Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Luxury of Giving Yourself Time

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Command the Competitive Edge—Follow Through!

August 17, 2010

Roger Federer has 16 Grand Slam titles, Photo by Mandj 98

Today, marketing luxury real estate involves a much more expanded scope of activities than ever before. Following through on details is more challenging now, especially with the added arena of social media which can be quite daunting. Yet, to be a champion and command the competitive edge it is imperative that you devise and execute systems that allow you to consistently follow through on all of the luxury real estate marketing fundamentals.

In sports, such as golf, tennis, and baseball, coaches insist that their athletes follow through with their swing. From a logical perspective, it seems odd that one should continue the swing long after the ball has hit the sweet spot of the club, the racket or the bat and sails away. However, it is that follow through on the swing (in empty air) that makes the difference between a great shot and a mediocre one, between a foul ball and a home run.

Have you ever visited a real estate agent’s blog and found that the last time they published a post was several months prior to your visit? This is a major clue! Even if some people do not notice this details there probably are other clues that betray this agent’s lack of follow-through and inattention to detail.

It may be unreturned phone calls, or unanswered emails, or lateness to appointments that demonstrate the absence of a championship mindset. If you are neck-and-neck with your competition, while going after the same listing, it is neglecting these details that can cost you the listing.

Follow-through in marketing luxury real estate may require that you delegate as many details as possible to a trusted assistant so that you can be freed up to do what you love the most. If a championship season is on your horizon, cover all of your bases, consistently follow through and you will be triumphant!

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Mind Your Own Elephant

August 16, 2010

Seizing control of what you focus your attention upon, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, is mission critical in a challenging economy. Your personal economy is actually the result of where you place and hold your attention. Those who seek out and consistently focus on the positive opportunities of their marketplace experience an entirely different set of financial results compared to those who “rubberneck”, i.e., continuously fixate on what is going wrong.

Have you ever heard the story about a group of people who are blindfolded and asked to describe a different part of an elephant that they are touching? One reports that it is a spear (while touching the tusk). Another describes a hose (obviously touching the trunk that is spraying water). Each can say that they are touching the same animal but have entirely different experiences, and thus different realities. None are right or wrong in relationship to the others. They are just reporting their experience from their personal vantage point.

What is exciting to know about focus is that you actually have the power to choose where you place your attention. However, if you do not exercise this power the results, by default, will be detrimental to your practice. Rubbernecking is the sure way to bring your luxury real estate marketing practice to a screeching halt.

Have you ever driven in the furthest left lane of a freeway in bumper-to-bumper traffic and noticed up ahead that there were flashing lights of an ambulances and fire trucks on the opposite side of the freeway in the lane closest to you? Why did your side of the freeway come to a complete stop when the accident happened on the other side of the freeway? The people directly in front of you were rubbernecking. There was no traffic jam on your side.

If market leadership is your quest it is imperative that you practice the art of staying focused your own positive outcomes. Mind "your own elephant" and mind your own business. If you find yourself rubbernecking, be sure not reprimand yourself because that prolongs the fixation on the negative. Just do your very best to gently redirect your attention back on track. After consistent deliberate practice without self condemnation, your attention will shift. You will stop rubbernecking and start bouncing right back! We commend those of you who have achieved this important feat, those of you who have triumphed over your personal economy.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Of Psychographics & Honey

August 11, 2010

Is it possible to roll back the hands of time? This is one of the most pressing questions on the minds of baby boomers who are entering their highest spending years en masse. It is the keystone of this generation’s psycho graphics or mindset. When marketing luxury real estate you can actually accelerate the sales process by speaking to this perennial need. This is done by expressing the features and benefits of the local lifestyle of your marketplace as means of rejuvenating the spirit.

To learn the vernacular of rejuvenation study how the major cosmetic companies compose their marketing messages. It seems that each of them is trying to outdo their competition by coming out with face serums, moisture creams and other ablutions that can smooth away wrinkles and erase the ravages of time. Take heed! With billions of dollars at stake, pitching these costly lotions and potions is luxury marketing at its best.

