“Your Blog will never replace a billboard and a few guys dancing on the corner with a sign.” It was not the first time we heard the statement, but hearing it from a 30 year veteran with countless thousands of homes under his belt I must admit it was a bit of a blow. Our marketing has always been anything but normal and on more than one occasion we have been asked to lunch only to be lectured on the “way things are”. There is something about a system that has worked for 30 or 40 years that makes the people in it feel opposed and often insulted by the mention of change. LJ Urban is that change and we are standing up for a new way because this change is long overdue. Gone are the days of billboards and focus groups and in their place is a real time conversation between people who collectively stand for something better. The result is delivery of a product that is end to end what it should be.
We have had a series of dinners over the last two months where we invited fellow Eco-Urbanists to come together and talk about what its going to take to get Sacramento to be one of the shining few cities that takes up the call to build a more sustainable and livable core. We used the Good project as a backdrop and discussion point. From those dinners we got all kinds of ideas, many of which are being implemented already. Simple things like the walls getting a slightly different finish and the color changing on the tile to bigger things like the fact that higher mortgage payments are making it harder for people to get in the door. They proposed that we lower prices in the first phase which will move in the buyers waiting on the sidelines and keep things moving while the mortgage market smooths out its issues. I think we all get a bit myopic and dig our heads in the sand when we have a big project going and its easy to forget that outside opinions are priceless.
My point is this no matter what you sell you have to stop thinking of yourself as a marketer or a sales person and start thinking of your job as a conversationist, or even better, a listener. Things change and people are not always where you think they are. No amount of market statistics or studies can compensate for conversations with real people about what is going on today.
The new prices are in the downloadable PDF and here:
Lot 21 – XS – 298,000
Lot 22 – S - 409,000
Lot 23 – XS – SOLD
Lot 24 – S - SOLD
Lot 25 – XS - 319,000
We are still in “pre-opening gear” since the first phase is still not complete, so we have not had very many open houses. I am sorry to those who wanted to get into the units but have not yet had a chance.
We are doing an open house this Saturday August 2nd from 2-6. Come by if you have not had a chance to see inside. We are going to be touring the nearly finished “Small” units as well. And yes we will be listening….
Levi
8 responses so far ↓
1 AJ // Jul 31, 2008 at 9:24 am
Well, he’s sort of right. Billboards and sign holders have certain value, that value is mass audience exposure with very little impact. What you are doing is different, lower volume exposure, with tons more impact per view/person.
Why would you buy a mass audience billboard for a niche 40 unit development? Leave the billboards for Natomas development and the like.
2 Mike // Jul 31, 2008 at 9:46 am
AJ From what I gather its not low volume here… Last I heard from the LJ Urban guys there were more than 17,000 page views per month or week. Not sure which one but its a ton either way.
3 Samantha // Jul 31, 2008 at 9:51 am
This is change that is very relevant and increasingly will become apparent that what LJ Urban understands about the market and its future is what the world needs.
4 AJ // Jul 31, 2008 at 10:46 am
Low volume is relative. Many spots on the Sacramento area highways have 200,000 people per day travel by, menaing abillboard would have that many impressions. So multiply that by a week or a month (depending on what the 17K was) and compare it to the 17K.
But like I said earlier, I think having lower volume, but higher quality impressions is far superior to high volume low quality (eg billboard).
5 G // Jul 31, 2008 at 11:13 am
Good point AJ. Traffic is not really relevant only depth of understanding. You can scream at 5 million people but if none of them want to hear you then you are better off whispering to one person
6 Shelly // Jul 31, 2008 at 11:16 am
Perfect pricing! Not that you were to high before but the point is to move people in quickly! Great job you guys. Listening and learning.
7 Brandon // Jul 31, 2008 at 11:20 am
There are just too many people in our business that justify their existence based on outdated views of consumers. They are far more savvy than most give them credit for (my guess is that LJ Urban buyers are even more so!).
Instead of investing tens of thousands of dollars per unit in traditional marketing (noise!), you have created something special that has gotten the kind of press coverage that traditional builders would kill for.
And, what, actually listen to people and what they want? Now, there’s a novel idea!
8 dustin // Jul 31, 2008 at 4:55 pm
I made some great connections at the Eco-Urban dinner my wife and I attended. Those connections have spawned change in my community miles away. Long term change that will influence development being proposed now and well in to the future.
I thank you for the opportunity to participate and feel that dinners like this should continue through out the city and revolve to different neighborhoods. Maybe addressing issues on a local level???
One thing I know is that people need people to grow.
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