Saturday, August 29, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Realestateview.com.au forms alliance with McPherson Media Group and localrealestate.com.au
Realestateview.com.au today announced a partnership between its realestateview.com.au and the McPherson Media Group.
Real estate agents and their clients will be the winners in this partnership as listings will be shared between McPherson Media Group publications, its website localrealestate.com.au and realestateview.com.au.
The partnership will see property ads appear online and in print on realestateview.com.au, localrealestate.com.au and in the Shepparton News, Country News, Benalla Ensign, Cobram Courier, Southern Riverina News, Kyabram Free Press, Riverine Herald, Campase Valley News, Seymour Telegraph, Tatura Guardian and McIvor Times.
The McPherson Media Group offer every advantage, extensive editorial support to real estate agents, well read publications and exceptional customer service.
Real estate agents and their clients will be the winners in this partnership as listings will be shared between McPherson Media Group publications, its website localrealestate.com.au and realestateview.com.au.
The partnership will see property ads appear online and in print on realestateview.com.au, localrealestate.com.au and in the Shepparton News, Country News, Benalla Ensign, Cobram Courier, Southern Riverina News, Kyabram Free Press, Riverine Herald, Campase Valley News, Seymour Telegraph, Tatura Guardian and McIvor Times.
The McPherson Media Group offer every advantage, extensive editorial support to real estate agents, well read publications and exceptional customer service.
If you want to rent, buy or sell in central Victoria there is only one place to go, localrealestate.com.au.
With over 120 years experience in informing the communities in which it serves – in print and online – the McPherson Media Group is not just one of the oldest, but today, one of the largest independent family-owned media groups in Australia.
With businesses that encompass newspaper printing and publishing, commercial printing, magazines, online publishing, internet service provision and telecommunications, the McPherson Media Group offers a compelling regional mix of marketing and communications solutions for its customers.
General Manager, Damian Trezise welcomed his company’s alliance with realestateview.com.au, “we look forward to building on this relationship as a committed media partner with realestateview.com.au.”
Friday, June 5, 2009
FSBO services put consumers at risk
The recent rise in the number of websites offering “For Sale by Owner” (FSBO) services raises important questions for Victorian property professionals and consumers.
In the current economic climate it is not surprising that some consumers are attracted to the notion of selling their home or investment property. However the FSBO trend – made easier due to the internet and encouraged by websites such as buymyplace.com.au, zeroagents.com.au and many others – represent a false economy.
That’s why we won’t sell RealestateVIEW.com.au subscriptions to anyone who doesn’t have an estate agents license or operating a licensed estate agency.
By not ulitising the professional services of agents, consumers can be left exposed. They are less likely to get the best sale price and face the likelihood of having to spend countless hours doing the work normally done by a REIV member.
The REIV continually works to build public trust and raise the level of professionalism in our industry. We are focused on improving the quality of real estate services to consumers while working with Government and the community to promote equity and access to housing.
The REIV’s motto – “The Standard for Success” – is more than just words. It is a promise to all Victorians that the REIV member they are dealing with is ethical, knowledgeable and expert in selling or buying property.
Together the REIV and RealestateVIEW.com.au provides access to all members with the fastest growing property portal in Australia (Nielsen Net-rating, October 2008), the latest property sales results and information, and the tools agents need to win more listings.
In the current economic climate it is not surprising that some consumers are attracted to the notion of selling their home or investment property. However the FSBO trend – made easier due to the internet and encouraged by websites such as buymyplace.com.au, zeroagents.com.au and many others – represent a false economy.
That’s why we won’t sell RealestateVIEW.com.au subscriptions to anyone who doesn’t have an estate agents license or operating a licensed estate agency.
By not ulitising the professional services of agents, consumers can be left exposed. They are less likely to get the best sale price and face the likelihood of having to spend countless hours doing the work normally done by a REIV member.
The REIV continually works to build public trust and raise the level of professionalism in our industry. We are focused on improving the quality of real estate services to consumers while working with Government and the community to promote equity and access to housing.
