I just love the retro AgentGenius logo: That orange guy running out in front of all those gray guys. Go orange guy, go! It’s a apt metaphor for any business, really — staying at least a few steps ahead of your competition. That’s the gist of it, anyway.
How long is your lead?
Which begs the question: How far ahead of your competition are you?
- Got a blog? Check.
- Facebook and Linkedin? Check.
- Twitter account? Check.
Never satisfied
Are you satisfied with those? I certainly hope not. These things might seem pretty avant garde right now, but it won’t be long before they’re passe. In fact, they already are! In December 2005, I blogged about Dear Abby writing a column about blogs. I knew right then that blogging was no longer cool. (And I was probably the one billionth person to realize it) About this time last year I set up a facebook group for the Virginia Association of REALTORS. As I did so, I realized that, for me, a little bit of the fun of facebook was to die that day. Twitter? C’mon. Congressional interns tweet for our elected legislators. (Does that sound a little dirty to you too?)
Passe ? obsolete
Passe doesn’t mean obsolete. In many cases, quite the opposite is true. To paraphrase Shirky, marketing tools don’t deliver results “until they become technologically boring.” Real estate blogging seems to be developing a pretty solid track record of delivering results. Virginia REALTORS Jeremy Hart and Frank LLosa have clients they “met” on Twitter and facebook, respectively.
Curiosity is king
But this ain’t where the rabbit hole ends. There’s much more to being a genius agent than blogging, social networking, tweeting, Q&A boards, and so on. This rabbit hole goes deeper. Keep learning, keep experimenting, keep looking around with a watchful eye and wild curiosity for clues about where our society is heading. That’s how you keep your lead.
Otherwise, a few of those little gray guys might sprint past you.
Brian Block
June 19, 2008 at 5:10 am
Ben, interesting commentary. So any thoughts on what will be the NEXT BIG THING?
I’ll be on the lookout…
Jim Gatos
June 19, 2008 at 7:23 am
Notes to self…. RE: Blog…
1. Well, let’s see.. I changed hosting providers.. Already I’m noticing some small improvements.. Check..
2. Bought a great new Wireless “Laser… Laser”… Mouse…. (Microsoft WL Mouse 5000)…brought in my old keyboard from the early ‘two thousands…” To Me that was MY most comfortable keyboard… Check
3. I have a couple of great articles “Screaming” to be typed from my eager fingers.. Check
4. I realized some mistakes I made and I also have a lot of great ideas ….Check
5. I LOVE READING AGENT GENIUS..Check
6. Joined Twitter last week.. Check
7. Have been with Linkedin and Facebook for awhile.. Check.. Do I have to join Myspace too?
8. Have “scribefire” extension installed in Firefox 3. Check…
9. Saw a couple of blogs last night from my local competition that gave me a massive headache.. Will not do THOSE things… Check…
10. Only one problem.. What to call my new blog? I’ve been rattling my brains out on THAT one.. No Check!
#10 may be a good idea for a new post.. I leave up to you folks..
Thanks
Jim
Ben Martin
June 19, 2008 at 8:16 pm
@Brian – I wish I knew. If you find it, will you tell me about it?
Cheron Lange
June 23, 2008 at 11:39 am
That’s a loaded question…”The next BIG thing?” In todays change’s for social networking there is always another doo..dad that will outdo the most current fad….just one more thing to keep up with.