Today’s the 2nd Anniversary Of VeryVintageVegas.com

It was two years ago today, February 1^st, that I decided to create a BRAND NAME for myself and for the historic neighborhoods and mid century modern homes that I had been selling for the last 10 years.

I gathered some friends around me.  We put together a nice little business plan. We brainstormed and researched for hours on end during February of ‘08. The first thing we had to create was a name. It was perplexing. VintageVegas was taken. So was RetroVegas. So was ClassicVegas. As were about 50 other variations. VeryVintageVegas.com came to me as a “jump out of  bed and run to the computer to see if it was available” moment. I just knew it was perfect in so many ways. I bought the URL for VeryVintageVegas.com a moment later.

Three capital V’s mirroring the Capital V in my last name gave me a private chuckle. “Very” is an over the top adjective describing homes and neighborhoods that were only 50 or 60 years old. After all, I’ve got friends in Boston living in a home built in 1830, and the first house we owned in Columbus, Ohio was built in 1894. I also liked the name because it was alliterative. I love alliteration. Think: Fun Fixtures Found In Foreclosures.

Then we played with Graphics.This is what we created, and everything else got built around it. It was a brand that would be colorful, say what it was, and be memorable – that is, if anyone ever found out about it. That’s where the blogging came into the picture.

The first blog post actually got published on the brand new VeryVintageVegas.com on on March 5, 2007. I’ve reprinted it as the next post after this one. It’s amusing and totally co-incidental that Ken Wolfson’s “The Avenue” loft project was the topic. I mentioned Ken just yesterday.

Ben Nation was the author. Neither of us knew what we were doing. Ben only published a few posts, as he didn’t take a liking to being a blogger. He’s much better at Retro furniture, tschotkes and accessories.  I’ve written 99.9999% of the content you’ve ever read on VeryVintageVegas.com. There’s now over 2000 posts that have been published. I love doing it. I make myself chuckle a lot. I get to say a lot of things to a lot of people at the same time. I’ve succeeded hugely in getting the word out that there’s an interesting and fun place to live and to hang out that’s not suburbanish Summerlin or Green Valley.

I’ve also sold 41 homes during the two years. That’s less than half of the numbers that I sold in 2005 and 2006, and for most any 2 year period during the last 18 years as an agent. The market had just peaked a few months before we started, and there was a 3 month period in there where I didn’t sell even a single home. Now I’m back up to 4 or 5 a month. They’re just cheaper now.

I’ll tell you the business plan of VeryVintageVegas. First, I write it as a consumer oriented blog. Besides that it’s fun to write it, I do it because I’m hoping that anyone who reads this blog, will remember me when their turn comes up to buy or sell a home. Even If it’s not in “Vintage Vegas”. The other half of the business plan is to deliver excellent service. I’ve always prided myself on being pretty creative marketer, and for being an excellent Realtor. And, I don’t think there’s any other Realtor in town with as much experience as I have when it comes to “older homes”. If VeryVintageVegas.com wasn’t funded by my real estate sales, then I’d have to turn it into an advertising vehicle, which probably wouldn’t be nearly the fun.

I’ve only ever had two advertisements for anyone but myself.  Ruth Sertic, is my lender of choice  and  Paul Hesselgesser, is my Farmer’s Insurance agent. I could do an hour telling you why I like and depend and recommend Paul and Ruth. Just ask.

So 2 years later…….

 There’s probably about 4 or 5000 regular (more than once a month) readers. There’s  many dozen devoted readers (once a week or more). There’s countless others who’ve been here occasionally (less than once a month). There’s VeryVeryMore people who have been exposed to the concept of “Vintage Vegas”.

Along the way, I’ve found a whole lot of new readers and friends, as well as new clients. I’ve come to realize that I’m not the only one who “loves what I love”, whether it’s architecture, design, history, art, music or neighborhood. And, I get recognized a lot when I’m out and about. No one ever has to hesitate to say “oh, you’re that vintage real estate guy” even if my name doesn’t leap right to your tongue. There’s a good chance your name won’t leap to my mind, either. I am however, nice to everyone even if I don’t remember your name.

So in a nutshell, that’s how VeryVintageVegas came to be, and what’s happened since. My wonderful, intelligent, compassionate and devoted mother always says (among many other things) “Celebrate anything you can find to celebrate, because in between the celebrations is life”.

I thank each and everyone of you in oh so many ways.