterfalls galour; orka and hump-backed whales gliding by our boat and playfully jumping out of the water.

The trip was glorious, but even more glorious was our return to our home turf. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill is a little too crowded, but that is a sign of progress. There weren't many restaurants in Skagway or Juneau to compare to Nana's, The Lantern, Bullocks, Sishi Sushi and many others. The price of gas was not even much less up there.

Alaska was a vacation of a life-time, but coming home is always a great treat as well.

The decision by our children to give us this treat involved few trade-offs: perhaps sun and warm versus cool and dramatic.

We are trully blessed to have such a treat (and such wonderful children/adults) and we are many-times blessed to live in North Carolina.

BestHomePro might eventually help people find homes in Alaska, but it will be a while until we have features such as "Caribou view" or "glacier view."

What will happen with "Free?"

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:25:29 -0500

Chris Anderson, in his book Free, states "The digital age is exerting an inexorable downward pressure on the prices of all things "made of ideas." Anderson does not consider this a passing trend. Rather, he seems to think of it as an iron law: "In the digital realm you can try to keep Free at bay with laws and locks, but eventually the force of economic gravity will win."

Seth Godin, Permission Marketing, Tribes, The Dip and many other books has given hundreds of thousands of books away online, while I am sure, making plenty of money selling more books, consulting, speaking, etc.

What would happen if brokers and agents charged no commission? What would happen if multiple listing services made their data readily available to everyone -- for free? What would happen if banks and mortgage companies charged no "points" or closing fees? Would the industry collapse or would it flourish?

Would customers lose respect for the industry or gain respect? How would the industry pay the bills, make money, be profitable?

One of the things I most admire about the real estate industry is that in most cases you pay only for success. No money changes hands unless there is a transaction. Cool. So an agent's service is free. Maybe real estate is ahead of its time. Free 'til value received! Cool.

http://twitter.com/JeffPref (New: Follow Us On Twitter)

Blog: www.jeffpref.com

www.BestHomePro.com

Embracing innovation

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:58:04 -0500

Marc Davison of 1000Watt consulting wrote an intriguing article recently where he quoted Mike Hickman, President and General Manager of Seven Gables Real Estate who spoke before Marc was to give a talk recently. Marc was inspired by what Mr. Hickman said:

Marc writes: "This is what Michael said, in a nutshell:" "If for one more minute you believe you can remain doing what you’ve always done and expect to stay in business, stop your clock now. As a company we are moving forward. All of us. We’ve resisted change for too long and that has not served us well. We will be changing our website. They way we market. The promise we make to our customers and the standards to which we will adhere to deliver on that promise. This is long overdue."

To read the complete article, go to: http://tinyurl.com/kwugdr

In talking to many brokers and agents over the last year, most are shell-shocked. They are trying to stay the course and make a living, but they are frightened. More and more agents are becoming enlightened about the new realities and cognizant that things will not go back to the way they were. We aplaud those who recognize change as opportunity. Embracing permission marketing, more consumer control, The Internet and the need to differentiate through extraordinary service is the right path. Our economy will recover, but it will recover because we are not only resilient -- we are innovative and willing to behave as life-time learners.

Thanks for sharing, Marc. I hope to meet Michael Hickman someday.

Twitter: @Jeffpref

World Getting Too Heavy?

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:36:44 -0500

Do you feel that lifting your world everyday is just too much? Is it cement boots on your feet? Technology is designed with the purpose of freeing us from the travails of the mundane, but anyone over 40 is saying, "how can I learn Facebook, respond to others' blogs, post on my own blog, sell at least one house in Durham, NC each month, take care of my aging mother and mow the yard. I say, take the phone off the hook at least one hour per day.

Close your door and focus on just one thing.

Or plan to make three phone calls to important contacts. Or read a book that enlightens or delights. Your preferences and your piece of mind are important to your productivity and your happiness. Technology is wonderful, but once in a while have it take a back seat.

We need to be life-time learners and embrace change; but remember that personal time, focus and personal contact get the job done.

Jeff Johnston President,

MyBode, Inc.

http://www.BestHomePro.com

Twitter: @JeffPref

Durham Rocks II

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:57:33 -0500

I am proud to be a Durhamite.

An editorial in The Herald-Sun newspaper today (see article: http://tinyurl.com/lkbw2c) sites Forbes Magazine, Business Week, Bon Apetit Magazine, Black Enterprise Magazine and U.S. News & World Report marking Durham as one of the following:

1. best place for business and careers

2. Third best city to ride out the recession

3. America's foodiest small town

4. Best Place to retire

5. 3rd Best Place to Live With all this recognition, we now believe Durham is getting the recognition it deserves.

