Brightwork is working with Commercial Real Estate companies to create websites and find new avenues of reaching tenants.

Call us today to find out how we can make your property stand out.

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See the videos below created for The Arbors, a Commercial Property in South Florida. These are sent in an email to potential tenant.

Reach your clients through video.

Our video campaigns allow you give your clients a virtual tour. With video you can highlight the best aspects of your property for potential tenants. In addition to being a creative way to reach clients, video campaigns are very cost effective, reaching large volumes of clients with minimal cost to you. Videos can be sent to potential clients, embedded in emails, or delivered to them through the mail. We’ve noticed that they gather more attention than standard emails or mailers. We also have implemented video into websites for property presentations or to create a web experience that captures your clientele. Contact us for pricing and information.

]]> http://tenantmarketing.com/2010/04/video/feed/ 0 http://tenantmarketing.com/2010/04/geo-email/ http://tenantmarketing.com/2010/04/geo-email/#comments Fri, 02 Apr 2010 03:30:14 +0000 admin http://tenantmarketing.com/?p=699

Brightwork is proud to offer a truly groundbreaking way of reaching clients. Geo targeted emails allow our email campaigns to target the potential clients you are trying to reach, your neighbors.

Locationally driven businesses will benefit greatly from this new method of reaching the clients that surround them. With over 250 million emails and counting in our geographically mapped email list you can be sure that we will find clients in your locale interested your properties. The true potential of this technology is seen is the ability to reach CEOs and top executives, the decision makers, who live in targeted areas around your property. In addition to the outright effectiveness of geo targeted emails is the cost effectiveness; there is no printing cost and no mailing cost.

Provide us with the address of your property, and we will use our geo-targeting email tools to send a campaign that will deliver.

Use the power of the web to feature your property.

Most companies today are reporting that the majority of their leads are web-based. We also believe in the benefit of creating an image for each client we serve. An outstanding method to create and showcase a company image is through a website. We will help you create a site that clearly and effectively displays the features and benefits of your properties alongside images or videos where your clients want to see them: the web. Additionally, a website will allow you to create links from loopnet and costar listings that can augment and add information to the limited presentation space that these sites provide. The mini sites that we create are all content management enabled, meaning that the website can easily be updated and changed by anyone with moderate computer experience. The content management system makes the mini sites long term cost effective methods of marketing multiple properties and helps your brokerage create a strong and relevant image that is easily accessible to clients.

Check out some sample mini-site pages here: RCCproperties.com

Brightwork offers direct mail as a foundational property marketing solution.

The strength of the direct mail is the ability to target nearly any profile, so that your advertisement ends up in the hands of the clients you are looking for. The reason direct mail has been in use for so long and is still on the rise: it is proven to work. Used in conjunction with any of other methods of marketing, direct mail is certain to drum up some interest among the clients you want to reach. This is a viable marketing solution for virtually any type of property, anywhere, and we have the repeat clients to prove it.

By Wendy Cole, RealtorMag

REALTOR® Emeritus Geary Jones understands what it’s like to work in challenging markets. Learn from his tips on finding new business and staying upbeat.

With 50 years of experience in the real estate industry, REALTOR® Emeritus Geary Jones, 81, has plenty of knowledge to share on coping with market downturns. Though he sold his Santa Cruz, Calif., brokerage, Coast Counties Realty, 10 years ago, he still works occasionally as a real estate consultant to buyers and sellers. Here, he recalls some of the rough patches he survived during his long career and offers advice on how to excel when the market doesn’t want to cooperate.

What was your most difficult period in the real estate business?

I remember 1966 as the worst year. Interest rates jumped from 4.75 percent to 7.5 percent within months. I made $3,000 for the whole year (equal to about $20,000 in 2008, according to MeasuringWorth.com). My wife was ill and not able to work and we were raising three sons. It wasn’t easy. People had just stopped buying. I don’t know if that downturn was as severe as things are today, but it was hard for families.

How did you manage?

I just kept at it seven days a week. I talked to as many people as I could to look for business. I have always been a walker. I still walk about three miles every morning. I’d stop people out in their yard and I would introduce myself and tell them what I did. It was amazing the response I would get. Someone might say, ‘Well, my folks are thinking about selling.’ It taught me to get out and meet people. You can’t sit in the office and expect to be successful.

