The Audiorium

Stop Freakin…

I had a great social media marketing conversation in Spanaway this morning with some clients at Crescent Realty. We were talking about how search engines work, how to develop an online presence, and creating your own personal brand. It was a fun and lively conversation.

On the way back to the office I was replaying in my mind some of what we talked about when I came up next to the Beacon Plumbing Truck. How apropos. What a great example of what we were talking about. Beacon Plumbing is a familiar icon in the Puget Sound area. Instantly recognized and hard to forget.

A few years ago they launched a very successful ad campaign that really stuck… a great job of branding I think. It’s definitely sticky as they say. If you’re from around these parts you instantly recognize
their signature line… “Stop Freakin, call Beacon!”

There’s a real marketing nugget here for all of us in the real estate related industries. Something direct, simple, hits the target, easy to remember, and hard to forget. It also plucks an emotional chord we can all relate to.

Google simply, “Stop Freakin” and look what you get at #1…

Seattle Plumber | Beacon Plumbing & Heating | Seattle Plumbing 24/7 The best Seattle Plumbers from Beacon Plumbing and Heating. Call 1-800-FREAKIN. 24/7 Seattle Plumbing Services.Toilets,Sinks,Bathtubs,Water Heaters, … www.beaconplumbing.net/ - Cached - Similar

July 13, 2010
The Blackberry Chronicles
© ARFCO Media 2010

The Peaceable Kingdom… Madrona, Seattle

The Madrona Neighborhood in Seattle, Washington has some of the area’s most beautiful views. I was heading home from the office, the freeway was jammed, so I opted for one my favorite drives down Lake Washington Boulevard. Don’t be in a hurry when you go this way. There are few stops and the traffic is usually light, but it’s mostly 25 miles an hour. But who cares?, there’s so much to look at. Just decompress, mellow out, and enjoy.

Madrona got its name from area pioneer John Ayer, he also donated the land for Madrona Park.
The Neighborhood’s motto is The Peaceable Kingdom…

The photo was taken at Madrona Park on Lake Washington looking South and East at Mt. Rainier. Note the Lake Washington Floating Bridge behind the boats. The day had been overcast with drizzle, then about 5:00 PM the skies cleared, the sun came out, and the light was perfect. I just had to stop. I laughed to myself as the sailboats were leaving the marina down the street as fast as they could to catch the late sunny afternoon on the lake.

This is from the same spot, I just turned East. We’re looking at downtown Bellevue.

You can view the images in full size on Flickr… just click the photo.

The Madrona Neighborhood is situated on a rather steep slope that starts at Lake Washington and rises west to the top of the hill and the Central District. It’s an old neighborhood with trails, parks, and a small business district. It’s hard to believe at times that you’re just a few minutes from downtown Seattle. There are great views looking east toward Medina, Bellevue, and the Cascade Mountains, and from the top of the hill there’s nice views looking west into downtown Seattle.

The area next to the lake was platted in 1889 by developers and in 1890 what’s now the core of the neighborhood was homesteaded by Dr. Georg Randell and his wife Emma. Their barn became the neighborhoods first school.

The typical home was built in the 1930’s. At this writing there are 39 homes listed in

The Peaceable Kingdom ranging from $350,000 to $3.2 million.

Click the link to view homes for sale… Madrona

Seattle Neighborhoods: Madrona — Thumbnail History

Map credit: From Estately.com by Google.

Commute

From the Blackberry Chronicles, random photos from around the Pacific Northwest.

Taking pictures with my Blackberry is a great source of entertainment while driving the work commute. I’m seeing things in a way that I haven’t before. Since I always have my Blackberry with me (8330 Curve), it’s handy. Eyes on the road, I pick it up and take random shots hoping I catch something of interest. The only time I actually look at the subject is if I’m stopped. Otherwise, Point, don’t aim, don’t look, and click. Then take a look at them later to see if I got something more than my dashboard or window post.

I love photo accidents, car not included…

Please Don’t Outsource Your Personality…

A local company in town claiming to be social media experts has recently offered a service to real estate agents that will take care of your Tweets, Facebook updates, Linkedin, and blog content for a small monthly fee. They’re offering you a social media system.

(Isn’t that an oxymoron?)

Dear valued clients and all real estate professionals:
Please Don’t Outsource Your Personality… 

When I give social media conversations I frequently get asked
“Is there a Big Easy Button that I can update everything everywhere online?”

“Because social media looks like a lot of work and I didn’t get into real estate to spend all day behind my computer.”

Point well taken and that is a valid concern…

My reply:

“If there was a Big Easy Button for social media, you wouldn’t want to push it.”

In life, we belong to many different groups and communities like family, work, school, church, the baseball team, fraternal organizations, and maybe the gang you hang with on the occasional boy/girl night out.

“Do you have exactly the same conversation in every one of these groups?”

I hope not.

The whole idea around social media is the opportunity to participate. Enter into any online community and you’re joining omni-directional conversation by people tethered together around shared ideas and a common framework. It’s no agreement fest, bring your likes and dislikes too, but please demonstrate respect to the community, its members, and the reason it exists by sharing authentically.

Is it possible I could hire that out?

A systematized you that’s broadcasting into the crowd (for SEO) instead of entering into the conversation runs the risk of alienating the tribe. Your fabricated purchased Tweets, Facebook updates, and personal blog content could be construed as diss’n the community. You might find yourself unwelcome, or worse, ignored.

