Real Estate Housing Market – Just How Bad Is It?

Like many of us, I am sure you too are wondering how bad the housing and Real Estate market is right now. You may own a home or some income property, or maybe you own one of the millions and billions of condos that have been built, converted and sold over value in the past 5 years. It is you, who has been propping up the US economy (in addition to the war in Iraq, which does a lot for the economy too) for the past 5 years and just to thank you, the banks and financial loan companies set the terms on ARM loans (adjustable rate loans that move with the market after a initial low intro rate for 1, 3, 5 or 7 years) set the terms for a very short time on all the ARM loans so that the forclosures would start rolling in right about now. So the housing market and real estate in general is a bit fucked right now, and they have pulled in the reigns on those adjustable rate loans which were targeted at below prime level customers. (people with low credit ratings and little or no cash on hand for a down payment. So guess what? No one is buying anything now. The number of people who can afford homes hasn’t changed or grown at all, and they all have either refinanced or moved within the past 5 years. And the people who had never been able to afford to get a loan or own a home one can’t again now either.

So the banking and financial loan companies notice their closings on new homes are down, and thus the revenue from them. They think that it isn’t a mater of the market being fucked due to how they set up the loans in the first place, they think it is because they aren’t pushing hard enough. They just need to push people harder, advertise more and force more through the pipeline even if it means deceptive tactics. Think I am making this up? I’m not. Here are 2 examples from my own life:

1. I get the same page in my morgage statement every month offering me a “free” refinance on a loan. Well it turns out it is only on their worst product which has the highest rate of default and makes all the money for the bank and none for the consumer. It’s only valid on an “interest only” loan. Fuckers.

2. Today while walking to the train I got stopped by a very nervous looking attractive young guy who claims that he wanted to ask me out for coffee sometime. Well, no one does this to someone who looks like me. Trust me, I had old jeans on, gym shoes, no makeup and I am a bit fat on top of all that. I was just trying to get into the office to get some work done today. (It’s obvious at this point I rarely meet in person with clients) This fairly attractive and very nervous guy would *never* have interest in me in a million years. I knew that and had to work hard to not laugh at him because it was obvious. He did his thing, I told him I have a boyfriend (of which I actually do, but would have told him regardless) and then he said, well, if you change your mind, let me give yo my card. Guess what it said? Banking Loan Consultant - Home Loans – Washington Mutual Home Loans For an office that was not even near the EL in Oak Park. It was for an office on Clybourn in Chicago, over a 1/2 hr away. The back of the card had a list of 9 things needed for a home loan application.  This schmuck thought he could pick up working professional women on the way to the train in Oak Park (where property values have increased a lot in the past decade) and turn them into clients? Not only is that disgusting, it doesn’t work. Especially since there are 500 condos for sale in Oak Park because it is completley over-developed and no one wants to buy any of them. The people who would want them can’t get one now, because they can’t get a loan.

So a note to Washington Mutual (wamu): rather than send your loan sales reps out on wild goose chases inapropriatley propositioning women on their way to the train, and trying to deceptivley get home owners to refinance into a dangerous and decieving “interest only” loan, why don’t you lower your rates and your credit requirements on the 30 year fixed loans so that low income people with less than perfect credit or no credit can afford them? Then you will have a landslide of new loans instead of a landslide of people hating your company and blogging about it on the internet for everyone to see.

Marketing & Advertising Blogs

I have a few blogs I have found latley that I wanted to mention here. Both to give them the link, but also to pass them on to anyone reading in case they are looking for this kind of information about advertising and marketing. It is always interesting that there are so many people willing to blog out on the internet and share their insight and knowledge with people around the world. Some may be traffic focused and making money on ads, others may be PR or Lead Generators for businesses, but all in all I think people benefit from this information and I am glad it is being shared. It is amazng how everyone has a voice on the internet and people are pretty open about it.

Bronte Media Blog , No More Landing Pages , Agency Spy , Make More of Your Job

Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien & Jay Leno – NBC Late Night Dance

NBC used to be the leading network in ratings and in ad sales ala the Sinefeld and Friends years, but the last few have been tougher for the network and their Ad Revenue. They have found success in smaller niche areas like online advertising, “The Office”, Network Evening News with Brian Williams (who is the new Peter Jennings) and Late Night (comedy, variety, talk show) TV.  Jay Leno surpassed David Letterman for the lead in the time slot back in 1995 and has never looked back. Leno decided that in 2009 he will retire from the show after 17 years of tireless service to NBC and late night TV.  And in a suprise move, they named Conan O’Brien the next host of The Tonight Show in 2006. NBC wants to make sure that when this transition happens people keep watching and the ratings stay high. Part of that challenge is finding someone to replace Conan O’Brien.