Your independent brokerage employed five or six salespeople. What was it like running a company during market slowdowns?

I always encouraged optimism and preparation. Your conduct is always more convincing to people than your language. People notice how you behave and perform. You always need to do what you say you’re going to do. I don’t believe in luck. I was always believed in prospecting.

Did you ever have to make significant cutbacks to your business?

No, I always operated in a cutback position. There was never any extra money during those rough years in the 1960s and I was never extravagant with money.

How would you advise practitioners who are struggling now and having trouble envisioning brighter days for the business?

I encourage people not to complain. Peaks and valleys are part of the real estate world. That’s easy to say, I realize. But my deepest worries are with home owners who are losing their property. I hate to think about the sleazy loan practices that were going on.

When your market was slow, what did you do to boost sales?

I never took more listings than I could serve, and I wouldn’t accept overpriced properties. If I thought sellers were being stubborn, I wouldn’t take the listing. I’d never lowball a property or go over the top in pricing it. And I would tell sellers: ‘If this doesn’t sell, I will buy it at the listed price.’ I had to do that only three or four times in my career, and I probably overpaid, but each time I’d rent it out until the prices caught up. I never lost money, and I always stayed in touch with the people I was dealing with. And the homes turned out to be good investments.

Did you do anything specifically to help buyers?

Once or twice a year, I’d loan money to buyers for a down payment. Or I’d take a note on the commission until they could pay me in cash. People remember that. I knew they were good for it, and I wanted them to have the home. People always paid me back.

What were your criteria for recruiting new salespeople?

I always wanted to know how long they’d been licensed and where they’d worked. I’d check with the previous brokers for references. I wanted my salespeople to know me and I wanted to know them. If they had the slightest thoughts that they didn’t want to come with me, that was fine. It was nothing personal. It was just business. I knew brokers who had quite a large sales team and there were always problems, among the salespeople and with customers. I wanted what I could control. I never had more than about six. I had people that I personally trained and they knew they had stick to my policies. I never had a lawsuit or any questions about my team. Now you can get sued for looking at someone the wrong way. You never know what a salesperson is saying to someone out in the field.

What were your expectations for salespeople who worked at your brokerage?

I encouraged them to save money and consider buying property, rather than leasing a Cadillac or whatever. I didn’t like having agents who didn’t know how to handle their money. It’s more important to save some money and put it aside so when times get tough you have something to lean back on. I was in the Marines, and so were my two older boys who also got into the real estate business. That offered some good lessons. During hard times you learn to adjust. It’s mental discipline. Even during the good times you need discipline.

Did you ever want to throw in the towel?

Never. After college I went work for Standard Oil, and when I realized I was never going to be president, I went into the real estate business. I never got too despondent even when things were bad. I never had time to think about other careers. I always felt that regardless of the nature of the economy, you have to stay positive and keep prospecting to let people know who you are.

What did you like best about real estate business?

The people. I got a lot of satisfaction helping people get into their first home. Even now people come up to me and say: ‘You made me a wealthy person.’ And I say: ‘I don’t think I did. Why do you say that?’ They tell me that I talked them out of selling their place and that if they waited it would be worth their while. It makes you feel good that people remember you.

Any final pieces of wisdom for today’s REALTORS®?

Don’t be discouraged. Keep prospecting. But don’t prospect when you’re feeling sorry for yourself. It reflects badly on you and it shows. The person you’re talking to is going to say: ‘This guy is a loser.’ Have a good attitude. Be positive. During one slow period, people would ask, ‘How’s business?’ and I’d say ‘Unbelievable.’ If you want to think things are bad, then they will be bad. But don’t say anything that is untrue. Life is better when you tell the truth. You can sleep at night. If you get a reputation for not telling the truth, you might as well walk out the door.

With excerpts from the editors of Technology Gear

The debate continues for Real Estate professionals throughout America – Blackberry or iPhone.

Although it appears that Google Android is making a strong move into the market, the current great debate has only two heavyweight all-stars—Blackberry and Apple iPhone. The battle between these two handheld mini-computers effectively recreates the long-running battle between PC and Mac, and factions break-down along essentially the same lines.

