I may be working in the high-tech software world, but, like many of our clients, I’m not the sharpest tech knife in the drawer. In my professional life, technology has always played a major role, but thankfully I’ve been able to work with people much more talented than myself to make the magic happen.

I have to admit, I’ve not always been quick to adapt. My family and friends still tease me occasionally of the fact that when bank cards became the norm (many years ago now), I still stood in line at the bank because I liked dealing with an actual person rather than a machine.  The truth is, technology has made our lives easier, but it’s also taken the personal touch out of daily transactions with our customers and clients.

Call me a little old-fashioned, but what I enjoy the most about my job is the fact that I can build relationships and actually get to know a little bit about our clients. I think this is so crucial to business because if we know our clients personally we can better tailor our products to suit their needs.

These days, when you call a company – especially a software company – you’ll be hard pressed to actually speak to someone in person without having to jump through various automated-attendant hoops that are both frustrating and time-consuming. That’s why I’m so proud of the relationships we’ve built with our clients, and the customer service we provide. An actual person answers our phone (usually me), and as a result I get to know our clients just a little better.

RealtySites PLUS™ has improved immensely because of the dialogue we have with our amazing customers. Technology is only as good as the people that develop it, but if there’s a disconnect with the people you’re serving, it becomes obsolete in a hurry.

As our company continues to grow and improve I know we’ll continue to offer the best of both worlds: amazing technology and good, old-fashioned personal service.

Rob Matton, Director of Sales

A few different blog posts I’ve read recently point to the same problem: way too much online information. With search engines and people gobbling up free stuff like e-books, webinars, tipsheets, special reports, and other forms of e-info out there, it seems that we’re facing a crisis of information overload.

By now, we know that content satisfies search engine appetites and helps drive SER’s, and we’ve all hopped on the bandwagon. I find myself agreeing with the bloggers saying that the content bandwagon’s beginning to look more and more like one of those clown cars at the circus. Everyone’s got content to read, download, print, or view on-demand – the internet’s bursting at the seams with information.

If you’d rather stick pins in your eyes than watch yet another webinar or have bamboo shoots shoved under your fingernails before downloading and half-reading another e-book, maybe the problem isn’t really too much information, but rather too much of the WRONG information.

I get several emails every day urging me to sign up for webinar after webinar on seemingly every e-marketing tool and technique going. The reality is that there’s only so much time in the day, and I’ve probably actually attended only 2 out of the 20+ webinars I’ve signed up for in the last few months. Chances are good that I’ve missed a few usable morsels of information. For the most part, though, the unfortunate reality is: probably not. Most of the tips and tactics shared by these companies are things I’ve already learned on my own or picked up through research and reading, and practice in my own businesses.

So how do we, as busy professionals, separate the good stuff from the crap? What ‘free’ information warrants an investment of our time to read, view or engage in, and what doesn’t? Ultimately, it’s up to us and our experience level or interest with the subject matter. For example, I likely won’t attend a webinar on successful email campaigns, given my past experience and expertise on the subject, unless it appears that the session will impart something new. On the flipside, I read a lot of blogs and other information on social media and emerging practices because that’s one of my specialties.

However, if a software company that I just created an account with were encouraging me to participate in a webinar that would provide tips for using their software and improving my results with great insider tips and information, chances are I’d invest the time, whether live or on-demand.

There’s a lot of free information floating around in cyber space these days – it’s up to you to figure out what’s going to be worth your time. Even if you learn just one new thing, I’d say that’s time well spent.

Lisa-May Huby, Director of Marketing

In my last blog post I spoke about going on vacation with my family and the importance of nurturing relationships and creating memories. We have been home for a week now, and I’ve had time to reflect on some of the lasting impressions that were made on this trip.

One that comes to mind is when one of the kids dragged me off of my lounge chair and insisted that I help her make a sand castle. Considering that we lacked any sort of proper digging tools other than a plastic spoon, we decided it would be better to make an object out of the sand, and agreed on an alligator. Once the preliminary outline was etched into the sand, I began the task of carving out the outline of our soon-to-become masterpiece.

As I was digging my hands into the well-packed, dampened sand, I couldn’t help compare what I was doing on a sunny beach in Punta Cana to my work. It seems almost impossible to do something well, especially if you don’t have the proper tools.

Not to disappoint, I persevered with the same tenacity our team of professionals do at RealtySites PLUSâ„¢. I used that plastic spoon to carve out the intricate details to our giant sand sculpture and my bare hands to do the grunt work of digging and piling what seemed to be endless amounts of dampened sand. In the end, it occurred to me that I had the right tools after all.

At first glance a plastic spoon seems like the unlikely tool to create a great sand sculpture, but it worked. The same can be said of REALTORS®’ marketing strategies: a website doesn’t seem to be the first choice for many REALTORS®, because billboards and print ads seem flashier, and as a result many would think a more effective marketing tool. We know from recent statistics that the best way for REALTORS® to market themselves is with a strong internet presence and lead-generating website.

Just like the spoon I used to build a great sand sculpture, you can carve out more business than you ever thought possible with the right website and online tools to captivate consumers and cultivate leads (which of course result in closing more sales).

All it takes is a little time and effort, and before long you will amazed by what you’ve accomplished, just as I was with what I created using one little plastic spoon on the beaches of Punta Cana!

Rob Matton, Director of Sales