[From an interview with Marc Davidson and Brian Boero]

The Brokerage behind today’s office needs to approach the marketplace like a media company. If the newspaper is out, if paying for Online ads is out, then it is incumbent upon the company to become its own media outlet. This requires the broker/owner to hire a different sort of agent and a different sort of marketing staff.

Agents must not only be web-savvy, but must be able to write. They must be completely comfortable with the “give-to-get” ethos of today’s web. The marketing director must live and breathe the online community and, in effect, function as a “managing editor”.

Important components/tactics related to this strategy:

—The website for this office should be built on wordpress
—The site could include reviews of every agent ala Redfin
—The site should include neighborhood market reports provided by agents
—These reports should include neighborhood-level market data pulled from the MLS
—Video can be used for neighborhood profiles and for commentary from the broker/owner on market conditions
—Email listing and market alerts should be effectively merchandized on the website and worked into every touch point
—The office should utilize Google Apps
—Less software should be the rule. Most everything can be run in the cloud using affordable, scaleable new apps

Overall, the idea is for the office and the brokerage to become the definitive source of real estate intelligence and expertise in their market, and to use social media and interactive marketing to unlock the intellectual capital inside the organization.