In this video, Robert, co-author with Joe Pullizzi of ‘Managing Content Marketing,’ discusses what brands can learn from big-screen storytelling, as well as from Joseph Campbell: creating ‘heroic’ content that speaks to your audience.

www.ContentMarketingToday.com

www.McAuliffeMcCormick.com

Plan and Attack

In the long run, selling out the Towers of Channelside will likely end up as a secondary achievement on the resumes of Cheryl McCormick Brown and Steve McAuliffe.

More importantly, their success as a sales team taught the two how best to execute their idea for a new business. The new firm, called McAuliffe & McCormick, is now actively searching for clients with properties that need selling.

In February, the pair was tasked with finding buyers for 137 luxury condos at Towers of Channelside in Tampa — an inventory representing more than half of the building’s total number of units. At the time, McCormick Brown was the Towers’ sales director; McAuliffe was a broker with St. Petersburg-based JMC Realty.

Cheryl McCormick Brown and Steve McAuliffe parlayed their sales success at Towers of Channelside into a new, full-time business.

Four months later, all 137 remaining units had been sold, and the duo’s first “clients” — four banks (Wells Fargo, Fifth Third, M&I and PNC) and a hedge fund known as The Madison Group — were pleased.

McAuliffe and McCormick Brown were pleased, too. The two had begun talking about working together more than a year prior to their success with the Towers; and when Ryland Homes, McCormick Brown’s most recent employer, decided to cut back on its marketing operations, the time to act had arrived.

To sell the remaining inventory at Towers of Channelside quickly, McAuliffe and McCormick Brown cut prices by an average of 40% for all empty units. The strategy may sound simple — lower prices spur sales. But as McAuliffe explains, the team’s approach to pricing was anything but guesswork.

McAuliffe looked at 20 years of real estate price data to try to isolate the impact on values caused by the overheated market of the last half-decade. By his count, prices at the Towers were 40% higher than they should be; thus, the aforementioned cuts.

The team also says it was important to cut prices just once, rather than allow them to slowly creep downward over time. Holding new prices steady convinced lurking buyers to stop waiting for further decreases.

The scale of that sale was impressive: If a 40% discount brought in $45 million, that’s $30 million gone from the original price point. But McCormick Brown is confident the banks would have gotten “about half” of the revenues she and McAuliffe generated had they settled on a bulk sale of the properties.

Going forward, that’ll be the key to the sales pitch for McAuliffe & McCormick: the promise of better revenue recovery from working with them, as opposed to a bulk sale.

They’ll also need properties to sell. Like so many Floridians, the two are forced to wait for the owners of distressed properties to decide what to do with those troubled assets.

“It’s definitely wait-and-see,” McCormick Brown says. “It takes a while for a lot of these properties to come to fruition.”

In the meantime, the new company will provide consulting, marketing, and even Web design services to slowly recovering homebuilders looking to grow a little without making a dozen full-time hires. McAuliffe & McCormick will likely remain a two-person company for the foreseeable future, but working with former partners from past projects on individual cases makes the firm flexible in the long run.

In fact, of all the details behind their new business, it’s that diverse line up of supporting cast members that the pair is most reserved about — questions about their partners were met with silence, and then, “Next question, please.”

The new company won’t limit itself to work in the Tampa Bay area; in fact, McAuliffe thinks his firm’s home turf is lagging furthest behind in terms of recovery. “We haven’t seen a lot of progress,” he says.

But despite that slow movement, and with signs of life in other nearby markets, McAuliffe and McCormick Brown remain confident that there’s a need for their business in this market.

“There are definitely buyers out there,” McAuliffe says.

Please note: The sellout of the Tower’s 147 inventory homes took 12 months.

McAuliffe & McCormick Brochure

It  will come as no surprise that the most common New Year’s resolutions  fall into the categories of getting organized and getting fit — physically and financially.