We have covered several top cosmetic companies each of whom is trying to best their competition. One company is focusing on this endeavor more so than others. After exclaiming that the answer to the fountain of youth lies in orchids the key ingredient in their age-reversal creams, Guerlain, has yet another breakthrough. Their latest anti-aging system is an oil-in-water emulsion called Abeille Royale Youth Serum. Abeille, pronounce “ah bay” means bee in French.

Based on honey, the serum is absorbed quickly, has a velvety-soft texture, helps heal skin and repairs wrinkles. Dr.Fredric Bonte, the Director of Guerlain Research, stated that this new product is made from pure Ouessant honey and royal jelly which is produced by the Black Bee. This insect is found on an island off the coast of French Brittany, a pollution and parasite free environment which ensures the highest quality.

In your luxury real estate marketing practice, learn the language that speaks to your target market. That is the language of luxury.

Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Romancing Your Marketplace

August 9, 2010

As a luxury real estate marketing professionals you can steadily increase readership of your blog by expressing your personal views about what it is like to live and play in your area, your local marketplace. Expressing your voice, your viewpoint is what will make your blog interesting and will attract your readers to do business with you. People like doing business with people like themselves. It is, therefore, important to express your personal point of view so other with the same values can identify with you. We call this “romancing your marketplace”. Here is an example.

One of our favorite attractions here in Santa Barbara County is the Carpinteria Salt Marsh Nature Park. The park encompasses 110 acres of prime ocean front land, and is reserved as a sanctuary for rare and endangered plants, birds and wildlife. It is located within a few blocks from our home. The trails of the salt marsh, that we love exploring, meander through the estuaries that lead to the beach.

Chaparral Mallow

This Sunday, as we walked to the beach, we saw a blue heron preening his feathers, a snow white egret fishing on the banks of the waterway, a couple of cottontail bunnies hopping along our trail, and a family of mallards gliding on the water. One of the paths was bordered with a riot of pinkish purple blooms on silvery bushes called chaparral mallows, which are native to the California seaside. On Saturday mornings, there are docents present for those who like guided tours.

The reason potential clients and referral sources follow your blog is because it speaks to their interests and values. The connection and often the referral happens when they find out that you love wildlife, nature walks or the environment too, not necessarily when you tell them about the latest real estate statistics.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Harness the Power of WOW in Your Marketing!

August 2, 2010

What if your closing gift could perpetually keep you “top-of-mind”, and create a buzz about you or your company for years after your clients take possession of the property? If you have clients, in your luxury real estate marketing practice, who are passionate about the environment, here is a buzz marketing idea for you.

Buzz marketing is creating a remarkable story about you or your company that others feel compelled to pass along to their friends, co-workers and family. Great buzz attracts the media who is hungry for buzz-worthy stories. Online, buzz is like a virus that spreads exponentially as others share your story with a click of their mouse (or the touch of their screen). Offline, buzz is at the core of word-of –mouth advertising. When you harness the power of WOW! you can trigger a chain reaction and unleash the driving force of buzz!

Recently, we met with Steve Cushman, the CEO of the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce. He offered us a glass of cold purified water from a device that looked like a typical office water cooler, but without a bottle of water on top and no direct waterline. The appliance, called DewPointe, is an atmospheric water generator that converts moisture in the air, an abundant inexhaustible resource, into as much as 8.4 gallons of filtered water per day. Now, that is a WOW!

The DewPointe appliance was a gift to the Chamber by the Chamber member in San Luis Obispo who sells the appliance. It is a gift that keeps giving. The buzz about the DewPointe in the Chamber office is a return on investment that keeps paying off.

Imagine the buzz you could create if you gave your client the DewPointe as a closing gift. Alternatively, you could attach a plaque with your company name and phone number on it and donate the appliance to a school, a service organization, to your church or temple.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Luxury is a Pink Jellyfish

July 27, 2010

It is truly important, as a luxury real estate marketing professional to examine and re-examine the meaning of luxury itself. Like beauty, luxury is in the eyes of the beholder. What we so often take for granted is the abundance of free experiences available to us, especially via the internet, experiences that are true luxuries. The wealth of free information that is literally at our fingertips is astonishing.

