You are the most important entity in the real estate business. Hands down. The commissions you earn flow outward to sustain a vast array of companies and people.  Without you, the real estate ecosystem as we know it would not exist.  You guide buyers and sellers through minefields. It will take centuries still for artificial … Continued

Start with why. Finish with how. Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why” created a gravitational pull to a branding ideal. It generated rich banter across our industry and beyond. For those unfamiliar, the author’s premise is simple: rather than position your product or service around what you do, such as… We provide an on-demand, cloud-based sales, … Continued

The philosopher Thomas Hobbes called it the State of Nature. The human condition before government. Before we as individuals concede our right to do whatever we want, whenever we want, in order to make life secure and sane. This deal we make is commonly referred to as a social contract. It’s the underpinning of our … Continued

WASH ME This phrase, finger-drawn on dusty cars, comes to mind each time I take a call from a brokerage company seeking help with their brand. But unlike the car — where a quick application of suds, water and Armor All does the trick —  restoring the shine to a company requires strategy, creativity and … Continued

The “Homeservices” business model has been the wind beneath the real estate brokerage industry’s wings for years now. That many real estate companies rely upon mortgage origination, title insurance or homeowners’ insurance as their profit centers is now a commonly understood reality.  And the model is remarkably durable. Homeservices of America was built on it; … Continued

Marc and I were driving north on I-5 back to Portland from a day out of the office when we saw this: On first pass, I dismissed it as a basic attempt at branding. A car wrap? Goes right along with all the terrible headshots, cheesy slogans, bus benches and ads on supermarket carts. But … Continued

It’s not like I lie to myself on purpose. It’s just, as a human, I tend to have some beliefs ingrained in my mind that I don’t question much until a conversation comes along that jars my thinking. A few big themes have swirled around real estate since my first days in the industry 17 … Continued

“Disruption starts with unhappy customers, not technology” – an interesting read from the HBR blog, but the headline kind of says it all. And I think it makes sense, in most cases. For example, Uber and Lyft started in San Francisco, a city where getting a cab had always been a famously awful experience. But … Continued

“I have nothing to write about.” That’s what I said to my partners during our daily standup call this morning. I rarely feel this way. And it doesn’t really make sense given all the exciting things going on in the industry right now. But, it’s funny. I went to the NAR Midyear this week and … Continued