Principals Market Fills Networking Niche for CRE

When commercial real estate professionals contemplate a social media strategy, LinkedIn gets most of the attention with Facebook and Twitter  increasingly being adopted as tools to enhance a professional presence online. However, niche social networks and online communities offer additional opportunities for industry professionals to connect with consumers and peers in an environment that’s highly targeted and often less congested.

Principals Market is a new online Marketplace for Commercial Real Estate, providing commercial real estate professionals the ability to market, network, access and exchange timely CRE information and track industry needs and requirements in one central marketplace.

Principals Market is an exclusive platform for marketing available commercial real estate property, tenant requirements, investment property criteria, financing, services, PR announcements, CRE reports and more. Principals Market puts an end to put an end to searching through hundreds of commercial real estate ‘groups’ as a means to finding relevant commercial real estate information and opportunity. No more random networking without the ability to quickly filter commercial real estate specialties and disciplines.

Principals Market meets the core competency needs of every commercial real estate professional – Marketing, Networking, Industry Information and Lead Generation.

Marketing: Principals Market Showcase provides commercial real estate professionals a first of its kind platform to market and track CRE leads, requirements, services and opportunities. Showcase is a unique, highly effective platform for commercial real estate professionals to market available commercial real estate property, tenant requirements, property investment criteria, financing needs or capabilities, press release announcements, industry reports, third party services and more.

Networking: Principals Market Directory is a first of its kind resource to find and connect with commercial real estate landlords, lenders, brokers and more based on industry specialty, product type, geographic focus and target market. Directory Member Profile is the ‘Industry Resume’ for commercial real estate professionals. Member profile displays a professional, easy to navigate resume for commercial real estate professionals to highlight their experience, background, clients, partners, properties, market knowledge, contact information and more. Member profile also uniquely incorporates social media into the professional resume, providing members the ability to display their twitter and blog feed on their profile page.

Information: Principals Market members share commercial real estate knowledge and information through Showcase. Members can publish commercial real estate reports, recent transactions and exchange timely CRE information through our unique question and answer crowd sourcing platform, Insights. Commercial real estate news and blogs can be found on Today , delivering real time CRE information from throughout the country and includes our Twitter stream (@PrincipalsMkt).

Lead Generation: This innovative, proprietary tool addresses the critical need of every commercial real estate professional and will be introduced following the conclusion of our beta launch of our new website. Principals Market members will significantly increase business development and deal flow through this cost effective and efficient service.

You can sign up for Principals Market here and populating your profile is as simple as importing your LinkedIn profile with one click.

This post is courtesy of The Tenant Advisor

InstaCRE … The Rise of Visual Marketing

Today, most smart phones come equipped with a fairly high-quality camera function and these days it seems I am always snapping pictures with my iPhone and not just for personal enjoyment. I am taking photos on building tours and to and from meetings as I am driving around the city. The rise of visual marketing is now placing a premium on possessing a library of high-quality images that help you tell your story and market your properties. I mix in image posts to my social stream on Facebook, Twitter as well as utilize Instagram that help me to define my personal brand.

Facebook’s early growth was much about the ability to share photos with friends and family and the rapidly rising popularity of Instagram and Pinterest only reinforces that we are drawn to images.

For CRE, think back to when aerial photography wasn’t as accessible or inexpensive and how it ultimately became affordable and a standard practice for most property marketing collateral. Today, you don’t need a professional photographer to produce quality images and with a little practice (trial and error) your photography skills will improve. You just might come up with some creative ways to market your listings and services.

MDG Advertising created the infographic below detailing the power of images and the rise of image based social networks.

Infographic by MDG Advertising

Big Data and CRE

Most C-level executives say big data, digital marketing and social media tools as well as the use of new delivery platforms including cloud computing and mobility are strategic priorities. Big Data is considered more of a priority by senior executives than social software for their businesses according to a recent report from McKinsey & Company.

The fact that CEO’s have begun to recognize the importance of social business tools is refreshing to me. However, I agree with the premise that the rapid advancement of big data tools is going to significantly impact how we all do business.

Preparing for Big Data in CRE

Many have written and commented on the advantages and disadvantages of the large brokerage versus the boutique CRE brokerage firm. Big firms will always tout their resources and small firms will continue to stress more personal service. I suppose that debate will rage on. One factor to consider is the onslaught of big data tools emerging in the marketplace. I believe some of these tools are going to become increasingly critical to compete effectively in the CRE services arena.

One of the niches that I focus on in my real estate practice is Healthcare. Recently I have been investigating data tools to improve the site selection process for my Healthcare clients. There are some outstanding tools available in the marketplace today, but they don’t come inexpensively.

