Gorbachev, Louis Vuitton and change in real estate

Last night, I came across something wild in one of the
shiny, perfumed magazines I skim before falling asleep: Michail Gorbachev in an
ad for Louis Vuitton. He’s pictured in the back of a sedan driving alongside a
remnant of the Berlin Wall. His Vuitton bag sits next to him, standing out
against the greys of the wall, the sky and his apparatchik’s suit.

If you lived through the Cold War, or have explored its
history, this is the sort of thing that makes you think that absolutely
anything is possible, that any system, ideology or convention, no matter how
monolithic, can be turned on its head.

Mind blowing.

This morning, I watched the “blogging superstars” panel at
Real Estate Connect on Inman TV. While not quite as exquisite as a former
Soviet leader hawking luxury handbags, it did strike a similar chord.

Here were six successful, hyper intelligent real estate
professionals extolling the virtues of transparency, truth and focusing on the
consumer.

Just a year ago, on any given stage, a similar grouping of
top agents would have talked about lead capture, lead incubation, stealth
sites, Adwords and email newsletters.

This time, Ardell Dellaloggia calmly explained that
prospective clients, after reading her blog posts, now call her to ask: “will
you be my agent?” No cold calls for her.

Noah Rosenblatt said it’s good to post about gloomy market
data, that it’s OK to be honest. Someone tell NAR.

Things have moved so quickly the old regime has hardly had
time to leave town. Next to the Inman TV viewer playing the blogger panel sat
an ad for Craig Proctor’s “Quantum Leap
Success System.” It promises “Inexpensive
ads that compel ready-to-act to seek you out”.

How long will it be before Craig cuts an endorsement deal
with TypePad?

–Brian Boero