So far we’ve covered communication and conversation in my discussion about Web 2.0. The next point I’d like to cover is transparency.

Transparency is a term that’s been loosely thrown around for some time now in the real estate tech world. Basically, what it means is you’re not hiding anything from anyone, especially consumers. When you engage in social media and networking, you’re adding a transparent element to your business. You’re letting people see a bit of the “real” you, including your business practices, how you deal with consumers, and your personal life.

It’s this new element that fills many with trepidation, and keeps them from committing to social media. If you’ve got nothing to hide and are ethically conducting business and personal dealings, then what’s the problem? You have nothing to lose and lots to gain.

Another way of looking at transparency could be eliminating barriers to information, like having to supply a name and email address before accessing a special report – a point that’s currently hotly debated by marketers in every industry.

Being the gatekeepers to all of your Sellers’ listing information is not what Web 2.0 is all about. It’s about creating deep, rich, robust content and giving the online user the ability and flexibility to sift thru the information and use or absorb what they feel is pertinent.

That said, most Realtors® make the huge mistake of giving too much away without capturing any information, making it impossible to communicate with and incubate leads. There’s a fine line between transparency and gatekeeping, but by taking the time to find that balance you’ll realize there’s a wonderful, abundant world of quality leads just waiting for your nurturing.

To experience how lead generation and transparency have collided, attend an online webinar hosted by yours truly. Sign up now at www.RealtySitesPLUS.com/webinar. You’ll be glad you did!

TLC

Geekdom has finally come into its own. No, I’m not referring to donning a set of Spock ears, Klingon forehead, or light-saber and attending the nearest Star Whatever convention. What I’m talking about here is embracing technology.

Remember the ‘80’s Nerds movies? I never thought it would ever be cool to be a geek or a nerd, but it is. To a point (you thirty-or-forty-something virgins living in your mom’s basement: this post isn’t for you. You’re way past Geekdom).

In fact, I’ve become a geek of sorts myself. I’ve become a ‘net ninja, mistress of the dark arts of the web. An internet dominatrix, if you will.

How does one ‘become one’ with the web? That’s easy: you use it for more than just Google searches. The ‘net is more than just search engines and online encyclopedias. It can be harnessed for more than shopping at Amazon, Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works. You can actually use it to make your job – and your life – easier.

How’s that for a concept?

“Wow”, you ask, “just how the heck do I do that?” And, probably more importantly, you’re wondering just where the heck you find the time to become master of your domain (domain name, that is). If you’re a one-person show, like a real estate agent or other self-employed professional, you wear LOTS of different hats. You’re webmaster, marketing manager, business development manager, assistant and more all rolled into one big, giant, jumbled mess.

It doesn’t have to be that way. A mess, I mean. Not when you have the power of one of the best tools the world’s ever seen at your fingertips. Look, if spammers can master the art of hacking their way into your inbox while legit emails are locked out forever, YOU can certainly figure out a few ways to use this tool to your advantage.

You don’t have to be a web design expert to build a kick-butt, lead-generating website with today’s technology. According to the National Association of Realtors, most people (over 80%, in fact) start their new home search online. Are you there? Are you being found? If you answered ‘yes’, then here’s the clincher: are you capturing your visitors’ information when they land on your website to nurture and convert them into an honest-to-goodness lead?

If you’re a real estate professional and not making use of the internet to grow your business and make more money, then it’s time to crawl out from below that rock you’ve been hiding under and get out your pocket protector.

It’s time to channel your inner geek and get the ‘net working for you.

Lisa-May Huby

I’d like to preface this post by saying that I’m not a Realtor®, but I work with them every day, and I have a lot of friends and even a few family members that are. One thing I’ve noticed is that even though realtors recognize the importance of technology and how it can improve their business and customer/client satisfaction, they have a tough time embracing it. Which is why decided to write my blog entry in the tradition of Jeff Foxworthy’s “You might be a redneck if…”

Please don’t be offended by my analogies, they’re meant to be harmless fun!  Here goes.. .

You Might be a Realtor® if:

You sleep more hours than you work!

You take so many vacations you have to notify your clients when you’re actually working

You think school teachers have the “Dream Job”

You think Google is when old men stare at a pretty women

The internet is a new fishing device

Social Media is when you yell at your TV during the hockey game

You’re almost positive Twitter is a sign of marital problems, and you hope you never catch your spouse tweeting on you!

