Rebuilding and Retooling a Listing Side Business - Toby Salgado

Before we get to the episode I want to share with you some of the thoughts Ive had on this market.  We spend a lot of time over here thinking about how this market is trending.  We of course want to help our clients skate to where the puck is going rather than doing what it feels like most people are doing which is skating to where the puck is.

 

Last year was impossible to ever get any sort of handle on the market longer than maybe a 3 month view and thats why the people that ran their business---- just kept on chugging along did really well in their and those that tried to time the market lost a bunch of time and money.  Ill give you an example--there are people changed their business model mid year because they thought or were told to begin prepping for short sales and foreclosures but, in reality we saw just the opposite.  We saw a steady and sharp increase of home equity.  

 

I dont want to get lost on historical analysis but, I do want to briefly share my thoughts on the rest of this year.  In terms of real estate I think 2021 is going to be  somewhat of a mirror image.  The fed has indicated that rates will continue to stay super low.  Theres some concern about inflation and that may effect the 10 year treasuries which mortgage rates are actually based.

And by May the Biden administration says there will be enough vaccines for everyone in america. So-- People will be back to work and if the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums work everything is back to normal except that homeowners got a giant boost in wealth from their equity.  

 

If this is the path we still find ourselves in a very constricted market with limited supply of available homes.  So if this is the environment we find ourselves in and we believe this environment will be stable through 2021 what should we do?  How do we begin to shape our marketing?  Our messaging?  As we progress and this environment evolves I will continue to not only give you my thoughts but, you will see how my thinking shapes the conversations I have with my guests.

 

I will share this one tidbit---this last year has caused a fracturing. Large groups are fractioning into smaller and smaller subsets.  We see that in the LGBTQ arena with an ever expanding list of distinctions.  We see a fracturing in a political sense whereby the far right Qanon types are very far from the moderate republican and the AOC far left doesnt really resemble anything like a moderate democrat like an Obama or clinton.

 

We also see a fracturing in what is a business and who is an entrepreneur.  Is the lyft or uber driver any less of a entrepreneur than a broker owner?  The answer is no and some of the legislation forcing companies like Uber to offer health and dental insurance and 401k’s further blurs what constitutes an entrepreneur.

I think we will see far more people entering the workforce as entrepreneurs.  A lot of people will create micro or side hustles and we will finally see an emergence of the “brand of you”.  Of course this will not happen overnight but, we are on a faster track than ever before.

 

If you follow my logic and can envision the path which I outlined you will see a need to begin cultivating the long tail of branding--your individual brand.   I can stop right here because the sad fact is once I said branding Ive lost half of you.  Branding is one of those terms often means different things to different people.  I am going to shortcut the term and instead say “expertise” for ths particular conversation.

 

Each one of us has a unique expertise and its your specific expertise that will make a massive difference in an environment like the one we find ourselves.  As we experience of fracturing of identity, of politics and even economics people will naturally begin to look for businesses that cater to their specific brand of thought.  Once you start to look for this level of distinction you will start to see it everywhere.  I could very easily merge this into a different discussion but, for now I am going to stay focused on business and how you can use these trends to your advantage or at the very least you can know these trends so you dont get eaten alive.

 

Have you identified your unique expertise?  How are you reaching your people?  What platforms will you use?  What messaging will clearly define you and your approach?   I think over the next few weeks and months we will be exploring  this idea a bit further.  

 

I can tell you that my personal brand has benefited tremendously from this podcast.  I have spun off a few businesses the biggest being our radio and television arm.  This podcast has opened up tons of new relationships and business opportunities that I would never have access without it.  I think every single one of you should start your own podcast.  Its cheap and massively effective.  I would be remiss not to tell you that for years we have had an offering just like this----I just never mention it.  If your interested you can go take a look at viralkast.com viralkast with a K.  

 

In the next year there is certainly going to be a continued arms war with the top teams in the country spending more and more money on things like radio and digital specifically facebook. 

It is this distinction that things can get a little blurry.   Without getting too deep into this topic let me briefly point out that advertising on something like the radio falls into the category of direct response advertising.  A 60 second radio spot is a lot like an elevator pitch.  I get to tell you who I am.  What I do and why you should care. Direct response ads are designed to attract sellers.

 

 A facebook post or a sponsored post is more akin to a banner ad.  Largely speaking this falls into the branding category.  This is not to say that you can't blend the two if you're good at video but, I’m speaking in generalities.  In general direct response will target sellers and brand or impression marketing will target buyers. The problem with companies that are buying zillow leads or any kind of buyer lead at all is the fact that buyers are everywhere and having 500 buyers working with you doesn't mean anything if you cant find a house to sell them.  

 

In this kind of environment it becomes increasingly critical to begin investing in the brand of you.  Its common knowledge in virtually every market in the nation that if you list your house for sale it will sell.  In some markets you might get 30 offers in one day in others it might take a week or two but, a decent house wont last long.  

 

Now more than ever we need to be crafting our unique value proposition.  We need to find new and creative ways to get our messaging into the hands of an audience that will resonate.  Will you continue to play follow the leader and copy the people that are selling 100 or 200 houses or will you go out and forge a path that is uniquely your own?  

 

More importantly I want to stress the importance of building out a business plan that is sustainable.  This is most easily done by trying to establish some parity between the amount of listing you have and the amount of buyers you have.  Whenever one side gets too heavy you need to rebalance.  If you have a portfolio of stocks and you built it out with 50% of the companies you own being in technology and the other half in retail.  If at the end of the year you see the technology side inflate to 80% of your portfolio value you need to rebalance.  There are some people that will take a look at last years stocks and say “Im killing it in technology and put all their money into this one sector.  Thats great until its not and often one realizes their error too late.  This is very similar to the team that spends all their money on Zillow leads and now find themselves with a bunch of buyers but, exactly zero houses to sell.  That person would have been much better off if they would have attempted to maintain a 50/50 or a 60/40 listing side business.

 

Everything in life and business is about proper planning.  All too often I see businesses get themselves into trouble and not realize it until its too late and by the time they realize they need to try a different approach are often too deep and cannot see the forest for the trees.

 

Ok---I meant this to be a simple intro into an interview podcast but, got carried away a little bit.  As this market changes I want to continue to evolve and adapt and im very much considering doing this podcast a little different than in the past.  Im not sure if I can carve out enough time but, I think I would like to put out a daily podcast.  Some of it will be whats on my mind and some of it might be commentary from sources like inman  

 

Just like in the game of life-----you need to try new things and approach it from new angles if you want new,  different and hopefully better results.  If im willing to try --I hope that you will join me in reinventing the way you approach this new and wonderful world that is finally opening up.

Talk with you next week.