Cool Austin Texas Real Estate Blog

Dear Major Retail Establishment,

I haven't ever participated in the late night/early morning sales events that occur on Black Friday, so named because it's the first day of the year that most retail business begin to make a profit, or go into the black (as opposed to red).  Thankfully, I haven't had to do so yet, nor have I wanted to.  I guess I don't really consider myself to be a competitive shopper.  I do, however, have many anecdotes from friends and family alike about how miserable the experience really is, and it's only made worse when one comes away empty-handed (i.e. without the one special item that they showed up to buy in the first place).  Is it really a good idea to make your customers camp out like they are waiting for U2 tickets?  For that matter, shouldn't U2 tickets be easier to obtain?  But I digress....

I was thinking about how undesirable these settings have become, especially with the deaths that have occurred in recent years from trampling.  I started thinking about ways that retailers could correct the status quo, while still driving plenty of new shopping traffic.

Here are a few ideas I came up with after I slept in Friday morning at my in-laws' house in the Houston area:

Stagger the sale - Why not consider having separate mini-events throughout the day, rather than setting up a potential riot at 4 or 5am?  You could have one "big ticket" sale item that would go on sale at 9am, then another at 11am, 1pm, and so on.  Businesses would benefit from mini-surges of activity, evening out the hectic day a little bit.  Having worked as a retail manager back in the mid-90's, I know that this would be helpful.

Consider events for Saturday and beyond - Rather than focusing on one big whammy on the day after Thanksgiving, why not draw it out a bit by having a big event on Saturday, Sunday, and the weeks following?  I have a feeling that most retail companies are worried that if they don't hit a home run on Black Friday, they are doomed.  I think there are many, many shoppers who specifically avoid shopping on that day - try to capture their business, too!

Moving and mapping items - Rather than leaving the items in their normal departments, why not move them throughout the store and assign numbers to each of them?  Then, when you hand out the slips to people in line, their number will correspond with a unit inside.  This will serve two purposes: It will prevent a giant cluster of shoppers in one part of the store, AND it will force people who were only planning to buy one thing to check out another department (maybe you'll get add-on business this way?).

Golden ticket - This one is, of course, inspired by the Willie Wonka movies.  Throughout the course of November, issue a specified number of golden tickets, or cards, or something similar, to customers with a purchase.  These can be issued randomly, and they will entitle the bearer to ONE big sale item at 1/2 price on Black Friday (or the day of your choosing).  The phenomenal nature of this uber-discount could drive more customers to start shopping a bit earlier in the hopes of landing a ticket.  Make sure to promote heavily, as Willie did in the original movie.  As with mail-in rebates, most people won't get around to spending their ticket, but you will have made the initial sale.

Just in case you missed our show the other day (Social Media Edge), you might want to take an hour of your time and listen to the archive recording.  We drew our largest "live" audience that day, and the archive listens are also racking up quickly. Chris currently has over 35,000 blog subscribers, and he is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author.  

With that in mind, what could possibly bring Chris Brogan, co-author of "Trust Agents", to quote Vanilla Ice?  

(To answer the unspoken questions that are surely on your mind: Yes, there's only one Vanilla Ice and no, he is not generally considered to be a marketing expert.)

Find out for yourself by listening right here:

Nov 24th - Special Guest Chris Brogan

Yes, I fully realize that the title of this post is "link bait", but hopefully it's catchy enough that you will actually check out the show and gain some valuable knowledge.  :-)

As always, you can check out our show on Tuesdays at noon Eastern on BlogTalkRadio: http://blogtalkradio.com/jckc 

Over the next few weeks, we have some terrific guests lined up, including:

• Ines Hegedes-Garcia
• Sharon Hayes
• Reggie and Nicole Nicolay
• Beth Kanter
• Jeff Turner
• Jim Cronin

Once again, Austin, Texas has been named as one of the strongest local economies in the country.   In a new report just released by the Milken Institute and Greenstreet Real Estate Partners, Austin was found to be #1 on the list of Best-Performing Cities for 2009.  

In a nutshell, this index ranks U.S. metros based on their ability to create and sustain jobs.  Clearly, this is a terrific feeling, and it's one of the reasons that home prices have stayed consistent with very little depreciation, even during really rough times.  Austin is expected to be among a handful of cities in the U.S. that will add jobs in the upcoming year.