For the Real Estate Professional on the go, the standard for many years has been the Blackberry. However, the iPhone has proven its ability to steal market share as more and more professionals are adapting to the new and versatile tool.

Professional reviewers and independent testing laboratories have tried and tortured the two machines in head-to-head competitions of all kinds, and no matter what the criteria or rating scale, the two inevitably end in a dead heat. Most industry experts say that, by any rational measure, iPhone and Blackberry perform equally well. The experts concede the choice finally comes down to personal preference, but there are some strong opinion out there.

iPhone vs. Blackberry: Power and Performance

iPhone has a faster CPU than Blackberry and more memory capacity. In everyday use, though, iPhone’s slightly larger capacity makes no noticeable difference. Both machines instantaneously respond to users’ commands. Competition between batteries also ends in a dead heat. Both machines will run on battery alone for approximately three hours in constant use, and will keep going between ten and twelve hours just idling. When iPhone first hit the market, Blackberry devotees argued iPhone could not stand-up to the dangers and demands of rigorous everyday use. Blackberries admittedly take a beating, because their developers had corporate road warriors in mind as they designed the machines. Over the long haul, though, iPhone has proven amazingly durable, and many of its early detractors have recanted, admitting they mistook iPhones touch-face and sleekness for signs of weakness.

Because Blackberry designers set-out to satisfy corporate buyers, their machines have more text-message and e-mail capacity than iPhones. Blackberries change voice to text and text to voice more adroitly than iPhones, and they manage messages more efficiently. Although hardly anyone judges handhelds by their phone features any more, Blackberry is, in fact, the better telephone. In WiFi and internet tests, the two machines performed equally well. Both browse the web efficiently, and both link well with the most popular social networks.

Because it was first to market, Blackberry still enjoys a slight advantage in connectivity. Especially for business applications, Blackberry dominates, because it links easily with Microsoft Exchange. In fact, until late 2009, only Blackberry linked with MS Exchange. iPhone now offers an MS Exchange link, but it remains less than seamless and still requires some de-bugging. The two devices reach a stalemate in download capacities—both download and install new applications and MP3’s more or less at light-speed.

iPhone vs. Blackberry: Ease of Use

Most users agree iPhone’s touchscreen makes it far more user-friendly than Blackberry’s “qwerty” keyboard. Although ardent iPhone fans admit it took them a little while to get comfortable with its touchscreen and especially with its motion sensor, they compare the learning curve with the original adjustment from ms-dos commands to mouse-clicking when the very first Mac hit the market in 1984. “Once you get the hang of it and develop your own touch,” one veteran user says, “it becomes no contest. iPhone responds and navigates far better than Blackberry.” Women also give iPhone the edge in “vanity scores”: No one ever broke a well-manicured nail using an iPhone, they say.

iPhone vs. Blackberry: Applications

Comparing the two handhelds on the basis of applications seems a little unfair, because Blackberry lags so far behind iPhone it seems they do not even try. One reviewer commented that shopping the Blackberry apps store reminded him of visiting a pawn shop that sold only used 8-track tape players—an apt comparison according to users who have tried both phones. The difference originates in Apple’s more democratic approach to application development: Apple encourages iPhone users to develop and market their own applications, triggering both healthy competition and amazing innovation. Although the iPhone apps market looks a lot like an internet flea market, nevertheless iPhone applications empower users to do on their phones almost anything their minds and imaginations can conceive.

Similarly, iPhone gaming prevails. iPhone’s combination of responsive touch screen and motion sensor enables a richer, more varied gaming experience, and its combination of faster processor and larger memory enables player versus player competition Blackberry cannot rival. Hardcore online gamers look for their favorite new challenges on iPhone just days after they debut on CD-Rom, because iPhone offers a gaming experience comparable with handheld gaming devices for all the major manufacturers.

iPhone vs. Blackberry: Market Statistics

iPhone made its spectacular debut in 2007, and it steadily has eroded Blackberry’s market leadership ever since. When Palm introduced its advanced Blackberry late in 2008, it triggered a spike in Blackberry sales, because Palm’s operating system represented a major advance over all of its predecessors. Even with all of Palm’s improvements, however, the sales surge proved short-lived. In the third quarter 2009, iPhone sales eclipsed Blackberry’s for the first time—no surprise to industry analysts who, frankly, had expected the leaderboard to change much sooner.

