This is what we’ve heard from two of our competitors since we launched our new pricing at IBS. Now I’m pretty sure that is a compliment…just not from them. One of them we beat out of a contract in California by 35% and the other by over 40% in Florida. What they are specifically complaining about is our new pricing that has come about from our partnership with BHI (www.builderhomesite.com). Through their buying power we’ve been able to reduce our prices by 30-40% and more will come once the market catches wind that the price has finally come down to allow use on all projects.

I’ve always maintained that our medium (renderings and animations) would follow the same path ($100,000 websites now cost $10,000 or less) as websites and interactive did about 3 years ago once the available workforce became available, greater competition in the market place and of course off/nearshore solutions.

I’ve known for a long time that this was coming and I’m glad to be apart of the BHI wave and be the hand that initiates the change vs. being the face that feels the hand of change.

Viva la revolution!!!

Jim Warren, CEO

Some amazing notes from an amazing man.

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second richest man in America, who has donated $31 billion to charity. Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

• He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!
• He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.
• He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence around it.
• He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.
• He never travels by private jet, although, he owns the world’s largest private jet company.
• Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies.
• He writes only one letter each year to the CEO’s of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis.
• He has given his CEO’s only two rules.
  • Rule number 1: Do not lose any of your shareholder’s money.
  • Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.
• He does not socialize with the high society crowd.
• His pastime, after he gets home, is to make himself some pop corn and watch television.
• Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for 10 hours, and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.
• Warren Buffet does not carry a cellphone, and he doesn’t have a computer on his desk.
  • A. Money doesn’t create man, but it is the man who created money.
  • B. Live your life as simple as you are.
  • C. Don’t do what others say, just listen to them, but do what you feel is good.
  • D. Don’t go on brand names; just wear those things in which you feel comfortable.
  • E. Don’t waste your money on unnecessary things; rather spend on those people who are really in need
  • F. After all, it’s your life –“ then why give a chance to others to rule your life.”

These guidelines absolutely helped me influence my goals for 2008… have you set yours?

Jim Warren, CEO

… you can implement easily and affordably:

1. Offer some form of Rich Media experience: video, audio, more photographs/renderings. 95% of your competition aren’t … you will be noticed and remembered.
2. Put Video content first and upfront…not hidden…they are looking for it.
3. If you have some form of internet concierge or person assigned to leads generated online…track and monitor their communications. It should be frequent, personalized and offer value in return for their permission.
4. Measure, Measure, Measure…there are enough tools (google analytics, campaign manager) now to see what your response rates are for marketing initiatives and fine tune what you are doing.
5. Show something better than traditional black line floor plans and line elevations…the additional costs are minimal and you will stand out from everyone else.

These are in order of importance.

1. Reduce your marketing budget by 50%! You can/should leverage the animations for all your renderings for your website, brochures, direct mail, wall art.

2. There is no better way to communicate a sense of community or neighborhood.

3. Show select animations on your website. Create an emotion online NOT just a message. What would generate greater pre-launch registrations? A few paragraphs and a logo on a website? Plans and
Renderings? VR of the community, amenities and/or model home?

4. The price is finally dropping (much like websites have).

5. You can build fewer model homes. A model home costs 100 x more than an interior animation.

6. How are you going to stand out and be remembered after a family tours 5 sales centers?

7. There is no better way to generate interest for people that are too far to visit your sales center.

8. It’s alot easier to revise an animation or rendering than a topo table or traditional hand rendering.

9. Create and communicate a consistent vision of your community through narration.

10. A picture says a thousand words…how much does video communicate of your unique selling proposition.