Texas has four of the top five top metro areas named on the list, with Salt Lake City at #3.  Killeen, McAllen, and Houston were all among the top cities.

From the report itself:

Regional economic factors also strongly influenced the rankings this year, with the oil and gas sector, technology, and alternative energy providing stability among metros in Texas, North Carolina, Washington, and Louisiana, which also benefited from low dependence on housing/construction. Austin in particular has been helped by its strong tech industry. It is the first metro to ever be ranked number one twice on the index, the last time being in 2000.

 To see the entire report, visit:

http://www.areadevelopment.com/article_pdf/id88703_Best-PerformingCities2009.pdf

For additional information about relocating to Austin, you can check out my online relocation package right here:

Austin Texas Relocation Package

If you are looking to make a move to Austin to take a new job, or for any other reason at all, please feel free to call or email me anytime.  I would love the opportunity to help you find the right home.  My cell phone number is 512-796-7653, and my email address is jason@austintexashomes.com.  You can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com.  

Photo credit:http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaanah/69591962/

Ken Cook and I are very pleased to announce that Chris Brogan will be joining us for our next show.  We've had a string of terrific guests, but Chris is arguably our most well-known guest to date.  I have a feeling that this show will probably break our previous listener records, but time will tell.  I would like to publicly thank our friend, Cathy Browne, PR pro, for booking Chris.  Cathy has been in charge of booking talent for a few months now.

Chris' blog at ChrisBrogan.com has over 30,000 subscribers, and he's the co-author of "Trust Agents", which became a New York Times best seller earlier this year.  He is a highly-sought-after speaker these days, and I highly recommend both his book and subscribing to his blog.  

Here's a quick review of "Trust Agents" that I wrote previously: 

"Trust Agents" - Chris Brogan & Julien Smith - Quick Book Review

Clearly, the guy knows a bit about social media.

Join us on Tuesday, November 24th at noon Eastern (11am Central, 10am Mountain, 9am Pacific) right here LIVE to hear Chris (and us, too!):

  http://blogtalkradio.com/jckc

I think the segment with Chris will start around 25-30 minutes into the show.  It promises to be an hour of fun and learning.  

On another note, if you have any questions that you would like for me to ask Chris during our time together, feel free to leave them in the comments below and I'll do my best to work them in, depending on how many I get.  

If, for some odd reason, you are simply unable to listen live, you can always listen via the archive recording.  All of our previous shows can be found on our Facebook page: http://facebook.com/socialmediaedge thanks to Mike Mueller!

So, here's the list again in case you missed anything above:

1. Tune in to listen to us and Chris LIVE Tuesday morning.

2. Post any questions you might have for Chris below.

3. If you miss it, listen to the archive recording.  

Thanks for listening! 

I felt the need to help spread the word about Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology, since I was shocked at their truly bad customer service with regard to a penalty that they charged which was related to my late mother-in-law's illness.  My wife dealt with them again today, which resulted in the following that she wrote.  I think it's more powerful and compelling in her words:

"These guys took $50 from us for a "missed appointment." It was unfair, and they boldly refused to return it, clearly indicating they didn't care about losing our future business or the business of anyone who happens to read this, even after I explained that this would likely appear in many places online.  After looking at the current reviews, I guess I can understand that they don't really mind one more bad one floating around out there.

Here's the story: My mother injured herself severely in March of 2007. She stayed in bed quite a bit, barely able to get to dialysis to keep herself alive. Because of a household mishap, she injured herself even worse in August of '07. That's when I took her to the hospital for surgery. She was on a lot of painkillers for her constant, excruciating pain, which made her delirious. By October of '07, she was so delirious, she needed to be hospitalized, because everyone thought she had had a stroke!

Unfortunately, during this time, she missed an appointment at Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology. Nobody knew where her calendar was, or that she had an appointment, so we had no chance of making it to the appointment. They charged us a $50 no-show fee, which my grandmother paid, because she didn't want to fight them. I held on to their letter, however, because I didn't think it was just.

