It is truly important, as a luxury real estate marketing professional to examine and re-examine the meaning of luxury itself. Like beauty, luxury is in the eyes of the beholder. What we so often take for granted is the abundance of free experiences available to us, especially via the internet, experiences that are true luxuries. The wealth of free information that is literally at our fingertips is astonishing.  

For example, some many consider it a luxury to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey Bay, California. The cost is $29.95 for adults and 17.95 for children (3-18).  Students get a slight discount. Of course, there is the cost of getting there, if you do not live close by.

But, you can “visit” the aquarium for free via several live web cams (cameras) whenever you wish. There is a kelp cam, a penguin cam, an outer cam and a wading bird cam that features pink flamingos.  Did you know that flamingos are only as pink as the food they eat or that penguins “fly” under water faster than some fish? 

The Monterey Bay Aquarium was the first aquarium to rescue a great white shark.  They were able to keep it in captivity for 175 days until it became too dangerous for the other fish there. You can learn all about this on their website and watch videos about the shark on their You Tube channel.

Nature, the TV channel, produced a special presentation documentary on the aquarium featuring the great white shark and jellyfish.  The aquarium has one the most extensive jellyfish collections in the world. They actually breed these exquisite creatures to populate the ongoing exhibit.

Take the time to ponder what luxury means to you.  Ask your clients as well.  You may be surprised to find that many high net worth individuals consider life’s simple pleasures to be among their most cherished forms of luxury.  

KARL LAGERFELD © CHAMPAGNE MOET & CHANDON 2008

One of the most common traits of a market leader who is interested in sustaining dominance in his or her marketplace and also building a lasting personal brand, is visionary thinking. For those of you luxury real estate marketing professionals with this ambition it is wise to look to luxury brands that have stood the test of time and emulate the standards and the value that these brands embrace. Dom Perignon champagne is brand to emulate.

Dom Pérignon is part of LVMH (Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton S.A.) family of brands, one of the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerates. Dom is a vintage champagne. This means that the champagne is not produced in weak years, and all grapes used to make the wine were harvested in the same year. 

When we lived in Napa Valley, we had the good fortune to sit next to chef de cave (head winemaker) of Dom Pérignon who happened to be dining alone.  We struck up a delightful conversation throughout our meal. 

What was most impressive about his Dom Pérignon stories was the fact that if the grapes are not perfect in a given year they simply will not produce the wine.  In the 80 years between 1921 and 2002 for example, Dom Pérignon champagne has been produced in only 36 years. Three vintage years in a row are a rarity.  This phenomenon only occurred two times: in 1969, 1970 and 1971, in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

CREATE THE “BEST WINE IN THE WORLD”, Pierre Pérignon, 1668.

In 1668, the young monk took up his post as the head of the cellar at the Abbey of Hautvillers . Over three centuries later, Dom Pérignon is the ultimate homage to this visionary spirit and to the founding work of the man who is considered the creator of champagne.

For fun, here some facts about this fabulous champagne: 

• In 1961, Dom Pérignon Vintage 1949 was on the menu for the dinner given at the US Embassy in Paris for Charles de Gaulle and John F. Kennedy during the American president’s official visit.
• In 1981, Dom Pérignon was chosen for the wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles. The magnums of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 served at the wedding had a special insignia created just for the ceremony.
• Today, Costo sells more Dom Pérignon than any other retailer in the world.

While it is true that your social life can and should lead to business referrals, it is a good idea for luxury real estate marketing professionals to separate the concept of business networking and social networking.   Business networking can actually increase your bottom line faster because of its focused nature and clear intention: helping one another develop more business. What can be more clear, simple and, most importantly, direct?  

Last night, while on Linked In we noticed a profile of a CEO of a company on the east coast (we are in Santa Barbara, CA) with whom we shared common interests. There was immediate recognition of potential synergies between our companies. We are in a professional group together but we had not yet met. So, we invited him to also join the Language of Luxury group on Linked In.   Within minutes we noticed that he had joined LOL.   

By the time we woke up this morning we received a direct email from him suggesting that we connect.  He too, believed that there were possible ways to develop some business together which we confirmed in a wonderful phone conversation this A.M. Yes, we just used the “P” word! 

Phones are the missing link in online networking. In fact, the entire purpose of business networking online is to set up a phone conversation.  Between Skype, which is free, and smart phones with ridiculously low monthly fees (as compared to the cost of long distance calls in previous decades), there is absolutely no excuse for not picking up the phone.   Now, you can actually have an instant face-to-face meeting (e.g., with Skype video or iPhone 4 “face time”).

Business networking, online facilitates WARM PHONE CALLS! And, that is what most luxury real estate marketing professionals have lost sight of in this hurricane of white noise about social networking.

This very same morning, Alexandra noticed that an interesting company just started following us on Twitter.  She always looks up each of our followers’ profiles to see if there is a commonality and a reason to connect by phone.  In this case, there was, indeed, potential for mutual business.  So, Alexandra shot off a email and suggested that we connect directly. 

Within 5minutes we got a phone call from the director of business development from this company!  [Rapid response communication is one of our most highly valued business practices]. We had an excellent conversation and set up a phone meeting with the CEO of the company for Friday ( 2 days later).

Can you see the difference in the speed of concrete results between social networking and business networking online?  The key to successful business networking interactions is having it be equally important to give as it is to receive.  Sometimes there is only giving on your part.  But, it all balances out if you keep an abundant mindset, which is worth acquiring and maintaining in the field of luxury real estate marketing.