The REIV’s motto – “The Standard for Success” – is more than just words. It is a promise to all Victorians that the REIV member they are dealing with is ethical, knowledgeable and expert in selling or buying property.
Together the REIV and RealestateVIEW.com.au provides access to all members with the fastest growing property portal in Australia (Nielsen Net-rating, October 2008), the latest property sales results and information, and the tools agents need to win more listings.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Corporate Entrepreneur
Given the importance of corporate vitality and wealth creation in today’s global economy, corporate creativity has generated considerable attention in research. The need now to pursue corporate entrepreneurship has arisen from a variety of pressing problems including technological changes, innovations and improvements in the marketplace, perceived weaknesses in the traditional methods of corporate management, the loss of entrepreneurial-minded employees who are disenchanted with bureaucratic organisations, and growing levels of international competition.
In his early writings, Schumpeter heavily emphasised the role of the single entrepreneur, as the innovator. Schumpeter described the personal characteristics of the entrepreneur as having high levels of: initiative, authority, imaginative foresight and leadership. He also personified the entrepreneur as a “captain of industry”. In his later writings, he replaces the entrepreneur, as a person, with the impersonal organisation. The entrepreneurial function still remains the same, but the prime mover of progress, the agent that makes new combinations, is now a large scale corporation, not a single person. The economy develops through phases of creative destruction as the innovations of entrepreneurs constantly reform and revolutionise the economy. The entrepreneur (the corporation) exploits inventions, harnesses new technology for producing “new commodity or producing an old one in a new way, by opening up a new source of supply of materials or a new outlet for products, by reorganising an industry” (Schumpeter 1949:132). In this case, innovation is an end result of a routine work of employers of the large corporation. It is not so much a result of the innate skills of the single entrepreneur or his/her personal characteristics.
In his writings, Schumpeter also argued that the main agents of economic growth are the entrepreneurs who introduce new products, new methods of production, and other innovations that stimulate economic activity. Schumpeter described entrepreneurship as a process of creative destruction, in which the entrepreneur continually displaces or destroys existing products or methods of production with new ones. Schumpeter viewed this process favourably, because innovations typically represent an improvement in terms of product or process utility and as a result create greater buyer interest and overall economic activity.
A favoured example of an entrepreneurial corporation is 3M, one of the world's largest corporations. It has a long history of entrepreneurial behaviour, transcending the tenures of CEOs and top management teams. Similarly, a recent study of the role of entrepreneurship in reformulating Intel Corporation's corporate strategy suggested that entrepreneurial activities were the outcome of the interaction of individuals and groups at multiple levels within the firm.
The observations from this include the conceptualisation of entrepreneurship as a firm-level phenomenon. The main assumption that underlies the notion of corporate entrepreneurship is that it is a behavioural phenomenon and all firms fall along a conceptual continuum that ranges from highly conservative to highly entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurial firms are risk-taking, innovative, and proactive. In contrast, conservative firms are risk-averse, are less innovative, and adopt a more wait and see posture. The position of a firm on this continuum is referred to as its entrepreneurial intensity.
Against this backdrop, one of the main themes that have emerged in the corporate entrepreneurship is that a firm's level of entrepreneurial intensity is influenced by both its external and its internal corporate context. Firms in turbulent versus stable environments tend to be more innovative, risk taking, and proactive.
Consistent with research in organisational creativity, corporate entrepreneurship is the outcome of a complex interaction among individuals, groups, and the organisation, and is affected by a large number of variables. However, it seems equally clear that the knowledge base and level of expertise possessed by individuals within the organisation should also be a critical component necessary for corporate entrepreneurship. Indeed, it is argued that the individual is the "prime mover in the process of organisational knowledge creation" and that the quality of tacit knowledge possessed by individuals is critical to the creation of new strategies. Thus, firm-specific tacit knowledge may be used to formulate valuable organisational strategies, but such knowledge can only be developed by repeated experiences with an organisation's routines.
