Boyce Thompson: Boyce On Building
Boyce Thompson is editorial director of the BUILDER group of magazines published by Hanley Wood. Drawing on his years of experience covering home building, architecture, and retailing, Boyce tackles diverse and far-ranging industry topics in his twice-weekly blog.
While the home building industry at large waits for a financial recovery, public home building companies appear to be turning the corner. Several returned to profitability in the final quarter of last year, even without the benefit of loss carry-back provisions that were recently extended to big companies.
Ted Cushman: The Ten-Penny News
Ted Cushman covers the home building industry as a freelance writer from his base in the hills of Western Massachusetts. His blog promises insightful, accurate, and practical coverage of home building techniques, building science, and housing economics.
It's that time of year again — the time when we all have to take a look back at last year's numbers, if only to file our taxes. For people who make a living in business, of course, there are other reasons to review your numbers besides taxes. It's really the only way to know whether you're succeeding or failing.
Chuck Shinn: Rx from the Profit Doctor
Charles C. Shinn, Jr., PhD, often referred to as the Profit Doctor, is the founder of the Shinn Group of Cos., The Lee Evans Group, and Builder Partnerships. His constant focus is to help builders and manufacturers to improve the performance of their companies, enhance relationships, and ultimately maximize their total profits.
As we near the end of the year, it is time once again to really dive into those financials and start setting budgets and targets for next year. While your attention is there, I would like to encourage you to also review your overall accounting classifications and methods to ensure you are tracking in a manner that gives you timely and accurate reports you can use to manage your business.
Mollie Elkman: Modern Marketing
Mollie is Vice President of Group Two Real Estate Marketing and Advertising, one of the largest homebuilder marketing and advertising agencies in the United States. Mollie¹s blog focuses on initiating thought provoking conversations within the building industry. She focuses on new and controversial trends in the increasingly Internet savvy world we live in.
Sunday’s Super Bowl game promises to bring in about 100 million television viewers if it’s on par with last year’s game. But this year many corporate advertisers are taking their million-dollar spots to the next level by pairing them with Facebook campaigns. It’s what some have called the Web 3.0 phase of Super Bowl marketing where Facebook is no longer a peripheral part of a company’s game day advertising, but rather, part of its core strategy.
Jane Meagher: Think Like A Consumer, Act Like A Retailer
Jane Meagher is President of Success Strategies, the nation’s premier design studio strategy, training, and consulting company, and the creator of many national award-winning design studios. Jane shares insights from working with leading builders in over 30 states and Canada, through extensive studies of consumer shopping behavior and retail-based on-site presentation, and from over 20 years experience in new home sales and marketing.
You’ve probably worked hard to create a superb process for bringing your buyers through a framed or rocked home to show them the quality of construction and teach them about your building methods, answer their construction questions, and use the experience to build trust and relationships. Awesome. That is what you SHOULD be doing.
Patrick Duffy: The Housing Chronicles
Patrick Duffy has consulted for nearly 20 years for the country's leading home builders, land developers, investors, and lenders on residential, mixed-use, commercial, and industrial projects. An expert on local housing markets, Duffy offers his thoughts on what’s happening around the country.
Economist Mark Zandi, co-founder of Moody's Economy.com and author of the book Financial Shock (which I reviewed last November for Inman News), hosted a webinar last Friday on the state of the economy, and he thinks the recession will officially be over by the end of 2009.
David Miles: Miles on Branding
David Miles’ award-winning advertising agency, Miles Strategic DNA, integrates business strategy with brand strategy through the use of a proprietary decision-making code. He shares some of his hard-won knowledge with you in this blog.
By the end of the 1970’s, more than 70% of the merchandise in a large department store was identical with that of any other department store. The shopping experience had become commoditized much like the home-buying experience today. In response, consumers have grown increasingly concerned with individualism. There is a growing demand for uniqueness, differentiation, and mass customization on every level, which in turn demands greater diversity and creativity in design.