There have been a lot of names in the hat, but the latest name that is being mentioned today is Jimmy Fallon. Jimmy Fallon was a lot of fun back when he was on Saturday Night Live, but after a few not-very-funny movies he has kind of recedded into the background of comedy with people we haven’t heard from in a long time. I think he would be good based on the Weekend Update segments that SNL had him on with Tina Fey years ago, but I think the success of these shows has more to do with the “regular” comedy segments that they do daily or weekly. I think that many times those can be a bit weird and detract from the overall humor and intelligece of the show.  So, a note to Jimmy Fallon: don’t go too lowball with the comedy segments. Most of us didn’t get Conan the first 5 years because of that. Most of us also don’t think a plastic pooping dog is funny either, and don’t need the crudest humor allowable on Network TV. Suprise (with crudeness) is only one of the elements in why something is funny. Smart, clever identifiyable comedy with callbacks is also pretty good in anyone’s book. (remember improv?) Although, I do like some of what Jimmy Kimmel does too. 

Tradeshow Season

Chicago is called home to a lot of trade shows every year. With the McCormick Place 1, 2 & 3 we have more convention space than we know what to do with. It is a billion dollar business in Chicago for hotels and restaurants and we appreciate the extra tourism. Click here to see a list of what conventions and tradeshows are going to be in Chicago this year.

If your company is coming to Chicago to one of these trade shows and you need new trade show displays check out Camelback Tradeshow Displays. They offer all types of trade show displays as well as the full spectrum of accessories from flooring to brochure racks that can be added to your exhibit. Some trade show displays can even ship the same day. Graphics, banner stands, flooring, furniture & counters can also be added to make your display more inviting and functional as well, they are the trade show display experts!

Simpsons Movie Marketing Everywhere!!

The Simpsons Movie comes out today and all the world is in a flurry about it. All I want is a big pink glazed donut!!!!

Seriously though, they have been doing some innovative marketing for this movie and this ADOTAS article profiles them.

The thing I noticed first was the Simpson Generator on the movie’s web site. The custom generated simpsons started showing up on all my friend’s Flickr accounts and I knew something was up. This show has a loyal fan base that still amazes me. They seem to bridge all ages and demographics and the people who started watching 20 years ago still tune in today. They all seem to identify with bumbling Homer (that embodies many women’s worst nightmares of a husband) and Bart, (who embodies most parent’s worst nightmares of what their child might become).

The site has a lot going on besides the simpson generator. There is an interactive map of Springfield that contains ways to interact with the simpsons through trailers, games and neat things they just thought up. (see: Bart’s naked skate)

Additionally they had a contest for all the towns named Springfield across the country to host the premier. They have the obligatory MySpace page, wallpapapers, icons, screensavers, mobile alerts, photos, downloadable tatoos and video. They have been all over online, TV and word of mouth media. I think this was pretty much a guaranteed money maker for both Matt Groenig and FOX based on the existing fan base, but when I saw it I was still pleasantly entertained even though I am not even a regular fan of the show. The theater all laughed in unison to the known gags that they are used to and the special suprises that were just for the movie.  It was a real community event created around the community that identifies with the show… because they are reminded of themselves. These americans don’t have much ambition, like low level jokes and beneath all those screw ups are just a heart of gold just trying to do the right thing.

Note: The Simpsons Movie made $71 Million in the US and $167 Million worldwide in it’s first weekend’s opening.

Newspapers Grow an Online Audience

Newspapers used to be the way that the majority of Americans got their news. Along with radio and TV they were unchallenged for about 50 years. Everything changed when the Internet gained momentum and people started just reading news and updates online rather than subscribing to a newspaper. Newspapers thought that just reproducing the same newspaper online would give people what they wanted and help them retain consumers, but it didn’t work that way. Online information is published differently and it is functionally different than in print. It is an active interface rather than a static one and people didn’t gravitate to newspaper sites automatically. Plus newspapers being older than dirt, had antiquated internal bureaucracies that stiffled growth and were seriously risk averse. So when I see the newspaper association of America stating that 59 Million US visitors (only 37% of the estimated internet audience) went to Newspaper Sites in Q2 2007, I am wholly unimpressed. That’s only 19 Million per month for all newspapers they added together, and you can see what the top properties get in monthly traffic below linked from the ComScore MMX top 50 web properties chart.