Sharma and Chrisman defined corporate entrepreneurship as the "process whereby an individual or a group of individuals, in association with an existing organisation…instigate renewal or innovation within that organisation". Thus, corporate entrepreneurship is the deployment of new resource combinations to renew an organisation. Corporate entrepreneurship can occur internally, by exploiting the firm's existing stock of resources, or externally, by the acquisition of new resources. However, because most attempts to create value in the external environment through mergers and acquisitions fail, senior managers are increasingly looking inside the firm for new sources of value. Indeed, some have argued that managerial expertise is a key firm resource that, when developed and exploited, has the potential to be a source of sustained competitive advantage.
Human and social capital has been suggested as the "fundamental building blocks" of corporate entrepreneurship. Much of the research grounded in this view focuses on the role that individuals within an organisation play in corporate entrepreneurship. These individuals are sometimes said to be corporate venture champions who are responsible for a particular entrepreneurial process with an organisation. For example, the champion of ideas is an individual who seeks to convince organisational stakeholders that an idea has merit, whereas the resource champion presents the idea to those with the power to allocate the resources needed to complete the project.
Brazeal and Herbert also suggested that top management plays a key role in corporate entrepreneurship. For example, the entrepreneurial process is enabled by the allocation of resources and the articulation of a strategic vision, being roles that are traditionally reserved for top management. In addition, an organisation's top management may foster corporate entrepreneurship "through the building of an entrepreneurial organisational environment and human resource practices that actively promote entrepreneurial activities and thinking". By doing these things, the top manager enhances the firm's ability to produce innovative outcomes. In sum, this individual may play a key role in corporate entrepreneurship in part, because of his or her knowledge of the firm's resources and his or her abilities to influence the social dynamics within the firm.
The attention of research given to the entrepreneurship environment indicates the recognition of the importance of certain underlying conditions in the fostering of entrepreneurial activities in a region. Quite clearly and notably, the environments that are most favorable to entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activity are those that work together to firstly attract, then to hold the focus of the entrepreneur.
In his early writings, Schumpeter heavily emphasised the role of the single entrepreneur, as the innovator. Schumpeter described the personal characteristics of the entrepreneur as having high levels of: initiative, authority, imaginative foresight and leadership. He also personified the entrepreneur as a “captain of industry”. In his later writings, he replaces the entrepreneur, as a person, with the impersonal organisation. The entrepreneurial function still remains the same, but the prime mover of progress, the agent that makes new combinations, is now a large scale corporation, not a single person. The economy develops through phases of creative destruction as the innovations of entrepreneurs constantly reform and revolutionise the economy. The entrepreneur (the corporation) exploits inventions, harnesses new technology for producing “new commodity or producing an old one in a new way, by opening up a new source of supply of materials or a new outlet for products, by reorganising an industry” (Schumpeter 1949:132). In this case, innovation is an end result of a routine work of employers of the large corporation. It is not so much a result of the innate skills of the single entrepreneur or his/her personal characteristics.
In his writings, Schumpeter also argued that the main agents of economic growth are the entrepreneurs who introduce new products, new methods of production, and other innovations that stimulate economic activity. Schumpeter described entrepreneurship as a process of creative destruction, in which the entrepreneur continually displaces or destroys existing products or methods of production with new ones. Schumpeter viewed this process favourably, because innovations typically represent an improvement in terms of product or process utility and as a result create greater buyer interest and overall economic activity.
A favoured example of an entrepreneurial corporation is 3M, one of the world's largest corporations. It has a long history of entrepreneurial behaviour, transcending the tenures of CEOs and top management teams. Similarly, a recent study of the role of entrepreneurship in reformulating Intel Corporation's corporate strategy suggested that entrepreneurial activities were the outcome of the interaction of individuals and groups at multiple levels within the firm.
The observations from this include the conceptualisation of entrepreneurship as a firm-level phenomenon. The main assumption that underlies the notion of corporate entrepreneurship is that it is a behavioural phenomenon and all firms fall along a conceptual continuum that ranges from highly conservative to highly entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurial firms are risk-taking, innovative, and proactive. In contrast, conservative firms are risk-averse, are less innovative, and adopt a more wait and see posture. The position of a firm on this continuum is referred to as its entrepreneurial intensity.
