- September 13, 2018 -

The quickest way to go out of business is to be sentimental about how you made your money.

...sounds weird, but it's too easy to get all romantic about what's worked in the past and want it to keep working the same way forever.

You start making a few bucks using a certain strategy or tool - and you don't want it to go away or change.

But that's not how marketing work.

What worked with Google Adwords five years ago is totally obsolete today.

Facebook advertising? It changes more often than the Kardashian clan's next wacky commotion trends on social media.

People, we're making huge mistakes if we refuse to adapt to how consumers are buying and communicating.

To rip off an idea that Gary Vaynerchuck birthed...

...you've got to day trade attention.

We live in a hyper-connected world.

(I'm not thrilled or even remotely comfortable with it - but whatever. Evolve or die on the vine.)

...people are glued to their mobile devices.

...your phone is now your virtual office.

...apps like Slack, Messenger - and Voxer (think old-school Walkie-Talkie-gone-high-tech) let you connect anywhere/anytime with your team or clients.

It's like the entire world's got ADD and you're competing for their attention.

Attention has become a scarce commodity.

Do you realize that people are exposed to something like 5,000 marketing messages every day — up from 2,000 a day three decades ago.

My god, that's insane.

The buying and selling of attention is what Vaynerchuck calls "day trading attention."

Basically, you sure the heck better be able to capture people's attention and separate yourself from all the other noise clamoring to try and earn theirs.

Honest to God example: When a potential buyer or seller calls (or texts) me...like it or not, if I don't respond as soon as possible, they're gone.

Didn't used to be that way. I could have a secretary (aka gatekeeper) field my calls, take messages, and I'd get back to them.

Do I love this age of attention day trading?

No! I freaking hate it - but if I get all romantic about the way it used to be, I'm done.

Do I draw the line somewhere?

Yep. Family trumps all. 'Nuff said.

So how do you leverage a marketing environment where you're already working with an attention deficit?

Leverage technology with a human being in mind.

Operate with how people actually work and communicate.

...start focusing on mobile over desktop. Still spending thousands on tricked-out websites that look like junk on mobile? Wasted money.

...incorporate SMS (smartly) in your automated marketing. Fact: 95% of text messages are opened vs 20% of emails. Fact: 90% of people respond to texts in under 5 minutes.

...set up alerts for hot leads. When somebody visits our property website and fills out the 2-step form letting me know which Pittsburgh neighborhoods he's interested in and that he's a cash buyer, I get alerted on my phone.

You think I'll sit on that and let him wait until I'm done eating my In-n-Out burger (and miss out on all that cholesterol)?

Hell, if I've got a property that fits his criteria, I'm on it...now, not when it suits me.

Coming from a background in brokering stocks and investments, the whole "day trading attention" resonates with me more than I'd like.

Most businesses are NOT playing the marathon game. They're playing as if owning a business is a sprint.

They're not worried about lifetime-value and retention.

It's grab as grab can. And that's short-sighted.

Know how and where to get your audience's attention.

Know how long of an attention span your audience has.

Leverage it.

Or you can just let us help.

Gotta go...phone is vibrating.

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