Bonzai Real Estate Blog

In a wide ranging phone conversation with the omnipresent one, (Brian Brady) I predicted you'd become incredibly well known before long.

You're not lettin' me down. And the best part? Yer just bein' Mike Farmer.

"I yam what I yam and tha's all that I yam."

-- Popeye the Sailor Man

:) Thanks Jeff.

Nothing I ever wrote, or published elsewhere was false...you may want to be careful Mike.

You're alleging something very sinsiter here and it's simply not true.

Blogging still has it's limits..you wrote" one that creates some false controversy"

Nothing in my post and my quote says we market from a false pretense.

You can wholly disagree with the message but you can not and will not be allowed to say we market under false pretenses or concoct controversy for the benefit of sales.

I enjoy open spirited debate. Encourage dissenting opinions but the area in which you are treading is a bit treacherous.

Dissent and disagree all you want. Accuse my business of misleading the consumer and that is not going to sit well.

I urge you to retract.

By the way..I'm not a guru and do not hold myself out to be.

Here's the problem, Mike. Barry is, sadly, correct. The growth of the "virtual" has, sadly, warped consumers' sense of reality. In fact, I believe people enjoy the self-deception that comes from trickery.

I advertised on MySpace (they had a PPC product) back in 2003-4. We used ot for recruiting and it was HIGHLY effective when we manipulated the word choices.

eg-

"100% Split, Trustworthy Company, Mortgage Banking in 23 states"- didn't work as well as

"Roll in dough with the Mortgage Banking Ballers. No YSP Disclosure- Keep ALL your hard earned commissions"

Here's the solution- don't do it. It's crap. We attracted a lot of stupid kids playing mortgage originator who are back to selling cell phones at the Mall, now.

As I left the "management" job I had and entered production, I pursued a campaign based upon veracity- I flopped in 2004. Today, with the dung on the blades, I'm thriving.

The truth will always trump deception

LOL -- here we go with the threats. I was referring to what I quoted. The marketing style you promote is designed get milage from controversy -- that is what I called false.

Something designed to create controversy for marketing purposes, in my book,is false.

I was also alluding to the buzz that CNN and Fox create from false controversies, when in reality there is little controversy -- fanning the flames for more viewers. It's all tiresome.

I'm just following your advice and being a contrarian.

Ok..understood..I thought you were saying WE were marketing under false pretenses...which is wholly untrue.

Getting mileage from controversy is not false. I truly believe that the real estate business model is obsolete, as many do, and my stance is that since I am swimming upstream against so many establishmentarians that it is obviously contrary to what they believe, Not in any way false.

Many..many (look at our numbers) people agree the business model is toast and accordingly we are working in a manner that is contrarian to conventional wisdom.

That is not false by any means and is a proven and current marketing plan and has a GREAT deal of transparency. Almost everything i write supports that.

So how can it be false. contrarian does not mean contrived.

I am not aware of your marketing background and I am not going to guess or levy insult but Conttrarian marketing is not implemented with false pretense, much to the contrary (no pun intended) it's a position from which one markets when they oppose that which is seen as conventional.

My position as has been stated many times is that the business model is obsolete, the NAR is useless, many agents do not operate professionally and in marketing our selves we take opposition with those factors even though we know that the mainstream thinks otherwise.

Nothing is false and it's all quite transparent. That's the problem I have with what you wrote otherwise I would not be here. You accused one of being false in pretense and that's a wholly inaccurate statement based upon the precepts of Contrarian marketing which is an established marketing practice..at least outside the walls of real estate...that is.

That's what we're about and why I like BHB. Breaking from the norms and being undeterred in challenging what most have considered to be the norm in real estate marketing.

Nothing about it..not any component is false.

Brian,,deception is the tool of those who do not believe in what they are doing and posturing for appearances.

Anyone who knows us knows we are not posturing and that we truly believe in what we write about. No deception here..what you read is what you get.

You may not like it but we mean what we write and are willing to stand behind it.

Brian you do know that Jeffrey Fox writes a lot about how to effectively utilize Contrarian marketing principles.

"Brian you do know that Jeffrey Fox writes a lot about how to effectively utilize Contrarian marketing principles."

Yep, I do. So's Dan Kennedy. I'm firmly in the camp that says the efficacy of contrarian marleting will diminish as information runs more freely.

On another note, Barry. How can a business model be dead if the compensation is negotiable? Don't answer here; answer on BHB when I post about it.

I agree that it has worked, Brian, and may still work in the future -- unless honesty becomes the standard and makes the gimmicks look so silly that only idiots will believe. If the target market is idiots, then go with the gimmicks.

The problem with contrarian marketing is that it's circular -- contrary to contrary to contrary and it's pushed not pulled.

Just straightforward, honest marketing seems enough.

Plus, my main concern is not being contrary but being objective and real.

Mike you ar so far out of my target demo it's not even funny. I just posted a large comment on BHB that you can peruse.

You missed it completely and you are stuck on something being dishonest and you have completely misunderstood.

There are no mental gymnastics except to try and reason with someone I was told was a clear thinker.

Read the comment on BHB and if it still is not clear to you then I just have to say I'm sorry we are on other sides of the fence.

If youa re writing what you are for the sake of traffic then congratulations but if you are truly not understanding the principle then I have to just close with saying good luck.

Not going to argue with you regarding a tried and proven marketing principle which does not involve trickery or deception. It's merely contrary.

See you on BHB.

So, Barry, if everyone becomes against the NAR, you would have be for the NAR to be a contrarian.

The concept is flawed and doesn't hold a candle to objective, honest and real.

The mental gymnastics you have to go through to defend your position is not worth the effort.

LOL..I'm not backpedaling..I wrote it..I stand by every word. I think you need to look more closely.

I firmly stand behind every word written. I was trying to break it down for you.

You're explaining away your original proposition (and back pedaling) to the point of a distinction with no real difference.

I'll take your post and critique it so I can be more "clear". Maybe not today though.

I don't know how the posts got gollywumpled, but the last post should be ahead of the next to last.

Okay, Barry. It just appeared as though you were back pedaling.

Mike I am for you being against things that you should be for. Understand? if not don't worry its all kind of relevant and all kind of not. :-)
Just be for it, but market against it to show you are for it. Are you for or against that type of marketing?

I was for the marketing campaign until I was against it.

John Kerry School of Marketing

That I believe is a paraphrase of an exact quote of John Kerry, was it not?

Yes, when he said he was for the war until he voted against the war.