Against this backdrop, one of the main themes that have emerged in the corporate entrepreneurship is that a firm's level of entrepreneurial intensity is influenced by both its external and its internal corporate context. Firms in turbulent versus stable environments tend to be more innovative, risk taking, and proactive.
Consistent with research in organisational creativity, corporate entrepreneurship is the outcome of a complex interaction among individuals, groups, and the organisation, and is affected by a large number of variables. However, it seems equally clear that the knowledge base and level of expertise possessed by individuals within the organisation should also be a critical component necessary for corporate entrepreneurship. Indeed, it is argued that the individual is the "prime mover in the process of organisational knowledge creation" and that the quality of tacit knowledge possessed by individuals is critical to the creation of new strategies. Thus, firm-specific tacit knowledge may be used to formulate valuable organisational strategies, but such knowledge can only be developed by repeated experiences with an organisation's routines.
Sharma and Chrisman defined corporate entrepreneurship as the "process whereby an individual or a group of individuals, in association with an existing organisation…instigate renewal or innovation within that organisation". Thus, corporate entrepreneurship is the deployment of new resource combinations to renew an organisation. Corporate entrepreneurship can occur internally, by exploiting the firm's existing stock of resources, or externally, by the acquisition of new resources. However, because most attempts to create value in the external environment through mergers and acquisitions fail, senior managers are increasingly looking inside the firm for new sources of value. Indeed, some have argued that managerial expertise is a key firm resource that, when developed and exploited, has the potential to be a source of sustained competitive advantage.
Human and social capital has been suggested as the "fundamental building blocks" of corporate entrepreneurship. Much of the research grounded in this view focuses on the role that individuals within an organisation play in corporate entrepreneurship. These individuals are sometimes said to be corporate venture champions who are responsible for a particular entrepreneurial process with an organisation. For example, the champion of ideas is an individual who seeks to convince organisational stakeholders that an idea has merit, whereas the resource champion presents the idea to those with the power to allocate the resources needed to complete the project.
Brazeal and Herbert also suggested that top management plays a key role in corporate entrepreneurship. For example, the entrepreneurial process is enabled by the allocation of resources and the articulation of a strategic vision, being roles that are traditionally reserved for top management. In addition, an organisation's top management may foster corporate entrepreneurship "through the building of an entrepreneurial organisational environment and human resource practices that actively promote entrepreneurial activities and thinking". By doing these things, the top manager enhances the firm's ability to produce innovative outcomes. In sum, this individual may play a key role in corporate entrepreneurship in part, because of his or her knowledge of the firm's resources and his or her abilities to influence the social dynamics within the firm.
The attention of research given to the entrepreneurship environment indicates the recognition of the importance of certain underlying conditions in the fostering of entrepreneurial activities in a region. Quite clearly and notably, the environments that are most favorable to entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activity are those that work together to firstly attract, then to hold the focus of the entrepreneur.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
How to Attract the New Age Workers – Women!
I read a recent blog from the US and thought I would apply to my salt and share (thank you http://bhgrealestateblog.com/2009/05/01/using-target-marketing-to-attract-agents/
Some Facts:
More women are entering the workforce because of their husbands losing their jobs.
These women are looking for flexible hours as they generally have children to care for and after school care is not always an option.
Women tend to spend longer in organisation and therefore appear more loyal.
Women are more flexible with work tasks, and will consider anything (most things) as part of their job role.
Women can think about more than 5 tasks at one given time.
Women are most likely to finish tasks at home if there were not finished in the office.
Women are more active users of social networking sites.
Women interact and communicate online – they are relational as opposed to gathering information and make decisions – transactional like their counterparts!
Some Recommendations:
Develop a talent attraction strategy to focus on targeting women to your company.\
Use social media sites to deploy these campaigns – consider Face book, LinkedIn, Twitter.
Become connected with existing female agents you are targeting to join your company online. Friend them, follow them, get LinkedIn with them.
