This is the era of “big hyper-local data,” a time when brokers and agents are empowered more than ever to be the trusted local source for real estate market data. According to a study in Realtor.org, 92% of home buyers said knowledge of the local real estate…

Nextdoor recently launched an ad product targeted at agents. A couple weeks ago, they took the next step and added real estate sections to neighborhoods in select cities (greater Atlanta area, Austin, San Francisco Bay Area, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, and…

In 2015, I asked the following question: How long until one of the big multi-billion dollar companies — Zillow or Realtor.com/NewsCorp –takes a stab at the local expert opportunity (in real estate)? Perhaps we have our answer. I recently received the following email from Trulia… Clicking “Leave…

The other day I saw a Century 21 commercial on television. It was one of the “Smarter. Bolder. Faster.” iterations, though I can’t remember specifically which one (shows how memorable it was, right?). That got me thinking… What does “Smarter. Bolder. Faster.” mean — to…

Lets make the assumption you want your brokerage/franchise to be viewed as the local expert for the areas you serve. (let’s be honest: what agent DOESN’T want to be the local expert?) Lets make the assumption you buy into the long term lead generation concept/strategy…

I wrote about the possibility of putting “Zillow Advice into a mobile app” in 2013. That was before I ever started consulting for StreetAdvisor, whose business model is to white label their local reviews + question & answer offering to brokerages/franchises (or corporations). Especially for the…

I think a lot about long term strategic defensibility when evaluating any business (& building my own). The best companies, focus on what they do better than anyone else, that is extremely hard to duplicate — and stay focused on executing on increasing that defensibility. You’ve…

One of the opportunities I’ve written about is showcasing true local experts in a compelling way. That’s why I find StreetAdvisor a compelling project; they are in a great position to swing at this, and have the right brand name for it. Real estate and travel are the…

I truly believe there is a very real opportunity for someone to showcase true local experts. Sure, there is a data aspect of local expertise – but there’s also a neighborhood/community knowledge aspect which has nothing to do with real estate market data. Buyers want to truly…

I’ve been thinking more about the content problem lately. One of the best ways to generate traffic is to create great content. But content is everywhere on the web — how is your content differentiated among the hundreds or thousands of others who are writing…