Thursday, May 31, 2012

Why Housing Matters


April Home Sales Shoot up. Sales of U.S. existing homes surged in April, according to the National Association of Realtors, which reported an increase of 3.4 percent from March levels and a 10 percent jump from April 2011.

 All four regions of the country saw upticks in sales volume, and the median prices for homes sold was $177,400, an increase of more than 10 percent from the same month in 2011.

 Also, sales of new homes improved in April to an annualized volume of 343,000 homes. That’s well below the peak of more than 1 million built during the real estate bubble, but it represents a 3.3-percent bump from March’s sales figures. According to the National Association of Home Builders, 100 of the country’s 360 markets that it indexes are now deemed “improving” markets. Only 12 markets were considered “improving” when the NAHB started the index last fall.

•Permits. Permits for new single-family homes in April reached an annual rate of 715,000. More permits were issued in March (769,000), but April's number still is 23.7% more than in April 2011.
•New construction. Ground was broken on nearly 30% more homes in April (717,000 annual rate) than in April 2011 (and 2% more than in March this year). YCharts.com puts the improvement in perspective with a graphic showing new housing starts since the crash began in 2007.
•Homes completed. The number of finished homes is rising, too. Privately owned homes finished (651,000 annual rate) were up 10% over March and 20% over the same time last year.
•Homebuilder confidence. New surveys show homebuilders more optimistic about their prospects than at any time in the last five years. Analysts follow builders' sentiment carefully, because their ground-level knowledge of their local markets is thought to predict housing health. Writes USA Today:
Sales of existing homes. The number of transactions is growing. The National Association of Realtors reports that sales of existing homes rose 3.4% in April over March. They were also 10% higher than last year at the same time.

As the US Housing Market shows signs of recovery it is time to rev up your marketing efforts towards this area. Why are new homeowners so important and desirable? They buy things. Not just buy but at a higher rate than other market segments.

For large brands they buy more big ticket items like appliances and furniture. For the small business person this group more times than not have a loyalty to local businesses.

So why does housing matter? They buy things.

Larson Notes & Satire: 
So consider this:35% of new homeowners buy bedding
33% of new homeowners purchase lawn equipment, tools and hardware
50% of new homeowners purchase home decorations and accents
15% of new homeowners purchase computers, home security and automobiles

Within the 1st few months > The average new homeowners spend more in the first 6 months than established residents spend in 2 years.
> The average new homeowners spend more than $9000 of purchases within the first four months of a more
> Within several weeks nearly 60% of homeowners and 40% of renters purchase furniture
> New homeowners establish 71 new business relationships with in the first few months of their move
> 35% of new homeowners just had a new baby or are planning on it.

Look at the things this group of people buy. Do you sell any of these things?

If so, how do you attract them? Well we have our ways but one of the best is the new blanket zip code mailing by the US Postal service. Great deal with blanket coverage. Then you can go after making connections with relestate offices, agents and the like. Need help? Call us.

“We don’t sell lists, we find customers.”

Want to be a Blogger but can’t write?
Try our ghost blog writing service!

Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
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http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate

P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.


Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://www.linkedin.com/in/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

What Is Up With B2B Social Media Marketing

As we move into May or 2012, I thought it might be nice to take a snap shot of what other B2B Marketers are doing in Social Media at the moment. Looking at the usage below, you will find no real changes in B2B SM Marketing. LinkedIn still rules with blogging and Facebook neck and neck.
30% - LinkedIn
20% - Blogging
19% - Facebook
16% - Twitter
 8% - YouTube
 6% - the 3 Fs (Friends, Followers, Family)
 1% - Google+

B2B User Preferences
LinkedIn is heads above everyone else, Facebook and Twitter (Blogging is not a SM site) virtually tied as alternative social media channels by b2b marketers. Then as you can see above YouTube, the 3 F’s, Then there are the other “guys” like Flickr, Digg,  Stumbleupon and Tumblr as favorite social channels.

No, most marketers engaged in SM are using a combination of several channels, there are clearly defined preferences. When b2b marketers were asked to choose the one most important method that they use for their social outreach), LinkedIn was the clear leader, chosen by 30% of respondents. Following it were blogging (20%), Facebook (19%) Twitter (16%) and YouTube (8%).

The Obstacles
The biggest problem B2B marketers are facing when it comes to SM is (after the legal department) an overall lack of resources. 70% of Business Marketing Managers find this to be the major problem toward implementing a good solid social media marketing program. Other problems encountered are: 57% a poorly defined success metrics and key performance indicators.  44% a “lack of knowledge about social media” is holding them and their companies back. Management resistance, cited by 22%, may stem from the preceding three obstacles.

Larson Notes & Satire:  As you all know I am working Facebook, then LinkedIn with some twitter. But with Ping.fm I can get a unified message to Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed, Plaxo, Google Buzz, Tumblr, Bebo, Flickr to name a few extras with one quick “PingIt” And, the faster the better

“We don’t sell lists, we find customers.”

Want to be a Blogger but can’t write?
Try our ghost blog writing service!

Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
http://teamcircle.ning.com/profile/HowardLarson


https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate

P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.