Give your office a makeover.
Working mothers are very busy, but they want to feel connected, remember women are relational! Consider using tools like instant messaging, text messaging, live chat and video conferencing for training and meetings to stay in touch and provide support.
Don’t forget to mentor your new age workers, and provide honest and positive feedback!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Some of my favourite definitions of the "entrepreneur"
- The entrepreneur is an individual that is difficult to stereotype (Stevenson, Roberts and Grousbeck 1985).
- Bygrave (1993) describes an entrepreneur as someone who perceives an opportunity and creates an organisation to pursue it.
- Schumpeter’s (1949) suggestion that the entrepreneur destroys the equilibrium with a perennial gale of creative destruction, also implies that an entrepreneur does not quietly sit back waiting for opportunity to arrive.
- Therefore entrepreneurs not only exploit opportunities, but they create their own opportunities (Russell and Faulkner 1999).
- Kuratko and Hodgetts describe an entrepreneur as “the aggressive catalyst for change in the world of business, who is an independent thinker who dares to be different in a background of common events” (1998:30).
- Timmons’ suggests that entrepreneurs work hard, driven by an intense commitment and determined perseverance, “burning with the competitive desire to excel and win” (1989:1). The author went on to say that they use failure as a tool for learning, and would rather be effective than perfect. They respond to setbacks and defeats as if they were temporary interruptions, and rely on resiliency and resourcefulness to rebound and succeed. They “have enough confidence in themselves to believe they can personally make a decisive difference in the final outcome of their ventures and in their lives” (1989:1).
- Morrison, Rimmington, and Williams (1999) summarised some of the more common characteristics from the works of Collins and Moore (1964), Kets de Vries (1977), Chell, Haworth and Brearly (1991), Timmons (1994), and Deakins (1996):
1) Availability of appropriate role models
2) Career experience over life-cycle
3) Family background
4) Family position
5) Level of educational attainment
6) Inheritance of entrepreneurial tradition
7) Peer influence
8) Social marginality
9) Hatred for bureaucracy
realestateVIEW.com.au & The Star News Group - join forces as new team in real estate
realestateVIEW.com.au has officially announced its partnership with The Star News Group.
Real estate agents and their clients will be the winners in this partnership, which involves shared listings and cross-promotion between realestateVIEW.com.au and Star News Group’s 20 community newspapers and two websites, starrealestate.com.au and geelongproperty.com.au.
realestateVIEW.com.au is excited about its future with the biggest independent family-owned print media company operating in Melbourne and Geelong.
Local agents would benefit from the Star News Groups' audited circulation of around 600,000 in Melbourne and Geelong as well as the combined reach of the three websites.
The Star News Group of papers that include Northern Star Real Estate, South Eastern Star Real Estate, Geelong Independent, North West and Western Star Real Estate, Mail Property, and the Pakenham/Berwick Gazette, all have the localised reach of the target audience ... extensive editorial support to agents, and exceptional customer service.
The Star News Group has a proud history of providing the highest standards of product and service to the real estate industry and its clients, and both partners forward to building on this relationship to help buyers, sellers and renters connect with the real estate industry.
Real estate agents and their clients will be the winners in this partnership, which involves shared listings and cross-promotion between realestateVIEW.com.au and Star News Group’s 20 community newspapers and two websites, starrealestate.com.au and geelongproperty.com.au.
realestateVIEW.com.au is excited about its future with the biggest independent family-owned print media company operating in Melbourne and Geelong.
Local agents would benefit from the Star News Groups' audited circulation of around 600,000 in Melbourne and Geelong as well as the combined reach of the three websites.
The Star News Group of papers that include Northern Star Real Estate, South Eastern Star Real Estate, Geelong Independent, North West and Western Star Real Estate, Mail Property, and the Pakenham/Berwick Gazette, all have the localised reach of the target audience ... extensive editorial support to agents, and exceptional customer service.