A search engine is a futuristic car that finds where it left you in the parking lot

You still think being a “Geek” isn’t cool

Blogging sounds like something you should only do in the privacy of your own home

“Going viral” Has something to do with H1N1

Ok, I admit I was having a little fun at your expense, but I was only joking . . . about most of my comments, anyway.

The truth is many Realtors® tell me they’re just too busy to get serious about the internet or having a great website, but recognize they have to do something about it. My only question to Realtors® reading this blog is, when exactly will you invest a little time to get started letting today’s technology work for you? A little time spent now equals big payoffs down the road – and it’s not a long road.

It’s never too late to embrace technology and start using it to your advantage. I guarantee you’ll get more done in less time and make more money in the process, but don’t take my word for it. Let RealtySites PLUS™ be your ‘geek angel’, and only the first two entries of “You might be a Realtor® if…” will apply to you!

Cheers,

Rob Matton

Director of Sales

RealtySitesPLUS

Brokers, before you lick your pen or crack your knuckles getting ready to type a rebuttal, please continue to read. As for you Agents, wipe that smirk off your face, and just keep reading.

Now, before I start my rant, I want to explain why I think I’ve got the background to write about this. Let’s go back to before I ever got into real estate, and I was the client. The dreaded client. The client who probably had one of the biggest “goober” agents in real estate. To put it lightly, I’ve experienced it from the consumer side. Fast forward to when I decided to make a career out of organized real estate. I worked for a really “nice” broker who was the owner of a large franchise. Knowing very little about organized real estate I assumed all brokers were similar to mine, a nice guy who kind of flew by the seat of his pants.

After 5 years of working for someone else, I had the misfortune of getting caught in the “I can do it myself for less money” trap that a lot of egotistical high-producing agents find themselves in. Yes, you heard me right – I called myself egotistical. What I should really call myself is “crazy”!  Now I’m the CEO of not only a real estate company, but also a start up real estate software company. You’d think I would have learned my lesson already, but like I said, I think I am clinically crazy…or at least it feels like that most days.

Hopefully now I’ve shown you that I have the experience to see what’s in front of me from all angles, on both sides of the table, and that I have an unbiased perception of Brokers and Agents.

So, what’s with the title ‘Brokers…Leaders or Losers’, you ask? Before I get to the answer, let me preface by saying that NOT all Brokers should be painted with the same brush, and there are some wonderful, thoughtful, perceptive brokers all over North America. Brokers take note: agents need leaders! They need men and women that will lead by example. They need brokers that will think out-of-the-box. They need to be communicated to, educated, a corporate culture they can believe in, and a roadmap they can follow.

So, if this is what agents want, why is the broker value proposition in such disrepair right now? Let me tell you why: Brokers have a very unique and sometimes unmanageable position. Brokers need to lead agents who are too slow to adapt, who don’t like change, who are continually showing their lack of loyalty by jumping ship, and agents who, in a lot of cases, have no idea about work ethic (ie. lazy) and running a business.

Imagine for a moment trying to manage, lead and implement business strategies and policies with someone who pays you to work for you. It’s pretty tough to manage and lead people when they could tell you to bugger off and go somewhere else where they will be welcomed with open arms.

You’re not off the hook just yet Brokers: just because it’s hard doesn’t mean you should just stop and give up. A leader will persevere and do what’s right for the organization, and – more importantly – their clients. By not continuing to adapt to new ideas, technology and strategies, you become losers. You’ll lose your agents, clients and the respect that your employees and staff had in you.

One thing that really surprises me is that more brokers don’t attend events like NAR (National Association of Realtors Convention) or Inman Connect (Real Estate Technology Conference) to find out what’s happening in the market and what the pulse of the industry is. This is what your agents expect from you. A leader needs to source out what’s new and what’s hot to use or incorporate into their businesses that will improve their agents’ performance.

There’s another reason I used “Losers” in the title: Agents, wake up and realize that your broker is a loser…that is, a loser of a heck of a lot of money! Yes, there are some very profitable and successful brokerages out there, but I can assure you that for every profitable brokerage there are 20 or more that show little, if any, profit. I’m not asking you to cry over your brokers situation, but you agents need to understand the dynamics of a real estate company. Splits are being pressured, cost of real estate and real estate expenses are rising, and employees are demanding more and more. Never mind trying to keep up with technology and computer hardware. Hosting costs, servers, IT support people, programs, computers, wireless, colour photocopiers etc are all items that just came onto the scene in the last 10 years…all the while in the last 10 years splits have declined year over year. If you’ve wondering why your broker may not be leading you the way he or she should, it’s because they’re a “loser”.