From the days when Bullock's was the only unique eaating spot to today when there dozens of wonderful one-of-a-kind restaurants, we are truly a blessed town.

The new urban development, two great universities, The Durham Bulls, Duke Blue Devils, the new Durham Performing Arts Center -- Wow! Recession or not -- this is a terrific place to live.

Jeff Johnston, President

www.BestHomePro.com

Twitter: @JeffPref

Durham, NC Rocks!

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:57:57 -0500

Link to article about Durham ranked #5 in U.S. News and World Report: http://tinyurl.com/m9sh8e

My response to Durham Ranked # 5 in best places to live in the U.S.

Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill and other surrounding cities have their merits, but as a 30 year resident and entrepreneur in Durham, N.C. -- it rocks!

The "rebirth" only serves to highlight what has been a wonderful place to love, raise and family and work for a very long time. No other NC city I know has so many unique restaurants, out-door seating, live music venues, a GREAT new theater,

The Durham Bulls, etc., etc., etc. I only wish airlines would announce "Welcome to Durham-Raleigh" rather than "Raleigh-Durham" or just "Raleigh."

Jeff Johnston

www.BestHomePro.com

Twitter @JeffPref

Fear of Social Media

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:09:15 -0500

Marc Davison of 100Watt Consulting had an interesting post in Inman News today: The Social Media Epiphany. My comments are below.

See his post at: http://tinyurl.com/neyc6a

Marc's comments are no surprise. The reality is that most Realtors know they need to embrace the semantic web, but are overwhelmed with all the choices and fearful of technology.18 out of 400 "dabbled in social media." Wow!

But Marc's comments about "the first time someone compliments your blog entry; the first time someone responds to your Tweet; and the first time a Facebook friend asks for advice on real estate" because they are moving to your town and don't know anyone there (except you)-- suddenly agents will get it.

You do need to find your personal voice to blog. You do need to follow smart blogs of others, and comment on those blogs. And you need to Tweet with meaningful comments -- not where you get coffee each day. People will begin to notice you and you may get lucky with a business connection.

Often-times, "getting lucky" means you are just "in the flow" of communication. Get in the flow!

Thanks, Marc. Right on!

www.JeffPref.com

http://www.BestHomePro.com

Twitter @JeffPref

Gotta Love The Research Triangle Area

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:37:16 -0500

I moved to Durham, NC in 1977 to work at Duke and get my Duke MBA. I thought I would move on to greater pastures, but have raised my family here, built 4 companies and continue to be amazed at how wonderful a place this part of North Carolina is for families, business, fun, sports and all that life has to give. Durham, Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill and other Research Triangle locations are all rated highly as places to raise a family, do business, eat great food, etc. each and every year. Hurrah for us!

We are launching a new type of real estate enterprise with www.BestHomePro.com. Right now Realtors in Florida, North Carolina, Nevada and Colorado can subscribe to BestHomePro and put links on their websites to serve their clients with the coolest search tool in the world. BestHomePro asks consumers to choose and rate home features. It then matches your profile to all listings in the multiple listing service directory and displays results in priority order. Cool! It saves hours and hours of time searching for homes that truly fit your needs.

We have just completed programming on our BestHomePro Affiliate Program, which allows any business or individual with a website to make money by placing our home search link on their site. What makes it particularly cool is that BestHomePro is truly a first-class home search service. We are building it as "the most trusted search site in real estate," meaning that consumers who register on BestHomePro are promised that their contact information will NEVER be shared or sold without their express permission.

So a BestHomePro link on your website can be trusted. There are no gimicks, no tricks, no one is "captured" like on most other real estate sites.

For more information about BestHomePro and our Affiliate Program, contact me at any of these places:

Jeff Johnston, CEO

http://www.besthomepro.com

Jeff.Johnston@BestHomePro.com

Twitter @JeffPref

919-794-3355 Office

New Affiliate Program Announced for BestHomePro

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Wed, 27 May 2009 09:40:10 -0500

BestHomePro is noted as a very engaging home search tool designed to help people find their perfect home faster. The home search software create a personal profile and uses that profile to display homes in priority order for the user.

After having raised new investment capital in February, MyBode began development of an affiliate program to complement its subscription business. The affiliate program will allow newspapers, television stations, bloggers and other websites to link to BestHomePro on their websites and make money when consumers register and request service.

BestHomePro helps consumers find their dream home more easily. It helps Realtors serve their clients more effectively and it helps media companies generate revenue through creating a bridge between consumers and the real estate professional community.