Financial fitness includes getting your real estate business in order. But  you can’t set up your real estate plans for the year in a  vacuum. They must be done in context of what’s going on in the market. Here are four predictions about what that market  context will look like in the coming year:

1. Even more foreclosures

While I’d like to claim crystal-ball credit for this one, it doesn’t take heightened powers of prediction to foresee an uptick in the  rate of home repossessions in 2012. Last fall’s robo-signing debacle  and the ongoing legal fallout from it created a massive backlog in the  foreclosure pipeline, meaning that banks are taking many months, even  years, to actually foreclose on mortgages in default.

Earlier this  year, the New York Times reported that the additional hurdles New York  state courts are requiring banks to leap in the wake of the robo-signing  revelations, like additional settlement meetings with the homeowner to  see if a modification can be brokered, have created a backlog of  foreclosures that it would take 62 years to clear, at the current rate  of foreclosure.

It’s  pretty clear that in 2012 and beyond, the banks will work through those  backlogs. The inevitable result will be an increase in foreclosures.

2. REOs and short sales will become the new normal

If  you even know anyone who has house-hunted in the past couple of years,  you’ve likely heard tales of the high-drama high jinks — super-long  escrows, first-time buyers being bested by investors’ cash offers, banks  resistant to negotiating for repairs — that take place in the course of  a distressed property sale.

In  the coming year, distressed home sales will continue to represent an  increasing share of homes on the market. So, buyers will shift from  considering whether  to buy a short sale to understanding that they must be educated and  prepared to do a deal with a seller, a bank (to buy an REO) or a hybrid  of the two (to buy a short sale) to access the full selection of homes  on the market.

This, in turn, will empower buyers to make smart  decisions about what to offer and what to expect on any listing they  like, as well as to set smart priorities and make realistic comparisons  between listings based on their own personal priorities around timing,  certainty and seller flexibility.

3.  So-called ‘smart cities’ will do well  

This year, a number of housing markets saw double- or even triple-dips  in home values. In others, pricing stayed relatively flat. However, in  areas where technology powers the economy, home values prospered along  with the industry. Silicon Valley real estate, for instance, saw fierce  competition among buyers as the young employees of companies that went  public like used their newly stocked bank accounts to buy their first  homes.

I recently talked with Jed Kolko, chief economist for real estate search site Trulia, and his 2012 forecast  was that so-called “smart cities” will continue to have hot real estate  markets next year. But Kolko defined smart cities much more broadly  than the California tech hubs. Other tech centers like Austin, Texas, and  the Massachusetts suburbs of Cambridge, Newton and Framingham all made  Kolko’s list, as did Rochester, N.Y. (a town known for its highly  educated, highly skilled work force).

4. Consumers will get ‘hopeless’ 

I mean hopeless in the best of all possible ways. For years, buyers and  sellers have been waiting for that singular event to occur that would  cause a quick market recovery. But 2012 will mark the fifth or sixth  year of the real estate recession, depending on who you talk to. I  predict that those consumers who have not already done so will drop  unrealistic hopes for a fast return to the heady real estate fortunes of  the subprime era.  Instead, people will make their real estate plans  based on:

• today’s low home prices, rather than the fantasy of what could happen if the market miraculously came back;
• assumptions of very low, or no, appreciation in home values for years to come; and
• very conservative estimates of their own finances and how they will grow.

As  a result, buyers won’t break their necks to hurry and buy before prices  uptick; rather, they’ll save and plan to buy when it makes the most  sense for their finances. Homeowners will do the same; they will either  refi, remodel and be content where they are for the long haul, or decide  their homes no longer fit their lifestyles and their finances, divest of  them and move on. But the good news is, people will make these  decisions based on what is or is not sustainable for their lives and  their finances, and not based on inflated hopes about what the market  will or will not do.

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of “The Savvy Woman’s Homebuying Handbook” and “Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions.” Tara is also the Consumer Ambassador and Educator for real estate listings search site Trulia.com.

