A lot can happen in 10 years. When I started the Fried On Business program a decade ago, I could only dream about what it might become.
Now, 500 shows later, I can look back with great satisfaction on the guests we’ve interviewed, the people we’ve helped, and the audience we’ve informed and entertained.
Fried On Business celebrated it’s 500th episode live from the Ball & Chain entertainment venue in the heart of Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood.
You might say the show is on fire, and to mark the occasion Ball & Chain proprietor Bill Fuller and his first-rate bartender George whipped up a Fried On Fire cocktail for me.
What is a Fried On Fire? Well, I’m glad you asked. It has a guava base and a sambuca top that – as we saw – shines brightly when mated with fire. No, I’m not a fire-eater, but the beverage was delicious after I blew it out and took a sip. And another. And then another. (And yes, I made it through the show with inebriation.)
To top it off, Jim Glogowski, 880 AM The Biz General Manager and Vice President, presented me with a beautiful plaque commemorating a decade of broadcasting.
Yes, a lot has happened, but it all seemed to culminate in just the past year with a successful kidney transplant for my wife Vivian and an election victory for my niece Nikki Fried, who is the new Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
But there’s a lot more to come. Keep an eye out for new content like The Edge, our monthly segment with new sponsor CBRE. We might even get my mom, Lolly, on the air.
You’ll also continue to hear from our old favorites like Bruce Turkel, Larry Zinn, Tom Handler, Jimmy Cassel and more.
Fried On Business is not a solo venture, so I want to give a special thanks to my producer and co-host Wanda Myles for adding her spark to the program – and to Jim at the station for his ongoing support.
Most importantly, I want to give my never-ending thanks to my wife Vivian for continuing to believe in me, and the show, for over a decade. Here’s to you, Viv, and another 500 shows!
CBRE The Edge
Speaking of new content, Spencer Levy called in to help kick off The Edge, CBRE’s new monthly segment.
Spencer is Chairman of Americas Research and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE, the largest commercial real estate firm in the world. He just finished compiling their latest Southeast Economic Report.
“The market could not be better in the Southeastern United States, and specifically South Florida shines along with it,” he said, noting three key factors – talent, infrastructure and flow of money.
South Florida has them all, Spencer said, with mass transit improving dramatically and a steady flow of talent emerging from the universities here.
International capital flows are healthy, he said. What many in South Florida probably don’t realize is that while much of the foreign capital flows in from Latin America, most of it comes from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
“It’s deep, and it’s diverse. And notwithstanding the fact there are some headline risks due to tariffs and immigration restriction, the money is still coming here,” he said.
I had to wonder, however, about the evolution – or devolution – of the U.S. business environment. Aren’t some sectors, retail especially, suffering from certain macro-level changes?
Spencer isn’t having any of it.
“The death of bricks and mortar retail is the single most overblown story in my real estate career other than that Y2K bug from 20 years ago,” he said.
The reason is simple: Good rooftops mean you can still have good retail. It creates a favorable environment. The types of stores may need to change, but the market can still be healthy, Spencer said.
There are favorable trends for industrial, too, he said. But the most recent challenge is “reverse logistics.” It’s easy to get a product from point A to B. It’s much harder to go back – in the form of returns.
Spencer said during the most recent holiday season, up to 30 percent of purchased goods were returned. It’s an enormous problem, he said. Retailers don’t know how to handle it, and more than 5 billion pounds of new goods ended up in the landfills.
Well, what about multifamily?
You have to think about multifamily in terms of market segments, Spencer said. The luxury market is getting a little soft due to overbuilding, but it’s short term. The long term prospects are favorable as the culture shifts toward renting instead of buying.
For class B and C properties, there’s a shortage, with strong rent growth and demand.
Hotels have been on a very strong upturn since the global financial crisis, Spencer said, including in South Florida. There’s a little softness in ADR’s in the luxury end, but strength in the limited service, lower-end of the range due to leisure traveler activity.
That all sounds great, but I had to ask: When does the music stop?
“Well, the joke I say is that for the last five years I’ve been suggesting that the next recession is two years away. So, I’m sticking to my guns. We just re-did our forecast, and the next recession or slowdown is two years away,” he said.
Spencer said the forecast keeps getting pushed out due to the fiscal stimulus in the recent tax plan, high consumer confidence, an uptick in manufacturing, and fairly low inflation. The outlook could change if the Fed raises interest rates too quickly or if there’s a protracted trade war with China.
The value in real estate, Spencer said, depends on your cost of capital and your time horizon. The best submarkets are near talent generators or talent attractors, that is, universities or live-work-play environments.
His favorite market is London, but he visits Miami frequently.
“Miami is not just for business. It’s also cool,” he said.
This is a can’t-miss interview. Click here to listen to the whole conversation with Spencer Levy of CBRE.
Why You Need to be at Agent2021
Right around the corner is the Agent2021 conference, set for Jan. 17, 2019, at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami.
One presenter, Chelsea Peitz, National Director of Social Sales, FNF, called in to explain why you need to there. She teaches people how to use the camera on their smartphones to build a powerful personal brand.
“Relatability is the most under-leveraged marketing tactic today, and anything that you can do to be real and authentic and transparent is absolutely going to build a relationship and attract that client,” she said.
A case in point: Agent2021 attendees can buy a discount ticket if they want to bring a videographer. It’s about creating real, authentic content and sharing it with the world.
Creating the content is the hard part, Chelsea said. Sharing it is a matter of simply segmenting it in a way that relevant to the social media platform you want to target. It’s like putting up billboards on the highway.
In her book, Talking In Pictures: How Snapchat Changed Cameras, she discusses how camera-first communication has changed how we build our brands.
You can get started leveraging social media in two simple steps.
Step one: Identify your audience. You can’t target everyone. Once you figure this out, it’s a lot easier to create your content.
Step two: Anticipate the questions that your audience might ask. Use these are the basis for your content.
You’ll hear a lot more about this and many more important marketing topics at the Agent2021 conference. Click here to register, and use the code LOCALS for the Fried On Business discount.
Click here to listen to the full interview with Chelsea Peitz, National Director of Social Sales, FNF.
