Hobbs/Herder

[Oregon Coast Real Estate]

I've been to Hobbs/Herder 3 day seminar twice. I learned a lot, had a great time and they put on a fantastic, informative presentation. I would highly recommend this to any agent that is serious about their business and truely understands that you are in business for yourself, not your broker. They will teach you the imprtance of marketing yourself or branding yourself.

Jim Messenger has done a nice job of doing this with a uniquely designed website. It's his branding, I have clicked on that website over the years and I instantly know who it is.

The idea is to market yourself, not homes. If you run ads in the monthly homes magazines like I did for years, the minute you quit running the ads your phone stops ringing. But if you brand yourself so that when someone is thinking of selling they think of you first, then you have successfully marketed yourself. Hobbs/Herder are masters at this.

[Ernie]

Originally Posted by Oregon Coast Real Estate I've been to Hobbs/Herder 3 day seminar twice. I learned a lot, had a great time and they put on a fantastic, informative presentation. I would highly recommend this to any agent that is serious about their business and truely understands that you are in business for yourself, not your broker. They will teach you the imprtance of marketing yourself or branding yourself. Jim Messenger has done a nice job of doing this with a uniquely designed website. It's his branding, I have clicked on that website over the years and I instantly know who it is. The idea is to market yourself, not homes. If you run ads in the monthly homes magazines like I did for years, the minute you quit running the ads your phone stops ringing. But if you brand yourself so that when someone is thinking of selling they think of you first, then you have successfully marketed yourself. Hobbs/Herder are masters at this.

I also attended a couple HH seminars and I agree they put on a great show and everything they say makes good sense. In fact, they made so much sense to the comany owners they've cut out all company newspaper advertising and we are strickly into agent branding and self advertising. The office phone has stopped ringing and presumably all those calls are going to the agents. Some agents remain unconvinced that "no" company advertising of properties is a good idea. But there is still lots of money to be made and I'm sure HH are getting their share.

[naplesrealestate]

Interesting post.

I do have a question though.

If today's statistics are correct about people searching on the Internet before contacting an agent...what are they looking for? For example - a buyer is looking to see listings. A seller is looking for what?

In today's society people are looking for "what's in it for me?" If an agent is branding themselves are they focusing on themselves rather than the potential prospect?

This points may lead to some good interchange.

[Andrea Messenger]

I'm curious to know what success folks have had with the Hobbs/Herder materials. Jim and I were impressed with the quality of sample materials, but were frustrated with their quoted 3-6 month turnaround at the time.

Then, we talked to other agents who waited over 6 months and some just gave up on it. Their reputation seemed to reflect quality materials but an unreasonable time frame to get them. Not to mention a minimum cost of $20-25 grand! That seemed outrageous to us.

Don't get me wrong - Jim and I have no problem spending any amount of money on something we feel will give us a good return on our investment. We've spent much more than that on our websites over the years (and it has been well worth it).

[Andrea Messenger]

Since talking to Hobbs/Herder a while back, we have enjoyed so much success on the web that doing personal brochures and such is no longer a thought.

We have written our web content to focus on what buyers and sellers are looking for (i.e., listings and what we can do for them) rather than just focus on ourselves. This approach has served us well and several clients have told me how much they appreciated the client focus.

[kensmith]

Everything that I have seen from HH looks great. Have talked with 4 agents in my area that used them and all of them felt it wasn't worth the money. The ROI wasn't there.

[Oregon Coast Real Estate]

I have friends that did the whole package minus the TV spots, They did the Website, Brochures etc. It did take them 6 - 8 months to get it all completed.

Their HTML email is very nice quality that looks like your website. It's a great package, but I guess I prefer to spend that kind of money on my website and marketing it.

[naplesrealestate]

You all have answered my questions and then some as well. Thanks all.

[lestes]

We used Hobbs Herder to design and host our company website. We have had nothing but problems from them. They don't live up to what they said they would do. Everytime we have a problem or question they say they will call back but never do. Some of the corrections they have charged us for equals stealing in my book. They have actually lied to me about MANY things. All this after we have spent TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars with them! We are now in the process of getting someone else to host our site so we can wask our hands of this company. I will be happy to talk with anyone that is seriously considering doing business with this company.
Lucy Estes
Prudential South O'Town Realty
205-263-6800

[Andrea Messenger]

Lucy-
Wow - sorry to hear about your experience. How frustrating! I've heard from many folks that websites are definitely NOT a Hobbs/Herder specialty (or even a remote skill, according to your experience).

Have you checked out the FamousAgents websites? (shameless plug)