Work Smarter

Do sweat the small stuff. The combination of an insane attention to details and neurotic focus on customer experience is what sets the great companies apart from the good, Box CEO Aaron Levie reminds us. Organizations that adopt this level of intensity will always have superior offerings, an instant differentiator from the indistinguishable competition.

Embrace gratitude as a business strategy. Almost everyone suffers from Gratitude Deficit Disorder. We want to know that we matter, that our efforts make the world a better place. And so do your customers, vendors, coworkers, employees, friends, and family. So make an action plan to communicate your appreciation in 2012.

Figure out your social media strategy already. Twitter still give you hives? Not sure how to connect with your customers on Facebook? Accept it: Social media is not a fad. Syncapse CEO Michael Scissons answers the most commonly asked questions about developing a social media strategy.

Brand early, not often. Branding, done right, is a rigorous process, and shortcuts almost always end up costing more in the end, says Emily Heyward, owner and partner of Red Antler. An early investment in branding is no different than taking the time and money to set up a proper operating agreement or purchase efficient machinery that won’t break down.

Don’t botch your pitches. We all have something to pitch–your startup to VCs, yourself for a new job, or your product to customers. In any situation, one rule applies: The better the pitch, the better the results. Here are five rookie mistakes that will sink even the best ideas.

Make LinkedIn work for you. If you’re not a digital networking ninja, you’re missing out on the best way to steer your career. Tips from LinkedIn SVP Deep Nishar.

Give kick-ass presentations. If you’ve made it this far without getting good at presentations, the time to work on it is yesterday. Take advantage of these seven (somewhat snarky) new rules for public speaking in the social media era.

Create Stars

Attract the best talent. Digital companies are hiring–and in fact are in hot competition for certain types of employees. But you don’t have to be Google to attract top-tier talent. HUGE CEO Aaron Shapiro offers advice on luring the cream of the crop to your office.

Hire based on spirit–not just skill. A leader can be coached on how to become more influential and engage their team to achieve great results; an employee can be trained for technical skills. But spirit is the set of “soft” skills that can’t be trained effectively. You have to hire for them. These are hard to find, but are necessary for a company to excel.

Motivate your employees with workplace flexibility. Organizations that employ a healthy and robust work/life flexibility will win the talent war. Start with these pain-free ways to move your company toward greater flexibility that benefits you as well as your employees.

Keep your MVPs. If your once-stellar employees are starting to shine a little less brightly, it may be time to rethink your approach to accountability and rewards. Interpersonal Frequency CEO Harish Rao suggests putting more focus on the relationship than the size of their paychecks.

Live Fully

Make small steps toward improvement. Build a strong foundation for 2012 with this simple yet effective list of 5 things to do every day for success.

Get your workout in–and not just for the sake of the scale. For artists, entrepreneurs, and any other driven creators, exercise is a powerful tool, says author Jonathan Fields. It can transform the persistent uncertainty, fear, and anxiety that accompanies the quest to create from a source of suffering into something less toxic, then potentially even into fuel.

Don’t let the Internet kill your productivity. You’re probably reading this during your workday as a distraction from whatever it is you’re supposed to be focusing on, which is likely sitting open and untouched in another window. Imagine how much you’d get done and how many fewer hours you’d have to work if the Internet weren’t eating up all your time–follow these easy steps and you can make it happen.

Quit that dead-end job. Leaving a career you’re not excited about to pursue your passion is the greatest escape there is–but one that’s totally possible (even in this economy). Here’s a step-by-step guide to making your dreams a reality.

Mean It

And finally, for the lazy or merely goal averse, here’s the one resolution you should make for 2012.

Embrace 2010… Work Smarter, Live Fully, Create Stars and most importantly, Mean It!

How has the housing bust and accompanying recession impacted the mobility of homeowners? Why are “underwater” homeowners staying put?  Professor Joseph Gyourko,  examined this issue — and what it means for business and consumers.

Wharton research shows that mobility drops 30% for homeowners with negative equity in their properties, and each additional $1,000 in mortgage or property tax costs cuts mobility by 10% to 16%.