For example, some many consider it a luxury to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey Bay, California. The cost is $29.95 for adults and 17.95 for children (3-18). Students get a slight discount. Of course, there is the cost of getting there, if you do not live close by.

But, you can “visit” the aquarium for free via several live web cams (cameras) whenever you wish. There is a kelp cam, a penguin cam, an outer cam and a wading bird com that features pink flamingos. Did you know that flamingos are only as pink as the food they eat or that penguins “fly” under water faster than some fish?

The Monterey Bay Aquarium was the first aquarium to rescue a great white shark. They were able to keep it in captivity for 175 days until it became too dangerous for the other fish there. You can learn all about this on their website and watch videos about the shark on their You Tube channel.

Nature, the TV channel, produced a special presentation documentary on the aquarium featuring the great white shark and jellyfish. The aquarium has one the most extensive jellyfish collections in the world. They actually breed these exquisite creatures to populate the ongoing exhibit.

Take the time to ponder what luxury means to you. Ask your clients as well. You may be surprised to find that many high net worth individuals consider life’s simple pleasures to be among their most cherished forms of luxury.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Visionary Thinking at Dom Perignon

July 26, 2010

KARL LAGERFELD © CHAMPAGNE MOET & CHANDON 2008

One of the most common traits of a market leader who is interested in sustaining dominance in his or her marketplace and also building a lasting personal brand, is visionary thinking. For those of you luxury real estate marketing professionals with this ambition it is wise to look to luxury brands that have stood the test of time and emulate the standards and the value that these brands embrace. Dom Perignon champagne is brand to emulate.

Dom Pérignon is part of LVMH (Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton S.A.) family of brands, one of the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerates. Dom is a vintage champagne. This means that the champagne is not produced in weak years, and all grapes used to make the wine were harvested in the same year.

When we lived in Napa Valley, we had the good fortune to sit next to chef de cave (head winemaker) of Dom Pérignon who happened to be dining alone. We struck up a delightful conversation throughout our meal.

What was most impressive about his Dom Pérignon stories was the fact that if the grapes are not perfect in a given year they simply will not produce the wine. In the 80 years between 1921 and 2002 for example, Dom Pérignon champagne has been produced in only 36 years. Three vintage years in a row are a rarity. This phenomenon only occurred two times: in 1969, 1970 and 1971, in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

CREATE THE “BEST WINE IN THE WORLD”, Pierre Pérignon, 1668.

In 1668, the young monk took up his post as the head of the cellar at the Abbey of Hautvillers . Over three centuries later, Dom Pérignon is the ultimate homage to this visionary spirit and to the founding work of the man who is considered the creator of champagne.

For fun, here some facts about this fabulous champagne:

In 1961, Dom Pérignon Vintage 1949 was on the menu for the dinner given at the US Embassy in Paris for Charles de Gaulle and John F. Kennedy during the American president’s official visit.
In 1981, Dom Pérignon was chosen for the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles. The magnums of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 served at the wedding had a special insignia created just for the ceremony.
Today, Costo sells more Dom Pérignon than any other retailer in the world.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Face Time for Business Development

July 21, 2010

While it is true that your social life can and should lead to business referrals, it is a good idea for luxury real estate marketing professionals to separate the concept of business networking and social networking. Business networking can actually increase your bottom line faster because of its focused nature and clear intention: helping one another develop more business. What can be more clear, simple and, most importantly, direct?

Last night, while on Linked In we noticed a profile of a CEO of a company on the east coast (we are in Santa Barbara, CA) with whom we shared common interests. There was immediate recognition of potential synergies between our companies. We are in a professional group together but we had not yet met. So, we invited him to also join the Language of Luxury group on Linked In. Within minutes we noticed that he had joined LOL.

