An excerpt from Predicting the Title Industry Future (Jan/Feb 2008 TitleNews):

The industry must make a valid moral case for title insurance and the profits it earns from selling title insurance and related services. The essence of such a case is that the industry has a right to succeed by offering products and services that consumers need and want, so long as it does so without engaging in coercion or fraud.

The statement was made by Barbara Miller, the president of TSS Software headquartered in Annapolis, MD.   TSS is the developer and provider of an industry software package that I’ve used in the past and recommend very highly.  Just one of its many strengths is escrow reconciliation.

Consumers need to understand the benefits of title insurance, and the industry that delivers it, as a value proposition.  Consumers don’t trust you because they don’t know you.  They don’t know who you are or what you do.   Consumers don’t understand that most title professionals are under compensated for the  work-product  provided and  risk  assumed.

Blogging is quickly distinguishing itself as the most effective form of public relations to ever exist.

 

Blogging is a cultural phenomena that can’t be ignored or overlooked.  Title companies can’t afford not to blog.

Ms. Miller has made as compelling an argument for title industry transparency visa vie title company blogging as I’ve seen to date.

 

Click here to visit Ligonier Living 

Last week, I promised to share links to RE blogs with hyper-localized content.  The sites selected are exciting, interesting, informative, and have lively audiences.  They have personality and charisma.   They deal directly with the real lives of real people.  New marketing models far transcend the stuffy, blue suit concepts of the past.  Web 2.0 offers the tools to truly engage others and form long-term, meaningful relationships.

I hate to disappoint my friend Greg Knowles, but I don’t know of any hyper-localized blogs hosted by title companies.  I do, however, believe that it can be done … and done inexpensively.

Readers have to realize that they’ve missed out, so far, on the cultural phenomena that is Web 2.0.   Bloggers have become main streamed and are even interviewed by traditional media as part of the presidential primary coverage.

Welcome to the intersection of the old school and the new way business thinks in 2008 …

Real estate agents and loan officers have created prolific and profitable web-profiles while title companies have sat by idly and watched.  Why?  I have no explanation to offer for the title industry’s lack of interest in viral, organic marketing concepts with proven effectiveness.  Your lack of initiative fascinates and infuriates me because it makes no sense. 

You guys have to make an effort to get on the dance floor, if you get my drift, and you have to do it soon.  The party has started and you’re on the outside looking in like a bunch of socially awkward kids at the senior prom. 

Your marketing efforts have to become interactive (blogging) and they have to be hyper-local.  Think communities … think towns … think the part of the big city where your office is located … think people.  That’s where the action is.  That’s where you have to be.

For now, I simply ask that you explore the nuances and ingenuity of these first rate and high energy RE blogs.  Notice, as well, that each of these bloggers  has a separate photo blog that chronicles their daily adventures in the communities where they work.   You quickly feel that you know and like these people.  You would do business with these bloggers because you know where they’re coming from and what they’re about.  These people are real! 

As informal or chaotic as Web 2.0 may seem, it’s not.  There’s a tested methodology to this presumed madness, and you’re about to meet Web 2.0 marketing experts who understand their targeted audiences.

In no particular order:

Rick & Ines hosts of Miamism. 
Photo blog: Miamism Pix .

Chris Griffith host of Real Life & Real Estate in Bonita Springs Florida.
Photo blog: Mobile Life In Bonita Springs Florida .

Bob Carney host of Focus On Frederick .
Photo blog: frederick md as seen through my cell phone .

Sarah Cooper host of The Putnam Scoop .
Photo blog: CoopPics .

Linda Davis host of Eastern Connecticut Real Estate .
Photo blog: Simply Ledyard .

Now think about your own static web-site and the stone-cold, boring image it projects.

As a consumer coming in blindly, would you be excited about doing business with your title company after visiting its web-site?   Be honest!

 Key points from Seth Godin’s post titled Advice for real estate agents (quit now!):

• Order takers (those genetically programed dinosaurs who know the answer to every question, but bring nothing of real value to the table) are as good as extinct. 
  