I realize that waiting a long time to ask for a refund is inconvenient for businesses. However, this is a special case, in my opinion. My mother was delirious; she did get better later, but the painkillers had a terrible effect on her. Also, during the time between now and then, I have been occupied taking care of my mom, my three kids, my own illness, and my then-unborn child. Another reason I'm trying to collect this right now is that I'm now the executor of my mom's estate.

My mother was victimized by many people during her final days, and I thought that Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology would see that they had not treated us rightly, and try to rectify the situation. They did not. Their statement was that "It's only fifty dollars," but if it's such a small amount, then why not return it? When doing business with them, please ensure that you do not overpay, and that you watch how much you really need to pay them, or the same thing may happen to you.

They were willing to make life-long enemies of our family over fifty dollars, which is a small sum to them, by their statement. They hung up on me today, (twice). That is how much they value their customers. Do they not understand that, in today's economy, $50 is a significant sum to some families?"

As you can clearly see, this clinic showed no mercy with regard to this situation, which strikes me as particularly ironic considering their line of work.  The sites I looked at today are filled with bad reviews for them (particularly the Yellow Pages online), so I guess we'll throw another one on the fire, so to speak.

I don't often use this platform for truly negative content, but if I can prevent them from harming others, it is well worth it.  Clearly, we won't extrapolate any further than necessary, as I want to stick to the truth of our own experience.

One of our agents listed a terrific home for sale in the Stone Canyon subdivision this week.  It has some phenomenal landscaping in the back yard, along with a terrific floorplan from David Weekley Homes.

Some of the highlights:

• 4 Bedrooms (Master downstairs, and 3 bedrooms up)
• 3.5 Bathrooms
• 4 Living Areas (including Study/Office)
• 2 Dining (Breakfast & Formal)
• 3589 square feet per tax records
• Built in 2000
• Front & Back Porches
• Fully Updated, Loaded w/ upgrades
• Tandem 3 Car Garage
• Granite Counters
• Custom Cabinets
• Double Ovens
• 5 Burner Gas Cooktop
• Wood Floors
• Lush Carpet
• Recent Interior & Exterior Paint
• Sprinkler & Security Systems
• OnQ Network Wiring System
• Exemplary,Blue Ribbon, Fern Bluff Elementary School
• Excellent Location, convenient to everything!

If you would like to set up a time to see this home, please give me a call anytime at 512-796-7653 (cell) or email me at jason@austintexashomes.com.  I look forward to hearing from you soon.  You can also visit our primary Austin TX real estate site at www.austintexashomes.com.

We just listed a home in north Austin which is nestled on a greenbelt, with no neighbors to the left or to the rear of the property.

Features:

• 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms
• 1571 square feet per tax records
• Built in 1996
• Well-maintained (super-clean!)
• Breakfast area and formal dining room
• Open floor plan
• Fireplace
• Upgraded tile in kitchen and breakfast
• Slate in master bath
• Over-sized patio
• Full sprinkler system (front and back)
• Convenient to Dell Childrens' Hospital, University of Texas, & downtown Austin  
• Located in the Harris Branch subdivision

Offered at just $144,999, this one promises to sell quickly.

If you would like to set up an appointment to see this home, please contact Matthew Layman at 512-771-0754 or email him at mlatxrealestate@gmail.com.

Over the past few days, I have been reading tons of updates from my friends who are attending the NAR conference in San Diego.  Of course, I expected this, since I probably know several hundred of the attendees by now.  I came within a hair of attending myself, then I decided that I didn't want to leave my wife alone with four kids for a week.

However, I do want to attend some conferences and events in 2010, in order to bring my social media efforts to "real life" meetings.  During my time blogging and interacting online via the mainstays of new media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), it seems like I get invited to an event every few weeks. 

Here's what I have in mind for 2010 at this point:

I will be attending the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in mid-March - it's local, so that seems easy enough.  I'll probably go ahead and splurge and attend some of the Film part, too, since it just seems just plain cool to me.  I would do the music part, but as I am approaching 40, I have come to realize that live music isn't really my thing anymore, unless it's a big-name band that I have loved for years (think U2) or something more mellow (think acoustic). 

Many of my friends will be attending the RE TechSouth event in the Atlanta area in late March, including Ken Cook (my radio co-host) and Jeremy Blanton.  Since they have both become good friends, I would like to meet them in person and I have heard great things about this conference from several sources.  I plan to be there.