Groups recognize (and tend to gravitate around) those who participate, contribute, and demonstrate value. How will we be able to engage you if you always talk and never listen? And, if your conversation isn’t even yours, how do you think that might influence us?

Word of mouth still reigns as the most powerful force in marketing.

Your brand and reputation are either created or inherited. You’ll own them either way.

The Pike Pine Triangle

The Pike Pine Triangle

It’s funny how things change over time… Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s I was a student at Cornish College of the Arts, then known as Cornish Institute. I lived on Capitol Hill just a few blocks from the school and studied music composition and performance. During that time I worked for And/Or, a Seattle nonprofit arts organization.

I was very involved in the music program Soundwork . We built an electronic music studio in a loft on the 2^nd floor of the Odd Fellows building at 915 E Pine St. Soundwork Studio was a public access studio and a performance hall for area composers. We gave classes, produced concerts, and I hosted a radio show on the now defunct KRAB FM.  

Soundwork Studio, February 1982

Capitol Hill was (and still is) a great place to live with its close proximity to downtown. I enjoyed many a walk down Broadway from Cornish to And/Or on Pike Street. I fondly remember those days as a kind of Gothic / Renaissance Period (a lot of young people in black with boots, Mohawks, pink purple and orange hair with a lot of chain-like bling) and writers, painters, dancers, poets, musicians, and theater people everywhere.

There was always something going on and it all needed to be talked about. We frequented the Comet Tavern back then… cheap beer, free peanuts, and a communal can of Top Tobacco and papers on the bar. Life was good.

Fast forward to 2010 and behold, The Pike Pine Triangle, a vibrant neighborhood full of shops, cafés, restaurants, boutiques, and a newer hotel. Now there’s a high demand to live here and my agents are calling me to help them look for condos. They have buyers who want to live in this neighborhood. 

The challenge is inventory to fill the demand. Most everyone I’m working with who has clients that want into this born again hotspot neighborhood really want 3+ bedrooms and at least 1600 (preferably more) square feet. I find it interesting that the new client demographic is so different from the single young urban professionals who were buying here over the past several years. Now they’re a little older, married, and many with kids.

I looked into the Pike Pine Triangle and found 40 studio units averaging a little over 600 square feet, 143 1 bedroom units around 800 square feet, and only 14 units with 2 bedrooms from 900 to 1200 square feet. Sounds ripe for further development, but until then condos that fit the need are elsewhere on the hill or downtown.

Title Insurance is Sexy…

At The Talon Group in the Pacific Northwest… Title Insurance is Sexy…

Take a virtual walk with me…

Last Friday afternoon a client requested information on a property for a potential listing in Gold Bar, Washington. Gold Bar is a small rural community in southeast Snohomish County about 55 miles northeast from my office in the Eastlake neighborhood of Seattle.

You’re definitely in the high country heading into Gold Bar and the Cascade Mountains on State Route 2. If you continue east you’ll drive through several small towns and burgs then over Stevens Pass into Leavenworth (famous for its Bavarian motif), and finally to Wenatchee on the Columbia River in Eastern Washington. It’s a beautiful drive.

I was given an address of 429 Croft, Gold Bar, WA. But having been in the industry awhile and knowing Gold Bar is about as far off the urban grid as you can get and still show up on the map, chances are (with just one piece of information) it might not be so easy to find. I’m hoping luck is with me.

Did I mention its late Friday afternoon, after 4:00 PM? If you’ve ever spent any amount of time in a title company property information department you know the Friday afternoon axiom. The closer to 5:00 PM the phone rings, the more challenging the task will be.

After looking through my systems, I’m getting nowhere. I opt out to Google Maps to see if they have this address plotted. If I can just get a visual to work with I’ll be on my way. But, Google puts me here and I’m still not finding anything around this location that helps.

I grab every street named Croft in the county along with every address in the 400’s from my database and mash them up in hopes of creating a few matches in Gold Bar. A few do, but nothing close to 429 Croft.

I call the broker and catch her on her cell phone in her car. “You wouldn’t happen to know just one other tidbit of info I might be able to use to compare things with?”  She does, “I think it’s a La Hacienda Restaurant.”  Great, that should do it and I’m off looking for restaurants. My enthusiasm is short lived, dang, nothing near here. 

Using Google satellite aerials I zoom in from above. “We are sorry, but we don’t have imagery at this zoom level.” I can’t get close enough to identify anything.

Okay, Google… this is it, you and me. It’s here somewhere, I know it. I look at the little yellow stick figure guy on the upper left of the map… you know, the drag me to street level icon. I’m assuming this won’t work but what the heck I give it a try…

AND BEHOLD, I’m on the street!

Google puts me here…

I’m not seeing a La Hacienda restaurant, are you?

The good news is Google drove down Highway 2 taking street view imagery and I’m there!

I turn my view in a circle to take a look around me then start clicking my way down Croft on a virtual walk heading east for about 6 blocks and guess what I find? 

TA DA! Here it is… The La Hacienda Restaurant… Gold Bar, Washington.

My spirits lifted as I position my vantage point from different spots on the street and find I’m on the corner of Croft Ave and 5^th. I gotcha now!

As often is the case, the legal situs address (assigned by the county) is different from the mailing or postal address. The county carries it as 407 Croft, and the mail/street address is 429 Croft. I go to the Snohomish County Assessors website and look up that location on their aerials. Yep, that’s it, and there’s the tax number. ;0)

Who’d a thought a few years ago we’d have digital imagery online that we could virtually walk through?

Photo images #1 - 4  © 2010 Google, #5 © 2010 Snohomish County.