Examination of sales in different market segments reveals what everybody always already knew. Blackberry continues to dominate the business market, because Fortune 500 corporations invested millions in Blackberry hardware and software, and they cannot afford to change their allegiance. Blackberry remains most compatible with Microsoft business software, which also dominates the corporate market. Among small businesses and especially in the personal consumer electronics market, iPhone now clearly dominates, promising to extend its lead as applications proliferate like dandelions in wet dirt.

The Suntrust Building, located on Las Olas Blvd in downtown Fort Lauderdale, has been successfully filling up available space, despite the economic climate. Suntrust Building’s low cost basis, compared to other Las Olas buildings, has allowed the company to aggressively pursue potential clients, and their efforts have been rewarded. Recently Holland & Knight, a local law firm, has signed a lease for a significant amount of space in their building.

According to Brett Rowley, a part of Flagler real estate, the low cost basis has been critical in the Suntrust Building’s ability to land clients like Holland & Knight. The 17-story, 211,000 square foot building has been owned by Suntrust for over 15 years. This sort of longevity means lower taxes for the Suntrust Building compared to its neighbors. Additionally, the building is internally managed and self-insured, reducing costs around the board. And of course a lower cost basis means lower operational expenses and the ability to be profitable in a slow market. The competitive cost is not the only reason clients are drawn to Suntrust’s Building; its location is, without a doubt, premier.

The Suntrust Building is located on the corner of Las Olas Boulevard and Federal Highway. On the street outside you can feel the heartbeat of the city under your feet. Renters and their employees are within easy walking distance of some of Fort Lauderdale’s best restaurants, entertainment, and retail stores. The Building offers full service banking, a print shop, 24 hour security, and a gourmet cafeteria as well as spectacular views of the Atlantic, the New River, and the downtown area. On top of all of this, the building has over 100 free visitor parking spaces. It is easy to see that Suntrust is pursuing clients through more than just competitive pricing.

The strategic marketing of Suntrust Building has proven successful, with only 12% of the buildings available space still for rent. Suntrust is lowering operational expenses through effective and well thought out cost cutters while offering renters a remarkable location and quality services. The Suntrust Building is an exceptional example of the aggressive strategies that will allow commercial buildings to stay afloat in the current economic climate.

Molly McDonough is Vice President of Flagler Real Estate Services

My last deal was 6,092 SF/5 year term. They saw it a few days before Christmas and I had a signed lease two weeks later and they are moving in this weekend. That is not typical in this market. This is a market of uncertainly and its hard to get people to pull the trigger.

2) What brought you to Commercial Real Estate?

I was in technical/software sales for 20 years and was tired of getting on an airplane to cover my territory. I met with Pike (Rowley) and knew this was the person I wanted to work for regardless of what I was selling.

3) What’s your take on the state of the South Florida market?

Hey, unemployment is the highest its been in 5 years, vacancies are up and rents are decreasing but I see a lot of activity if you are priced right. I also think South Florida is looking more attractive for companies to relocate here with the real estate becoming more affordable. I am very optimistic about South Florida.

4) How do you manage stress?

God, yoga, wine, nature and two beautiful lovable golden retrievers. How can you be stressed with that?

5) Your 5 keys to success?

Enthusiasm, Energy, Persistence, Humor and Having a plan

6) 5 people you would love to meet:

Jesus, Michelangelo, David, Martin Luther King, Tony Dungee,

7) Biggest pet peeve:

People not keeping their word

Who’s your fave: Heat, Marlins, ‘Fins or Panthers?

Having been born and raised in Florida, I would have to say the Dolphins because they dominate the NFL. Or is it the NBA??? J (clearly a sports fanatic). : )

9) White or whole wheat?

I don’t think I have ever bought a loaf of white bread

10) What are successful brokers doing differently in this market?

Being patient, positive, responsive, thinking outside the box and covering all bases so there are no gotchas.