By the time we woke up this morning we received a direct email from him suggesting that we connect. He too, believed that there were possible ways to develop some business together which we confirmed in a wonderful phone conversation this A.M. Yes, we just used the “P” word!

Phones are the missing link in online networking. In fact, the entire purpose of business networking online is to set up a phone conversation. Between Skype, which is free, and smart phones with ridiculously low monthly fees (as compared to the cost of long distance calls in previous decades), there is absolutely no excuse for not picking up the phone. Now, you can actually have an instant face-to-face meeting (e.g., with Skype video or iPhone 4 “face time”).

Business networking, online facilitates WARM PHONE CALLS! And, that is what most luxury real estate marketing professionals have lost sight of in this hurricane of white noise about social networking.

This very same morning, Alexandra noticed that an interesting company just started following us on Twitter. She always looks up each of our followers’ profiles to see if there is a commonality and a reason to connect by phone. In this case, there was, indeed, potential for mutual business. So, Alexandra shot off a email and suggested that we connect directly.

Within 5minutes we got a phone call from the director of business development from this company! [Rapid response communication is one of our most highly valued business practices]. We had an excellent conversation and set up a phone meeting with the CEO of the company for Friday ( 2 days later).

Can you see the difference in the speed of concrete results between social networking and business networking online? The key to successful business networking interactions is having it be equally important to give as it is to receive. Sometimes there is only giving on your part. But, it all balances out if you keep an abundant mindset, which is worth acquiring and maintaining in the field of luxury real estate marketing.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing Tip: Study the Pursuits of High Net Worth Clients

July 20, 2010

Studying the pursuits of your clients is extremely important to your success as a luxury real estate marketing professional. Although this may not apply to all of your clients or to all luxury real estate markets, the quest to possess the finest and the rarest objects in the world is definitely one of the exciting sports of high net worth individuals.

For those of you and your clients who fancy fine champagne, here is some interesting news. A group of divers exploring a ship wreck in the Baltic Sea happened upon a bottle of champagne that is believed to be produced in the late 18^th century. It could very well be the oldest champagne in the world!

The divers were hoping to determine the year the ship sank by dating the champagne. Experts believed that, based on the shape of the bottle, it was made in the late 18^th century. They were 98% certain that it was one of the first vintages of Veuve-Clicquot that was established in 1772.

Remarkably, when the bottle was opened, it was drinkable and retained its very small bubbles. It was suggested that the vessel was most likely on its way to St. Petersburg, which was then the capital of Tsarist Russia.

Researching those subjects that interest your clients the most and then speaking their language can make the difference between getting the listing or not. Knowledge is not just power. It can translate into gold.

Speaking of gold, you may also be interested that a white gold covered 3 liter bottle, a jeroboam, of Dom Perignon sold for $17,000 in 2008. At the time, it was the most expensive bottle of champagne in the world.

Dive deeper into the pursuits of your high net worth clients. This is a requirement for those of you who seek to achieve top-of-mind status in your luxury real estate marketplace.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Shoot for the Moon!

July 19, 2010

As a luxury real estate marketing professionals studying examples of niche marketing done right in the luxury realm can give you tremendous insight on how to position yourself and stand out from your competition. Luxury books are a case in point.

Amazon popularized the relatively new niche category of e-books. They announced that its Kindle e-bookstore is now selling 180 e-books for every 100 hardcover books. The sale of Kindle devices have tripled since it lowered the price, despite the competition from multifunctional devices such as the iPad. Is there any wonder why most niche book stores, such as those that specialize in selling architectural or design books have become extinct?

However, a handful of luxury book publishers are thriving by selling limited, innovative editions, for thousands of dollars. Taschen Books, with exclusive brick and mortar stores in upscale cities like Beverly Hills, London and Paris, has tapped into a very narrow, but lucrative, niche. Twelve copies of their massive photography book on the lunar landing were sold with actual pieces of the moon. One such edition that came with a lunar rock was sold for $112,500, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Although, these extravagant showcase books are beyond the reach of most consumers they create a tremendous amount of buzz for Taschen and help sell less expensive premium edition books. For example, a $7500 book on Muhammad Ali is sold with several signed photographs of the boxer.

