Sometimes things you create take on a life of their own whether you intended it or not.

Take our syndication graphic.

If there is one image that those in the Real Estate industry associate with Point2 Agent (besides our product’s logo of course) it is this  graphic.  Originally conceived as a one-time-use illustration in 2006 as a way to graphically represent the new (at the time) concept of syndication with only 8 partners, we had so much positive feedback that we continued using it in all of our marketing and updated it as we added partners – even though the constant maintenance is a full time job in and of itself, just ask our Art Director!

Today the syndication graphic stands at 37 active syndication partners, not to mention the hundreds of local re-syndication partners we currently offer – it is truly is a beautiful monster.

We are obviously very proud of our little graphic, but what I think what we are most proud of is its theft.

Let me explain.  Well, actually, I’ll let Google explain.

Check out these Google Image Search results for the phrase “listing syndication”, or if you are feeling adventurous you can perform the query yourself.

Look familiar?  While about half of the first page results are our venerable graphic, the rest are basically a motley assortment of rip-offs, remixes, and versions with a few “creative liberties” taken to them.  Here are a few of our favorites:

On closer inspection you can classify the imitations into two categories, those who merely replace the center piece with their own logo (pro-tip: you can tell it is a rip-off since only Point2 Agent lets you syndicate to Point2 Homes), and those which take the exact same concept but just change the center piece as well as the color of the arrows.

However we’re not mad about all this, in fact we are ecstatic.  Having our graphic ripped off  tells us three things:

1)  By remixing our intellectual property it shows that others hold it in high enough regard to actually warrant adapting it for their own use.  This makes all the work to maintain it and update worthwhile.

2)  By keeping the imitations close to the same concept it merely reinforces our original graphic and makes it more recognizable to our target audience & helps build our brand equity.  We like to think of it as free advertising.

3)  As continuation of #2, when people see the same concept over and over they learn to associate the whole concept of syndication with our illustration.  So when an Agent, Broker, or MLS/Association executive sees an imitation graphic the first thing they think of is Point2Agent.

So to all potential pirates out there, I only have one thing to say:  Help us out and steal our stuff!

I like Microsoft’s advertising.

There, I said it.  Bring on the ire.  I welcome it.

Yes, I am a fan of a infamous Gates/Seinfeld ads (solely due to the fact I am a rabid Seinfeld fan), yes I enjoy the campy I’m a PC ads, and yes I am fond of the new Laptop Hunters ad campaign – the most recent of which can be seen below.

Now why would I dare admit to this, especially given the fact that I work for a tech company (in the marketing department to boot), within an industry that is home to the vast majority of Mac zealots (myself included), and where it is quite fashionable to bash anything Microsoft puts out.

Simple.  Looking at their advertising objectively, Microsoft’s ads smart, pointed, and consumer-focused.  This will get results.

One of the commandments of advertising, if there ever was such a thing, is that you want to create an emotional connection with your audience, and the easiest way to do this is to get them to relate to the context of the ad in question.  Think about the wildly successful Dove Campaign for Real Beauty ads.  These were successful not because they were a radical departure of airbrushed supermodels hawking their products, but because the target market saw that it could be ANYONE in those ads.

The same is happening with the recent Microsoft ads, the Gates/Seinfeld debacle notwithstanding.  Joe consumer will be able to relate to the regular people in these ads, in regular buying situations, and this will undoubtedly drive sales.  At this point the argument over pricing, features, viruses, and durability is irrelevant; it is much harder to create that connection with stilted caricatures like in the “Mac vs. PC” ads, that in my opinion sometimes go as far as to be smug and condescending, rather then relate-able.  I don’t know about you, but talking down to me isn’t going to sell me on your product no matter how hip/vogue it might be.

By now you are probably all thinking, “OK Chris, you can get off the soapbox anytime…” and you will be happy to know I am almost done my little rant, save for a small real estate take-away.

A couple weeks ago I was perusing the Homes section of our local newspaper when I came across an ad for a real estate agent advertising their services.  The agent in question was standing in front of their luxury automobile and boasted about how they were a “top producer” and in some sort of exclusive selling club for being so unbelievably awesome – the specifics escape me because I could not longer take it and stopped reading all together.

Rather then extol the benefits of themselves or the service they are providing, said agent should take a page from the Microsoft book of marketing and position their ad to relate to what customers are looking for when buying or selling.  Why not just say, “Look I know what you are going through in the buying/selling – I am here to help.”  You are going to come across much more approachable, and won’t completely turn off younger people like myself who see this type of advertising as borderline offensive.

The bottom line is this.  Just like Microsoft, your advertising should be a mirror of the consumer experience rather then a pulpit for you to launch into a speech about the benefits of your product/service in hopes that it meshes with someone that happens to hear it.

Now where is my Mac, I need to get some work done around here…

With all the information available instantaneously via the web, we have to learn to share the best of what we have and little more. The internet is now so massive, that the common person only has time to see the absolute best of the best. There’s now more sites than ever whose primary purpose is to surface the most intriguing content on the web. Here’s just a small sample: Reddit, Digg, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Propeller, Xanga, Furl – Damn… maybe even the best of the best is getting out of hand.

What I’m getting at is people are becoming conditioned to seek out only the best, and blur past the rest. The same is true when browsing real estate.

Potential buyers want to be impressed by their online, home-shopping experiences and deserve to be. I assure you that people will discredit a listing with no photos and limited information, even if it meets their personal requirements.  Why? Because they have grown to expect more. It is imperative that your listing not be undervalued because of poor marketing workmanship.

Providing quality listing photos is statistically linked to the quantity of prospects generated. In layman’s terms, more photos = more prospects = more sales. So what can you do?

1) Learn how to take great listing photos, or hire someone to take them for you.

2) Keep the seller informed on when you plan on taking photos, what they need to do beforehand, and why it’s so important.

3) Never post bad listing photos, ever. When a new listing hits the online market you may only get one chance to make a good impression – then it’s old news. You want to be what’s hot and what’s new.

4) Never manipulate your photos to make a property look better than it actually is. You risk losing your trustworthiness, and may be setting buyer expectations too high.

One possible solution for #2 is to provide your client with a pre-shoot checklist. Here’s a freebie designed by yours truly: Point2 Photo Checklist. Feel free to use it as is, or design your own if you wish.