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Where were you when it happened?

What were you doing when you heard that Chris Smith (@Chris_Smth) was leaving the social media phenomenon known as TechSavvyAgent.com to take the position of Chief Evangelist at Inman News?

I got lucky and happened to be with Chris  as the story broke.

I was able to watch him in the moment as he received a torrent of congratulatory messages and well wishes on Twitter, Facebook and via e-mail.  I was able to shoot an exclusive video interview which captured his first public comments following the announcement.

On a personal note, I couldn’t be happier for Chris. In the digital world in which I live and move, I don’t know anyone who’s worked harder than he has over the course of the last year or two.

He is richly deserving of this opportunity, and I congratulate Inman News for having the foresight to see Chris for exactly what he is – the number 1 “Social Media Star” in the real estate space – and the wisdom to put him in the perfect position to leverage and optimize his considerable talents and ambitions.

A Master Class in Leveraging Social Media

I’ve watched Chris grow from literally someone I’d never heard of in August of 2010 -  I met him when we were both speaking on the Agent Reboot Tour in Seattle – to his current standing as the most talked about, written about and buzzworthy person in real estate’s digital realm.  That’s eight months.  Stop and think about that.

That he was named Inman’s “Peoples Choice” award winner was a real eye-opener for me.

And let’s not forget the aforementioned phenomenon of TechSavvyAgent.com and their 17,000+ raving fan base. Yes, Chris had help – Steve Pacinelli (@StevePacinelli) and Suzanne Roy are very talented people in their own right – but Chris was the undeniable face of that operation.

So What’s the Big Deal?

Having read a number of blog posts and various other comments scattered about in the aftermath of the announcement, I am certain that many will read this post and think I am being melodramatic and exaggerating the significance of this event.

That’s fair. Everyone is entitled to an opinion.

But, in the final analysis, here’s why I think this IS a big deal:

• The primary objective of TechSavvyAgent.com was to build a tribe. Chris did that masterfully, and the 17K fans are the proof. The existence of the tribe was the validation, the proof and the evidence that screamed, “There’s something special happening HERE!“

• It’s the largest event I can point to that proves there is ROI in Social Media in real estate. I happen to know that Chris had been receiving offers from other high profile, influential players in recent months.  Chris built it (his tribe) and they (job offers) came.

• Chris is, in my opinion, the “Gary Vaynerchuk” of real estate. He executed Vaynerchuk’s (@garyvee) “Crush It” game plan to perfection. And he ended up with similar results, in my opinion: a high-profile job at a big time operation that is just beginning to leverage their position as the number one real estate news web portal and the number one “events operation” in the game. This proves that the “Crush It” game plan works (out-hustle your competition using Social Media as the context).

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  ontinuing, this should throw gasoline on the fires of others who are following in Chris’s footsteps.  Can everyone be Chris?  Of course not.  Just as there was only one Michael Jordan, there may be only one Chris. However, continuing this analogy, there were other great players in the NBA – Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, etc. – and there will be other great players in the league that Chris and Inman just formed (the National CRUSHball Association?).

• Having the talent to build a tribe is huge. Just do the math. What would it be worth to a brand to convert 5% of a tribe the size of Chris’ into their organization? Or into a monthly educational membership of some sort? Or onto a low-cost recurring webinar? #MONETIZING #DUH

• Looking into the future, I think having the ability to build a tribe will become one of the most economically leveragable skills in a world that is becoming increasingly digital and increasingly social.

• Continuing, I think this may portend a trend in which other real estate organizations and brands take a step back and ask themselves this one question: “Who is our Chris Smith? That is, who is building OUR tribe?” When you realize that Chris (using nothing more than a Vaynerchukian work ethic, a computer, a video camera and a microphone) built this massive tribe in a very short period of time, your eyes should be opened, once and for all, to the power of intelligently leveraged Social Media.

I don’t know how to put this, but…

I am sure that many of you will remain unconvinced.

And to you, all I can say is this: I thought I knew what would happen for Chris once I got a good feel for what he was doing. I knew someone would come along and make him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

But what actually ended up happening was even bigger and happened much faster than even I expected.

As Ron Burgundy said it, this is “kind of a big deal.”

He said it sarcastically. I am saying it completely seriously.

Chris’ hiring at Inman IS a big deal.

Here’s to you, Chris! You CRUSHED it, and you got what you deserved.

And here’s to you, Inman! I see even bigger things on the horizon for you, because I know Chris well enough to know how he thinks and what he’s capable of.

As importantly, here’s to the NEXT Chris…and the one after that…and the one after that…

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