Like in my review of the Chicago Tribune Website Redesign, I feel like they only partially “get it”. What they don’t know is that there is a lot of “news” type information out there that people consume every day that is not a part of newspaper sites. They have a narrow view of what’s news, and on the web they should consider any content site as a possible media property to own and generate advertising revenue. They also still don’t optimize well for search engines, and that itself could raise traffic numbers 10%-15%. So when I hear about newspaper billionaires and conglomerates whining about their profit margins sinking, I don’t really have a lot of sympathy. They were risk averse and bureaucratic because they didn’t want to go online or accept a wider view of what’s news or how to organize and publish it. So, it’s no suprise that people go where they find what they want, and it hasn’t been at newspaper sites.

Top 50 properties on the web in June 2006, from comScore, MMX:

Burger King Potato Chips???

I just read in a MediaPost newsletter that linked to a USA Today article about Burger King launching a line of Potato Chips this fall. One is a Kethup and Fries flavor, the other is a Flame Broiled Burger Potato Chip. This scares and excites me at the same time. Personally I am not much of a fan of Burger King in the first place. Yes the Whopper is a good burger, but I’m not much into burgers these days. You can only watch “Fast Food Nation” and eat so many burgers afterwards. (maybe one a month) So, to hear that they are expanding into even more processed food arenas is not good, considering that in order to make a profit on really cheap food apparently it has to be manufactured and processed in China these days. So, the quality of something like fast food potato chips can’t be good from the outset.

The marketing side of my brain is a little excited though. I have run across flavored potato chips in Canada and other parts of the world that don’t exist here and I think they’re great. Why we only buy barbeque, sour cream & onion, cheddar and plain potato chips in Chicago or in the USA doesn’t really make sense. I have tried pickle flavored chips and ketchup flavored chips. The Herrs Ketchup ones were FANTASTIC!! I love anything vinegary so I guess that was a good flavor for me. So, maybe this Burger King idea that they are copying from the Canadians and bringing to the USA is good after all. Maybe it will get Lays, Jays, Ruffles and all the other potato chip brands to add more interesting flavors to their products. We like new things, remember, the US economy and marketing are all about what’s new. Nothing can bring us out of a recession like something innovative and new to buy. So bring on the new chips!!

You are what you read – CEO Libraries

This article in the Wall Street Journal talks about what books CEOs read and how they help them lead the companies they run. It is interesting because no one ever thinks of the CEO needing guidance. He or She is the one that is supposed to be guiding us right? But a lot of knowledge can be gleaned from reading about other leaders. Whether it is historical war heroes, philosophers or other business titans, they all have a strategy to share that might be applicable in your business. Some though don’t read business books at all and prefer to read creative works to inspire rather than to strategize. I have worked for companies that the CEO’s literary choices drove the company by way of strategy and by required reading. The choices were mostly from the best seller list though, nothing too obscure or creative there.

On some level I think everyone desires their own personal library. A place that is your own personal sanctuary with a feeling of comfort and studiousness. Few of us make enough money to devote an entire room to books and learning. (except CEOs and other C level executuves) In the mean time the rest of us will keep on reading at a less frenzied pace and keep our personal business library on a bookshelf in the living room.

Unemployment Numbers by County

Today the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) released county unemployment numbers for the US and in that announcement was this list of cities with the largest numbers of unemployed people.  I live in Chicago so, Cook County in IL is the place I’m curious about and here it is #2 on the list with over 2.5 Million (out of about 9 Million in Chicago) who are unemployed.

How is this possible? That is an astounding number of unemployed people.  The only place that has more unemployed people than Chicago is Los Angeles.  Anyone who thinks we don’t have a job problem in this country is wrong. I can’t believe that this many working age people are out of work. How do they survive? How can our country let them fall through the cracks while China gets all the wages? Do workers expect too much therefore forcing jobs overseas? It is amazing to me that there is that much manpower and mindpower sitting idle in this country right now.  Imagine the work we could do together given the chance! 