The Star News Group has a proud history of providing the highest standards of product and service to the real estate industry and its clients, and both partners forward to building on this relationship to help buyers, sellers and renters connect with the real estate industry.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Official Launch of realestateVIEW.com.au in South Australia
Last night marked the official launch of realestateVIEW.com.au in South Australia.
Close to 200 REISA members gathered at the National Wine Centre of Australia in Adelaide to hear industry leaders Greg Toyama (Harcourts International Ltd), Anthony Toop (Toop & Toop Real Estate), Charles Tarbey (Century 21 and Wentworth Holdings) and Adrian Jones (The REIV) present on market trends and the future of online technology.
realestateVIEW.com.au looks forward to working with REISA and South Australian estate agents on the national expansion of the industry-owned force in online property marketing.
Here is what some of our guests had to say....
“The industry ownership of realestateVIEW will secure our marketing future against the larger monopolies, which seem to be gaining momentum.”- Oren Klemich, Klemich Real Estate.
"The package offers quite a saving compared to other providers.”- Bruce Walker, Walker and Keipert Pty Ltd.
“Finally we are getting an industry portal owned by the REIs and their members that we can control. This is an important step for the industry considering the enormous prices that we are suffering from other providers. realestateVIEW is a product that all members must embrace in order to take control of our destiny.”- Mark Sanderson, Smallacombe Sanderson Real Estate.
“The launch was upbeat with practitioners excited about an opportunity to combat increasing monopoly power with web-based advertising and data sourcing, which is leaving us all vulnerable.”- Mark Sharoglazov, LJ Hooker Prospect.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Vega 91.5FM in May 2009!
Building on its recent success, the REIV Real Estate Today segment on Saturday mornings, Vega 91.5FM is set to continue throughout May. The infomercial-style segment with Enzo Raimondo provides the public with weekly updates on current real estate news and market information and is used as medium to promote REIV member agents and real estate website, realestateVIEW.com.au. Due to listener popularity, the Real Estate Today segment will now air three times a week - Monday, Friday and Saturday mornings, commencing this Saturday 3rd May.
Adding to the REIV’s public marketing schedule on Vega 91.5FM, realestateVIEW.com.au will commence the exclusive sponsorship of the Vega DRIVE program, weekdays from 3pm until 6pm.
Sponsorship of the DRIVE program with Clair Marshall will promote awareness and visitation to the realestateVIEW.com.au website through a series of messages including weekly auction results availability every Saturday evening; subscription to the VIEW Alert feature and investment opportunities in commercial real estate via commercialVIEW.com.au.
Make sure to tune in to Vega 91.5fm over the course of May!
Adding to the REIV’s public marketing schedule on Vega 91.5FM, realestateVIEW.com.au will commence the exclusive sponsorship of the Vega DRIVE program, weekdays from 3pm until 6pm.
Sponsorship of the DRIVE program with Clair Marshall will promote awareness and visitation to the realestateVIEW.com.au website through a series of messages including weekly auction results availability every Saturday evening; subscription to the VIEW Alert feature and investment opportunities in commercial real estate via commercialVIEW.com.au.
Make sure to tune in to Vega 91.5fm over the course of May!
About realestateVIEW.com.au
Following realestateVIEW.com.au's acquisition by the REIV in 2007, the site has been relaunched and is now a powerful new site aggregating listings predominantly in Victoria but in most states of Australia. The result is a fresh and innovative portal, packed with property-related news, advice and information, now with the credibilty of being associated with all REI's nationally. Features of the site include:Credible recent sales data and reports;Latest auction results and auction alerts;VIEW alert system for consumers to track new properties on the market;Detailed locality maps and amenity information;Links to add open for inspection and auction times to your calendar;Options to request for additional documentation from the agent;Links to add agent details to your Outlook contacts;Links to home loan information and comparisons;Marketing options that are fair and equitable for participating agents;REI members are clearly identified;Big photos and a clean, quick and comprehensive search functionality;Fast Web 2.0 technology, a web standard providing far greater flexibility, allowing us to roll out even more new and exciting features for both agents and consumers. We look forward to sharing with you more exciting information about your site!
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