Seth Godin is a well known marketer who recently published a book called Tribes.
It's well put, but not a new idea. We've seen grass roots movements and other such influences over the years that have moved everything from policy changes to products.
The cult of Mac being my favorite example of a high tech tribe.
I digress ... the point being that leading a tribe .. .building a community... being the connector is the way marketing is going.
As you know, this is very much in line with the direction that we've been going with our community websites.
Have a listen to his speech at TED, it's good food for thought.
Seth Godin published a new blog post that I thought really summed up what I've been trying to communicate with agents, but in a much more effective way. (That's where the whole "internationally renown author and speaker" stuff starts to show I guess)
He speaks about the change of the relationship between marketers and audience, how it's moving from renting the audience from the media company, to owning your own publishing platform and audience.
He singled out real estate agents in particular in one of his analogies and here's what he said.
"Consider the local real estate agent. She can spend to run ads every week in the local paper, or she can use the same money to start a legitimate media channel, a digital magazine, say, one that cheers on the school and gives the local paper a run for its money. And oh yes, the only houses listed for sale are hers. It might take a lot of work and even some money. But what does she get? A platform forever."
In an earlier post about the results of building a community network for Rick, I outline the growth effect that it's had on his business. The interesting thing to note is that while the title is "40% Increase in Business, Not a Dime In Advertising" it's not entirely accurate.
As in most marketing, a catchy headline is good to get your message read.
In reality Rick has spent a ton on developing this platform and evolving the concept. So while it's true to say that he hasn't paid any money to traditional media advertising, he's spent that marketing budget on building out his own platform with multiple income streams and in multiple communities.
Looking at the date, it's very clear that while the first year or so was nothing to get excited about, as we've continued, the revenue has also been growing at an exponential rate.
Clearly, the investment in building his own platform and connecting with the community will continue to pay off exponentially as the years go on.
Rather than his advertising ROI staying constant, year after year it costs less to market himself as he's moved from a "New Client Acquisition" model, to an "Inside list" model, where his clients are already on his list and part of his circle of influence and thus much more targeted and cheaper to reach than trying to acquire new clients through costly ongoing media buys (paper / ppc / bus ads ... you name it)
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