Shoot for the moon! Express your personal flair. Use your imagination to out-think your competition. Zero in on a niche and become well known within your marketplace as the best in that niche. This is the way to market leadership!

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Follow That Poodle!

July 15, 2010

As a luxury marketing professional one of the great ways to promote your marketplace is to report on the local festivities. For example, we are planning to go to the Annual French Festival in Santa Barbara, Saturday and Sunday, July 17 & 18 (Bastille Day Weekend), from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Santa Barbara's Oak Park. This is the 23rd annual event, and they are expecting over 20,000 people to attend. Admission is Free.

Some of the highlights include, a poodle parade, French chefs preparing typical French delicacies both savory and sweet. French beer and wines as well as champagne will be available. Also, former French colonies will be represented such as Vietnam (French Indochina) as well as Morocco and French Polynesia.

Forty acts on three stages will feature continuous entertainment of music, dancing (can-can), as well as cabaret style (Edith Piaf) to name a few. If you love anything French, it is a great opportunity to meet people, join a French speaking club, and learn about interesting trips to France. There will be a drawing to win a trip to Paris or Tahiti.

Another way to promote YOU is to be a sponsor for one of these events. The sponsors are always promoted and appreciated by the organizers who have large spheres of influence and may become your ardent referral sources. Or, you could always volunteer to help at the event.

So, follow that poodle and get involved in local community events. It is fun and also good for your luxury real estate marketing practice.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: The Luxury of Pursuing Your Passion

July 12, 2010

Luxury is pursuing your passion. If you are truly passionate about luxury real estate marketing it is likely that you will enjoy a tremendous advantage over your competitors. And, great things must unfold in your practice.

For inspiration, just look to others outside of the realm of real estate, those who are passionate about their careers. Some people are passionate about collecting art; others collect vintage cars.

Enzo Enea, a Swiss landscape architect, is also one of the world’s most famous tree collectors. His tree collection will be on display at the Tree Museum that he developed. It opened in June, 2010 near Lake Zurich in Switzerland.

What is extraordinary about this open-air museum is the series of open spaces delineated by stone walls that create outdoor “rooms”. About 120 trees will be on view at a given time, in this 75,000 square meter environment, there will be exhibit themes such as different types of trees and various ways of shaping trees.

The techniques of transporting mature trees is Mr. Enea’s particular claim to fame, techniques that were inspired by his study of bonsai. He is most passionate about weeping willows and Japanese maples in particular.

Most of the trees in Mr. Enea’s collection were given to him. For example, a tree was about to be cut down in a property renovation and Enzo asked if he could remove the tree for his collection instead.

Discovering these kinds of opportunities that others overlook is the sign of a passionate person. It is the same in marketing luxury real estate. When you are passionate about your work not only is it a luxury, because it makes you feel alive, but it is also gives you the competitive edge.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: 8 Tips for Staying Positive & Creating Your Personal Affluent Economy

July 7, 2010

Affluence begins with an affluent state of mind. One of the best ways to stand out as a luxury real estate marketing professional is to hold the vision of a vibrant economic future, yours in particular. View the present marketplace as a place of opportunity rather than focus on the reality as presented to us by the media and other naysayers. What is true is that some luxury homes are selling in most upper tier marketplaces. The question is, “are you in this rosy part of the picture?”

Maintaining a positive point of view definitely requires continuous practice. It is not like you need to hide from the negative, the trick is not to DWELL on it and “accentuate the positive”, as the song says.

Here are 8 tips to get you back on the positive train of thought and keep you there more often.

1. Appreciate someone or something around you.

2. Focus on something beautiful such as your pet, a flower, a tree, or the abundance of cherries that are currently in season.