And if you are an employer looking for a hub of operations for your company that requires a large number of employees, look no further than these cities and counties. They have exactly what you want and need. And with unemployment this high, I don’t think they will be too demanding on wages and benefits either. We need to put America back to work. Another thing I wonder about is the correlation between these cities and drug use and drug trafficking. (In addition to these cities/counties having the largest populations)

 I wonder how much the unemployment is affected by a general apathy for work created by what drugs do to someone who is addicted? Will employers in this country have to have rehab facilities in house or on site? Is that a benefit if you can get rehabbed while working? Is this one of the causes of the unemployment overall? I am just wondering, I really don’t have any data to back this up, but I am still curious since I see so many homeless people in Chicago begging for change for drug money.

December 2006 US County Employment

ALL United States ….. 135,933,200

Los Angeles, Calif. . 4,2425,00

Cook, Ill. ………. 2,569,900

New York, N.Y. …… 2,359,800

Harris, Texas ……. 1,993,900

Maricopa, Ariz. ….. 1,854,500

Orange, Calif. …… 1,519,100

Dallas, Texas ……. 1,490,200

San Diego, Calif. … 1,335,200

King, Wash. ……… 1,173,000

Miami-Dade, Fla. …. 1,032,700

Social Networking Site for Creatives Launches Improved Site « Release Me

Social Networking Site for Creatives Launches Improved Site « Release Me

Hello Creatives! What a cool looking site. Deep down many of us thought we were destined to be a crative and then ended up somewhere in advertising or marketin by way of account management or analysis. I am always amazed at how much of advertising is creative and I am curious about this new OddPodz Site. Check it our if you are a creative looking to network and showacse your portfolio of work. It is a visually interesting site, that has a completley different look from any other social networking site I’ve seen. But then if it is created by creatives, we should expect nothing less than a completley unique experience.

Garage Storage Cabinets Organization Systems

Not all of us are Martha Stewart, thats for sure.

Some of us collect and accumulate things faster than we can account for them or find places to store them. And then one day you wake up and you have a garage full of Junk. Oops! I firmly believe that once a year the garage needs cleaning out and if you don’t have adequate shelving, cabinets or storage you should make the basic investment in some. Most houses and garages don’t come with them, it’s more a custom aftermarket thing you have to install. Luckily there is a company that offers these great garage organization systems that you can buy online. They are moderatley easy to assemble and put up even if you aren’t from This Old House. A closet cabinet can go a long way for keeping garden tools, car parts and car parts off the floor and from looking a mess.

Chicago Blog Site

I have decided to start another blog with the knowledge that I have gained on this blog over the past year. I have over 500 posts here on wordpress and I have between 50 and 150 visitors per day. I know that is small compared to millions that big sites get but it is a start, and it’s specicifically people who are searching or reading my blog for the information I publish. My new blog is about Chicago Entertainment and Fun in the City. I hope to cover a number of topics including a wide variety of Chicago topics like fine dining, bars, sports, politics, tourism, history and events in Chicago. I am sure since I live here I will have plenty to post about. It will take a while to accumulate stories and information, but take a gander, sign up for updates and read along as I build my next site and blog. And, thanks for reading!

Web 1.0, 2.0 & 3.0? What is the difference?

I’m not sure exactly what Web 3.0 is yet. I am pretty cool with Web 2.0 as it relates to Web 1.0, but it hasn’t been that long on #2 yet. I would have expected to notice more evolutionary change if they were going to label it a whole new version…I think it’s just a marketing ploy to try and push the envelope really, because Web 2.0 wasn’t new enough to generate buzz about. And we all know that internet businesses make money off of Buzz, so they like to keep those exclusive wheels turning. If more than 10K people know what something is, it’s pase, and time to come up with something new and groundbreaking and very exclusive among geeks that secretly want to be billionaire entrepreneurs.

Web 1.o was all about static content, one way publishing of content without any real interaction between readers or publishers or eachother. It was also known for frames, page re-loads every time you want to see something new or update it, and really bad usability. It also wasn’t a trackable web. Blame Google for changing that. Search in my opinion is from 1.o but is still relevant in 2.0 and 3.o.