• The down market offers infinite opportunities for real champions.
  
• You’re either fanatical about your product or you’re “invisible.”
• All real estate marketing is hyper-localized.
• Become the local go to person for anyone and everyone, even your enemies, that can benefit from hearing your message.
• Build blogs to communicate the “real information, not just data” that’s important to past and prospective customers alike.
  

Now comes the title industry …

Real estate agents have done a far better job branding themselves than have title agents.  There’s little risk of short term disintermediation for real estate agents because they’ve wisely positioned themselves as the point of contact within local communities.  They’ve aggregated audiences of loyal fans.  Real estate brokers, considering current models, couldn’t exist without their agents, particularly the top producers.

The title industry has employed a decidedly different business model.   Chronic anonymity complicated by a self imposed identity crises has been the by-product of decades of bad marketing choices by title companies.  I think it’s safe to say that many title companies have no marketing, branding, or positioning strategy at all.  It’s an error that can’t be corrected when boom markets turn sour.  The silent closure of a title company for lack of business goes unnoticed.  Why?  Most consumers don’t know what a title company is, what it does, or that it exists.

The title industry’s favored marketing tool of the past, a box of donuts featuring a stapled business card, is no longer an effective option.

Could title insurers replace their agents with a team of aggressive sales reps?  It wouldn’t be an easy accomplishment on the operations side, but I think it could be done quickly on the marketing side.  It’s something to think about in light of underwriter affinity for direct operations.  If title agents were to instantly disappear, I suspect that title orders would flow to underwriters in direct proportion to current industry dominance.  First American and Fidelity National would control about 70% of the market with the remaining players competing for any remaining business.  It really has nothing to do with technical superiority or claims ratios.  Underwriter dominance is determined wholly by management’s commitment to attracting and developing marketing talent.

As a value proposition, title companies have to build solid brands within their targeted audiences.  While many of you will continue to market only real estate and lender sources, the importance of internet transparency on consumer decision models can’t be ignored.

Title order pipelines have to swell with increasing percentages of consumer directed orders to remain viable in the future.

Title companies have to start championing themselves and the communities which they serve.  You don’t sell title insurance.  Your product is a complicated mix of reputation, credibility, and service.  And yes, the future of title company marketing lies in the power of Web 2.0 and the power to communicate interactively and selectively.  If you’ve never heard of Web 2.0, we need to talk. 

The boring, static web-sites that are the title industry standard have anthropological value at best.  They do nothing to promote business in the Web 2.0 business environment.   It’s not unusual to find underwriter logos featured on title company web-sites.  The practice results in confusion and possibly the branding of underwriters at the expense of title company irrelevance. 

Keep in mind: the underwriters that you’re marketing on your sites are often your direct competition for title orders.

This post is getting lengthy so I’ll hit my key points:

• Hyper-localized blogs offer unlimited opportunities for title companies to connect with consumers and other local sources of business.
• There’s no excuse for not blogging because it’s inexpensive and most title companies aren’t busy.
• Stop selling title insurance and title insurers.  Sell yourselves!  You are the product!  Become your own product champion.  Become fanatical about your title company.
  
• Use blogging to offer valuable information about your company, your community, and anything else that matters to real people.
• Use the internet to engage others.  It works.

Shortly, I’ll share links to some of my favorite real estate blogs with hyper-localized content.

 

From the Washington Post:

Sawbuck, a real estate brokerage that exists only on the Web, makes all the usual promises: cool and easy home searches, referrals to real estate agents, and the chance for buyers to save thousands of dollars on each deal. It sounds wearingly familiar, but Sawbuck looks as if it could be smarter than the average URL.

At first, I thought that Sawbuck Realty could be another AfBA claiming not to be.  It’s not!  Sawbuck is a web-based, geo-specific (VA, DC, and MD) lead generation model that offers real benefits to home buyers. 