Anytime you are considering a significant investment in technology the cost/benefit reward has to be considered. So my question is, “Are the large firms in a better position to make these key strategic investments in technology going forward as the tools become necessary to compete effectively in the marketplace?” Some will say that technology levels the playing field between the large national firm and boutique. Regardless of your viewpoint, big data is coming to CRE, better get ready.

The “Must Have” iPad App

What’s the one iPad App that you must have? CoStar Go? DropBox? I think this iPad App has them all beat!

The Benefits of LinkedIn and Facebook for CRE

I have been outspoken against the view that Facebook is a complete waste of time for the commercial real estate professional. This isn’t just because I personally like to use Facebook, but because I have had success ($) with the medium.

I have also attempted to make it perfectly clear that I believe LinkedIn is incredibly important for CRE professionals. I wouldn’t want to be forced to choose to utilize just one social network as I think a multi-channel platform is important. Your niche or target audience doesn’t necessarily use all of the major social networking sites or one just exclusively.

There are some common benefits to all social media channels, but I like to broadly contrast the key benefits of the major social networks in this manner:

• Blog & LinkedIn = Credibility
• Twitter = Visibility & Reach
• Facebook = Engagement & Personal Connection

Each site has its own benefits, but dismissing Facebook as worthless for commercial real estate in my opinion is just completely off target, if you utilize the medium effectively. I am not saying you should use Facebook for business if you don’t feel comfortable with it, but dismissing it on the basis that it can’t possibly have any value is just not an accurate perception.

LinkedIn without question is the default social network for business professionals, but Facebook has its advantages. Unbounce and Bop Design created this infographic comparing the strengths of Facebook and LinkedIn.

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Corporate Real Estate 2020

CoreNet Global, the world’s leading association of corporate real estate (CRE) and workplace professionals, revealed results from its Corporate Real Estate 2020 transformational research initiative at the recent San Diego Global Summit.

The year-long Corporate Real Estate 2020 project brings together hundreds of CRE global thought leaders to analyze and parse the industry’s current and future state, and includes interviews with more than 150 CRE executives, service providers and economic developers. Overall, Corporate Real Estate 2020 examines a wide range of external and macro-economic, societal, political and other influences, triangulating these drivers against trends affecting the globally networked enterprise and CRE itself.

Corporate Real Estate 2020 delved into eight industry domains, including Enterprise Leadership, Location Strategy and the Role of Place, Portfolio Optimization and Asset Management, Service Delivery and Outsourcing, Sustainability, Technology Tools, Workplace and Partnering with Key Support Functions. Each team focused its research on six to eight Bold Statements.

Among the boldest of the Bold Statements:

(Location Strategy) There will be a re-emergence of manufacturing in developed countries and regions such as the U.S. and Western Europe with smaller regional facilities, and South America and Africa will be the new hotspots for business process outsourcing (BPO) and manufacturing activity.

(Sustainability) Buildings, sometimes connected by micro grids, will be both consumers and producers of energy. Evolution in energy storage will impact building operations, transportation and planning.

(Partnering with Key Support Functions) Formation of a “Super Nucleus,” the combination of a corporate entity including components such as CRE, IT, Finance, Purchasing, Legal, etc., in a company-specific context. High-performance companies will know how to bring these functions together on a day-to-day and strategic basis. This function will not be “one-size-fits-all” and will vary depending on a company’s organizational structure, culture and industry sector.

(Workplace) CRE executives will evolve to “Experience Managers,” or plan administrators, offering employees an a-la-carte workplace experience with a menu of services, location and support.

(Technology Tools) Intuitive environmental sensing provides emotional intelligence cues leading to reduced stress and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of space use and communication in the workforce (using technology to sense temperature, lighting, sound and other measurables in a room or facility – and to gauge the emotional state of its occupants).

(Enterprise Leadership) Senior corporate real estate leaders will be able to measure the impact of workplace infrastructure on business units and the enterprise – a capability often referred to as the “Holy Grail” of the industry.

(Portfolio Optimization) Organizations will recognize the potential detrimental impact of cost cutting on productivity, changing the conversation from cost containment to value creation.

(Service Delivery and Outsourcing) Real Estate business objectives and goals will become more integrated with Procurement and, therefore, more sophisticated and complex.

The Facebook

Facebook, everyone seems to want to voice an opinion this week on the dominant social network as the frenzy leading up to the IPO reaches a fever pitch. Some people love Facebook, some people hate it and some people hate it, but still use it. One thing is for sure, no matter what you think of Facebook, almost everyone has an opinion, here are a few of mine.