The Wharton research shows that “people will stay in a house a long time even when they have negative equity,” Gyourko notes. “That’s the problem,” he adds, emphasizing that the reluctance to move is contributing to higher unemployment rates. Gyourko says there are many reasons a homeowner will stay in a house, even if it might make more sense to get out and move on to find a new job in an area where there are more prospects. “Maybe they like the school district or other good things in the community. Or they don’t want to take the hit to their credit if they default.” Moreover, he states, many people feel a “moral or ethical duty” to make good on loans they promised to pay off.

Read more about homeowner mobility in Knowledge@Wharton’s full report…

When you’re short on time, here are some savvy tips from expert home stager Ann Alderson on how to give your living spaces the illusion of cleanliness and organization.

• A clean kitchen sink goes a long way in making your home feel more organized. Decide that you will always have a dish-free sink and that clean feeling will spill over to the rest of the house.

• Make yourself look organized, even if you aren’t. Remove all items smaller than a cantaloupe from kitchen counters and shelves.

• When in doubt, use white in the bathroom; white towels, white shower curtain. It spells CLEAN, plus, it matches the toilet.

• Just because your vanity is a catchall for makeup doesn’t mean it can’t look put-together. Place a platter on top and fill it with seldom-seen china pieces, like a sugar bowl and a creamer that can hold cotton balls, nail files, and brushes.

• Light a candle. Everything looks better (and cleaner) by candlelight.

• When it comes to organizing accessorizing, three is the magic number. And rather than setting your trio of accessories out in a row, imagine a triangle and place one object at each point.

• Do not fear the dimmer! One of the best things you can do is to add a dimmer switch to every single light in the room (do this with every light in the house if you can). The ability to soften or brighten the light allows you to totally change the appearance of the room. They’re not expensive and it makes a huge difference.

• The #1 mistake people make in the living room is using an area rug that’s too small. Remember that all of the furniture should comfortably sit on the carpet. If space doesn’t allow it, make sure that at least the front legs of any large upholstered pieces are on the rug. Sisal rugs have become the jeans of home decor. And you can afford them.

• Mirrors can be displayed in every room of the house, but my favorite spot is the entryway. Entries can be great places for mirrors because they create an opportunity for creative lighting, art and reflectivity.

Contact Ann at 813-785-8553 or http://stagingsouthtampa.com

Steve & Cheryl

Read his new paper titled, “Closing the Marketing Capabilities Gap.” Such a gap, he points out, is “costing firms profitability now and competitiveness in the future.”

He goes on to say that what we need to do (and isn’t being done in current accounting systems), is  capture the long-term contributions of marketing.

www.McAuliffeMcCormick.com

Trace and Trust tells customers exactly who caught their seafood, as well as when, where, and how it got caught. The community believes this level of transparency results in the highest quality and freshest possible seafood you have ever seen.

This service delivers awesomely complete transparency and is also a blast.

Here is a sample of one of  their QR Codes.

If you were sitting at a restaurant, enjoying a meal, you’d be able to scan and learn that Chris Brown landed your Summer Flounder on 10/20/2011 while fishing near Block Island. Captain Chris Brown’s vessel, the F/V Proud Mary, is docked in the harbor in Point Judith, Rhode Island. Wild Rhody shipped 45 pounds of this catch to Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro and 606 Congress.  Place your cursor on the links and you’ll learn more about Chris, his boat, the harbor and the fish.

There’s even a photo of Chris with the fish that you’re about to take a nice bite out of. WOWZA!!

This is an unbelievable example of real-time consumer relevant marketing at work!!

What creative uses have you seen lately??

It seems odd to talk about replacing developed lots in the midst of the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression. But we are at a point in the market where builders and developers are beginning to do exactly that. As of the end of the third quarter of 2011, Tampa had 2,840 annual starts in 593 “active” detached single-family subdivisions spread between Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando Counties. The activity over the last twelve months was divided as follows: