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Create A BlogFive Ways Associations, MLSs Can Take Control Of Local Real Estate News |
Dec. 16, 2008
Tagged with: associations, blanche, evans, evansemedia, local, members, mls, news, newspaper, real estate
Five Ways Associations, MLSs Can Take Control Of Local Real Estate News
Newspaper Industry Troubles Gives You Ability To Be New Information Sources
For too long, local newspapers have heaped on such bad news about housing that people across the country are scared to buy a home.
While no one is layoff-proof, homebuyers should be told that buying a home is one of the best investments there is – mainly because it’s so heavily subsidized by the U.S. government in terms of manipulating mortgage interest rates, terms, tax deductions and capital gains exclusions.
People are stupid not to buy a home while they have a job, especially now that prices are rolled back to 2003, interest rates are so low, and inventories are still high.
But who’s telling that side of the story? Not the newspapers. They’ve been unwilling to print anything that doesn’t support a catastrophic headline.
Now they’re the ones in trouble. Tribune Co. (Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, etc.) filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 8, 2008.
Gannett –owned The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press are discontinuing home delivery. Costs for paper, ink and fuel to deliver papers as damaging to their abilities to report the news, continuing home delivery no longer makes sense when 63% of readers have broadband Internet access.
According to data from the Newspaper Association of America, total print ads in the U.S. were down 16 percent in the second quarterto $8.8 billion or 1995 levels.
Suggesting that they don’t have many friends online either, digital newspaper ad revenues were also down 2.7 percent, the first decline ever registered.
What does this mean to you, Madam Association Executive? Mr. MLS? Ms. Broker-of-Record? It means opportunity.
You have the data – there’s no reason why you shouldn’t tell your market story. Now is the time to create that consumer outreach you know you need to have, but weren’t sure how to do.
Here’s how:
Turn market news into a member benefit. Give your members news and information they can email to their prospects, put on their websites and put into their presentations. Let them be your delivery system.
Turn market news into a revenue-generator. According to Borrell Associates, newspaper-owned Web sites beat local sites in advertising market share in 2007, capturing 26.9 percent of the market. Now that they’re downsizing, you are in a position to support your research, editorial and graphics with advertising dollars, creating non-dues revenue.
Turn your market around. It’s in your power to inform consumers with actionable news and information to help them make buying and selling decisions. If your market is frozen with fear, you can break the ice with your data.
Turn the other cheek. Newspapers didn’t support you when you needed it, but that doesn’t mean you want to watch them go down in flames. You can still help each other. When you take control of your market news, make it available to your local media, too.
Turn on the spigot. Be reactive. When you see a market report that is untrue, speak up. Show the real data. It’s better that any journal, newspaper, or blog quote you as the source, than to continue to publish the drivel put out by every IPO-bound startup or hedge-fund creator with their own agenda at heart.
Put your members’ interests first. Help them help their customers buy and sell homes.
We can help www.evansEmedia.com
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