Things that I like about the Sawbuck model:

• it represents the vertical integration of a local mortgage broker into nearly traditional real estate brokerage.  Prospective buyers are referred to community based real estate agents with local expertise.
• buyers can search for active listings by clicking markers on a localized map.
• the web-site has a blog to engage and inform consumers.
• buyers have the option of saving money by closing with local title companies that have agreed not to charge excessive fees.

Notice how many times I used the word “local” in this post.  The title company of tomorrow will be wholly dependent on business derived from internet sources, but will remain highly localized.   It’s time to question your marketing techniques and look for innovative ways to connect with consumers and other providers of quality services.

Ask yourself: Are there any other local service providers that you should partner with to launch a unique web-based model?  I’ve preached for years that title companies missed an enormous opportunity to open real estate brokerages.  The Sawbuck concept proves that the traditional integration model of real estate broker domination isn’t the only option.

Interestingly, the Sawbuck model defaults to standard title policy coverage rather than the enhanced coverage that has become the industry norm.  As a title company owner, I often questioned the higher premiums associated with enhanced policies.

 

… if I could suggest ways to spread the word about title industry issues that have detrimental effects for consumers. 

It’s clear to me that blogging is the most powerful communication platform to ever exist. 

My Active Rain blog, For What it’s Worth, is read by countless numbers of real estate agents and loan professionals with voracious appetites for information. 

Blogging is not only an effective education tool, but an invaluable marketing and networking tool as well.  I’ve met more people though blogging than I could have met in any other way.  

Title blogger Tim Kane recently expressed his opinion of blogging by paying tribute to Rain City Guide founder, Dustin Luther.

Tim who blogs on RCG said: “thanks [Dustin] for introducing me to a way that a small fry can compete with the Goliaths.”

… back and appears fresh and prepared to pounce.  There’s a visible artistic touch that was absent from the original Radical initiative.

 

… eloquently blogging his brains out on Active Rain.

 

… dazzling readers at Lenderama.

Todd Carpenter has a knack for assembling a talented team.

 

… another remarkable post from Craig Haskins.

 

Scott Perry, Pennsylvania abstractor and occasional commenter on this site, has launched an Active Rain blog titled Bossman’s Blog.  In a very short time, Scott has provided volumes of great advice to a growing number of regular readers.

Active Rain is an on-line community of real estate professionals who strive to educate and motive each other.  Currently the site has well over 69,000 members and is expanding at an explosive rate.  It’s a legitimate cultural phenomena and a significant marketing opportunity for title agents with initiative. 

Scott’s decision to participate in the forum as an abstractor is a remarkable development that can produce only positive results.   As an industry, we need to become completely transparent.  We need to take everything that we know and put it online as quickly as possible.  The industry has created many of its own problems by allowing itself to be misunderstood for so long.  While it could be said that very few people understand title insurance and the work-product of title companies, even fewer have a clue about abstracting.

Scott’s blog holds the potential to educate untold numbers of real estate agents, loan officers, and consumers.  As long as Scott continues to write consistently, readers, when feasible, will insist that he search the titles to the orders they refer.  People will come to know Scott and to trust him.  More importantly, sources of business everywhere will eventually insist on locally prepared abstracts due to Scott’s blogging efforts and the similar efforts of others who are certain to follow.

Blogging is the future of title company marketing!  It’s time to get started!

Patently Stupid [Source of Title Blog]

Robert Franco opines about a deed covenant with long-term implications.  Can a seller restructure property rights to earn an income stream from future transactions?  A company named Freehold Licensing has proposed a new asset disposition model for the owners of large RE portfolios. 

Am I My Brother’s Keeper? [Fran Gaspari on Active Rain]

Fran grapples with the sometimes undefined borders of professional accountability.

The question at hand:

Well we have a couple of customers who, if attempting to burglarize a home in which the front door were wide open, would climb through a side window anyhow! Are we morally or ethically or judiciously bound to do business with them…should we just dump them and tell them to go elsewhere, or should we maintain a business relationship with them that over time may ‘educate’ them to doing business ethically and correctly…In other words, when it comes to business, are we our brother’s keeper???