I have posted about Google being all things to all people as they have danced with being a portal of non-portals.
Goodness, they are even going after the MLS. But today, April the 1st, it seems they poke fun at themselves. Or us.
In the name of April Fools Day they have "launched" Google Romance Beta. Try to join and you get a "gotcha!" type message.
So Google is playing with us to keep us always curious about what will they do next? What image will they display with their logo to commemorate the day? For example during the Olympics they incorporated an Olympic like figure into their logo. And it changed daily.
This is to some degree viral marketing.
I wonder what kind of great changes our business would experience if we made it more fun to do business with us. What can you do to delight your clients and prospects. How do we get more personal and less Corporate?
Let's face it. Life in the big city can suck. As a Realtor, you deal with people daily that despite their good intentions, always come with inherant risks of litigation. This can harden our personalities that can leak out into our image.
I remember, my ex-partner once sold a condo in Marina del Rey and the buyer threatened a law suit because--get this--there was a tad of yellow discoloration on the tile beneath the fridge. It was not disclosed, and the buyer was shocked to find the tile a bit faded and yellowed.
He went out of pocket to solve the issue. And he got just a tad more skeptical and a little more jaded . This legal stuff can you get one to "Look over your shoulder", before going into each new deal.
If you have had any bit of time in this business then you can relate. And, if this market does go South ( I don't think it will, but thats a debate for another day) and you haven't been in a market like this before. Prepare for an ugly side of humanity that you never knew existed.
Greed is ugly in an up market. But survival turns the sweetest of honey into bitter foes.
So what can you do to make your people have more fun with you?
Have a happy person answer your phone. Be happy yourself. Insert your "happy" into everything you do and touch. Brainstorm ideas to be Google like. Such that your visitors and clients will feel a little better. Maybe all you give them is a smile.
Be careful not to be gimicky as that can seem cheap.
Like Google, make people want to gravitate to you to get some of that mojo.
On the topic of April Fools, some marketers warn against fooling your clients & audience. I have read conservative financial advisor newsletters who hyped up "world changing investments" that would make gasoline obsolete, only to reveal at the end that it was a joke.
I think there is right a wrong way and to play April Fools jokes. I think it makes sense in the Google example. But I also think there are scenarios where it would be a real bad idea.
So I wonder... What do you think? When would it be appropriate to run a Fools trick? When is it not?
Also, can you thnk of ways to delight your prospects and clients? How could this blog do that for you?
