The Unrealtor Defined

Under my gmail account, in the space in Google Chat (IM) where you can put a message out to the world of other gmail users, I have "the Unrealtor" as my moniker.  Ben Martin has asked me to elaborate on what I mean by Unrealtor.  I explained to him that it should not be read as Un-Realtor, as in, "I am not a Realtor".  It should be read as UNREAL-tor, as in unbelievable, different, atypical, untraditional. 

To better explain what I mean by an Unrealtor let me contrast it against a Realtor (any similiarity to actual people or events is purely coincidental):

A Realtor will have their headshots on their business cards, signs, store windows, moving trucks,  grocery shopping carts, on every single piece of direct mail and in every print ad they have. This photo will be professionally done and superimposed on a sold sign or it will be a group shot with dogs or kids or hats.  This photo can sometimes be 5+ years old and look nothing like the agent. 

The Unrealtor has no picture on their card.  The only headshots they have were taken against a wall in their office one random day last week.  The Unrealtor has a Flikr album with photos from all the events they attend and they are usually with a whole bunch of people.   They also have a Youtube.com account with video tours.  They have no print ads and don't send out direct mail.  They also don't have magnets, pens, notepads or calendars.

A Realtor has a static website so that they can show their listing clients that they have one.  The entire value proposition is the idx feed.  The site is updated every couple of years, if they can find someone who knows html and will do if for cheap. 

The Unrealtor has a blog, or maybe 2 or 3 blogs.  They update their blogs 2 or 3 times a week.  They have graphs and charts and data that is timely and relevant to the market place.  They provide information and analysis and resources, not listings.  The value proposition is information and expertise.  They don't have an idx feed on their blog.

A Realtor pays newspapers to advertise their listings. 

The Unrealtor puts their listings on 30+ websites for free.

A Realtor uses adwords to get their websites to the top of search results in 20 or 30 categories. 

The Unrealtor lets the natural SEO of their blog push them up to the top of search results in hundreds of search results that extend all the way down the long tail.

A Realtor wants to keep the information in the MLS away from the public because they feel it is a primary source of value. 

The Unrealtor wants to let the public have access to this information because they know that the public is getting the information from other sources already.  The Unrealtor feels that their value is interpreting the information and providing expertise during the transaction.

A Realtor calls friends to socialize. The Unrealtor checks Facebook, Twitters and text messages their friends.

A Realtor's target market is downsizing Baby Boomers. The Unrealtor's target market is first time buyers in Gen-Y and Millenians as well us growing Gen-Y families and Gen-X'ers.

A Realtor is Traditional.  The Unrealtor is Digital.

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