Posted by Jonathan J. Miller -Tuesday, November 22, 2011, 1:46 PM Comments Off
I must say I was skeptical about the new debate format but was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyedthe event. I also liked the creativity of the intro video – swingin’ around that camera.
At some point TRD pulled me aside to talk on camera, but only after web editor Lauren Elkies talked Lincoln Center security into letting TRD film outside the venue. You’d think it was #occupylincolncenter
Incidentally, The Real Deal had me on standby as they tried hard to get Lawrence Yun, chief economist of NAR to debate me (I’d love to!) but he is too protected by his trade group. He never seems to appear in public in a forum where it is understood that his views would be challenged/debated. This gatekeeper mentality is a vestige of the past. Still, he’s a smart guy who I am sure would have something to contribute. NAR has access to wonderful information – they just need to work on the “building a sense of trust” part – something not conveyed through their press release linguistics.
Posted by Jonathan J. Miller -Tuesday, November 8, 2011, 10:35 AM 2 Comments
Appraisers, like real estate agents, refer to listing photos to get a sense of the condition of a property. The listing agent’s job is to obtain the highest price the market will bear for their client (that can be closed).
Presentation of the property in its best light is key. I once had a post on my site before it was hacked a few years ago that showed a large blood stain on the living room floor of a foreclosure where I believe a former occupant was murdered.
Herb De Cordova, a top broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman in Queens, NY sent me a before and after listing photo he found that needs no further explanation. Wow.
Posted by Jonathan J. Miller -Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 1:10 PM Comments Off
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I normally don’t pay much attention to this sort of thing, but I just got back from vacation arguably refreshed, and did a double take on this 5/11 ad in Brokers Weekly for the Sheffield condo conversion on West 57th Street (see ad photo to right).
The photo is a full page ad that appears to be taken from the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle several blocks away (see map below). Don’t get me wrong, this is not a run against The Sheffield and I used to live in this area a long time ago.
However the building is located on south side of West 57th Street between 8th and 9th and may be “quintessential” as the headline proclaims, but it is not oriented immediately over Columbus Circle with a Central Park South view to the east as the photo shows.
If they showed a photo of Paris or some other abstract location, it would have worked for me. I see the purpose of marketing as communicating an image or brand, and I get the point of linking their location to Central Park, but they need to swap out the photo with something else.
Posted by Jonathan J. Miller -Tuesday, March 8, 2011, 10:40 AM 3 Comments
I had the pleasure of speaking with Guy Kawasaki, former Chief (Software) Evangelist at Apple Computer in the early days of Macintosh – who has become a prolific author in addition to being a technology entrepreneur. While I claim to avoid the self-help book genre, I realize I’ve read nearly all of his books. Guy released his 10th book today: Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions. Here are some reviews.
His first book, The Macintosh Way, is now a free download and was always one of my faves – because it came out as we were building our company, Miller Samuel, entirely by using Macs. He later ran ACIUS, developer of 4th Dimension, the database application we ran for about 15 years to manage our data.
This was a pure treat for me as I got to talk about the early days of Apple, reminisced about Guy’s one word email technique (I shared my 15 second voicemail rule), his other ventures such as Alltop.com and Garage.com, the state of marketing today and how to make yourself enchanting.
Posted by Jonathan J. Miller -Sunday, November 14, 2010, 7:34 PM Comments Off
Via Skype, I have a great conversation with Alan Mark, founder and president of The Mark Company. Based in San Francisco, his firm is well-known for its work with new development, conversion and project turnarounds throughout the Western US. His firm specializes in design consulting, market research, sales and marketing.
Originally from the New York region, he has made a name for his firm in new development marketing arena and explains how he adapted his firm to the post-credit crunch world.
Of course I need to be reminded of an old Hall & Oates song like I need a needle in my eye but his efforts are way more entertaining than the typical listing video fodder.
Posted by Jonathan J. Miller -Monday, September 13, 2010, 7:13 PM 2 Comments
Well, a tongue in cheek interpretation of their September 6, 2010 cover -hat tip to Business Insider who beat me to the punch(line)during this back to school, holidays every other day period of the year.
There’s that old joke, if it’s on the cover of Time Magazine, then it already happened… (I must admit that I feel guilty repeating this joke since I like the author’s work and have been an avid follower of their Curious Capitalist blog). Still it makes for an interesting message.
By mid 2005 the housing market was already showing serious problems and this was nothing more than a “pile on” article consistent with everything that was being written at the time. Incidentally this cover pre-dates Matrix which I started on August 1, 2005 with this post.
Posted by Jonathan J. Miller -Friday, September 3, 2010, 12:12 PM 2 Comments
Ok its Friday and we all need to kill some time before the weekend starts. Check out the infusion of Van Halen into Manhattan Townhouses by a guy in a white suit.
Had a fun interview with Tom and Sara this morning on the always MUST watch/listen Bloomberg Surveillance. We talked housing, rentals, vacancy and inventory. An added bonus was the addition of Adam Davidson – co-founder and co-host of Planet Money... Read More