All is not lost, however. There’s still time to fix the problem, and it starts with ‘value proposition’. Brokers must create a corporate strategy and proposition that agents see as valuable. Agents need to embrace what their broker brings to them, and try very hard to implement it into their businesses.

If you don’t like your brokers’ roadmap and strategies, then leave. Find somewhere else that will support you and provide you with the valuable tools that will help you captivate your clients and create great business for you.

Brokers, you need to open your eyes and realize that there’s a lot of technology out there that will help your business grow. I’ve seen very recently how brokers are closed-minded to even giving companies like mine the opportunity to share some amazing technology with them. And, quite frankly, I’m surprised that they actually believe they’ll be able to compete in an industry that’s changing so rapidly none of us can keep up.

Brokers, become a leader or you will be a loser.

TLC

In my last post on Web 2.0 conversation, I talked about how Web 3.0 has come and slapped us upside the head. I mean, we’re just getting used to Web 2.0 – aren’t we?

Moving on to the next in my short series, communication takes the spotlight.

Communication comes in many forms. We can use the telephone, meet face-to-face, or we can implement a strategy where technology is used. I personally like the 80-10-10 rule: 80 percent of the time I use technology, 10 percent of the time I use the other two.

The key to successful communication with clients is that you should always give them information before they ask for it or want it. For example, how hard is it to write one letter every two weeks describing what the local real estate market conditions are like, and what you foresee happening in the very near future? Once a library of letters is composed, you’ll find you can re-use the same letters with some slight changes. When you have the letter composed, add in a few stats that support your point.

RealtySites PLUS™ has a sophisticated lead/online consumer tracking system that tracks public/private views on your website. Sending a client letter every two weeks with specific stats that includes local market conditions will increase your value with the client, and eliminate those client goober calls that inundate you daily. RealtySites PLUS™ also offers an automated showing feedback request system where agents who showed your listing are emailed a feedback form.

If you want to blow your clients’ mind with current, up-to-date communication, start doing some of these simple tactics, and increase your value proposition.

TLC

Since using our amazing new Realty Sites Plus web software, I’ve begun very specifically studying where my audience and leads are being generated from.  I use Google Anayltics which helps me find out how people are finding our website.  I can track many different attributes of my audience including what they typed in to the google seach engine to find us, what country they are coming from, what language they speak, what service provider they use (ie. Rogers, Bell), and even the average amount of time people spend on our site, and what pages they visit.

Now, of course the reason behind my studying these patterns is to learn more about my audience and try to build and grow this group.  So for me, knowing if they came from Google or just typed in our web address directly helps me to market appropriately.  One thing I found quite interesting was that so many people are coming from places like Facebook.  We created a group on Facebook which helps Consumers learn about market trends and our listings.  What we didn’t realize is the number of people that then go from our Facebook group to our website.

I had no idea that places like Facebook would bring such large audiences.  I recently found this excerpt from www.CIO.com.

“On Facebook, millions of people declare themselves as fans of performers, products, even the president. The number-one fan page on Facebook is dedicated to the late Michael Jackson, with 10.3 million members. President Obama is next with 6.8 million. Starbucks is the biggest retail brand with 4.8 million fans. But becoming a fan of something is the equivalent of wearing a logo T-shirt. It doesn’t bring M.J. back to life, reform healthcare or sell more coffee. 1-800-Flowers intends to find out whether social networkers are also social shoppers. In July, the $714 million flower delivery company launched the first Facebook storefront. Collectively, Facebook’s 300 million active members spend eight billion minutes per day on the site, according to the company. An Experian survey found that dwell time for an adult visiting a social network is 19 minutes and 32 seconds. Meanwhile, 35 percent of adults who had been on a social network in the past month had also bought something online in that time period, the survey found—a ripe demographic.”

I found this amazing.  Although I do spend some time online checking what my friends pictures and chatting, I had no idea I was joined by such a large group that would ultimately help drive even more people to our website.

Happy Surfing!

June & Rock Belanger, Prudential LeClair & Associates Realty