I am strongly considering going to the NAR mid-year conference in May in Washington, DC.  Even if I don't attend the event, I think we will make a trip to that area as a family.  I have never been, nor have my kids.  There are a number of things I would like to see, most notably the Smithsonian, so we are likely going.  My wife is already excited about this one.

Lastly, since next year's big NAR conference is in New Orleans, this is a no-brainer for me.  I have been to New Orleans several times, though it's been about 20 years since my last visit, if memory serves.  That is an easy drive - I will be there, too.

I have a feeling that someone will be organizing at least one RE Barcamp in Texas in 2010 - if so, count me in.  I don't know that I have time to be the primary organizer, but I would love to attend, and I would be happy to help promote it, too.  :-)

I hope to have the chance to meet many of you in the upcoming year.  One of my friends told me awhile back that I am a "super-networker".  If this is indeed true, the time has come for me to put those skills to use!

Thanks for reading, as always.

Photo credit: Jeff Turner (I'm in the picture - can you find me?)

Recently, I bought a handful of social media books via Amazon.  Since I have been doing some consulting and teaching on the side, I thought this would be a worthy investment.  I intend to review each of them here on my blog.  First up is "Crush It!" by Gary Vaynerchuk.  If you're not familiar with Gary, he started WineLibrary.tv, which is his video blog wherein he gives his (very) honest opinion about various wines.  This may sound boring to you, but I would urge you to check it out.  You can feel Gary's enthusiasm coming off of the screen.

Using this tool, Gary took his family-owned liquor store from $4 million to over $60 million per year in sales.  Yes, you read that last sentence correctly.  He is @garyvee on Twitter, where he has amassed a simply huge entourage, with over 850,000 followers as of this writing.

Why?  Well, there are a number of reasons:

• Frankly, people want to know how to make a lot of money like he did
• He has an engaging personality
• He actually makes an attempt to respond to others on Twitter, unlike most "celebrities"

His passion for wine has taken him to a number of appearances on national television, including one very notable segment with Conan O'Brien where he managed to get Conan to eat a cigar and dirt while explaining wine flavors.

When I received "Crush It!" via UPS on my front porch, I was a little dismayed that it wasn't thicker (i.e. more pages).  My concern was soon allayed as I waded in and started reading.

Much like watching Gary speak, this book has an energetic tone that you don't find in most business-related books.  In fact, I'm not sure if I would categorize this strictly as business.  It's a morale builder.

In essence, the thesis of Gary's book is this: It takes a LOT of hard work to make a LOT of money.  With that in mind, why not work doing something you really are passionate about?

Gary also emphasizes the importance of loving your family above the work, which I certainly appreciate as a father of four and husband of nearly 17 years. 

Upon finishing, I was happy to conclude/realize that in many ways I have already been on the right track with my social media efforts over the past couple of years, although reading this book and a few others has led me to start working on a couple of outside projects/sites, too.  My guess is that this book will have a tremendous impact on people who are languishing in jobs they hate.

The book is a relatively quick read, and you will find the story to be a compelling one.  Raised in New York in a Russian immigrant family, Gary's tale is a modern, web-based version of the American Dream.

Thanks for channeling your passion into this book, Gary.  I hope to crush it myself starting....now.

One of our agents listed a unit in the Spring Condominiums yesterday.  This luxury high-rise condo in downtown Austin features some phenomenal upgrades and a beautiful and relaxing view of the hill country.

Features:

• One bedroom, one bath
• 565 square feet per tax records
• Complete Bosch kitchen appliance package
• 16th Floor unit with Premium SW views overlooking the hill country & Lady Bird Lake
• Gas range/cooktop
• Hardwood and tile flooring
• Granite Counters
• Glass tile backsplash
• Quick access to downtown for work or play
• Building features rooftop pool
• Very near Sixth Street entertainment district & lots of live music!

Don't miss this opportunity to live in the heart of the action, near the hike and bike trail, State Capitol, and the party district, too!

If you are interested in setting up an appointment to view this particular unit, please call Matthew Layman at 512-771-0754 (cell). 

You can visit our primary Austin TX real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com.