MyBode plans to build The BestHomePro home search as “the most trusted source in real estate.” Based on the principles of Permission Marketing, Seth Godin; and other thought leaders in the world of Internet commerce, the BestHomePro affiliate site promises consumers that their contact information will never be shared until they grant permission by asking to talk to or meet with an agent or broker. When they request service they will be able to choose the agent with whom they wish to work. This approach is unique in the real estate industry.

For information about how to put links to BestHomePro on your websites and make money from the traffic, please contact us at:

919-794-3355 or

Jeff.Johnston@BestHomePro.com

Twitter @JeffPref

World Needing Trade-offs

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:36:39 -0500

Who wouldn't love President Obama and his family? Absolutely lovely people. So refreshing in their personalities, obvious intelligence and photogenicity. I mean it. I would have loved Barack as a professor, a neighbor or a major news media personality. Absolutely! But while we all are struggling with this recession; and we all want help; just keep in mind that there are no free lunches -- well, for some there are free lunches and deservedly so. It is the primary role of government to be a safety net for those who cannot fend for themselves (along with national security). The federal government cannot bail-out every failing enterprise -- nor should it.

The federal goverment should not own all major businesses -- and would screw them up if they did. The federal goverment cannot offer free education, free healthcare, free job security, no bankruptcies, social security, medicare, medicaid, win the war in Afganistan (and give away our progress in Iraq), control private sector compensation, tax estate heavily and destroy entrepreneurial incentives without destroying our society and our country. We all make trade-offs. Do we bail-out Chrysler, but not GM? Do we support maintaining union pay-rates or allow the market to determine what compensation the industry can afford? Do we save social security, but let medicare go down the tubes? Do we create a national healthcare system (without forcing competition among suppliers) without a way to pay for it? It appears that millions of people are thrilled with Obama and the pack of Democrats fixing everything for us. If they could do it, I would be all for it, but they absolutely can't. The market will fix its ills.

Bad business models will fail. Inferior products won't sell. Great products that are priced too high will not sell. Banks that continue to make bad loans will go out of business. That means that well-run organizations will succeed, make huge profits, employ millions of people and help them realize the American Dream. Don't be fooled by government promises to fix everything. If you are a highly successful mega-agent and you sell $20, then $40, then $50 million in properties over the next three years, do you want to be taxed so that other, less productive agents can get more of what you earn? I don't think so. Care for the poor and unfortunate. Absolutely! Volunteer. Donate. But don't allow a government to create a culture where success and profit are scourned. Without highly productive people incented to produce more and more, there will be no tax dollars to pay for all the freebies. Believe in capitalism and the fact that the market kills those organizations which do not produce value and reward organizations and individuals who do. Let's keep it that way.

Our product, called BestHomePro, helps consumers make trade-offs between home search features. Everything cannot be equally important. Think about it. Buying a home, a car, choosing a college, etc. requires trade-offs. Don't you think our government should be thinking in this way to protect our future?

For every new program offered by any government - think about what trade-offs will need to be made to pay for it and whether this is a choice YOU would make if left up to you.

Jeff Johnston, CEO

http://www.besthomepro.com

Twitter @JeffPref

http://www.jeffpref.com

Building communities in social networks

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:30:31 -0500

Everywhere you turn blog posts, tweets, diggs, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, etcl are telling us we need to establish communities. I have @jeffpref on Twitter; this blog, a Facebook account; FAN Page, http://tinyurl.com/oa6tsf; and @BestHomeAgent on Twitter. I have a LinkedIn account and a Plaxo account. What I am now reading is that you need to link multiple social networks together, refer to others in whatever platform you are posting.

How do you build a following talking about Durham Homes, Raleigh Homes, Cary Homes, Chapel Hill Homes, real estate in general, affiliate programs, lead generation, training, etc., etc.?

Post insightful comments in communities that others have established. And do this while you are milking the cow, feeding the children, making the sales calls, watching 24 and Fringe, and taking-out the garbage. Who has time? Who can afford NOT to post on multiple sites? Email certainly does not work anymore, without double opt-in. Tell me your success stories and we will share ours with you. Follow us. We are pretty creative and some thing even brilliant. You decide.

Jeff Johnston,

CEO http://www.besthomepro.com

Twitter @JeffPref

http://www.jeffpref.com

Do You Read Newspapers, Books, Anything?

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:52:37 -0500

There is so much press these days about The Press losing market share, losing readership and losing revenue. Rocky Mountain News goes out of business, Boston Chronicle might go out of business, plus many others.

I love to read my morning paper and read other papers on-line. I also read books -- really. I read blogs and Tweets and forums. I listen to books on tape; and God forbid, I also enjoy quite a few television shows.

I don't care for advertising, except those that make me laugh once in a while, but I still don't remember the sponsors.

I am willing to pay for my morning paper, but not for any paper online (except The Wall Street Journal online.)

What are we to do? Where will we get objective news? Well, is FOX or CNBC or CBS or MSNBC really objective? What about The Herald-Sun, The News and Observer, The Boston Chronicle, etc., etc., etc.

We must choose to keep or let fail the newspapers of the world. What will it be?

Perhaps they need to change their business model and not rely on advertising to create revenue.

www.BestHomePro.com is creating an affiliate program for newspapers and media: a new model. Can it work?

Are there other models that newspapers could employ, that will enthuse consumers and businesses?

Your thoughts?

Jeff Johnston, CEO

http://www.besthomepro.com

Twitter @JeffPref

Building Communities in Real Estate

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:04:57 -0500

What I am now reading is that you need to link multiple social networks together, refer to others in whatever platform you are posting. Post insightful comments in communities that others have established.

And do this while you are milking the cow, feeding the children, making the sales calls, watching 24 and Fringe, and taking-out the garbage.

Who has time? Who can afford NOT to post on multiple sites? Email certainly does not work anymore, without double opt-in.

Tell me your success stories and we will share ours with you.

Jeff Johnston, CEO http://www.besthomepro.com Twitter @JeffPref

Don't Want to Sound Strident, but the Obama World Needs Trade-offs

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Wed, 13 May 2009 09:41:09 -0500

But while we all are struggling with this recession; and we all want help; just keep in mind that there are no free lunches -- well, for some there are free lunches and deservedly so. It is the primary role of government to be a safety net for those who cannot fend for themselves (along with national security).

The federal government cannot bail-out every failing enterprise -- nor should it.

The federal goverment should not own all major businesses -- and would screw them up if they did.

The federal goverment cannot offer free education, free healthcare, free job security, no bankruptcies, social security, medicare, medicaid, win the war in Afganistan (and give away our progress in Iraq), control private sector compensation, tax estate heavily and destroy entrepreneurial incentives without destroying our society and our country.

We all make trade-offs. Do we bail-out Chrysler, but not GM? Do we support maintaining union pay-rates or allow the market to determine what compensation the industry can afford? Do we save social security, but let medicare go down the tubes? Do we create a national healthcare system (without forcing competition among suppliers) without a way to pay for it?

It appears that millions of people are thrilled with Obama and the pack of Democrats fixing everything for us. If they could do it, I would be all for it, but they absolutely can't. The market will fix its ills. Bad business models will fail. Inferior products won't sell. Great products that are priced too high will not sell. Banks that continue to make bad loans will go out of business.

That means that well-run organizations will succeed, make huge profits, employ millions of people and help them realize the American Dream.

Don't be fooled by government promises to fix everything.

If you are a highly successful mega-agent and you sell $20, then $40, then $50 million in properties over the next three years, do you want to be taxed so that other, less productive agents can get more of what you earn? I don't think so.

Care for the poor and unfortunate. Absolutely! Volunteer. Donate. But don't allow a government to create a culture where success and profit are scourned. Without highly productive people incented to produce more and more, there will be no tax dollars to pay for all the freebies.

Believe in capitalism and the fact that the market kills those organizations which do not produce value and reward organizations and individuals who do. Let's keep it that way.

For every new program offered by any government - think about what trade-offs will need to be made to pay for it and whether this is a choice YOU would make if left up to you.

NAR Convention with Dazed Looks

Jeff Johnston (BestHomePro) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:47:29 -0600

I just got back from a couple days at NAR. Didn't see a lot of smiling goin' on. Agents and brokers are worried and some are obviously doing poorly. But there is a bright light out there for aggressive and innovative agents and brokers. Down markets are the time when the persistent and clever agents build market share. There still will be 5,000,000 properties sold this year. Wow! REOs, short sales, foreclosures are hot, but you should also be talking to prospects about moving up. There are great bargains! So what if your $300,000 home is down $40,000 in value and you sell it. If you are buying a home that was $500,000 9 months ago, it is down $100,000. You have made $60,000 and leveraged yourself to gain even more when the market rebounds.

If you are a broker, agent or consumer, you need to use technology to find the best deals or to serve you clients in finding the best deals. Come-on! Get your head out of the sand and "work-it!" If you knuckle down now you will beat-out the competition who are walking around with their heads down.