3. Distract yourself with a few deep breaths

4. Take a walk around the block, or exercise

5. Give a sincere compliment, or two, or three.

6. Share some good news

7. Make maintaining a positive viewpoint a top priority in your life

8. When all else fails, lie down, pull the covers over your head, and don’t move till you feel better. In other words, keep a good sense of humor. And, remember that life is just a bowl of cherries.

Here is an excerpt from today’s post in the Mayo Clinic blog regarding the advantages of positive thinking for your health:

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

Increased life span
Lower rates of depression
Lower levels of distress
Greater resistance to the common cold
Better psychological and physical well-being
Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

Think more positively! It not only is good for your personal health, it is good for your personal wealth, your personal affluent economy.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Food of the Gods

June 30, 2010

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico is a great place to buy a second home. XocoDiva, a fabulous artisan chocolate store in PV is just one of many reasons why the lifestyle there is so appealing. We visited Ron Morgan there last week. Ron is a luxury real estate marketing professional who is passionalte about this exciting marketplace.

Check out this VIDEO on the chocolate truffles at XocoDiva. Yet, more proof that chocolate is food of the gods. If you are visiting a client or going to a dinner party, a small box of chocolate truffles makes a great gift!

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Less is More Tip #4

June 29, 2010

We recently took a stroll on Carpinteria Beach here in the Santa Barbara, California area which is considered to be one of the safest beaches in the world. We were very impressed by an innovative promotional idea that could easily apply to your luxury real estate marketing practice. The Department of Parks and Recreation in the City of Carpinteria has partnered with Carp Yoga to offer yoga classes on the beach.

The cost of each class is $10 which contributes to maintaining this wonderful beach. Carp Yoga gets to promote their classes and onlookers benefit simply by learning about this outstanding form of exercise.

If you like to do yoga or tai chi or some other form of exercise why not sponsor an introductory exercise session in your local park? Invite your entire data base of contacts. 50 guests will only cost you $500. Do not forget to take picture that you can send to your contacts as a follow up promotion. And, of course, be sure to write a blog post about this!

There are so many ways to trigger buzz about you or your company and generate referrals in the process. The key to achieving market leadership is to gain and sustain top-of-mind status. Think of ways you can spark the best form of advertising on the planet: Word-of-mouth! And, remember, your goal is to out-think not out-spend your competition. Do more with less. Less is more. You can enjoy our beach by checking out the webcam.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Less is More Tip#3

June 28, 2010

Do you have a local movie theatre in your town that is not owned by a large chain? Here is another in our series on low cost promotional ideas that can yield big high quality results and make you stand out stand out from your competition as a luxury real estate marketing professional.

Most people, young and old, love the movies. Quality movies that the entire family can enjoy together are few and far between. When you get wind of one of these gems coming to your town, contact the owners of your local theatre and arrange a sneak preview of the film for a guaranteed number of sold seats.

When one of Harry Potter films was about to be released one of our clients invited a select group of past and present clients to a sneak preview of the film. At an average cost of $7.50 per seat she was able to guarantee 200 sold seats ($1500) which she prepaid. Then she found a non-competing service professional, an estate planner, to split the costs and invite 100 of their clients (including kids). Her total cost was $750.

In addition to thoroughly enjoying the show, the guests got the bonus of “bragging rights” about seeing the latest Harry Potter movie before it was released. Just prior to show time both hosts introduced each other to their clients in the audience which instantly expanded their sphere of influence. They outwardly endorsed each other as trustworthy service professionals, which led to future business. The theatre received additional cash, plus the take from all of the concessions they sold before and during the showing. It was scheduled in the morning before the theater normally opened and a few days before Harry Potter debuted.

There are so many ways you can stay in touch with your core data base of contacts that will turn them into raving fans. Leveraging the buzz of a Harry Potter caliber movie you can trigger massive word-of-mouth advertising ABOUT YOU OR YOUR COMPANY and also generate a tremendous amount of good will.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Less is More Tip #2

June 22, 2010

It is a really good practice, as a luxury real estate marketing professional, to keep track of the interests of your contacts. Are you a wine enthusiast? Do you enjoy sampling unique cheeses? If so, chances are you have some previous clients and others in your contact database who feel as you do. Here is a low cost idea that leverages common interests and can generate meaningful marketing results.