Facebook is an Amazing Story

The fact that Facebook, a website that was started in a dorm-room by a quirky but brilliant Harvard student 8 years ago is set to become a 100 billion dollar company in itself is amazing. Let’s put this in perspective. Facebook is bigger than the market cap of Hewlett Packard and Dell combined. Today, there is a Starbucks on nearly every corner, yet Facebook’s market capitalization will be more than twice than Starbucks. The list goes on and on of older established name brands and companies that Facebook will eclipse in market value.

Facebook is a now a social utility used by one-eighth of the world population and its success has inspired an entire generation of web entrepreneurs and suddenly made hundreds of its 3,000 employees rich. Eight years ago, a dorm room and today a sprawling corporate campus in Menlo Park once occupied by Sun Microsystems with growing offices around the world. Facebook really is an amazing story.

Facebook and Commercial Real Estate

Many of my peers in the industry are of the opinion that Facebook has no place in commercial real estate, a view I don’t happen to share. Commercial real estate is a relationship business and my peers won’t argue with that statement.

I am connected to no less than twenty C-suite executives or business owners on either my personal Facebook account or business page. Some are clients that I have earned very significant commissions from representing their companies in transactions. Nobody would argue that having a personal connection with some of your clients is important, why not online as well?

We live in world where people are time challenged and Facebook is a tool that allows me to be more connected to people. There is only so much time for dinner, cocktails, ball games and rounds of golf. “The C-suite is on LinkedIn not Facebook,” you say. Are you sure of that? They are there connected to their kids and college buddies on Facebook. In fact, I would venture to say they are spending more time on Facebook than Linkedin. They are not looking for jobs, they are keeping up with family and friends. Yes, some of my clients are friends, and If I do interact with a client on a social network, it happens more frequently on Facebook than LinkedIn or Twitter.

Yes, “but there is so much trash in the stream on facebook.” There is no question that facebook has it’s share of idiocy, but that is a function of who you are connected to and what pages you follow. If you connect with every doofus you attended elementary school with than you are sure to experience some of that silliness. I don’t really have those issues, the delete button is my friend and the brands I follow provide a constant stream of high-quality content.

The Future of Facebook

I don’t know if Facebook is worth a 100 billion dollars. Some of the smart money seems to be getting out or reducing their stakes (i.e. the early investors) but at some point you have to take your profits. Whether or not Facebook’s business model proves to be a winner in the long-term remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, in eight short years it has changed the world. I like facebook!

Hey Wall Street, Make Room for the Hoodies

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg received some criticism this week from the financial community for showing up to its pre-IPO investor “road show” meeting in New York City in his trademark “hoodie” jacket. The “Wall Street” types might want to get used to it. While New York City is and will likely always been the center of the universe for finance and has always had a huge media presence, the tech sector has rapidly grown in the “Big Apple.”

New York City is now the number two tech hub for internet and mobile technologies according to the Center for an Urban Future in a report released earlier this week. The report indicates media/information and computer/tech industries nearly doubled their footprint in Manhattan from 2010 to 2011.

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You Have Mail

Tips for Better E-Mail Marketing

I have used e-mail marketing with various degree of success and made the decision to abandoned my e-mail marketing program a few months ago, not because it wasn’t somewhat effective but because of my own frustrations in managing my e-mail inbox.

The frequency of e-mail marketing campaigns appearing in my in-box specifically template based newsletters that I have never subscribed to has become annoying for me. I assume my clients and contacts have a similar frustration. I decided to focus on getting my clients and prospects to visit my blog with less intrusive methods and word of mouth. I still periodically share content via e-mail, but in a more personalized basic e-mail format rather than an html based email template.

This approach doesn’t offer the metrics of a good e-mail marketing program, but I am of the opinion people are tired of seeing these newsletters show up ever more frequently in their inbox and appreciated a more personalized e-mail message.

Dan Zarrella (@danzarrella) on twitter provides the infographic below on the best timing for e-mail marketing campaigns. Dan Zarrella is the award-winning social media scientist at HubSpot.

• The Science of Email Marketing

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Has the Message Changed or How We Send It?

Sending Effective Sticky-Notes

Today, the methods in which we communicate is changing, at least we have more options. I am often reminded of what my grandfather, a brilliant MIT educated engineer used to tell me, “technological innovation does change how we do things, but what motivates humans today is basically the same as it was 50 years ago and 500 years ago.”

How often do you write a business cover letter today? When I started in CRE that was something I did often, but email has pretty much eliminated that standard practice and for quicker short messages we used those little yellow sticky-notes.

Today, text messages, tweets and facebook status updates are just the digital version of those little yellow sticky-notes. Once again how the actual message is delivered and how fast it gets there is changing, but we what we are saying to each other is basically the same. Today’s 140 character mentality calls for more effective “sticky-notes”.