Web 2.o is more about 2 way communication through social networking, blogging, wikis, tagging, user generated content and video. It’s also about combining it all in the same space/page via ajax, tracking via javascript and pixels, and better usability via lots of white space, and a cleaner layout, smaller fonts and a lack of frames. Some people put the word disruptive in this category but in all honesty web 1.o was plenty disruptive too. Remember when you discovered the Yahoo! directory listings. You were pretty excited weren’t you? Yes you were, admit it. The API ability for people (who are programmers) to mash up data feeds and databases to cross reference information from multiple sources in one page or service is also a web 2.0 favorite. Trust me, looking for a condo on craigslist is 100 x easier on craigslist mashup maps.

Web 3.0 is curiusly undefined. Some say it has something to do with AI and the web learning what you want and delivering you a personalized web experience. All that archiving on someone is a bit scary legally and just creepy if you ask me. It also may have to do with the web getting off your computer and going with you to more places, like through your phone, an iPod, a TV, your watch or your car. Google wants to be accessible anywhere to organize ALL your information and send you ads as you try and fall asleep on the train. (we will ignore them then too) Others say it has to do with “semantic” web or search meaning natural language that a non programmer would understand. This is something that has been promised since 1995 and like visual search, hasn’t really happened yet. I think that is a ways off. You need an analyst’s brain downloaded to do that.

So, I am just jumping on the hype bandwagon now…so I know what’s coming, before it hits me in the next disruptive clash.

BP Environmental PR Disaster Lake Michigan

This week all of Chicago has been up in arms about this Chicago Tribune Article stating that BP got approval from Indiana to dump more ammonia and industrial waste sludge chemicals into Lake Michigan, which is the source for the majority of the MidWest’s drinking water and one of the largest fresh water reserves in the world. In an age where every natural resource is waning and the costs are going up for these resource necessities many people thought it was unfair that BP could pay to dispose of more chemicals in the lake and reduce the quality of our fresh water. (Not to mention that the refinery is right off the Indiana Dunes Beach) 

I live here in Chicago, so this is something that affects me directly. The Tribune article points out BP’s marketing as a “Green” company highlighting all their earth friendly practices, and leaving out things like this that hurt the environment. And this is the first increase that has happened in a long time, bringing up an old heated debate in Chicago about water quality because our drinking water comes from the waste dumping grounds for industry. We remember of the old Chicago River before it was reversed, and stories saying don’t ever eat a fish you catch in Lake Michigan because of the Mercury in them. 

I didn’t actually read this in the paper or hear about it until a few days ago, and I wanted to see what BP’s side of the story was. They have pointed to another article that outlines both sides of the story from the Ft Wayne Sentinel. They have also issued this release in defense of their decision stating that it is well within the legal limits, the process has been improved with the expansion and overhaul that cost $3.8 Billion (and created jobs in Indiana, they always bring up the jobs) and the waste water is heavily treated before it is dumped into the lake. Whether this happens or not depends on if there are government and consumer groups that work with them to check on the levels that are actually being dumped months and years from now after this issue dies down. The other issue here is the growing demand for oil in Chicago and in the Midwest. They wouldn’t be expanding if all 9 million of us in Chicagoland didn’t use so much gas and oil here, so we (the consumers and citizens who own lots of cars) are somewhat driving this expansion and therefore the increased production that increases the waste level from the facility.

The bottom line is though that BP is a company like all other companies, has a purpose of maximizing profit and return for shareholders. Companies do not have the purpose or legal obligation of protecting the environment (beyond abiding by the law), their one and only purpose is to make money. If PR is bad they may change some practices, but it is unlikley they will change much unless it becomes illegal and they face legal actions and fines by the government. So, if the law allows these dumping practices for water and waste and they are within the boudaries of legal amouts they can, and will do it. They are under no legal obligation to install better water treatment facilities at their own expense unless they are breaking the laws of the clean water act.

If people/citizens/consumers feel that these laws are too leaniant they should take action to change them and make them more stringent to protect the earth and it’s limited resources.  I don’t like that there is more pollution being added to Lake Michigan, but I do see that our growing city is demanding more oil to be refined, and untlil we the citizens change the laws and reduce our oil consumption, it is just as much our fault too.

Chicagotribune.com Redesigned « Release Me

Chicagotribune.com Redesigned « Release Me

A press release about the Tribune Redesign.

I disgree slightly. I think it is functionally ok, but lacks a strong brand identity.

I also want to see how these “user interactions” really will work since you can’t comment on stories, only blogs.

Although, their adoption of blogs and video are good progressive steps.

I am also hopeful that the new ad products will do well with click through and conversions for local businesses looking for a connection with the community.