Here in Santa Barbara there is a wine store called East Beach Wine Company. It is Santa Barbara’s largest specialty wine store. Each Friday night they have a special wine tasting often with guest vine makers to personally pour and talk about their winery. There is a different theme each week. It is quite educational and it is likely that you will meet some fun and interesting people at the tasting as well. Typically it costs about $10 per person and that includes some delicious cheeses that are paired with the wines.

A great way to stay in touch with your contacts is to invite them as your guests to wine tasting such as this. Perhaps you could arrange a discount for covering the cost of a large number of guests. Even at full pop, it only would cost $500 for 50 guest and the buzz about you and how you stand out from your competition would be worth many times that amount. Most important it gives you the ability, as a luxury real estate marketing professional to stay in touch with clients in a unique way when you are not just pitching real estate.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Less is More Tip #1

June 21, 2010

Children at the Louvre Museum in Paris

Marketing ideas with zero or low cost are easier to conceive when you follow your passion. Anyone can develop business in their luxury real estate marketing practice with money. But, some of best results can be achieved without spending a dime. Here is an example of a low cost promotional idea that cost an agent very little but yielded big results.

A very successful luxury real estate marketing professional in Chicago was on the board of directors for the local museum. Her passion was engaging kids in the world of art. When the museum created a special interactive event for kids she sent out event invitations to all of her past clients and her entire sphere of influence offering to cover the admission cost for their kids. At $10 per child she spent only $500 for the 50 that showed up WITH THEIR PARENTS!

The positive response was unanimous. The kids had a blast, learned new things and made new friends. The adults appreciated the opportunity to meet new community members. Several of the parents joined the museum because of the quality of the children’s program. She generated a tremendous amount of good will not only from those who attended, but also from those who were impressed with the invitation and could not make it.

She also received several referrals shortly thereafter which converted to significant commissions that made the $500 investment a drop in the ocean. What contributed most to the success of this marketing idea was her passion for getting kids excited about the arts. This is part of what her personal brand stands for. When you tap into your passion and tie it into your work everything aligns to this core principle that makes marketing a joy.

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Luxury Real Estate Marketing: Tap Into the High Net Worth Mindset

June 15, 2010

It is important for luxury real estate marketing professionals to follow the luxury trends outside of real estate. The more you tap into the mindset of potential high net worth clients the greater your chances are to gain their trust and their business.

For example, researchers specializing in the world of cosmetics are finding that the luxury beauty product industry has grown at an annual rate of 6% since 2004. Trade publication, Global Cosmetics Industry, cites that beauty products generate approximately $230 billion in global sales. An emerging trend among consumers is that they are growing more knowledgeable about ingredients and are favoring natural-based products. The women in emerging luxury markets in Asia, the Middle East, and Russia are now sold on skin care and makeup, and have become savvy, eager consumers.

The house of Guerlain, a premium perfume and beauty brand had embarked on developing a new brand of skin care to meet the needs of an aging population. By researching orchid plants, that take an inordinately long time to fade after they bloom, they came up with a proven anti-aging formula. To facilitate their research they built an “orchidarium” (a French term) to study 30,000 species of orchids.

Guerlain’s marketing message is targeted specifically to highly informed consumers:

After “Ten years of research within the Guerlain orchidarium, three new orchids selected among 30,000, revealed the secret of extraordinary longevity”.

According to their research, Guerlain’s new orchid extract has the power to turn back “cellular” time. The initial tests by a reputed dermatologist, showed a 54+% in skin improvement in two months based on rigorous standards, and the research continues.

Following trends in other luxury industries, such as the luxury cosmetic industry, can not only yield insights into the mindset of high net worth consumers, but also offer you social currency to engage in meaningful conversation. Holding your own in social situations in this way builds trust and your bottom line.

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