Rob Laidlaw

Time

To me, time is the most valuable commodity that I have.  Why? Because there is an end and limit to the time we have in this world.  Some of us trade our time for a paycheck, some for an education, some for travel and sometimes time seems to pass quickly, especially when you are having fun or have a tight deadline and sometimes it seems to pass very slowly, when you are doing something you don’t like. However, there are still 24 hours in a day and 365 days a year.  Time passes.

Ultimately you have to think about what you want to spend that time on in your life - there is only a fixed amount of time that you have.  You’ve been exchanging your time to build a business, a career, or perhaps a family.  What is the value of your time?  How do you want to spend the rest of your life?  All of these things can be very interesting, but one day, you may look back and wonder what happened to all the time and think about the lost opportunity to spend that time doing something you enjoyed more.

There is a time to be born and a time to die.  On that day, when it is the end of my life, I hope that I can reflect back and consider how I used my time, how my life reflected my optimal usage of my time.

My business is something that I spend a lot of time on, so some may question how that fits together with my optimal usage of time theory. Well, my business enables me to do things that are dear to my heart.  Although it allows you to do other things in life, business in itself can be very fulfilling. Business can bring a lot of personal satisfaction.

Business to me is like raising a child. It starts out very small, there are many problems along the way, and ultimately, there is milestones of success. But along the way, there is a lot of love, a lot of giving, and some meaningful rewards. These successes or accomplishments should not measure you as a good person, or great person, but rather, give you inner-satisfaction that your child has grown up just as you dreamed - you may not be a good person but you might be a great parent (or in this case entrepreneur!). Ultimately though, a business can give you the means at the end of the day, to free up your time to do other things that you wish to do.

Some of the things I enjoy, that business allows me to do more of, include traveling, meeting new people, experiencing different cultures, and of course spending time with family and friends. And of course, relaxing (preferably in a warm climate!)

Time accompanied with health to me is the most important because health gives value to that time.  Being severely unhealthy restricts what we can do with our time so health plays a big role in my life.  Being healthy means to be free. 

Real Estate: Hot? Cold? Where is it?

I am often frustrated when I hear of so many people that claim the real estate market is so hot right now. I believe that the market is no longer hot - that is old news. Today, developers have been over-building, and the market is getting saturated with too many new units coming onto the market. This is true for most markets - of course, it can never apply to every market. I think the markets to be hit the hardest will be the ones that were the hottest - Southern California, Arizona, South Florida, Las Vegas, etc. Many people in these markets that believe they have tons of "equity" in their home, may quickly find that "on-paper equity" become impossible to realize in real dollars.

However, North of the border we still have not realized the same implosion of pricing. I credit that (and one of the few times I'll give Canadians credit for this trait!) to Canadian conservatism. Canadians are by-nature very conservative - especially when compared to Americans. We save more, we are more thrifty, and we despise change. Americans love to live the dream. Escalades, 24" wheels, huge homes, and expensive lifestyles. They take out huge lines of credit and mortgages when they can afford the low monthly interest rate. But, when the interest rate starts to rise, its game-over! The interest rates rise, which causes increased monthly payments, eventual foreclosures, less money in the market and fewer people in the new-home buying mode, and real-estate prices crash. Mortgage lenders in the US are already running into major problems:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070313/wall_street.html?.v=31

North of the border, I have been watching the Toronto real-estate market closely, and it certainly appears that prices are stable. High-end properties seem to still be priced high, but middle-range properties are starting to feel pricing pressures due to over-construction. I have noticed a number of new projects are getting cancelled, and the line-ups that used to exist for pre-sales have dried up. The market seems to be stabilizing. This is good news for Canadians for so long as the markets remain stable. But now for the ugly truth: if you think you are going to make a living off your real-estate, or that your property is increasing in value 20-30% per year, you are wrong. That may have been true in the bubble years, but a few percent per year over the next 5 years should be all you expect. However, it is the perfect time to actually enjoy your home - after all, isn't that the reason you bought it? Fix it up, spend some time in the backyard, and sit tight... another hot market is always just 5 - 7 years away!

Social Media Marketing

This blog entry is for those more interested in business aspects.

Recently Web 2.0 has been gaining ground. Whether it be Myspace, Facebook, forum sites, wiki, or other sites, the latest web hit is "your own place on the Net" with tons of "user generated content." We call it user generated, because essentially these sites don't supply any content themselves, but rather just software that allows users to fill the databases with content. User generated content is becoming so popular, that it may even challenge the almighty Google one day. The founder of Wiki has been eyeing the search according to a recent article in Fast Company.

The challenge from a marketing perspective is how to make "user generated content" a part of your marketing plan. UGC brings a lot of challenges that I recognize based on my past experience. When a marketer advertises in a magazine or on TV, they know what that content is going to be. Usually these forms of media treat their advertisers with the utmost care - meaning, there would never be any negative or derogatory editorial around their ads. However, UGC takes away all that control. A marketer could find themselves on a page that bashes their company! But, this element of risk is far outweighed by the benefits of advertising on UGC sites.

FIrst, and foremost, is that UGC sites have very loyal and completely ingrained userbases. These are not just "fly-by-night" web surfers, but rather they are deeply immersed in the subject matter they are viewing. A counter effect is often lower click-thru-rates, but this has to be carefully balanced against the positive effects of premium branding, and good-will given to advertisers who support their community.

In my opinion, the challenge with advertising on these sites does not end there. The next challenge, is to maximize marketing dollars, you must not only advertise and support the community, but you must become a part of it. And this is where costs can add up, and resources are usually short. In order to become a part of the community you need to offer things to the community. Depending on the site, and the marketing goals, there are a lot of options:

1) Build something for the community - the question is, what can you contribute? Well it might be a custom set of avatars, some fancy graphics, a tech article, how-to or tutorial, or maybe a built-in tool for the site. Any time you can give the community something useful, they will appreciate it. You will not need to ask for credit - they will give you all the credit you had ever hoped for!
2) Discounts and Group Buys - reward community members for using your service. Run a group buy where forum members encourage other members to purchase your product so that the whole group gets a bigger discount.
3) Become a part of the community - build your own profile, and have your experts participate under your company name.
4) Sponsor or host community events - why not arrange a BBQ in your area for community members? You can be sure that there will be plenty of pictures taken, and lots of positive PR resulting from it, and what did it cost you? A few hamburgers? Well worth it.

Social media requires a much deeper level of marketing than just a straight media buy. Some marketers may ask if the media buy can be skipped all together - the answer is No. By trying to infiltrate a community without supporting those that run it will eventually get your company in some very hot water. The media buy will still be the backbone of your efforts, but will be well-supported with a company image in a friendly community who appreciates the support show to them.